The First Sin and Its Punishment

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?”^{(A) 2} The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, ³ but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’ ”^{(B) 4} But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die,^{(C) 5} for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,^[a] 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, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.^{(D) 7} Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

⁸ They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.^{(E) 9} But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”^{(F) 11} He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹² The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.”^{(G) 13} Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.”^{(H) 14} The Lord God said to the serpent,

¹⁶ To the woman he said,

¹⁷ And to the man^[b] he said,

²⁰ The man named his wife Eve^[c] because she was the mother of all living. ²¹ And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man^[d] and for his wife and clothed them.

²² Then the Lord God said, “See, the humans have become like one of us, knowing good and evil, and now they might reach out their hands and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever”^(O)— ²³ therefore the Lord God sent them forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which they were taken.^{(P) 24} He drove out the humans, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.^(Q)

Isaac Blesses Jacob

27 When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called his elder son Esau and said to him, “My son,” and he answered, “Here I am.” ² He said, “See, I am old; I do not know the day of my death.^{(A) 3} Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me.^{(B) 4} Then prepare for me savory food, such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”^(C)

⁵ Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game for his father,^{[a] 6} Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father say to your brother Esau, ⁷ ‘Bring me game, and prepare for me savory food to eat, that I may bless you before the Lord before I die.’ ⁸ Now therefore, my son, obey my word as I command you.^{(D) 9} Go to the flock, and get me two choice kids, so that I may prepare from them savory food for your father, such as he likes, ¹⁰ and you shall take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” ¹¹ But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin.^{(E) 12} Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”^{(F) 13} His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my word, and go, get them for me.”^{(G) 14} So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared savory food, such as his father loved. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the best garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob,^{(H) 16} and she put the skins of the kids on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ Then she handed the savory food and the bread that she had prepared to her son Jacob.

¹⁸ So he went in to his father and said, “My father,” and he said, “Here I am; who are you, my son?” ¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, so that you may bless me.”^{(I) 20} But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success.” ²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.”^{(J) 22} So Jacob went up to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands, so he blessed him.^{(K) 24} He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” ²⁵ Then he said, “Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it to him, and he ate, and he brought him wine, and he drank.^{(L) 26} Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ So he came near and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said,

Esau’s Lost Blessing

³⁰ As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau came in from his hunting. ³¹ He also prepared savory food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father sit up and eat of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”^{(P) 32} His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your firstborn son, Esau.”^{(Q) 33} Then Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him?—yes, and blessed he shall be!”^{(R) 34} When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, me also, father!”^{(S) 35} But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” ³⁶ Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob?^[b] For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and look, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”^{(T) 37} Isaac answered Esau, “I have already made him your lord, and I have given him all his brothers as servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?”^{(U) 38} Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, father? Bless me, me also, father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.^(V)

³⁹ Then his father Isaac answered him:

Warnings from Israel’s History

10 I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,^{(A) 2} and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ and all ate the same spiritual food,^{(B) 4} and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.^{(C) 5} Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.^(D)

⁶ Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did.^{(E) 7} Do not become idolaters as some of them did, as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.”^{(F) 8} We must not engage in sexual immorality, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.^{(G) 9} We must not put Christ^[a] to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents.^{(H) 10} And do not complain, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.^{(I) 11} These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.^{(J) 12} So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. ¹³ No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.^(K)

¹⁴ Therefore, my beloved, flee from the worship of idols.^{(L) 15} I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. ¹⁶ The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.^{(M) 18} Consider the people of Israel:^[b] Are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar?^{(N) 19} What do I imply, then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything or that an idol is anything? ²⁰ No, I imply that what they^[c] sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons.^{(O) 21} You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.^{(P) 22} Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?^(Q)

Do All to the Glory of God

²³ “All things are permitted,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are permitted,” but not all things build up. ²⁴ Do not seek your own advantage but that of the other.^(R)

Glorify God in Body and Spirit

¹² “All things are permitted for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are permitted for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. ¹³ “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,”^[a] and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for sexual immorality but for the Lord and the Lord for the body.^{(A) 14} And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.^{(B) 15} Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!^{(C) 16} Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.”^{(D) 17} But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.^{(E) 18} Shun sexual immorality!^[b] Every sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person^[c] sins against the body itself.^{(F) 19} Or do you not know that your body is a temple^[d] of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?^{(G) 20} For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.^(H)