Psalm 78:1-4

A maskil of Asaph.

¹ My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.

² I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old-

³ things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us.

⁴ We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.

---

Psalm 78:52-72

⁵² But he brought his people out like a flock; he led them like sheep through the wilderness.

⁵³ He guided them safely, so they were unafraid; but the sea engulfed their enemies.

⁵⁴ And so he brought them to the border of his holy land, to the hill country his right hand had taken.

⁵⁵ He drove out nations before them and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance; he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

⁵⁶ But they put God to the test and rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep his statutes.

⁵⁷ Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless, as unreliable as a faulty bow.

⁵⁸ They angered him with their high places; they aroused his jealousy with their idols.

⁵⁹ When God heard them, he was furious; he rejected Israel completely.

⁶⁰ He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among humans.

⁶¹ He sent the ark of his might into captivity, his splendor into the hands of the enemy.

⁶² He gave his people over to the sword; he was furious with his inheritance.

⁶³ Fire consumed their young men, and their young women had no wedding songs;

⁶⁴ their priests were put to the sword, and their widows could not weep.

⁶⁵ Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.

---

Exodus 16:13-26

¹³ That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.

¹⁴ When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. ¹⁵ When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.

¹⁶ This is what the Lord has commanded: 'Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.'" ¹⁷ The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. ¹⁸ And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.

¹⁹ Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning." ²⁰ However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

²¹ Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. ²² On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much-two omers for each person-and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. ²³ He said to them, "This is what the Lord commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.'"

²⁴ So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. ²⁵ "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. ²⁶ Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any."

---

Romans 9:19-29

¹⁹ One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?" ²⁰ But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" ²¹ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? ²² What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath-prepared for destruction?

²³ What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory- ²⁴ even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As he says in Hosea: "I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one," ²⁶ and, "In the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' there they will be called 'children of the living God.'"

²⁷ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved.
²⁸ For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality."
²⁹ It is just as Isaiah said previously: "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah."

Psalm 78:1-4

A maskil of Asaph.

¹ My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.

² I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old-

³ things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us.

⁴ We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.

---

Psalm 78:52-72

⁵² But he brought his people out like a flock; he led them like sheep through the wilderness.

⁵³ He guided them safely, so they were unafraid; but the sea engulfed their enemies.

⁵⁴ And so he brought them to the border of his holy land, to the hill country his right hand had taken.

⁵⁵ He drove out nations before them and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance; he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

⁵⁶ But they put God to the test and rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep his statutes.

⁵⁷ Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless, as unreliable as a faulty bow.

⁵⁸ They angered him with their high places; they aroused his jealousy with their idols.

⁵⁹ When God heard them, he was furious; he rejected Israel completely.

⁶⁰ He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among humans.

⁶¹ He sent the ark of his might into captivity, his splendor into the hands of the enemy.

⁶² He gave his people over to the sword; he was furious with his inheritance.

⁶³ Fire consumed their young men, and their young women had no wedding songs;

⁶⁴ their priests were put to the sword, and their widows could not weep.

⁶⁵ Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.

---

Exodus 16:27-36

²⁷ Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. ²⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? ²⁹ Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out." ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. ³² Moses said, "This is what the Lord has commanded: 'Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.'"

³³ So Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come." ³⁴ As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved. ³⁵ The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. ³⁶ (An omer is one-tenth of an ephah.)

---

Acts 15:1-5

The Council at Jerusalem

¹ Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." ² This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. ³ The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. ⁴ When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them. ⁵ Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses."

---

Acts 15:22-35

The Council's Letter to Gentile Believers

²² Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. ²³ With them they sent the following letter:


²⁴ We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. ²⁵ So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul- ²⁶ men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷ Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing.

²⁸ It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: ²⁹ You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell. ³⁰ So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. ³¹ The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. ³² Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. ³³ After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. ³⁴ (But Silas decided to remain there.) ³⁵ But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.

Psalm 78:1-4

A maskil of Asaph.

¹ My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.

² I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old-

³ things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us.

⁴ We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.

---

Psalm 78:52-72

⁵² But he brought his people out like a flock; he led them like sheep through the wilderness.

⁵³ He guided them safely, so they were unafraid; but the sea engulfed their enemies.

⁵⁴ And so he brought them to the border of his holy land, to the hill country his right hand had taken.

⁵⁵ He drove out nations before them and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance; he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

⁵⁶ But they put God to the test and rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep his statutes.

⁵⁷ Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless, as unreliable as a faulty bow.

⁵⁸ They angered him with their high places; they aroused his jealousy with their idols.

⁵⁹ When God heard them, he was furious; he rejected Israel completely.

⁶⁰ He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among humans.

⁶¹ He sent the ark of his might into captivity, his splendor into the hands of the enemy.

⁶² He gave his people over to the sword; he was furious with his inheritance.

⁶³ Fire consumed their young men, and their young women had no wedding songs;

⁶⁴ their priests were put to the sword, and their widows could not weep.

⁶⁵ Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.

