Abraham's Death and His Descendants

¹Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. ²lShe bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. ⁴The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. ⁵mAbraham gave all he had to Isaac. ⁶But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he nsent them away from his son Isaac, eastward oto the east country.

⁷These are the days of the years of Abraham's life, 175 years. ⁸Abraham pbreathed his last and qdied in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. ⁹Isaac and Ishmael rhis sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, ¹⁰the field sthat Abraham purchased from the Hittites. tThere Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife. ¹¹After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at uBeer-lahai-roi.

¹²These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, vwhom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's servant, bore to Abraham. ¹³wThese are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: xNebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and xKedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵Hadad, yTema, zJetur, zNaphish, and Kedemah. ¹⁶These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, atwelve princes according to their tribes. ¹⁷(These are the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. He bbreathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.) ¹⁸cThey settled from Havilah to dShur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled1 over against all his kinsmen.

The Birth of Esau and Jacob

¹⁹These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: eAbraham fathered Isaac, ²⁰and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, fthe daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of gPaddan-aram, hthe sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. ²¹And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And ithe Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²²The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?”2 So she went jto inquire of the Lord. ²³And the Lord said to her,

k“Two nations are in your womb,

and two peoples from within you3 shall be divided;

lthe one shall be stronger than the other,

mthe older shall serve the younger.”

²⁴When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵The first came out red, nall his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. ²⁶Afterward his brother came out with ohis hand holding Esau's heel, so phis name was called Jacob.4 Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

²⁷When the boys grew up, Esau was qa skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, rdwelling in tents. ²⁸Isaac loved Esau because she ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Esau Sells His Birthright

²⁹Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. ³⁰And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.5) ³¹Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” ³²Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” ³³Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and tsold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

¹tJesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. ²But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, uthere will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Signs of the End of the Age

³As he sat on vthe Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him wprivately, saying, “Tell us, xwhen will these things be, and what will be the sign of your ycoming and of zthe end of the age?” ⁴And Jesus answered them, a“See that no one leads you astray. ⁵For bmany will come in my name, saying, ‘I am cthe Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. ⁶And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you dare not alarmed, for this emust take place, but the end is not yet. ⁷For fnation will rise against nation, and gkingdom against kingdom, and there will be hfamines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸All these are but the beginning of ithe birth pains.

⁹“Then jthey will deliver you up kto tribulation and lput you to death, and myou will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. ¹⁰And then many will fall away1 and nbetray one another and hate one another. ¹¹And many ofalse prophets will arise pand lead many astray. ¹²And because lawlessness will be increased, qthe love of many will grow cold. ¹³rBut the one who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom swill be proclaimed throughout the whole world tas a testimony uto all nations, and vthen the end will come.

The Abomination of Desolation

¹⁵“So when you see the abomination of desolation wspoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in xthe holy place (ylet the reader understand), ¹⁶then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷zLet the one who is on athe housetop not go down to take what is in his house, ¹⁸and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. ¹⁹And balas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! ²⁰Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹For then there will be cgreat tribulation, dsuch as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. ²²And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for ethe sake of the elect those days will be cut short. ²³fThen if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴For gfalse christs and hfalse prophets will arise and iperform great signs and wonders, hso as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵See, jI have told you beforehand. ²⁶So, if they say to you, ‘Look, khe is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷lFor as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be mthe coming of the Son of Man. ²⁸nWherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁹“Immediately after othe tribulation of those days pthe sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and qthe stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰Then rwill appear in heaven sthe sign of the Son of Man, and then tall the tribes of the earth will mourn, and uthey will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven vwith power and great glory. ³¹And whe will send out his angels with a loud xtrumpet call, and they will ygather zhis elect from athe four winds, bfrom one end of heaven to the other.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

³²“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, cat the very gates. ³⁴dTruly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ³⁵eHeaven and earth will pass away, but fmy words will not pass away.

