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Sample Rendition of Genesis, Chapter 1 AMDG

  • 1. In the heid1 o aa2 things, Goid makkit3 the4 hivvens an the airth.
  • 2. An the5 airth wes athoot form6 an teem, an Daurk wes ower the face o the Deep, an the Spirit o Goid flichtert ower the watters.
  • 3. An Goid said: Lat thair be licht, an thair wes licht.
  • 4. An Goid saaw the licht, that it7 wes gweed. An Goid sounert8 the licht fae the daurk.
  • 5. An Goid caa’d the licht Day, an the daurk He caa’d Nicht. An thair was evenan, an thair wes mornan – the Foremaist9 Day.
  • 6. And Goid said, Lat thair be a pairtan atween the watters, an lat it keep the watters fae the watters.
  • 7. Sae Goid wrocht a pairtan, and keepit the watters unner the pairtan, fae the watters that wes abeen it, an it wes sae.
  • 8. An Goid caa’d the pairtan Hivven. And thair wes evenan an thair wes mornan – the Seicont Day.
  • 9. An Goid said, Lat the watters unner the hivvens be gaithert thegither intae ae steid, an lat the dry grun kythe10. An it wes sae.
  • 10. An Goid caa’d the dry grun Airth, an the gaitheran-thegither o the watters He caa’d seas. And Goid saaw that it wes gweed.
  • 11. An Goid said, Lat the Airth fesh oot11 girss, the yerb beiran seed, an the fruit-tree on the Airth, makkan fruit efter his kynd, fas seed is in itsel,
              an it wes sae.
  • 12. An the land brocht oot girss, an yerb beiran seed, an the tree makkan fruit, fas seed is in itsel, efter his kind. An Goid saaw that it wes gweed.
  • 13. An the evenan an the mornan wes the Third Day.
  • 14. An Goid said, Lat thair be lichts in the pairtan o the hivvens, tae souner the day fae the nicht, an lat thame staun for signs, an saisons
              and days an ‘ears.
  • 15. An lat thame be for lichts in the pairtan o the hivvens tae gie licht on the Airth.
  • 16. An Goid makkit the twa muckle lichts, the bigger ene tae rule ower the day, and the littler ene tae rule ower the nicht. He made the starries
              as weel.
  • 17. An Goid set thame in the pairtan of the hivvens, tae gie licht on the Airth.
  • 18. Tae rule ower the day an the nicht, an tae souner the licht fae the daurk, and Goid saaw that it wes gweed.
  • 19. An the evenan an the mornan wes the Fowert Day.
  • 20. An Goid said, Lat the watters bring furth sweeman craiturs galore12 that hae life, an birds that flee abeen the Airth in the open pairtan o
               the hivvens.
  • 21. An Goid makkit muckle whauls, an aa lievan craiturs that muive, that the watters hed brocht furth fowth o, efter thair kynd, an ivvery weengit
              foul efter hits kynd, an Goid saaw that it wes gweed.
  • 22. And Goid blissit thame, sayan, Hae aa fowth and growe in nummer, an fill the watters in the seas, an lat the birds increase upon the land.
  • 23. An the evenan an the mornan wes the Fift Day.
  • 24. Syne Goid said, Lat the land bring furth the lievan craiturs efter thair kynds, kye and creepan things, an beasts of the airth efter thair kynds.
               An it wes sae.
  • 25. An Goid makkit the beasts o the land, after thair kynds, and the nowt efter thair kinds, and aathin that creeps alang the grun efter thair kinds,
              an Goid saaw that it wes gweed.
  • 26. An Goid said, Lat’s mak Fowk, in oor image, efter oor likeness, and lat thame hae the upper haun ower the fish o the sea, and ower aa the
               birds o the air, and ower aa the kye, and ower aa the land, an ower ivvery creepan thing that creeps alang the grun.
  • 27. Sae Goid creatit Fowk in His ain image. He creatit thame in the image o Goid: loons and quines He creatit thame.
  • 28. An Goid blissit thame, an Goid said tae thame, Hae aa fowth, an increase, an fill the land, an keep it unner fit, an hae the runnan o the fish
               o the sea an the birds o the air, an ivvery  lievan craitur that muives alang the grun.
  • 29. An Goid said, Look, I hae gien ye ivvery yerb beiran seed that is on the face o the hale land, an ivvery tree fit hes fruit makkan seed.
               It’ll be meat13 for ye14.
  • 30. An tae ivvery beast o the land, and tae ivvery bird o the air, an tae ivvery lievan thing that creeps alang the grun belang ivvery green yerb
               for meat. An it wes sae.
  • 31. An Goid saaw ivverything that He hed wrocht, and - behauld – it wes affa gweed. An the evenan and the mornan wes the Sixt Day.
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  • 2:1 Sae the Hivvens an the Airth wes feenisht, an the hale company in-bye them.
  • 2 An on the Sieventh Day, Goid endit aa His work that He hed deen; an He restit on the Sieventh Day fae aa His work that He hed deen.
  • 3 An Goid blissit the Sieventh Day, and sained15 it, because in it He hed restit fae aa His work that He hed creatit and wrocht.
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    Translated by:
    Bruce Gardner
    June 2006


  • 1 The Hebrew word reshit (beginning, also firstfruits) is related to rosh (head). Cf. Colossians 1:15-20.
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  • 2Throughout this translation, my spelling takes account of Lallans (and Mediaeval Scots) orthography.
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  • 3Hebrew bara is usually translated create. The usual Hebrew word for make is asah. I decided not to use the usual creatit in Gen 1:1, but mak, since it has a wider
         connotation in Scots (e.g., makar = poet).
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  • 4In Doric, the is ‘e, an unstressed vowel. To save what Gibbon calls ‘a spray of apostrophes’, I use the. This emphasises an important matter of Doric orthography: it can’t be
          only phonetic and lose its roots. In practice, where the word is stressed, the ‘th’ is often pronounced. Unstressed, that is elided to ‘e. Thus, the expression The Man in the
          Moon, would often be The Mannie in ‘e Meen. However , some Doric speakers would consistently drop the ‘th’ and use ‘e, even for a stressed or intial word. It is not clear
          whether the use of ‘th’ is an influence from English or not. One simply must be prepared for both.
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  • 5As in the, whether th is pronounced in that, there etc. hangs on Doric’s frequent elisions (cf. [h]is). I prefer to let the word stand without apostrophes, as far as possible, and
          let speaker decide its fate.
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  • 6Doric practice adds an unstressed vowel between the final consonants, so form is pronounced forəm.
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  • 7In Doric, there is an ‘h’ before it, often elided, but used in emphasis (v21). This is a link with A.S. hit.
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  • 8Eng. sunder = divide, cut in two. It is sometimes written ‘sinnert’.
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  • 9Eng. foremost (cf. the Ballad: Get up and bar the door: ‘Gudeman, ye’ve spoken the foremost word’).
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  • 10Borrowed from Scots, although the English appear would fit anglicized usage. Cf. Geoffrey Chaucer ‘a gentle hearte kytheth gentilesse’; Sir Walter Scott: ‘It kythes
           bright… because all is dark around it’.
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  • 11Scots fesh oot gives the idea of things popping out, but fesh (Eng. fetch), like kythe, needs recovery.
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  • 12 Scots galore (also used in English) is a loan word (phrase) from Gaelic, where gu leor means plenty.
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  • 13In Doric pronunciation, meat virtually rhymes with Scottish pronunciation of the English word mate.
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  • 14Ye in Doric (Eng. you) is pronounced with an unstressed vowel Yə, so it could almost be spelt Yih.
  • 15Sained = sanctified (= made [s.t.] holy).

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