Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 8[a]
For the music director, according to the gittith style;[b] a psalm of David.
8 O Lord, our Lord,[c]
how magnificent[d] is your reputation[e] throughout the earth!
You reveal your majesty in the heavens above.[f]
2 From the mouths of children and nursing babies
you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries,[g]
so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy.[h]
3 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made,
and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place,[i]
4 Of what importance is the human race,[j] that you should notice[k] them?
Of what importance is mankind,[l] that you should pay attention to them?[m]
5 You made them[n] a little less than[o] the heavenly beings.[p]
You crowned mankind[q] with honor and majesty.[r]
6 you appoint them to rule over your creation;[s]
you have placed[t] everything under their authority,[u]
7 including all the sheep and cattle,
as well as the wild animals,[v]
8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
and everything that moves through the currents[w] of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord,[x]
how magnificent[y] is your reputation[z] throughout the earth![aa]
Psalm 138[a]
By David.
138 I will give you thanks with all my heart;
before the heavenly assembly[b] I will sing praises to you.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple,
and give thanks to your name,
because of your loyal love and faithfulness,
for you have exalted your promise above the entire sky.[c]
3 When[d] I cried out for help, you answered me.
You made me bold and energized me.[e]
4 Let all the kings of the earth give thanks[f] to you, O Lord,
when they hear the words you speak.[g]
5 Let them sing about the Lord’s deeds,[h]
for the Lord’s splendor is magnificent.[i]
6 Though the Lord is exalted, he looks after the lowly,
and from far away humbles[j] the proud.
7 Even when I must walk in the midst of danger,[k] you revive me.
You oppose my angry enemies,[l]
and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord avenges me.[m]
O Lord, your loyal love endures.
Do not abandon those whom you have made.[n]
The Temptation and the Fall
3 Now[a] the serpent[b] was shrewder[c] than any of the wild animals[d] that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that[e] God[f] said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?”[g] 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat[h] of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; 3 but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it,[i] or else you will die.’”[j] 4 The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die,[k] 5 for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open[l] and you will be like God, knowing[m] good and evil.”[n]
6 When[o] the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food,[p] was attractive[q] to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise,[r] she took some of its fruit and ate it.[s] She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.[t] 7 Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
The Judgment Oracles of God at the Fall
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about[u] in the orchard at the breezy time[v] of the day, and they hid[w] from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard. 9 But the Lord God called to[x] the man and said to him, “Where are you?”[y] 10 The man replied,[z] “I heard you moving about[aa] in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” 11 And the Lord God[ab] said, “Who told you that you were naked?[ac] Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”[ad] 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave me, she gave[ae] me some fruit[af] from the tree and I ate it.” 13 So the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this[ag] you have done?” And the woman replied, “The serpent[ah] tricked[ai] me, and I ate.”
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,[aj]
“Because you have done this,
cursed[ak] are you above all the cattle
and all the living creatures of the field!
On your belly you will crawl[al]
and dust you will eat[am] all the days of your life.
15 And I will put hostility[an] between you and the woman
and between your offspring and her offspring;[ao]
he[ap] will strike your head,
and[aq] you[ar] will strike[as] his heel.”[at]
The Amplification of Justification
12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people[a] because[b] all sinned— 13 for before the law was given,[c] sin was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin[d] when there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type[e] of the coming one) transgressed.[f] 15 But the gracious gift is not like the transgression.[g] For if the many died through the transgression of the one man,[h] how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the many! 16 And the gift is not like the one who sinned.[i] For judgment, resulting from the one transgression,[j] led to condemnation, but[k] the gracious gift from the many failures[l] led to justification. 17 For if, by the transgression of the one man,[m] death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ!
18 Consequently,[n] just as condemnation[o] for all people[p] came[q] through one transgression,[r] so too through the one righteous act[s] came righteousness leading to life[t] for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man[u] many[v] were constituted sinners, so also through the obedience of one man[w] many[x] will be constituted righteous. 20 Now the law came in[y] so that the transgression[z] may increase, but where sin increased, grace multiplied all the more, 21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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