Genesis 45

¹ Joseph was unable to control himself in front of all his attendants, so he called out, “Send everyone out from my presence!” When no one else was left with him, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. ² He wept out loud. The Egyptians heard him, and the house of Pharaoh heard about it. ³ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?”

His brothers could not answer him, because they were terrified by his presence. ⁴ Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me, please.”

They came closer. He said, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ Now do not be upset or angry with yourselves for selling me to this place, since God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. ⁶ For two years now the famine has been in the land, and there are still five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. ⁷ God sent me ahead of you to preserve you as survivors on the earth, and to keep you alive by a great act of deliverance. ⁸ So it was not you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord over his entire household, and ruler over the whole land of Egypt. ⁹ Hurry, go up to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Do not delay. ¹⁰ You shall live in the land of Goshen, where you will be close to me—you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. ¹¹ I will take care of you here, for there are still five years of famine. Otherwise you will come to ruin, you, and your household, and all that you have.”’ ¹² Pay attention. Your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my mouth that speaks to you. ¹³ You shall tell my father all about my position of honor in Egypt and about everything that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.”

¹⁴ He threw his arms around his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his shoulder. ¹⁵ He kissed all his brothers and wept over them. After that his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶ This report was heard in Pharaoh’s house: “Joseph’s brothers have come.” This pleased Pharaoh and his officials.

¹⁷ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Load your animals. Travel quickly to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸ Get your father and your households, and return to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the rich food of the land. ¹⁹ Now I command you to do this: Take carts ^[1] from the land of Egypt for your little ones and your wives, and bring your father here. ²⁰ Also, do not worry about your belongings, for the best of the whole land of Egypt is yours.’”

²¹ So that is what the sons of Israel did. Joseph gave them carts as Pharaoh had commanded, and he gave them supplies for the journey. ²² He gave each one of them a change of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. ²³ He sent the following to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and supplies for his father on the journey. ²⁴ So he dismissed his brothers, and they departed. He said to them, “See to it that you do not quarrel on the way.”

²⁵ They went up from Egypt and came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan. ²⁶ They told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” He was stunned ^[2] because he did not believe them. ²⁷ They told Jacob every word that Joseph had said to them. When he saw the carts that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.

²⁸ Israel said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

Genesis 43

¹ The famine in the land was severe, ² so when they had eaten all the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy a little more food for us.”

³ Judah said to him, “The man sternly warned us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ⁴ If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you, ⁵ but if you do not send him, we will not go down, because the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”

⁶ Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly by telling the man that you had another brother?”

⁷ They said, “The man interrogated us about ourselves and about our relatives. He asked, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could have known that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”

⁸ Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will get up and go, so that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. ⁹ I will serve as a guarantee for him. You can hold me accountable for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him in front of you, then let me bear the blame forever. ¹⁰ Look, if we had not delayed, we certainly could have returned for a second time by now.”

¹¹ Their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then this is what you should do: Put some of the best products of the land into your containers and take a gift for the man: a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds. ¹² Also take double the amount of silver with you. Take back the silver that was returned into the mouths of your bags. Perhaps it was an oversight. ¹³ Also take your brother. Get going and return to the man. ¹⁴ May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin to you. But if I am deprived of my children, I am deprived.”

¹⁵ The men took that present, and they took double the amount of silver with them. They also took Benjamin. They got up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. ¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the manager ^[1] of his house, “Bring the men into the house. Butcher an animal and prepare it, for the men will dine with me at noon.”

¹⁷ The manager did as Joseph commanded and brought the men to Joseph’s house. ¹⁸ The brothers were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, “Because of the money that was returned into our bags the first time, we are being brought in, so that he may find a pretext against us, pounce on us, seize us as slaves, and take our donkeys.”

¹⁹ They approached the manager of Joseph’s house and spoke to him at the door of the house. ²⁰ They said, “Please, my lord, we really did come down the first time to buy food. ²¹ When we came to the lodging place, we opened our bags, and to our surprise each man’s silver was in the mouth of his bag, the full amount of our money. ^[2] We have brought it back with us. ²² We have also brought down with us additional money to buy food. We do not know who put our money into our bags.”

²³ He said, “There is no problem. Do not be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your bags. I received your money.” He brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴ The man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, so they could wash their feet. He gave their donkeys fodder. ²⁵ They prepared the gift for Joseph, who was coming at noon, because they heard that they would be eating bread there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gift that they had brought to the house, and they bowed down to the ground in front of him. ²⁷ He asked them about their welfare: “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”

²⁸ They said, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” ^[3] They bowed down and prostrated themselves.

