Book of Common Prayer
The Lord’s Glory and Man’s Dignity.
For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.
8 O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
Who have [a](A)displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
2 (B)From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established [b](C)strength
Because of Your adversaries,
To make (D)the enemy and the revengeful cease.
3 When I [c](E)consider (F)Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The (G)moon and the stars, which You have [d]ordained;
4 (H)What is man that You [e]take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
5 Yet You have made him a (I)little lower than [f]God,
And (J)You crown him with (K)glory and majesty!
6 You make him to (L)rule over the works of Your hands;
You have (M)put all things under his feet,
7 All sheep and oxen,
And also the [g]beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9 (N)O 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 praises to You before the (B)gods.
2 I will bow down (C)toward Your holy temple
And (D)give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your [a]truth;
For You have (E)magnified Your [b]word [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, O 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)though the Lord is exalted,
Yet He (L)regards the lowly,
But the (M)haughty He knows from afar.
7 Though I (N)walk in the midst of trouble, You will [d](O)revive me;
You will (P)stretch forth 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)lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting;
(T)Do not forsake the (U)works of Your hands.
The Fall of Man
3 Now (A)the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from [a]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 surely will not die! 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and (D)you will be 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 from its fruit and ate; and she gave also 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 [b]loin coverings.
8 They heard the sound of (G)the Lord God walking in the garden in the [c]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 of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 (K)The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “(L)The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
“(M)Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you will go,
And (N)dust you will eat
All the days of your life;
15 And I will put (O)enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
(P)He shall [d]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 men, because all sinned— 13 for [a]until the Law sin was in the world, but (D)sin is not imputed 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 offense of Adam, who is a [b](F)type of Him who was to come.
15 But [c]the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression 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, abound 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 transgression [d]resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions [e]resulting in justification. 17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned (K)through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will (L)reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
18 So then as through (M)one transgression [f]there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one (N)act of righteousness [g]there resulted (O)justification of life to all men. 19 For as through the one man’s disobedience (P)the many (Q)were made sinners, even so through (R)the obedience of the One (S)the many will be made righteous. 20 [h](T)The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, (U)grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as (V)sin reigned in death, even so (W)grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.