Reading the Bible again for the First Time

Home > Other > Reading the Bible again for the First Time > Page 39
Reading the Bible again for the First Time Page 39

by Marcus J. Borg


  3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.

  Click Here to Return

  Genesis 2.4-3.24

  4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

  The Garden of Eden In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

  5 when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground;

  6 but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground—

  7 then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.

  8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

  9 And out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

  10 A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches.

  11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

  12 and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.

  13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Cush.

  14 The name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

  15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.

  16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;

  17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

  18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.”

  19 So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.

  20 The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner.

  21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.

  22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

  23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.”

  24 Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

  25 And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.

  Expulsion from the Garden

  3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

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

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

  4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die;

  5 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

  6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.

  7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

  8 They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, 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?”

  10 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 from 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 from 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 tricked me, and I ate.”

  14 The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals, and among all wild creatures; upon 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 and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

  16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”

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

  18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.

  19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

  20 The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

  21 And the LORD God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them.

  22 Then the LORD God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever” —

  23 therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.

  24 He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.

  Click Here to Return

  Exodus 20.1-21

  The Ten Commandments

  20 Then God spoke all these words:

  2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;

  3 you shall have no other gods before me.

  4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

  5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God,punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,

  6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

  7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God; for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

  8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.

  9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

  10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work— you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.

  11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

  12 Honor your father and your mother, so
that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

  13 You shall not murder.

  14 You shall not commit adultery.

  15 You shall not steal.

  16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

  17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

  18 When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance,

  19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.”

  20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you, and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.”

  21 Then the people stood at a distance, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

  Deut. 5.1-21

  Initiation of the Covenant

  5 Moses convened all Israel, and said to them: Hear, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances that I am addressing to you today; you shall learn them and observe them diligently.

  2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.

  3 Not with our ancestors did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today.

  4 The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the fire.

  5 (At that time I was standing between the LORD and you to declare to you the words of the LORD; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:

  6 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;

  7 you shall have no other gods before me.

  8 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

  9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me,

  10 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

  11 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

  12 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.

  13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

  14 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male or female slave may rest as well as you.

  15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.

  16 Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, so that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

  17 You shall not murder.

  18 Neither shall you commit adultery.

  19 Neither shall you steal.

  20 Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor.

  21 Neither shall you covet your neighbor’s wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

  Click Here to Return

  Exodus 20.22-23.33

  Laws Concerning Worship

  22 The LORD said to Moses: Thus you shall say to the Israelites: “You have seen for yourselves that I spoke with you from heaven.

  23 You shall not make gods of silver alongside me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.

  24 You need make for me only an altar of earth and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your offerings of well-being, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.

  25 But if you make for me an altar of stone, do not build it of hewn stones; for if you use a chisel upon it you profane it.

  26 You shall not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.”

  The Law Concerning Slaves

  21 These are the ordinances that you shall set before them:

  2 When you buy a male Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, but in the seventh he shall go out a free person, without debt.

  3 If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.

  4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s and he shall go out alone.

  5 But if the slave declares, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out a free person,”

  6 then his master shall bring him before God. He shall be brought to the door or the doorpost; and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him for life.

  7 When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.

  8 If she does not please her master, who designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed; he shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt unfairly with her.

  9 If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter.

  10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish the food, clothing, or marital rights of the first wife.

  11 And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out without debt, without payment of money.

  The Law Concerning Violence

  12 Whoever strikes a person mortally shall be put to death.

  13 If it was not premeditated, but came about by an act of God, then I will appoint for you a place to which the killer may flee.

  14 But if a someone willfully attacks and kills another by treachery, you shall take the killer from my altar for execution.

  15 Whoever strikes father or mother shall be put to death.

  16 Whoever kidnaps a person, whether that person has been sold or is still held in possession, shall be put to death.

  17 Whoever curses father or mother shall be put to death.

  18 When individuals quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or fist so that the injured party, though not dead, is confined to bed,

  19 but recovers and walks around outside with the help of a staff, then the assailant shall be free of liability; except to pay for the loss of time, and to arrange for a full recovery .

  20 When a slaveowner strikes a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately, the owner shall be punished..

  21 But if the slave survives a day or two, there is no punishment; for the slave is the owner’s property.

  22 When people who are fighting injure a pregnant woman so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no further harm follows, the one responsible shall be fined what the woman’s husband demands, paying as much as the judges determine.

  23 If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life,

  24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

  25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

  26 When a slaveowner strikes the eye of a male or female slave, destroying it, the owner shall let the slave go, a free person, to compensate for the eye.

  27 If the owner knocks out a tooth of a male or female slave, the slave shall be let go, a free person, to compensate for the tooth.

  Laws Concerning Property.

  28 When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall not be liable.

 

‹ Prev