²⁹ Joseph looked up and saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother’s son, and he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” He said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁰ Joseph hurried out, because he was overcome by his emotions over his brother, and he looked for a place to weep. He went into his room and wept there. ³¹ Then he washed his face and came out. After he regained control of himself, he said, “Serve the meal.”

³² They served Joseph by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians do not eat with Hebrews, for that is repulsive to the Egyptians. ³³ The brothers were seated in front of him. They were lined up in order, starting with the firstborn based on his birthright down to the youngest based on his youth, and the men expressed their amazement to each other. ³⁴ He sent servings to them from his table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. They were drinking and they were feeling the effects. ^[4]

Genesis 41:14-57

Genesis 41

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon. Joseph shaved, changed his clothing, and went to Pharaoh.

¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said about you, that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it.”

¹⁶ Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in my power. God will give Pharaoh an answer to give him peace of mind.”

¹⁷ Pharaoh spoke to Joseph: “In my dream, there I was, standing on the bank of the river. ¹⁸ Suddenly seven fat, beautiful cows came up out of the river and were grazing in the marsh grass. ¹⁹ Just then seven poor cattle, very ugly and thin, came up after them. They were uglier than any I had ever seen in the whole land of Egypt. ²⁰ The thin, ugly cattle ate up the first seven cattle, the fat ones, ²¹ and when they had eaten them up, you could not even tell that they had eaten them, because they were still as ugly as they were at the beginning. Then I woke up.

²² “Later I had another dream, in which I saw seven heads of grain grow on one stalk. They were full and good. ²³ Then I saw seven heads of grain spring up after them. They were withered, thin, and blasted by the east wind. ²⁴ The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told the dream to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. God has declared to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁶ The seven good cattle are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. It is one dream. ²⁷ The seven thin, ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted by the east wind. They will be seven years of famine. ²⁸ This is the very thing that I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁹ Look, seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the whole land of Egypt. ³⁰ Seven years of famine will come up after them, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will consume the land, ³¹ and the abundance will not be remembered in the land because of the famine that follows, for it will be very severe. ³² The double dream was shown to Pharaoh, because this matter is established by God, and God will bring it to pass very soon.”

Joseph Comes to Power

³³ “Let Pharaoh, therefore, look for a man who is wise and discerning, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ When Pharaoh does this, let him appoint overseers over the land to collect one fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ Let them collect all this food from these good years that are coming. Accumulate grain under the authority of Pharaoh to provide food for the cities, and let them store it. ³⁶ The food will be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that will take place in the land of Egypt so that the land does not perish because of the famine.”

³⁷ The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. ³⁸ Pharaoh said to his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man, a man who has the spirit of God?”

³⁹ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you are. ⁴⁰ You shall be in charge of my house, and all my people will submit to your word. Only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” ⁴¹ Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “Look, I have appointed you over the whole land of Egypt.”

⁴² Pharaoh took his signet ring off of his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand. He dressed Joseph in robes made from the best linen and put a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ He had him ride in the second best chariot that he had. Men went ahead of him crying out, “Kneel down!” ^[1] Pharaoh appointed him over the whole land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but in the whole land of Egypt no one will lift up his hand or his foot without your permission.” ⁴⁵ Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath Paneah, and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as a wife. Joseph went out and began to rule over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and traveled throughout the whole land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ During the seven years of abundance the earth produced plentiful harvests. ⁴⁸ He collected all the food during the seven good years in the land of Egypt, and he stored up the food in the cities. In every city he stored the food from the fields that were around the city. ⁴⁹ Joseph stored up a huge amount of grain, like the sand of the sea. Finally he stopped keeping track, because it was too much to measure.

⁵⁰ Two sons were born to Joseph before the first year of famine arrived. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, gave birth to them. ⁵¹ Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, because he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s house.” ^{[2] 52} He named the second son Ephraim. He said, “Yes, God has made me fruitful in the land where I was afflicted.” ^[3]

⁵³ So the seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end. ⁵⁴ The seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every land, but in the whole land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵ When the whole land of Egypt was starving, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. Do whatever he tells you.” ⁵⁶ The famine spread over the face of the whole earth. Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ The whole world came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe all over the whole world.

Genesis 38 – 39

Judah and Tamar

Genesis 38

¹ About that time Judah went down from his brothers and visited a man from Adullam named Hirah. ² There Judah saw a daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He took her as a wife and went to her. ³ She conceived and gave birth to a son, and he named him Er. ⁴ She conceived again and gave birth to another son, and she named him Onan. ⁵ She gave birth to yet another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to Shelah.

