Read the Westminster Standards in a year.

Shorter Catechism

Q 19. What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?

A. All mankind by their fall lost communion with God,1 are under his wrath2 and curse,3 and so made liable to all the miseries of this life,4 to death5 itself, and to the pains of hell forever.6

Larger Catechism

Q 27. What misery did the fall bring upon mankind?

A. The fall brought upon mankind the loss of communion with God,7 his displeasure and curse;8 so as we are by nature children of wrath,9 bond slaves to Satan,10 and justly liable to all punishments in this world, and that which is to come.11


  1. Genesis 3:8

    And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

    Genesis 3:24

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

    John 8:34

    Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.

    John 8:42

    Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.

    John 8:44

    You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

    Ephesians 2:12

    remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

    Ephesians 4:18

    They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. (ESV)

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  2. John 3:36

    Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

    Romans 1:18

    For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

    Ephesians 2:3

    among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

    Ephesians 5:6

    Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. (ESV)

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  3. Galatians 3:10

    For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”

    Revelation 22:3

    No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. (ESV)

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  4. Genesis 3:16-19

    To the woman he said,

    “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
    in pain you shall bring forth children.
    Your desire shall be for your husband,
    and he shall rule over you.”

    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;
    thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
    and you shall eat the plants of the field.
    By the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread,
    till you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
    for you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.”

    Job 5:7

    but man is born to trouble
    as the sparks fly upward.

    Ecclesiastes 2:22-23

    What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.

    Romans 8:18-23

    For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (ESV)

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  5. Ezekiel 18:4

    Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.

    Romans 5:12

    Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

    Romans 6:23

    For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ESV)

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  6. Matthew 25:41

    “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

    Matthew 25:46

    And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

    2 Thessalonians 1:9

    They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

    Revelation 14:9-11

    And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” (ESV)

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  7. Genesis 3:8

    And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

    Genesis 3:10

    And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

    Genesis 3:24

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

    John 8:34

    Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.

    John 8:42

    Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.

    John 8:44

    You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

    Ephesians 2:12

    remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. (ESV)

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  8. Genesis 3:16-19

    To the woman he said,

    “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
    in pain you shall bring forth children.
    Your desire shall be for your husband,
    and he shall rule over you.”

    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;
    thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
    and you shall eat the plants of the field.
    By the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread,
    till you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
    for you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.”

    Job 5:7

    but man is born to trouble
    as the sparks fly upward.

    Ecclesiastes 2:22-23

    What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.

    Romans 8:18-23

    For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (ESV)

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  9. Ephesians 2:2-3

    in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

    John 3:36

    Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

    Romans 1:18

    For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

    Ephesians 5:6

    Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. (ESV)

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  10. 2 Timothy 2:26

    and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (ESV)

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  11. Genesis 2:17

    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 surely die.”

    Lamentations 3:39

    Why should a living man complain,
    a man, about the punishment of his sins?

    Romans 6:23

    For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    Matthew 25:41

    “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

    Matthew 25:46

    And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

    Jude 1:7

    just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. (ESV)

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Copyright © Tim Hopper. Based on Calendar of Readings in the Westminster Standards by Dr. Joey Pipa. Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.