²⁴ 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. ²⁵ 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.^(A)

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make humans^[a] 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^[b] and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”^(B)

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 air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”^{(D) 29} 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.^{(E) 30} 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.^{(F) 31} God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.^(G)

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all their multitude.^{(A) 2} On the sixth^[a] day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done.^{(B) 3} So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.^(C)

⁴ These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

Another Account of the Creation

In the day that the Lord^[b] God made the earth and the heavens, ⁵ when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no vegetation of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground,^{(D) 6} but a stream would rise from the earth and water the whole face of the ground— ⁷ then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground^[c] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.^{(E) 8} And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.^{(F) 9} Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight 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.^(G)

¹⁰ A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold, ¹² and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.^{(H) 13} The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.^(I)

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”^(J)

¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.”^{(K) 19} So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.^{(L) 20} The man gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the air and to every animal of the field, but for the man^[d] there was not found a helper as his partner. ²¹ So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.^{(M) 22} And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³ Then the man said,

²⁴ Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.^{(O) 25} And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.^(P)

Psalm 90

God’s Eternity and Human Frailty

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

5 Once while Jesus^[a] was standing beside the Lake of Gennesaret and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, ² he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. ³ He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.^{(A) 4} When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”^{(B) 5} Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.”^{(C) 6} When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to burst. ⁷ So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’s knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astounded at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”^{(D) 11} When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.^(E)

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16 Paul^[a] went on also to Derbe and to Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.^{(A) 2} He was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters in Lystra and Iconium. ³ Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.^{(B) 4} As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.^{(C) 5} So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily.^(D)

Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia

⁶ They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.^{(E) 7} When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;^{(F) 8} so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.^{(G) 9} During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”^{(H) 10} When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.^(I)

The Conversion of Lydia

¹¹ We therefore^[b] set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis,^{(J) 12} and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days.^{(K) 13} On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed^[c] there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴ A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵ When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.^(L)

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶ One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a female slave who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling.^{(M) 17} While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you^[d] the way of salvation.”^{(N) 18} She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

¹⁹ But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities.^{(O) 20} When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men, these Jews, are disturbing our city^{(P) 21} and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us, being Romans, to adopt or observe.” ²² The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods.^{(Q) 23} After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely.^{(R) 24} Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.^(S)

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.^{(T) 26} Suddenly there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.^{(U) 27} When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped.^{(V) 28} But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” ²⁹ The jailer^[e] called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”^{(W) 31} They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”^{(X) 32} They spoke the word of the Lord^[f] to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. ³⁴ He brought them up into the house and set food before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.^(Y)

³⁵ When morning came, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” ³⁶ And the jailer reported the message to Paul, saying, “The magistrates sent word to let you go; therefore come out now and go in peace.”^{(Z) 37} But Paul replied, “They have beaten us in public, uncondemned, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison, and now are they going to discharge us in secret? Certainly not! Let them come and take us out themselves.”^{(AA) 38} The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans,^{(AB) 39} so they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city.^{(AC) 40} After leaving the prison they went to Lydia’s home, and when they had seen and encouraged the brothers and sisters there, they departed.^(AD)

²⁸ We know that all things work together^[a] for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.^{(A) 29} For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family.^{[b](B) 30} And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.^(C)

God’s Love in Christ Jesus

³¹ What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?^{(D) 32} He who did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for all of us, how will he not with him also give us everything else? ³³ Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.^{(E) 34} Who is to condemn? It is Christ^[c] who died, or rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.^{(F) 35} Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us.^{(H) 38} For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,^{(I) 39} nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

²² Slaves, obey your earthly masters^[a] in everything, not with a slavery performed merely for looks, to please people, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord.^{[b](A) 23} Whatever task you must do, work as if your soul depends on it, as for the Lord and not for humans, ²⁴ since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ.^{(B) 25} For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong has been done, and there is no partiality.^(C)