⁶ Judah took a wife for Er, his firstborn. Her name was Tamar. ⁷ It turned out that Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord killed him.

⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “Go to your brother’s wife. Perform your duty for her as the brother of her deceased husband and provide offspring ^[1] for your brother.” ⁹ Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, so whenever he went to his brother’s wife, he wasted his semen on the ground, so that he would not provide offspring for his brother. ¹⁰ But the thing that he did was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord killed him also.

¹¹ Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah is grown up.” Actually he had said to himself, “I do not want him to die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

¹² After some time Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³ Tamar was told, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” ¹⁴ She took off the garments that identified her as a widow, covered herself with her veil, disguised herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah, because she saw that Shelah had grown up, but she was not going to be given to him as a wife.

¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, because she had covered her face. ¹⁶ He turned to her by the roadside and said, “Please, let me come to you,” because he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.

She said, “What will you give me, so that you may come to me?”

¹⁷ He said, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.”

She said, “Will you give me something as a security deposit until you send the goat?”

¹⁸ He said, “What should I give you as a deposit?”

She said, “Your stamp seal on its cord and your staff that is in your hand.”

He gave them to her and went to her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹ Then she got up and left. Later she took off her veil and put her widow’s garments back on.

²⁰ Judah sent the young goat with his friend, the Adullamite, to get back the deposit from the woman’s possession, but he could not find her. ²¹ So he asked the men from that place, “Where is the sacred prostitute who was by the road at Enaim?”

They said, “There hasn’t been any sacred prostitute here.”

²² So he returned to Judah and said, “I could not find her, and the men of the place said, ‘There hasn’t been any sacred prostitute here.’”

²³ Judah said, “Let her keep it, so that we are not disgraced. Look, I did send this young goat, but you were unable to find her.”

²⁴ About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has prostituted herself, and even worse, she is pregnant by prostitution.”

Judah said, “Bring her out and burn her.”

²⁵ When she was brought, she sent this message to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these things belong.” She also said, “Please help me identify whose these are—this stamp seal on its cord and the staff.”

²⁶ Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah, my son.” But he was not intimate with her again.

²⁷ When the time came for her to go into labor, it turned out that there were twins in her womb. ²⁸ When she was in labor, one of the twins put out a hand, and the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” ²⁹ But then after he had pulled back his hand, his brother came out first, so she said, “What a breakthrough you made for yourself!” That is why he was named Perez. ^{[2] 30} Afterward his brother who had the scarlet thread on his hand came out, so he was named Zerah. ^[3]

Joseph in Egypt

Genesis 39

¹ When Joseph was brought down to Egypt, Potiphar the Egyptian, who was an officer ^[4] of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down to Egypt. ² The Lord was with Joseph, and he became successful. He served in the house of his master the Egyptian. ³ His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made everything that he touched a success. ⁴ Joseph found favor in his sight. Joseph served him, and he made Joseph manager of his household. He put Joseph in charge of everything.

⁵ From the time that Potiphar made him manager of his household, in charge of everything that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake, and the blessing of the Lord rested on everything that he had, both in the house and in the fields. ⁶ So he left Joseph in charge of everything that he had. He did not concern himself with anything except the food that he ate.

Joseph was well built and handsome. ⁷ Sometime after all this, his master’s wife had her eye on Joseph, and she said, “Come, lie down with me.”

⁸ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not concern himself with anything that has been entrusted to me in the house. He has put me in charge of everything that he has. ⁹ He has no one in this house greater than I am, and he has not withheld anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a great evil and sin against God?”

¹⁰ She kept speaking to Joseph day after day, but he would not listen to her. He would not lie down beside her or even be with her. ¹¹ But one day when he went into the house to do his work, none of the men of the household were there inside the house. ¹² She caught him by his garment and said, “Come, lie down with me!” He left behind his garment in her hand and ran outside.

¹³ When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had run outside, ¹⁴ she called to the men of her household and said to them, “Look, my husband has brought a Hebrew man in to put us to shame. He came in to lie down with me, but I screamed loudly. ¹⁵ When he heard me scream, he left behind his garment with me and ran outside.”

¹⁶ She kept his garment beside her until his master came home. ¹⁷ This is what she told him: “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came to me to put me to shame and said to me, ‘Let me lie down with you.’ ^{[5] 18} And look, when I screamed and cried out, he left behind his garment with me and ran outside.”

¹⁹ As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, “This is what your servant did to me,” he became very angry. ²⁰ Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined, so Joseph was kept in prison there.

