Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 118

Thanksgiving for Victory

The Creation

1 In the beginning^(A) God created the heavens and the earth.^[a](B)

² Now the earth was^[b] formless and empty,^(C) darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.^{(D) 3} Then God said, “Let there be light,”^(E) and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and He called the darkness “night.” Evening came and then morning: the first day.

⁶ Then God said, “Let there be an expanse^[c] between the waters, separating water from water.”^{(F) 7} So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse.^(G) And it was so. ⁸ God called the expanse “sky.”^[d] Evening came and then morning: the second day.

⁹ Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place,^(H) and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land “earth,” and He called the gathering of the water “seas.” And God saw that it was good. ¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.”^(I) And it was so. ¹² The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ Evening came and then morning: the third day.

¹⁴ Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs^(J) for festivals^[e] and for days and years.^{(K) 15} They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made the two great lights—the greater light to have dominion over the day and the lesser light to have dominion over the night—as well as the stars.^{(L) 17} God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth, ¹⁸ to dominate the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.^(M) And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.

The Nature of the Resurrection Body

³⁵ But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?” ³⁶ Foolish one! What you sow does not come to life^(A) unless it dies. ³⁷ And as for what you sow—you are not sowing the future body, but only a seed,^[a] perhaps of wheat or another grain. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as He wants,^(B) and to each of the seeds its own body. ³⁹ Not all flesh^(C) is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰ There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor^(D) of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones. ⁴¹ There is a splendor of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; for one star differs from another star in splendor. ⁴² So it is with the resurrection of the dead:

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So it is written: The first man Adam became a living being;^(I)[b] the last Adam^(J) became a life-giving Spirit. ⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.