Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 118^[a]

Hymn of Thanksgiving

I

IV

V

Preamble. The Creation of the World

Chapter 1

The Story of Creation.^{[a] 1} In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth^(A)— ^2 [b]and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters—^(B)

³ Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light.^{(C) 4} God saw that the light was good. God then separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” Evening came, and morning followed—the first day.^[c]

⁶ Then God said: Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other. ⁷ God made the dome,^[d] and it separated the water below the dome from the water above the dome. And so it happened.^{(D) 8} God called the dome “sky.” Evening came, and morning followed—the second day.

⁹ Then God said: Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin, so that the dry land may appear. And so it happened: the water under the sky was gathered into its basin, and the dry land appeared.^{(E) 10} God called the dry land “earth,” and the basin of water he called “sea.” God saw that it was good. ^11 (F)Then God said: Let the earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. And so it happened: ¹² the earth brought forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree that bears fruit with its seed in it. God saw that it was good. ¹³ Evening came, and morning followed—the third day.

¹⁴ Then God said: Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate day from night. Let them mark the seasons, the days and the years,^{(G) 15} and serve as lights in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth. And so it happened: ¹⁶ God made the two great lights, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night, and the stars.^{(H) 17} God set them in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ Evening came, and morning followed—the fourth day.

C. The Manner of the Resurrection^[a]

^35 [b]But someone may say, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come back?”

The Resurrection Body. ^36 [c]You fool! What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies.^{(A) 37} And what you sow is not the body that is to be but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind; ^38 (B)but God gives it a body as he chooses, and to each of the seeds its own body. ^39 [d]Not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for human beings, another kind of flesh for animals, another kind of flesh for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰ There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the brightness of the heavenly is one kind and that of the earthly another. ⁴¹ The brightness of the sun is one kind, the brightness of the moon another, and the brightness of the stars another. For star differs from star in brightness.

^42 [e]So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible. ⁴³ It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious. It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.^{(C) 44} It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.

⁴⁵ So, too, it is written, “The first man, Adam,^[f] became a living being,” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.^{(D) 46} But the spiritual was not first; rather the natural and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was from the earth, earthly; the second man, from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly, and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly. ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image^[g] of the heavenly one.^(E)