Abram and Lot

13 So Abram went up from Egypt to ^(A)the ^[a]Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him.

² Now Abram was ^(B)very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. ³ And he went ^[b]on his journeys from the ^[c]Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, ^(C)between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to the place of the ^(D)altar which he had made there previously; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. ⁵ Now ^(E)Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents. ⁶ And ^(F)the land could not ^[d]support both of them ^[e]while living together, ^(G)for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. ^7 (H)And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Now ^(I)the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.

^8 (J)So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are relatives! ⁹ Is the entire land not before you? Please separate from me; if you choose the left, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right, then I will go to the left.” ¹⁰ Lot raised his eyes and saw all the ^[f]vicinity of the ^(K)Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord ^(L)destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like ^(M)the garden of the Lord, ^(N)like the land of Egypt ^[g]going toward ^(O)Zoar. ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself all the ^[h]vicinity of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. So they separated from each other. ¹² Abram ^[i]settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot ^[j]settled in ^(P)the cities of the ^[k]vicinity of the Jordan, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. ¹³ Now ^(Q)the men of Sodom were ^[l]exceedingly wicked ^(R)sinners against the Lord.

¹⁴ The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “^(S)Now raise your eyes and look from the place where you are, ^(T)northward and southward, and eastward and westward; ^15 (U)for all the land which you see ^(V)I will give to you and to your ^[m]descendants forever. ¹⁶ I will make your ^[n]descendants ^(W)as plentiful as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can count the dust of the earth, then your ^[o]descendants could also be counted. ¹⁷ Arise, ^(X)walk about in the land through its length and width; for ^(Y)I will give it to you.” ¹⁸ Then Abram moved his tent and came and lived by the ^[p](Z)oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron; and there he built ^(AA)an altar to the Lord.

Sabbath Questions

12 ^[a](A)At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to ^(B)pick the heads of grain and eat. ² Now when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what ^(C)is not lawful to do on a Sabbath!” ³ But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions— ⁴ how he entered the house of God, and ^(D)they ate the ^[b]consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? ⁵ Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple ^[c]violate the Sabbath, and yet are innocent? ⁶ But I say to you that something ^(E)greater than the temple is here. ⁷ But if you had known what this ^[d]means: ‘^(F)I desire ^[e]compassion, ^[f]rather than sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned ^[g]the innocent.

Lord of the Sabbath

⁸ For ^(G)the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

^9 (H)Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned ^[h]Jesus, asking, “^(I)Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might bring charges against Him. ¹¹ But He said to them, “^(J)What man ^[i]is there among you who ^[j]has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? ^12 (K)How much more valuable then is a person than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do ^[k]good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” ^(L)He stretched it out, and it was restored to ^[l]normal, like the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and ^[m](M)conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

¹⁵ But Jesus, ^[n]aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and ^(N)He healed them all, ¹⁶ and ^(O)warned them not to ^[o]tell who He was. ¹⁷ This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled:

The Pharisees Rebuked

^22 (W)Then a ^(X)demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to ^[x]Jesus, and He healed him so that the man who was unable to speak talked and ^[y]could see. ²³ And all the crowds were amazed and were saying, “This man cannot be the ^(Y)Son of David, can he?” ²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man ^(Z)casts out demons only by ^[z]Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

^25 (AA)And ^(AB)knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will stand. ²⁶ And if ^(AC)Satan is casting out Satan, he ^[aa]has become divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if ^(AD)by ^[ab]Beelzebul I cast out the demons, ^(AE)by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. ²⁸ But ^(AF)if I cast out the demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²⁹ Or, how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin

^30 (AG)The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.

³¹ “^(AH)Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. ^32 (AI)And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in ^(AJ)this age or in the age to come.

Words Reveal Character

³³ “Either ^[ac]assume the tree to be good as well as its fruit good, or ^[ad]assume the tree to be bad as well as its fruit bad; for ^(AK)the tree is known by its fruit. ^34 (AL)You ^[ae]offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, express any good things? ^(AM)For the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart. ^35 (AN)The good person brings out of his good treasure good things; and the evil person brings out of his evil treasure evil things. ³⁶ But I tell you that for every ^[af]careless word that people ^[ag]speak, they will give an account of it on the ^(AO)day of judgment. ³⁷ For ^[ah]by your words you will be justified, and ^[ai]by your words you will be condemned.”

