Yes, both chapters. But for the lazy, here's a selection from The Message Translation:
"God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature
So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle,
And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth."
God created human beings; he created them godlike,
Reflecting God's nature. He created them male and female.
God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth."
And every kind of fruit-bearing tree, given them to you for food.
To all animals and all birds, everything that moves and breathes,
I give whatever grows out of the ground for food."
And there it was.
God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good!
It was evening, it was morning— The sixth day".
I know you were probably expecting Adam & Eve on the second day of the Jesse Tree. But before we jump into the people, I wanted to take a moment to honor the place where we are rooted, from which all life sprouts: our earth. There is a tendency on the search for holiness to disregard "things of this world," to focus on heaven and the beyond and the distant. That is mistake. God created this glorious place for us as a medium of our salvation. It is with our feet in the mud that we find God. It is while wading through the dirt and brush and puddles that God walks with us.
As Christmas approaches, the gift of the earth, along with the charge to be responsible for the earth, weighs on my mind. I worry about the buying of superfluous crap, the meaningless gifts I purchase just to check people off my list. I wonder about the waste ending up in landfills and the wasted energy making things that don't really matter.
In God's charge to care for the earth we are participating in his on-going act of creation. We can choose to create with God, or to destroy with that other guy. Paying attention to all the little ways we waste God's creation, use more that our share, choose convenience over responsibility, can give us an incredible insight to how well we live up to God's charge to care for the world.
But don't get too depressed. I readily admit that the thought of being ecologically perfect is about as impossible- and depressing- as the thought of being morally perfect. So this Advent I am resolved to change one little thing. This Advent I am doing away with styrofoam cups. It seems silly, I know, but with work at a church, I can end up with entire wastebaskets full of freaking styrofoam cups at the end of an evening. It's as small a thing as making a different choice at the grocery store. And in a little, almost invisible step, I can choose to give a gift to the earth. I can choose to be responsible for this creation that is so very good.
What is one small thing you can do this Advent to care for the earth?
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