The Corruption of Mankind

6 Now it came about, when men 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 men were ^[a]beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. ³ Then the Lord said, “^(A)My Spirit shall not ^[b]strive with man forever, ^[c](B)because he also is flesh; ^[d]nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” ⁴ The ^(C)Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, 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 man was great on the earth, and that ^(D)every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ^6 (E)The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was ^(F)grieved ^[e]in His heart. ⁷ The Lord said, “^(G)I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the ^[f]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, ^[g](L)blameless in his ^[h]time; Noah ^(M)walked with God. ¹⁰ Noah ^[i]became the father of 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 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for ^(P)all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.

¹³ Then God said to Noah, “^(Q)The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴ Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall ^[j]cover it inside and out with pitch. ¹⁵ This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred ^[k]cubits, its breadth fifty ^[l]cubits, and its height thirty ^[m]cubits. ¹⁶ You shall make a ^[n]window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from ^[o]the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. ¹⁷ Behold, ^(R)I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which 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 and your sons and 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 after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. ²¹ As for you, take for yourself some of all ^(W)food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.” ^22 (X)Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.

Prayer for Mercy in Time of Trouble.

For the choir 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 everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. ⁴ 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 engaged to him, and was with child. ⁶ While they were there, the days were completed 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 ^[d]manger, because there was no 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 by night. ⁹ And ^(F)an angel of the Lord suddenly ^(G)stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. ¹⁰ But 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 ^[e](J)Christ ^(K)the Lord. ^12 (L)This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a ^[f]manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

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