Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil

1:1In the beginning God created heaven, and earth. 2And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters. 3And God said: Be light made. And light was made. 4And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light from the darkness. 5And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night; and there was evening and morning one day. 6And God said: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters: and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7And God made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament, and it was so. 8And God called the firmament, Heaven; and the evening and morning were the second day. 9God also said: Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear. And it was so done. 10And God called the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11And he said: Let the earth bring forth the green herb, and such as may seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have seed in itself upon the earth. And it was so done. 12And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth seed according to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit, having seed each one according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13And the evening and the morning were the third day. 14And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years: 15To shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth. And it was so done. 16And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day; and a lesser light to rule the night: and the stars. 17And he set them in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the earth. 18And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And the evening and morning were the fourth day. 20God also said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven. 21And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature, which the waters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged fowl according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22And he blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth. 23And the evening and morning were the fifth day. 24And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, according to their kinds. And it was so done. 25And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle, and every thing that creepeth on the earth after its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth. 27And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. 28And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth. 29And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat: 30And to all beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they may have to feed upon. And it was so done. 31And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good. And the evening and morning were the sixth day.

2:1So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the furniture of them. 2And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.

1Give praise to Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

2Let Israel now say that he is good: that his mercy endureth for ever.

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16The right hand of the Lord hath wrought strength: the right hand of the Lord hath exulted me: the right hand of the Lord hath wrought strength.

17I shall not die, but live: and shall declare the works of the Lord.

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22The stone which the builders rejected; the same is become the head of the corner.

23This is the Lord's doing: and it is wonderful in our eyes.

1After these things, God tempted Abraham, and said to him: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am. 2He said to him: Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of vision: and there thou shalt offer him for an holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will show thee. 3So Abraham rising up in the night, saddled his ass: and took with him two young men, and Isaac his son: and when he had cut wood for the holocaust he went his way to the place which God had commanded him. 4And on the third day, lifting up his eyes, he saw the place afar off. 5And he said to his young men: Stay you here with the ass: I and the boy will go with speed as far as yonder, and after we have worshipped, will return to you. 6And he took the wood for the holocaust, and laid it upon Isaac his son: and he himself carried in his hands fire and a sword. And as they two went on together, 7Isaac said to his father: My father. And he answered: What wilt thou, son? Behold, saith he, fire and wood: where is the victim for the holocaust? 8And Abraham said: God will provide himself a victim for an holocaust, my son. So they went on together. 9And they came to the place which God had shown him, where he built an altar, and laid the wood in order upon it: and when he had bound Isaac his son, he laid him on the altar upon the pile of wood. 10And he put forth his hand and took the sword, to sacrifice his son. 11And behold an angel of the Lord from heaven called to him, saying: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am. 12And he said to him: Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither do thou any thing to him: now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake. 13Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw behind his back a ram amongst the briers sticking fast by the horns, which he took and offered for a holocaust instead of his son. 14And he called the name of that place, The Lord seeth. Whereupon even to this day it is said: In the mountain the Lord will see. 15And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, saying: 16By my own self have I sworn, saith the Lord: because thou hast done this thing, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake: 17I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea shore: thy seed shall possess the gates of their enemies. 18And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.

1And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought sweet spices, that coming, they might anoint Jesus. 2And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they come to the sepulchre, the sun being now risen. 3And they said one to another: Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4And looking, they saw the stone rolled back. For it was very great. 5And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed with a white robe: and they were astonished. 6Who saith to them: Be not affrighted; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he is risen, he is not here, behold the place where they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee; there you shall see him, as he told you.