The Seventh Day, God Rests

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and ^wall the host of them. 2 And ^xon 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. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

The Creation of Man and Woman

5 When no ^zbush of the field¹ was yet in the land² and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man ^ato work the ground, 6 and a mist³ was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed the man of ^bdust from the ground and ^cbreathed into his ^dnostrils the breath of life, and ^ethe man became a living creature. 8 And the Lord God planted a ^fgarden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. ^gThe tree of life was in the midst of the garden, ^hand the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of ⁱHavilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is the ^jTigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The Lord God took the man ^kand put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ^lyou shall not eat, for in the day that you eat⁴ of it you ^mshall surely die.”

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; ⁿI will make him a helper fit for⁵ him.” 19 ^oNow out of the ground the Lord God had formed⁶ every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and ^pbrought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam⁷ there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a ^qdeep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made⁸ into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,

24 ^tTherefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

The Visit of the Wise Men

1 Now ^hafter Jesus was born in ⁱBethlehem of Judea ^jin the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men¹ from ^kthe east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born ^lking of the Jews? For we saw ^mhis star when it rose² and have come to ⁿworship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where ^othe Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, ^rthey offered him gifts, ^sgold and ^tfrankincense and ^umyrrh. 12 And ^vbeing warned ^win a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

The Flight to Egypt

13 Now when they had departed, behold, ^xan angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. ^yThis was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ^z“Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Herod Kills the Children

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 ^aThen was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

The Return to Nazareth

19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for ^dthose who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and ^ebeing warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called ^fNazareth, ^gso that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

The Exiles Return

1 ⁿNow these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles ^owhom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. 2 They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, ^pMordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.

The number of the men of the people of Israel: 3 ^qthe sons of Parosh, 2,172. 4 The sons of Shephatiah, 372. 5 The sons of Arah, 775. 6 The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812. 7 The sons of Elam, 1,254. 8 The sons of Zattu, 945. 9 The sons of Zaccai, 760. 10 The sons of Bani, 642. 11 The sons of Bebai, 623. 12 The sons of Azgad, 1,222. 13 The sons of Adonikam, 666. 14 The sons of Bigvai, 2,056. 15 The sons of Adin, 454. 16 The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98. 17 The sons of Bezai, 323. 18 The sons of Jorah, 112. 19 The sons of Hashum, 223. 20 The sons of Gibbar, 95. 21 The sons of Bethlehem, 123. 22 The men of Netophah, 56. 23 The men of Anathoth, 128. 24 The sons of Azmaveth, 42. 25 The sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. 26 The sons of Ramah and Geba, 621. 27 The men of Michmas, 122. 28 The men of Bethel and Ai, 223. 29 The sons of Nebo, 52. 30 The sons of Magbish, 156. 31 The sons of ^rthe other Elam, 1,254. 32 The sons of Harim, 320. 33 The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725. 34 The sons of Jericho, 345. 35 The sons of Senaah, 3,630.

36 The priests: the ^ssons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, 973. 37 The sons of Immer, 1,052. 38 The ^tsons of Pashhur, 1,247. 39 The sons of Harim, 1,017.

40 The Levites: the sons of ^uJeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74. 41 The singers: the sons of ^vAsaph, 128. 42 The sons of the ^wgatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, in all 139.

43 ^xThe temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, 44 the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon, 45 the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, 46 the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Hanan, 47 the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, 48 the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, 49 the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, 50 the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephisim, 51 the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, 52 the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, 53 the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, 54 the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha.

55 ^yThe sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth, the sons of Peruda, 56 the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, 57 the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the sons of Ami.

58 All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants were 392.

59 The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, ^zthough they could not prove their fathers’ houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: 60 the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda, 652. 61 Also, of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, and the sons of ^aBarzillai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called by their name). 62 These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, and ^bso they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. 63 The ^cgovernor told them that they were not ^dto partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest to consult ^eUrim and Thummim.

64 ^fThe whole assembly together was 42,360, 65 besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337, and they had 200 male and female ^gsingers. 66 Their horses were 736, their mules were 245, 67 their camels were 435, and their donkeys were 6,720.

68 ^hSome of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site. 69 According to their ability they gave to ⁱthe treasury of the work 61,000 darics¹ of gold, 5,000 minas² of silver, and 100 priests’ garments.

70 ^jNow the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel³ in their towns.

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

1 When ^fthe day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like ^ga mighty rushing wind, and ^hit filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues ⁱas of fire appeared to them and rested¹ on each one of them. 4 And they were all ^jfilled with the Holy Spirit and began ^kto speak in other tongues ^las the Spirit gave them utterance.

5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And ^mat this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And ⁿthey were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking ^oGalileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and ^pMedes and ^qElamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and ^rproselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And ^sall were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others ^tmocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

Peter’s Sermon at Pentecost

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, ^usince it is only the third hour of the day.² 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, ^da man attested to you by God ^ewith ^fmighty works and wonders and signs that ^gGod did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus,^{3 h}delivered up according to ⁱthe definite plan and ^jforeknowledge of God, ^kyou crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 ^lGod raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because ^mit was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him,

29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about ^tthe patriarch David ^uthat he both died and ^vwas buried, and ^whis tomb is with us to this day. 30 ^xBeing therefore a prophet, and knowing that ^yGod had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that ^zhe was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus ^aGod raised up, ^band of that we all are witnesses. 33 ^cBeing therefore ^dexalted at the right hand of God, and having received from ^ethe Father ^fthe promise of the Holy Spirit, ^ghe has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34 For ^hDavid did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that ^jGod has made him ^kboth Lord and Christ, this Jesus ^lwhom you crucified.”

37 Now when ^mthey heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, ⁿwhat shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, ^o“Repent and ^pbe baptized every one of you ^qin the name of Jesus Christ ^rfor the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive ^sthe gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For ^tthe promise is for you and ^ufor your children and for all ^vwho are far off, everyone ^wwhom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, ^x“Save yourselves from this ^ycrooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and ^zthere were added that day about three thousand souls.

The Fellowship of the Believers

42 And ^athey devoted themselves to the apostles’ ^bteaching and the ^cfellowship, to ^dthe breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe⁴ came upon every soul, and ^emany wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and ^fhad all things in common. 45 And ^fthey were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, ^gattending the temple ^htogether and ⁱbreaking bread in their homes, they received their food ^jwith glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and ^khaving favor with all the people. And the Lord ^ladded to their number ^mday by day those who ⁿwere being saved.