Joseph's Brothers Return to Egypt

¹Now the famine was qsevere in the land. ²And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.” ³But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your rbrother is with you.’ ⁴If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. ⁵But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’” ⁶Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” ⁷They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” ⁸And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may slive and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. ⁹I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. tIf I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. ¹⁰If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.”

¹¹Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little ubalm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. ¹²Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money vthat was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. ¹³Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man. ¹⁴May wGod Almighty1 xgrant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, yif I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”

¹⁵So the men took this present, and they took double the money with them, and Benjamin. They arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

¹⁶When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the zsteward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.” ¹⁷The man did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph's house. ¹⁸And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph's house, and they said, “It is because of the money, which was replaced in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may assault us and fall upon us to make us servants and seize our donkeys.” ¹⁹So they went up to the steward of Joseph's house and spoke with him at the door of the house, ²⁰and said, a“Oh, my lord, bwe came down the first time to buy food. ²¹And cwhen we came to the lodging place we opened our sacks, and there was each man's money in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. So we have brought it again with us, ²²and we have brought other money down with us to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.” ²³He replied, “Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴And when the man had brought the men into Joseph's house and dgiven them water, and they had washed their feet, and when he had given their donkeys fodder, ²⁵they prepared ethe present for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.

²⁶When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present that they had with them and fbowed down to him to the ground. ²⁷And he inquired about their welfare and said, “Is your father well, the old man gof whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” ²⁸They said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” And they hbowed their heads and prostrated themselves. ²⁹And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, ihis mother's son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, gof whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!” ³⁰Then Joseph hurried out, for jhis compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and kwept there. ³¹Then he washed his face and came out. And lcontrolling himself he said, “Serve the food.” ³²They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for that is man abomination to the Egyptians. ³³And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth. And the men looked at one another in amazement. ³⁴nPortions were taken to them from Joseph's table, but Benjamin's portion was ofive times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry2 with him.

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

¹yAnd as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” ²And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? zThere will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Signs of the End of the Age

³And as he sat on athe Mount of Olives opposite the temple, bPeter and James and John and cAndrew asked him dprivately, ⁴“Tell us, ewhen will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” ⁵And Jesus began to say to them, f“See that no one leads you astray. ⁶gMany will come in my name, saying, h‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. ⁷And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, ido not be alarmed. This jmust take place, but the end is not yet. ⁸For knation will rise against nation, and lkingdom against kingdom. There will be mearthquakes in various places; there will be nfamines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.

⁹o“But pbe on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten qin synagogues, and you will stand before rgovernors and skings for my sake, tto bear witness before them. ¹⁰And the gospel must first be proclaimed uto all nations. ¹¹And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, vdo not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say wwhatever is given you in that hour, xfor it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. ¹²yAnd brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. ¹³zAnd you will be hated by all for my name's sake. aBut the one who endures to the end will be saved.

The Abomination of Desolation

¹⁴“But when you see bthe abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (clet the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁵dLet the one who is on ethe housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, ¹⁶and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. ¹⁷And falas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! ¹⁸Pray that it may not happen in winter. ¹⁹For in those days there will be gsuch htribulation as has not been ifrom the beginning of the creation that jGod created until now, and never will be. ²⁰And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for kthe sake of the elect, whom lhe chose, he shortened the days. ²¹And mthen if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. ²²nFor false christs and false prophets will arise and operform signs and wonders, pto lead astray, if possible, qthe elect. ²³But rbe on guard; sI have told you all things beforehand.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁴“But in those days, after tthat tribulation, uthe sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, ²⁵and vthe stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. ²⁶And then they will see wthe Son of Man coming in clouds xwith great power and glory. ²⁷And then yhe will send out the angels and zgather ahis elect from bthe four winds, from cthe ends of the earth dto the ends of heaven.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

²⁸“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. ²⁹So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, eat the very gates. ³⁰fTruly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ³¹gHeaven and earth will pass away, but hmy words will not pass away.

No One Knows That Day or Hour

³²“But concerning that day or that hour, ino one knows, not even the angels in heaven, jnor the Son, kbut only the Father. ³³lBe on guard, mkeep awake.1 For you do not know when the time will come. ³⁴nIt is like a man ogoing on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants2 in charge, peach with his work, and commands qthe doorkeeper to stay awake. ³⁵rTherefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, sin the evening, or sat midnight, or twhen the rooster crows,3 or uin the morning— ³⁶lest vhe come suddenly and wfind you asleep. ³⁷And what I say to you I say to all: rStay awake.”

Job Replies: There Is No Arbiter

¹Then Job answered and said:

²“Truly I know that it is so:

But how can a man be zin the right before God?

³If one wished to acontend with him,

one could not answer him once in a thousand times.

⁴He is bwise in heart and mighty in strength

—who has chardened himself against him, and succeeded?—

⁵he who removes mountains, and they know it not,

when he overturns them in his anger,

⁶who dshakes the earth out of its place,

and eits pillars tremble;

⁷who commands the sun, and it does not rise;

who seals up the stars;

⁸who alone fstretched out the heavens

and trampled the waves of the sea;

⁹who gmade hthe Bear and iOrion,

the Pleiades jand the chambers of the south;

¹⁰who does kgreat things beyond searching out,

and marvelous things beyond number.

¹¹Behold, he passes by me, and I lsee him not;

he moves on, but I do not perceive him.

¹²Behold, he snatches away; mwho can turn him back?

nWho will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

¹³“God will not turn back his anger;

beneath him bowed the helpers of oRahab.

¹⁴pHow then can I qanswer him,

choosing my words with him?

¹⁵rThough I am in the right, I cannot answer him;

I must sappeal for mercy to my accuser.1

¹⁶If I summoned him and he answered me,

I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.

¹⁷For he crushes me with a tempest

and multiplies my wounds twithout cause;

¹⁸he will not let me get my breath,

but fills me with bitterness.

¹⁹If it is a contest of ustrength, behold, he is mighty!

If it is a matter of justice, who can vsummon him?2

²⁰Though I am in the right, wmy own mouth would condemn me;

though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.

²¹I am xblameless; I regard not myself;

I yloathe my life.

²²It is all one; therefore I say,

‘He zdestroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

²³When adisaster brings sudden death,

he mocks at the calamity3 of the innocent.

²⁴bThe earth is given into the hand of the wicked;

he ccovers the faces of its judges—

dif it is not he, who then is it?

²⁵“My edays are swifter than fa runner;

they flee away; they see no good.

²⁶They go by like gskiffs of reed,

like han eagle swooping on the prey.

²⁷If I say, i‘I will forget my complaint,

I will put off my sad face, and jbe of good cheer,’

²⁸I become kafraid of all my suffering,

for I know you will not lhold me innocent.

²⁹I shall be mcondemned;

why then do I labor in vain?

³⁰If I wash myself with snow

and ncleanse my hands with lye,

³¹yet you will plunge me into a pit,

and my own clothes will oabhor me.

³²For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,

that we should pcome to trial together.

³³qThere is no4 arbiter between us,

who might lay his hand on us both.

³⁴rLet him take his srod away from me,

and let tnot dread of him terrify me.

³⁵Then I would speak without fear of him,

for I am not so in myself.

Submission to the Authorities

¹Let every person pbe subject to the governing authorities. For qthere is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. ²Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you rwill receive his approval, ⁴for she is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, tan avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also ufor the sake of conscience. ⁶For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. ⁷vPay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Fulfilling the Law Through Love

⁸wOwe no one anything, except to love each other, for xthe one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹For the commandments, y“You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: z“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore alove is the fulfilling of the law.

¹¹Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you bto wake from sleep. cFor salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. ¹²dThe night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us ecast off fthe works of darkness and gput on the armor of light. ¹³hLet us walk properly as in the daytime, inot in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, jnot in quarreling and jealousy. ¹⁴But kput on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, lto gratify its desires.