April 15, 2028

1In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth— 2and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters— 3Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good. God then separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” Evening came, and morning followed—the first day. 6Then God said: Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other. 7God made the dome, and it separated the water below the dome from the water above the dome. And so it happened. 8God called the dome “sky.” Evening came, and morning followed—the second day. 9Then 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. 10God called the dry land “earth,” and the basin of water he called “sea.” God saw that it was good. 11Then 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: 12the earth brought forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree that bears fruit with its seed in it. God saw that it was good. 13Evening came, and morning followed—the third day. 14Then God said: Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate day from night. Let them mark the seasons, the days and the years, 15and serve as lights in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth. And so it happened: 16God made the two great lights, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night, and the stars. 17God set them in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth, 18to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. 19Evening came, and morning followed—the fourth day. 20Then God said: Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky. 21God created the great sea monsters and all kinds of crawling living creatures with which the water teems, and all kinds of winged birds. God saw that it was good, 22and God blessed them, saying: Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth. 23Evening came, and morning followed—the fifth day. 24Then God said: Let the earth bring forth every kind of living creature: tame animals, crawling things, and every kind of wild animal. And so it happened: 25God made every kind of wild animal, every kind of tame animal, and every kind of thing that crawls on the ground. God saw that it was good. 26Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth. 27God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth. 29God also said: See, I give you every seed-bearing plant on all the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; 30and to all the wild animals, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the earth, I give all the green plants for food. And so it happened. 31God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day. 1Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed. 2On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.

1Psalm 104 Praise of God the Creator I - Bless the LORD, my soul! LORD, my God, you are great indeed! You are clothed with majesty and splendor, 2robed in light as with a cloak. You spread out the heavens like a tent; 5II - You fixed the earth on its foundation, so it can never be shaken. 6The deeps covered it like a garment; above the mountains stood the waters. 10III - You made springs flow in wadies that wind among the mountains. 12Beside them the birds of heaven nest; among the branches they sing. 13You water the mountains from your chambers; from the fruit of your labor the earth abounds. 14You make the grass grow for the cattle and plants for people’s work to bring forth food from the earth, 24V - How varied are your works, LORD! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. 35May sinners vanish from the earth, and the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, my soul! Hallelujah!

1Some time afterward, God put Abraham to the test and said to him: Abraham! “Here I am!” he replied. 2Then God said: Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There offer him up as a burnt offering on one of the heights that I will point out to you. 3Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey, took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac, and after cutting the wood for the burnt offering, set out for the place of which God had told him. 4On the third day Abraham caught sight of the place from a distance. 5Abraham said to his servants: “Stay here with the donkey, while the boy and I go on over there. We will worship and then come back to you.” 6So Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two walked on together, 7Isaac spoke to his father Abraham. “Father!” he said. “Here I am,” he replied. Isaac continued, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” 8“My son,” Abraham answered, “God will provide the sheep for the burnt offering.” Then the two walked on together. 9When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he bound his son Isaac, and put him on top of the wood on the altar. 10Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered. 12“Do not lay your hand on the boy,” said the angel. “Do not do the least thing to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you did not withhold from me your son, your only one.” 13Abraham looked up and saw a single ram caught by its horns in the thicket. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14Abraham named that place Yahweh-yireh; hence people today say, “On the mountain the LORD will provide.” 15A second time the angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven 16and said: “I swear by my very self—oracle of the LORD—that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your son, your only one, 17I will bless you and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; your descendants will take possession of the gates of their enemies, 18and in your descendants all the nations of the earth will find blessing, because you obeyed my command.”

5LORD, my allotted portion and my cup, you have made my destiny secure. 8I keep the LORD always before me; with him at my right hand, I shall never be shaken. 9Therefore my heart is glad, my soul rejoices; my body also dwells secure, 10For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor let your devout one see the pit. 11You will show me the path to life, abounding joy in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever.

