Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Is with Us
46 God is our safe place and our strength. He is always our help when we are in trouble. 2 So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken and the mountains fall into the center of the sea, 3 and even if its waters go wild with storm and the mountains shake with its action.
4 There is a river whose waters make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High lives. 5 God is in the center of her. She will not be moved. God will help her when the morning comes. 6 The people made noise. The nations fell. He raised His voice and the earth melted. 7 The Lord of All is with us. The God of Jacob is our strong place.
8 Come and see the works of the Lord. He has destroyed parts of the earth. 9 He stops wars to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two. He burns the war-wagons with fire. 10 Be quiet and know that I am God. I will be honored among the nations. I will be honored in the earth. 11 The Lord of All is with us. The God of Jacob is our strong place.
The Garden of Eden
4 This is the story of the heavens and the earth when they were made, in the day the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no bush of the field was yet on the earth. And no plant of the field had started to grow. For the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth. And there was no man to work the ground. 6 But a fog came from the earth and watered the whole top of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God made man from the dust of the ground. And He breathed into his nose the breath of life. Man became a living being. 8 The Lord God planted a garden to the east in Eden. He put the man there whom He had made. 9 And the Lord God made to grow out of the ground every tree that is pleasing to the eyes and good for food. And He made the tree of life grow in the center of the garden, and the tree of learning of good and bad.
10 Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden. And from there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is Pishon. It flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 The gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon. It flows around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris. It flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work the ground and care for it. 16 The Lord God told the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden. 17 But do not eat from the tree of learning of good and bad. For the day you eat from it you will die for sure.”
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper that is right for him.” 19 Out of the ground the Lord God made every animal of the field and every bird of the sky. He brought them to the man to find out what he would call them. And whatever the man called a living thing, that was its name. 20 Adam gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field. But there was no helper found that was right for Adam. 21 So the Lord God put the man to sleep as if he were dead. And while he was sleeping, He took one of the bones from his side and closed up the place with flesh. 22 The Lord God made woman from the bone which He had taken from the man. And He brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother, and will be joined to his wife. And they will become one flesh. 25 The man and his wife were both without clothes and were not ashamed.
6 I am not saying that God did not keep His promises. Not all the Jews are people God chose for Himself. 7 Not all of Abraham’s family are children of God. God told Abraham, “Only the family of Isaac will be called your family.”(A) 8 This means that children born to Abraham are not all children of God. Only those that are born because of God’s promise to Abraham are His children. 9 This was the promise God made: “About this time next year I will come, and Sarah will have a son.” (B) 10 Not only this, but there was Rebecca also. Rebecca gave birth to two sons at the same time. Both of them were sons of Isaac. 11 Even before the two sons were born, we see God’s plan of choosing. God could choose whom He wanted. It could not be changed because of anything the older son tried to do about it. It was before either one had done anything good or bad. 12 Rebecca was told, “The older son will work for the younger son.” 13 The Holy Writings say, “I loved Jacob, but hated Esau.” (C)
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