The Tower of Babel

11 Now all the earth ^[a]used the same language and ^[b]the same words. ² And it came about, as they journeyed ^[c]east, that they found a plain in the land ^(A)of Shinar and ^[d]settled there. ³ Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and ^[e]fire them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used ^(B)tar for mortar. ⁴ And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top ^(C)will reach into heaven, and let’s make ^(D)a name for ourselves; otherwise we ^(E)will be scattered abroad over the face of all the earth.” ⁵ Now ^(F)the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the ^[f]men had built. ⁶ And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have ^[g](G)the same language. And this is what they have started to do, and now nothing which they plan to do will be ^[h]impossible for them. ⁷ Come, ^[i](H)let Us go down and there ^(I)confuse their ^[j]language, so that they will not understand one another’s ^[k]speech.” ⁸ So the Lord ^(J)scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth; and they stopped building the city. ⁹ Therefore it was named ^[l](K)Babel, because there the Lord confused the ^[m]language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Jacob’s Deception

27 Now it came about, when Isaac was old and ^(A)his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his ^(B)older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” ² Then ^[a](C)Isaac said, “Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death. ³ Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and ^(D)hunt game for me; ⁴ and prepare a delicious meal for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that ^(E)my soul may bless you before I die.”

⁵ Now Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home, ^6 (F)Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, ⁷ ‘Bring me some game and prepare a delicious meal for me, so that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ ⁸ So now, my son, ^(G)listen to ^[b]me ^[c]as I command you. ⁹ Go now to the flock and ^[d]bring me two choice ^[e]young goats from there, so that I may prepare them as a delicious meal for your father, such as he loves. ¹⁰ Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.” ¹¹ But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “Behold, my brother Esau is a ^(H)hairy man and I am a smooth man. ^12 (I)Perhaps my father will touch me, then I will be like a ^[f]deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.” ¹³ But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only ^(J)obey my voice, and go, get the goats for me.” ¹⁴ So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made a delicious meal such as his father loved. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the ^[g]best ^(K)garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. ¹⁶ And she put the skins of the ^[h]young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ She also gave the delicious meal and the bread which she had made ^[i]to her son Jacob.

¹⁸ Then he came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” ¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. ^(L)Come now, sit and eat of my game, so that ^[j](M)you may bless me.” ²⁰ Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “^(N)Because the Lord your God made it ^[k]come to me.” ²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come close, so that ^(O)I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” ²² So Jacob came close to his father Isaac, and he touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ And he did not recognize him, because his hands were ^(P)hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. ²⁴ And he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.” ²⁵ So he said, “Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, that ^[l](Q)I may bless you.” And he brought it to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come close and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he ^(R)blessed him and said,

The Stolen Blessing

³⁰ Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, that his brother Esau came in from his hunting. ³¹ Then he also made a delicious meal, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, “^(AA)Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that ^[m](AB)you may bless me.” ³² His father Isaac said to him, “^(AC)Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, ^(AD)your firstborn, Esau.” ³³ Then Isaac ^[n]trembled violently, and said, “^(AE)Who then was he who hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate from all of it before you came, and blessed him? ^(AF)Yes, and he shall be blessed.” ³⁴ When Esau heard the words of his father, ^(AG)he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me as well, my father!” ³⁵ And he said, “^(AH)Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.” ³⁶ Then Esau said, “^[o]Is he not rightly named ^(AI)[p]Jacob, for he has betrayed me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” ³⁷ But Isaac replied to Esau, “Behold, I have made him ^(AJ)your master, and I have given to him all his relatives ^[q]as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” ³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me as well, my father.” So Esau raised his voice and ^(AK)wept.

³⁹ Then ^(AL)his father Isaac answered and said to him,

⁴¹ So Esau ^(AP)held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said ^[v]to himself, “^(AQ)The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” ⁴² Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent word and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, “Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you. ⁴³ Now then, my son, ^(AR)obey my voice, and arise, ^[w]flee to ^(AS)Haran, to my brother ^(AT)Laban! ⁴⁴ Stay with him ^(AU)a few days, until your brother’s fury ^[x]subsides, ⁴⁵ until your brother’s anger ^[y]against you subsides and he forgets ^(AV)what you did to him. Then I will send word and get you from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?”

⁴⁶ And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of ^[z]living because of ^(AW)the daughters of Heth; ^(AX)if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth like these from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

The Temple Tax

²⁴ Now when they came to Capernaum, those who collected ^(A)the ^[a]two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay ^(B)the ^[b]two-drachma tax?” ²⁵ He *said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect ^(C)customs or ^[c](D)poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?” ²⁶ When Peter said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are ^[d]exempt. ²⁷ However, so that we do not ^(E)offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a ^[e]stater. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”

Rank in the Kingdom

18 ^(F)At that ^[f]time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “^(G)Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And He called a child to Himself and set him among them, ³ and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you ^[g]change and ^(H)become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoever receives one such child in My name, receives Me; ⁶ but ^(I)whoever ^(J)causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to ^[h]sin, it is better for him that a ^[i]heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Stumbling Blocks

⁷ “Woe to the world because of its ^[j]stumbling blocks! For ^(K)it is inevitable that ^[k]stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the ^[l]stumbling block comes!