15Then the LORD said to Moses: Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to set out. 16And you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea, and split it in two, that the Israelites may pass through the sea on dry land. 17But I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots and his horsemen. 18The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I receive glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. 19The angel of God, who had been leading Israel’s army, now moved and went around behind them. And the column of cloud, moving from in front of them, took up its place behind them, 20so that it came between the Egyptian army and that of Israel. And when it became dark, the cloud illumined the night; and so the rival camps did not come any closer together all night long. 21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind all night long and turned the sea into dry ground. The waters were split, 22so that the Israelites entered into the midst of the sea on dry land, with the water as a wall to their right and to their left. 23Rout of the Egyptians. The Egyptians followed in pursuit after them—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen—into the midst of the sea. 24But during the watch just before dawn, the LORD looked down from a column of fiery cloud upon the Egyptian army and threw it into a panic; 25and he so clogged their chariot wheels that they could drive only with difficulty. With that the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, because the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt.” 26Then the LORD spoke to Moses: Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may flow back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and their horsemen. 27So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal flow. The Egyptians were fleeing head on toward it when the LORD cast the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28As the water flowed back, it covered the chariots and the horsemen. Of all Pharaoh’s army which had followed the Israelites into the sea, not even one escaped. 29But the Israelites had walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, with the water as a wall to their right and to their left. 30Thus the LORD saved Israel on that day from the power of Egypt. When Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore 31and saw the great power that the LORD had shown against Egypt, the people feared the LORD. They believed in the LORD and in Moses his servant. 1Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord : I will sing to the Lord , for he is gloriously triumphant; horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.

1Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord : I will sing to the Lord , for he is gloriously triumphant; horse and chariot he has cast into the sea. 2My strength and my refuge is the LORD, and he has become my savior. This is my God, I praise him; the God of my father, I extol him. 3The LORD is a warrior, LORD is his name! 4Pharaoh’s chariots and army he hurled into the sea; the elite of his officers were drowned in the Red Sea. 5The flood waters covered them, they sank into the depths like a stone. 6Your right hand, O LORD, magnificent in power, your right hand, O LORD, shattered the enemy. 17You brought them in, you planted them on the mountain that is your own— The place you made the base of your throne, LORD, the sanctuary, LORD, your hands established. 18May the LORD reign forever and ever!

5For your husband is your Maker; the LORD of hosts is his name, Your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, called God of all the earth. 6The LORD calls you back, like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, A wife married in youth and then cast off, says your God. 7For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great tenderness I will take you back. 8In an outburst of wrath, for a moment I hid my face from you; But with enduring love I take pity on you, says the LORD, your redeemer. 9This is for me like the days of Noah: As I swore then that the waters of Noah should never again flood the earth, So I have sworn now not to be angry with you, or to rebuke you. 10Though the mountains fall away and the hills be shaken, My love shall never fall away from you nor my covenant of peace be shaken, says the LORD, who has mercy on you. 11O afflicted one, storm-battered and unconsoled, I lay your pavements in carnelians, your foundations in sapphires; 12I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. 13All your children shall be taught by the LORD; great shall be the peace of your children. 14In justice shall you be established, far from oppression, you shall not fear, from destruction, it cannot come near.

2I - I praise you, LORD, for you raised me up and did not let my enemies rejoice over me. 4LORD, you brought my soul up from Sheol; you let me live, from going down to the pit. 5II - Sing praise to the LORD, you faithful; give thanks to his holy memory. 6For his anger lasts but a moment; his favor a lifetime. At dusk weeping comes for the night; but at dawn there is rejoicing. 11Hear, O LORD, have mercy on me; LORD, be my helper.” 12IV - You changed my mourning into dancing; you took off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness. 13So that my glory may praise you and not be silent. O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.

1All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come, buy grain and eat; Come, buy grain without money, wine and milk without cost! 2Why spend your money for what is not bread; your wages for what does not satisfy? Only listen to me, and you shall eat well, you shall delight in rich fare. 3Pay attention and come to me; listen, that you may have life. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, the steadfast loyalty promised to David. 4As I made him a witness to peoples, a leader and commander of peoples, 5So shall you summon a nation you knew not, and a nation that knew you not shall run to you, Because of the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, who has glorified you. 6Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. 7Let the wicked forsake their way, and sinners their thoughts; Let them turn to the LORD to find mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving. 8For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways—oracle of the LORD. 9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your thoughts. 10Yet just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down And do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, Giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, 11So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me empty, but shall do what pleases me, achieving the end for which I sent it.

