Bible Readings for January 2, 2017

Today our passages are Genesis 3:1–4:26; Matthew 2:13–3:6; Psalm 2:1-12; and Proverbs 1:7-9. The readings are the Contemporary English Version. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.

 

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Genesis 3-4:26 (Contemporary English Version)

Genesis 3

The First Sin

 ¹The snake was sneakier than any of the other wild animals that the LORD God had made. One day it came to the woman and asked, "Did God tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?"     ²The woman answered, "God said we could eat fruit from any tree in the garden, ³except the one in the middle. He told us not to eat fruit from that tree or even to touch it. If we do, we will die."
    ⁴"No, you won't!" the snake replied. ⁵"God understands what will happen on the day you eat fruit from that tree. You will see what you have done, and you will know the difference between right and wrong, just as God does."
    ⁶The woman stared at the fruit. It looked beautiful and tasty. She wanted the wisdom that it would give her, and she ate some of the fruit. Her husband was there with her, so she gave some to him, and he ate it too. ⁷Right away they saw what they had done, and they realized they were naked. Then they sewed fig leaves together to make something to cover themselves.
    ⁸Late in the afternoon a breeze began to blow, and the man and woman heard the LORD God walking in the garden. They were frightened and hid behind some trees.
   

The Trouble with Sin

 ⁹The LORD called out to the man and asked, "Where are you?"     ¹⁰The man answered, "I was naked, and when I heard you walking through the garden, I was frightened and hid!"
    ¹¹"How did you know you were naked?" God asked. "Did you eat any fruit from that tree in the middle of the garden?"
    ¹²"It was the woman you put here with me," the man said. "She gave me some of the fruit, and I ate it."
    ¹³The LORD God then asked the woman, "What have you done?"
   "The snake tricked me," she answered. "And I ate some of that fruit."
    ¹⁴So the LORD God said to the snake:
   "Because of what you have done,
   you will be the only animal
   to suffer this curse--
   For as long as you live,
   you will crawl on your stomach
   and eat dirt.
    ¹⁵You and this woman
   will hate each other;
   your descendants and hers
   will always be enemies.
   One of hers will strike you
   on the head,
   and you will strike him
   on the heel."
    ¹⁶Then the LORD said to the woman,
   "You will suffer terribly
   when you give birth.
   But you will still desire
   your husband,
   and he will rule over you."
    ¹⁷The LORD said to the man,
   "You listened to your wife
   and ate fruit from that tree.
   And so, the ground
   will be under a curse
   because of what you did.
   As long as you live,
   you will have to struggle
   to grow enough food.
    ¹⁸Your food will be plants,
   but the ground
   will produce
   thorns and thistles.
    ¹⁹You will have to sweat
   to earn a living;
   you were made out of soil,
   and you will once again
   turn into soil."
    ²⁰The man Adam ^[a] named his wife Eve ^[b] because she would become the mother of all who live. ²¹Then the LORD God made clothes out of animal skins for the man and his wife.
    ²²The LORD said, "These people now know the difference between right and wrong, just as we do. But they must not be allowed to eat fruit from the tree that lets them live forever." ²³So the LORD God sent them out of the Garden of Eden, where they would have to work the ground from which the man had been made. ²⁴Then God put winged creatures at the entrance to the garden and a flaming, flashing sword to guard the way to the life-giving tree.
   

