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.

The Home in Nazareth^(A)

¹⁹ Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ^20 (B)saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who ^(C)sought the young Child’s life are dead.” ²¹ Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a ^(D)dream, he turned aside ^(E)into the region of Galilee. ²³ And he came and dwelt in a city called ^(F)Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled ^(G)which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(A)

3 In those days ^(B)John the Baptist came preaching ^(C)in the wilderness of Judea, ² and saying, “Repent, for ^(D)the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” ³ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

⁴ Now ^(G)John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(H)locusts and ^(I)wild honey. ^5 (J)Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him ^6 (K)and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ^(L)“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(M)the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, ⁹ and do not think to say to yourselves, ^(N)‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. ¹⁰ And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. ^(O)Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ^11 (P)I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. ^(Q)He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit ^[a]and fire. ^12 (R)His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will ^(S)burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

John Baptizes Jesus^(T)

^13 (U)Then Jesus came ^(V)from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”

¹⁵ But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

^16 (W)When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and ^[b]He saw ^(X)the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. ^17 (Y)And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ^(Z)“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”