²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph. He showed mercy to him and gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison. ²² The warden of the prison made Joseph responsible for all the prisoners who were in the prison. Joseph was responsible for whatever they did there. ²³ The warden of the prison did not pay attention to anything that was under his authority, because the Lord was with Joseph, and the Lord made everything that he did succeed.

Genesis 36

Esau’s Descendants

¹ Now this is the account about the descendants of Esau (that is, Edom): ² Esau took Canaanite women as his wives. They were Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite. ³ He also married Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth.

⁴ Adah gave birth to Eliphaz for Esau.

Basemath gave birth to Reuel.

⁵ Oholibamah gave birth to Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

These are the sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

⁶ Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, along with his livestock, all his animals, and all the possessions that he had accumulated in the land of Canaan, and he went into another land, away from his brother Jacob. ⁷ Their herds were too large for them to stay together, and the land where they had settled could not support both of them because of their livestock. ⁸ So Esau lived in the hill country of Seir. (Esau is another name for Edom.)

⁹ This is the account about the descendants of Esau, who was the founding father of Edom in the hill country of Seir:

¹⁰ The following are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz the son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel the son of Esau’s wife Basemath.

¹¹ The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. ¹² Timna was the concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, and she gave birth to Amalek for Eliphaz. These are the grandsons of Esau’s wife Adah.

¹³ The following are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

¹⁴ The following were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the granddaughter of Zibeon. She gave birth to Jeush, Jalam, and Korah for Esau.

The Chiefs of the Clans of Edom

¹⁵ The following are the chiefs of the clans of the descendants of Esau:

From the descendants of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau they were Chief Teman, Chief Omar, Chief Zepho, Chief Kenaz, ¹⁶ Chief Korah, Chief Gatam, and Chief Amalek. These are the chiefs who descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom. These are the descendants of Adah.

¹⁷ The following are the descendants of Esau’s son Reuel: Chief Nahath, Chief Zerah, Chief Shammah, and Chief Mizzah. These are the chiefs who descended from Reuel in the land of Edom. These are the descendants of Esau’s wife Basemath.

¹⁸ The following are the descendants of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: Chief Jeush, Chief Jalam, and Chief Korah. These are the chiefs who came from Esau’s wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah. ¹⁹ These are the descendants of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

Other People of Edom

²⁰ The following are the sons of Seir the Horite, who lived in the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ²¹ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs who descended from the Horites, the descendants of Seir in the land of Edom.

²² The sons of Lotan were Hori and Heman. Lotan’s sister was Timna.

²³ The following are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

²⁴ The following are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. This is the Anah who discovered the hot springs in the wilderness as he was feeding the donkeys of Zibeon his father.

²⁵ The following are the descendants of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

²⁶ The following are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.

²⁷ The following are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Za’avan, and Akan.

²⁸ The following are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

²⁹ The following are the chiefs who descended from the Horites: Chief Lotan, Chief Shobal, Chief Zibeon, Chief Anah, ³⁰ Chief Dishon, Chief Ezer, and Chief Dishan. These are the chiefs who came from the Horites, according to their chiefdoms in the land of Seir.

Kings of Edom

³¹ The following are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the people of Israel:

³² Bela son of Beor reigned in Edom. The name of his city was Dinhabah. ³³ Bela died, and Jobab son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place.

³⁴ Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

³⁵ Husham died, and Hadad son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the territory of Moab, reigned in his place. The name of his city was Avith.

³⁶ Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place.

³⁷ Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his place.

³⁸ Shaul died, and Baal Hanan son of Achbor reigned in his place.

³⁹ Baal Hanan son of Achbor died, and Hadad ^[1] reigned in his place. The name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.

⁴⁰ The following are the names of the chiefs who came from Esau, listed according to their clans, their territory, and their names: Chief Timna, Chief Alvah, Chief Jetheth, ⁴¹ Chief Oholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon, ⁴² Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar, ⁴³ Chief Magdiel, and Chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom, according to the territory they inhabited in the land they possessed. (Edom is another name for Esau, the father of the Edomites.)

Genesis 34

Dinah and Shechem

¹ Dinah, Jacob’s daughter by Leah, went out to see the young women of the land. ² Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the chief of that part of the land, saw her and took her, lay down with her, and humiliated her. ^{[1] 3} He had a strong desire for Dinah, ^[2] the daughter of Jacob, and he was in love with the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. ^{[3] 4} Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as a wife.”

