Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
8 When they heard the voice of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden during the breeze of the day, the man and his wife concealed themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 So the Lord God called out to the man, asking him, “Where are you?”
10 “I heard your voice in the garden,” the man[a] answered, “and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid from you.”[b]
11 “Who told you that you are naked?” God[c] asked. “Did you eat fruit[d] from the tree that I commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man answered, “The woman whom you provided for[e] me gave me fruit[f] from the tree, and I ate some of it.”[g]
13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What did you do?”[h]
“The Shining One[i] misled me,” the woman answered, “so I ate.”
The Penalty of Sin
14 The Lord God told the Shining One,[j]
“Because you have done this,
you are more cursed than all the livestock,
and more than all the earth’s animals,[k]
You’ll crawl on your belly
and eat dust
as long as you live.
15 “I’ll place hostility between you and the woman,
between your offspring and her offspring.
He’ll strike you on the head,
and you’ll strike him on the heel.”
A Song of Ascents
A Prayer for Mercy
130 I cry to you from the depths, Lord,
2 Lord, listen to my voice;
let your ears pay attention
to what I ask of you![a]
3 Lord,[b] if you were to record iniquities,
Lord, who could remain standing?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
so that you may be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord;
my soul waits,
and I will hope in his word.
6 My soul looks to the Lord
more than watchmen look for the morning—
more, indeed, than[c] watchmen for the morning.
7 Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is gracious love,
along with abundant redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all its sins.
13 Now since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with this Scripture: “I believed, and so I spoke,”[a] we also believe and therefore speak. 14 We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us to God[b] together with you. 15 All this is for your sake so that, as his grace spreads, more and more people will give thanks and glorify God.
Life in an Earthly Tent
16 That’s why we are not discouraged. No, even if outwardly we are wearing out, inwardly we are being renewed each and every day. 17 This light, temporary nature of our suffering is producing for us an everlasting weight of glory, far beyond any comparison, 18 because we do not look for things that can be seen but for things that cannot be seen. For things that can be seen are temporary, but things that cannot be seen are eternal.
5 We know that if the earthly tent we live in is torn down, we have a building in heaven that comes from God, an eternal house not built by human[c] hands.
Jesus is Accused of Working with Beelzebul(A)
20 Then he went home. Such a large crowd gathered again that Jesus and his disciples[a] couldn’t even eat. 21 When his family heard about it, they went to restrain him, because they kept saying, “He’s out of his mind!”
22 The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem kept repeating, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “He drives out demons by the ruler of demons.”
23 So Jesus[b] called them together and began to speak to them in parables. “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a household is divided against itself, that household won’t stand. 26 So if Satan rebels against himself and is divided, he cannot stand. Indeed, his end has come. 27 No one can go into a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions without first tying up the strong man. Then he can ransack his house. 28 I tell all of you[c] with certainty, people will be forgiven their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter.[d] 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven, but is guilty of eternal sin.” 30 …because they had been saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
The True Family of Jesus(B)
31 Then his mother and his brothers arrived. Milling around outside, they sent for him, continuously summoning him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him. They told him, “Look! Your mother and your brothers[e] are outside asking for you.”
33 He answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 Then looking at the people sitting around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
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