First Reading: Genesis 1:1—2:2

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.
                Let them mark the fixed times, the days and the years,
                and serve as luminaries in the dome of the sky,
                to shed light upon the earth."
                And so it happened:
                God made the two great lights,
                the greater one to govern the day,
                and the lesser one to govern the night;
                and he made the stars.
                God set them in the dome of the sky,
                to shed light upon the earth,
                to govern the day and the night,
                and to separate the light from the darkness.
                God saw how good it was.
                Evening came, and morning followed—the fourth day.
                
                Then 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."
                And so it happened:
                God created the great sea monsters
                and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems,
                and all kinds of winged birds.
                God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying,
                "Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas;
                and let the birds multiply on the earth."
                Evening came, and morning followed—the fifth day.
                
                Then God said,
                "Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures:
                cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds."
                And so it happened:
                God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle,
                and all kinds of creeping things of the earth.
                God saw how good it was.
                Then God said:
                "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
                Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
                the birds of the air, and the cattle,
                and over all the wild animals
                and all the creatures that crawl on the ground."
                God created man in his image;
                in the image of God he created him;
                male and female he created them.
                God blessed them, saying:
                "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 move on the earth."
                God also said:
                "See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth
                and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food;
                and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air,
                and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground,
                I give all the green plants for food."
                And so it happened.
                God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.
                Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day.
                Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.
                Since on the seventh day God was finished
                with the work he had been doing,
                he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.

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Second Reading:

God put Abraham to the test.
                He called to him, "Abraham!"
                "Here I am,"  he replied.
                Then God said:
                "Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love,
                and go to the land of Moriah.
                There you shall offer him up as a holocaust
                on a height that I will point out to you."
                Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey,
                took with him his son Isaac and two of his servants as well,
                and with the wood that he had cut for the holocaust,
                set out for the place of which God had told him.
                
                On the third day Abraham got sight of the place from afar.
                Then he said to his servants:
                "Both of you stay here with the donkey,
                while the boy and I go on over yonder.
                We will worship and then come back to you."
                Thereupon Abraham took the wood for the holocaust
                and laid it on his son Isaac's shoulders,
                while he himself carried the fire and the knife.
                As the two walked on together, Isaac spoke to his father Abraham:
                "Father!" Isaac said.
                "Yes, son," he replied.
                Isaac continued, "Here are the fire and the wood,
                but where is the sheep for the holocaust?"
                "Son," Abraham answered,
                "God himself will provide the sheep for the holocaust."
                Then the two continued going forward.
                
                When they came to the place of which God had told him,
                Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it.
                Next he tied up his son Isaac,
                and put him on top of the wood on the altar.
                Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.
                But the LORD's messenger called to him from heaven,
                "Abraham, Abraham!"
                "Here I am!" he answered.
                "Do not lay your hand on the boy," said the messenger.
                "Do not do the least thing to him.
                I know now how devoted you are to God,
                since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son."
                As Abraham looked about,
                he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket.
                So he went and took the ram
                and offered it up as a holocaust in place of his son.
                Abraham named the site Yahweh-yireh;
                hence people now say, "On the mountain the LORD will see."
                
                Again the LORD's messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said:
                "I swear by myself, declares the LORD,
                that because you acted as you did
                in not withholding from me your beloved son,
                I will bless you abundantly
                and make your descendants as countless
                as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore;
                your descendants shall take possession
                of the gates of their enemies,
                and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing--
                all this because you obeyed my command."

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Gospel: