In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth— Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light!" And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, and God caused there to be a separation between the light and between the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

And God said, "Let there be a vaulted dome in the midst of the waters, and let it cause a separation between the waters." So God made the vaulted dome, and he caused a separation between the waters which were under the vaulted dome and between the waters which were over the vaulted dome. And it was so. And God called the vaulted dome "heaven." And there was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

And God said, "Let the waters under heaven be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear." And it was so. And God called the dry ground "earth," and he called the collection of the waters "seas." And God saw that it was good. And God said, "Let the earth produce green plants that will bear seed—fruit trees bearing fruit in which there is seed—according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so. And the earth brought forth green plants bearing seed according to its kind, and trees bearing fruit in which there was seed according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

And God said, "Let there be lights in the vaulted dome of heaven to separate day from night, and let them be as signs and for appointed times, and for days and years, and they shall be as lights in the vaulted dome of heaven to give light on the earth." And it was so. And God made two lights, the greater light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night, and the stars. And God placed them in the vaulted dome of heaven to give light on the earth and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly over the earth across the face of the vaulted dome of heaven. So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kind, and every bird with wings according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.

And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind: cattle and moving things, and wild animals according to their kind." And it was so. So God made wild animals according to their kind and the cattle according to their kind, and every creeping thing of the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

And God said, "Let us make humankind in our image and according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of heaven, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every moving thing that moves upon the earth." So God created humankind in his image, in the likeness of God he created him, male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven, and over every animal that moves upon the earth."

And God said, "Look—I am giving to you every plant that bears seed which is on the face of the whole earth, and every kind of tree that bears fruit. They shall be yours as food." And to every kind of animal of the earth and to every bird of heaven, and to everything that moves upon the earth in which there is life I am giving every green plant as food." And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.

And heaven and earth and all their array were finished. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. And God blessed the seventh day, and he sanctified it, because on it he rested from all his work of creating that there was to do.

These are the generations of heaven and earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made earth and heaven— before any plant of the field was on earth, and before any plant of the field had sprung up, because Yahweh God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no human being to cultivate the ground, but a stream would rise from the earth and water the whole face of the ground— when Yahweh God formed the man of dust from the ground, and he blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

And Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And Yahweh God caused to grow every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good for food. And the tree of life was in the midst of the garden, along with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Now a river flowed out from Eden that watered the garden, and from there it diverged and became four branches. The name of the first is the Pishon. It went around all the land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stones are there.) And the name of the second is Gihon. It went around all the land of Cush. And the name of the third is Tigris. It flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

And Yahweh God took the man and set him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it. And Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, "From every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die."

Then Yahweh God said, "it is not good that the man is alone. I will make for him a helper as his counterpart." And out of the ground Yahweh God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and he brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called that living creature was its name. And the man gave names to every domesticated animal and to the birds of heaven and to all the wild animals. But for the man there was not found a helper as his counterpart. And Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man. While he slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh where it had been. And Yahweh God fashioned the rib which he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. And the man said,

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh. And the man and his wife, both of them, were naked, and they were not ashamed.

For the music director. A psalm of David.

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Just as it is written in the prophet Isaiah,

John was there baptizing in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the Judean region and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem went out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. And John was dressed in camel’s hair and a belt made of leather around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And he was preaching, saying, "One who is more powerful than I is coming after me, of whom I am not worthy to bend down and untie the strap of his sandals. I baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

And it happened that in those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. And immediately as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens being split apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

And immediately the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

And after John had been taken into custody, Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the gospel!"

And as he was passing by along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen). And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you become fishers of people." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, and they were in the boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and went away after him. And they went into Capernaum and immediately on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue.

And they were amazed at his teaching, because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like the scribes. And so then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, saying, "Leave us alone, Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!" And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And after convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, the unclean spirit came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they began to discuss with one another, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands the unclean spirits and they obey him." And the report about him then went out everywhere in the whole surrounding region of Galilee.

And so then he departed from the synagogue and came into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying down, suffering with a fever, and at once they told him about her. And he came and raised her up by taking hold of her hand, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

Now when it was evening, when the sun had set, they began bringing to him all those who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole town was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases and expelled many demons. And he did not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

And getting up early in the morning while it was very dark, he departed and went to a deserted place, and there he was praying. And Simon and those who were with him searched diligently for him. And they found him and said to him, "Everyone is looking for you!" And he said to them, "Let us go elsewhere, into the neighboring rural towns, so that I can preach there also, because I have come out for this very reason." And he went into all Galilee preaching in their synagogues and expelling demons.

And a leper came to him, entreating him and kneeling down, saying to him, "If you are willing, you are able to make me clean." And becoming angry, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be made clean." And immediately the leprosy went away from him and he was made clean. And warning him sternly, he sent him away at once. And he said to him, "See to it that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and bring for your cleansing the things which Moses commanded, for a testimony to them. But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread abroad the account, so that he was no longer able to enter publicly into a town. But he was staying outside in deserted places, and they were coming to him from all directions.