Today's Reading

¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

²Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God's Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

³God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

⁴God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.

⁵God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. There was evening and there was morning, one day.

⁶God said, "Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters."

⁷God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.

⁸God called the expanse sky. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.

⁹God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together in one gathering, and let the dry land appear;" and it was so.

¹⁰God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called Seas. God saw that it was good.

¹¹God said, "Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with its seed in it, on the earth;" and it was so.

¹²The earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with its seed in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.

¹³There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

¹⁴God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years;

¹⁵and let them be for lights in the expanse of sky to give light on the earth;" and it was so.

¹⁶God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars.

¹⁷God set them in the expanse of sky to give light to the earth,

¹⁸and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.

¹⁹There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

²⁰God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of sky."

²¹God created the large sea creatures, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.

²²God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."

²³There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

²⁴God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;" and it was so.

²⁵God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.

²⁶God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

²⁷God created man in his own image. In God's image he created him; male and female he created them.

²⁸God blessed them. God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

²⁹God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.

³⁰To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;" and it was so.

³¹God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

¹The heavens and the earth were finished, and all their vast array.

²On the sixth day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

³God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work which he had created and made.

⁴This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

⁵No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground,

⁶but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground.

⁷The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

⁸The Lord God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

⁹Out of the ground the Lord God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became four heads.

¹¹The name of the first is Pishon: this is the one which flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

¹²and the gold of that land is good. There is aromatic resin and the onyx stone.

¹³The name of the second river is Gihon: the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush.

¹⁴The name of the third river is Hiddekel: this is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵The Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

¹⁶The Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;

¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die."

¹⁸The Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."

¹⁹Out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.

²⁰The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper suitable for him.

²¹The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.

²²He made the rib, which the Lord God had taken from the man, into a woman, and brought her to the man.

²³The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."

²⁴Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.

²⁵They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

¹Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Has God really said, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?'"

²The woman said to the serpent, "Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat,

³but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'"

⁴The serpent said to the woman, "You won't surely die,

⁵for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

⁶When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate.

⁷The eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

⁸They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

⁹The Lord God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?"

¹⁰The man said, "I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."

¹¹God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

¹²The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate."

¹³The Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

¹⁴The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

¹⁵I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel."

¹⁶To the woman he said, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. In pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."

¹⁷To Adam he said, "Because you have listened to your wife's voice, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

¹⁸Thorns also and thistles will it bring forth to you; and you will eat the herb of the field.

¹⁹By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

²⁰The man called his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

²¹The Lord God made coats of skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.

²²The Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he put forth his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever..."

²³Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.

²⁴So he drove out the man; and he placed Cherubs at the east of the garden of Eden, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

¹A record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

²Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

³and Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,

⁴and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon,

⁵and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed was the father of Jesse,

⁶and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah;

⁷and Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa;

⁸and Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah,

⁹and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah;

¹⁰and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah,

¹¹and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the exile to Babylon.

¹²And after the exile to Babylon, Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

¹³and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor,

¹⁴and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud,

¹⁵and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob,

¹⁶and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, who is called the Messiah.

¹⁷So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this; for after his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹And Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly.

²⁰But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to yourself Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

²¹And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins."

²²Now all this has happened, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,

²³"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son. They shall call his name Immanuel;" which is, being interpreted, "God with us."

²⁴And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself;

²⁵and had no marital relations with her until she had brought forth a son; and he named him Jesus.

¹Blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers;

²but his delight is in the Lord's Law. On his Law he meditates day and night.

³He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper.

⁴The wicked are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

⁵Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

⁶For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.

¹The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel:

²to know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding;

³to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;

⁴to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young man:

⁵that the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; that the man of understanding may attain to sound counsel:

⁶to understand a proverb, and parables, the words and riddles of the wise.

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸My son, listen to your father's instruction, and do not forsake your mother's teaching:

⁹for they will be a garland to grace your head, and chains around your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

¹¹If they say, "Come with us, Let's lie in wait for blood; let's lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

¹²let's swallow them up alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down into the pit.

¹³We'll find all valuable wealth. We'll fill our houses with spoil.

¹⁴You shall cast your lot among us. We'll all have one purse."

¹⁵My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path,

¹⁶for their feet run to evil. They hurry to shed blood.

¹⁷For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird:

¹⁸but these lie in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives.

¹⁹So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.

²⁰Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares.

²¹She calls at the head of noisy places. At the entrance of the city gates, she utters her words:

²²"How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge?

²³Turn at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make known my words to you.

²⁴Because I have called, and you have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one has paid attention;

²⁵but you have ignored all my counsel, and wanted none of my reproof;

²⁶I also will laugh at your disaster. I will mock when calamity overtakes you;

²⁷when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when your disaster comes on like a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come on you.

²⁸Then will they call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me;

²⁹because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord.

³⁰They wanted none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof.

³¹Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes.

³²For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them.

³³But whoever listens to me will dwell securely, and will be at ease, without fear of harm."