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Genesis 1 - 2

Creation

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “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 And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. 6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 So God made the expanse and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. 8 And God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. 9 Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. 14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16 So God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and also the stars. 17 And God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule the day and 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, a fourth day. 20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the expanse of the heavens.” 21 And God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. 22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. 24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. 25 God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing of the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, so that they will have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 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 sky and over every living thing that creeps on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given to you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has the fruit of the tree yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that creeps on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. 31 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.

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.
2 And on the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created in making it.

The Generations of the Heavens and the Earth

4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made earth and heaven.
5 Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet grown, for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. 6 But a stream would rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then Yahweh God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and so the man became a living being. 8 And Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden, toward the east; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground Yahweh God caused to grow every tree that is desirable in appearance and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that went around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 Now the gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 And the name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that went around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is Tigris; it is the one that went east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 Then Yahweh God took the man and set him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 16 And Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may surely eat; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat from it; for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” 18 Then Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” 19 And out of the ground Yahweh God had 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 a living creature, that was its name. 20 And the man gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. 21 So Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22 And Yahweh God fashioned the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,
“This one finally is bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
This one shall be called Woman,
Because this one was taken out of Man.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother, and cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Matthew 1 - 2

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2
Abraham was the father of Isaac,
and Isaac was the father of Jacob,
and Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
3
And Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar,
and Perez was the father of Hezron,
and Hezron was the father of Ram.
4
And Ram was the father of Amminadab,
and Amminadab was the father of Nahshon,
and Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
5
And Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab,
and Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth,
and Obed was the father of Jesse.
6
And Jesse was the father of David the king.
And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah.
7
And Solomon was the father of Rehoboam,
and Rehoboam was the father of Abijah,
and Abijah was the father of Asa.
8
And Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat,
and Jehoshaphat was the father of Joram,
and Joram was the father of Uzziah.
9
And Uzziah was the father of Jotham,
and Jotham was the father of Ahaz,
and Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
10
And Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh,
and Manasseh was the father of Amon,
and Amon was the father of Josiah.
11
And Josiah was the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
12
And after the deportation to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
and Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel.
13
And Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud,
and Abihud was the father of Eliakim,
and Eliakim was the father of Azor.
14
And Azor was the father of Zadok,
and Zadok was the father of Achim,
and Achim was the father of Eliud.
15
And Eliud was the father of Eleazar,
and Eleazar was the father of Matthan,
and Matthan was the father of Jacob.
16
And Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
17 Therefore all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations.

The Conception and Birth of Jesus

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the One who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place in order that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, 23 Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” 24 And Joseph got up from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

The Visit of the Magi

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” 3 And when Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he was inquiring of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: 6
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah;
For out of you shall come forth a Leader
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and carefully determined from them the time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” 9 Now after hearing the king, they went their way; and behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, was going on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. 10 And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And after coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi departed for their own country by another way.

The Flight to Egypt

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”
14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and departed for Egypt. 15 And he remained there until the death of Herod, in order that what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

Herod Slaughters Children

16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had carefully determined from the magi.
17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, 18
“A voice was heard in Ramah,
Weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
And she was refusing to be comforted,
Because they were no more.”
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, 20 “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” 21 So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into 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. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he departed for the district of Galilee, 23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

Psalm 1

The Way of the Righteous and Wicked

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the way of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2
But his delight is in the law of Yahweh,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3
And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

4
The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
5
Therefore the wicked will not rise in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6
For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.