---

1 Samuel 21:1-6

David at Nob

¹ David went to Nob, to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled when he met him, and asked, "Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?" ² David answered Ahimelek the priest, "The king sent me on a mission and said to me, 'No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.' As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. ³ Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find."

⁴ But the priest answered David, "I don't have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here-provided the men have kept themselves from women."

⁵ David replied, "Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men's bodies are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!" ⁶ So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.

---

John 5:1-18

The Healing at the Pool

¹ Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. ² Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ³ Here a great number of disabled people used to lie-the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. ⁴ One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁵ When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him,"Do you want to get well?" ⁶ "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." ⁷ Then Jesus said to him,"Get up! Pick up your mat and walk."⁸ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath. ⁹ The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, ¹⁰ and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." ¹¹ But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me,'Pick up your mat and walk.'" ¹² So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?" ¹³ The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. ¹⁴ Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." ¹⁵ The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

The Authority of the Son
¹⁶ So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. ¹⁷ In his defense Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working." ¹⁸ For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Psalm 130

A song of ascents.

¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; ² Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

³ If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? ⁴ But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. ⁶ I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

⁷ Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. ⁸ He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.

---

Isaiah 28:9-13

⁹ "Who is it he is trying to teach? To whom is he explaining his message? To children weaned from their milk, to those just taken from the breast? ¹⁰ For it is: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there." ¹¹ Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people, ¹² to whom he said, "This is the resting place, let the weary rest"; and, "This is the place of repose"- but they would not listen. ¹³ So then, the word of the Lord to them will become: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there-so that as they go they will fall backward; they will be injured and snared and captured.

---

1 Peter 4:7-19

⁷ The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. ⁸ Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ⁹ Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

¹² Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴ If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. ¹⁵ If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. ¹⁶ However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. ¹⁷ For it is time for judgment to begin with God's household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸ And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" ¹⁹ So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

Psalm 130

A song of ascents.

¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; ² Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

³ If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? ⁴ But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. ⁶ I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

⁷ Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. ⁸ He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.

---

Deuteronomy 1:34-40

³⁴ When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore:³⁵ "No one from this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors,³⁶ except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly."

³⁷ Because of you the Lord became angry with me also and said, "You shall not enter it, either.³⁸ But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it.³⁹ And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad-they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it.⁴⁰ But as for you, turn around and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea."

---

2 Corinthians 5:1-5

Awaiting the New Body

¹ For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ² Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, ³ because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

⁵ Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Psalm 130

A song of ascents.

¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; ² Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

³ If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? ⁴ But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. ⁶ I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

⁷ Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. ⁸ He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.

---

Genesis 2:4-14

Adam and Eve

⁴ This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

⁵ Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, ⁶ but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. ⁷ Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

⁸ Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. ⁹ The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. ¹¹ The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) ¹³ The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

---

Luke 8:4-15

⁴ While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: ⁵ "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. ⁶ Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown." When he said this, he called out, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear."

⁹ His disciples asked him what this parable meant. ¹⁰ He said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, "'though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.'¹¹ "This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. ¹² Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³ Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. ¹⁴ The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. ¹⁵ But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Psalm 130

A song of ascents.

¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; ² Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

³ If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? ⁴ But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. ⁶ I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

⁷ Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. ⁸ He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.

---

1 Samuel 8:4-20

⁴ So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. ⁵ They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have." ⁶ But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. ⁸ As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. ⁹ Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights."

¹⁰ Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king.

¹¹ He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. ¹² Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. ¹⁶ Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.

¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸ When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day." ¹⁹ But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. ²⁰ Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."

---

Psalm 138

Of David.

¹ I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
before the "gods" I will sing your praise.

² I will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise your name

for your unfailing love and your faithfulness,
for you have so exalted your solemn decree
that it surpasses your fame.

³ When I called, you answered me;
you greatly emboldened me.

⁴ May all the kings of the earth praise you, Lord,
when they hear what you have decreed.

⁵ May they sing of the ways of the Lord,
for the glory of the Lord is great.

⁶ Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly;
though lofty, he sees them from afar.

⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;
with your right hand you save me.

⁸ The Lord will vindicate me;
your love, Lord, endures forever-
do not abandon the works of your hands.

---

Genesis 3:8-15

⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?"

¹⁰ He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

¹¹ And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

¹² The man said, "The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."

¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"

The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,

"Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals!

You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

¹⁵ And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring^a and hers; he will crush^b your head, and you will strike his heel."

---

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

¹³ It is written: "I believed; therefore, I have spoken." Since we have that same spirit of^a faith, we also believe and therefore speak, ¹⁴ because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. ¹⁵ All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Awaiting the New Body
¹ For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

---

Mark 3:20-35

²⁰ Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.²¹ When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."²² And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons."²³ So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables:

"How can Satan drive out Satan?²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.²⁵ If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.²⁶ And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.²⁷ In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man's house.

²⁸ Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter,²⁹ but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin."³⁰ He said this because they were saying, "He has an impure spirit."³¹ Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him.³² A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you."³³ "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked.³⁴ Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said,"Here are my mother and my brothers!³⁵ Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."