I Am the Light of the World

^12 (A)Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^(B)“I am the light of the world. Whoever ^(C)follows me will not ^(D)walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” ¹³ So the Pharisees said to him, ^(E)“You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” ¹⁴ Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, ^(F)my testimony is true, for I know ^(G)where I came from and ^(H)where I am going, but ^(I)you do not know where I come from or where I am going. ^15 (J)You judge according to the flesh; ^(K)I judge no one. ¹⁶ Yet even if I do judge, ^(L)my judgment is true, for ^(M)it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father^[a] who sent me. ^17 (N)In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. ¹⁸ I am the one who bears witness about myself, and ^(O)the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” ¹⁹ They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, ^(P)“You know neither me nor my Father. ^(Q)If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” ²⁰ These words he spoke in ^(R)the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but ^(S)no one arrested him, because ^(T)his hour had not yet come.

²¹ So he said to them again, ^(U)“I am going away, and ^(V)you will seek me, and ^(W)you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” ²² So the Jews said, ^(X)“Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” ²³ He said to them, ^(Y)“You are from below; I am from above. ^(Z)You are of this world; ^(AA)I am not of this world. ²⁴ I told you that you ^(AB)would die in your sins, for ^(AC)unless you believe that ^(AD)I am he you will die in your sins.” ²⁵ So they said to him, ^(AE)“Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. ²⁶ I have much to say about you and much to judge, but ^(AF)he who sent me is true, and I declare ^(AG)to the world ^(AH)what I have heard from him.” ²⁷ They did not understand that ^(AI)he had been speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸ So Jesus said to them, “When you have ^(AJ)lifted up the Son of Man, ^(AK)then you will know that ^(AL)I am he, and that ^(AM)I do nothing on my own authority, but ^(AN)speak just as the Father taught me. ²⁹ And ^(AO)he who sent me is with me. ^(AP)He has not left me alone, for ^(AQ)I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” ³⁰ As he was saying these things, ^(AR)many believed in him.

The Creation of the World

1 In the ^(A)beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was ^(B)without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

³ And God said, ^(C)“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 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

⁶ And God said, ^(D)“Let there be an expanse^[a] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷ And God made^[b] the expanse and ^(E)separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were ^(F)above the expanse. And it was so. ⁸ And God called the expanse Heaven.^[c] And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

⁹ And God said, ^(G)“Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land Earth,^[d] and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

¹¹ And God said, ^(H)“Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants^[e] yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. ¹² The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for ^(I)signs and for ^(J)seasons,^[f] and for days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ And God ^(K)made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. ¹⁷ And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to ^(L)rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

The Golden Lampstand

^31 (A)“You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand shall be made of hammered work: its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. ³² And there shall be six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; ³³ three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. ³⁴ And on the lampstand itself there shall be four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers, ³⁵ and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out from the lampstand. ³⁶ Their calyxes and their branches shall be of one piece with it, the whole of it a single piece of hammered work of pure gold. ³⁷ You shall make seven lamps for it. And the lamps ^(B)shall be set up so as ^(C)to give light on the space in front of it. ³⁸ Its tongs and their trays shall be of pure gold. ³⁹ It shall be made, with all these utensils, out of a talent^[a] of pure gold. ⁴⁰ And ^(D)see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain.

For to Us a Child Is Born

9 ^[a] But there will be no ^(A)gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he ^(B)brought into contempt the land of ^(C)Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he ^(D)has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.^[b]

The Future Glory of Israel