Bible Reading for January 1 - 3
World English Bible
Jan
1
Genesis
1
Gen
1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Gen
1:2 Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the
surface of the deep. God's Spirit was hovering over the surface of
the waters.
Gen
1:3 God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
Gen
1:4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the
light from the darkness.
Gen
1:5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
There was evening and there was morning, one day.
Gen
1:6 God said, "Let there be an expanse in the middle of the
waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters."
Gen
1:7 God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under
the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was
so.
Gen
1:8 God called the expanse sky. There was evening and there was
morning, a second day.
Gen
1:9 God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered
together to one place, and let the dry land appear;" and it was
so.
Gen
1:10 God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of
the waters he called Seas. God saw that it was good.
Gen
1:11 God said, "Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding
seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with its seed
in it, on the earth;" and it was so.
Gen
1:12 The earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their
kind, and trees bearing fruit, with its seed in it, after their kind;
and God saw that it was good.
Gen
1:13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
Gen
1:14 God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of sky to
divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for
seasons, and for days and years;
Gen
1:15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of sky to give light
on the earth;" and it was so.
Gen
1:16 God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the
day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars.
Gen
1:17 God set them in the expanse of sky to give light to the earth,
Gen
1:18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the
light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.
Gen
1:19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
Gen
1:20 God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living
creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of
sky."
Gen
1:21 God created the large sea creatures, and every living creature
that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and
every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.
Gen
1:22 God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and
fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."
Gen
1:23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
Gen
1:24 God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures
after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the
earth after their kind;" and it was so.
Gen
1:25 God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the
livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground
after its kind. God saw that it was good.
Gen
1:26 God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the
earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
Gen
1:27 God created man in his own image. In God's image he created
him; male and female he created them.
Gen
1:28 God blessed them. God said to them, "Be fruitful,
multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish
of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing
that moves on the earth."
Gen
1:29 God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb yielding
seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which
bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.
Gen
1:30 To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and
to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I
have given every green herb for food;" and it was so.
Gen
1:31 God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very
good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
Jan.
2
Genesis
2
Gen
2:1 The heavens and the earth were finished, and all their vast
array.
Gen
2:2 On the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and
he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Gen
2:3 God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested
in it from all his work which he had created and made.
Gen
2:4 This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the
earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the
earth and the heavens.
Gen
2:5 No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the
field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on
the earth. There was not a man to till the ground,
Gen
2:6 but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface
of the ground.
Gen
2:7 Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Gen
2:8 Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put
the man whom he had formed.
Gen
2:9 Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is
pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in
the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil.
Gen
2:10 A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it
was parted, and became four heads.
Gen
2:11 The name of the first is Pishon: this is the one which flows
through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
Gen
2:12 and the gold of that land is good. There is aromatic resin and
the onyx stone.
Gen
2:13 The name of the second river is Gihon: the same river that
flows through the whole land of Cush.
Gen
2:14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel: this is the one which
flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
Gen
2:15 Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to
dress it and to keep it.
Gen
2:16 Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of
the garden you may freely eat;
Gen
2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall
not eat of it; for in the day that you eat of it you will surely
die."
Gen
2:18 Yahweh God said, "It is not good that the man should be
alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
Gen
2:19 Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field,
and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he
would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that
was its name.
Gen
2:20 The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the
sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not
found a helper suitable for him.
Gen
2:21 Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall on the man, and he
slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its
place.
Gen
2:22 He made the rib, which Yahweh God had taken from the man, into
a woman, and brought her to the man.
Gen
2:23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of
my flesh. She will be called Woman, because she was taken out of
Man."
Gen
2:24 Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will
join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.
Gen
2:25 They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not
ashamed.
Jan.
3
Genesis
3
Gen
3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field
which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, "Has God really
said, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?' "
Gen
3:2 The woman said to the serpent, "Of the fruit of the trees
of the garden we may eat,
Gen
3:3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the
garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat of it, neither shall you
touch it, lest you die.' "
Gen
3:4 The serpent said to the woman, "You won't surely die,
Gen
3:5 for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be
opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Gen
3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it
was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to
make one wise, she took of its fruit, and ate; and she gave some to
her husband with her, and he ate.
Gen
3:7 The eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they
were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves
aprons.
Gen
3:8 They heard the voice of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the
cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the
presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.
Gen
3:9 Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are
you?"
Gen
3:10 The man said, "I heard your voice in the garden, and I was
afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."
Gen
3:11 God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you
eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
Gen
3:12 The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she
gave me of the tree, and I ate."
Gen
3:13 Yahweh God said to the woman, "What is this you have
done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I
ate."
Gen
3:14 Yahweh God said to the serpent, "Because you have done
this, cursed are you above all livestock, and above every animal of
the field. On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the
days of your life.
Gen
3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will
bruise his heel."
