God made man in the following manner. He formed a beautiful human body of dust from the ground. But this body was yet without motion and life. He, therefore, breathed the breath of life, a spirit from His own spirit into it. And thus the first man, who received the name of Adam, meaning: Man of Earth, sprang into existence. And God said: "It is not good that the man should be alone: I will make him a help suitable for him." A deep sleep fell upon Adam, and God took one of his ribs, while he was asleep, and formed it into a woman, and Adam called her Eve, (,) that is, Mother of all Living. These first human beings are our progenitors, and the progenitors of all men. On the seventh day, God rested from all His works, that is to say, He ceased from creating-and commanded that we also should rest from all our labors, on the Sabbath, remember God and His creation, and offer up to him our thanksgivings, for His love and goodness.

§ 2. THE FIRST SIN. [Genesis ii. iii.]

God planted a pleasant garden, called Gan Eden, or Paradise, and appointed it to be the dwelling place of Adam and Eve. In this garden there stood all kinds of fruit-trees, pleasant to the sight and good for food. And God commanded the man, saying: "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for as soon as thou eatest thereof thou shalt die." God did not intend, by this prohibition, to mar the joys of our first parents, but willed only that they should always be obedient to Him, believe in His word, follow His commands, and love Him above all things. But they soon transgressed the command of God, and sinned. This happened in the

The fourth He bade the sun, and moon, and stars appear;
The fishes on the fifth, and birds began to be,
And on the sixth, the world the beasts and man did see.

eat.

following manner. Once Eve approached the tree of the forbidden fruit. On the tree there was a serpent, that addressed her thus: "Do not believe that you must die as soon as you have eaten of the fruit of this tree; do but eat, and you will then become wise, and be able to know good from evil, and be like unto God Himself." Eve believed more in the tempting words of the serpent than the command of God. She now contemplated the fruit of the tree still more attentively, and observed that it was good for food and pleasant to the eyes. Her desire to taste of it grew stronger within her heart. She took of it, did eat, and gave also to her husband, and he also did And thus the first sin was committed. But their sin of disobedience was soon followed by punishment. Their eyes were opened, they now knew that they had done wrong, and were able to discern the evil from the good which they could have fulfilled. They felt profound grief in their hearts, on account of their sin; they were ashamed, became afraid, and hid themselves from the face of God. But God, who sees, hears, and knows everything, perceived also their sin, and said: "Adam, where art thou?" And Adam answered: "I heard Thy voice, and I was afraid because I was naked, and therefore I hid myself.” And God said: "Who told thee that thou art naked? Hast thou eaten of the fruit whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?" Whereupon Adam said: "The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, gave me of the fruit, and I did eat." And God said: "Eve, why hast thou done this?" And she answered: "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." Then God said unto the serpent: "Because thou hast beguiled the weak woman by sneaking hypocrisy, thou shalt be cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou creep, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." Unto Eve He said: "Because thou hast obeyed the serpent rather than the word of God, obedience shall henceforth be thy lot. Thy husband shall rule over thee, and in sorrow shalt thou train children." And unto Adam he said: "Since thou hast suffered pleasures of the senses to mislead thee, thy earthly enjoyments shall henceforth cause thee trouble. With great labor shalt thou till the

ground, and in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread, until thou shalt return unto the ground whence thou wast taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

God then drove them from Paradise, and placed the cherubim with the flaming sword at the east of the garden to keep the way of the tree of life.

§ 3. CAIN AND ABEL. [Genesis iv.]

(Kayin and Habel.)

