¹¹ Let a woman learn quietly ^(A)with all submissiveness. ^12 (B)I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. ^13 (C)For Adam was formed first, ^(D)then Eve; ¹⁴ and Adam was not deceived, but ^(E)the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. ¹⁵ Yet she will be saved through ^(F)childbearing—if they continue in ^(G)faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

¹³ And ^(A)on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate ^(B)to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we ^(C)sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. ¹⁴ One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, ^(D)who was a worshiper of God. The Lord ^(E)opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵ And after she was baptized, ^(F)and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she ^(G)prevailed upon us.

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶ As we were going to ^(H)the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had ^(I)a spirit of ^(J)divination and ^(K)brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ She followed Paul and us, ^(L)crying out, “These men are ^(M)servants of ^(N)the Most High God, who proclaim to you ^(O)the way of salvation.” ¹⁸ And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ^(P)“I command you ^(Q)in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And ^(R)it came out that very hour.

⁵ I am reminded of ^(A)your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and ^(B)your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

¹⁴ But as for you, ^(A)continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom^[a] you learned it

^3 (A)Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^(B)not slanderers ^(C)or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, ⁴ and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled, ^(D)pure, ^(E)working at home, kind, and ^(F)submissive to their own husbands, ^(G)that the word of God may not be reviled.

¹⁶ Let ^(A)the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, ^(B)singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, ^(C)with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

11 ^(A)Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Head Coverings

² Now I commend you ^(B)because you remember me in everything and ^(C)maintain the traditions ^(D)even as I delivered them to you. ³ But I want you to understand that ^(E)the head of every man is Christ, ^(F)the head of a wife^[a] is her husband,^[b] and ^(G)the head of Christ is God. ⁴ Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, ⁵ but every wife^[c] who prays or ^(H)prophesies ^(I)with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same ^(J)as if her head were shaven. ⁶ For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. ⁷ For a man ought not to cover his head, since ^(K)he is the image and glory of God, but ^(L)woman is the glory of man. ⁸ For ^(M)man was not made from woman, but woman from man. ⁹ Neither was man created for woman, but ^(N)woman for man. ¹⁰ That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.^{[d] 11} Nevertheless, ^(O)in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; ¹² for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And ^(P)all things are from God. ¹³ Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? ¹⁴ Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, ¹⁵ but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. ^16 (Q)If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do ^(R)the churches of God.

The Fall

3 Now ^(A)the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You^[a] shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” ² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, ³ but God said, ^(B)‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” ^4 (C)But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely 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 So 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 to be desired to make one wise,^[b] she took of its fruit ^(D)and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, ^(E)and he ate.

¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; ^(A)I will make him a helper fit for^[a] him.” ^19 (B)Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed^[b] every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and ^(C)brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam^[c] there was not found a helper fit for him. ²¹ So the Lord God caused a ^(D)deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. ²² And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made^[d] into a woman and brought her to the man.