Isaac and Rebekah

¹Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the Lord mhad blessed Abraham in all things. ²And Abraham said to his servant, nthe oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, o“Put your hand under my thigh, ³that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that pyou will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, ⁴qbut will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” ⁵The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” ⁶Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. ⁷The Lord, the God of heaven, rwho took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, s‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ the will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. ⁸But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then uyou will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.” ⁹So the servant vput his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to wMesopotamia1 to the city of Nahor. ¹¹And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when xwomen go out to draw water. ¹²And he said, “O Lord, yGod of my master Abraham, zplease grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. ¹³Behold, aI am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. bBy this2 I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”

¹⁵Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of cMilcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder. ¹⁶The young woman dwas very attractive in appearance, a maiden3 whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. ¹⁷Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.” ¹⁸She said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. ¹⁹When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” ²⁰So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew for all his camels. ²¹The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not.

²²When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel,4 and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels, ²³and said, “Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?” ²⁴She said to him, e“I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” ²⁵She added, “We have plenty of both straw and fodder, and room to spend the night.” ²⁶fThe man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord ²⁷and said, “Blessed be the Lord, gthe God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken hhis steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord ihas led me in the way to the house of my master's kinsmen.” ²⁸Then the young woman ran and told her mother's household about these things.

²⁹Rebekah had a brother whose name was jLaban. Laban ran out toward the man, to the spring. ³⁰As soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms, and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man. And behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. ³¹He said, “Come in, kO blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” ³²So the man came to the house and unharnessed the camels, and gave lstraw and fodder to the camels, and there was mwater to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³Then food was set before him to eat. But he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.” He said, “Speak on.”

³⁴So he said, “I am Abraham's servant. ³⁵The Lord nhas greatly blessed my master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys. ³⁶And Sarah my master's wife obore a son to my master when she was old, and pto him he has given all that he has. ³⁷qMy master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell, ³⁸but you shall go to my father's house and to my clan and take a wife for my son.’ ³⁹I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ ⁴⁰But he said to me, ‘The Lord, rbefore whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and sprosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son from my clan and from my father's house. ⁴¹Then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my clan. And if they will not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’

⁴²“I came today to the spring and said, t‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you sare prospering the way that I go, ⁴³behold, I am standing uby the spring of water. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,” ⁴⁴vand who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,” let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master's son.’

⁴⁵“Before I had finished wspeaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ ⁴⁶She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also. ⁴⁷Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ xSo I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms. ⁴⁸yThen I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord, tthe God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way5 to take zthe daughter of my master's kinsman for his son. ⁴⁹Now then, if you are going to ashow steadfast love and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”

⁵⁰Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing has come from the Lord; we cannot bspeak to you bad or good. ⁵¹Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, cas the Lord has spoken.”

⁵²When Abraham's servant heard their words, yhe bowed himself to the earth before the Lord. ⁵³And the servant brought out jewelry of silver and of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments. ⁵⁴And he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they spent the night there. When they arose in the morning, he said, d“Send me away to my master.” ⁵⁵Her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman remain with us a while, at least ten days; after that she may go.” ⁵⁶But he said to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.” ⁵⁷They said, “Let us call the young woman and ask her.” ⁵⁸And they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will go.” ⁵⁹So they sent away Rebekah their sister and eher nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men. ⁶⁰And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

“Our sister, may you fbecome

thousands of ten thousands,

and gmay your offspring possess

the gate of those who hate him!”6

⁶¹Then Rebekah and her young women arose and rode on the camels and followed the man. Thus the servant took Rebekah and went his way.

⁶²Now Isaac had returned from hBeer-lahai-roi and was dwelling in the Negeb. ⁶³And Isaac went out ito meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming. ⁶⁴And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel ⁶⁵and said to the servant, “Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was jcomforted after his mother's kdeath.

Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees

¹Then Jesus tsaid to the crowds and to his disciples, ²u“The scribes and the Pharisees vsit on Moses' seat, ³so do and observe whatever they tell you, wbut not the works they do. xFor they preach, but do not practice. ⁴yThey tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,1 and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. ⁵tThey do all their deeds zto be seen by others. For they make atheir phylacteries broad and btheir fringes long, ⁶and they clove the place of honor at feasts and dthe best seats in the synagogues ⁷and dgreetings in ethe marketplaces and being called frabbi2 by others. ⁸gBut you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are hall brothers.3 ⁹iAnd call no man your father on earth, for jyou have one Father, who is in heaven. ¹⁰Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, kthe Christ. ¹¹lThe greatest among you shall be your servant. ¹²mWhoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

¹³“But woe nto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you oshut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you pneither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.4 ¹⁵Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single qproselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a rchild of shell5 as yourselves.

¹⁶“Woe to tyou, ublind guides, who say, v‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁷You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or wthe temple that has made the gold sacred? ¹⁸And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by xthe gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁹You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or ythe altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by zhim who dwells in it. ²²And whoever swears by aheaven swears by bthe throne of God and by chim who sits upon it.

