Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

(A special song by the clan of Korah and for the music leader.)

God Is Our Mighty Fortress

⁴ That's how God created the heavens and the earth.

The Garden of Eden

When the Lord God made the heavens and the earth, ⁵ no grass or plants were growing anywhere. God had not yet sent any rain, and there was no one to work the land. ⁶ But streams^[a] came up from the ground and watered the earth.

^7 (A) The Lord God took some soil from the ground and made a man.^[b] God breathed life into the man, and the man started breathing. ⁸ The Lord made a garden in a place called Eden, which was in the east, and he put the man there.

^9 (B) The Lord God filled the garden with all kinds of beautiful trees and fruit trees. Two other trees were in the middle of the garden. One of these gave life—the other gave the wisdom to know the difference between right and wrong.

¹⁰ From Eden a river flowed out to water the garden, then it divided into four rivers. ¹¹ The first one is the Pishon River that flows through the land of Havilah, ¹² where pure gold, rare perfumes, and precious stones are found. ¹³ The second is the Gihon River that winds through Ethiopia.^{[c] 14} The Tigris River that flows east of Assyria is the third, and the fourth is the Euphrates River.

¹⁵ The Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it. ¹⁶ But the Lord told him, “You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden, ¹⁷ except the one that has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die before the day is over!”

¹⁸ The Lord God said, “It isn't good for the man to live alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.” ^19-20 So the Lord took some soil and made animals and birds. He brought them to the man to see what names he would give each of them. Then the man named the tame animals and the birds and the wild animals. That's how they got their names.

None of these was the right kind of partner for the man. ²¹ So the Lord God made him fall into a deep sleep, and he took out one of the man's ribs. Then after closing the man's side, ²² the Lord made a woman out of the rib.

The Lord God brought her to the man, ²³ and the man exclaimed,

^24 (C) That's why a man will leave his own father and mother. He marries a woman, and the two of them become like one person.

²⁵ Although the man and his wife were both naked, they were not ashamed.

⁶ It cannot be said that God broke his promise. After all, not all of the people of Israel are the true people of God. ^7-8 (A) In fact, when God made the promise to Abraham, he meant only Abraham's descendants by his son Isaac. God was talking only about Isaac when he promised ^9 (B) Sarah, “At this time next year I will return, and you will already have a son.”

¹⁰ Don't forget what happened to the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah. ^11-12 (C) Even before they were born or had done anything good or bad, the Lord told Rebekah that her older son would serve the younger one. The Lord said this to show he makes his own choices and it wasn't because of anything either of them had done. ^13 (D) That's why the Scriptures say that the Lord liked Jacob more than Esau.