The Sons of Jacob

30 Now when Rachel saw that ^(A)she had not borne Jacob any children, ^[a]she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “^(B)Give me children, or else I am going to die.” ² Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has ^(C)withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” ³ Then she said, “^(D)Here is my female slave Bilhah: have relations with her that she may ^(E)give birth ^[b]on my knees, so that ^[c](F)by her I too may obtain a child.” ⁴ So ^(G)she gave him her slave Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had relations with her. ⁵ Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has ^[d](H)vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son.” Therefore she named him ^[e]Dan. ⁷ And Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ So Rachel said, “With ^[f]mighty wrestling I have ^[g]wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him Naphtali.

⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ And Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ Then Leah said, “^[h]How fortunate!” So she named him ^[i]Gad. ¹² And Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ Then Leah said, “^[j]Happy am I! For women ^(I)will call me happy.” So she named him ^[k]Asher.

¹⁴ Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found ^(J)mandrake fruits 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 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Therefore he may sleep with you tonight in return 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 have relations with me, for I have indeed 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 Then Leah said, “God has given me my ^[l]reward, because I gave my slave to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. ¹⁹ And Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift; finally my husband ^[m]will acknowledge me as his wife, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. ²¹ Afterward she gave birth to a daughter, and named her Dinah.

²² Then ^(K)God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and ^(L)opened her womb. ²³ So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and said, “God has ^(M)taken away my disgrace.” ²⁴ And she named him Joseph, saying, “^(N)May the Lord ^[n]give me another son.”

Jacob Prospers

²⁵ Now it came about, when Rachel had given birth to Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “^(O)Send me away, so that I may go to my own place and to my own country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and my children ^(P)for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you yourself know my service which I have ^[o]rendered you.” ²⁷ But Laban said to him, “If ^[p]it pleases you at all, stay with me; I have determined by divination ^(Q)that the Lord has blessed me on your account.” ²⁸ He ^[q]continued, “^(R)Name me your wages, and I will give them.” ²⁹ But Jacob said to him, “^(S)You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have ^[r]fared with me. ³⁰ For you had little before ^[s]I came, and it has ^[t]increased to a multitude, and the Lord has blessed you ^[u]wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household also?” ³¹ So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock: ³² let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every ^(T)speckled or spotted sheep and every black sheep among the lambs, and the spotted or speckled among the goats; and those shall be my wages. ³³ So my ^[v]honesty will answer for me later, when you come concerning my ^[w]wages. Every one that is not speckled or spotted among the goats, or black among the lambs, if found with me, will be considered stolen.” ³⁴ Laban said, “^[x]Good, let it be according to your word.” ³⁵ So he removed on that day the striped or spotted male goats, and all the speckled or spotted female goats, every one with white on it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and put them in the ^[y]care of his sons. ³⁶ And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷ Then Jacob ^[z]took fresh rods of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white that was ^[aa]in the rods. ³⁸ He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the drinking troughs, that is, in the watering channels where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink. ³⁹ So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks delivered striped, speckled, and spotted offspring. ⁴⁰ Then Jacob separated the lambs, and ^[ab]made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock. ⁴¹ Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the drinking troughs, so that they would mate by the rods; ⁴² but when the flock was sickly, he did not put them in; so the sickly were Laban’s, and the stronger were Jacob’s. ⁴³ So ^(U)the man ^[ac]became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Preaching of John the Baptist

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, ^(A)the Son of God,

^2 (B)just as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

⁴ John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, ^[c](E)preaching a baptism of repentance for the ^(F)forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. ⁶ John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore ^(G)a leather belt around his waist, and ^[d]his diet was locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And he was ^[e]preaching, saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to bend down and untie the straps of His sandals. ⁸ I baptized you ^[f]with water; but He will baptize you ^[g]with the Holy Spirit.”

The Baptism of Jesus

^9 (H)In those days Jesus ^(I)came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ And immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens ^[h]opening, and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon Him; ¹¹ and a voice came from the heavens: “^(J)You are My beloved Son; in You I ^[i]am well pleased.”

^12 (K)And immediately the Spirit *brought Him out into the wilderness. ¹³ And He was in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by ^(L)Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving Him.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

^14 (M)Now after John was ^[j]taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, ^[k](N)preaching the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “^(O)The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God ^[l]is at hand; ^(P)repent and ^[m]believe in the gospel.”

^16 (Q)As He was going along the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will have you become fishers of people.” ¹⁸ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. ¹⁹ And going on a little farther, He saw ^[n]James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, ^[o]who were also in the boat mending the nets. ²⁰ Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and went away ^[p]to follow Him.

^21 (R)They *went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath Jesus ^(S)entered the synagogue and began to teach. ²² And ^(T)they were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. ²³ Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, ²⁴ saying, “^(U)What ^[q]business do you have with us, Jesus ^[r]of ^(V)Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are: ^(W)the Holy One of God!” ²⁵ And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” ²⁶ After throwing him into convulsions and crying out with a loud voice, the unclean spirit came out of him. ²⁷ And they were all ^(X)amazed, so they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” ²⁸ Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding region of Galilee.

Crowds Healed

^29 (Y)And immediately after they left ^(Z)the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with ^[s]James and John. ³⁰ Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and they immediately *spoke to ^[t]Jesus about her. ³¹ And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she served them.

³² Now ^(AA)when evening came, ^(AB)after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were ^(AC)demon-possessed. ³³ And the whole ^(AD)city had gathered at the door. ³⁴ And He ^(AE)healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew ^[u]who He was.

^35 (AF)And in the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and ^(AG)prayed there for a time. ³⁶ Simon and his companions eagerly searched for Him; ³⁷ and they found Him and *said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” ³⁸ He *said to them, “Let’s go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may also ^[v]preach there; for this is why I came.” ^39 (AH)And He went into their synagogues ^[w]preaching throughout Galilee, and casting out the demons.

