The Lord’s Care over All His Works.

A Psalm of Praise.

The Creation

1 ^(A)In the beginning ^(B)God ^(C)created the heavens and the earth. ² And the earth was a ^(D)[a]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.

2 And so the heavens and the earth were completed, and all ^(AN)their heavenly ^[ap]lights. ² By ^(AO)the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and ^(AP)He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created ^[aq]and made.

^3 (A)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in ^(B)the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as ^(C)He chose us in Him before ^(D)the foundation of the world, that we would be ^(E)holy and blameless before ^[a]Him. ^(F)In love ^5 [b]He ^(G)predestined us to ^(H)adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, ^(I)according to the good pleasure of His will, ^6 (J)to the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He favored us in ^(K)the Beloved. ^7 (L)In ^[c]Him we have ^(M)redemption ^(N)through His blood, the ^(O)forgiveness of our wrongdoings, according to ^(P)the riches of His grace ⁸ which He ^[d]lavished on ^[e]us. In all wisdom and insight ⁹ He ^[f](Q)made known to us the mystery of His will, ^(R)according to His good pleasure which He ^(S)set forth in Him, ¹⁰ regarding His plan of ^(T)the fullness of the times, ^(U)to bring all things together in Christ, things ^[g]in the heavens and things on the earth. ^11 [h]In Him we also ^(V)have obtained an inheritance, having been ^(W)predestined ^(X)according to the purpose of Him who works all things ^(Y)in accordance with the plan of His will, ¹² to the end that ^[i]we who were the first to hope in the ^[j]Christ would be ^(Z)to the praise of His glory. ¹³ In ^[k]Him, ^[l]you also, after listening to ^(AA)the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also ^[m]believed, you were ^(AB)sealed in ^[n]Him with ^(AC)the Holy Spirit of the promise, ¹⁴ who is a ^(AD)first installment of ^(AE)our inheritance, in regard to the ^(AF)redemption of ^(AG)God’s own possession, ^(AH)to the praise of His glory.

²⁹ The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, “Behold, ^(A)the Lamb of God who ^(B)takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He in behalf of whom I said, ‘^(C)After me is coming a Man who has proved to be ^[a]my superior, ^(D)because He existed before me.’ ³¹ And I did not recognize ^[b]Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing ^[c]in water.” ³² And John ^(E)testified, saying, “^(F)I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. ³³ And I did not recognize ^[d]Him, but He who sent me to baptize ^[e]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, ^(G)this is the One who baptizes ^[f]in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I myself have seen, and have testified that this is ^(H)the ^[g]Son of God.”