⁸ “And ^(L)if your hand or your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or without a foot, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. ⁹ And ^(M)if your eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the ^[m](N)fiery hell.

¹⁰ “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones; for I say to you that ^(O)their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.^[n]

Ninety-nine Plus One

¹² “What do you think? ^(P)If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, and go and search for the one that is lost? ¹³ And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray. ¹⁴ So it is not the will ^[o]of your Father who is in heaven for one of these little ones to perish.

Abram and Lot

13 So Abram went up from Egypt to ^(A)the ^[a]Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him.

² Now Abram was ^(B)very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. ³ And he went ^[b]on his journeys from the ^[c]Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, ^(C)between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to the place of the ^(D)altar which he had made there previously; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. ⁵ Now ^(E)Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents. ⁶ And ^(F)the land could not ^[d]support both of them ^[e]while living together, ^(G)for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. ^7 (H)And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Now ^(I)the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.

^8 (J)So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are relatives! ⁹ Is the entire land not before you? Please separate from me; if you choose the left, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right, then I will go to the left.” ¹⁰ Lot raised his eyes and saw all the ^[f]vicinity of the ^(K)Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord ^(L)destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like ^(M)the garden of the Lord, ^(N)like the land of Egypt ^[g]going toward ^(O)Zoar. ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself all the ^[h]vicinity of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. So they separated from each other. ¹² Abram ^[i]settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot ^[j]settled in ^(P)the cities of the ^[k]vicinity of the Jordan, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. ¹³ Now ^(Q)the men of Sodom were ^[l]exceedingly wicked ^(R)sinners against the Lord.

¹⁴ The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “^(S)Now raise your eyes and look from the place where you are, ^(T)northward and southward, and eastward and westward; ^15 (U)for all the land which you see ^(V)I will give to you and to your ^[m]descendants forever. ¹⁶ I will make your ^[n]descendants ^(W)as plentiful as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can count the dust of the earth, then your ^[o]descendants could also be counted. ¹⁷ Arise, ^(X)walk about in the land through its length and width; for ^(Y)I will give it to you.” ¹⁸ Then Abram moved his tent and came and lived by the ^[p](Z)oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron; and there he built ^(AA)an altar to the Lord.

Abraham’s Justification by Faith

4 What then shall we say that Abraham, ^[a]our forefather ^(A)according to the flesh, has found? ² For if Abraham was justified ^[b]by works, he has something to boast about; but ^(B)not ^[c]before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? “^(C)Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” ⁴ Now to the one who ^(D)works, the wages are not credited as a favor, but as what is due. ⁵ But to the one who does not work, but ^(E)believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, ⁶ just as David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

⁹ Is this blessing then on ^[d](I)the circumcised, or on ^[e]the uncircumcised also? For ^(J)we say, “^(K)Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” ¹⁰ How then was it credited? While he was ^[f]circumcised, or ^[g]uncircumcised? Not while ^[h]circumcised, but while ^[i]uncircumcised; ¹¹ and he ^(L)received the sign of circumcision, ^(M)a seal of the righteousness of the faith which ^[j]he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be ^(N)the father of ^(O)all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, ¹² and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which ^[k]he had while uncircumcised.

¹³ For ^(P)the promise to Abraham or to his ^[l]descendants ^(Q)that he would be heir of the world was not ^[m]through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For ^(R)if those who are ^[n]of the Law are heirs, then faith is made void and the promise is nullified; ¹⁵ for ^(S)the Law brings about wrath, but ^(T)where there is no law, there also is no violation.

¹⁶ For this reason it is ^[o]by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with ^(U)grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to ^(V)all the ^[p]descendants, not only to ^[q]those who are of the Law, but also to ^[r](W)those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is ^(X)the father of us all, ¹⁷ (as it is written: “I have made you ^(Y)a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, that is, God, ^(Z)who gives life to the dead and ^(AA)calls into being ^(AB)things that do not exist. ¹⁸ In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become ^(AC)a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “^(AD)So shall your ^[s]descendants be.” ¹⁹ Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now ^(AE)as good as dead since ^(AF)he was about a hundred years old, and ^(AG)the deadness of Sarah’s womb; ²⁰ yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, ^(AH)giving glory to God, ²¹ and ^(AI)being fully assured that ^(AJ)what God had promised, He was able also to perform. ²² Therefore ^(AK)it was also credited to him as righteousness. ²³ Now ^(AL)not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, ²⁴ but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, to us ^(AM)who believe in Him who ^(AN)raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵ He who was ^(AO)delivered over because of our wrongdoings, and was ^(AP)raised because of our justification.