Codex xcix

In the Beginning ...

A Layout Test

In the bigynnyng God made of nouyt heuene and erthe. Forsothe the erthe was idel and voide, and derknessis weren on the face of depthe; and the Spiryt of the Lord was borun on the watris. And God seide, Liyt be maad, and liyt was maad. And God seiy the liyt, that it was good, and he departide the liyt fro derknessis; and he clepide the liyt, dai, and the derknessis, nyyt. And the euentid and morwetid was maad, o daie. Wycliffe, ca.1388

In ye begynnynge God created heauen & earth: and ye earth was voyde and emptie, and darcknes was vpon the depe, & ye sprete of God moued vpo the water. And God sayde: let there be light, & there was light. And God sawe the light that it was good. Then God deuyded ye light from the darcknes, and called the light, Daye: and the darcknes, Night Then of the euenynge and mornynge was made the first daye. Coverdale, 1535

In the beginning God created the heauen and the earth. And the earth was without forme & voide, and darkenes was vpon the depe, & the Spirit of God moued vpon ye waters. Then God said, Let there be light: And there was light. And God sawe the light that it was good, and God separated the light from the darkenes. and God called the light, Day and the darkenes, he called Night. So the euening and the morning were the first day. Geneva, 1560

In the beginning God created heauen and earth. And the earth was void and vacant, and darkenes was vpon the face of the depth and the Spirit of God moued ouer the waters. And God said: Be light made. And light was made. And God saw the light that it was good; and he diuided the light from the darknenes. And he called the light, Day, and the darkenes, Night: and there was euening and morning, that made one day. Douay-Rheims, 1610

In the beginning God created the Heauen, and the Earth. And the earth was without forme, and voyd, and darkenesse was vpon the face of the deepe: and the Spirit of God mooued vpon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God diuided the light from the darkenesse. And God called the light, Day, and the darknesse he called Night: and the euening and the morning were the first day. King James, 1611

In the beginning God created heaven, and earth. And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters. And God said: Be light made. And light was made. And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light from the darkness. And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night; and there was evening and morning one day. Douay-Challoner, 1752

In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. And the earth was invisible and unfurnished and there was darkness over this abyss, and a breath of God was brought on above the water. And God said, “Let there be Light” and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good. And God made a separation between the light and the darkness. And God called the light day; and the darkness He called night. And there was an evening and there was a morning. The first day. Thompson, 1808

In the beginning of God’s preparing the heavens and the earth — the earth hath existed waste and void, and darkness [is] on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God fluttering on the face of the waters, and God saith, ‘Let light be;’ and light is. And God seeth the light that [it is] good, and God separateth between the light and the darkness, and God calleth to the light ‘Day,’ and to the darkness He hath called ‘Night;’ and there is an evening, and there is a morning—day one. Youngs's Literal Translation, 1862

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. American Standard, 1901

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. Revised Standard Version, 1952

In the beginning, when God created the universe, the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water. Then God commanded, “Let there be light” —and light appeared. God was pleased with what he saw. Then he separated the light from the darkness, and he named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.” Evening passed and morning came-that was the first day. Good News, 1966

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. New International, 1978

First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God‘s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss. God spoke: “Light!” And light appeared. God saw that light was good and separated light from dark. God named the light Day, he named the dark Night. It was evening, it was morning—Day One. The Message,¹ 2001

— QED

1. The original version of The Message was endorsed by none other than Bono of U2. The current version is Peterson, Eugene (ed).The Message Remix 2.0. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2006. According to familychristian.com, people who bought this Bible also bought the Princess Bible, “A full-text Bible in sparkling pink binding to appeal to the inner princess of every little girl (and big girl, too)!” Further commentary seems fairly pointless here.