[dramatic music playing]
(boy) Mother, I'm afraid.
(woman) I'm right here, near you.
Don't be afraid.
(boy) Why is it so dark?
(woman) Because the day is resting.
The sun has gone to bed,
like we have.
(boy) Even the sun?
(woman) Yes, even the sun.
During the night,
all living things go to sleep.
They close their eyes so they won't see the dark.
Come on now, try to close your little eyes.
(boy) But after,
will I be able to open them again?
(woman) Yes, as soon as the dawn
begins to brighten the sky.
Then, we'll see what the new day
has in store for us.
What is the new day going to bring us?
(man) No one can know
what is still hidden...
...in the womb of the light.
We have to wait
for the birth of the new day.
Not till then
shall we discover all the splendors,
the wonders that accompany the sunrise.
There are but few
who truly know,
who see what is there.
Can you see, Grandfather?
On occasions, my eyes open.
And when they do, I know that God
has touched me on the shoulder.
Could you help me to see?
You are a child, my boy,
and that makes my help unnecessary.
The good Lord on high
reveals His glories openly
to the young and innocent.
The way he would have revealed it
to the first man who looked upon Creation,
with awe and infinite wonder.
[dramatic music playing]
[sheep bleating]
(man) Thus it was,
from the very beginning of time,
when the good Lord created
the sky, the sun, the stars
and all the vastness of the Earth.
But before Creation,
there was blackness,
black darkness yet untouched by light,
and the darkness was over the deep.
The darkness of the void
and the unknown,
because, as yet,
nothing existed,
not even the awareness of the darkness
and the void.
[wind howling]
(man) But, behold,
the Spirit of God
was already breathing over the waters.
And God said,
"Let there be light.”
And there was light.
The Lord God saw that the light was good,
and divided the light from the darkness.
The light, God called "day,"
and the darkness, "night.”
Evening came, morning came...
and that was the first of the days.
"Behold,"
the Lord said,
"let the firmament exist.”
In the firmament,
God separated
the waters that are of the Earth
from the waters that are above the skies.
And the Almighty
saw that it was good.
And evening came,
and morning came
to complete the second day.
On the third day,
the Creator summoned all the waters
that are under the heavens
so that the dry land appeared.
And the Earth produced vegetation
and plants of every species,
and all kinds of fruit-bearing trees,
each one with its own seed.
And thus it came to be
that from that day forth,
the Earth began to produce vegetation
and all kind of plants
and fruit-bearing trees of every species,
each producing its own seed
to spread over the whole Earth.
And again,
evening came,
and morning came,
the third day.
On the morning of the fourth day,
Almighty God said,
"Let there be two great lights
in the vault of the heavens,
one for the night,
and one for the day,
to serve as a sign for the seasons,
for the days,
and for the years."”
And behold, the Lord God said,
"Let the waters teem with living beings,
and let birds fly above the Earth
under the vault of the heavens."”
The Lord God created all the living creatures
that frolic in the waters,
each according to its own species,
and all the winged creatures,
each according to its species.
And evening came,
and morning came,
the fifth day.
[singing in foreign language]
[sheep bleating]
(man) On the sixth day,
the Almighty said,
let the Earth produce living creatures,
cattle, creeping things
and wild animals,
each one according to its species.
The Creator blessed them,
and said, "Be fruitful
and multiply.
Fill with life
the heavens and the oceans,
and let the Earth be filled
with living beings of every species."
[singing in foreign language]
[baby crying]
[sheep bleating]
(man) When the Creator made Heaven and Earth,
no wild bushes,
no herbs of the field had sprung up,
because God had not yet sent rain upon the Earth,
and there was no human being
to work in the fields.
Instead,
water flowed out of the ground
and moistened all the surface of the soil.
[thundering]
[heavy rainfall]
(man) Out of the Earth
the Lord God fashioned man,
making him out of the soil.
God had created.
The Creator breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life...
and the man became a living being.
[baby crying]
(man) Thus the Lord God
determined to create man
in His own image.
God wanted them in the image of God.
He created humankind,
male and female.
He created them in the very likeness of God.
Then God blessed them and said,
"Be fruitful and multiply.
Fill the Earth and rule over
all of Creation.”
And thus it was.
An evening came,
and morning came,
the sixth day.
[music playing]
(man) Thus the heavens and the Earth
were brought to completion
and all the creatures
that inhabit the Earth.
And then the Creator blessed the seventh day
and made it holy,
because on that day,
God had completed
all the work of the Creation.
[music playing]
[frogs croaking]
(man) Then, the soil brought forth life,
and the trees produced fruit,
enticing to look at and good to eat.
And the Lord sat the man
in the middle of the garden
so that he might cultivate it
and take care of it.
And then the Lord God
gave the man this command,
"All the fruit that grow here
are for you.
And you may freely eat of them.
But of all these,
only one you shall not touch,
the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge
of Good and Evil.
If you eat of that fruit,
you will know what is good
and what is evil.
And of that knowledge,
you shall die."”
(boy) So many stars!
(man) Look!
That one is Ishtar.
It is the star of the morning.
(man) But every dawn, it's the last to fade.
[music playing]
Why is that bright star
called Ishtar?
(man) Everything that lives and moves
in the Creation
has been given its own name,
like the sun,
and all the creatures that live in its light.
From the time of the Creation,
the Creator saw that the man
was alone on the Earth.
And so God thought,
"I will make the man a helper,
who will be like him."
And then the Lord,
who had already created out of dust
the animals of the field
and all the birds of the air,
brought them in front of Adam, one by one,
in order that
he might name each one.
And whatever Adam called
each and every living creature,
that was to be its name.
(boy) Even fire?
And the fire, too,
and the mountains.
(boy) And the rocks, Grandfather?
And the plants?
And the plants.
With all their fruit,
each thing had its own name.
But the man could not find a helper
similar to himself.
So the Lord God caused Adam
to fall into a deep sleep on the ground.
The Lord approached
as Adam lay there,
and took one of Adam's ribs from him.
And from this rib,
God fashioned the woman,
and brought her to Adam.
Then Adam said,
"Behold,
this one at last is flesh of my flesh,
and bone of my bone,
life from my life."
She is to be called, "woman,"
because she was made from the man.
That is why the man will leave
his father and his mother,
and will be united with his wife,
and the two...
will become one flesh.
[crickets chirping]
(man) Now, both of them were naked,
the man and the woman.
But because they were innocent,
they felt no shame.
The serpent was the most subtle
of all the wild creatures
that God had created.
And behold, he said to the woman,
"Did God really say
you shall not eat of the fruit
of any of the trees in the garden?”
The woman said to the serpent,
"We may eat of the fruit of the frees
in the garden,
but the Lord God said,
'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree
in the middle of the garden,
nor shall you touch it,
or you shall die."
But the serpent
flattered the woman saying,
"No, you will not die at all.
In fact, God knows that the day
you eat of that fruit,
your eyes will be opened
and you will become like God,
for you will know good and evil.”
And thus the woman
saw that the fruit of the tree
was good to eat
and pleasing to the eye
and enticing for the knowledge
it would give.
And so she took the fruit
and ate it.
Then she gave some
to the man who was with her.
And he, too,
ate of the fruit.
Adam and the woman
hid themselves behind the trees
because their eyes were opened
and both of them realized they were naked.
And so the Lord God Almighty
summoned Adam and said to him,
"Why are you hiding?”
Adam answered,
"I heard the sound of Your footsteps
and I was afraid
because now I am naked and alone.”
And the Lord God said,
"Who told you that you were naked?
Have you perhaps eaten
of the fruit of the tree
that I forbade you to eat?"
Adam answered,
"The woman gave me that fruit
and I ate some of it.
And now...
now I know fear.
I am alone.
Now I know good and evil."
Then the Lord God said to the woman,
"Why have you done this?"
The woman answered,
"The serpent tempted me
and I ate of the fruit.”
And so the Lord God said to the serpent,
"Because you have done this thing,
you shall be cursed among all the beasts.
You shall crawl in the dust on your belly
because it was you who caused her to eat.
For all eternity,
there will be enmity between you and the woman,
between your offspring and hers
and so until the end of time,
her descendants will crush your head,
and you will strike their heel.”
[wind gusting]
(man) To the man God said,
"Because you disobeyed me,
the Earth will be full of suffering for you.
You will earn your bread
by the sweat of your brow
until you return to the ground
because out of the ground,
you were made.
Dust you are
and to dust you shall return.”
[breathing deeply]
(man) And again the Lord God said,
"Behold, now man and woman
have become like me,
equal to me
because they know good and evil.
And so they must not be allowed
to reach out their hands
and take the fruit
of the Tree of Life
and eat it,
and live forever."
And the Lord God expelled
Adam and the woman from the garden
so that they would work the soil
from which they were made.
And at the east of the Garden of Eden,
God placed the Cherubim,
armed with the fiery,
flashing sword
to guard the way to the Tree of Life.
Adam named the woman "Eve"
because she was the mother
of all those who live.
Their firstborn son,
they named "Cain."”
When Eve gave birth to him, she said,
"Behold,
I have received a gift from the Lord.
With God,
I have created a human being."”
[music playing]
(man) And so it was.
And after Cain,
the woman gave birth to Abel,
his brother.
Abel, the second son,
was a shepherd and kept flocks.
Just like us?
(man) Yes, just like us.
But Cain worked in the fields,
planting the earth.
[sheep bleating]
[wind howling]
[wind whistling]
[flute music playing]
(man) In the course of time,
Cain offered part of his crop to the Lord.
Abel sacrificed to the Most High
the finest of the newborn Iambs of his flock.
The Lord God looked with favor
on Abel's offering.
He was not pleased with Cain's.
Cain was envious of his brother.
He became angry.
His face was downcast
and he withdrew into himself.
[pigs squealing]
[Cain] Aagh! Waah! Waah!
[yelling]
[rain and thunder]
[water dripping]
[water sizzles]
[flute music playing]
(man) The Lord God sought out Cain
and said to him,
"Why are you so full of anger?
And why is your face so downcast?
If you were doing what is right,
surely you ought to hold your head high.
But if you are acting wrongly,
look, the Evil One
is crouching at the door,
hungry to get you.
Wicked thoughts
and temptations assail you...
but you can be the master of them.”
[Cain screaming]
[flute music playing]
(man) In spite of the Lord God's warning,
Cain raised his hand
against his brother, Abel,
and killed him.
The Lord God again sought out Cain
and said to him,
"Where is Abel, your brother?"
Cain, afraid and in hiding,
replied, "I do not know.
Am I my brother's keeper?”
The Lord said,
"What have you done, Cain?
The voice of your brother's blood
is crying out
from the depths of the Earth.
From this day forth,
you must leave forever the ground
which witnessed your brother's death
at your hands.
Thus, when you till the earth,
it will not easily yield up
its fruits to you.
You shall be
a restless wanderer
and you will not cease
to hide yourself from Me forever.”
Cain said,
"This punishment is greater
than I can bear.
Behold, You banish me from this place
and from Your holy presence
and I must hide from Your face
for the rest of my days,
far from You.
I must live in danger,
for whoever meets me on the road
will surely kill me.”
But the Holy One did not want Cain's death,
and said, "Whoever kills Cain
will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.”
And the Lord, in His love,
put a mark on Cain to protect him,
so that no one coming across him
would kill him.
Cain withdrew
from the presence of the Holy One
and settled in the land of Nod,
to the east of Eden.
Then Cain united himself to his wife,
and she conceived
and gave birth to Enoch.
And Cain founded a city
and a new civilization.
And he called the city,
"Enoch,” after his son.
And these are the descendants of Cain:
Enoch fathered Irad,
and Irad fathered Mehujael.
Mehujael fathered Methushael,
who, in turn, fathered Lamech.
Lamech married two women,
Adah and Zillah.
The second wife, Zillah,
gave birth to Tubal-cain, the craftsman,
ancestor of all those who work
with copper and all other metals.
Tubal-cain's sister was Naamah,
whose name means “The one loved by all.
The one who is seduced
by the comforts and pleasures
of urban living.”
And Lamech said,
(Lamech) All of you,
hear my voice!
Listen to what I am about to say!
I killed a man who attacked me!
A boy,
in a moment of rage!
Sevenfold vengeance for Cain,
but for Lamech,
seventy-sevenfold!
[music playing]
(man) So, now it happens
that violence spreads itself
wider and wider among men.
Behold, from action to action,
from insult to insult,
humankind shapes its own history.
Some are perpetrators of violence,
some are its victims.
Some come out of the East,
others come out of the West.
But in all this movement,
all this confusion,
which is the right direction?
[music playing]
[birds chirping]
(man) Then Adam, the father of all peoples,
was joined again to his wife.
She gave birth to a male child,
and she named him "Seth",
because, she said,
"God has granted me other offspring
in the place of Abel,
whom Cain has killed.”
And Seth had a son
whom he called Enosh.
It was at that time
that people began to invoke
the name of the Lord.
Then Enosh fathered Kenan,
and Kenan fathered Mahalalel.
Mahalalel fathered Jared,
and Jared, Enoch.
Enoch fathered Methuselah,
who fathered Lamech.
And Lamech fathered Noah.
[singing in foreign language]
[music playing]
[music continues playing]
(man) Loyalty has disappeared
from among human creatures.
Neighbor lies to neighbor,
the poor are oppressed
by the arrogance of the rich,
and the evildoer in his heart thinks,
"No one, not even the Lord,
will hold me accountable.”
The Lord God looks down from the heavens
at the children of Adam
to see if a single one is still wise,
if a single one still seeks God.
But many have become corrupt.
Many have proven faithless and violent.
They are guilty of all manner of sins.
Not one of them does what is right.
All are seeking their own advantage.
Why, oh Lord,
do you keep so distant?
Why do You hide Yourself
in time of trouble?
Hear Me,
all you nations and peoples.
Listen to Me,
all you who inhabit the Earth,
people, high and low,
rich and poor alike.
Do not be overawed or jealous
when some of you become rich
and live in ever greater splendor.
When they die,
they will take nothing with them.
Their wealth will not go down with them.
Humankind,
in all its splendor,
cannot last.
Human beings will never be able
to repay to God their own ransom,
no matter how powerful they become.
They will see that the wise also die,
just as the fool and the brute,
and leave their wealth behind for others.
The tomb is their home forever,
their dwelling place until the end of time,
even though they give their names
to vast palaces and properties.
You who eat from the work of your hands,
blessed are you for you walk
in the ways of the Lord.
Your wife will be a fruitful vine
in the inner places of your house,
and your children round your table
like shoots of an olive tree.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
the swallow, a nest to place its young.
Blessed are they,
who dwell in the house of the Lord.
[laughing]
[singing in foreign language]
(woman) Tell me, then,
O loved one of my soul,
where will you lead your flocks to graze?
Where will you stop to rest at noon?
For sick with love I am.
Your right hand is under my head
and the other embraces me.
On my bed,
in the night,
I searched for the one
whom my heart loves.
I searched for him,
but did not find him.
Before the day breeze rises,
before the shadows flee,
return, my love.
Leap joyously,
like a gazelle,
like a young stag on the mountain
of sweet fragrances.
Kiss me
with the sweetest kisses
of your mouth.
Your love is sweeter than any nectar.
Your name...
...is an inebriating perfume.
Your banner on me
is love.
[music playing]
[indistinct chatter]
[festive music playing]
(man) "Show respect for my Creation,”
says the Lord.
"Revere everything that lives
in My holy place.
But unless you honor My laws
and live your days
according to My commandments,
you will know the terrors
I can inflict.
No light shall enter your eye.
You shall suffer fever and disease,
and your days shall pass in agony.
In vain will you wait to reap
what you have planted.
Your enemies will gather the harvest.
And if, in spite of this,
you refuse to listen to Me,
I will continue to chastise you
and will punish you seven times
over for your sins.
I will break your proud strength
and I will make the sky
like scorching iron for you,
and your soil like flesh without a shield.
Then you will seek refuge in your cities,
but there, I will send plague
and pestilence,
and you shall fall
into the clutches of death.
And if, in spite of this,
you will not listen to Me
and continue to go against Me,
I will go against you in fury
and punish you
seven times over for your sins.
You shall eat the flesh of your children.
I will destroy your higher places.
I will smash your incense altars,
and I will pile your corpses
on your foul idols.”
[horse whining]
[drum beating]
[music playing]
[wind howling]
(man) Then the Most High
saw that human wickedness
was great on the Earth,
and that the violent heart of humankind
contrived nothing but evil schemes.
The Lord God regretted having made
human beings on the Earth.
The Holy One was grieved at heart and said,
"I will rid the face of the Earth
of the human beings I created,
and of all the domestic animals,
the crawling creatures,
and the birds of the air.
All, I will exterminate them,
because I regret having created them."
And so the Creator God
spoke to Noah,
"I have decided that the end has come
for all living things,
for the Earth is full of lawlessness
and violence because of them.
So now I will destroy them
and the entire Earth.”
[wind gusting]
(man) Then the Lord God said to Noah,
"I am going to send the flood,
the waters on Earth,
to destroy all living things
with the breath of life under heaven.
Everything on Earth is to perish,
but with you, Noah,
I will make a pact.
With you, I will establish my covenant.
Behold, you will build an ark.
You will make it out of resinous wood.
You will divide it into compartments
and caulk it with pitch,
inside and out.”
[music playing]
(man) "You will fashion a roof for the ark
raising it a cubit higher than the rest.
You will build the ark with three decks,
lower, middle, and higher,
and one side of the ark,
you will make a door.”
[music playing]
(man) This is the story of Noah.
Noah was a good man,
just and honest,
and he walked with the Lord.
Noah fathered three sons,
Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
[music playing]
(man) And so Noah did exactly
as the Lord had commanded him.
Then the Lord God said to Noah,
"Go aboard the ark, and with you,
take your sons, your wife,
and wives of your sons.
From all living creatures, from all animals,
you will take into the ark
two of each species
to save their lives with yours.
There must be a male and female
of the birds, the cattle,
and of all the creatures
that crawl on the Earth,
according to their species.
Two of each will go aboard with you,
so that they might live."”
[sheep bleating]
[donkey braying]
[horse neighing]
[goat bleating]
(man) Again, the Lord God said,
"Take with you provisions of every kind
and lay in a store of them.
They will be nourishment for you
and the others in the ark.”
And Noah did this,
exactly as God had commanded him.
[music playing]
[thuds]
[wind gusting]
[rumbling]
[rain pattering]
(man) Seven days later, the waters of the flood
appeared on the Earth.
All the springs of the great deep
burst through and the cataracts
of the heavens opened wide.
On the same day,
Noah entered the ark with his three sons,
Shem, Ham and Japheth,
his wife, and the wives of his three sons.
These people and the animals,
each according to its species,
all came to Noah in the ark.
And thus it was,
as God had commanded.
And then the Lord God
closed the door behind him.
[sheep bleats]
[chicken clucks]
[sheep bleats]
[goat bleats]
[thunder rumbling]
[donkey braying]
[coughs]
[rain pattering continues]
[thunder rumbling]
[baby crying]
[thunder rumbling]
[baby crying]
[thunder rumbling]
[cows mooing]
[sizzling]
[water dripping]
[sizzling]
(Noah) The Lord God Almighty
summons the Earth,
from the west to the east,
and the heavens proclaim His justice.
Our God is coming to sit in judgment.
Before Him, devouring fire,
around Him, raging tempests.
Behold, the Holy One comes
and the Holy One speaks,
I am the Lord God,
your God.
Not for your sacrificial offerings
does your God reproach you,
nor for the solemn ceremonies
you ever performed to the Almighty.
But do not...
offer me a bull of your herd,
nor the goat you prize over others.
They're already mine.
All the beasts of the forest,
the animals that graze on the Earth,
they're mine already.
I know every bird that flies to the highest summit,
and all living creatures of the sea.
They are mine also.
Does God eat, perchance,
the cattle you give your Lord,
or drink blood from your sacrificial goats?
Offer thanksgiving.
Let it be your sacrifice to the Holy One.
In this way...
fulfill the vows you made
to the Most High."
[music playing]
[water dripping]
[creaking]
[multiple thuds]
(man) The flood lasted for 40 days and 40 nights.
The water swelled, lifting the ark
until it floated off the ground.
The waters rose higher and higher
on the surface of the Earth
until they covered the highest mountains
under the heavens.
And so it was that
all living things on Earth perished.
Every being with the least breath of life
in its nostrils died.
Everything on the face of the Earth was exterminated,
human beings, birds, animals,
domestic and wild,
and creeping things.
Only Noah was saved,
and with him, those in the ark.
[bird chirps]
[rain stops]
(man) Then the Creator remembered Noah
and all the animals that were in the ark with him.
And so the Lord God Almighty
sent a wind across the Earth,
and the waters began to subside.
The springs of the deep and the cataracts of the heavens
were stopped up,
and the rains ceased.
[music playing]
[chicks chirping]
[goats bleating]
[donkey braying]
[creaking]
[multiple thuds]
(man) And thus the waters began to withdraw
from the earth.
And after 150 days,
the ark came to rest
on the Mountains of Ararat.
[music playing]
(man) In the tenth month,
on the first day of the month,
dry land began to appear.
And in the distance,
the peaks of the mountains were to be seen.
[raven croaking]
(man) Another 40 days passed,
and Noah released a raven
who flew back and forth,
because the waters had not yet receded
from the face of the earth.
[draining water]
[music playing]
(man) Then Noah released a dove,
but...
the dove, too, returned to Noah in the ark,
for there was still water
on the surface of the earth.
[music playing]
(man) Noah waited another seven days,
and once again,
sent out the dove
from the ark.
[music playing]
(man) In the evening,
the dove came back to him.
And behold,
in its beak,
was a fresh olive branch.
[music playing]
(man) And so Noah realized
that the waters were receding
from the earth.
[music playing]
[dove fluttering wings]
(man) Noah waited another seven days.
Then, he set free the dove.
And this time,
it returned to him...
no more.
[music playing]
(man) And so the Most High
blessed Noah and his family
and said to them,
"As long as Earth endures,
seed time and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.
I will now set my bow in the clouds.
This is the sign of the covenant
I am establishing between Myself and the Earth.
The bow will be on the clouds
and I shall see it,
And I shall remember the eternal covenant
established between God
and every living being.
Every living thing that has life and moves
will be yours to eat.
Behold, I give you everything,
as in the past, I gave you the green fruits of the field.
But there is one exception,
you must not eat flesh with its life,
that is to say, with its blood in it.
And I will hold you accountable for your own life blood, too.
The Lord of life will demand an accounting
of every living creature.
The Creator of life will demand it
of all human beings.
Whoever sheds human blood
will be accountable for it
because the Lord has made man and woman
in His own image."
[music playing]