B’REISHEET (IN THE BEGINNING)

Parashat Bereshit

Creation in Six Days

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ^{[a] 2} Now the earth was chaos and waste, darkness was on the surface of the deep, and the Ruach Elohim was hovering upon the surface of the water.^[b]

³ Then God said, “Let there be light!” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good. So God distinguished the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” So there was evening and there was morning—one day.

⁶ Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water! Let it be for separating water from water.” ⁷ So God made the expanse and it separated the water that was below the expanse from the water that was over the expanse. And it happened so. ⁸ God called the expanse “sky.” So there was evening and there was morning—a second day. ⁹ Then God said, “Let the water below the sky be gathered to one place. Let the dry ground appear.” And it happened so. ¹⁰ God called the dry ground “land,” and the collection of the water He called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

¹¹ Then God said, “Let the land sprout grass, green plants yielding seed, fruit trees making fruit, each according to its species with seed in it, upon the land.” And it happened so. ¹² The land brought forth grass, green plants yielding seed, each according to its species, and trees making fruit with the seed in it, each according to its species. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ So there was evening and there was morning—a third day.

¹⁴ Then God said, “Let lights in the expanse of the sky be for separating the day from the night. They will be for signs and for seasons and for days and years. ¹⁵ They will be for lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the land.” And it happened so. ¹⁶ Then God made the two great lights—the greater light for dominion over the day, and the lesser light as well as the stars for dominion over the night. ¹⁷ God set them in the expanse of the sky to shine on the land ¹⁸ and to have dominion over the day and over the night and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ So there was evening and there was morning—a fourth day.

²⁰ Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures! Let flying creatures fly above the land across the expanse of the sky.” ²¹ Then God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that crawls, with which the water swarms, according to their species, as well as every winged flying creature, according to their species. And God saw that it was good. ²² Then God blessed them by saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas. Let the flying creatures multiply on the land.” ²³ So there was evening and there was morning—a fifth day.

²⁴ Then God said, “Let the land bring forth living creatures according to their species—livestock, crawling creatures and wild animals, according to their species.” And it happened so. ²⁵ God made the wild animals according to their species, the livestock according to their species, and everything that crawls on the ground, each according to its species. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness! Let them rule over the fish of the sea, over the flying creatures of the sky, over the livestock, over the whole earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the land.” ²⁷ God created humankind in His image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them. ^{[c] 28} God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the land, and conquer it. Rule over the fish of the sea, the flying creatures of the sky, and over every animal that crawls on the land.”

²⁹ Then God said, “I have just given you every green plant yielding seed that is on the surface of the whole land, and every tree, which has the fruit of a tree yielding seed. They are to be food for you. ³⁰ Also for every wild animal, every flying creature of the sky and every creature that crawls on the land which has life, every green plant is to be food.” And it happened so. ³¹ So God saw everything that He made, and behold it was very good.

So there was evening and there was morning—the sixth day.

Shabbat For Rest

2 So the heavens and the earth were completed along with their entire array. ² God completed—on the seventh day—His work that He made, and He ceased—on the seventh day—from all His work that He made. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, for on it He ceased from all His work that God created for the purpose of preparing.

Humanity in Gan-Eden

⁴ These are the genealogical records of the heavens and the earth when they were created, at the time when Adonai Elohim made land and sky. ⁵ Now no shrub of the field was in the land yet, and no green plants of the field had sprouted yet. For Adonai Elohim had not caused it to rain upon the land, and there was no one to work the ground. ⁶ But a mist came up from the land and watered the whole surface of the ground.

⁷ Then Adonai Elohim formed the man out of the dust from the ground and He breathed into his nostrils a breath of life—so the man became a living being. ⁸ Then Adonai Elohim planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed. ⁹ Then Adonai Elohim caused to sprout from the ground every tree that was desirable to look at and good for food.

Now the Tree of Life was in the middle of the garden, and also the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. ¹⁰ A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became four riverheads. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon, the one that winds around the whole land of the Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² The gold of that land is good—bdellium and lapis lazuli stones are also there. ¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon—it winds around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is Tigris—it runs east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

¹⁵ Then Adonai Elohim took the man and gave him rest in the Garden of Eden in order to cultivate and watch over it. ¹⁶ Then Adonai Elohim commanded the man saying, “From all the trees of the garden you are most welcome to eat. ¹⁷ But of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you must not eat. For when you eat from it, you most assuredly will die!

¹⁸ Then Adonai Elohim said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. Let Me make a well-matched helper for him.” ¹⁹ Adonai Elohim had formed from the ground every animal of the field and every flying creature of the sky, so He brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called them—each living creature—that was its name. ²⁰ So the man gave names to all of the livestock, and to the flying creatures of the sky, and to all the animals of the field; but for the man He did not find a well-matched helper for him. ²¹ Adonai Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall on the man and he slept; and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. ²² Adonai Elohim built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman. Then He brought her to the man. ²³ Then the man said,

²⁴ This is why a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife; and they become one flesh.^[d]

From Innocence to Shame

²⁵ Now both of them were naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.

3 But the serpent was shrewder than any animal of the field that Adonai Elohim made. So it said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from all the trees of the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “Of the fruit of the trees, we may eat. ³ But of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat of it and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ The serpent said to the woman, “You most assuredly won’t die! ⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ Now the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a thing of lust for the eyes, and that the tree was desirable for imparting wisdom. So she took of its fruit and she ate. She also gave to her husband who was with her and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made for themselves loin-coverings. ⁸ And they heard the sound of Adonai Elohim going to and fro in the garden in the wind of the day. So the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Adonai Elohim in the midst of the Tree of the garden.

⁹ Then Adonai Elohim called to the man and He said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ Then he said, “Your sound—I heard it in the garden and I was afraid. Because I am naked, I hid myself.”

¹¹ Then He said, “Who told you that you are naked? Have you eaten from the Tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”

¹² Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me—she gave me of the Tree, and I ate.”

¹³ Adonai Elohim said to the woman, “What did you do?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.”

¹⁴ Adonai Elohim said to the serpent, “Because you did this,

¹⁷ Then to the man He said, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate of the tree which I commanded you, saying, ‘You must not eat of it’:

²⁰ Now Adam named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living. ²¹ Adonai Elohim made Adam and his wife tunics of skin and He clothed them. ²² Then Adonai Elohim said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. So now, in case he stretches out his hand and takes also from the Tree of Life and eats and lives forever,” ²³ Adonai Elohim sent him away from the Garden of Eden, to work the ground from which he had been taken. ²⁴ And He expelled the man; and at the east of the Garden of Eden He had cheruvim dwell along, with the whirling sword of flame, to guard the way to the Tree of Life.

Cain and Abel’s Blood

4 Now the man had relations with Eve his wife and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I produced a man with Adonai.” ² Then she gave birth again, to his brother Abel. Abel became a shepherd of flocks while Cain became a worker of the ground. ³ So it happened after some time that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to Adonai, ⁴ while Abel—he also brought of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. Now Adonai looked favorably upon Abel and his offering, ⁵ but upon Cain and his offering He did not look favorably. Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.

⁶ Then Adonai said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷ If you do well, it will lift. But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the doorway. Its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

⁸ Cain spoke to Abel his brother. While they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. ^{[f] 9} Then Adonai said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰ Then He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground. ¹¹ So now, cursed are you from the ground which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² As often as you work the ground, it will not yield its crops to you again. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

¹³ Cain said to Adonai, “My iniquity^[g] is too great to bear! ¹⁴ Since You expelled me today from the face of the ground and I must be hidden from Your presence, then I will be a restless wanderer on the earth—anyone who finds me will kill me!”

¹⁵ But Adonai said to him, “In that case, anyone who kills Cain is to be avenged seven times over.”

So Adonai put a mark on Cain, so that anyone who found him would not strike him down. ¹⁶ Then Cain left Adonai’s presence and dwelled in the Land of Wandering, east of Eden.

¹⁷ Cain was intimate with his wife and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. And he was building a city, and he named the city after the name of his son, Enoch. ¹⁸ And to Enoch was born Irad. Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech.

¹⁹ Now Lamech took for himself two wives. The name of the first one was Adah, and the name of the second one was Zillah. ²⁰ Adah gave birth to Jabal—he was the pioneer of tent dwellers with livestock. ²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal—he was the pioneer of all who skillfully handle stringed instruments and wind instruments. ²² Now Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain, the forger of every kind of bronze and iron tools; Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.

²⁵ Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and she named him Seth, “For God has appointed me another seed in place of Abel—since Cain killed him.” ²⁶ To Seth, also was born a son. He named him Enosh. Then people began to call on Adonai’s Name.

Book of Genealogies

5 This is the Book of the Genealogies of Adam:

When God created Adam, in the likeness of God He made him. ² Male and female He created them, and He blessed them and called their name “Adam” when He created them. ³ Adam lived 130 years, then fathered a son in his likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. ⁴ Then the days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years, and He fathered other sons and daughters. ⁵ So all Adam’s days that he lived were 930 years, and then he died.

⁶ Seth lived 105 years, then fathered Enosh. ⁷ Seth lived 807 years after he fathered Enosh, and he fathered sons and daughters. ⁸ So all Seth’s days were 912 years, and then he died.

⁹ Enosh lived 90 years, then fathered Kenan. ¹⁰ Enosh lived 815 years after he fathered Kenan, and he fathered sons and daughters. ¹¹ So all of Enosh’s days were 905 years, and then he died.

¹² Kenan lived 70 years, then fathered Mahalalel. ¹³ Kenan lived 840 years after he fathered Mahalalel, he fathered sons and daughters. ¹⁴ So all of Kenan’s days were 910 years, and then he died.

¹⁵ Mahalalel lived 65 years, then fathered Jared. ¹⁶ Mahalalel lived 830 years after he fathered Jared, and he fathered sons and daughters. ¹⁷ So all of Mahalalel’s days were 895 years, and then he died.

¹⁸ Jared lived 162 years, then fathered Enoch. ¹⁹ Jared lived 800 years after he fathered Enoch, and he fathered sons and daughters. ²⁰ So all of Jared’s days were 962 years, and then he died.

²¹ Enoch lived 65 years, then fathered Methuselah.

²² Now Enoch walked with God continually for 300 years after he fathered Methuselah, and he fathered sons and daughters. ²³ So all of Enoch’s days were 365 years.

²⁴ And Enoch continually walked with God—then he was not there, because God took him.

²⁵ Methuselah lived 187 years and fathered Lamech. ²⁶ And Methuselah lived 782 years after he fathered Lamech, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁷ So all of Methuselah’s days were 969 years, and then he died.

²⁸ Lamech lived 182 years and he fathered a son.

²⁹ And he named him Noah saying, “This one will comfort us from our work and from the pain of our hands because of the ground which Adonai cursed.”

³⁰ Lamech lived 595 years after he fathered Noah, and he fathered sons and daughters. ³¹ So all of Lamech’s days were 777 years, and then he died. ³² And Noah was 500 years old when he fathered Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Evil Inclination of All Humanity

6 Now when humankind began to multiply on the face of the ground and daughters were born to them, ² then the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were good and they took for themselves wives, any they chose. ³ Then Adonai said, “My Spirit will not remain with humankind forever, since they are flesh. So their days will be 120 years. ⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, whenever the sons of God came to the daughters of men, and gave birth to them. Those were the mighty men of old, men of renown.

⁵ Then Adonai saw that the wickedness of humankind was great on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their heart was only evil all the time. ⁶ So Adonai regretted that He made humankind on the earth, and His heart was deeply pained. ⁷ So Adonai said, “I will wipe out humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the ground, from humankind to livestock, crawling things and the flying creatures of the sky, because I regret that I made them.”

⁸ But Noah found favor in Adonai’s eyes.

Love for Israel

You Are My Witnesses

The Word Becomes Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word.^[a] The Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ All things were made through Him, and apart from Him nothing was made that has come into being. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it.

⁶ There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that through him everyone might believe. ⁸ He was not the light, but he came to bear witness concerning the light. ⁹ The true light, coming into the world, gives light to every man.

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through Him; but the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His own, but His own did not receive Him. ¹² But whoever did receive Him, those trusting in His name, to these He gave the right to become children of God. ¹³ They were born not of a bloodline, nor of human desire, nor of man’s will, but of God. ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We looked upon His glory,^[b] the glory of the one and only^[c] from the Father, full of grace and truth.

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Yeshua Is Coming

⁶ He said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true! Adonai, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His angel to show His servants what must happen soon. ^{[a] 7} Behold, I am coming soon! How fortunate is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

⁸ I, John, am the one hearing and seeing these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel showing me these things. ⁹ But he tells me, “See that you do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets and those keeping the words of this book. Worship God!”

¹⁰ Then he tells me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. ^{[b] 11} Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do righteousness, and the holy still be holy. ^{[c] 12} Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to pay back each one according to his deeds.

¹³ “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. ^{[d] 14} How fortunate are those who wash their robes,^[e] so that they may have the right to the Tree of Life^[f] and may enter through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. ¹⁶ I, Yeshua, have sent My angel to testify these things to you for My communities. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”^[g]

¹⁷ The Ruach and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come—let the one who wishes freely take the water of life! ^{[h] 18} I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues that are written in this book; ¹⁹ and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his share in the Tree of Life and the Holy City,^[i] which are written in this book.

²⁰ The One giving testimony to these things says, “Yes! I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Yeshua! ^{[j] 21} May the grace of the Lord Yeshua be with all!^[k]

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Forefathers of Yeshua the Messiah

1 The book of the genealogy^[a] of Yeshua ha-Mashiach, Ben-David,^[b] Ben-Avraham: ² Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers, ³ Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar,^[c] Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, ⁴ Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, ⁵ Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth,^[d] Obed fathered Jesse, ⁶ and Jesse fathered David the king.

David fathered Solomon by the wife of Uriah, ^{[e] 7} Solomon fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, Abijah fathered Asa, ⁸ Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, Joram fathered Uzziah, ⁹ Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, Ahaz fathered Hezekiah, ¹⁰ Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, Amon fathered Josiah, ¹¹ and Josiah fathered Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

¹² After the Babylonian exile Jeconiah fathered Shealtiel, Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel, ¹³ Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, Abiud fathered Eliakim, Eliakim fathered Azor, ¹⁴ Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, Achim fathered Eliud, ¹⁵ Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, Matthan fathered Jacob, ¹⁶ and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Miriam, from whom was born Yeshua who is called the Messiah. ¹⁷ So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the Babylonian exile are fourteen generations, and from the Babylonian exile until the Messiah are fourteen generations.

The Miraculous Birth of Yeshua

¹⁸ Now the birth of Yeshua the Messiah happened this way. When His mother Miriam was engaged to Joseph but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Ruach ha-Kodesh. ¹⁹ And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, made up his mind to dismiss her secretly. ²⁰ But while he considered these things, behold, an angel of Adonai appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Miriam as your wife, for the Child conceived in her is from the Ruach ha-Kodesh. ²¹ She will give birth to a son; and you shall call His name Yeshua, for He will save His people from their sins.”

²² Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by Adonai through the prophet, saying, ²³ “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which means “God with us.”^[f]

²⁴ When Joseph woke up from his sleep, he did as the angel of Adonai commanded him and took Miriam as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not know her intimately until she had given birth to a Son. And he called His name Yeshua.

Wise Men Follow His Star

2 Now after Yeshua was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, magi from the east came to Jerusalem, ² saying, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”^[g]

³ When King Herod heard, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ And when he had called together all the ruling kohanim and Torah scholars, he began to inquire of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ So they told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet:

⁷ Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child. And when you have found Him, bring word back to me so that I may come and worship Him as well.”

⁹ After listening to the king, they went their way. And behold, the star they had seen in the east went on before them, until it came to rest over the place where the Child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great gladness. ¹¹ And when they came into the house, they saw the Child with His mother Miriam; and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ^{[i] 12} And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another way.

The Angel of Adonai Appears

¹³ Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of Adonai appears to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the Child, to kill Him.”^[j]

¹⁴ So he got up, took the Child and His mother during the night, and went to Egypt. ¹⁵ He stayed there until Herod’s death. This was to fulfill what was spoken by Adonai through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My son.”^[k]

¹⁶ Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became furious. And he sent and killed all boys in Bethlehem and in all its surrounding area, from two years old and under, according to the time he had determined from the magi. ¹⁷ Then was fulfilled what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying,

¹⁹ But when Herod died, behold, an angel of Adonai appears in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ²⁰ saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those seeking the Child’s life are dead.”

²¹ So he got up, took the Child and His mother, and went to the land of Israel. ²² But hearing that Archelaus was king of Judea in place of his father Herod, he became afraid to go there. Then after being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of the Galilee. ²³ And he went and lived in a city called Natzeret,^[m] to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that Yeshua shall be called a Natzrati.

John’s Witness to Israel’s Leaders

3 In those days, John the Immerser came proclaiming in the wilderness of Judea, ² “Turn away from your sins, for the kingdom of heaven is near!” ^{[n] 3} For he is the one Isaiah the prophet spoke about, saying,

⁴ Now John wore clothing from camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts^[p] and wild honey. ⁵ Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan. ⁶ Confessing their sins, they were being immersed by him in the Jordan River.

⁷ But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his immersion, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance; ⁹ and do not think that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’! For I tell you that from these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ Already the axe is laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire!

¹¹ “As for me, I immerse you in water for repentance. But the One coming after me is mightier than I am; I am not worthy to carry His sandals. He will immerse you in the Ruach ha-Kodesh and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He shall clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn; but the chaff He shall burn up with inextinguishable fire.”^[q]

The Heavens Open at Yeshua’s Mikveh

¹³ Then Yeshua came from the Galilee to John, to be immersed by him in the Jordan. ¹⁴ But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be immersed by You, and You are coming to me?”

¹⁵ But Yeshua responded, “Let it happen now, for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” So John yielded to Him.

¹⁶ After being immersed, Yeshua rose up out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Ruach Elohim^[r] descending like a dove and coming upon Him. ¹⁷ And behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased!”^[s]