¹⁸ Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. ¹⁹ Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ And the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows, ²¹ but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke. ²² I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good. ²³ Seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them, ²⁴ and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And ^(A)I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; ^(B)God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. ²⁷ The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also ^(C)seven years of famine. ²⁸ It is as I told Pharaoh; ^(D)God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁹ There will come ^(E)seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, ³⁰ but after them there will arise ^(F)seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. ^(G)The famine will consume the land, ³¹ and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. ³² And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the ^(H)thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. ³³ Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land^[a] of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. ³⁵ And ^(I)let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. ³⁶ That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”

The Ark Returned to Israel

6 The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. ² And the Philistines called for the priests and ^(A)the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.” ³ They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him ^(B)a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why ^(C)his hand does not turn away from you.” ⁴ And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden ^(D)tumors and five golden mice, ^(E)according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. ⁵ So you must make images of your ^(F)tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, ^(G)and give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps ^(H)he will lighten his hand from off you ^(I)and your gods and your land. ⁶ Why should you harden your hearts as ^(J)the Egyptians and ^(K)Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, ^(L)did they not send the people away, and they departed? ⁷ Now then, take and prepare ^(M)a new cart and two milk cows ^(N)on which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. ⁸ And take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart and put in a box at its side ^(O)the figures of gold, which you are returning to him as ^(P)a guilt offering. Then send it off and let it go its way ⁹ and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to ^(Q)Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not ^(R)his hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.”

¹⁰ The men did so, and took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. ¹¹ And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors. ¹² And the cows went straight in the direction of ^(S)Beth-shemesh along ^(T)one highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of ^(U)Beth-shemesh. ¹³ Now the people of ^(V)Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it. ¹⁴ The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. ^(W)A great stone was there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹⁵ And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them upon ^(X)the great stone. And the men of ^(Y)Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the Lord. ¹⁶ And when ^(Z)the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron.

¹⁷ These are the golden tumors that the Philistines returned as a ^(AA)guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron, ¹⁸ and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, ^(AB)both fortified cities and unwalled villages. ^(AC)The great stone beside which they set down the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.

The Future Glory of Israel

¹⁸ And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by ^(A)the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁹ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or ^(B)the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰ So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by ^(C)him who dwells in it. ²² And whoever swears by ^(D)heaven swears by ^(E)the throne of God and by ^(F)him who sits upon it.

^23 (G)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^(H)you tithe mint and dill and ^(I)cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: ^(J)justice and mercy and faithfulness. ^(K)These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing ^(L)a camel!

^25 (M)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^(N)you clean the outside of ^(O)the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of ^(P)greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of ^(Q)the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

^27 (R)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like ^(S)whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and ^(T)all uncleanness. ²⁸ So you also ^(U)outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of ^(V)hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Paul Appeals to Caesar

25 Now three days after Festus had arrived in ^(A)the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. ² And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews ^(B)laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him, ³ asking as a favor against Paul^[a] that he summon him to Jerusalem—because ^(C)they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way. ⁴ Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly. ⁵ “So,” said he, “let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.”

⁶ After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on ^(D)the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. ⁷ When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him ^(E)that they could not prove. ⁸ Paul argued in his defense, “Neither ^(F)against ^(G)the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor ^(H)against Caesar have I committed any offense.” ⁹ But Festus, ^(I)wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?” ¹⁰ But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar's ^(J)tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. ¹¹ If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. ^(K)I appeal to Caesar.” ¹² Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.”