The Corruption of Mankind

6 Now it came about, when mankind began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, ² that the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were ^[a]beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. ³ Then the Lord said, “^(A)My Spirit will not ^[b]remain with man forever, ^[c](B)because he is also flesh; ^[d]nevertheless his days shall be 120 years.” ⁴ The ^[e](C)Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of mankind, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

⁵ Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that ^(D)every intent of the thoughts of ^[f]their hearts was only evil continually. ⁶ So ^(E)the Lord was sorry that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was ^(F)grieved ^[g]in His heart. ⁷ Then the Lord said, “^(G)I will wipe out mankind whom I have created from the face of the land; mankind, and animals as well, and crawling things, and the birds of the sky. For ^(H)I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸ But ^(I)Noah ^(J)found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

⁹ These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a ^(K)righteous man, ^[h](L)blameless in his generation. Noah ^(M)walked with God. ¹⁰ And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹ Now the earth was ^(N)corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was ^(O)filled with violence. ¹² And God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for ^[i](P)humanity had corrupted its way upon the earth.

¹³ Then God said to Noah, “^(Q)The end of ^[j]humanity has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of ^[k]people; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴ Make for yourself an ark of ^[l]gopher wood; you shall make the ark with compartments, and ^[m]cover it inside and out with pitch. ¹⁵ This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark shall be ^[n]three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. ¹⁶ You shall make a ^[o]window for the ark, and finish it to a ^[p]cubit from ^[q]the top; and put the door of the ark on the side; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. ¹⁷ Now behold, ^(R)I Myself am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which there is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. ¹⁸ But I will establish ^(S)My covenant with you; and ^(T)you shall enter the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. ^19 (U)And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. ^20 (V)Of the birds according to their kind, and of the animals according to their kind, of every crawling thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. ²¹ As for you, take for yourself some of every ^(W)food that is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and them.” ^22 (X)So Noah did these things; according to everything that God had commanded him, so he did.

Prayer for Mercy in Time of Trouble.

For the music director; with stringed instruments, ^[a]upon an eight-string lyre. A Psalm of David.

Jesus’ Birth in Bethlehem

2 Now in those days a decree went out from ^(A)Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of ^(B)all ^[a]the inhabited earth. ^2 [b]This was the first census taken while ^[c]Quirinius was governor of ^(C)Syria. ³ And all the people were on their way to register for the census, each to his own city. ⁴ Now Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because ^(D)he was of the house and family of David, ⁵ in order to register along with Mary, who was ^[d]betrothed to him, and was pregnant. ⁶ While they were there, the ^[e]time came for her to give birth. ⁷ And she ^(E)gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a ^[f]manger, because there was no ^[g]room for them in the inn.

⁸ In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night. ⁹ And ^(F)an angel of the Lord suddenly ^(G)stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. ¹⁰ And so the angel said to them, “^(H)Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; ¹¹ for today in the city of David there has been born for you a ^(I)Savior, who is ^[h](J)Christ ^(K)the Lord. ¹² And ^(L)this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a ^[i]manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly ^[j]army of angels praising God and saying,

¹⁵ When the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem, then, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ And they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the ^[l]manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen Him, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it were amazed about the things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary ^(O)treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds went back, ^(P)glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.