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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]
16 To the woman he said,
“I will greatly increase[au] your labor pains;[av]
with pain you will give birth to children.
You will want to control your husband,[aw]
but he will dominate[ax] you.”
17 But to Adam[ay] he said,
“Because you obeyed[az] your wife
and ate from the tree about which I commanded you,
‘You must not eat from it,’
the ground is cursed[ba] because of you;
in painful toil you will eat[bb] of it all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
but you will eat the grain[bc] of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow[bd] you will eat food
until you return to the ground,[be]
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust, and to dust you will return.”[bf]
20 The man[bg] named his wife Eve,[bh] because[bi] she was the mother of all the living.[bj] 21 The Lord God made garments from skin[bk] for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, “Now[bl] that the man has become like one of us,[bm] knowing[bn] good and evil, he must not be allowed[bo] to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God expelled him[bp] from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 24 When he drove[bq] the man out, he placed on the eastern side[br] of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries[bs] who used the flame of a whirling sword[bt] to guard the way to the tree of life.
The Story of Cain and Abel
4 Now[bu] the man was intimate with[bv] his wife Eve, and she became pregnant[bw] and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created[bx] a man just as the Lord did!”[by] 2 Then she gave birth[bz] to his brother Abel.[ca] Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground.[cb]
3 At the designated time[cc] Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground for an offering[cd] to the Lord. 4 But Abel brought[ce] some of the firstborn of his flock—even the fattest[cf] of them. And the Lord was pleased with[cg] Abel and his offering, 5 but with Cain and his offering he was not pleased.[ch] So Cain became very angry,[ci] and his expression was downcast.[cj]
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast? 7 Is it not true[ck] that if you do what is right, you will be fine?[cl] But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching[cm] at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.”[cn]
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”[co] While they were in the field, Cain attacked[cp] his brother[cq] Abel and killed him.
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”[cr] And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?”[cs] 10 But the Lord said, “What have you done?[ct] The voice[cu] of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! 11 So now you are banished[cv] from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you try to cultivate[cw] the ground it will no longer yield[cx] its best[cy] for you. You will be a homeless wanderer[cz] on the earth.”
13 Then Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment[da] is too great to endure![db] 14 Look, you are driving me off the land[dc] today, and I must hide from your presence.[dd] I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me!” 15 But the Lord said to him, “All right then,[de] if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.”[df] Then the Lord put a special mark[dg] on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down.[dh] 16 So Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and lived in the land of Nod,[di] east of Eden.
The Beginning of Civilization
17 Cain was intimate with[dj] his wife, and she became pregnant[dk] and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after[dl] his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of[dm] Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.
19 Lamech took two wives for himself; the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the first[dn] of those who live in tents and keep[do] livestock. 21 The name of his brother was Jubal; he was the first of all who play the harp and the flute. 22 Now Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who heated metal and shaped[dp] all kinds of tools made of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
23 Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah, listen to me!
You wives of Lamech, hear my words!
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man[dq] for hurting me.
24 If Cain is to be avenged seven times as much,
then Lamech seventy-seven times!”[dr]
25 And Adam was intimate with[ds] his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, “God has given[dt] me another child[du] in place of Abel because Cain killed him.” 26 And a son was also born to Seth, whom he named Enosh. At that time people[dv] began to worship[dw] the Lord.
The Escape to Egypt
13 After they had gone, an[a] angel of the Lord[b] appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod[c] is going to look for the child to kill him.” 14 Then he got up, took the child and his mother during[d] the night, and went to Egypt. 15 He stayed there until Herod[e] died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”[f]
16 When Herod[g] saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men[h] to kill all the children in Bethlehem and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud wailing,[i]
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she did not want to be comforted, because they were[j] gone.”[k]
The Return to Nazareth
19 After Herod[l] had died, an[m] angel of the Lord[n] appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” 21 So[o] he got up and took the child and his mother and returned to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus[p] was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod,[q] he was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he went to the regions of Galilee. 23 He came to a town called Nazareth[r] and lived there. Then what had been spoken by the prophets was fulfilled, that Jesus[s] would be called a Nazarene.[t]
The Ministry of John the Baptist
3 In those days John the Baptist came into the wilderness[u] of Judea proclaiming, 2 “Repent,[v] for the kingdom of heaven is near.” 3 For he is the one about whom the prophet Isaiah had spoken:[w]
“The voice[x] of one shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make[y] his paths straight.’”[z]
4 Now John wore clothing made from camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey.[aa] 5 Then people from Jerusalem,[ab] as well as all Judea and all the region around the Jordan, were going out to him, 6 and he was baptizing them[ac] in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.
Psalm 2[a]
2 Why[b] do the nations rebel?[c]
Why[d] are the countries[e] devising[f] plots that will fail?[g]
2 The kings of the earth[h] form a united front;[i]
the rulers collaborate[j]
against the Lord and his anointed king.[k]
3 They say,[l] “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us.[m]
Let’s free ourselves from[n] their ropes.”
4 The one enthroned[o] in heaven laughs in disgust;[p]
the Lord taunts[q] them.
5 Then he angrily speaks to them
and terrifies them in his rage,[r] saying,[s]
6 “I myself[t] have installed[u] my king
on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 The king says,[v] “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me:[w]
‘You are my son.[x] This very day I have become your father.
8 Ask me,
and I will give you the nations as your inheritance,[y]
the ends of the earth as your personal property.
9 You will break them[z] with an iron scepter;[aa]
you will smash them like a potter’s jar.’”[ab]
10 So now, you kings, do what is wise;[ac]
you rulers of the earth, submit to correction.[ad]
11 Serve[ae] the Lord in fear.
Repent in terror.[af]
12 Give sincere homage.[ag]
Otherwise he[ah] will be angry,[ai]
and you will die because of your behavior,[aj]
when his anger quickly ignites.[ak]
How blessed[al] are all who take shelter in him![am]
Introduction to the Theme of the Book
7 Fearing the Lord[a] is the beginning[b] of discernment,[c]
but[d] fools[e] have despised[f] wisdom and moral instruction.[g]
8 Listen,[h] my child,[i] to the instruction[j] from[k] your father,
and do not forsake the teaching[l] from[m] your mother.
9 For they will be like[n] an elegant[o] garland[p] on[q] your head,
and like[r] pendants[s] around[t] your neck.
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