Page:Anglo-Saxon version of the Hexameron of St. Basil.djvu/36

Rh called heaven. It is wonderfully lofty, and wide in circumference, it goeth under this earth quite as deep, as above; although uninstructed men know not how to give credence to this. And God then separated through His lordly might, the waters below, that were under the firmament, from the waters on high, that were above the firmament. Concerning the waters that are on high, the prophet has thus written, Laudate eum cœli cœlorum, et aquæ, quæ super cœlos sunt, lauvdent nomen Domini, "Praise Him, O heavens, ye heavens of heavens, and also the waters that are above the heavens, let them praise the name of the Lord:" thus sayeth the Holy Scripture. The waters praise not God with any words—but by means of the creatures which He has created in a wondrous manner, is His might made known, and He is in this way praised.

VI. On the third day our Lord collected the sea waves from the surface of the earth. The earth was at first altogether invisible, inasmuch as it was all covered over with the waves, but God separated it from the waves of the sea into its own place, as it stands unto this time. It does not lie upon any thing, but it stands on high, through the might of Him alone who hath created all things, and He holds all things without labour, because His name is Omnipotens Deus, that is to say in English, "the Almighty God." His will is action, and He is not weary, and His great might cannot any where labour, as the prophet hath written concerning Him, saying, Quia in manu ejus sunt omnes fines terræ, "Because in His hand are all the bounds (meres) of the earth." The sea He placed in the way that it as yet lieth, within the earth, in its circumference; and although it is broad and bent in divers ways, and wonderfully deep, it nevertheless also dwelleth in the bosom of the earth, within its boundaries. God Himself then saw (the thing) that so it was good, and He commanded the earth immediately to sprout forth growing grass, and the green herbs, with their own (peculiar) seed, for the manifold art of the physician, and the plants forthwith sprung up after a pleasant fashion, with manifold blossoms, diversly coloured. God