²³d“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For eyou tithe mint and dill and fcumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: gjustice and mercy and faithfulness. hThese you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. ²⁴You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing ia camel!

²⁵j“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For kyou clean the outside of lthe cup and the plate, but inside they are full of mgreed and self-indulgence. ²⁶You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of lthe cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

²⁷n“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like owhitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and pall uncleanness. ²⁸So you also qoutwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of rhypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹s“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹Thus you witness against yourselves that you are tsons of those who murdered the prophets. ³²uFill up, then, the measure of your fathers. ³³You serpents, vyou brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to whell? ³⁴xTherefore yI send you zprophets and wise men and ascribes, bsome of whom you will kill and crucify, and bsome you will cflog in your synagogues and dpersecute from town to town, ³⁵so that on you may come all ethe righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous fAbel to the blood of gZechariah the son of Barachiah,6 whom you murdered between hthe sanctuary and ithe altar. ³⁶Truly, I say to you, jall these things will come upon this generation.

Lament over Jerusalem

³⁷k“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that lkills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have mgathered nyour children together oas a hen gathers her brood punder her wings, and qyou were not willing! ³⁸See, ryour house is left to you desolate. ³⁹For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, s‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Nehemiah's Final Reforms

¹On that day rthey read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written sthat no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, ²for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. ³As soon as the people heard the law, tthey separated from Israel all uthose of foreign descent.

⁴Now before this, vEliashib the priest, who wwas appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to xTobiah, ⁵prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, ywhich were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests. ⁶While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for zin the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes aking of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king ⁷and came to Jerusalem, and I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, bpreparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. ⁸And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. ⁹Then I gave orders, and they ccleansed the chambers, and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.

¹⁰I also found out that dthe portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each eto his field. ¹¹fSo I confronted the officials and said, g“Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. ¹²Then all Judah brought hthe tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. ¹³And iI appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, jfor they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers. ¹⁴kRemember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.

¹⁵In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses lon the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, mwhich they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And nI warned them on the day when they sold food. ¹⁶Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! ¹⁷oThen I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, pprofaning the Sabbath day? ¹⁸qDid not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster1 on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”

¹⁹As soon as it rbegan to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day. ²⁰Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. ²¹sBut I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. ²²Then I commanded the Levites tthat they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. uRemember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.

²³In those days also I saw the Jews vwho had married women wof Ashdod, xAmmon, and xMoab. ²⁴And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people. ²⁵oAnd I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. yAnd I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. ²⁶zDid not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? aAmong the many nations there was no king like him, and he was bbeloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. ²⁷Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and cact treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”

²⁸And one of the sons of dJehoiada, the son of eEliashib the high priest, was the son-in-law of fSanballat the Horonite. Therefore I chased him from me. ²⁹gRemember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood hand the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

³⁰iThus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; ³¹and I provided jfor the wood offering kat appointed times, and for the firstfruits.

lRemember me, O my God, for good.

¹And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, xI have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” ²And the high priest yAnanias commanded those who stood by him zto strike him on the mouth. ³Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you awhitewashed bwall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet ccontrary to the law you corder me to be struck?” ⁴Those who stood by said, “Would you revile dGod's high priest?” ⁵And Paul said, e“I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, f‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

⁶Now when Paul perceived that one part were gSadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, hI am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is iwith respect to the jhope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” ⁷And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸For the Sadducees ksay that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. ⁹Then a great clamor arose, and some of lthe scribes of the Pharisees' party stood up and contended sharply, m“We find nothing wrong in this man. What nif a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” ¹⁰And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into othe barracks.

¹¹pThe following night qthe Lord stood by him and said, r“Take courage, for sas you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must ttestify also in Rome.”

A Plot to Kill Paul

¹²When it was day, uthe Jews made a plot and vbound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. ¹³There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. ¹⁴They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. ¹⁵Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”

¹⁶Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered wthe barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.” ¹⁸So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul xthe prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.” ¹⁹The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?” ²⁰And he said, y“The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. ²¹But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who zhave bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.” ²²So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.”

Paul Sent to Felix the Governor

²³Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night.1 ²⁴Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to aFelix bthe governor.” ²⁵And he wrote a letter to this effect:

²⁶“Claudius Lysias, to chis Excellency the governor Felix, dgreetings. ²⁷eThis man was seized by the Jews and fwas about to be killed by them fwhen I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, ghaving learned that he was a Roman citizen. ²⁸And hdesiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. ²⁹I found that he was being accused iabout questions of their law, but jcharged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. ³⁰kAnd when it was disclosed to me lthat there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, mordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”

³¹So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. ³²And on the next day they returned to nthe barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him. ³³When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. ³⁴On reading the letter, he asked what oprovince he was from. And when he learned pthat he was from Cilicia, ³⁵he said, “I will give you a hearing qwhen your accusers arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod's rpraetorium.