No One Knows That Day and Hour

³⁶“But concerning that day and hour gno one knows, not even the angels of heaven, hnor the Son,2 ibut the Father only. ³⁷jFor as were the days of Noah, kso will be the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸jFor as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, lmarrying and giving in marriage, until mthe day when Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, kso will be the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. ⁴¹nTwo women will be grinding oat the mill; one will be taken and one left. ⁴²Therefore, pstay awake, for you do not know on what day qyour Lord is coming. ⁴³rBut know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night sthe thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore you also must be tready, for uthe Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

⁴⁵“Who then is vthe faithful and wwise servant,3 whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶xBlessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷Truly, I say to you, yhe will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁸But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master zis delayed,’ ⁴⁹and begins to beat his fellow servants4 and eats and drinks with adrunkards, ⁵⁰the master of that servant will come bon a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know ⁵¹and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place cthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The King's Banquets

¹Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned afrom India to Ethiopia over b127 provinces, ²in those days when King Ahasuerus csat on his royal throne in dSusa, the citadel, ³in the third year of his reign ehe gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him, ⁴while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days. ⁵And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of fthe garden of the king's palace. ⁶There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods1 and marble pillars, and also gcouches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones. ⁷Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king. ⁸And drinking was according to this edict: “There is no compulsion.” For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired. ⁹Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus.

Queen Vashti's Refusal

¹⁰On the seventh day, hwhen the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, iHarbona, jBigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, ¹¹to bring Queen Vashti before the king with kher royal crown,2 in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at. ¹²But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the eunuchs. At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him.

¹³Then the king said to lthe wise men mwho knew the times (for this was the king's procedure toward all who were versed in law and judgment, ¹⁴the men next to him being Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and nMemucan, othe seven princes of Persia and Media, pwho saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom): ¹⁵“According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti, because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?” ¹⁶Then Memucan said in the presence of the king and the officials, “Not only against the king has Queen Vashti done wrong, but also against all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. ¹⁷For the queen's behavior will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt,3 since they will say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come.’ ¹⁸This very day the noble women of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen's behavior will say the same to all the king's officials, and there will be contempt and wrath in plenty. ¹⁹If it please the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so qthat it may not be repealed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus. And let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she. ²⁰So when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, for it is vast, rall women will give honor to their husbands, high and low alike.” ²¹This advice pleased the king and the princes, and the king did as Memucan proposed. ²²He sent letters to all the royal provinces, sto every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, that every man be master in his own household and speak according to the language of his people.

Paul Before Felix at Caesarea

¹And safter five days the high priest tAnanias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. They laid before uthe governor their case against Paul. ²And when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying:

“Since through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight, vmost excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation, ³in every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude. ⁴But, to detain1 you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly. ⁵For we have found this man a plague, wone who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of xthe sect of the Nazarenes. ⁶yHe even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him.2 ⁸By examining him yourself you will be able to find out from him about everything of which we accuse him.”

⁹The Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all these things were so.

¹⁰And when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied:

“Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense. ¹¹You can verify that zit is not more than twelve days since I awent up bto worship in Jerusalem, ¹²and cthey did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city. ¹³dNeither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me. ¹⁴But this I confess to you, that according to ethe Way, which they call fa sect, gI worship hthe God of our fathers, believing everything ilaid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, ¹⁵jhaving ka hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be la resurrection mof both the just and the unjust. ¹⁶So I always ntake pains to have a oclear conscience toward both God and man. ¹⁷Now pafter several years qI came to bring alms to rmy nation and to present sofferings. ¹⁸While I was doing this, they found me tpurified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult. But usome Jews from Asia— ¹⁹vthey ought to be here before you and to make an accusation, should they have anything against me. ²⁰Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council, ²¹other than this one thing wthat I cried out while standing among them: ‘It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.’”

Paul Kept in Custody

²²But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of xthe Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.” ²³Then he gave orders to the centurion that he yshould be kept in custody but have some liberty, and that znone of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.

²⁴After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about afaith bin Christ Jesus. ²⁵And as he reasoned cabout righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. dWhen I get an opportunity I will summon you.” ²⁶At the same time he hoped ethat money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him. ²⁷When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius fFestus. And gdesiring to do the Jews a favor, hFelix left Paul in prison.