Today's Reading

¹The man knew Eve his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Cain, and said, "I have gotten a man with the Lord's help."

²Again she gave birth, to Cain's brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

³As time passed, it happened that Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the ground.

⁴Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of its fat. The Lord respected Abel and his offering,

⁵but he did not respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell.

⁶The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen?

⁷If you do well, will it not be lifted up? If you do not do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it."

⁸Cain said to Abel, his brother, "Let's go into the field." It happened when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.

⁹The Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel, your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"

¹⁰The Lord said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground.

¹¹Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

¹²From now on, when you till the ground, it won't yield its strength to you. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth."

¹³Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear.

¹⁴Behold, you have driven me out this day from the surface of the ground. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth. It will happen that whoever finds me will kill me."

¹⁵The Lord said to him, "Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold." the Lord appointed a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should strike him.

¹⁶Cain went out from the Lord's presence, and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

¹⁷Cain knew his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Enoch. He built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.

¹⁸To Enoch was born Irad. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech.

¹⁹Lamech took two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

²⁰Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.

²¹His brother's name was Jubal, who was the father of all who handle the harp and pipe.

²²Zillah also gave birth to Tubal Cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron. Tubal Cain's sister was Naamah.

²³Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice. You wives of Lamech, listen to my speech, for I have slain a man for wounding me, a young man for bruising me.

²⁴If Cain will be avenged seven times, truly Lamech seventy-seven times."

²⁵Adam knew his wife again. She gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, "for God has appointed me another child instead of Abel, for Cain killed him."

²⁶There was also born a son to Seth, and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the Lord's name.

¹This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him in God's likeness.

²He created them male and female, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

³Adam lived one hundred thirty years, and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.

⁴The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

⁵All the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years, then he died.

⁶Seth lived one hundred five years, and became the father of Enosh.

⁷Seth lived after he became the father of Enosh eight hundred seven years, and became the father of sons and daughters.

⁸All the days of Seth were nine hundred twelve years, then he died.

⁹Enosh lived ninety years, and became the father of Kenan.

¹⁰Enosh lived after he became the father of Kenan, eight hundred fifteen years, and became the father of sons and daughters.

¹¹All the days of Enosh were nine hundred five years, then he died.

¹²Kenan lived seventy years, and became the father of Mahalalel.

¹³Kenan lived after he became the father of Mahalalel eight hundred forty years, and became the father of sons and daughters

¹⁴and all the days of Kenan were nine hundred ten years, then he died.

¹⁵Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Jared.

¹⁶Mahalalel lived after he became the father of Jared eight hundred thirty years, and became the father of sons and daughters.

¹⁷All the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety-five years, then he died.

¹⁸Jared lived one hundred sixty-two years, and became the father of Enoch.

¹⁹Jared lived after he became the father of Enoch eight hundred years, and became the father of sons and daughters.

²⁰All the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty-two years, then he died.

²¹Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah.

²²Enoch walked with God after he became the father of Methuselah three hundred years, and became the father of sons and daughters.

²³All the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years.

²⁴Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

²⁵Methuselah lived one hundred eighty-seven years, and became the father of Lamech.

²⁶Methuselah lived after he became the father of Lamech seven hundred eighty-two years, and became the father of sons and daughters.

²⁷All the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty-nine years, then he died.

²⁸Lamech lived one hundred eighty-two years, and became the father of a son,

²⁹and he named him Noah, saying, "This same will comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed."

³⁰Lamech lived after he became the father of Noah five hundred ninety-five years, and became the father of sons and daughters.

³¹All the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy-seven years, then he died.

³²Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹It happened, when men began to multiply on the surface of the ground, and daughters were born to them,

²that God's sons saw that men's daughters were beautiful, and they took for themselves wives of all that they chose.

³The Lord said, "My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; yet will his days be one hundred twenty years."

⁴The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when God's sons came in to men's daughters. They bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

⁵The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

⁶The Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.

⁷The Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground; man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them."

⁸But Noah found favor in the Lord's eyes.

⁹This is the history of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. Noah walked with God.

¹⁰Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

¹²God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

¹³God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

¹⁴Make a ship of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ship, and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch.

¹⁵This is how you shall make it. The length of the ship will be three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.

¹⁶You shall make a roof in the ship, and you shall finish it to a cubit upward. You shall set the door of the ship in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third levels.

¹⁷I, even I, do bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die.

¹⁸But I will establish my covenant with you. You shall come into the ship, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

¹⁹Of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ship, to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.

²⁰Of the birds after their kind, of the livestock after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort shall come to you, to keep them alive.

²¹Take with you of all food that is eaten, and gather it to yourself; and it will be for food for you, and for them."

²²Thus Noah did. According to all that God commanded him, so he did.

¹Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,

²"Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him."

³And when King Herod heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

⁴And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Messiah would be born.

⁵And they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written through the prophet,

⁶'And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the princes of Judah: for out of you shall come forth a ruler, who shall shepherd my people, Israel.'"

⁷Then Herod secretly called the wise men, and learned from them exactly what time the star appeared.

⁸And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, "Go and search diligently for the young child, and when you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him."

⁹And they, having heard the king, went their way; and behold, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, until it came and stood over where the young child was.

¹⁰And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.

¹¹And they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

¹²Being warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they went back to their own country another way.

¹³Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him."

¹⁴And he arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt,

¹⁵and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called my son."

¹⁶Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men.

¹⁷Then that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying,

¹⁸"A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she would not be comforted, because they are no more."

¹⁹But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,

²⁰"Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child's life are dead."

²¹And he arose and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.

²²But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in the place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there. Being warned in a dream, he withdrew into the region of Galilee,

²³and came and lived in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets, that he will be called a Nazorean.

¹Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?

²The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his Anointed, saying,

³"Let's break their bonds apart, and cast their cords from us."

⁴He who sits in the heavens will laugh. The Lord will have them in derision.

⁵Then he will speak to them in his anger, and terrify them in his wrath:

⁶"Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion."

⁷I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me, "You are my son. Today I have become your father.

⁸Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.

⁹You shall rule them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."

¹⁰Now therefore be wise, you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth.

¹¹Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

¹²Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.

¹My son, if you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you;

²So as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;

³Yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding;

⁴If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures:

⁵then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

⁶For the Lord gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

⁷He lays up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity;

⁸that he may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of his holy ones.

⁹Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

¹¹Discretion will watch over you. Understanding will keep you,

¹²to deliver you from the way of evil, from the men who speak perverse things;

¹³who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

¹⁴who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of evil;

¹⁵who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths:

¹⁶To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words;

¹⁷who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God:

¹⁸for her house leads down to death, her paths to the dead.

¹⁹None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life:

²⁰that you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright will dwell in the land. The perfect will remain in it.

²²But the wicked will be cut off from the land. The treacherous will be rooted out of it.