Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
For the choir director; a song by the descendants of Korah; according to alamoth.[a]
46 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in times of trouble.
2 That is why we are not afraid
even when the earth quakes
or the mountains topple into the depths of the sea.
3 Water roars and foams,
and mountains shake at the surging waves. Selah
4 There is a river
whose streams bring joy to the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High lives.
5 God is in that city.
It cannot fall.
God will help it at the break of dawn.
6 Nations are in turmoil, and kingdoms topple.
The earth melts at the sound of ⌞God’s⌟ voice.
7 The Lord of Armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah
8 Come, see the works of the Lord,
the devastation he has brought to the earth.
9 He puts an end to wars all over the earth.
He breaks an archer’s bow.
He cuts spears in two.
He burns chariots.
10 Let go ⌞of your concerns⌟!
Then you will know that I am God.
I rule the nations.
I rule the earth.
11 The Lord of Armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah
The First Sin and the First Promise
3 The snake was more clever than all the wild animals the Lord God had made. He asked the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must never eat the fruit of any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman answered the snake, “We’re allowed to eat the fruit from any tree in the garden 3 except the tree in the middle of the garden. God said, ‘You must never eat it or touch it. If you do, you will die!’ ”
4 “You certainly won’t die!” the snake told the woman. 5 “God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened. You’ll be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 The woman saw that the tree had fruit that was good to eat, nice to look at, and desirable for making someone wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
7 Then their eyes were opened, and they both realized that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made clothes for themselves.
8 In the cool of the evening, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking around in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees in the garden. 9 The Lord God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”
11 God asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat fruit from the tree I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man answered, “That woman, the one you gave me, gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
“The snake deceived me, and I ate,” the woman answered.
14 So the Lord God said to the snake, “Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all the wild or domestic animals.
You will crawl on your belly.
You will be the lowest of animals as long as you live.
15 I will make you and the woman hostile toward each other.
I will make your descendants
and her descendant hostile toward each other.
He will crush your head,
and you will bruise his heel.”
16 He said to the woman,
“I will increase your pain and your labor
when you give birth to children.
Yet, you will long for your husband,
and he will rule you.”
17 Then he said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree, although I commanded you, ‘You must never eat its fruit.’
The ground is cursed because of you.
Through hard work you will eat ⌞food that comes⌟ from it
every day of your life.
18 The ground will grow thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat wild plants.
19 By the sweat of your brow, you will produce food to eat
until you return to the ground,
because you were taken from it.
You are dust, and you will return to dust.”
20 Adam named his wife Eve [Life] because she became the mother of every living person.
21 The Lord God made clothes from animal skins for the man and his wife and dressed them.
22 Then the Lord God said, “The man has become like one of us, since he knows good and evil. He must not reach out and take the fruit from the tree of life and eat. Then he would live forever.” 23 So the Lord God sent the man out of the Garden of Eden to farm the ground from which the man had been formed. 24 After he sent the man out, God placed angels [a] and a flaming sword that turned in all directions east of the Garden of Eden. He placed them there to guard the way to the tree of life.
The Sermon on a Mountain Continues: Stop Judging(A)
7 “Stop judging so that you will not be judged. 2 Otherwise, you will be judged by the same standard you use to judge others. The standards you use for others will be applied to you. 3 So why do you see the piece of sawdust in another believer’s eye and not notice the wooden beam in your own eye? 4 How can you say to another believer, ‘Let me take the piece of sawdust out of your eye,’ when you have a beam in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye. Then you will see clearly to remove the piece of sawdust from another believer’s eye.
Don’t Throw Pearls to Pigs
6 “Don’t give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls to pigs. Otherwise, they will trample them and then tear you to pieces.
Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.