Everyone who sins comes from the devil, for the devil has been a sinner from the very beginning. The Son of God appeared for this very purpose: to destroy the work of the devil.
However, the gift is not like the transgression. For if the transgression of one man led to the death of the many, how much greater was the overflowing effect of the grace of God and the gift of the one man Jesus Christ that has abounded for the many.
Who has performed these deeds and accomplished this? Who has summoned the nations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am the first, and I will be there with the last.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer. However, the face of the Lord is set against those who do evil.
If the Lord does not build the house, those who construct it labor in vain. If the Lord does not guard the city, those who keep watch over it do so in vain.
Even though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, even though the olive crop will fail and the orchards will yield no food, even though the flock is cut off from the fold and there is no herd in the stalls, I will continue to rejoice in the Lord, and exult in the God of my salvation.
And God said, “Let us make man in our image and likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the wild animals and reptiles that crawl upon the earth.”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.”
There is only one thing I ask of the Lord, just one thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, so that I may enjoy the beauty of the Lord and gaze on his temple.