Isaac and Rebekah

24 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the Lord ^(A)had blessed Abraham in all things. ² And Abraham said to his servant, ^(B)the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, ^(C)“Put your hand under my thigh, ³ that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that ^(D)you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, ^4 (E)but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” ⁵ The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” ⁶ Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. ⁷ The Lord, the God of heaven, ^(F)who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ^(G)‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ ^(H)he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. ⁸ But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then ^(I)you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.” ⁹ So the servant ^(J)put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰ Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to ^(K)Mesopotamia^[a] to the city of Nahor. ¹¹ And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when ^(L)women go out to draw water. ¹² And he said, “O Lord, ^(M)God of my master Abraham, ^(N)please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. ¹³ Behold, ^(O)I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴ Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. ^(P)By this^[b] I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”

¹⁵ Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of ^(Q)Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder. ¹⁶ The young woman ^(R)was very attractive in appearance, a maiden^[c] whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. ¹⁷ Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.” ¹⁸ She said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” ²⁰ So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew for all his camels. ²¹ The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not.

²² When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel,^[d] and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels, ²³ and said, “Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?” ²⁴ She said to him, ^(S)“I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” ²⁵ She added, “We have plenty of both straw and fodder, and room to spend the night.” ^26 (T)The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord ²⁷ and said, “Blessed be the Lord, ^(U)the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken ^(V)his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord ^(W)has led me in the way to the house of my master's kinsmen.” ²⁸ Then the young woman ran and told her mother's household about these things.

Joseph Tests His Brothers

44 Then he commanded ^(A)the steward of his house, ^(B)“Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack, ² and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him.

³ As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys. ⁴ They had gone only a short distance from the city. Now Joseph said to his ^(C)steward, “Up, follow after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good?^{[a] 5} Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and ^(D)by this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this.’”

⁶ When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words. ⁷ They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! ⁸ Behold, ^(E)the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord's house? ^9 (F)Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be ^(G)my lord's servants.” ¹⁰ He said, “Let it be as you say: he who is found with it shall be my servant, and the rest of you shall be innocent.” ¹¹ Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack. ¹² And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. ¹³ Then they ^(H)tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

¹⁴ When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there. They ^(I)fell before him to the ground. ¹⁵ Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me ^(J)can indeed practice divination?” ¹⁶ And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out ^(K)the guilt of your servants; behold, we are ^(L)my lord's servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.” ¹⁷ But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go up in peace to your father.”

¹⁸ Then Judah went up to him and said, ^(M)“Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears, and ^(N)let not your anger burn against your servant, for ^(O)you are like Pharaoh himself. ¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ ²⁰ And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, ^(P)and a young brother, ^(Q)the child of his old age. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother's children, and his father loves him.’ ²¹ Then you said to your servants, ^(R)‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ ²² We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, ^(S)his father would die.’ ²³ Then you said to your servants, ^(T)‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again.’

²⁴ “When we went back to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. ²⁵ And when ^(U)our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,’ ²⁶ we said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother goes with us, then we will go down. For we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ ²⁷ Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me ^(V)two sons. ²⁸ One left me, and I said, ^(W)“Surely he has been torn to pieces,” and I have never seen him since. ²⁹ If you ^(X)take this one also from me, ^(Y)and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in evil to Sheol.’

³⁰ “Now therefore, as soon as I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy's life, ³¹ as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. ³² For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, ^(Z)‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.’ ³³ Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. ³⁴ For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.”

Joseph Provides for His Brothers and Family

45 Then Joseph could not ^(AA)control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ² And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. ³ And Joseph said to his brothers, ^(AB)“I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.

⁴ So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, ^(AC)whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, ^(AD)for God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶ For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are ^(AE)yet five years in which there will be neither ^(AF)plowing nor harvest. ⁷ And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. ⁸ So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ^(AG)ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Jesus Before the Council

^53 (A)And ^(B)they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. ^54 (C)And ^(D)Peter had followed him at a distance, ^(E)right into ^(F)the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with ^(G)the guards and ^(H)warming himself at the fire. ⁵⁵ Now the chief priests and the whole council^[a] were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. ^56 (I)For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony ^(J)did not agree. ⁵⁷ And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, ^58 (K)“We heard him say, ^(L)‘I will destroy this temple ^(M)that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, ^(N)not made with hands.’” ⁵⁹ Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. ⁶⁰ And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”^{[b] 61} But ^(O)he remained silent and made no answer. ^(P)Again the high priest asked him, “Are you ^(Q)the Christ, the Son of ^(R)the Blessed?” ⁶² And Jesus said, “I am, and ^(S)you will see the Son of Man ^(T)seated at the right hand of Power, and ^(U)coming with the clouds of heaven.” ⁶³ And the high priest ^(V)tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? ⁶⁴ You have heard ^(W)his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they ^(X)all condemned him as ^(Y)deserving death. ^65 (Z)And some began ^(AA)to spit on him and ^(AB)to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him ^(AC)with blows.

Peter Denies Jesus

^66 (AD)And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, ⁶⁷ and seeing Peter ^(AE)warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” ⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway^[c] and ^(AF)the rooster crowed.^{[d] 69} And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” ⁷⁰ But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” ⁷¹ But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” ⁷² And immediately the rooster crowed ^(AG)a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, ^(AH)“Before the rooster crows twice, you will ^(AI)deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.^[e]

Peter Denies Jesus

^54 (A)Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house, ^(B)and Peter was following at a distance. ^55 (C)And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of ^(D)the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. ⁵⁶ Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” ⁵⁷ But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” ⁵⁸ And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” ⁵⁹ And after an interval of about an hour still another ^(E)insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” ⁶⁰ But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. ⁶¹ And the Lord turned and ^(F)looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, ^(G)“Before the rooster crows today, you will ^(H)deny me three times.” ⁶² And he went out and wept bitterly.

Jesus Is Mocked

^63 (I)Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. ^64 (J)They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, ^(K)“Prophesy! ^(L)Who is it that struck you?” ⁶⁵ And they said many other things against him, ^(M)blaspheming him.

Jesus Before the Council

^66 (N)When day came, ^(O)the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their ^(P)council, and they ^(Q)said, ^67 (R)“If you are ^(S)the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, ⁶⁸ and if I ask you, you will not answer. ⁶⁹ But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated ^(T)at the right hand of the power of God.” ⁷⁰ So they all said, “Are you ^(U)the Son of God, then?” And he said to them, ^(V)“You say that I am.” ⁷¹ Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.”