Book of Common Prayer
The Lord’s Glory and Mankind’s Dignity.
For the music director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.
8 Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
You who have [a](A)displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
2 (B)From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have established [b](C)strength
Because of Your enemies,
To do away with (D)the enemy and the revengeful.
3 When I [c](E)consider (F)Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The (G)moon and the stars, which You have set in place;
4 (H)What is man that You think of him,
And a son of man that You are concerned about him?
5 Yet You have made him a (I)little lower than [d]God,
And (J)You crown him with (K)glory and majesty!
6 You have him (L)rule over the works of Your hands;
You have (M)put everything under his feet,
7 All sheep and oxen,
And also the animals of the field,
8 The birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9 (N)Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth!
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.
A Psalm of David.
138 (A)I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing Your praises before the (B)gods.
2 I will bow down (C)toward Your holy temple
And (D)give thanks to Your name for Your mercy and Your [a]truth;
For You have (E)made Your [b]word great [c]according to all Your name.
3 On the day I (F)called, You answered me;
You made me bold with (G)strength in my soul.
4 (H)All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, Lord,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth.
5 And they will (I)sing of the ways of the Lord,
For (J)great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For (K)the Lord is exalted,
Yet He (L)looks after the lowly,
But He knows the (M)haughty from afar.
7 Though I (N)walk in the midst of trouble, You will [d](O)revive me;
You will (P)reach out with Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will (Q)save me.
8 The Lord will (R)accomplish what concerns me;
Your (S)faithfulness, Lord, is everlasting;
(T)Do not abandon the (U)works of Your hands.
The Fall of Mankind
3 Now (A)the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “(B)From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4 (C)The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! 5 For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and (D)you will [a]become like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 (E)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 desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they (F)knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings.
8 Now they heard the sound of (G)the Lord God walking in the garden in the [b]cool of the day, (H)and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “(I)Where are you?” 10 He said, “(J)I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 (K)The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” And the woman said, “(L)The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent,
“(M)Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all the livestock,
And more than any animal of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And (N)dust you shall eat
All the days of your life;
15 And I will [c](O)make enemies
Of you and the woman,
And of your [d]offspring and her [e]Descendant;
(P)He shall [f]bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise Him on the heel.”
12 Therefore, just as through (A)one man sin entered into the world, and (B)death through sin, and (C)so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned— 13 for [a]until the Law sin was in the world, but (D)sin is not [b]counted against anyone when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned (E)in the likeness of the [c]violation committed by Adam, who is a [d](F)type of Him who was to come.
15 But [e]the gracious gift is not like the offense. For if by the offense of (G)the one (H)the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by (I)the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many. 16 The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand (J)the judgment arose from one offense, [f]resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the gracious gift arose from many offenses, [g]resulting in justification. 17 For if by the offense of the one, death reigned (K)through the one, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness (L)reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
18 So then, as through (M)one offense [h]the result was condemnation to all mankind, so also through one (N)act of righteousness [i]the result was (O)justification of life to all mankind. 19 For as through the one man’s disobedience (P)the many (Q)were made sinners, so also through (R)the obedience of the One (S)the many will be made righteous. 20 [j](T)The Law came in so that the offense would increase; but where sin increased, (U)grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as (V)sin reigned in death, so also (W)grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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