^40 (AI)And a man with ^[x]leprosy *came to ^[y]Jesus, imploring Him and ^(AJ)kneeling down, and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” ⁴¹ Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, and *said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” ⁴² And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. ⁴³ And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, ⁴⁴ and He *said to him, “^(AK)See that you say nothing to anyone; but ^(AL)go, show yourself to the priest and ^(AM)offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” ⁴⁵ But he went out and began to ^(AN)proclaim it ^[z]freely and to ^(AO)spread the news around, to such an extent that ^[aa]Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but ^[ab]stayed out in unpopulated areas; and ^(AP)they were coming to Him from everywhere.

The King Plans to Honor Mordecai

6 During that night ^[a]the king ^(A)could not sleep, so he gave an order to bring ^(B)the book of records, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. ² And it was found written what ^(C)Mordecai had reported about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to ^[b]attack King Ahasuerus. ³ Then the king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” And the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” ⁴ So the king said, “Who is in the courtyard?” Now Haman had just ^(D)entered the outer courtyard of the king’s palace in order to speak to the king about ^(E)hanging Mordecai on the wooden gallows which he had prepared for him. ⁵ So the king’s servants said to him, “Behold, Haman is standing in the courtyard.” And the king said, “Have him come in.” ⁶ Haman then came in and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man ^(F)whom the king desires to honor?” And Haman said ^[c]to himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?” ⁷ Therefore Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king desires to honor, ⁸ have them bring a royal robe which the king has worn, and ^(G)the horse on which the king has ridden, and on whose head ^(H)a royal turban has been placed; ⁹ then order them to hand the robe and the horse over to one of the king’s noble officials, and have them dress the man whom the king desires to honor, and lead him on horseback through the city square, ^(I)and proclaim before him, ‘So it shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.’”

Haman Must Honor Mordecai

¹⁰ Then the king said to Haman, “Quickly, take the robe and the horse just as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate; do not fail to do anything of all that you have said.” ¹¹ So Haman took the robe and the horse, and dressed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “So it shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.”

¹² Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate, while Haman hurried home, mourning, ^(J)with his head covered. ¹³ And Haman informed ^(K)Zeresh his wife and all his friends of everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is ^[d]of Jewish origin, you will not prevail over him, but will certainly fall before him.”

¹⁴ While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and quickly ^(L)brought Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

The Gospel Exalted

1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, ^[a](A)called as an apostle, ^(B)set apart for ^(C)the gospel of God, ² which He ^(D)promised beforehand through His ^(E)prophets in the holy Scriptures, ³ concerning His Son, who was born ^(F)of a ^[b]descendant of David ^(G)according to the flesh, ⁴ who was declared ^(H)the Son of God with power according to the ^[c]Spirit of holiness ^[d]by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, ⁵ through whom we have received grace and ^(I)apostleship ^[e]to bring about the ^(J)obedience of faith among ^(K)all the Gentiles in behalf of His name, ⁶ among whom you also are the ^(L)called of Jesus Christ;

⁷ to all who are ^(M)beloved of God in Rome, called as ^[f](N)saints: ^(O)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁸ First, ^(P)I thank my God through Jesus Christ ^[g]for you all, because ^(Q)your faith is being proclaimed throughout the world. ⁹ For ^(R)God, whom I ^(S)serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly ^(T)I make mention of you, ¹⁰ always in my prayers requesting if perhaps now, at last by ^(U)the will of God, I will succeed in coming to you. ¹¹ For ^(V)I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be ^[h]established; ¹² that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. ^13 (W)I do not want you to be unaware, ^(X)brothers and sisters, that often I ^(Y)have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some ^(Z)fruit among you also just as among the rest of the Gentiles. ^14 (AA)I am ^[i]under obligation both to Greeks and to the ^[j](AB)uncultured, both to the wise and to the foolish. ¹⁵ So, for my part, I am eager to ^(AC)preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

¹⁶ For I am not ^(AD)ashamed of the gospel, for ^(AE)it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the ^(AF)Jew first and also to ^(AG)the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it ^(AH)the righteousness of God is revealed ^[k]from faith to faith; as it is written: “^[l](AI)But the righteous one will live by faith.”

Unbelief and Its Consequences

¹⁸ For ^(AJ)the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who ^(AK)suppress the truth ^[m]in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because ^(AL)that which is known about God is evident ^[n]within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰ For ^(AM)since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ^(AN)being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. ²¹ For even though they knew God, they did not ^[o]honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became ^(AO)futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. ^22 (AP)Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and they ^(AQ)exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and ^[p]crawling creatures.

²⁴ Therefore ^(AR)God gave them up to vile impurity in the lusts of their hearts, so that their bodies would be ^(AS)dishonored among them. ²⁵ For they exchanged the truth of God for ^[q](AT)falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, ^(AU)who is blessed ^[r]forever. Amen.

²⁶ For this reason ^(AV)God gave them over to ^(AW)degrading passions; for their women exchanged natural relations for that which is contrary to nature, ²⁷ and likewise the men, too, abandoned natural relations ^[s]with women and burned in their desire toward one another, ^(AX)males with males committing ^[t]shameful acts and receiving in ^[u]their own persons the due penalty of their error.

²⁸ And just as they did not see fit ^[v]to acknowledge God, ^(AY)God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper, ²⁹ people having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; they are ^(AZ)gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, ^[w](BA)haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, ^(BB)disobedient to parents, ³¹ without understanding, untrustworthy, ^(BC)unfeeling, and unmerciful; ³² and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of ^(BD)death, they not only do the same, but also ^(BE)approve of those who practice them.