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.

Psalm 130

Waiting for Divine Redemption

A Song of Ascents.

¹³ But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke”—we also believe, and therefore we also speak,^{(A) 14} because we know that the one who raised Jesus^[a] will also raise us with Jesus and will present us with you in his presence.^{(B) 15} Indeed, everything is for your sake, so that grace, when it has extended to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

Living by Faith

¹⁶ So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.^{(C) 17} For our slight, momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure,^{(D) 18} because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen, for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.^(E)

Jesus and Beelzebul

²⁰ Then he went home, and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat.^{(A) 21} When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”^{(B) 22} And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.”^{(C) 23} And he called them to him and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?^{(D) 24} If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. ²⁷ But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.^(E)

²⁸ “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter,^{(F) 29} but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin”— ³⁰ for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

The True Kindred of Jesus

³¹ Then his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him.^{(G) 32} A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers^[a] are outside asking for you.” ³³ And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” ³⁴ And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵ Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”