March 3, 2025 PORTALS OF PRAYER READINGS

 

Genesis 3:8-17

⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool^[a] of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”^{[b] 10} And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” ¹¹ He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹² The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” ¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
    cursed are you above all livestock
    and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
    and dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life.
¹⁵ I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring^[c] and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
    and you shall bruise his heel.”

¹⁶ To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
    in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to^[d] your husband,
    but he shall rule over you.”

¹⁷ And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
    and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
    ‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
    in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

Footnotes

1. Genesis 3:8 Hebrew wind
2. Genesis 3:9 In Hebrew you is singular in verses 9 and 11
3. Genesis 3:15 Hebrew seed; so throughout Genesis
4. Genesis 3:16 Or shall be toward (see 4:7)

Psalm 41

O Lord, Be Gracious to Me

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

41 Blessed is the one who considers the poor!^[a]
    In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
² the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
    he is called blessed in the land;
    you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
³ The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
    in his illness you restore him to full health.^[b]

⁴ As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
    heal me,^[c] for I have sinned against you!”
⁵ My enemies say of me in malice,
    “When will he die, and his name perish?”
⁶ And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words,
    while his heart gathers iniquity;
    when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
⁷ All who hate me whisper together about me;
    they imagine the worst for me.^[d]

⁸ They say, “A deadly thing is poured out^[e] on him;
    he will not rise again from where he lies.”
⁹ Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
    who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
¹⁰ But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
    and raise me up, that I may repay them!

¹¹ By this I know that you delight in me:
    my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
¹² But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
    and set me in your presence forever.

¹³ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.

Footnotes

1. Psalm 41:1 Or weak
2. Psalm 41:3 Hebrew you turn all his bed
3. Psalm 41:4 Hebrew my soul
4. Psalm 41:7 Or they devise evil against me
5. Psalm 41:8 Or has fastened

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