Day 2 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 2

¹Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? ²The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, against the LORD and against His Anointed One: ³“Let us break Their chains and cast away Their cords.” ⁴The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord taunts them. ⁵Then He rebukes them in His anger, and terrifies them in His fury: ⁶“I have installed My King on Zion, upon My holy mountain.” ⁷I will proclaim the decree spoken to Me by the LORD: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father. ⁸Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession. ⁹You will break them with an iron scepter; You will shatter them like pottery.” ¹⁰Therefore be wise, O kings; be admonished, O judges of the earth. ¹¹Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. ¹²Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in your rebellion, when His wrath ignites in an instant. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

New Testament·Matthew 2

¹After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, ²asking, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” ³When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴And when he had assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: ⁶‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel.’” ⁷Then Herod called the Magi secretly and learned from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸And sending them to Bethlehem, he said: “Go and search carefully for the Child, and when you find Him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship Him.” ⁹After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the Child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced with great delight. ¹¹On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their country by another route. ¹³When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.” ¹⁴So he got up, took the Child and His mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt, ¹⁵where he stayed until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” ¹⁶When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: ¹⁸“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” ¹⁹After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. ²⁰“Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those seeking the Child’s life are now dead.” ²¹So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and went to the land of Israel. ²²But when he learned that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, ²³and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

Old Testament·Genesis 3–4

¹Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’” ²The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, ³but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’” ⁴“You will not surely die,” the serpent told her. ⁵“For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves. ⁸Then the man and his wife heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ⁹But the LORD God called out to the man, “Where are you?” ¹⁰“I heard Your voice in the garden,” he replied, “and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” ¹¹“Who told you that you were naked?” asked the LORD God. “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹²And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” ¹³Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.” ¹⁴So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life. ¹⁵And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” ¹⁶To the woman He said: “I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” ¹⁷And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. ¹⁸Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. ¹⁹By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground— because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” ²⁰And Adam named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all the living. ²¹And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them. ²²Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...” ²³Therefore the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. ²⁴So He drove out the man and stationed cherubim on the east side of the Garden of Eden, along with a whirling sword of flame to guard the way to the tree of life.

4And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said. ²Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil. ³So in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the LORD, ⁴while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. And the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, ⁵but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell. ⁶“Why are you angry,” said the LORD to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen? ⁷If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.” ⁸Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. ⁹And the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I do not know!” he answered. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰“What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. ¹¹Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹²When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” ¹³But Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. ¹⁴Behold, this day You have driven me from the face of the earth, and from Your face I will be hidden; I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” ¹⁵“Not so!” replied the LORD. “If anyone slays Cain, then Cain will be avenged sevenfold.” And the LORD placed a mark on Cain, so that no one who found him would kill him. ¹⁶So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. ¹⁷And Cain had relations with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain built a city and named it after his son Enoch. ¹⁸Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methusael, and Methusael was the father of Lamech. ¹⁹And Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. ²⁰Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and raise livestock. ²¹And his brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute. ²²And Zillah gave birth to Tubal-cain, a forger of every implement of bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. ²³Then Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, listen to my speech. For I have slain a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. ²⁴If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.” ²⁵And Adam again had relations with his wife, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another seed in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” ²⁶And to Seth also a son was born, and he called him Enosh. At that time men began to call upon the name of the LORD.