⁵ When Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, his sons were out in the field with his livestock, so Jacob kept quiet about it until they came back. ⁶ Hamor the father of Shechem came to talk with Jacob. ⁷ The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard about it. The men were shocked by the outrage, and they were very angry, because he had disgraced Israel by lying down with Jacob’s daughter, a thing that should not be done. ⁸ Hamor spoke with them. He said, “My son Shechem has a deep longing for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. ⁹ Intermarry with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. ¹⁰ You may live among us, and the land will be open to you. Live in it, conduct trade, and acquire property in it.”

¹¹ Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you ask from me I will give. ¹² No matter how great a bride price and gift ^[4] you demand, I will give it. Just give me the young woman as a wife.”

¹³ The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because Shechem had defiled their sister Dinah. ¹⁴ They said to them, “We cannot do this—giving our sister to a man who is uncircumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. ¹⁵ Only on this condition will we consent to your offer: If all your males become circumcised as we are, ¹⁶ then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves, and we will live with you, and we will become one people. ¹⁷ But if you do not accept our terms and undergo circumcision, then we will take our sister, ^[5] and we will be gone.”

¹⁸ Their offer pleased Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem. ¹⁹ The young man did not delay acting on it, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter, and he was the most important ^[6] of all the household of his father. ²⁰ Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and discussed this with the men of their city. They said, ²¹ “These men want peace with us. So let them live in the land and trade in it. Look, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives for ourselves, and let us give them our daughters. ²² Only on this condition will the men agree to live with us and to become one people with us: if every male among us is circumcised, as they are circumcised. ²³ Won’t all their livestock, all their possessions, and all their animals become ours? So let’s accept their offer, so that they will settle among us.”

²⁴ Everyone who assembled at the gate of his city listened to Hamor and to Shechem his son. So all the males who assembled at the gate of the city were circumcised. ²⁵ Then on the third day, when they were still sore, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword, attacked the unsuspecting city, and killed all the males. ²⁶ They killed Hamor and Shechem, his son, with the edge of the sword. They took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and left.

²⁷ Jacob’s sons then came to the dead bodies and looted the city, because their sister had been defiled. ²⁸ They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys, everything that was in the city, everything that was in the countryside, ²⁹ and all their wealth. They took all their little ones and their wives as captives. They looted everything that was in the houses.

³⁰ Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have ruined me. You have made me stink to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and attack me, and I will be destroyed, I and my household.”

³¹ But they said, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”

Genesis 32:3-32

Genesis 32

³ Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the region of Edom. ⁴ He gave them a command. “Tell my lord, Esau, ‘This is what your servant Jacob says: I have lived as an alien with Laban until very recently. ⁵ I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent this message to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”

⁶ The messengers returned to Jacob and reported, “We came to your brother Esau. Now he is coming to meet you, and he has four hundred men with him.”

⁷ So Jacob was terrified and very distressed. He divided the people who were with him, as well as the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two camps. ^{[1] 8} He said, “If Esau comes to one camp and strikes it, then the other camp will escape.” ⁹ Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord, who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will do good for you,’ ¹⁰ I am not worthy of even a bit of all the mercy and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for I crossed over this Jordan with just my staff, and now I have grown into two camps. ¹¹ Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid that he will come and strike me and the mothers, as well as the children. ¹² You said, ‘I will surely do good for you and make your descendants like the grains of sand of the sea, which cannot be counted because there are so many.’”

¹³ Jacob spent that night there and selected a gift for Esau his brother from the possessions he had with him: ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty milk camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys with ten foals. ¹⁶ He handed them over to his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Cross over in front of me, and keep some space between each herd and the next one.” ¹⁷ He commanded the one in front, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks, ‘Whose people are you? Where are you going? Whose herds are these in front of you?’ ¹⁸ then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. It is a gift sent to you, my lord Esau. Look, he is right behind us.’” ¹⁹ He commanded the second group, and the third, and all those who followed the herds, “This is how you shall speak to Esau when you meet him. ²⁰ You shall say, ‘What’s more, look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” Jacob said, “I will win his favor with the gift that I have sent ahead of me, and after that I will see his face, and perhaps he will accept me.”

²¹ So the gift was sent over ahead of him, but he himself spent that night in the camp.

²² He got up that night and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ He took them and sent them across the stream, and he also sent his possessions across. ²⁴ Jacob was left alone, and he wrestled with a man there until daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not defeat him, he touched the socket of his thigh, and the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated as he wrestled. ²⁶ The man said, “Let me go. It’s daybreak.”

Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

²⁷ Then he said to him, “What is your name?”

He said, “Jacob.”

²⁸ Then he said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men, and you have won.”

²⁹ Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”

He said, “Why do you ask what my name is?” Then he blessed him there.

