Day 3 – January 3, 2021

Genesis 3

The Fall of Mankind

1 Now the serpent was more cunning than all the wild animals the Lord God made on the earth. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat from every tree of the garden’?”†

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

3 but from the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You shall not eat from it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You shall not die by death.

5 For God knows in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.”

6 So when the woman saw the tree was good for food, was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree beautiful to contemplate, she took its fruit and ate. She also gave it to her husband with her, and he ate.

7 Then the eyes of the two were opened, and they knew they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

8 Then they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden that afternoon, and Adam and his wife hid themselves within the tree in the middle of the garden from the presence of the Lord God.†

9 So the Lord God called Adam and said to him, “Adam, where are you?”

10 He replied, “I heard Your voice as You were walking in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

11 Thus He said, “Who said you were naked? Have you eaten from the one tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”

12 Then Adam said, “The woman You gave me, gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

13 So the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14 Thus the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than all the wild animals of the earth. On your breast and belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall be on guard for His heel.Ӡ

16 To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply your pain and your groaning, and in pain you shall bring forth children. Your recourse will be to your husband, and he shall rule over you.”

17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you heeded the voice of your wife, and ate from the one tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it,’ cursed is the ground in your labors. In toil you shall eat from it all the days of your life.†

18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.

19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground from which you were taken. Earth you are, and to earth you shall return.”

20 So Adam called his wife’s name Life, because she was the mother of all living.

21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made garments of skin, and clothed them.

22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. Now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—”

23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of pleasure to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

24 So He cast out Adam, and made him dwell opposite the garden of pleasure. He then stationed the cherubim and the fiery sword which turns every way to guard the way to the tree of life.†

Psalms 5

1 For the End; concerning the inheritance; a psalm by David. †

2 Give ear to my words, O Lord, Hear my cry. 

3 Give heed to the voice of my supplication, My King and my God, For to You will I pray, O Lord. 

4 In the morning You shall hear my voice; In the morning I will stand before You, And I will watch. 

5 For You are not a God who wills lawlessness, Nor shall the evildoer dwell with You. 

6 The lawless shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all the workers of lawlessness; 

7 You shall destroy all who speak falsehood; The Lord abhors the man of violence and deceit. 

8 But as for me, in the fullness of Your mercy I will come into Your house; In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple. 

9 Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; Make straight Your way before me. 

10 For there is no truth in their mouth; Their heart is vain; Their throat is an open grave; They deal deceptively with their tongues. 

11 Judge them, O God. Let them fall by their false accusations; Cast them out in the multitude of their ungodliness; For they provoked You, O Lord. 

12 But let all who hope in You be glad; They will greatly rejoice forever, For You will dwell in them; And all who love Your name will boast in You. 

13 For You will bless the righteous; O Lord, You crowned us with the shield of Your goodwill.

Proverbs of Solomon 1

11 My son, do not let the ungodly lead you astray, And do not consent if they invite you, saying,† 

12 “Come with us; take part in bloodshed, And let us hide a righteous man in the earth unjustly; 

13 And let us swallow him, just as Hades does the living, And let us take away his remembrance from the earth; 

14 Let us seize his valuable property, And let us fill our houses with spoils; 

15 Cast your lot with us And let us acquire a common bag; Let there be one purse for us.”

Matthew 3

John the Baptist’s Call to Repentance

1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,†

2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’ ” 

4 Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.†

5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him

6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.†

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?†

8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,†

9 and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.†

10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.†

11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.†

12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.Ӡ

The Baptism of Jesus

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.

14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”

15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.†

16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.†

17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”†