Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Saving Goodness.

The Creation

1 In the beginning God (^[a]Elohim) ^[b]created [by forming from nothing] the heavens and the earth.^{(A) 2} The earth was ^[c]formless and void or a waste and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep [primeval ocean that covered the unformed earth]. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters. ³ And God said, ^[d]“Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good (pleasing, useful) and ^[e]He affirmed and sustained it; and God separated the light [distinguishing it] from the darkness.^{(B) 5} And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was ^[f]evening and there was ^[g]morning, one day.

⁶ And God said, “Let there be an ^[h]expanse [of the sky] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters [below the expanse] from the waters [above the expanse].” ⁷ And God made the expanse [of sky] and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so [just as He commanded]. ⁸ God called the expanse [of sky] heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

⁹ Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place [of standing, pooling together], and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that this was good (pleasing, useful) and He affirmed and sustained it. ¹¹ So God said, “Let the earth sprout [tender] ^[i]vegetation, ^[j]plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit according to (limited to, consistent with) their kind, whose seed is in them upon the earth”; and it was so. ¹² The earth sprouted and abundantly produced vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, according to their kind; and God saw that it was good and He affirmed and sustained it. ¹³ And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

¹⁴ Then God said, “Let there be light-bearers (sun, moon, stars) in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be useful for signs (tokens) [of God’s provident care], and for marking seasons, days, and years;^{(C) 15} and let them be useful as lights in the expanse of the heavens to provide light on the earth”; and it was so, [just as He commanded]. ¹⁶ God made the two great lights—the greater light (the sun) to rule the day, and the lesser light (the moon) to rule the night; He made the [galaxies of] stars also [that is, all the amazing wonders in the heavens]. ¹⁷ God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to provide light upon the earth, ¹⁸ to rule over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good and He affirmed and sustained it. ¹⁹ And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

³⁵ But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body will they come?” ³⁶ You fool! Every time you plant seed you sow something that does not come to life [germinating, springing up and growing] unless it first dies. ³⁷ The seed you sow is not the body (the plant) which it is going to become, but it is a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or some other grain. ³⁸ But God gives it a body just as He planned, and to each kind of seed a body of its own [is given].^{(A) 39} All flesh is not the same. There is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰ There are also heavenly bodies [sun, moon and stars] and earthly bodies [humans, animals, and plants], but the glory and beauty of the heavenly is one kind, and the glory of the earthly is another. ⁴¹ There is a glory and beauty of the sun, another glory of the moon, and yet another [distinctive] glory of the stars; and one star differs from another in glory and brilliance.

⁴² So it is with the resurrection of the dead. The [human] body that is sown is perishable and mortal, it is raised imperishable and immortal.^{(B) 43} It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength; ⁴⁴ it is sown a natural body [mortal, suited to earth], it is raised a spiritual body [immortal, suited to heaven]. As surely as there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So it is written [in Scripture], “The first man, Adam, became a living soul (an individual);” the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving spirit [restoring the dead to life].^{(C) 46} However, the spiritual [the immortal life] is not first, but the physical [the mortal life]; then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man [Adam] is from the earth, earthy [made of dust]; the second Man [Christ, the Lord] is from heaven.^{(D) 48} As is the earthly man [the man of dust], so are those who are of earth; and as is the heavenly [Man], so are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the earthly [the man of dust], ^[a]we will also bear the image of the heavenly [the Man of heaven].