²⁹ Rebekah had a brother whose name was ^(A)Laban. Laban ran out toward the man, to the spring. ³⁰ As soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms, and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man. And behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. ³¹ He said, “Come in, ^(B)O blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” ³² So the man came to the house and unharnessed the camels, and gave ^(C)straw and fodder to the camels, and there was ^(D)water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³ Then food was set before him to eat. But he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.” He said, “Speak on.”

³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham's servant. ³⁵ The Lord ^(E)has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys. ³⁶ And Sarah my master's wife ^(F)bore a son to my master when she was old, and ^(G)to him he has given all that he has. ^37 (H)My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell, ³⁸ but you shall go to my father's house and to my clan and take a wife for my son.’ ³⁹ I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ ⁴⁰ But he said to me, ‘The Lord, ^(I)before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and ^(J)prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son from my clan and from my father's house. ⁴¹ Then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my clan. And if they will not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’

⁴² “I came today to the spring and said, ^(K)‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you ^(L)are prospering the way that I go, ⁴³ behold, I am standing ^(M)by the spring of water. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,” ^44 (N)and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,” let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master's son.’

⁴⁵ “Before I had finished ^(O)speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ ⁴⁶ She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also. ⁴⁷ Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ ^(P)So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms. ^48 (Q)Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord, ^(R)the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way^[a] to take ^(S)the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son. ⁴⁹ Now then, if you are going to ^(T)show steadfast love and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing has come from the Lord; we cannot ^(U)speak to you bad or good. ⁵¹ Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, ^(V)as the Lord has spoken.”

⁵² When Abraham's servant heard their words, ^(W)he bowed himself to the earth before the Lord. ⁵³ And the servant brought out jewelry of silver and of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments. ⁵⁴ And he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they spent the night there. When they arose in the morning, he said, ^(X)“Send me away to my master.” ⁵⁵ Her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman remain with us a while, at least ten days; after that she may go.” ⁵⁶ But he said to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.” ⁵⁷ They said, “Let us call the young woman and ask her.” ⁵⁸ And they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will go.” ⁵⁹ So they sent away Rebekah their sister and ^(Y)her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men. ⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her young women arose and rode on the camels and followed the man. Thus the servant took Rebekah and went his way.

⁶² Now Isaac had returned from ^(AB)Beer-lahai-roi and was dwelling in the Negeb. ⁶³ And Isaac went out ^(AC)to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming. ⁶⁴ And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel ⁶⁵ and said to the servant, “Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶ And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷ Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was ^(AD)comforted after his mother's ^(AE)death.

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

^23 (A)And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him ^(B)as he was teaching, and said, ^(C)“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” ²⁴ Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The baptism of John, ^(D)from where did it come? ^(E)From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ^(F)‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From man,’ ^(G)we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was ^(H)a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

^28 (I)“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in ^(J)the vineyard today.’ ²⁹ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he ^(K)changed his mind and went. ³⁰ And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^(L)the tax collectors and ^(M)the prostitutes go into ^(N)the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you ^(O)in the way of righteousness, and ^(P)you did not believe him, but ^(Q)the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward ^(R)change your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

^33 (S)“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ^(T)a vineyard ^(U)and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and ^(V)leased it to tenants, and ^(W)went into another country. ³⁴ When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants^[a] to the tenants ^(X)to get his fruit. ^35 (Y)And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and ^(Z)stoned another. ^36 (AA)Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. ³⁷ Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ^(AB)‘This is the heir. Come, ^(AC)let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ ³⁹ And they took him and ^(AD)threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ^40 (AE)When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ They said to him, ^(AF)“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and ^(AG)let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, ^(AH)“Have you never read in the Scriptures:

⁴³ Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God ^(AJ)will be taken away from you and given to a people ^(AK)producing its fruits. ⁴⁴ And ^(AL)the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and ^(AM)when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”^[c]

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ And ^(AN)although they were seeking to arrest him, ^(AO)they feared the crowds, because they held him to be ^(AP)a prophet.

⁷ These are the days of the years of Abraham's life, 175 years. ⁸ Abraham ^(A)breathed his last and ^(B)died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. ⁹ Isaac and Ishmael ^(C)his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, ¹⁰ the field ^(D)that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. ^(E)There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife. ¹¹ After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at ^(F)Beer-lahai-roi.

⁷ These are the days of the years of Abraham's life, 175 years. ⁸ Abraham ^(A)breathed his last and ^(B)died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. ⁹ Isaac and Ishmael ^(C)his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, ¹⁰ the field ^(D)that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. ^(E)There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife. ¹¹ After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at ^(F)Beer-lahai-roi.

God's Sovereign Choice

9 ^(A)I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For ^(B)I could wish that I myself were ^(C)accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,^[a] my kinsmen ^(D)according to the flesh. ⁴ They are ^(E)Israelites, and to them belong ^(F)the adoption, ^(G)the glory, ^(H)the covenants, ^(I)the giving of the law, ^(J)the worship, and ^(K)the promises. ⁵ To them belong ^(L)the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, ^(M)who is God over all, ^(N)blessed forever. Amen.

⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, ⁷ and not all are children of Abraham ^(O)because they are his offspring, but ^(P)“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ⁸ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but ^(Q)the children of the promise are counted as offspring. ⁹ For this is what the promise said: ^(R)“About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁰ And not only so, but ^(S)also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, ¹¹ though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of ^(T)him who calls— ¹² she was told, ^(U)“The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, ^(V)“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

¹⁴ What shall we say then? ^(W)Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, ^(X)“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it depends not on human will or exertion,^[b] but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ^(Y)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For ^(Z)who can resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, ^(AA)to answer back to God? ^(AB)Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ^21 (AC)Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump ^(AD)one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²² What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience ^(AE)vessels of wrath ^(AF)prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known ^(AG)the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he ^(AH)has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴ even us whom he ^(AI)has called, ^(AJ)not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As indeed he says in Hosea,

²⁷ And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ^(AN)“Though the number of the sons of Israel^[c] be as the sand of the sea, ^(AO)only a remnant of them will be saved, ²⁸ for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” ²⁹ And as Isaiah predicted,

Israel's Unbelief

³⁰ What shall we say, then? ^(AS)That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, ^(AT)a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but that Israel ^(AU)who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness^{[d] (AV)}did not succeed in reaching that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the ^(AW)stumbling stone, ³³ as it is written,