²⁹ Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was ^(A)Laban; and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring. ³⁰ When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s ^[a]wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, “^[b]This is what the man said to me,” he went to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. ³¹ And he said, “^(B)Come in, ^(C)blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside, since ^(D)I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels?” ³² So the man entered the house. Then ^[c](E)Laban unloaded the camels, and he gave straw and feed to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³ But when food was set before him to eat, he said, “I will not eat until I have stated my business.” And he said, “Speak on.” ³⁴ So he said, “I am ^(F)Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ The Lord has greatly ^(G)blessed my master, so that he has become ^[d]rich; and He has given him ^(H)flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and slave women, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶ Now ^(I)my master’s wife Sarah bore a son to my master ^[e]in her old age, and ^(J)he has given him all that he has. ^37 (K)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 live; ³⁸ but you shall go to my father’s house and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.’ ³⁹ Then ^(L)I said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman does not follow me.’ ⁴⁰ And he said to me, ‘^(M)The Lord, before whom I have ^(N)walked, will send ^(O)His angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father’s house; ^41 (P)then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’

⁴² “So ^(Q)I came today to the spring, and said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I have been going ^(R)successful; ⁴³ behold, ^(S)I am standing by the ^[f]spring, and may it be that the ^[g]young unmarried woman who comes out to draw water, and to whom I say, “^(T)Please let me drink a little water from your jar”; ⁴⁴ and she says to me, “You 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 ^(U)speaking in my heart, behold, ^(V)Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder, and went down to the spring and drew water, and ^(W)I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ ⁴⁶ She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘^(X)Drink, and I will water your camels also’; so I drank, and she watered the camels also. ^47 (Y)Then I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him’; and I put the ^(Z)ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her ^[h]wrists. ⁴⁸ And I ^(AA)bowed low and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, ^(AB)who had guided me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. ⁴⁹ So now if you are going to ^[i](AC)deal kindly and truthfully with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me now, so that I may turn to the right or the left.”

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “^(AD)The matter has come from the Lord; ^(AE)so we cannot speak to you bad or good. ⁵¹ Here is Rebekah before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.”

⁵² When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he ^(AF)bowed himself to the ground ^[j]before the Lord. ⁵³ And the servant brought out ^(AG)articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother. ⁵⁴ Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they got up in the morning, he said, “^(AH)Send me away to my master.” ⁵⁵ But her brother and her mother said, “^(AI)Let the young woman stay with us a few days, say ten; afterward she may go.” ⁵⁶ However, he said to them, “Do not delay me, since ^(AJ)the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away so that I may go to my master.” ⁵⁷ And they said, “We will call the young woman and ^[k]ask her.” ⁵⁸ Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” ⁵⁹ So they sent away their sister Rebekah and ^(AK)her nurse with Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

⁶¹ Then Rebekah got up with her female attendants, and they mounted the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

Isaac Marries Rebekah

⁶² Now Isaac had come back from ^[m]a journey to ^(AN)Beer-lahai-roi; for he was living in ^(AO)the ^[n]Negev. ⁶³ Isaac went out ^(AP)to ^[o]meditate in the field toward evening; and ^(AQ)he raised his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming. ⁶⁴ Rebekah raised her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel. ⁶⁵ She said to the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “He is my master.” Then she took her ^[p]veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶ The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷ Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and ^(AR)he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and ^(AS)he loved her; so Isaac was comforted after ^(AT)his mother’s death.

Authority Challenged

^23 (A)When He entered the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him ^(B)while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” ²⁴ But Jesus responded and said to them, “I will also ask you one ^[a]question, which, if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The baptism of John was from what source: from heaven or from men?” And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the ^[b]people; for they all regard John as ^(C)a prophet.” ²⁷ And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.

Parable of Two Sons

²⁸ “But what do you think? A man had two ^[c]sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘^[d]Son, go work today in the ^(D)vineyard.’ ²⁹ But he replied, ‘I do not want to.’ Yet afterward he regretted it and went. ³⁰ And the man came to his second son and said the same thing; and he replied, ‘I will, sir’; and yet he 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 that ^(E)the tax collectors and prostitutes ^[e]will get into the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but ^(F)the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even ^[f]have second thoughts afterward so as to believe him.