Genesis 4

Cain Murders Abel

 ¹Adam ^[c] and Eve had a son. Then Eve said, "I'll name him Cain because I got ^[d] him with the help of the LORD." ²Later she had another son and named him Abel. Abel became a sheep farmer, but Cain farmed the land. ³One day, Cain gave part of his harvest to the LORD, ⁴and Abel also gave an offering to the LORD. He killed the first-born lamb from one of his sheep and gave the LORD the best parts of it. The LORD was pleased with Abel and his offering, ⁵but not with Cain and his offering. This made Cain so angry that he could not hide his feelings.     ⁶The LORD said to Cain:
   What's wrong with you? Why do you have such an angry look on your face? ⁷If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling. ^[e] But you did the wrong thing, and now sin is waiting to attack you like a lion. Sin wants to destroy you, but don't let it! ⁸Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go for a walk." ^[f] And when they were out in a field, Cain killed him. ⁹Afterwards the LORD asked Cain, "Where is Abel?"
   "How should I know?" he answered. "Am I supposed to look after my brother?"
    ¹⁰Then the LORD said:
   Why have you done this terrible thing? You killed your own brother, and his blood flowed onto the ground. Now his blood is calling out for me to punish you. ¹¹And so, I'll put you under a curse. Because you killed Abel and made his blood run out on the ground, you will never be able to farm the land again. ¹²If you try to farm the land, it won't produce anything for you. From now on, you'll be without a home, and you'll spend the rest of your life wandering from place to place.
    ¹³"This punishment is too hard!" Cain said. ¹⁴"You're making me leave my home and live far from you. ^[g] I will have to wander about without a home, and just anyone could kill me." ¹⁵"No!" ^[h] the LORD answered. "Anyone who kills you will be punished seven times worse than I am punishing you." So the LORD put a mark on Cain to warn everyone not to kill him. ¹⁶But Cain had to go far from the LORD and live in the Land of Wandering, ^[i] which is east of Eden.

More and More People

 ¹⁷Later, Cain and his wife had a son named Enoch. At the time Cain was building a town, and so he named it Enoch after his son. ¹⁸Then Enoch had a son named Irad, who had a son named Mehujael, who had a son named Methushael, who had a son named Lamech.     ¹⁹Lamech married Adah, then Zillah. ^20-21Lamech and Adah had two sons, Jabal and Jubal. Their son Jabal was the first to live in tents and raise sheep and goats. Jubal was the first to play harps and flutes.
    ²²Lamech and Zillah had a son named Tubal Cain who made tools out of bronze and iron. They also had a daughter, whose name was Naamah.
    ²³One day, Lamech said to his two wives, "A young man wounded me, and I killed him. ²⁴Anyone who tries to get even with me will be punished ten times more than anyone who tries to get even with Cain."
    ²⁵Adam and his wife had another son. They named him Seth, because they said, "God has given ^[j] us a son to take the place of Abel, who was killed by his brother Cain." ²⁶Later, Seth had a son and named him Enosh. About this time people started worshiping the LORD. ^[k]

Footnotes:

1. Genesis 3:20 The man Adam: In Hebrew "man" and "Adam" are the same.
2. Genesis 3:20 Eve: In Hebrew "Eve" sounds like "living."
3. Genesis 4:1 Adam: See the note at 3.20.
4. Genesis 4:1 Cain. . . got: In Hebrew "Cain" sounds like "got."
5. Genesis 4:7 you would be smiling: Or "I would have accepted your offering."
6. Genesis 4:8 Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's walk": Most ancient translations; Hebrew "Cain spoke to his brother Abel."
7. Genesis 4:14 live. . . you: At this time it was believed that the LORD was with his people only in their own land.
8. Genesis 4:15 No: Three ancient translations; Hebrew "Very well!"
9. Genesis 4:16 Wandering: The Hebrew text has "Nod," which means "wandering."
10. Genesis 4:25 Seth. . . given: In Hebrew "Seth" sounds like "given."
11. Genesis 4:26 worshiping the LORD: Or "worshiping in the name of the LORD."

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Matthew 2:13-3:6 (Contemporary English Version)

The Escape to Egypt

 ¹³After the wise men had gone, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up! Hurry and take the child and his mother to Egypt! Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is looking for the child and wants to kill him."     ¹⁴That night, Joseph got up and took his wife and the child to Egypt, ¹⁵where they stayed until Herod died. So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, "I called my son out of Egypt."
   

The Killing of the Children

 ¹⁶When Herod found out that the wise men from the east had tricked him, he was very angry. He gave orders for his men to kill all the boys who lived in or near Bethlehem and were two years old and younger. This was based on what he had learned from the wise men.     ¹⁷So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet Jeremiah had said,
    ¹⁸"In Ramah a voice was heard
   crying and weeping loudly.
   Rachel was mourning
   for her children,
   and she refused
   to be comforted,
   because they were dead."
   

The Return from Egypt

 ¹⁹After King Herod died, an angel from the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph while he was still in Egypt. ²⁰The angel said, "Get up and take the child and his mother back to Israel. The people who wanted to kill him are now dead."     ²¹Joseph got up and left with them for Israel. ²²But when he heard that Herod's son Archelaus was now ruler of Judea, he was afraid to go there. Then in a dream he was told to go to Galilee, ²³and they went to live there in the town of Nazareth. So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, "He will be called a Nazarene." ^[a]

Matthew 3

The Preaching of John the Baptist

(Mark 1.1-8; Luke 3.1-18; John 1.19-28)

 ¹Years later, John the Baptist started preaching in the desert of Judea. ²He said, "Turn back to God! The kingdom of heaven ^[b] will soon be here." ^[c] ³John was the one the prophet Isaiah was talking about, when he said,    "In the desert someone
   is shouting,
   `Get the road ready
   for the Lord!
   Make a straight path
   for him.' "
    ⁴John wore clothes made of camel's hair. He had a leather strap around his waist and ate grasshoppers and wild honey.
    ⁵From Jerusalem and all Judea and from the Jordan River Valley crowds of people went to John. ⁶They told how sorry they were for their sins, and he baptized them in the river.
   

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 2:23 He will be called a Nazarene: The prophet who said this is not known.
2. Matthew 3:2 kingdom of heaven: In the Gospel of Matthew "kingdom of heaven" is used with the same meaning as "God's kingdom" in Mark and Luke.
3. Matthew 3:2 will soon be here: Or "is already here."

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Psalm 2:1-12 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 2

The LORD's Chosen King

 ¹Why do the nations plot, ^[a] and why do their people    make useless plans? ^[b] ²The kings of this earth
   have all joined together
   to turn against the LORD
   and his chosen one.
    ³They say, "Let's cut the ropes
   and set ourselves free!"
    ⁴In heaven the LORD laughs
   as he sits on his throne,
   making fun of the nations.
    ⁵The LORD becomes furious
   and threatens them.
   His anger terrifies them
   as he says,
    ⁶"I've put my king on Zion,
   my sacred hill."
    ⁷I will tell the promise
   that the LORD made to me:
   "You are my son, because today
   I have become your father.
    ⁸Ask me for the nations,
   and every nation on earth
   will belong to you.
    ⁹You will smash them
   with an iron rod
   and shatter them
   like dishes of clay."
    ¹⁰Be smart, all you rulers,
   and pay close attention.
    ¹¹Serve and honor the LORD;
   be glad and tremble.
    ¹²Show respect to his son
   because if you don't,
   the LORD might become furious
   and suddenly destroy you. ^[c] But he blesses and protects
   everyone who runs to him.
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 2:1 Why. . . plot: Or " Why are the nations restless?"
2. Psalm 2:1 make useless plans: Or " grumble uselessly."
3. Psalm 2:12 Serve. . . you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verses 11,12.

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Proverbs 1:7-9 (Contemporary English Version)

⁷Respect and obey the LORD!
   This is the beginning
   of knowledge. ^[a] Only a fool rejects wisdom
   and good advice.
   

Warnings against Bad Friends

 ⁸My child, obey the teachings    of your parents,
    ⁹and wear their teachings
   as you would a lovely hat
   or a pretty necklace.
   

Footnotes:

1. Proverbs 1:7 the beginning of knowledge: Or " what knowledge is all about."

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Verse of the Day

 

“Teach us to use wisely all the time we have.” - Psalm 90:12

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.