Christ Born of Mary^(A)

¹⁸ Now the ^(B)birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child ^(C)of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Then Joseph her husband, being ^[a]a just man, and not wanting ^(D)to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. ²⁰ But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, ^(E)for that which is ^[b]conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ^21 (F)And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name ^[c]Jesus, ^(G)for He will save His people from their sins.”

²² So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ^23 (H)“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

²⁴ Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, ²⁵ and ^[d]did not know her till she had brought forth ^(I)her^[e] firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.

The Upper Room Prayer Meeting

^12 (A)Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. ¹³ And when they had entered, they went up ^(B)into the upper room where they were staying: ^(C)Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and ^(D)Simon the Zealot; and ^(E)Judas the son of James. ^14 (F)These all continued with one ^[a]accord in prayer ^[b]and supplication, with ^(G)the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with ^(H)His brothers.

Matthias Chosen^(I)

¹⁵ And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the ^[c]disciples (altogether the number ^(J)of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, ¹⁶ “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, ^(K)which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, ^(L)who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; ¹⁷ for ^(M)he was numbered with us and obtained a part in ^(N)this ministry.”

^18 (O)(Now this man purchased a field with ^(P)the ^[d]wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his ^[e]entrails gushed out. ¹⁹ And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.)

²⁰ “For it is written in the Book of Psalms:

and,

²¹ “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ²² beginning from the baptism of John to that day when ^(S)He was taken up from us, one of these must ^(T)become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

²³ And they proposed two: Joseph called ^(U)Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. ²⁴ And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, ^(V)who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen ^25 (W)to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” ²⁶ And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

The Messiah’s Triumph and Kingdom^(A)

The Temptation and Fall of Man^(A)

3 Now ^(B)the serpent was ^(C)more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the ^(D)fruit of the trees of the garden; ³ but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you ^(E)touch it, lest you die.’ ”

^4 (F)Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ So when the woman ^(G)saw that the tree was good for food, that it was ^[a]pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit ^(H)and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, ^(I)and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves ^[b]coverings.

⁸ And they heard ^(J)the ^[c]sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the ^[d]cool of the day, and Adam and his wife ^(K)hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

⁹ Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, ^(L)and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

¹¹ And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

¹² Then the man said, ^(M)“The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

¹³ And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, ^(N)“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the serpent:

¹⁶ To the woman He said:

¹⁷ Then to Adam He said, ^(V)“Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree ^(W)of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:

²⁰ And Adam called his wife’s name ^(AD)Eve,^[g] because she was the mother of all living.

²¹ Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.

²² Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— ²³ therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden ^(AE)to till the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ So ^(AF)He drove out the man; and He placed ^(AG)cherubim ^(AH)at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of ^(AI)life.

Cain Murders Abel^(AJ)

4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore ^[h]Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” ² Then she bore again, this time his brother ^[i]Abel. Now ^(AK)Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³ And ^[j]in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit ^(AL)of the ground to the Lord. ⁴ Abel also brought of ^(AM)the firstborn of his flock and of ^(AN)their fat. And the Lord ^(AO)respected Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

⁶ So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷ If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is ^[k]for you, but you should rule over it.”

⁸ Now Cain ^[l]talked with Abel his ^[m]brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and ^(AP)killed him.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”

He said, ^(AQ)“I do not know. Am I ^(AR)my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰ And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood ^(AS)cries out to Me from the ground. ¹¹ So now ^(AT)you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”

¹³ And Cain said to the Lord, “My ^[n]punishment is greater than I can bear! ¹⁴ Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; ^(AU)I shall be ^(AV)hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that ^(AW)anyone who finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵ And the Lord said to him, ^[o]“Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him ^(AX)sevenfold.” And the Lord set a ^(AY)mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.

The Family of Cain

¹⁶ Then Cain ^(AZ)went out from the ^(BA)presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of ^[p]Nod on the east of Eden. ¹⁷ And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, ^(BB)and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch. ¹⁸ To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.

¹⁹ Then Lamech took for himself ^(BC)two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. ²⁰ And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. ²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and ^[q]flute. ²² And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

²³ Then Lamech said to his wives:

A New Son

²⁵ And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and ^(BE)named him ^[t]Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” ²⁶ And as for Seth, ^(BF)to him also a son was born; and he named him ^[u]Enosh. Then men began ^(BG)to call on the name of the Lord.