Genesis 24:1-16

English Standard Version

Isaac and Rebekah

24 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the Lord ^(A)had blessed Abraham in all things. ²And Abraham said to his servant, ^(B)the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, ^(C)“Put your hand under my thigh, ³that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that ^(D)you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, ⁴^(E)but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” ⁵The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” ⁶Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. ⁷The Lord, the God of heaven, ^(F)who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ^(G)‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ ^(H)he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. ⁸But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then ^(I)you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.” ⁹So the servant ^(J)put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to ^(K)Mesopotamia^[a] to the city of Nahor. ¹¹And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when ^(L)women go out to draw water. ¹²And he said, “O Lord, ^(M)God of my master Abraham, ^(N)please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. ¹³Behold, ^(O)I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. ^(P)By this^[b] I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”

¹⁵Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of ^(Q)Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder. ¹⁶The young woman ^(R)was very attractive in appearance, a maiden^[c] whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.

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Footnotes

Genesis 24:10 Hebrew Aram-naharaim
Genesis 24:14 Or By her
Genesis 24:16 Or a woman of marriageable age

Judges 3:1-11

English Standard Version

3 ^(A)Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. ²It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. ³These are the nations: ^(B)the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. ⁴They were for ^(C)the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. ⁵So the people of Israel lived ^(D)among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁶^(E)And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.

Othniel

⁷^(F)And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and ^(G)the Asheroth. ⁸Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, ^(H)and he sold them into the hand of ^(I)Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. ⁹But when the people of Israel ^(J)cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a ^(K)deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, ^(L)Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. ¹⁰^(M)The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. ¹¹^(N)So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

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Isaiah 29:17-30:7

English Standard Version

¹⁷Is it not yet a very little while
    ^(A)until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
    and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
¹⁸In that day ^(B)the deaf shall hear
    ^(C)the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
    ^(D)the eyes of the blind shall see.
¹⁹^(E)The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
    and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
²⁰For the ruthless shall come to nothing
    and ^(F)the scoffer cease,
    and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
²¹who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
    and ^(G)lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
    and with an empty plea ^(H)turn aside him who is in the right.

²²Therefore thus says the Lord, ^(I)who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
    no more shall his face grow pale.
²³For when he sees his children,
    ^(J)the work of my hands, in his midst,
    they will sanctify my name;
^(K)they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
    and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
²⁴And those ^(L)who go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
    and those who murmur will accept instruction.”

Do Not Go Down to Egypt

30 “Ah, ^(M)stubborn children,” declares the Lord,
^(N)“who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make ^(O)an alliance,^[a] but not of my Spirit,
    that they may add sin to sin;
²^(P)who set out to go down to Egypt,
    without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
    and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
³^(Q)Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
    and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.
⁴For though his officials are at ^(R)Zoan
    and ^(S)his envoys reach ^(T)Hanes,
⁵everyone comes to shame
    through ^(U)a people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
    but shame and disgrace.”

⁶An ^(V)oracle on ^(W)the beasts of ^(X)the Negeb.

Through a land of trouble and anguish,
    from where come the lioness and the lion,
    the adder and the ^(Y)flying fiery serpent,
they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys,
    and their treasures on the humps of camels,
    to a people that cannot profit them.
⁷Egypt's ^(Z)help is worthless and empty;
    therefore I have called her
    ^(AA)“Rahab who sits still.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 30:1 Hebrew who weave a web

Job 21:1-15

English Standard Version

Job Replies: The Wicked Do Prosper

21 Then Job answered and said:

²^(A)“Keep listening to my words,
    and let this be your comfort.
³Bear with me, and I will speak,
    and after I have spoken, ^(B)mock on.
⁴As for me, is my ^(C)complaint against man?
    Why should I not be impatient?
⁵Look at me and be appalled,
    and ^(D)lay your hand over your mouth.
⁶When I remember, I am dismayed,
    and shuddering seizes my flesh.
⁷^(E)Why do the wicked live,
    reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
⁸Their ^(F)offspring are established in their presence,
    and their descendants before their eyes.
⁹Their houses are ^(G)safe from fear,
    and ^(H)no rod of God is upon them.
¹⁰Their bull breeds without fail;
    their cow calves and ^(I)does not miscarry.
¹¹They send out their ^(J)little boys like a flock,
    and their children dance.
¹²They sing to ^(K)the tambourine and ^(L)the lyre
    and rejoice to the sound of ^(M)the pipe.
¹³They ^(N)spend their days in prosperity,
    and in ^(O)peace they go down to ^(P)Sheol.
¹⁴They say to God, ^(Q)‘Depart from us!
    We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.
¹⁵^(R)What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
    And what ^(S)profit do we get if we pray to him?’

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Matthew 12:33-45

English Standard Version

A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit

³³^(A)“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, ^(B)for the tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴^(C)You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, ^(D)when you are evil? ^(E)For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵^(F)The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. ³⁶I tell you, ^(G)on the day of judgment ^(H)people will give account for ^(I)every careless word they speak, ³⁷for ^(J)by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The Sign of Jonah

³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, ^(K)we wish to see a sign from you.” ³⁹But he answered them, ^(L)“An evil and ^(M)adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰For ^(N)just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, ^(O)so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ⁴¹^(P)The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and ^(Q)condemn it, for ^(R)they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, ^(S)something greater than Jonah is here. ⁴²^(T)The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, ^(U)something greater than Solomon is here.

Return of an Unclean Spirit

⁴³“When ^(V)the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through ^(W)waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. ⁴⁴Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and ^(X)the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this ^(Y)evil generation.”

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Acts 12:1-11

English Standard Version

James Killed and Peter Imprisoned

12 About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. ²He killed ^(A)James the brother of John ^(B)with the sword, ³and when he saw ^(C)that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during ^(D)the days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴And when he had seized him, he put him ^(E)in prison, delivering him over to four ^(F)squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. ⁵So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest ^(G)prayer for him was made to God by the church.

Peter Is Rescued

⁶Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, ^(H)bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. ⁷And behold, ^(I)an angel of the Lord ^(J)stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. ^(K)He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And ^(L)the chains fell off his hands. ⁸And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and ^(M)put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but ^(N)thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. ^(O)It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. ¹¹When Peter ^(P)came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that ^(Q)the Lord has sent his angel and ^(R)rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”