Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Thanksgiving for Victory

The Beginning of the World

1 In the beginning God created the sky and the earth. ² The earth was empty and had no form. Darkness covered the ocean, and God’s Spirit was moving over the water.

³ Then God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good. So he divided the light from the darkness. ⁵ God named the light “day” and the darkness “night.” Evening passed, and morning came. This was the first day.

⁶ Then God said, “Let there be something to divide the water in two!” ⁷ So God made the air to divide the water in two. Some of the water was above the air, and some of the water was below it. ⁸ God named the air “sky.” Evening passed, and morning came. This was the second day.

⁹ Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered together so the dry land will appear.” And it happened. ¹⁰ God named the dry land “earth.” He named the water that was gathered together “seas.” God saw that this was good.

¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth produce plants. Some plants will make grain for seeds. Others will make fruit with seeds in it. Every seed will produce more of its own kind of plant.” And it happened. ¹² The earth produced plants. Some plants had grain for seeds. The trees made fruit with seeds in it. Each seed grew its own kind of plant. God saw that all this was good. ¹³ Evening passed, and morning came. This was the third day.

¹⁴ Then God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate day from night. These lights will be used for signs, seasons, days and years. ¹⁵ They will be in the sky to give light to the earth.” And it happened.

¹⁶ So God made the two large lights. He made the brighter light to rule the day. He made the smaller light to rule the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God put all these in the sky to shine on the earth. ¹⁸ They are to rule over the day and over the night. He put them there to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that all these things were good. ¹⁹ Evening passed, and morning came. This was the fourth day.

What Kind of Body Will We Have?

³⁵ But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?” ³⁶ Those are stupid questions. When you plant something, it must die in the ground before it can live and grow. ³⁷ And when you plant it, what you plant does not have the same “body” that it will have later. What you plant is only a seed, maybe wheat or something else. ³⁸ But God gives it a body that he has planned for it. And God gives each kind of seed its own body. ³⁹ All things made of flesh are not the same kinds of flesh: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another kind, birds have another, and fish have another. ⁴⁰ Also there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the beauty of the heavenly bodies is one kind. The beauty of the earthly bodies is another kind. ⁴¹ The sun has one kind of beauty. The moon has another beauty, and the stars have another. And each star is different in its beauty.

⁴² It is the same with the dead who are raised to life. The body that is “planted” will ruin and decay. But that body is raised to a life that cannot be destroyed. ⁴³ When the body is “planted,” it is without honor. But it is raised in glory. When the body is “planted,” it is weak. But when it is raised, it has power. ⁴⁴ The body that is “planted” is a physical body. When it is raised, it is a spiritual body.

There is a physical body. And there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Scriptures: “The first man became a living person.”^[a] But the last Adam became a spirit that gives life. ⁴⁶ The spiritual man did not come first. It was the physical man who came first; then came the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man came from the dust of the earth. The second man came from heaven. ⁴⁸ People belong to the earth. They are like the first man of earth. But those people who belong to heaven are like the man of heaven. ⁴⁹ We were made like the man of earth. So we will^[b] also be made like the man of heaven.