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and the power of the most high, came down upon the prophets and through them spoke the things concerning the creation of the world and of all the rest. For the prophets were not present when the world was being made, but the wisdom of God which is in him and his holy Word who is always present with him. Wherefore he also says thus through Solomon the prophet: "When he prepared the heaven, I was present with him, and as he made strong the foundations of the earth, I was by him, fitting it together." But Moses, who was many years before Solomon, or rather the Word of God, as through an instrument, says through him: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." First he named a beginning and a creation, then thus he presented God; for one must not name God idly and in vain. For the divine wisdom foreknew that some would babble and name a multitude of gods that do not exist. So that, therefore, the true God might be perceived through his works, and that by his Word God made the heaven and the earth and the things in them, he said: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Then, having spoken of their creation, he shows us: "But the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water." These things the divine scripture teaches in the first place, in a way a created matter, made by God, from which God has made and formed the world. Now the beginning of creation is light, since light reveals the things being set in order. Wherefore he says: "And God said: Let there be light. And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good." clearly made good for man. "And he divided between the light and between the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. And God said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it be dividing between water and water. And it was so. And God made the firmament, and divided between the water which was under the firmament, and between the water which was above the firmament. And God called the firmament Heaven. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. And God said: Let the water under the heaven be gathered together into one collection, and let the dry land appear. And it was so. And the water was gathered together into their collections, and the dry land appeared. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gatherings of the waters he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said: Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed after its kind and after its likeness, and the fruit tree yielding fruit, whose seed is in itself, after its likeness. And it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb yielding seed after its kind, and the fruit tree yielding fruit, whose seed is in itself after its kind upon the earth. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. And God said: Let there be lights in the firmament of the

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καὶ δύναμις ὑψίστου, κατήρχετο εἰς τοὺς προφήτας καὶ δι' αὐτῶν ἐλάλει τὰ περὶ τῆς ποιήσεως τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἁπάντων. οὐ γὰρ ἦσαν οἱ προφῆται ὅτε ὁ κόσμος ἐγίνετο, ἀλλ' ἡ σοφία ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ ἐν αὐτῷ οὖσα καὶ ὁ λόγος ὁ ἅγιος αὐτοῦ ὁ ἀεὶ συμπαρὼν αὐτῷ. διὸ δὴ καὶ διὰ Σολομῶνος προφήτου οὕτως λέγει· "Ἡνίκα δ' ἡτοίμασεν τὸν οὐρανόν, συμπαρήμην αὐτῷ, καὶ ὡς ἰσχυρὰ ἐποίει τὰ θεμέλια τῆς γῆς, ἤμην παρ' αὐτῷ ἁρμόζουσα." Μωσῆς δὲ ὁ καὶ Σολομῶνος πρὸ πολλῶν ἐτῶν γενόμενος, μᾶλλον δὲ ὁ λόγος ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς δι' ὀργάνου δι' αὐτοῦ φησιν· "Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν." πρῶτον ἀρχὴν καὶ ποίησιν ὠνόμασεν, εἶθ' οὕτως τὸν θεὸν συνέστησεν· οὐ γὰρ ἀργῶς χρὴ καὶ ἐπὶ κενῷ θεὸν ὀνομάζειν. προῄδει γὰρ ἡ θεία σοφία μέλλειν φλυαρεῖν τινας καὶ πληθὺν θεῶν ὀνομάζειν τῶν οὐκ ὄντων. ὅπως οὖν ὁ τῷ ὄντι θεὸς διὰ ἔργων νοηθῇ, καὶ ὅτι ἐν τῷ λόγῳ αὐτοῦ ὁ θεὸς πεποίηκεν τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς, ἔφη· "Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν." εἶτα εἰπὼν τὴν ποίησιν αὐτῶν δηλοῖ ἡμῖν· "Ἡ δὲ γῆ ἦν ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύασ- τος καὶ σκότος ἐπάνω τῆς ἀβύσσου, καὶ πνεῦμα θεοῦ ἐπεφέρετο ἐπάνω τοῦ ὕδατος." Ταῦτα ἐν πρώτοις διδάσκει ἡ θεία γραφή, τρόπῳ τινὶ ὕλην γενητήν, ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγονυῖαν, ἀφ' ἧς πεποίηκεν καὶ δεδημιούρ- γηκεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον. Ἀρχὴ δὲ τῆς ποιήσεως φῶς ἐστιν, ἐπειδὴ τὰ κοσμούμενα τὸ φῶς φανεροῖ. διὸ λέγει· "Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός· Γενηθήτω φῶς. καὶ ἐγένετο φῶς. καὶ ἴδεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ φῶς ὅτι καλόν." δηλονότι καλὸν ἀνθρώπῳ γεγονός. "Καὶ διεχώρισεν ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ φωτὸς καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ σκότους. καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ φῶς ἡμέραν, καὶ τὸ σκότος ἐκάλεσε νύκτα. καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωΐ, ἡμέρα μία. καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός· Γενηθήτω στερέωμα ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ ὕδατος, καὶ ἔστω διαχωρίζον ἀνὰ μέσον ὕδατος καὶ ὕδατος. καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως. καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ στερέωμα, καὶ διεχώρισεν ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ ὕδατος ὃ ἦν ὑποκάτω τοῦ στερεώματος, καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ ὕδατος τοῦ ἐπάνω τοῦ στερεώματος. καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ στερέωμα οὐρανόν· καὶ ἴδεν ὁ θεὸς ὅτι καλόν. καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωΐ, ἡμέρα δευτέρα. καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός· Συναχθήτω τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ὑποκάτω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ εἰς συναγωγὴν μίαν, καὶ ὀφθήτω ἡ ξηρά. καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως. καὶ συνήχθη τὸ ὕδωρ εἰς τὰς συναγωγὰς αὐτῶν, καὶ ὤφθη ἡ ξηρά. καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ θεὸς τὴν ξηρὰν γῆν, καὶ τὰ συστήματα τῶν ὑδάτων ἐκάλεσεν θαλάσσας. καὶ ἴδεν ὁ θεὸς ὅτι καλόν. καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός· Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου σπεῖρον σπέρμα κατὰ γένος καὶ καθ' ὁμοιότητα, καὶ ξύλον κάρπιμον ποιοῦν κάρπον, οὗ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ εἰς ὁμοιότητα. καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως. καὶ ἐξήνεγκεν ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου σπεῖρον σπέρμα κατὰ γένος, καὶ ξύλον κάρπιμον ποιοῦν κάρπον, οὗ τὸ σπέρμα ἐν αὐτῷ κατὰ γένος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. καὶ ἴδεν ὁ θεὸς ὅτι καλόν. καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωΐ, ἡμέρα τρίτη. καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός· Γενηθήτωσαν φωστῆρες ἐν τῷ στερεώματι τοῦ