Gen
3:16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly multiply your pain
in childbirth. In pain you will bring forth children. Your desire
will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
Gen
3:17 To Adam he said, "Because you have listened to your wife's
voice, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying,
'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground for your sake. In
toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
Gen
3:18 Thorns also and thistles will it bring forth to you; and you
will eat the herb of the field.
Gen
3:19 By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return
to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to
dust you shall return."
Gen
3:20 The man called his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all
living.
Gen
3:21 Yahweh God made coats of skins for Adam and for his wife, and
clothed them.
Gen
3:22 Yahweh God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of
us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he put forth his hand, and also
take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever..."
Gen
3:23 Therefore Yahweh God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to
till the ground from which he was taken.
Gen
3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed Cherubs at the east of
the garden of Eden, and the flame of a sword which turned every way,
to guard the way to the tree of life.
Jan. 1,
2
Matthew
1
Mat 1:1
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son
of Abraham.
Mat 1:2
Abraham became the father of Isaac. Isaac became the father of
Jacob. Jacob became the father of Judah and his brothers.
Mat 1:3
Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar. Perez became
the father of Hezron. Hezron became the father of Ram.
Mat 1:4
Ram became the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of
Nahshon. Nahshon became the father of Salmon.
Mat 1:5
Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of
Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse.
Mat 1:6
Jesse became the father of David the king. David became the father
of Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.
Mat 1:7
Solomon became the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam became the father of
Abijah. Abijah became the father of Asa.
Mat 1:8
Asa became the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat became the father
of Joram. Joram became the father of Uzziah.
Mat 1:9
Uzziah became the father of Jotham. Jotham became the father of
Ahaz. Ahaz became the father of Hezekiah.
Mat
1:10 Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh. Manasseh became the
father of Amon. Amon became the father of Josiah.
Mat
1:11 Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the
time of the exile to Babylon.
Mat
1:12 After the exile to Babylon, Jechoniah became the father of
Shealtiel. Shealtiel became the father of Zerubbabel.
Mat
1:13 Zerubbabel became the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father
of Eliakim. Eliakim became the father of Azor.
Mat
1:14 Azor became the father of Sadoc. Sadoc became the father of
Achim. Achim became the father of Eliud.
Mat
1:15 Eliud became the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father
of Matthan. Matthan became the father of Jacob.
Mat
1:16 Jacob became the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from
whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
Mat
1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen
generations; from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations;
and from the carrying away to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen
generations.
Mat
1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this; for after his
mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she
was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
Mat
1:19 Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to
make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly.
Mat
1:20 But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the
Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David,
don't be afraid to take to yourself Mary, your wife, for that which
is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
Mat
1:21 She shall bring forth a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for
it is he who shall save his people from their sins."
Mat
1:22 Now all this has happened, that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,
Mat
1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring
forth a son. They shall call his name Immanuel;" which is, being
interpreted, "God with us."
Mat
1:24 Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord
commanded him, and took his wife to himself;
Mat
1:25 and didn't know her sexually until she had brought forth her
firstborn son. He named him Jesus.
Jan.
3
Matthew
2
Mat 2:1
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod
the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,
Mat 2:2
"Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star
in the east, and have come to worship him."
Mat 2:3
When Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem
with him.
Mat 2:4
Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people,
he asked them where the Christ would be born.
Mat 2:5
They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is
written through the prophet,
Mat 2:6
'You Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the princes
of Judah: for out of you shall come forth a governor, who shall
shepherd my people, Israel.' "
Mat 2:7
Then Herod secretly called the wise men, and learned from them
exactly what time the star appeared.
Mat 2:8
He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, "Go and search diligently
for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that
I also may come and worship him."
Mat 2:9
They, having heard the king, went their way; and behold, the star,
which they saw in the east, went before them, until it came and stood
over where the young child was.
Mat
2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great
joy.
Mat
2:11 They came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his
mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Opening their
treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Mat
2:12 Being warned in a dream that they shouldn't return to Herod,
they went back to their own country another way.
Mat
2:13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise and take the young
child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I
tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him."
Mat
2:14 He arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and
departed into Egypt,
Mat
2:15 and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,
"Out of Egypt I called my son."
Mat
2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was
exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who
were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two
years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned
from the wise men.
Mat
2:17 Then that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was
fulfilled, saying,
Mat
2:18 "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping and
great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; she wouldn't be
comforted, because they are no more."
Mat
2:19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared
in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
Mat
2:20 "Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go
into the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child's life
are dead."
Mat
2:21 He arose and took the young child and his mother, and came into
the land of Israel.
Mat
2:22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in the
place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there. Being warned
in a dream, he withdrew into the region of Galilee,
Mat
2:23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth; that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets: "He will be
called a Nazarene."
A.C. Grayling wrote a book titled The God Argument.
Those in atheistic circles have lauded it as a profound and insightful
representation of atheism. Remarkably, Grayling makes an error that is
extremely common within the writings of unbelievers. He contends that
mankind has no religious nature and that all belief in God is a product
of teaching passed on to children from parents, teachers, or other
environmental factors. He wrote: