The First Reading: Genesis, 1:1-2:4

Reader: A reading from Genesis

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and
darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good;
and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he
called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from
the waters.” So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the
waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was
evening and there was morning, the second day.

And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry
land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered
together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth put forth
vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed
in it.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and
trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. 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 dome of the sky to separate 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 dome of
the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. God made the two great lights—the greater
light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. God set them in the
dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to
separate 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 bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the
earth across the dome of the sky.” So God created the great sea monsters and every living
creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every
kind. And God saw that it was good. 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.

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And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things
and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals of the
earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of
every kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over
all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So
God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he
created them. 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 upon the earth.”

God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth,
and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the
earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has
the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

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

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day
God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that
he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all
the work that he had done in creation.

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

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Reader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.
People: Thanks be to God