there was no field shrub on earth and no grass of the field had sprouted, for the LORD God had sent no rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the ground, but a stream was welling up out of the earth and watering all the surface of the ground— then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

The LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God made grow every tree that was delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A river rises in Eden to water the garden; beyond there it divides and becomes four branches. The name of the first is the Pishon; it is the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; bd

20Then you spoke in vision;^k

to your faithful ones you said:

“I have set a leader over the warriors;

I have raised up a chosen one from the people.

21I have chosen David, my servant;

with my holy oil I have anointed him.

22My hand will be with him;^l

my arm will make him strong.

23No enemy shall outwit him,

nor shall the wicked defeat him.

24I will crush his foes before him,

strike down those who hate him.

25My faithfulness and mercy will be with him;

through my name his horn will be exalted.

26^*I will set his hand upon the sea,

his right hand upon the rivers.

27He shall cry to me, ‘You are my father,^m

my God, the Rock of my salvation!’

28I myself make him the firstborn,

Most High^* over the kings of the earth.

29Forever I will maintain my mercy for him;ⁿ

my covenant with him stands firm.

30I will establish his dynasty forever,

his throne as the days of the heavens.

31If his descendants forsake my teaching,^o

do not follow my decrees,

32If they fail to observe my statutes,

do not keep my commandments,

33I will punish their crime with a rod

and their guilt with blows.

The Rejection at Nazareth. 1^a He departed from there and came to his native place,^* accompanied by his disciples. 2^* When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! 3^b Is he not the carpenter,^* the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4^{* c} Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” 5So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,^* apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. 6He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Sacrifice of Jesus. 11^* But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be,^* passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation,^h 12he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.ⁱ 13For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes^* can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed,^j 14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit^* offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.^k