The Creation of the World

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was undeveloped^[a] and empty. Darkness covered the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

³ God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good. He separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was evening and there was morning—the first day.

⁶ God said, “Let there be an expanse^[b] between the waters, and let it separate the water from the water.” ⁷ God made the expanse, and he separated the water that was below the expanse from the water that was above the expanse, and it was so. ⁸ God called the expanse “sky.” ^[c]There was evening and there was morning—the second day.

⁹ God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear,” and it was so. ⎣The waters under the sky gathered to their own places, and the dry land appeared.⎦^{[d] 10} God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathering places of the waters he called “seas.” God saw that it was good. ¹¹ God said, “Let the earth produce plants—vegetation that produces seed, and trees that bear fruit with its seed in it—each according to its own kind on the earth,” and it was so. ¹² The earth brought forth plants, vegetation that produces seed according to its own kind, and trees that bear fruit with its seed in it, each according to its own kind, and God saw that it was good. ¹³ There was evening and there was morning—the third day.

¹⁴ God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night, and let them serve as markers to indicate seasons, days, and years. ¹⁵ Let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth,” and it was so. ¹⁶ God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set these lights in place in the expanse of the sky to provide light for the earth, ¹⁸ to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ There was evening and there was morning—the fourth day.

²⁰ God said, “Let the waters swarm with living creatures, and let birds and other winged creatures^[e] fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” ²¹ God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their own kind, and every winged bird according to its own kind. God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them when he said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ There was evening and there was morning—the fifth day.

²⁴ God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their own kind, livestock,^[f] creeping things, and wild animals according to their own kind,” and it was so. ²⁵ God made the wild animals according to their own kind, and the livestock according to their own kind, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its own kind. God saw that it was good.

²⁶ God said, “Let us make man^[g] in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that crawls on the earth.”

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ²⁹ God said, “Look, I have given you every plant that produces seed on the face of the whole earth, and every tree that bears fruit that produces seed. It will be your food. ³⁰ To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

³¹ God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning—the sixth day.

2 The heavens and the earth were finished, along with everything in them.^{[h] 2} On the seventh day God had finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had been doing. ³ God blessed the seventh day and set it apart as holy, because on it he rested from all his work of creation that he had done.

¹⁰ As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians marching after them. The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord. ¹¹ They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you took us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Wasn’t this what we said to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

¹³ Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm, and see the salvation from the Lord, which he will perform for you today. For the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you. You must wait quietly.”

¹⁵ The Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to set out. ¹⁶ As for you, lift up your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide the sea so that the Israelites can go through the middle of the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ I myself will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go into the sea after them, and I will gain glory through Pharaoh and his entire army, through his chariots and his charioteers. ¹⁸ The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I have gained glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his charioteers.”

¹⁹ Then the Angel of God, who was going in front of the Israelite forces, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and stood behind them. ²⁰ It went between the Egyptian forces and the Israelite forces. The cloud was dark on one side, but it lit up the night on the other. Neither group approached the other all night long.

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all night long the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned the sea into dry land. The waters were divided. ²² The Israelites went into the middle of the sea on dry ground. The waters were like a wall for them on their right and on their left. ²³ The Egyptians pursued them, and all of Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his charioteers went after them into the middle of the sea. ²⁴ During the last watch of the night, the Lord looked down on the Egyptian forces from the pillar of fire and cloud. Then he confused the Egyptian forces. ²⁵ He jammed^[a] their chariot wheels, and they had difficulty driving them. The Egyptians said, “We must flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!”

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, and the waters will come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their charioteers.” ²⁷ So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal place. While the Egyptians were fleeing from it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the middle of the sea. ²⁸ The waters came back and covered the chariots and the charioteers, the entire army of Pharaoh that went into the sea after the Israelites. Not even one of them survived.

²⁹ But the Israelites went through the middle of the sea on dry land, and the waters were like a wall for them on their right and on their left. ³⁰ On that day the Lord saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹ Israel saw the mighty hand which the Lord put into action against the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in Moses, his servant.

The Song of Moses and Miriam

15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. They said:

Come to the Water

The Creator’s Everlasting Covenant

Jesus’ Resurrection

28 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. ² Suddenly, there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and going to the tomb, he rolled away the stone and was sitting on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so terrified of him that they shook and became like dead men. ⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here. He has risen, just as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. ⁷ Go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead! And look, he is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him.’ See, I have told you!”

⁸ They hurried away from the tomb, with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly^[a] Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!”

They approached, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him.

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go, tell my brothers that they should go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”