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. ^7 (F)Then the eyes of both were opened, ^(G)and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

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

¹⁴ The Lord God said to the serpent,

Herod Is Perplexed by Jesus

^7 (A)Now ^(B)Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that ^(C)John had been raised from the dead, ^8 (D)by some that Elijah had appeared, and ^(E)by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. ⁹ Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And ^(F)he sought to see him.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹⁰ On their return ^(G)the apostles told him all that they had done. ^(H)And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. ¹¹ When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he ^(I)welcomed them and ^(J)spoke to them of the kingdom of God and ^(K)cured those who had need of healing. ¹² Now ^(L)the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, ^(M)“Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” ¹³ But he said to them, ^(N)“You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than ^(O)five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴ For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵ And they did so, and had them all sit down. ¹⁶ And taking the five loaves and the two fish, ^(P)he looked up to heaven and ^(Q)said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. ¹⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

^18 (R)Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” ¹⁹ And they answered, ^(S)“John the Baptist. But others say, ^(T)Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” ²⁰ Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, ^(U)“The Christ of God.”

Jesus Foretells His Death

^21 (V)And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, ^22 (W)saying, ^(X)“The Son of Man must ^(Y)suffer many things and ^(Z)be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on ^(AA)the third day be raised.”

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

²³ And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him ^(AB)deny himself and ^(AC)take up his cross ^(AD)daily and follow me. ²⁴ For ^(AE)whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. ^25 (AF)For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? ²⁶ For ^(AG)whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed ^(AH)when he comes in ^(AI)his glory and the glory of the Father and of ^(AJ)the holy angels. ²⁷ But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not ^(AK)taste death ^(AL)until they see the kingdom of God.”