³⁰ Jacob named the place Peniel, ^[2] because he said, “I have seen God face-to-face, and my life has been spared.” ³¹ The sun rose as he crossed over at Peniel, and he was limping because of his thigh. ³² For that reason, to this day the people of Israel do not eat the tendon of the hip that is on the socket of the thigh, because God touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh on the tendon of the hip.

Genesis 29:31 – 30:43

Genesis 29

Jacob’s Family

³¹ The Lord saw that Leah was not loved, and he allowed her to conceive, but Rachel had no children. ³² Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben, ^[1] because she had said, “The Lord has looked at my misery. So now my husband will love me.”

³³ She conceived again and gave birth to a son and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon. ^[2]

³⁴ She conceived again and gave birth to a son. She said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi. ^[3]

³⁵ She conceived again and gave birth to a son. She said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah. ^[4] Then she stopped having children.

Genesis 30

¹ When Rachel saw that she was bearing no children for Jacob, Rachel was jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I will die.”

² Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you fruit from your womb?”

³ She said, “Here is my maid Bilhah. Go to her, so that she may bear a child for me, and my family will be built up through her.” ⁴ So she gave her servant girl Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he went to her. ⁵ Bilhah conceived and gave birth to a son for Jacob. ⁶ Rachel said, “God has judged in my favor. He has heard my voice and has given me a son.” Therefore she named him Dan. ^[5]

⁷ Bilhah, Rachel’s servant girl, conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Rachel said, “I have had a desperate struggle with my sister, and I have won.” So she named him Naphtali. ^[6]

⁹ When Leah saw that she was no longer bearing sons, she took her servant girl Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ Zilpah, Leah’s servant girl, bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad. ^[7]

¹² Zilpah, Leah’s servant girl, bore a second son for Jacob. ¹³ Leah said, “I am blessed, for women will call me blessed.” She named him Asher. ^[8]

¹⁴ At the time of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found mandrakes ^[9] in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵ She said to her, “Isn’t it bad enough that you have taken away my husband? Do you want to take away my son’s mandrakes as well?”

Rachel said, “He will sleep with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁶ When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come to me, because I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.”

So he slept with her that night. ¹⁷ God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Leah said, “God has given me the wages I deserve, because I gave my servant girl to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. ^[10]

¹⁹ Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. ²⁰ Leah said, “God has given me a great reward. Now my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne six sons for him.” So she named him Zebulun. ^[11]

²¹ Afterward, she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

²² God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. ²³ She conceived, bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” ²⁴ She named him Joseph ^[12] and said, “May the Lord add another son to me.”

Jacob Versus Laban

²⁵ After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go home to my own place in my own country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go, because you know how much I have served you.”

²⁷ Laban said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, stay here, for I have learned by divination ^[13] that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” ²⁸ So he said, “Set your wages for me, and I will pay them.”

²⁹ Jacob said to him, “You know how well I have served you, and how your livestock have fared under my care. ³⁰ For before I came, you had very little, and it has been multiplied many times over. The Lord has blessed you wherever I set foot. Now isn’t it time for me to provide for my own household as well?”

³¹ Laban asked, “What shall I give you?”

Jacob said, “You do not have to give me anything. But if you will do this thing for me, I will continue to take your flock to pasture and watch over it: ³² I will pass through all your flocks today and take all the speckled and spotted sheep, every dark brown sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled goats. These will be my wages. ³³ This is how I will be able to prove my honesty whenever you demand an accounting of my wages: Any goats that are not spotted or speckled, and any lambs that are not dark brown that are found with me will be treated as stolen.”

³⁴ Laban said, “Very well. We will do what you have said.” ³⁵ But that day Laban removed all the male goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had any white on it, and all the dark brown sheep, and handed them over to his sons. ³⁶ Then he separated himself from Jacob by a three days’ journey, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷ Jacob took fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He peeled stripes on them so that the white inside the branches was visible. ³⁸ He put the branches that he had peeled into the gutters of the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so the flocks would see them. They conceived when they came to drink. ³⁹ The flocks conceived in front of the branches, and the flocks produced streaked, speckled, and spotted animals. ⁴⁰ Jacob separated the lambs, and he made the flocks face toward the streaked animals and all the black animals in the flock of Laban, and he kept his own herds separate and did not put them into Laban’s flock. ⁴¹ And whenever the stronger animals in the flock were in heat, Jacob laid the branches in the gutters where the flocks could see them, so that they would conceive while looking at the branches. ⁴² But when the weak animals in the flock were in heat, he did not put the branches in. So the weaker animals were Laban’s, and the stronger were Jacob’s. ⁴³ The man became much wealthier and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Genesis 27:46 – 28:22

Genesis 27

⁴⁶ Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, these daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?”

Jacob’s Flight to Laban

Genesis 28

¹ So Isaac called Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ² Get up. Go to Paddan Aram, ^[1] to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father. Take a wife from there from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. ³ May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, so that you may become a community of peoples. ⁴ May he give you and your descendants along with you the blessing he gave to Abraham, so that you may inherit the land where you have been living as an alien, the land God gave to Abraham.”

⁵ So Isaac sent Jacob away. He went to Paddan Aram to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean. Laban was the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶ Esau observed that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him, he had commanded him, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.” ⁷ When he saw that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan Aram, ⁸ Esau realized that the daughters of Canaan did not please Isaac, his father. ⁹ So Esau went to Ishmael, and he took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife, in addition to the wives that he already had.

¹⁰ Jacob set out from Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. ¹¹ He came to a certain place and decided to spend the night there, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from that place, put it under his head, and lay down to sleep in that place. ¹² He had a dream in which he saw a stairway set up on the earth with its top reaching to heaven. There were angels of God ascending and descending on it. ¹³ There at the top stood the Lord, who said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. The land on which you are lying, I give to you and to your descendants. ¹⁴ Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your seed ^[2] all the families of the earth will be blessed. ¹⁵ Now, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back again into this land. Indeed, I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised to you.”

¹⁶ Jacob woke up from his sleep, and he said, “Certainly the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” ¹⁷ He was afraid ^[3] and he said, “How awe- inspiring is this place! This is nothing other than the house of God, and this is the gate to heaven.”

¹⁸ Jacob got up early in the morning. He took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a sacred memorial stone and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ He named that place Bethel. (Before this, the name of the city had been Luz.) ²⁰ Jacob took a vow, “If God will be with me to keep me safe on this journey I am making, and if he gives me food to eat and clothing to put on, ²¹ and I come back to my father’s house in safety, the Lord will be my God, ²² and this stone that I have set up as a memorial stone will be God’s house, and I will certainly give you a tenth of everything that you give me.”

Luke 19:11-28

Luke 19

Parable of the Ten Minas

¹¹ As they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. ¹² So he said, “A man of noble birth traveled to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and then to return. ¹³ He called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ^[1] ‘Conduct business until I return,’ he said to them.

¹⁴ “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to be king over us.’

¹⁵ “When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he summoned the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what they had gained by conducting business.

¹⁶ “The first one came to him and said, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten more minas.’

¹⁷ “He said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you were faithful in a very small matter, you will have authority over ten cities.’

¹⁸ “The second one came and said, ‘Master, your mina has produced five more minas.’

¹⁹ “So he said to him, ‘You will be over five cities.’

²⁰ “And another one came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina that I laid away in a piece of cloth. ²¹ For I was afraid of you, since you are a demanding man. You take what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’

²² “He said to him, ‘You wicked servant, I will judge you with your own words! You knew that I am a demanding man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. ²³ Then why did you not put my money in the bank? Then, when I returned, I could have collected it with interest!’

²⁴ “He said to those standing there, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’

²⁵ “But they said to him, ‘Master, he already has ten minas!’

²⁶ “‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ²⁷ Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them, bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry Into Jerusalem

²⁸ After Jesus had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

Luke 18:18-34

Luke 18

The Rich Young Ruler

¹⁸ A certain ruler asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁹ Jesus asked him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good, except one—God. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony. Honor your father and mother.’” ^[1]

²¹ “I have kept all these since I was a child,” he said.

²² When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²³ But when the ruler heard these words, he became very sad, because he was very rich.

²⁴ When Jesus saw that the man became very sad, he said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶ Those who heard this said, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷ He replied, “What is impossible for people is possible for God.”

²⁸ And Peter said, “Look, we have left our possessions ^[2] and followed you.”

²⁹ He said to them, “Amen I tell you: Anyone who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God ³⁰ will most certainly receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come, eternal life.”

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection Again

³¹ He took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. ³² Indeed, he will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, mistreat him, spit on him, ³³ flog him, and kill him. On the third day, he will rise again.”

³⁴ They did not understand any of these things. What he said was hidden from them, and they did not understand what was said.

Luke 17:20-37

Luke 17

The Kingdom of God Is Within You

²⁰ The Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come. Jesus answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in a way you can observe, ²¹ nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘Look, there it is!’ because the kingdom of God is within ^[1] you.”

