Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 46

To the Chief Musician. [A Psalm] of the sons of Korah, set to treble voices. A song.

¹ God is our Refuge and Strength [mighty and impenetrable to temptation], a very present and well-proved help in trouble.

² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains be shaken into the midst of the seas,

³ Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling and tumult. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁴ There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.

⁵ God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help her right early [at the dawn of the morning].

⁶ The nations raged, the kingdoms tottered and were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge (our Fortress and High Tower). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁸ Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has wrought desolations and wonders in the earth.

⁹ He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow into pieces and snaps the spear in two; He burns the chariots in the fire.

¹⁰ Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth!

¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge (our High Tower and Stronghold). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

3 Now the serpent was more subtle and crafty than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made. And he [Satan] said to the woman, Can it really be that God has said, You shall not eat from every tree of the garden?^(A)

² And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit from the trees of the garden,

³ Except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.

⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die,^(B)

⁵ For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil and blessing and calamity.

⁶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good (suitable, pleasant) for food and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave some also to her husband, and he ate.

⁷ Then the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves apronlike girdles.

⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

⁹ But the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you?

¹⁰ He said, I heard the sound of You [walking] in the garden, 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 of the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?

¹² And the man said, The woman whom You gave to be with me—she gave me [fruit] from the tree, and I ate.

¹³ And the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled (cheated, outwitted, and deceived) me, and I ate.

¹⁴ And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed above all [domestic] animals and above every [wild] living thing of the field; upon your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust [and what it contains] all the days of your life.

¹⁵ And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her ^[a]Offspring; He will bruise and tread your head underfoot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel.^(C)

¹⁶ To the woman He said, I will greatly multiply your grief and your suffering in pregnancy and the pangs of childbearing; with spasms of distress you will bring forth children. Yet your desire and craving will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.

¹⁷ And to Adam He said, Because you have listened and given heed to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it, the ground is under a curse because of you; in sorrow and toil shall you eat [of the fruits] of it all the days of your life.

¹⁸ Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field.

¹⁹ In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you shall return.

²⁰ The man called his wife’s name Eve [life spring], because she was the mother of all the living.

²¹ For Adam also and for his wife the Lord God made long coats (tunics) of skins and clothed them.

²² And the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of Us [the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit], to know [how to distinguish between] good and evil and blessing and calamity; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live ^[b]forever—

²³ Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.

²⁴ So [God] drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden the ^[c]cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep and guard the way to the tree of life.^(D)

7 Do not judge and criticize and condemn others, so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves.

² For just as you judge and criticize and condemn others, you will be judged and criticized and condemned, and in accordance with the measure you [use to] deal out to others, it will be dealt out again to you.

³ Why do you ^[a]stare from without at the ^[b]very small particle that is in your brother’s eye but do not become aware of and consider the beam ^[c]of timber that is in your own eye?

⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, Let me get the tiny particle out of your eye, when there is the beam ^[d]of timber in your own eye?

⁵ You hypocrite, first get the beam of timber out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the tiny particle out of your brother’s eye.

⁶ Do not give that which is holy (the sacred thing) to the dogs, and do not throw your pearls before hogs, lest they trample upon them with their feet and turn and tear you in pieces.