But when a scientist says that the Earth is billions of years old, there is no biblical reason to contradict him.
There's plenty of other stuff the Bible says that contradicts science. This verse is negligible. Whoopty-do...
My point in all of this is that I believe the Earth could be billions of years old. A lot of religious people believe the planet was created in 6, 24 hour, days or 6 thousand years.
So you want to interpret the Bible as literal but still hold on to an old Earth?
If there's a motive behind your interpretation then it is intellectually dishonest. You're forming the scripture around your beliefs rather than forming your beliefs around the scripture.
But whatever... you can do what you want.