BOOK 2

Thirsting for God in Trouble and Exile.

For the music director. A ^[a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.

The Lord, an Abundant Helper.

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.

Pay Attention

2 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to ^[a]what we have heard, so that ^(A)we do not drift away from it. ² For if the word ^(B)spoken through ^(C)angels proved ^[b]unalterable, and ^(D)every violation and act of disobedience received a just ^[c](E)punishment, ^3 (F)how will we escape if we neglect so great a ^(G)salvation? ^[d]After it was at first ^(H)spoken through the Lord, it was ^(I)confirmed to us by those who heard, ⁴ God also testifying with them, both by ^(J)signs and wonders, and by ^(K)various ^[e]miracles and by ^[f](L)gifts of the Holy Spirit ^(M)according to His own will.

Earth Subject to Man

⁵ For He did not subject to angels ^[g](N)the world to come, about which we are speaking. ⁶ But someone has testified ^(O)somewhere, saying,

For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now ^(S)we do not yet see all things subjected to him.

Jesus Briefly Humbled

⁹ But we do see Him who was ^(T)made ^[j]for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, ^(U)because of His suffering death ^(V)crowned with glory and honor, so that ^(W)by the grace of God He might ^(X)taste death ^(Y)for everyone.

¹⁰ For ^(Z)it was fitting for Him, ^(AA)for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to ^(AB)perfect the ^[k](AC)originator of their salvation through sufferings.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

¹⁹ This is ^(A)the testimony of John, when ^(B)the Jews sent priests and Levites to him ^(C)from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ And he confessed and did not deny; and this is what he confessed: “^(D)I am not the ^[a]Christ.” ²¹ And so they asked him, “What then? Are you ^(E)Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you ^(F)the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am ^(G)the voice of one calling ^[b]out in the wilderness, ‘Make the way of the Lord straight,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴ And the messengers had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the ^[c]Christ, nor Elijah, nor ^(H)the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, saying, “^(I)I baptize ^[d]in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. ²⁷ It is ^(J)He who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy even to untie the ^(K)strap of His sandal.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany ^(L)beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing people.