Terah's Descendants

²⁷ Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. ²⁸ Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was ^(A)Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, ^(B)Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. ³⁰ Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.

³¹ Terah ^(C)took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth together ^(D)from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. ³² The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.

The Call of Abram

12 Now ^(E)the Lord said^[a] to Abram, “Go from your country^[b] and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. ^2 (F)And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ^3 (G)I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and ^(H)in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”^[c]

⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from ^(I)Haran. ⁵ And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, ⁶ Abram ^(J)passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to ^(K)the oak^[d] of ^(L)Moreh. At that time ^(M)the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷ Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ^(N)“To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸ From there he moved to the hill country on the east of ^(O)Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. ⁹ And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

¹⁰ Now ^(P)there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹ When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, ¹² and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they ^(Q)will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³ Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” ¹⁴ When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. ¹⁶ And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷ But the Lord ^(R)afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. ¹⁸ So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” ²⁰ And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

Abram and Lot Separate

13 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, ^(S)into the Negeb.

^2 (T)Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³ And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to ^(U)the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord. ⁵ And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, ⁶ so that ^(V)the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, ^7 (W)and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. At that time ^(X)the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.

⁸ Then Abram said to Lot, ^(Y)“Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, ^(Z)for we are kinsmen.^{[e] 9 (AA)}Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” ¹⁰ And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the ^(AB)Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like ^(AC)the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of ^(AD)Zoar. (This was before the Lord ^(AE)destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. ¹² Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. ¹³ Now the men of Sodom ^(AF)were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.

¹⁴ The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, ^(AG)northward and southward and eastward and westward, ¹⁵ for all the land that you see I will give ^(AH)to you and ^(AI)to your offspring forever. ^16 (AJ)I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. ¹⁷ Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” ¹⁸ So Abram moved his tent and came and ^(AK)settled by the ^(AL)oaks^[f] of Mamre, which ^(AM)are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

Abram Rescues Lot

14 In the days of Amraphel king of ^(AN)Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of ^(AO)Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, ² these kings made war with ^(AP)Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of ^(AQ)Admah, Shemeber king of ^(AR)Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). ³ And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (^(AS)that is, the Salt Sea). ⁴ Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵ In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the ^(AT)Rephaim in ^(AU)Ashteroth-karnaim, the ^(AV)Zuzim in Ham, the ^(AW)Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, ⁶ and the ^(AX)Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as ^(AY)El-paran on the border of the wilderness. ⁷ Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, ^(AZ)Kadesh) and defeated all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling ^(BA)in Hazazon-tamar.

⁸ Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim ⁹ with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five. ¹⁰ Now the Valley of Siddim was full of ^(BB)bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled ^(BC)to the hill country. ¹¹ So the enemy took ^(BD)all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. ¹² They also took Lot, ^(BE)the son of Abram's brother, ^(BF)who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.

¹³ Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, ^(BG)who was living by the ^(BH)oaks^[g] of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram. ¹⁴ When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, ^(BI)born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as ^(BJ)Dan. ¹⁵ And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. ¹⁶ Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot ^(BK)with his possessions, and the women and the people.

Abram Blessed by Melchizedek

¹⁷ After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the ^(BL)King's Valley). ¹⁸ And ^(BM)Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was ^(BN)priest of ^(BO)God Most High.) ¹⁹ And he blessed him and said,

And Abram gave him ^(BR)a tenth of everything. ²¹ And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” ²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, ^(BS)“I have lifted my hand^[i] to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, ²³ that ^(BT)I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ ²⁴ I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let ^(BU)Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”

God's Covenant with Abram

15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: ^(BV)“Fear not, Abram, I am ^(BW)your shield; your reward shall be very great.” ² But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue^[j] childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and ^(BX)a member of my household will be my heir.” ⁴ And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; ^(BY)your very own son^[k] shall be your heir.” ⁵ And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and ^(BZ)number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, ^(CA)“So shall your offspring be.” ⁶ And ^(CB)he believed the Lord, and ^(CC)he counted it to him as righteousness.

⁷ And he said to him, “I am the Lord who ^(CD)brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans ^(CE)to give you this land to possess.” ⁸ But he said, “O Lord God, ^(CF)how am I to know that I shall possess it?” ⁹ He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ And he brought him all these, ^(CG)cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But ^(CH)he did not cut the birds in half. ¹¹ And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

¹² As the sun was going down, a ^(CI)deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain ^(CJ)that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and ^(CK)they will be afflicted for ^(CL)four hundred years. ¹⁴ But ^(CM)I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward ^(CN)they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; ^(CO)you shall be buried in a good old age. ¹⁶ And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for ^(CP)the iniquity of the Amorites ^(CQ)is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ^(CR)“To your offspring I give^[l] this land, from ^(CS)the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath

5 After this there was a ^(A)feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

² Now there is in Jerusalem by ^(B)the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic^[a] called Bethesda,^[b] which has five roofed colonnades. ³ In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and ^(C)paralyzed.^{[c] 5} One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” ⁷ The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” ⁸ Jesus said to him, ^(D)“Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” ^9 (E)And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

^(F)Now that day was the Sabbath. ¹⁰ So the Jews^[d] said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and ^(G)it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” ¹¹ But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” ¹² They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” ¹³ Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for ^(H)Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. ¹⁴ Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! ^(I)Sin no more, ^(J)that nothing worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵ The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. ¹⁶ And this was why the Jews ^(K)were persecuting Jesus, ^(L)because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. ¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

Jesus Is Equal with God

¹⁸ This was why the Jews ^(M)were seeking all the more to kill him, ^(N)because not only was he ^(O)breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God ^(P)his own Father, ^(Q)making himself equal with God.

The Authority of the Son

¹⁹ So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(R)the Son ^(S)can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father^[e] does, that the Son does likewise. ²⁰ For ^(T)the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And ^(U)greater works than these will he show him, so that ^(V)you may marvel. ²¹ For as the Father ^(W)raises the dead and ^(X)gives them life, so ^(Y)also the Son gives life ^(Z)to whom he will. ^22 (AA)For the Father judges no one, but ^(AB)has given all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all may honor the Son, just as they ^(AC)honor the Father. ^(AD)Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(AE)whoever hears my word and ^(AF)believes him who sent me has eternal life. He ^(AG)does not come into judgment, but ^(AH)has passed from death to life.

²⁵ “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(AI)an hour is coming, and is now here, when ^(AJ)the dead will hear ^(AK)the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear ^(AL)will live. ^26 (AM)For as the Father has life in himself, ^(AN)so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he ^(AO)has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Do not marvel at this, for ^(AP)an hour is coming when ^(AQ)all who are in the tombs will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out, ^(AR)those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Witnesses to Jesus

^30 (AS)“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and ^(AT)my judgment is just, because ^(AU)I seek not my own will ^(AV)but the will of him who sent me. ^31 (AW)If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. ³² There is ^(AX)another who bears witness about me, and ^(AY)I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. ^33 (AZ)You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. ³⁴ Not that ^(BA)the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵ He was a burning and ^(BB)shining lamp, and ^(BC)you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. ³⁶ But ^(BD)the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For ^(BE)the works that the Father has given me ^(BF)to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, ^(BG)bear witness about me that ^(BH)the Father has sent me. ³⁷ And the Father who sent me ^(BI)has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, ^(BJ)his form you have never seen, ³⁸ and ^(BK)you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. ^39 (BL)You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and ^(BM)it is they that bear witness about me, ⁴⁰ yet ^(BN)you refuse to come to me that you may have life. ^41 (BO)I do not receive glory from people. ⁴² But ^(BP)I know that you do not have ^(BQ)the love of God within you. ⁴³ I have come ^(BR)in my Father's name, and ^(BS)you do not receive me. ^(BT)If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and ^(BU)do not seek the glory that comes from ^(BV)the only God? ⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, ^(BW)on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for ^(BX)he wrote of me. ⁴⁷ But ^(BY)if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”