A reading from the book of Genesis.

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth,

the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss,

while a mighty wind swept over the waters.

Then God said, let there be light, and there was light.

God saw how good the light was. God then separated the light from the darkness.

God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. Thus,

evening came and morning followed the first day. Then God said, let there be a dome in the middle

of the waters to separate one body of water from the other. And so it happened. God made the dome,

and it separated the water above the dome from the water below it. God called the dome the sky.

Evening came, and morning followed. The second day. Then God said, let the water under the sky be gathered

into a single basin so that the dry land may appear. And so it happened. The water under the sky

was gathered into its basin and the dry land appeared.

God called the dry land the earth,

and the basin of the water he called the sea.

God saw how good it was.

Then God said, let the earth bring forth vegetation.

Every kind of plant that bears seed and every

kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. And so it happened. The earth

brought forth every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it.

God saw how good it was. Evening came and morning followed the third day. Then God said,

let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate day from night.

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