Jesus Will Return

²² He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ²³ They will tell you, ‘Look, there he is!’ or ‘Look, here he is!’ Do not go out or chase after them, ²⁴ for the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning that flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other side. ²⁵ But first, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. ²⁶ Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man. ²⁷ They were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: They were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, ²⁹ but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ It will be the same on the day the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day, the person who is on the roof and has belongings in the house should not go down to get them. Likewise, the person in the field should not turn back for anything. ³² Remember Lot’s wife! ³³ Whoever tries to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. ³⁴ I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed. One will be taken, and the other will be left. ³⁵ There will be two women grinding grain at the same place. One will be taken, and the other will be left.” ^[2]

³⁷ “Where, Lord?” they asked him.

He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will be gathered.”

Luke 16:1-31

Luke 16

The Shrewd Manager

¹ Jesus also said to his disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager who was accused of wasting his possessions. ² The rich man called him in and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be manager.’

³ “The manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, since my master is taking away the management position from me? I am not strong enough to dig. I am ashamed to beg. ⁴ I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from my position as manager, people will receive me into their houses.’

⁵ “He called each one of his master’s debtors to him. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶ He said, ‘Six hundred gallons ^[1] of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write three hundred.’ ⁷ Then he said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘Six hundred bushels ^[2] of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and write four hundred and eighty.’

⁸ “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the children ^[3] of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation ^[4] than the children of the light are. ⁹ I tell you, make friends for yourselves with unrighteous mammon, ^[5] so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings. ¹⁰ The person who is faithful with very little is also faithful with much. And the person who is unrighteous with very little is also unrighteous with much. ¹¹ So if you have not been faithful with unrighteous mammon, who will entrust you with what is really valuable? ¹² If you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you something to be your own? ¹³ No servant can serve two masters. Indeed, either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.”

¹⁴ The Pharisees, who loved money, also heard all these things and sneered at him. ¹⁵ He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of people, but God knows your hearts. In fact, what is highly regarded among people is an abomination in God’s sight. ¹⁶ The Law and the Prophets were until John. Since that time the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone is trying to force his way into it. ^[6]

¹⁷ “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for even one part of a letter in the Law to fail. ¹⁸ Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another is committing adultery, and the man who marries a woman divorced from her husband is committing adultery.

The Rich Man and Poor Lazarus

¹⁹ “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. ²⁰ A beggar named Lazarus had been laid at his gate. Lazarus was covered with sores and ²¹ longed to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Besides this, the dogs also came and licked his sores. ²² Eventually the beggar died, and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In hell, ^[7] where he was in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus at his side. ²⁴ He called out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in misery in this flame.’

²⁵ “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, and you are in misery. ²⁶ Besides all this, a great chasm has been set in place between us and you, so that those who want to cross from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

²⁷ “He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s home, ²⁸ because I have five brothers—to warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

²⁹ “Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets. Let them listen to them.’

³⁰ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

³¹ “Abraham replied to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Luke 14:25-35

Luke 14

The Cost

²⁵ Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. He turned and said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸ For which of you, if he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, everyone who sees it will begin to ridicule him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This fellow began to build, but was not able to finish.’ ³¹ Or what king, as he goes out to confront another king in war, will not first sit down and consider if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² And if he is not able, he sends out a delegation and asks for terms of peace while his opponent is still far away. ³³ So then, any one of you who does not say farewell to all his own possessions cannot be my disciple. ³⁴ Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its flavor, how will it become salty again? ³⁵ It is not fit for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Luke 13:18-35

Luke 13

Mustard Seed and Yeast

¹⁸ Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what will I compare it? ¹⁹ It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”

²⁰ Again he said, “To what will I compare the kingdom of God? ²¹ It is like yeast, which a woman took and mixed into a bushel ^[1] of flour until it was all leavened.”

The Narrow Door

²² He went on his way from one town and village to another, teaching, and making his way to Jerusalem. ²³ Someone said to him, “Lord, are only a few going to be saved?”

He said to them, ²⁴ “Strive to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. ²⁵ Once the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open for us!’ He will tell you in reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ ²⁶ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ ²⁷ And he will say, ‘I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’ ²⁸ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown outside. ²⁹ People will come from east and west, from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ And note this: Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

Jesus Warns Jerusalem

³¹ In that very hour, some Pharisees came to him and said, “Leave, and go away from here, because Herod wants to kill you.”

³² He said to them, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I am going to drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal. ³³ Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, because it cannot be that a prophet would be killed outside Jerusalem!’

³⁴ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I have wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! ³⁵ Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you will say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” ^[2]