His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

The Creation of the World

1 In the ^abeginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was ^bwithout form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3 And God said, ^c“Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6 And God said, ^d“Let there be an expanse¹ in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made² the expanse and ^eseparated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were ^fabove the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven.³ And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

9 And God said, ^g“Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth,⁴ and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, ^h“Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants⁵ yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for ⁱsigns and for ^jseasons,⁶ and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God ^kmade the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to ^lrule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, ^athe Son of God.¹

2 ^bAs it is written in Isaiah the prophet,²

4 ^fJohn appeared, baptizing in ^gthe wilderness and proclaiming ^ha baptism of ⁱrepentance ^jfor the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, ^kconfessing their sins. 6 Now John was ^lclothed with camel’s hair and ^lwore a leather belt around his waist and ate ^mlocusts and ⁿwild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, ^o“After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 ^pI have baptized you with water, but ^qhe will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

The Baptism of Jesus

9 ^rIn those days Jesus ^scame from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he ^tsaw ^uthe heavens being torn open ^vand the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And ^wa voice came from heaven, ^x“You are my beloved Son;⁴ with you I am well pleased.”

The Temptation of Jesus

12 ^yThe Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 ^yAnd he was in the wilderness forty days, being ^ztempted by ^aSatan. And he was with the wild animals, and ^bthe angels were ministering to him.