Adam and Eve had two sons; the elder was named Cain, (Kayin,) the younger Abel, (Habel). Cain was a tiller of the ground, and Abel a keeper of sheep; the former was of a haughty disposition, while the latter was meek and pious. Now, both offered sacrifices before God; Cain offered of the fruit of the ground, and Abel the best of his flock. When Cain saw that God's blessing rested upon his brother, and that his offering was favorably accepted, he became cxceedingly wroth, so that his inward anger was very manifest. And God said to Cain: "Why is thy countenance fallen? Behold if thou art pious, thou also shalt be accepted; and if thou art not pious, sin lurketh before thy door, and unto thee is its desire, but thou canst conquer it." But Cain paid no attention to God's paternal admonition; his heart hardened more and more, and he said once to his brother: "Come, let us go into the field." When they were far away from their home and parents, the revengeful Cain rose up against his brother, and slew him. But severe were the pangs of conscience within Cain's bosom after he had perpetrated the atrocious fratricide; he enjoyed neither rest nor ease. And God said unto him: "Where is Abel, thy brother?" Cain answered: "I know not! Am I my brother's keeper?" But God said: "What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. Cursed be for thee, therefore, the ground which hath opened its mouth to receive thy brother's blood; as

a fugitive and vagabond shalt thou wander about upon earth, and nowhere find rest and repose." Then said Cain unto the Eternal: "My guilt is too heavy for me to bear. Behold, Thou hast driven me away this day from this ground, and from Thy face must I hide myself; a fugitive I must be upon the earth, and every one that finds me shall slay me." But God said: "Whosoever slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." The conscience-stricken Cain then removed from the land which he had defiled with his brother's blood, and fled to the country of Nod, on the east of Eden. Such was the realization of the joy and comfort which the poor parents of Cain and Abel had hoped to receive at the hands of their children. But God had compassion upon Adam and Eve, and gave them another son, who was named Sheth. At the time of Enosh, the son of Sheth, men began to call upon God, and Enoch, a later descendant of Sheth's led a pious, godly life, and God took him soon to Himself. All men reached, at those early times, a very old age; Methushelah, the length of whose life exceeded that of all other men, lived 969 years. His son was Lemech, and the son of the latter, Noah.

$ 4. NOAH. [Genesis vi.] 1656 A.M.

Men gradually multiplied upon the face of the earth; but they grew more and more corrupt, and committed many godless deeds. Even the descendants of the pious were led away from the path of virtue by the examples of the wicked. They married the daughters of the latter, and soon became, like these, corrupt and godless. But few believed that there was a God in heaven who saw and knew every thing. Noah and his wife alone remained pious, and would not suffer themselves to be led astray by their wicked fellow-men. They guarded their children also as is the duty of good parents-against the evil influence and corruption of their age, as much as it lay in their power.

And God said to Noah: "The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is full of violence. But thou, go and make thee an ark, 300 cubits long, 50 broad, and 30 high. For behold, I shall bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. Every thing that is on earth shall die. But with thee I will establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons, Sem, Ham, and Japhet, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. Take with thee also provisions of food, and of all sorts of animals that can not exist in water; of every clean beast thou shalt take with thee seven pair, and of beasts that are not clean take one pair, to keep seed alive upon the earth after the flood." And Noah did as God had commanded him. Hereupon all the fountains of the earth opened, and rain poured down from heaven forty days and forty nights. The waters increased more and more, and became at last so high, that even the tops of the highest mountains were covered. All living creatures were destroyed, man, cattle, birds, and creeping animals; only Noah and they that were with him in the ark, were saved alive.

$5. NOAH'S DEPARTURE FROM THE ARK.

One hundred and fifty days the waters prevailed upon the earth. And God remembered Noah, and every living being, and the cattle that dwelt with him in the ark, and caused a wind to pass over the earth, that the waters of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped; the rain ceased, the waters subsided, and the ark rested upon the mountain Ararat, and the tops of the mountains gradually rose again above the waters.

Noah, after some time, opened a window of the ark and sent forth a raven, to see whether the water had sufficiently fallen or not. But the raven, having no doubt found food upon the mountain, flew to and fro, and then never returned. After some time, Noah sent forth a dove, which returned to the ark, because it could find no place to rest upon on account of the waters that were still on the earth.