In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.

Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with seed in them, on the earth”; and it was so.

And the earth brought forth vegetation, plants bearing seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.”

And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their own kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

And God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female He created them.

And God saw all that He had made and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and morning, the sixth day.

And the Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom he had formed.

And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

and Mizpah, for he said, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other.

Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

And he proceeded there to Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, so that he went along prophesying continually until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

And he also stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

But when David returned to bless his household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel distinguished himself today! He uncovered himself today in the eyes of his servants' maids as one of the foolish ones shamelessly uncovers himself!”

So David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel; therefore I will celebrate before the Lord.

“And I will be more lightly esteemed than this and will be humble in my own eyes, but with the maids of whom you have spoken, with them I will be distinguished.”

And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.

Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.

The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.

He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
for His name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil; for Thou art with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.

Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
Thou hast anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.

Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!

How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!

When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.

For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.

I acknowledged my sin to Thee,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;
And Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin.

Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters they shall not reach him.

Thou art my hiding place; Thou dost preserve me from trouble;
Thou dost surround me with songs of deliverance.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you with My eye upon you.

Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.

Many are the sorrows of the wicked;
But he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him.

Be glad in the Lord and rejoice you righteous ones,
And shout for joy all you who are upright in heart.

When I am afraid,
I will put my trust in Thee.

In God, whose word I praise,
In God I have put my trust;
I shall not be afraid.
What can mere man do to me?

Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me,
For my soul takes refuge in Thee;
And in the shadow of Thy wings I will take refuge,
Until destruction passes by.

In the year that the commander came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it,

at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying “Go and loosen the sackcloth from your hips, and take your shoes off your feet.” And he did so, going naked and barefoot.

And the Lord said, “Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot three years as a sign and a token against Egypt and Cush,

so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

“Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their boast.

“So the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, 'Behold, such is our hope, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and we, how shall we escape?'”

“I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.

“And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations, and men of every language
Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.

In the begining was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” And so when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea.

And at Lystra there was sitting a certain man, without strength in his feet, lame from his mother's womb, who had never walked.

This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, when he had fixed his gaze upon him, and had seen that he had faith to be made well,

said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he leaped up and began to walk.

And when the multitude saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us”

And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds,

But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed into the crowd, crying out

and saying “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you in order that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, Who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that swim in them.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love

He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,

to the praise of the glory of His grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace,

which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight

He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which he purposed in Him

with a view to an administration suitable to the fulness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth. In Him

also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,

to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus,

in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

not as a result of works, that no one should boast.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice!

Let your forebearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God,

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Therefore comfort one another with these words.