The Desire for Signs

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, ^(AP)we want to see a ^[aj]sign from You.” ³⁹ But He answered and said to them, “^(AQ)An evil and adulterous generation craves a ^[ak]sign; and so no ^[al]sign will be given to it except the ^[am]sign of Jonah the prophet; ⁴⁰ for just as ^(AR)Jonah was in the stomach of the sea monster for three days and three nights, so will ^(AS)the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for ^(AT)three days and three nights. ^41 (AU)The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because ^(AV)they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something ^(AW)greater than Jonah is here. ^42 (AX)The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something ^(AY)greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³ “^(AZ)Now when the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and brings along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they come in and live there; and ^(BA)the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

Changed Relationships

^46 (BB)While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His ^(BC)mother and ^(BD)brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. ⁴⁷ [^[an]Someone said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You.”] ⁴⁸ But ^[ao]Jesus replied to the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?” ⁴⁹ And extending His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold: My mother and My brothers! ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother.”

Nehemiah’s Prayer Answered

2 And it came about in the month Nisan, ^(A)in the twentieth year of King ^(B)Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and ^(C)I picked up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. ² So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? ^(D)This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. ³ And I said to the king, “^(E)May the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad ^(F)when the city, the ^[a]site of my fathers’ tombs, is desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?” ⁴ Then the king said to me, “^[b]What would you request?” ^(G)So I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, I request that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” ⁶ Then the king said to me, with the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and ^(H)I gave him a definite time. ⁷ And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me ^(I)for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, so that they will allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, ⁸ and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s ^(J)forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of ^(K)the citadel which is by the ^[c]temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because ^(L)the good hand of my God was on me.

⁹ Then I came to ^(M)the governors of the provinces beyond the Euphrates River and gave them the king’s letters. Now ^(N)the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. ¹⁰ And when ^(O)Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ^[d]official heard about it, it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls

¹¹ So I ^(P)came to Jerusalem and was there for three days. ¹² And I got up in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my ^[e]mind to do for Jerusalem, and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding. ¹³ So I went out at night by ^(Q)the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Spring and on to the Dung Gate, and I was inspecting the walls of Jerusalem ^(R)which were broken down and its ^(S)gates which had been consumed by fire. ¹⁴ Then I passed on to ^(T)the Fountain Gate and ^(U)the King’s Pool, but there was no place for ^[f]my mount to pass. ¹⁵ So I was going up at night by the ^(V)ravine and inspecting the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned. ¹⁶ However, the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who were doing the work.

¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that ^(W)Jerusalem is desolate and its gates have been burned by fire. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” ¹⁸ And I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let’s arise and build.” ^(X)So they put their hands to the good work. ¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ^[g]official, and ^(Y)Geshem the Arab heard about it, ^(Z)they mocked us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? ^(AA)Are you rebelling against the king?” ²⁰ So I answered them and said to them, “^(AB)The God of heaven will make us successful; therefore we His servants will arise and build, ^(AC)but you have no part, right, or memorial in Jerusalem.”

Peter’s Arrest and Deliverance

12 Now about that time ^[a]Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church, to do them harm. ² And he ^(A)had James the brother of John ^(B)executed with a sword. ³ When he saw that it ^(C)pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter as well. (Now these were ^[b](D)the days of Unleavened Bread.) ⁴ When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, turning him over to four ^[c](E)squads of soldiers to guard him, intending only after ^(F)the Passover to bring him before the people. ⁵ So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made to God ^[d]intensely by the church.

⁶ On ^[e]the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, ^(G)bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. ⁷ And behold, ^(H)an angel of the Lord suddenly ^(I)stood near Peter, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And ^(J)his chains fell off his hands. ⁸ And the angel said to him, “Put on your belt and ^[f]strap on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹ And he went out and continued to follow, and yet he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing ^(K)a vision. ¹⁰ Now when they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which ^(L)opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. ¹¹ When Peter ^(M)came ^[g]to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that ^(N)the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all ^[h]that the Jewish people were expecting.” ¹² And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of ^(O)John, who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and ^(P)were praying. ¹³ When he knocked at the door of the gate, ^(Q)a slave woman named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, ^(R)because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. ¹⁵ They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They said, “It is ^(S)his angel.” ¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. ¹⁷ But ^(T)motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to ^[i](U)James and ^(V)the brothers.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸ Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to ^[j]what could have become of Peter. ¹⁹ When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they ^(W)be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to ^(X)Caesarea and was spending time there.

Death of Herod

²⁰ Now he was very angry with the people of ^(Y)Tyre and Sidon; and with one mind they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because ^(Z)their country was supported with grain from the king’s country. ²¹ On an appointed day, after putting on his royal apparel, Herod took his seat on the ^[k]rostrum and began delivering an address to them. ²² The people repeatedly cried out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” ²³ And immediately ^(AA)an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and ^[l]died.

²⁴ But ^(AB)the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.

²⁵ And ^(AC)Barnabas and ^(AD)Saul returned ^(AE)when they had fulfilled their ^[m]mission to Jerusalem, taking along with them ^(AF)John, who was also called Mark.