The Creation

1 ^(A)In the beginning ^(B)God ^(C)created the heavens and the earth. ² And the earth was a ^[a](D)formless and desolate emptiness, and ^(E)darkness was over the ^[b]surface of the deep, and ^(F)the Spirit of God ^(G)was hovering over the ^[c]surface of the waters. ³ Then ^(H)God said, “^[d]Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was ^(I)good; and God ^(J)separated the light from the darkness. ^5 (K)God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And ^(L)there was evening and there was morning, one day.

⁶ Then God said, “Let there be ^[e]an ^(M)expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷ God made the ^[f]expanse, and separated ^(N)the waters that were below the ^[g]expanse from the waters ^(O)that were above the ^[h]expanse; and it was so. ⁸ God called the ^[i]expanse “heaven.” And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

⁹ Then God said, “^(P)Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let ^(Q)the dry land appear”; and it was so. ¹⁰ And God called the dry land “earth,” and the ^(R)gathering of the waters He called “seas”; and God saw that it was good. ¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth sprout ^[j](S)vegetation, ^[k]plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit according to ^[l]their kind ^[m]with seed in them”; and it was so. ¹² The earth produced ^[n]vegetation, ^[o]plants yielding seed according to ^[p]their kind, and trees bearing fruit ^[q]with seed in them, according to ^[r]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 ^[s](T)lights in the ^[t](U)expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and they shall ^[u]serve as ^(V)signs and for ^(W)seasons, and for days and years; ¹⁵ and they ^[v]shall serve as lights in the ^[w]expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. ¹⁶ God made the two great lights, the ^(X)greater light ^[x]to govern the day, and the lesser light ^[y]to govern the night; He made ^(Y)the stars also. ^17 (Z)God placed them in the ^[z]expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ and ^[aa]to ^(AA)govern 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 ^[ab]teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth ^[ac]in the open ^[ad]expanse of the heavens.” ²¹ And God created ^(AB)the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind; and God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

^24 (AC)Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to ^[ae]their kind: livestock and crawling things and animals of the earth according to ^[af]their kind”; and it was so. ²⁵ God made the ^(AD)animals of the earth according to ^[ag]their kind, and the livestock according to ^[ah]their kind, and everything that crawls on the ground according to its kind; and God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, “^[ai]Let ^(AE)Us make ^(AF)mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and ^[aj]let them ^(AG)rule 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 crawling thing that crawls on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man ^(AH)in His own image, in the image of God He created him; ^(AI)male and female He created them. ²⁸ God blessed them; and God said to them, “^(AJ)Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that ^[ak]moves on the earth.” ²⁹ Then God said, “Behold, ^(AK)I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the ^[al]surface of all the earth, and every tree ^[am]which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; ³⁰ and ^(AL)to every animal of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that ^[an]moves on the earth ^[ao]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 ^(AM)good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

1 The ^[a]record of the genealogy of ^[b]Jesus the ^[c]Messiah, ^(A)the son of David, ^(B)the son of Abraham:

² Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered ^[d]Judah and his brothers. ³ Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, ^(C)Perez fathered Hezron, and Hezron fathered ^[e]Ram. ⁴ Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon. ⁵ Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, and Obed fathered Jesse. ⁶ Jesse fathered David the king.

David ^(D)fathered Solomon by ^[f]her who had been the wife of Uriah. ⁷ Solomon ^(E)fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, and Abijah fathered ^[g]Asa. ⁸ Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered ^[h]Joram, and Joram fathered Uzziah. ⁹ Uzziah fathered ^[i]Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, and Ahaz fathered Hezekiah. ¹⁰ Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered ^[j]Amon, and Amon ^(F)fathered Josiah. ¹¹ Josiah fathered ^[k]Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the ^(G)deportation to Babylon.

¹² After the ^(H)deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah fathered ^[l]Shealtiel, and Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel. ¹³ Zerubbabel fathered ^[m]Abihud, Abihud fathered Eliakim, and Eliakim fathered Azor. ¹⁴ Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, and Achim fathered Eliud. ¹⁵ Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, and Matthan fathered Jacob. ¹⁶ Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, ^(I)who is called the ^[n]Messiah.

¹⁷ So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the ^(J)deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the ^(K)deportation to Babylon to the ^[o]Messiah, fourteen generations.

Conception and Birth of Jesus

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus the ^[p]Messiah was as follows: when His ^(L)mother Mary had been ^[q]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was ^(M)found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to ^[r](N)send her away secretly. ²⁰ But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “^(O)Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for ^[s]the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a Son; and ^(P)you shall name Him Jesus, for ^[t]He ^(Q)will save His people from their sins.” ²² Now all this ^[u]took place so that what was ^(R)spoken by the Lord through ^[v]the prophet would be fulfilled: ²³ “^(S)Behold, the virgin will ^[w](T)conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him ^[x]Immanuel,” which translated means, “^(U)God with us.” ²⁴ And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, ^25 [y]but kept her a virgin until she ^(V)gave birth to a Son; and ^(W)he named Him Jesus.