God's Promise to Isaac

¹Now there was a famine in the land, besides uthe former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to vAbimelech king of the wPhilistines. ²And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell xin the land of which I shall tell you. ³ySojourn in this land, and zI will be with you and will bless you, for ato you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish bthe oath that I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴cI will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And din your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, ⁵because eAbraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Isaac and Abimelech

⁶So Isaac settled in Gerar. ⁷When the men of the place asked him about his wife, fhe said, “She is my sister,” for ghe feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because hshe was attractive in appearance. ⁸When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with1 Rebekah his wife. ⁹So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’” ¹⁰Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and iyou would have brought guilt upon us.” ¹¹So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

¹²And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord jblessed him, ¹³and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. ¹⁴He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines kenvied him. ¹⁵(Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells lthat his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) ¹⁶And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

¹⁷So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. ¹⁸And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And mhe gave them the names that his father had given them. ¹⁹But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, ²⁰the herdsmen of Gerar nquarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek,2 because they contended with him. ²¹Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah.3 ²²And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth,4 saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

²³From there he went up to Beersheba. ²⁴And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, o“I am the God of Abraham your father. pFear not, for qI am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake.” ²⁵So he rbuilt an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well.

²⁶When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and sPhicol the commander of his army, ²⁷Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and thave sent me away from you?” ²⁸They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, ²⁹that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. uYou are now the blessed of the Lord.” ³⁰So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹In the morning they rose early and vexchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. ³²That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” ³³He called it Shibah;5 therefore the name of the city is wBeersheba to this day.

³⁴When Esau was forty years old, he took xJudith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, ³⁵and ythey made life bitter6 for Isaac and Rebekah.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

¹“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like dten virgins who took their lamps1 and went to meet ethe bridegroom.2 ²Five of them were foolish, and five were wwise. ³For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, ⁴but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵As the bridegroom fwas delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. ⁶But gat midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷Then all those virgins rose and htrimmed their lamps. ⁸And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and ithose who were ready went in with him to jthe marriage feast, and kthe door was shut. ¹¹Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, l‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹²lBut he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, mI do not know you.’ ¹³nWatch therefore, for you oknow neither the day nor the hour.

The Parable of the Talents

¹⁴p“For qit will be like a man rgoing on a journey, who called his servants3 and entrusted to them his property. ¹⁵To one he gave five stalents,4 to another two, to another one, tto each according to his ability. Then he rwent away. ¹⁶He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. ¹⁷So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. ¹⁸But he who had received the one talent went and udug in the ground and hid his master's money. ¹⁹Now vafter a long time the master of those servants came and wsettled accounts with them. ²⁰And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ ²¹His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and xfaithful servant.5 yYou have been faithful over a little; zI will set you over much. Enter into athe joy of your master.’ ²²And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ ²³His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be ba hard man, reaping cwhere you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, ²⁵so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, dyou have what is yours.’ ²⁶But his master answered him, ‘You ewicked and eslothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? ²⁷Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. ²⁹fFor to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰And gcast hthe worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place gthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The Final Judgment

³¹i“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, jthen he will sit on his glorious throne. ³²Before him kwill be gathered lall the nations, and mhe will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates nthe sheep from the goats. ³³And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ³⁴Then othe King will say to pthose on his right, ‘Come, you qwho are blessed by my Father, rinherit sthe kingdom tprepared for you ufrom the foundation of the world. ³⁵For vI was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you wgave me drink, xI was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶vI was naked and you clothed me, yI was sick and you zvisited me, aI was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰And bthe King will answer them, c‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these dmy brothers,6 you did it to me.’

⁴¹“Then he will say to those on his left, e‘Depart from me, you fcursed, into gthe eternal fire prepared for hthe devil and his angels. ⁴²For iI was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, jyou did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away kinto eternal punishment, but the righteous kinto leternal life.”

Esther Chosen Queen

¹After these things, twhen the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti uand what she had done and what had been decreed against her. ²Then the king's young men who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king. ³And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the citadel, under custody of vHegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women. wLet their cosmetics be given them. ⁴And let the young woman who pleases the king1 be queen instead of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did so.

⁵Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was xMordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite, ⁶ywho had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away. ⁷He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, zthe daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. ⁸So when the king's order and his edict were proclaimed, and awhen many young women were gathered in Susa the citadel in custody of bHegai, Esther also was taken into the king's palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women. ⁹And the young woman pleased him and won his favor. And he quickly provided her cwith her cosmetics and her portion of food, and with seven chosen young women from the king's palace, and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem. ¹⁰dEsther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known. ¹¹And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.

¹²Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments for women— ¹³when the young woman went in to the king in this way, she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to the king's palace. ¹⁴In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem in custody of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go in to the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.

¹⁵When the turn came for Esther ethe daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what fHegai the king's eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her. ¹⁶And when Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, ¹⁷the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set gthe royal crown2 on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. ¹⁸Then the king hgave a great feast for all his officials and servants; it was Esther's feast. He also granted a remission of taxes to the provinces and gave gifts with royal generosity.

Mordecai Discovers a Plot

¹⁹Now when the virgins were gathered together ithe second time, Mordecai was sitting jat the king's gate. ²⁰kEsther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just las when she was brought up by him. ²¹In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, mBigthan and nTeresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. ²²And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, oand he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai. ²³When the affair was investigated and found to be so, the men were both hanged on the gallows.3 And it was recorded in pthe book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.

Paul Appeals to Caesar

¹Now three days after Festus had arrived in ithe province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. ²And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews jlaid out their case against Paul, and they urged him, ³asking as a favor against Paul1 that he summon him to Jerusalem—because kthey were planning an ambush to kill him on the way. ⁴Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly. ⁵“So,” said he, “let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.”

⁶After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on lthe tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. ⁷When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him mthat they could not prove. ⁸Paul argued in his defense, “Neither nagainst othe law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor pagainst Caesar have I committed any offense.” ⁹But Festus, qwishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?” ¹⁰But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar's rtribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. ¹¹If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. sI appeal to Caesar.” ¹²Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.”

Paul Before Agrippa and Bernice

¹³Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus. ¹⁴And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, t“There is a man left prisoner by Felix, ¹⁵and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case uagainst him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. ¹⁶vI answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone wbefore the accused met the accusers face to face and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him. ¹⁷xSo when they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on ythe tribunal and ordered the man to be brought. ¹⁸When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed. ¹⁹Rather they zhad certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about aa certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive. ²⁰Being at a loss how to investigate these questions, I basked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding them. ²¹But cwhen Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of dthe emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.” ²²Then eAgrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” said he, “you will hear him.”

²³So on the next day fAgrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. ²⁴And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom gthe whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, hshouting that he ought not to live any longer. ²⁵But I found that ihe had done nothing deserving death. And jas he himself appealed to kthe emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him. ²⁶But I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write. ²⁷For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him.”