Genesis 1

• 1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
• 2. The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface.
• 3. Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
• 4. And God saw that it was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness.
• 5. God called the light "day" and the darkness "night." Together these made up one day.
• 6. And God said, "Let there be space between the waters, to separate water from water."
• 7. And so it was. God made this space to separate the waters above from the waters below.
• 8. And God called the space "sky." This happened on the second day.
• 9. And God said, "Let the waters beneath the sky be gathered into one place so dry ground may appear." And so it was.
• 10. God named the dry ground "land" and the water "seas." And God saw that it was good.
• 11. Then God said, "Let the land burst forth with every sort of grass and seed-bearing plant. And let there be trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. The seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came." And so it was.
• 12. The land was filled with seed-bearing plants and trees, and their seeds produced plants and trees of like kind. And God saw that it was good.
• 13. This all happened on the third day.
• 14. And God said, "Let bright lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs to mark off the seasons, the days, and the years.
• 15. Let their light shine down upon the earth." And so it was.
• 16. For God made two great lights, the sun and the moon, to shine down upon the earth. The greater one, the sun, presides during the day; the lesser one, the moon, presides through the night. He also made the stars.
• 17. God set these lights in the heavens to light the earth,
• 18. to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
• 19. This all happened on the fourth day.
• 20. And God said, "Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind."
• 21. So God created great sea creatures and every sort of fish and every kind of bird. And God saw that it was good.
• 22. Then God blessed them, saying, "Let the fish multiply and fill the oceans. Let the birds increase and fill the earth."
• 23. This all happened on the fifth day.
• 24. And God said, "Let the earth bring forth every kind of animal--livestock, small animals, and wildlife." And so it was.
• 25. God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to reproduce more of its own kind. And God saw that it was good.
• 26. Then God said, "Let us make people in our image, to be like ourselves. They will be masters over all life--the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the livestock, wild animals, and small animals."
• 27. So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them.
• 28. God blessed them and told them, "Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters over the fish and birds and all the animals."
• 29. And God said, "Look! I have given you the seed-bearing plants throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.
• 30. And I have given all the grasses and other green plants to the animals and birds for their food." And so it was.
• 31. Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was excellent in every way. This all happened on the sixth day.

Matthew 1

• 1. This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of King David and of Abraham:
• 2. Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
• 3. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar). Perez was the father of Hezron. Hezron was the father of Ram.
• 4. Ram was the father of Amminadab. Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
• 5. Salmon was the father of Boaz (his mother was Rahab). Boaz was the father of Obed (his mother was Ruth). Obed was the father of Jesse.
• 6. Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon (his mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah).
• 7. Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the father of Abijah. Abijah was the father of Asaph.
• 8. Asaph was the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram. Jehoram was the father of Uzziah.
• 9. Uzziah was the father of Jotham. Jotham was the father of Ahaz. Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
• 10. Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh. Manasseh was the father of Amos. Amos was the father of Josiah.
• 11. Josiah was the father of Jehoiachin and his brothers (born at the time of the exile to Babylon).
• 12. After the Babylonian exile: Jehoiachin was the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel.
• 13. Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud. Abiud was the father of Eliakim. Eliakim was the father of Azor.
• 14. Azor was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Akim. Akim was the father of Eliud.
• 15. Eliud was the father of Eleazar. Eleazar was the father of Matthan. Matthan was the father of Jacob.
• 16. Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary was the mother of Jesus, who is called the Messiah.
• 17. All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to King David, and fourteen from David's time to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.
• 18. Now this is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
• 19. Joseph, her fiance, being a just man, decided to break the engagement quietly, so as not to disgrace her publicly.
• 20. As he considered this, he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. "Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary. For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit.
• 21. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
• 22. All of this happened to fulfill the Lord's message through his prophet:
• 23. "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and he will be called Immanuel (meaning, God is with us)."
• 24. When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded. He brought Mary home to be his wife,
• 25. but she remained a virgin until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

Ezra 1

• 1. In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the LORD fulfilled Jeremiah's prophecy by stirring the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation into writing and to send it throughout his kingdom:
• 2. "This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem in the land of Judah.
• 3. All of you who are his people may return to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you!
• 4. Those who live in any place where Jewish survivors are found should contribute toward their expenses by supplying them with silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock, as well as a freewill offering for the Temple of God in Jerusalem."
• 5. Then God stirred the hearts of the priests and Levites and the leaders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple of the LORD.
• 6. And all their neighbors assisted by giving them vessels of silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock. They gave them many choice gifts in addition to all the freewill offerings.
• 7. King Cyrus himself brought out the valuable items which King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the LORD's Temple in Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his own gods.
• 8. Cyrus directed Mithredath, the treasurer of Persia, to count these items and present them to Sheshbazzar, the leader of the exiles returning to Judah.
• 9. These were the items Cyrus donated: gold trays............. 30 silver trays.......... 1,000 silver censers......... 29
• 10. gold bowls............ 30 silver bowls.......... 410 other items.......... 1,000
• 11. In all, 5,400 gold and silver items were turned over to Sheshbazzar to take back to Jerusalem when the exiles returned there from Babylon.

New Living Translation: 1 of 365 days.