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Genesis 1:1-31

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  And the earth was unformed and empty, with darkness over the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and light came into being.  God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light Day and the darkness Night.  And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”  And God made the expanse and divided the waters which were above the expanse from the waters that were below the expanse, and so it came to pass.  God called the expanse Heaven.  And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

And God said, “Let the waters under heaven be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.”  And so it came to pass.  God called the dry land Earth; and the gathered waters, he called Seas.  And God saw that it was good.

And God said, “Let the earth sprout grass, plant yielding seed, and fruit trees producing fruit in which is their seed, each after its kind, upon the earth.  And so it came to pass.  The earth sprouted grass, plant yielding seed after its kind, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, after its kind.  And God saw that it was good.  And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years.  And let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth. And so it came it pass.

And God fashioned two great 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 expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness.  And God saw that it was good.  And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

And God said, “Let the waters swarm with multitudes of living creatures, and let birds fly over the earth and across the face of the expanse of the heavens.  And God created great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, and with which the waters teem, after its own kind, and every winged bird after 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 birds multiply on the earth.  And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kinds:  cattle, creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kinds, and so it came to pass.  And God created the beasts of the earth after their kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creeps upon the earth after its kind.  And God saw that it was good.

And God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.  And so God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them:  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 have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant bearing seed which is upon the face of the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit.  To you it shall be for food.  And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to every thing that creeps upon the earth, every thing that has a living soul, I have given every green plant for food.”  And so it came to pass.

And God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good.  And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 3:1-7

The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work and attend to it.  The Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree in the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for on the day you eat of it you shall surely die."

Now the serpent was more cunning than any land animal that the Lord God had made.  He said to the woman, "Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?’"  And the woman said to the serpent, "God said, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, you shall not eat, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.

But the serpent said to the woman, "You shall not surely die, for God knows that on the day you eat of it, you eyes shall be opened, and you shall become like God, knowing good and evil.

The woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasing to the eyes, and a tree to be coveted to make one wise; she took from its fruit and ate.  She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.  The eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.  They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves clothes.

Genesis 2:15-17

The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work and attend to it.  The Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree in the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for on the day you eat of it you shall surely die."

Matthew 4:1-11

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desolate place to be tested by the accuser. And after he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was famished. Then the tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." But he answered, saying, "It is written, people do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’"

Then the accuser took him into the holy city and caused him to stand on the top of the temple, and he said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will charge his angels concerning you,’ and ‘Upon their hands they will raise you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’"  Jesus said to him, "It is further written, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’"

Again, the accuser took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Depart Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’"

Then the accuser departed from him, and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.

 

Isaiah 53:1-12

Isaiah 53:1-12

Who has believed the rumor?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For he grew up like a tender plant,
and as a root out of parched ground;
he had no form or beauty that we should look upon him,
and no appearance that we should delight in him.
He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom we averted our faces he was held in contempt,
and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our diseases and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
punished by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded because of our transgressions;
he was bruised for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and by his stripes we are made whole.

All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way;
and the Eternal has placed upon him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is brought to be butchered,
and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
He was taken away in oppression and judgment.
And as for his generation,
who has considered that he was cut off from the land of the living,
and, for the transgression of my people, beaten?
And they made his grave with the ungodly and with the rich in his death,
although he had done no wrong,
and neither was there any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it pleased the Eternal to break him;
he has put him to grief;
but when his soul makes an offering for sin,
he shall see his children;
he shall lengthen his days;
and the delight of the Eternal shall prosper in his hand.
He shall perceive the weariness of his soul and be satisfied.
By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, justify many,
and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the mighty,
because he poured out his soul to death and was counted among the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.

John 18:33-38a

John 18:33-38a

Then Pilate went back inside the Judgement Hall again, and addressed Jesus and said to him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered him, “Do you say this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”

“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied, “Your own people and chief priests have betrayed you to me. What is it you have done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were of this world, my servants would fight to prevent my being delivered to the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is not from here.”

Then Pilate said to him, “You are a king.” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this was I born and for this I came into the world: to give witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.”

38 Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”

Revelation 1:4b-8

Revelation 1:4b-8

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are in the presence of his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and has cleansed us from our sins by his own blood, and has made us kings and priests to serve his God and Father – to him glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

“Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
and “every eye will see him,
and those who pierced him
and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him.”
Even so! Amen.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come; God Almighty.”

Psalm 93

Psalm 93

The Lord reigns.
He is robed in majesty;
the Lord is girded about strength.
The world also is established, and it cannot be shaken.
Your throne is established from of old; you are everlasting.

The seas have lifted up, O Lord, the seas have lifted up their voice;
the seas lift up their crashing waves.
Mightier than the thunders of great floods,
mightier than the powerful billows of the sea,
the Lord on high is mighty!

Your testimonies are wholly trustworthy;
holiness becomes your house, O Lord, forever.

Daniel 7:9-14

Daniel 7:9-14

I watched as the thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His garments were as white as snow; the hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne . . . fiery flames. His wheels . . . flaming fire.  A river of fire issued forth and flowed from his presence. A thousand thousands served him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The judgment was set, and the books were opened.

I saw in the night a vision, and behold there before me was one like a human being*, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.  He was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages worshiped him. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom that will not pass away; a kingdom that will never be destroyed.

* While the Hebrew word used here is often translated as «Son of Man,» the literal translation and meaning of the word is “human being” or “the human one.”

Luke 1:5-25

Luke 1:5-25

There was in the time of Herod, King of Judea, a certain priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly class of Abijah. His wife, a descendant of Aaron, was named Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly under all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were well advanced in years.

And it came to pass that when [Zechariah] was serving as priest before God, for his section was on duty, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. Now at the hour of incense, the whole multitude of people was praying outside. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was troubled and terror pressed in upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not fear, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, shall never drink wine or liquor. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while he is still in his mother’s womb, and many of the children of Israel will he turn again to the Lord their God. And he shall go before them with the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the holy, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Zechariah said to the angel, “Just how will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced.” And the angel, answering him, said, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and who has been sent to speak to you and to declare to you this good news. But look, you will be silent and unable to speak, until the day these things come to pass, because you did not have faith in my tidings, which will be accomplished in their time.”

And the people waited for Zechariah, and wondered that he lingered so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them, and they recognized that he had seen a vision in the temple, for while he kept making signs, he remained unable to speak. And so it came to pass that when his time of service was finished, he departed to his own house.

And after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she hid herself, saying, “In this way has the Lord dealt with me when he regarded me and took away my disgrace before people.”

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