The Fall of Mankind

3 Now ^(A)the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” ² The woman said to the serpent, “^(B)From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; ³ but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” ^4 (C)The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! ⁵ For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and ^(D)you will ^[a]become like God, knowing good and evil.” ^6 (E)When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they ^(F)knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings.

⁸ Now they heard the sound of ^(G)the Lord God walking in the garden in the ^[b]cool of the day, ^(H)and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “^(I)Where are you?” ¹⁰ He said, “^(J)I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” ¹¹ And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?” ^12 (K)The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit of the tree, and I ate.” ¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” And the woman said, “^(L)The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” ¹⁴ Then the Lord God said to the serpent,

¹⁶ To the woman He said,

¹⁷ Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;

²⁰ Now the man named his wife ^[j](W)Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. ²¹ And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

²² Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of ^(X)Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out with his hand, and take fruit also from ^(Y)the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— ²³ therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ So ^(Z)He drove the man out; and at the ^(AA)east of the Garden of Eden He stationed the ^(AB)cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to ^(AC)the tree of life.

Cain and Abel

4 Now the man ^[k]had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have obtained a male child with the help of the Lord.” ² And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now ^(AD)Abel was ^(AE)a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a cultivator of the ground. ³ So it came about ^[l]in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the ground. ^4 (AF)Abel, on his part also brought an offering, from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat portions. And ^(AG)the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering; ⁵ but ^(AH)for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So ^(AI)Cain became very angry and his face ^[m]was gloomy. ⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “^(AJ)Why are you angry? And why is your face ^[n]gloomy? ^7 (AK)If you do well, ^[o]will your face not be ^[p]cheerful? ^(AL)And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, ^(AM)but you must master it.” ⁸ Cain ^[q]talked to his brother Abel; and it happened that when they were in the field Cain rose up against his brother Abel and ^(AN)killed him.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “^(AO)Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰ Then He said, “What have you done? ^(AP)The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground. ¹¹ Now ^(AQ)you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ^12 (AR)When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; ^(AS)you will be a wanderer and a drifter on the earth.” ¹³ Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to endure! ¹⁴ Behold, You have ^(AT)driven me this day from the face of the ground; and I will be hidden from Your face, and ^(AU)I will be a wanderer and a drifter on the earth, and ^(AV)whoever finds me will kill me.” ¹⁵ So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him ^(AW)seven times as much.” And the Lord ^[r](AX)placed a mark on Cain, so that no one finding him would kill him.

¹⁶ Then Cain left the presence ^(AY)of the Lord, and ^[s]settled in the land of ^[t]Nod, east of Eden.

¹⁷ Cain ^[u]had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and Cain built a city, and named the city Enoch, after the name of his son. ¹⁸ Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. ¹⁹ Lamech took ^(AZ)two wives for himself: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. ²⁰ Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and have livestock. ²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and flute. ²² As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

²³ Lamech said to his wives,

^25 (BC)Adam ^[v]had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him ^[w]Seth, for, she said, “God ^[x]has appointed me another ^[y]child in place of Abel, ^(BD)because Cain killed him.” ²⁶ To Seth also ^(BE)a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then people began ^(BF)to call ^[z]upon the name of the Lord.

Descendants of Adam

5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. On the day when God created man, He made him ^(BG)in the likeness of God. ² He created them ^(BH)male and female, and He ^(BI)blessed them and named them “mankind” on the day when they were created.

³ When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. ⁴ Then the days of Adam after he fathered Seth were eight hundred years, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ⁵ So all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.

⁶ Now Seth lived 105 years, and fathered Enosh. ⁷ Then Seth lived 807 years after he fathered Enosh, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ⁸ So all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.

⁹ Now Enosh lived ninety years, and fathered Kenan. ¹⁰ Then Enosh lived 815 years after he fathered Kenan, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹¹ So all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.

¹² Now Kenan lived seventy years, and fathered Mahalalel. ¹³ Then Kenan lived 840 years after he fathered Mahalalel, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁴ So all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died.

¹⁵ Now Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and fathered Jared. ¹⁶ Then Mahalalel lived 830 years after he fathered Jared, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁷ So all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died.

¹⁸ Now Jared lived 162 years, and fathered Enoch. ¹⁹ Then Jared lived eight hundred years after he fathered Enoch, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁰ So all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.

²¹ Now Enoch lived sixty-five years, and fathered Methuselah. ²² Then Enoch ^(BJ)walked with God three hundred years after he fathered Methuselah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²³ So all the days of Enoch were 365 years. ^24 (BK)Enoch walked with God; and he was ^[aa]not, for God ^(BL)took him.

²⁵ Now Methuselah lived 187 years, and fathered Lamech. ²⁶ Then Methuselah lived 782 years after he fathered Lamech, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁷ So all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.

²⁸ Now Lamech lived 182 years, and fathered a son. ²⁹ And he named him Noah, saying, “This one will give us comfort from our work and from the hard labor of our hands caused by ^(BM)the ground which the Lord has cursed.” ³⁰ Then Lamech lived 595 years after he fathered Noah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ³¹ So all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.

³² Now after Noah was ^(BN)five hundred years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The Paralyzed Man Healed

2 When Jesus came back to Capernaum a few days later, it was heard that He was at home. ² And ^(A)many were gathered together, so that there was no longer space, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. ^3 (B)And some people *came, bringing to Him a man who was ^(C)paralyzed, carried by four men. ⁴ And when they were unable to ^[a]get to Him because of the crowd, they ^(D)removed the roof ^[b]above Him; and after digging an opening, they let down the pallet on which the ^(E)paralyzed man was lying. ⁵ And Jesus, seeing their faith, *said to the paralyzed man, “Son, ^(F)your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking it over in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming! ^(G)Who can forgive sins except God alone?” ⁸ Immediately Jesus, aware ^[c]in His spirit that they were thinking that way within themselves, *said to them, “Why are you thinking about these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the ^(H)paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? ¹⁰ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He *said to the paralyzed man, ¹¹ “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet, and go home.” ¹² And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and ^(I)were glorifying God, saying, “^(J)We have never seen anything like this!”

¹³ And He went out again by the seashore; and ^(K)all the ^[d]people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them.

Levi (Matthew) Called

^14 (L)As He passed by, He saw ^[e](M)Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax office, and He *said to him, “^(N)Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

¹⁵ And it *happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and ^[f]sinners were ^[g]dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. ¹⁶ When ^(O)the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the ^[h]sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “^(P)Why is He eating with tax collectors and ^[i]sinners?” ¹⁷ And hearing this, Jesus *said to them, “^(Q)It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

^18 (R)John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they *came and *said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, “While the groom is with them, ^[j]the attendants of the groom cannot fast, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the ^(S)days will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they will fast, on that day.

²¹ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise, ^[k]the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. ²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”

Question of the Sabbath

^23 (T)And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while ^(U)picking the heads of grain. ²⁴ The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, ^(V)why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ²⁵ And He *said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry; ²⁶ how he entered the house of God in the ^[l]time of ^(W)Abiathar the high priest, and ate the ^[m]consecrated bread, which ^(X)is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?” ²⁷ Jesus said to them, “^(Y)The Sabbath ^[n]was made ^[o]for man, and ^(Z)not man ^[p]for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.”