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Exodus Chapter 23

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asv (asv) - eBible.org engASV USFM

1 him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.
2 And if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.
3 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.
4 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
5 And he that curseth his father or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
6 And if men contend, and one smite the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keep his bed;
7 if he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.
8 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall surely be punished.
9 Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.
10 And if men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart, and yet no harm follow; he shall be surely fined, according as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.
11 But if any harm follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
12 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
13 burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
14 And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, and destroy it; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.
15 And if he smite out his man-servant’s tooth, or his maid-servant’s tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.
16 And if an ox gore a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be surely stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.
17 But if the ox was wont to gore in time past, and it hath been testified to its owner, and he hath not kept it in, but it hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.
18 If there be laid on him a ransom, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.
19 Whether it have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.
20 If the ox gore a man-servant or a maid-servant, there shall be given unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
21 And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein,
22 the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money unto the owner thereof, and the dead
23 beast shall be his.
24 And if one man’s ox hurt another’s, so that it dieth, then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the price of it; and the dead also they shall divide.
25 Or if it be known that the ox was wont to gore in time past, and its owner hath not kept it in; he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead
26 beast shall be his own.
27 If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
28 If the thief be found breaking in, and be smitten so that he dieth, there shall be no bloodguiltiness for him.
29 If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be bloodguiltiness for him; he shall make restitution: if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
30 If the theft be found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep, he shall pay double.
31 If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall let his beast loose, and it feed in another man’s field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution.
32 If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the shocks of grain, or the standing grain, or the field are consumed; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.
33 If a man shall deliver unto his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man’s house; if the thief be found, he shall pay double.

darby (darby) - eBible.org Darby 1890 plaintext

1 Thou shalt not accept a false report; extend not thy hand to the wicked, to be an unrighteous witness.
2 Thou shalt not follow the multitude for evil; neither shalt thou answer in a cause, to go after the multitude to pervert [judgment].
3 Neither shalt thou favour a poor man in his cause.
4 — If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt certainly bring it back to him.
5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under its burden, beware of leaving [it] to him: thou shalt certainly loosen [it] with him.
6 Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
7 Thou shalt keep far from the cause of falsehood; and the innocent and righteous slay not; for I will not justify the wicked.
8 And thou shalt take no bribe; for the bribe blindeth those whose eyes are open, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
9 And the stranger thou shalt not oppress; for ye know the spirit of the stranger, for ye have been strangers in the land of Egypt.
10 And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and gather in its produce;
11 but in the seventh thou shalt let it rest and lie [fallow], that the poor of thy people may eat [of it]; and what they leave, the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thine olive-tree.
12 — Six days thou shalt do thy work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest; that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger may be refreshed.
13 And ye shall be on your guard as to everything that I have said unto you; and shall make no mention of the name of othergods — it shall not be heard in thy mouth.
14 Thrice in the year thou shalt celebrate a feast to me.
15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread, (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I have commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt; and none shall appear in my presence empty;)
16 and the feast of harvest, the first-fruits of thy labours which thou hast sown in the field, and the feast of in-gathering, at the end of the year, when thou gatherest in thy labours out of the field.
17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear in the presence of the Lord Jehovah.
18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my feast remain all night until the morning.
19 The first of the first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of Jehovah thyGod. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee to the place that I have prepared.
21 Be careful in his presence, and hearken unto his voice: do not provoke him, for he will not forgive your transgressions; for my name is in him.
22 But if thou shalt diligently hearken unto his voice, and do all that I shall say, then I will be an enemy to thine enemies, and an adversary to thine adversaries.
23 For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off.
24 Thou shalt not bow down to theirgods, nor serve them, nor do after their deeds; but thou shalt utterly destroy them, and utterly shatter their statues.
25 And ye shall serve Jehovah yourGod; and he shall bless thy bread and thy water; and I will take sickness away from thy midst.
26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land; the number of thy days will I fulfil.
27 I will send my fear before thee, and confound every people to which thou comest, and will make all thine enemies turn their back to thee.
28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year: lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou art fruitful, and possess the land.
31 And I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness unto the river; for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, that thou mayest dispossess them from before thee.
32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with theirgods.
33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me; for if thou serve theirgods, it is sure to be a snare unto thee.

