The Sacrifice of Isaac

22 After these things ^(A)God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ² He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to ^(B)the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” ³ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy^[a] will go over there and worship and come again to you.” ⁶ And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and ^(C)laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. ⁷ And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” ⁸ Abraham said, ^(D)“God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

⁹ When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and ^(E)laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹² He said, ^(F)“Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for ^(G)now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” ¹³ And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called the name of that place, ^(H)“The Lord will provide”;^[b] as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”^[c]

¹⁵ And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶ and said, ^(I)“By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring ^(J)as the stars of heaven and ^(K)as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess ^(L)the gate of his^[d] enemies, ¹⁸ and ^(M)in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, ^(N)because you have obeyed my voice.” ¹⁹ So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to ^(O)Beersheba. And Abraham lived at ^(P)Beersheba.

²⁰ Now after these things it was told to Abraham, “Behold, ^(Q)Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: ^21 (R)Uz his firstborn, ^(S)Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, ²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³ (^(T)Bethuel fathered Rebekah.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. ²⁴ Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Sarah's Death and Burial

23 Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. ² And Sarah died at ^(U)Kiriath-arba (that is, ^(V)Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. ³ And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites,^{[e] 4 (W)}“I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; ^(X)give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” ⁵ The Hittites answered Abraham, ⁶ “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God^[f] among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” ⁷ Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. ⁸ And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, ⁹ that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.”

¹⁰ Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who ^(Y)went in at the gate of his city, ¹¹ “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.” ¹² Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. ¹³ And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.” ¹⁴ Ephron answered Abraham, ¹⁵ “My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred ^(Z)shekels^[g] of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” ¹⁶ Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham ^(AA)weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.

¹⁷ So ^(AB)the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over ¹⁸ to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. ¹⁹ After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ The field and the cave that is in it ^(AC)were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.

Judging Others

7 ^(A)“Judge not, that you be not judged. ^2 (B)For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and ^(C)with the measure you use it will be measured to you. ³ Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but ^(D)do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

^6 (E)“Do not give ^(F)dogs what is holy, and do not throw your ^(G)pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

Ask, and It Will Be Given

^7 (H)“Ask, ^(I)and it will be given to you; ^(J)seek, and you will find; ^(K)knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. ⁹ Or which one of you, if his son asks him for ^(L)bread, will give him ^(M)a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? ¹¹ If you then, ^(N)who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will ^(O)your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

The Golden Rule

¹² “So ^(P)whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is ^(Q)the Law and the Prophets.

^13 (R)“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy^[a] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. ¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and ^(S)the way is hard that leads to life, and ^(T)those who find it are few.

A Tree and Its Fruit

^15 (U)“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ^(V)ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will recognize them ^(W)by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ So, ^(X)every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. ^19 (Y)Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus you will recognize them ^(Z)by their fruits.

I Never Knew You

^21 (AA)“Not everyone who ^(AB)says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will ^(AC)enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who ^(AD)does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ^22 (AE)On that day ^(AF)many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not ^(AG)prophesy in your name, and cast out demons ^(AH)in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ^23 (AI)And then will I declare to them, ‘I ^(AJ)never knew you; ^(AK)depart from me, ^(AL)you workers of lawlessness.’

Build Your House on the Rock

^24 (AM)“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like ^(AN)a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶ And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like ^(AO)a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

The Authority of Jesus

²⁸ And when Jesus finished these sayings, ^(AP)the crowds were astonished at his teaching, ^29 (AQ)for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

In the Shadow of Your Wings

A ^(A)Prayer of David.

The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, ^(AA)the servant of the Lord, ^(AB)who addressed the words of this ^(AC)song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said: