The 1st Sunday of Lent, Year B: 1st Reading

Genesis 9:8-15

God said to Noah and to his sons with him:
   “See, I am now establishing my covenant with you
   and your descendants after you
   and with every living creature that was with you:
   all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals
   that were with you and came out of the ark.
I will establish my covenant with you,
   that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed
   by the waters of a flood;
   there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.”
God added:
   “This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come,
   of the covenant between me and you
   and every living creature with you:
   I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign
   of the covenant between me and the earth.
When I bring clouds over the earth,
   and the bow appears in the clouds,
   I will recall the covenant I have made
   between me and you and all living beings,
   so that the waters shall never again become a flood
   to destroy all mortal beings.”