lxxbrent (lxxbrent) - Septuagint (Brenton 1851) eBible USFM

1 Thou shalt not receive a vain report: thou shalt not agree with the unjust [man] to become an unjust witness.
2 Thou shalt not associate with the multitude for evil; thou shalt not join thyself with a multitude to turn aside with the majority so as to shut out judgment.
3 And thou shalt not spare a poor man in judgment.
4 And if thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt turn them back and restore them to him.
5 And if thou see thine enemy's ass fallen under its burden, thou shalt not pass by it, but shalt help to raise it with him.
6 Thou shalt not wrest the sentence of the poor in his judgment.
7 Thou shalt abstain from every unjust thing: thou shalt not slay the innocent and just, and thou shalt not justify the wicked for gifts.
8 And thou shalt not receive gifts; for gifts blind the eyes of the seeing, and corrupt just words.
9 And ye shall not afflict a stranger, for ye know the heart of a stranger; for ye were yourselves strangers in the land of Egypt.
10 Six years thou shalt sow thy land, and gather in the fruits of it.
11 But in the seventh year thou shalt let it rest, and leave it, and the poor of thy nation shall feed; and the wild beasts of the field shall eat that which remains: thus shalt thou do to thy vineyard and to thine oliveyard.
12 Six days shalt thou do thy works, and on the seventh day there shall be rest, that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and that the son of thy maid-servant and the stranger may be refreshed.
13 Observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and ye shall make no mention of the name of other gods, neither shall they be heard out of your mouth.
14 Keep ye a feast to me three times in the year.
15 Take heed to keep the feast of unleavened bread: seven days ye shall eat unleavened bread, as I charged thee at the season of the month of new [corn], for in it thou camest out of Egypt: thou shalt not appear before me empty.
16 And thou shalt keep the feast of the harvest of first-fruits of thy labours, whatsoever thou shalt have sown in thy field, and the feast of completion at the end of the year in the gathering in of thy fruits out of thy field.
17 Three times in the year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God.
18 For when I shall have cast out the nations from before thee, and shall have widened thy borders, thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven, neither must the fat of my feast abide till the morning.
19 Thou shalt bring the first-offerings of the first-fruits of thy land into the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a lamb in its mother's milk.
20 And, behold, I send my angel before thy face, that he may keep thee in the way, that he may bring thee into the land which I have prepared for thee.
21 Take heed to thyself and hearken to him, and disobey him not; for he will not give way to thee, for my name is on him.
22 If ye will indeed hear my voice, and if thou wilt do all the things I shall charge thee with, and keep my covenant, ye shall be to me a peculiar people above all nations, for the whole earth is mine; and ye shall be to me a royal priesthood, and a holy nation: these words shall ye speak to the children of Israel, If ye shall indeed hear my voice, and do all the things I shall tell thee, I will be an enemy to thine enemies, and an adversary to thine adversaries.
23 For my angel shall go as thy leader, and shall bring thee to the Amorite, and Chettite, and Pherezite, and Chananite, and Gergesite, and Evite, and Jebusite, and I will destroy them.
24 Thou shalt not worship their gods, nor serve them: thou shalt not do according to their works, but shalt utterly destroy them, and break to pieces their pillars.
25 And thou shalt serve the Lord thy God, and I will bless thy bread and thy wine and thy water, and I will turn away sickness from you.
26 There shall not be on thy land one that is impotent or barren. I will surely fulfil the number of thy days.
27 And I will send terror before thee, and I will strike with amazement all the nations to which thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies to flee.
28 And I will send hornets before thee, and thou shalt cast out the Amorites and the Evites, and the Chananites and the Chettites from thee.
29 I will not cast them out in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the beasts of the field multiply against thee.
30 By little [and little] I will cast them out from before thee, until thou shalt be increased and inherit the earth.
31 And I will set thy borders from the Red Sea, to the sea of the Phylistines, and from the wilderness to the great river Euphrates; and I will give into your hand those that dwell in the land, and will cast them out from thee.
32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them and their gods.
33 And they shall not dwell in thy land, lest they cause thee to sin against me; for if thou shouldest serve their gods, these will be an offence to thee.

vul1914 (vul1914) - Vulgate 1914 UTF-8 (sacredbible.org)

1 Non suscipies vocem mendacii: nec iunges manum tuam ut pro impio dicas falsum testimonium.
2 Non sequeris turbam ad faciendum malum: nec in iudicio, plurimorum acquiesces sententiæ, ut a vero devies.
3 Pauperis quoque non misereberis in iudicio.
4 Si occurreris bovi inimici tui, aut asino erranti, reduc ad eum.
5 Si videris asinum odientis te iacere sub onere, non pertransibis, sed sublevabis cum eo.
6 Non declinabis in iudicium pauperis.
7 Mendacium fugies. Insontem et iustum non occides: quia aversor impium.
8 Nec accipies munera, quæ etiam excæcant prudentes, et subvertunt verba iustorum.
9 Peregrino molestus non eris. scitis enim advenarum animas: quia et ipsi peregrini fuistis in Terra Ægypti.
10 Sex annis seminabis terram tuam, et congregabis fruges eius.
11 Anno autem septimo dimittes eam, et requiescere facies, ut comedant pauperes populi tui: et quidquid reliquum fuerit, edant bestiæ agri: ita facies in vinea et in oliveto tuo.
12 Sex diebus operaberis: septimo die cessabis, ut requiescat bos et asinus tuus: et refrigeretur filius ancillæ tuæ, et advena.
13 Omnia quæ dixi vobis, custodite. Et per nomen externorum deorum non iurabitis, neque audietur ex ore vestro.
14 Tribus vicibus per singulos annos mihi festa celebrabitis.
15 Sollemnitatem azymorum custodies. Septem diebus comedes azyma, sicut præcepi tibi, tempore mensis novorum, quando egressus es de Ægypto: non apparebis in conspectu meo vacuus.
16 Et sollemnitatem messis primitivorum operis tui, quæcumque seminaveris in agro. sollemnitatem quoque in exitu anni, quando congregaveris omnes fruges tuas de agro.
17 Ter in anno apparebit omne masculinum tuum coram Domino Deo tuo.
18 Non immolabis super fermento sanguinem victimæ meæ, nec remanebit adeps sollemnitatis meæ usque mane.
19 Primitias frugum terræ tuæ deferes in domum Domini Dei tui. Non coques hœdum in lacte matris suæ.
20 Ecce ego mittam Angelum meum, qui præcedat te, et custodiat in via, et introducat in locum quem paravi.
21 Observa eum, et audi vocem eius, nec contemnendum putes: quia non dimittet cum peccaveris, et est nomen meum in illo.
22 Quod si audieris vocem eius, et feceris omnia quæ loquor, inimicus ero inimicis tuis, et affligam affligentes te.
23 Præcedetque te Angelus meus, et introducet te ad Amorrhæum, et Hethæum, et Pherezæum, Chananæumque, et Hevæum, et Iebusæum, quos ego conteram.
24 Non adorabis deos eorum, nec coles eos: non facies opera eorum, sed destrues eos, et confringes statuas eorum.
25 Servietisque Domino Deo vestro, ut benedicam panibus tuis et aquis, et auferam infirmitatem de medio tui.
26 Non erit infœcunda, nec sterilis in terra tua: numerum dierum tuorum implebo.
27 Terrorem meum mittam in præcursum tuum, et occidam omnem populum, ad quem ingredieris: cunctorumque inimicorum tuorum coram te terga vertam:
28 emittens crabrones prius, qui fugabunt Hevæum, et Chananæum, et Hethæum, antequam introeas.
29 Non eiiciam eos a facie tua anno uno: ne terra in solitudinem redigatur, et crescant contra te bestiæ.
30 Paulatim expellam eos de conspectu tuo, donec augearis, et possideas Terram.
31 Ponam autem terminos tuos a Mari rubro usque ad Mare Palæstinorum, et a deserto usque ad fluvium: tradam in manibus vestris habitatores Terræ, et eiiciam eos de conspectu vestro.
32 Non inibis cum eis fœdus, nec cum diis eorum.
33 Non habitent in terra tua, ne forte peccare te faciant in me, si servieris diis eorum: quod tibi certe erit in scandalum.

web (web) - WorldEnglish.Bible — CC0 modern update of ASV

1 “You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.
2 “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice.
3 You shall not favor a poor man in his cause.
4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.
5 If you see the donkey of him who hates you fallen down under his burden, don’t leave him. You shall surely help him with it.
6 “You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.
7 “Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked.
8 “You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous.
9 “You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, since you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
10 “For six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase,
11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the animal of the field shall eat. In the same way, you shall deal with your vineyard and with your olive grove.
12 “Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant, and the alien may be refreshed.
13 “Be careful to do all things that I have said to you; and don’t invoke the name of other gods or even let them be heard out of your mouth.
14 “You shall observe a feast to me three times a year.
15 You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it you came out of Egypt), and no one shall appear before me empty.
16 And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field; and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field.
17 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
18 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread. The fat of my feast shall not remain all night until the morning.
19 You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground into the house of the LORD your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
20 “Behold, I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.
21 Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don’t provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him.
22 But if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries.
23 For my angel shall go before you, and bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off.
24 You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars.
25 You shall serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you.
26 No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days.
27 I will send my terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
28 I will send the hornet before you, which will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before you.
29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the animals of the field multiply against you.
30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land.
31 I will set your border from the Red Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
32 You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

ylt (ylt) - Bible.com YLT98 plain UTF-8

1 `Thou dost not lift up a vain report; thou dost not put thy hand with a wicked man to be a violent witness.
2 `Thou art not after many to evil, nor dost thou testify concerning a strife, to turn aside after many to cause <FI>others<Fi> to turn aside;
3 and a poor man thou dost not honour in his strife.
4 `When thou meetest thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou dost certainly turn it back to him;
5 when thou seest the ass of him who is hating thee crouching under its burden, then thou hast ceased from leaving <FI>it<Fi> to it--thou dost certainly leave <FI>it<Fi> with him.
6 `Thou dost not turn aside the judgment of thy needy one in his strife;
7 from a false matter thou dost keep far off, and an innocent and righteous man thou dost not slay; for I do not justify a wicked man.
8 `And a bribe thou dost not take; for the bribe bindeth the open-<FI> eyed<Fi> , and perverteth the words of the righteous.
9 `And a sojourner thou dost not oppress, and ye--ye have known the soul of the sojourner, for sojourners ye have been in the land of Egypt.
10 `And six years thou dost sow thy land, and hast gathered its increase;
11 and the seventh thou dost release it, and hast left it, and the needy of thy people have eaten, and their leaving doth the beast of the field eat; so dost thou to thy vineyard--to thine olive-yard.
12 `Six days thou dost do thy work, and on the seventh day thou dost rest, so that thine ox and thine ass doth rest, and the son of thine handmaid and the sojourner is refreshed;
13 and in all that which I have said unto you ye do take heed; and the name of other gods ye do not mention; it is not heard on thy mouth.
14 `Three times thou dost keep a feast to Me in a year;
15 the Feast of Unleavened things thou dost keep; seven days thou dost eat unleavened things, as I have commanded thee, at the time appointed <FI>in<Fi> the month of Abib; for in it thou hast come forth out of Egypt, and ye do not appear <FI>in<Fi> My presence empty;
16 and the Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of thy works which thou sowest in the field; and the Feast of the In-Gathering, in the outgoing of the year, in thy gathering thy works out of the field.
17 `Three times in a year do all thy males appear before the face of the Lord Jehovah.
18 `Thou dost not sacrifice on a fermented thing the blood of My sacrifice, and the fat of My festival doth not remain till morning;
19 the beginning of the first-fruits of thy ground thou dost bring into the house of Jehovah thy God; thou dost not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
20 `Lo, I am sending a messenger before thee to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee in unto the place which I have prepared;
21 be watchful because of his presence, and hearken to his voice, rebel not against him, for he beareth not with your transgression, for My name <FI>is<Fi> in his heart;
22 for, if thou diligently hearken to his voice, and hast done all that which I speak, then I have been at enmity with thine enemies, and have distressed those distressing thee.
23 `For My messenger goeth before thee, and hath brought thee in unto the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, and I have cut them off.
24 `Thou dost not bow thyself to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their doings, but dost utterly devote them, and thoroughly break their standing pillars.
25 `And ye have served Jehovah your God, and He hath blessed thy bread and thy water, and I have turned aside sickness from thine heart;
26 there is not a miscarrying and barren one in thy land; the number of thy days I fulfil:
27 My terror I send before thee, and I have put to death all the people among whom thou comest, and I have given the neck of all thine enemies unto thee.
28 `And I have sent the hornet before thee, and it hath cast out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee;
29 I cast them not out from before thee in one year, lest the land be a desolation, and the beast of the field hath multiplied against thee;
30 little <FI>by<Fi> little I cast them out from before thee, till thou art fruitful, and hast inherited the land.
31 `And I have set thy border from the Red Sea, even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness unto the River: for I give into your hand the inhabitants of the land, and thou hast cast them out from before thee;
32 thou dost not make a covenant with them, and with their gods;
33 they do not dwell in thy land, lest they cause thee to sin against Me when thou servest their gods, when it becometh a snare to thee.'

Explanations by Age Level

Explain Like I'm 5

A long, long time ago, there was nothing at all - no earth, no sky, no animals, no people. It was all dark and empty. But God was there! God is so powerful that He can make anything just by speaking. So God said "Let there be light!" and BOOM! There was light everywhere! God saw that the light was beautiful and good. He called the light "day" and the darkness "night." This was the very first day when God started making our wonderful world!

Explain Like I'm 10

Before anything existed - no planets, stars, or life - God decided to create the universe. The earth started out as a dark, empty place covered with water. But God's Spirit was there, ready to bring order and beauty to everything. When God spoke and said "Let there be light," light immediately appeared because God's words have incredible power. God looked at the light and was pleased with what He had made. He organized time by separating light (day) from darkness (night), creating the first 24-hour period. This shows us that God is organized and purposeful in everything He does.

Explain Like I'm 15

Genesis 1:1-5 establishes fundamental theological truths about God and creation. The Hebrew word "bara" (created) indicates creation from nothing (ex nihilo), demonstrating God's absolute sovereignty and power. The phrase "without form and void" (tohu wa-bohu) describes a state of chaos that God transforms into order. The Spirit of God "hovering" or "brooding" over the waters suggests active, caring involvement in creation. The creation of light before the sun (created on day 4) indicates that God Himself is the ultimate source of light and energy. The establishment of day and night creates the framework of time, showing that God operates within orderly patterns while transcending them. This passage refutes both atheistic materialism and pantheism, establishing that God is both transcendent (separate from creation) and immanent (actively involved in it).