Jacob’s Prophecy concerning His Sons

49 Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves, so that I may tell you what will happen to you ^(A)in the ^[a]days to come.

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them ^[aa]when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one ^[ab]with the blessing appropriate to him.

Jacob Dies

²⁹ Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am about to be ^(AH)gathered to my people; ^(AI)bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in ^(AJ)the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰ in the ^(AK)cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a ^[ac]burial site. ³¹ There they buried ^(AL)Abraham and his wife ^(AM)Sarah, there they buried ^(AN)Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah— ³² the field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth.” ³³ When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and ^(AO)breathed his last, and was ^(AP)gathered to his people.

Jacob Is Buried

50 Then Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him and kissed him. ² Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians ^(AQ)embalmed Israel. ³ Now forty days were ^[ad]required for ^[ae]it, for ^[af]such is the period required for embalming. And the Egyptians ^(AR)wept for him seventy days.

⁴ When the days of ^[ag]mourning for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak ^[ah]to Pharaoh, saying, ⁵ ‘^(AS)My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am about to die; in my grave ^(AT)which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now then, please let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’” ⁶ Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

⁷ So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁸ and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household; they left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen. ⁹ Chariots with teams of horses also went up with him; and it was a very great company. ¹⁰ When they came to the ^[ai]threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they ^(AU)mourned there with a very great and ^[aj]sorrowful lamentation; and he ^[ak]observed seven days of mourning for his father. ¹¹ Now when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at ^[al]the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a ^[am]grievous ^[an]mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore it was named ^[ao]Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

Burial at Machpelah

¹² And so his sons did for him as he had commanded them; ¹³ for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in ^(AV)the cave of the field of Machpelah opposite Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a ^[ap]burial site from Ephron the Hittite. ¹⁴ And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers had seen that their father was dead, they said, “^(AW)What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!” ¹⁶ So they sent instructions to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded us before he died, saying, ¹⁷ ‘This is what you shall say to Joseph: “Please forgive, I beg you, the offense of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong.”’ And now, please forgive the offense of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸ Then his brothers also came and ^(AX)fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” ¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? ²⁰ As for you, ^(AY)you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about ^[aq]this present result, to keep many people alive. ²¹ So therefore, do not be afraid; ^(AZ)I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke ^[ar]kindly to them.

Death of Joseph

²² Now Joseph stayed in Egypt, he and his father’s household, and Joseph lived 110 years. ²³ Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s sons; also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were ^(BA)born on Joseph’s knees. ²⁴ Joseph said to his brothers, “^(BB)I am about to die, but God will assuredly ^[as]take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He ^[at]promised on oath to ^(BC)Abraham, to ^(BD)Isaac, and to ^(BE)Jacob.” ²⁵ Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will assuredly ^[au]take care of you, and ^(BF)you shall carry my bones up from here.” ²⁶ So Joseph died at the age of 110 years; and they ^(BG)embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.

The Lord’s Glory and Mankind’s Dignity.

For the music director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

20 ^(A)On one of the days while ^(B)He was teaching the people in the temple and ^(C)preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders ^(D)confronted Him, ² and they declared, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” ³ But He replied to them, “I will also ask you a ^[a]question, and you tell Me: ⁴ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” ⁵ They discussed among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, since they are convinced that John was a ^(E)prophet.” ⁷ And so they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”

Parable of the Vine-growers

^9 (F)But He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and leased it to ^[b]vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. ¹⁰ At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him his share of the produce of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ And he proceeded to send another slave; but they beat him also and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹² And he proceeded to send a third; but this one too they wounded and threw out. ¹³ Now the ^[c]owner of the vineyard said, ‘What am I to do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will ^(G)respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when the vine-growers saw him, they discussed with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let’s kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ ¹⁵ And so they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the ^[d]owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and ^(H)put these vine-growers to death, and will give the vineyard to others.” However, when they heard this, they said, “^(I)May it never happen!” ¹⁷ But ^[e]Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what is this statement that has been written:

^18 (L)Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹⁹ The scribes and the chief priests ^(M)tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and yet they feared the people; for they were aware that He had spoken this parable against them. ^20 (N)And so they watched Him ^[g]closely, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order ^(O)that they might catch Him in some statement, so that they could hand Him over to the jurisdiction and authority of ^(P)the governor. ²¹ And the spies questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You ^[h]are not partial to anyone, but You teach the way of God on the basis of truth. ²² Is it ^[i]permissible for us ^(Q)to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” ²³ But He saw through their trickery and said to them, ²⁴ “Show Me a ^[j]denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ And He said to them, “Then ^(R)pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²⁶ And they were unable to ^(S)catch Him in a statement in the presence of the people; and they were amazed at His answer, and said nothing.

Is There a Resurrection?

^27 (T)Now some of the ^(U)Sadducees (who maintain that there is no resurrection) came to Him, ²⁸ and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(V)if ^[k]a man’s brother dies, ^[l]leaving a wife, and he is childless, that his brother is to ^[m]marry the wife and raise up children ^[n]for his brother. ²⁹ So then, there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless; ³⁰ and the second ³¹ and the third ^[o]married her; and in the same way ^[p]all seven ^[q]died, leaving no children. ³² Finally the woman also died. ³³ Therefore, in the resurrection, ^[r]which one’s wife does the woman become? For ^[s]all seven ^[t]married her.”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “The sons of ^(W)this age marry and the women are given in marriage, ³⁵ but those who are considered worthy to attain to ^(X)that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; ³⁶ for they cannot even die anymore, for they are like angels, and are ^(Y)sons of God, being ^[u]sons of the resurrection. ³⁷ But as for the fact that the dead are raised, even Moses revealed this in ^(Z)the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord ^(AA)the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. ^38 (AB)Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for ^(AC)all live to Him.” ³⁹ Some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” ⁴⁰ For ^(AD)they did not have the courage to question Him any longer about anything.

^41 (AE)But He said to them, “How is it that they say the ^[v]Christ is ^(AF)David’s son? ⁴² For David himself says in the book of Psalms,

⁴⁴ Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ and so how is He his son?”

^45 (AI)And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, ⁴⁶ “Beware of the scribes, ^(AJ)who like to walk around in long robes, and love personal greetings in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, ⁴⁷ who ^[w]devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive all the more condemnation.”