Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁸ And they heard ^(A)the ^[a]sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the ^[b]cool of the day, and Adam and his wife ^(B)hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

⁹ Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, ^(C)and I was afraid because I was naked; and 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 that you should not eat?”

¹² Then the man said, ^(D)“The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

¹³ And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, ^(E)“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the serpent:

Waiting for the Redemption of the Lord

A Song of Ascents.

¹³ And since we have ^(A)the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ^(B)“I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, ¹⁴ knowing that ^(C)He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. ¹⁵ For ^(D)all things are for your sakes, that ^(E)grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

Seeing the Invisible

¹⁶ Therefore we ^(F)do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is ^(G)being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For ^(H)our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, ^18 (I)while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Assurance of the Resurrection

5 For we know that if ^(J)our earthly ^[a]house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house ^(K)not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

A House Divided Cannot Stand^(A)

²⁰ Then the multitude came together again, ^(B)so that they could not so much as eat bread. ²¹ But when His ^(C)own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, ^(D)for they said, “He is out of His mind.”

²² And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ^(E)“He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ^(F)ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”

^23 (G)So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. ^27 (H)No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin^(I)

^28 (J)“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; ²⁹ but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— ³⁰ because they ^(K)said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers Send for Him^(L)

^31 (M)Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. ³² And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers ^[a]are outside seeking You.”

³³ But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” ³⁴ And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! ³⁵ For whoever does the ^(N)will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”