Easter Vigil

1Verse 1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2Verse 2. Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3Verse 3. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4Verse 4. And God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5Verse 5. God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day. 6Verse 6. And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, to separate the waters from the waters.” 7Verse 7. So God made the expanse and separated the waters beneath it from the waters above. And it was so. 8Verse 8. God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning — the second day. 9Verse 9. And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear.” And it was so. 10Verse 10. God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of waters He called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11Verse 11. Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its kind.” And it was so. 12Verse 12. The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13Verse 13. And there was evening, and there was morning — the third day. 14Verse 14. And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years. 15Verse 15. And let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth.” And it was so. 16Verse 16. God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well. 17Verse 17. God set these lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth, 18Verse 18. to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19Verse 19. And there was evening, and there was morning — the fourth day. 20Verse 20. And God said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” 21Verse 21. So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22Verse 22. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23Verse 23. And there was evening, and there was morning — the fifth day. 24Verse 24. And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25Verse 25. God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26Verse 26. Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.” 27Verse 27. So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28Verse 28. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.” 29Verse 29. Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food. 30Verse 30. And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth — everything that has the breath of life in it — I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31Verse 31. And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning — the sixth day. 1Verse 1. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2Verse 2. And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work. 3Verse 3. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished. 4Verse 4. This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them.

3Verse 3. Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4Verse 4. We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life. 5Verse 5. For if we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. 6Verse 6. We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. 7Verse 7. For anyone who has died has been freed from sin. 8Verse 8. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. 9Verse 9. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. 10Verse 10. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. 11Verse 11. So you too must count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 1Verse 1. When Israel departed from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue, 2Verse 2. Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel His dominion. 3Verse 3. The sea observed and fled; the Jordan turned back; 4Verse 4. the mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. 5Verse 5. Why was it, O sea, that you fled, O Jordan, that you turned back, 6Verse 6. O mountains, that you skipped like rams, O hills, like lambs? 7Verse 7. Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, 8Verse 8. who turned the rock into a pool, the flint into a fountain of water!

1Verse 1. When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could go and anoint the body of Jesus. 2Verse 2. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they went to the tomb. 3Verse 3. They were asking one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?” 4Verse 4. But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, even though it was extremely large. 5Verse 5. When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6Verse 6. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here! See the place where they put Him. 7Verse 7. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.’” 8Verse 8. So the women left the tomb and ran away, trembling and bewildered. And in their fear they did not say a word to anyone.