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18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is a suitable partner for him.” 19 Out of the soil the Lord God had formed every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that became its name. 20 The man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal, but for Adam[a] no helper was found who was a suitable partner for him. 21 The Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, the Lord God took a rib[b] and closed up the flesh where it had been. 22 The Lord God built a woman from the rib that he had taken from the man and brought her to the man.

23 The man said,
Now this one is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh.
She will be called “woman,”
because she was taken out of man.[c]
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother
and will remain united with his wife,
and they will become one flesh.[d]

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 2:20 Here the Hebrew word adam without the article becomes a personal name.
  2. Genesis 2:21 Part of his side is a more literal translation than the traditional translation rib.
  3. Genesis 2:23 Here the Hebrew word for man is ish not adam. Like the English word pair man/woman, the Hebrew words ish/ishah correspond to one another.
  4. Genesis 2:24 Verse 24 may be a continuation of the words of Adam or a comment of the inspired writer. In either case, Jesus recognizes them as part of the divine institution of marriage (Matthew 19:4-5).

Psalm 127

The Lord Builds the House

Heading
A song of the ascents. By Solomon.

The Lord Builds the House

If the Lord does not build the house,
    it is useless for the builders to work hard over it.
If the Lord does not watch over the city,
    it is useless for the watchman to stand guard.
It is useless for you to get up early and to work late,
worrying about bread to eat,
because God grants sleep to the one he loves.[a]
Indeed, children are a heritage from the Lord.
The fruit of the womb is a reward from him.
Sons born during one’s youth are like arrows
    in the hand of a warrior.
How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
    when they dispute with enemies at the city gate.[b]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 127:2 Or he can provide for those he loves even when they sleep
  2. Psalm 127:5 The city gatehouse was the equivalent of our present-day courthouse.

Some Pharisees came to test him and asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

He replied, “What did Moses command you?”

They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”[a]

But Jesus told them, “He wrote this command for you because of your hard hearts. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.[b] For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.[c] So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

10 In the house his disciples asked him about this again. 11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 If she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Jesus Loves Little Children

13 Some people began bringing little children to Jesus so that he would touch them. But the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said, “Let the little children come to me! Do not hinder them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Amen I tell you: Whoever will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the little children in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

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