Texts for January 11th, 2015 The Baptism of our Lord

First Reading: Genesis 1:1–5

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,  ²the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.  ³Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.  ⁴And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.  ⁵God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Second Reading: Acts 19:1–7

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples.  ²He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" They replied, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."  ³Then he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They answered, "Into John's baptism."  ⁴Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus."  ⁵On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  ⁶When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied —  ⁷altogether there were about twelve of them.

Gospel: Mark 1:4–11

⁴John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  ⁵And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.  ⁶Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  ⁷He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.  ⁸I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

⁹In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  ¹⁰And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.  ¹¹And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."