Day 3 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 3

¹O LORD, how my foes have increased! How many rise up against me! ²Many say of me, “God will not deliver him.” Selah ³But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head. ⁴To the LORD I cry aloud, and He answers me from His holy mountain. Selah ⁵I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the LORD sustains me. ⁶I will not fear the myriads set against me on every side. ⁷Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. ⁸Salvation belongs to the LORD; may Your blessing be on Your people. Selah

New Testament·Matthew 3

¹In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ²and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” ³This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’” ⁴John wore a garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region around the Jordan. ⁶Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. ⁷But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. ⁹And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. ¹¹I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹²His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” ¹³At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” ¹⁵“Let it be so now,” Jesus replied. “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” Then John permitted Him. ¹⁶As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him. ¹⁷And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”

Old Testament·Genesis 5–6

¹This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in His own likeness. ²Male and female He created them, and He blessed them. And in the day they were created, He called them “man.” ³When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son in his own likeness, after his own image; and he named him Seth. ⁴And after he had become the father of Seth, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ⁵So Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died. ⁶When Seth was 105 years old, he became the father of Enosh. ⁷And after he had become the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. ⁸So Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died. ⁹When Enosh was 90 years old, he became the father of Kenan. ¹⁰And after he had become the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹¹So Enosh lived a total of 905 years, and then he died. ¹²When Kenan was 70 years old, he became the father of Mahalalel. ¹³And after he had become the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁴So Kenan lived a total of 910 years, and then he died. ¹⁵When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he became the father of Jared. ¹⁶And after he had become the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁷So Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years, and then he died. ¹⁸When Jared was 162 years old, he became the father of Enoch. ¹⁹And after he had become the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁰So Jared lived a total of 962 years, and then he died. ²¹When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah. ²²And after he had become the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. ²³So Enoch lived a total of 365 years. ²⁴Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more, because God had taken him away. ²⁵When Methuselah was 187 years old, he became the father of Lamech. ²⁶And after he had become the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁷So Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died. ²⁸When Lamech was 182 years old, he had a son. ²⁹And he named him Noah, saying, “May this one comfort us in the labor and toil of our hands caused by the ground that the LORD has cursed.” ³⁰And after he had become the father of Noah, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. ³¹So Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died. ³²After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

6Now when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, ²the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose. ³So the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.” ⁴The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of old, men of renown. ⁵Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time. ⁶And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. ⁷So the LORD said, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” ⁸Noah, however, found favor in the eyes of the LORD. ⁹This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. ¹⁰And Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ¹¹Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and full of violence. ¹²And God looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt; for all living creatures on the earth had corrupted their ways. ¹³Then God said to Noah, “The end of all living creatures has come before Me, because through them the earth is full of violence. Now behold, I will destroy both them and the earth. ¹⁴Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark and coat it with pitch inside and out. ¹⁵And this is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. ¹⁶You are to make a roof for the ark, finish its walls a cubit from the top, place a door in the side of the ark, and build lower, middle, and upper decks. ¹⁷And behold, I will bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy every creature under the heavens that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will perish. ¹⁸But I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹And you are to bring two of every living creature into the ark—male and female—to keep them alive with you. ²⁰Two of every kind of bird and animal and crawling creature will come to you to be kept alive. ²¹You are also to take for yourself every kind of food that is eaten and gather it as food for yourselves and for the animals.” ²²So Noah did everything precisely as God had commanded him.