²⁴ And 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 God saw that it was good. ²⁶ Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion 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.’²⁷ So God created humankind in his image,   in the image of God he created them;    male and female he created them.²⁸God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion 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.’ And it was so.³¹God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Psalm 8

Divine Majesty and Human Dignity

To the leader: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.¹ O ^Lord, our Sovereign,   how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.²   Out of the mouths of babes and infantsyou have founded a bulwark because of your foes,   to silence the enemy and the avenger. ³ When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,   the moon and the stars that you have established;⁴ what are human beings that you are mindful of them,   mortals that you care for them? ⁵ Yet you have made them a little lower than God,    and crowned them with glory and honour.⁶ You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;   you have put all things under their feet,⁷ all sheep and oxen,   and also the beasts of the field,⁸ the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,   whatever passes along the paths of the seas. ⁹ O ^Lord, our Sovereign,   how majestic is your name in all the earth!