2God indeed is my salvation; I am confident and unafraid. For the LORD is my strength and my might, and he has been my salvation. 3With joy you will draw water from the fountains of salvation, 4And you will say on that day: give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name; Among the nations make known his deeds, proclaim how exalted is his name. 5Sing praise to the LORD for he has done glorious things; let this be known throughout all the earth. 6Shout with exultation, City of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel!

9Importance of Wisdom - Hear, Israel, the commandments of life: listen, and know prudence! 10How is it, Israel, that you are in the land of your foes, grown old in a foreign land, 11Defiled with the dead, counted among those destined for Hades? 12You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom! 13Had you walked in the way of God, you would have dwelt in enduring peace. 14Learn where prudence is, where strength, where understanding; That you may know also where are length of days, and life, where light of the eyes, and peace. 15Who has found the place of wisdom? Who has entered into her treasuries? 32But the one who knows all things knows her; he has probed her by his knowledge— The one who established the earth for all time, and filled it with four-footed animals, 33Who sends out the lightning, and it goes, calls it, and trembling it obeys him; 34Before whom the stars at their posts shine and rejoice. 35When he calls them, they answer, “Here we are!” shining with joy for their Maker. 36Such is our God; no other is to be compared to him: 37C. Wisdom Contained in the Law - He has uncovered the whole way of understanding, and has given her to Jacob, his servant, to Israel, his beloved. 38Thus she has appeared on earth, is at home with mortals. 1She is the book of the precepts of God, the law that endures forever; All who cling to her will live, but those will die who forsake her. 2Turn, O Jacob, and receive her: walk by her light toward splendor. 3Do not give your glory to another, your privileges to an alien nation. 4Blessed are we, O Israel; for what pleases God is known to us!

8II - The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. 9The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart. The command of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eye. 10The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The statutes of the LORD are true, all of them just; 11More desirable than gold, than a hoard of purest gold, Sweeter also than honey or drippings from the comb.

16Regeneration of the People. The word of the LORD came to me: 17Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in its land, they defiled it with their behavior and their deeds. In my sight their behavior was like the impurity of a woman in menstruation. 18So I poured out my fury upon them for the blood they poured out on the ground and for the idols with which they defiled it. 19I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through other lands; according to their behavior and their deeds I carried out judgment against them. 20But when they came to the nations, where they went, they desecrated my holy name, for people said of them: “These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave their land.” 21So I relented because of my holy name which the house of Israel desecrated among the nations to which they came. 22Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord GOD: Not for your sake do I act, house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name, which you desecrated among the nations to which you came. 23But I will show the holiness of my great name, desecrated among the nations, in whose midst you desecrated it. Then the nations shall know that I am the LORD—oracle of the Lord GOD—when through you I show my holiness before their very eyes. 24I will take you away from among the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you back to your own soil. 25I will sprinkle clean water over you to make you clean; from all your impurities and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27I will put my spirit within you so that you walk in my statutes, observe my ordinances, and keep them. 28You will live in the land I gave to your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.

3My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When can I enter and see the face of God? 5Those times I recall as I pour out my soul, When I would cross over to the shrine of the Mighty One, to the house of God, Amid loud cries of thanksgiving, with the multitude keeping festival. 3Send your light and your fidelity, that they may be my guide; Let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place of your dwelling, 4That I may come to the altar of God, to God, my joy, my delight. Then I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.

3Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. 5For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection. 6We know that our old self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin. 7For a dead person has been absolved from sin. 8If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. 9We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. 10As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God. 11Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as [being] dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.

1Psalm 118 Hymn of Thanksgiving I - Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, his mercy endures forever. 2Let Israel say: his mercy endures forever. 16the LORD’s right hand is raised; the LORD’s right hand works valiantly.” 17I shall not die but live and declare the deeds of the LORD. 22The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.

1But at daybreak on the first day of the week they took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them. 5They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. They said to them, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? 6He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, 7that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day.” 8And they remembered his words. 9Then they returned from the tomb and announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others. 10The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles, 11but their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them. 12But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone; then he went home amazed at what had happened. The Appearance on the Road to Emmaus.