Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Queerying Genesis 1:1-2:4a

For a virtual Easter Vigil project this year, I translated and shared Genesis 1:1-2:4a. I received a few requests for the translation I used, so here it is.

ID: dark blue and purple textured like water or cloud cover the bottom left of the image while silver swirls against blue in the top right half.

In beginning, when God created the heavens, the earth, and everything between and beyond 2the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

ID: bright white and yellow with a yellow cross in the top left corner fade into dark purple and black with a black cross in the bottom right.

3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness in all their goodnesses. 5God called the light Day, the darkness They called Night, plus Twilight, Dusk, and Dawn. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

ID: in various shades of blue, a cloudy texture is visible arcing across the top of the image while reflective water is visible below the clouds.

6And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. 8God called the dome Sky, Atmosphere, Stratosphere, and Space. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

ID: land with grass in the top left blends through beach and marsh into water in the bottom right.

9And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together They called Seas, plus marshlands and beach. And God saw that it was good. 11Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. 12The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

ID: the moon and stars are set against a dark blue in the top left, which blends through twilight, dusk, and dawn, to the bright yellow of the sun and light blue of day in the bottom right.

14And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16God made the two great lights—the louder light to rule the day and the younger light to rule the night—and the stars: constellations, galaxies, and cosmos. 17God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness, but not too much. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

ID: clouds cover the top half of the image with three birds visible in a simple line sillouette while water covers the bottom half with a green, smiling sea monster in the waters.

20And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” 21So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind and even the winged birds that swarm in the waters. And God saw that it was good. 22God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

ID: a cow pokes its head out from the left of the image against a backdrop of land with grass on the left half of the image and a creeping spider in the upper right.

24And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. 25God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind, and even the animals that creep on the ground and swarm in the water. And God saw that it was good.

ID: symbols for various genders are visible against a white background.  Gender symbols visible from top left to bottom right are: female, male, bigender (example of female + male), androgyne, neutrois, agender/genderless, intergender, demiboy, demigirl, third gender, genderqueer/non-binary, pangender/poligender, epicene, genderfluid (example of female and male), transgender, transgender (alternative version).

26Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have responsibility over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” 27So God created humankind in Their image, in the image of God They created them; male and female, between and beyond, They created them. 28God blessed humanity, and God said to them, “Be fruity and multiply, and fill the earth and seduce it; and have responsibility over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

29God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” God endorsed vegetarianism, and it was so.

31God saw everything that They had made, and indeed, it was all very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

ID: green, purple, and light gray spiral together in overlapping swirls.

2Thus the heavens and the earth and everything between and beyond were spent, and all their multitude. 2And on the seventh day God finished the work that They had done, and God rested on the seventh day from all the work that They had done. 3So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that They had done in creation.

4These are the generations of the heavens and the earth and everything between and beyond when they were created.

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