Parable of the Landowner

³³ “Listen to another parable. ^(G)There was a ^[g]landowner who ^(H)planted a ^(I)vineyard and put a ^[h]fence around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and he leased it to ^[i]vine-growers and ^(J)went on a journey. ³⁴ And when the ^[j]harvest time approached, he ^(K)sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his fruit. ³⁵ And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶ Again, he ^(L)sent other slaves, more than the first; and they did the same things to them. ³⁷ But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him and take possession of his inheritance!’ ³⁹ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰ Therefore, when the ^[k]owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” ⁴¹ They *said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and ^(M)lease the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the fruit in the proper seasons.”

⁴² Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,

⁴³ Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a ^[m]people producing its fruit. ⁴⁴ And ^(O)the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ And although they sought to arrest Him, they ^(P)feared the crowds, since they considered Him to be a ^(Q)prophet.

⁷ These are ^[a]all the years of Abraham’s life that he lived, ^(A)175 years. ⁸ Abraham breathed his last and died ^(B)at a good old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was ^(C)gathered to his people. ⁹ Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in ^(D)the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre, ^10 (E)the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. ¹¹ It came about after the death of Abraham, that ^(F)God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac ^[b]lived by ^(G)Beer-lahai-roi.

⁷ These are ^[a]all the years of Abraham’s life that he lived, ^(A)175 years. ⁸ Abraham breathed his last and died ^(B)at a good old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was ^(C)gathered to his people. ⁹ Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in ^(D)the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre, ^10 (E)the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. ¹¹ It came about after the death of Abraham, that ^(F)God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac ^[b]lived by ^(G)Beer-lahai-roi.

Deep Concern for Israel

9 ^(A)I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. ³ For ^(B)I could ^[a]wish that I myself were ^(C)accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my countrymen, my kinsmen ^(D)according to the flesh, ⁴ who are ^(E)Israelites, to whom belongs ^(F)the adoption as sons and daughters, ^(G)the glory, ^(H)the covenants, ^(I)the giving of the Law, ^(J)the temple service, and ^(K)the promises; ⁵ whose are ^(L)the fathers, and ^(M)from whom is the ^[b]Christ according to the flesh, ^(N)who is over all, ^(O)God ^(P)blessed ^[c]forever. Amen.

⁶ But it is not as though ^(Q)the word of God has failed. ^(R)For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; ⁷ nor are they all children ^(S)because they are Abraham’s ^[d](T)descendants, but: “^[e](U)through Isaac your ^[f]descendants shall be named.” ⁸ That is, it is not the children of the flesh ^[g]who are ^(V)children of God, but the ^(W)children of the promise are regarded as ^[h](X)descendants. ⁹ For this is the word of promise: “^(Y)At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.” ^10 (Z)And not only that, but there was also ^(AA)Rebekah, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; ¹¹ for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that ^(AB)God’s purpose according to His choice would ^[i]stand, not ^[j]because of works but ^[k]because of Him who calls, ¹² it was said to her, “^(AC)The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ Just as it is written: “^(AD)Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

^14 (AE)What shall we say then? ^(AF)There is no injustice with God, is there? ^[l](AG)Far from it! ¹⁵ For He says to Moses, “^(AH)I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will show compassion to whomever I show compassion.” ¹⁶ So then, it does not depend on the person who ^[m]wants it nor the one who ^[n](AI)runs, but on ^(AJ)God who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “^(AK)For this very reason I raised you up, in order to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed ^[o]throughout the earth.” ¹⁸ So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He ^(AL)hardens whom He desires.

^19 (AM)You will say to me then, “^(AN)Why does He still find fault? For ^(AO)who has resisted His will?” ²⁰ On the contrary, who are you, ^[p](AP)you foolish person, who ^(AQ)answers back to God? ^(AR)The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? ²¹ Or does the potter not have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one object ^[q]for honorable use, and another ^[r]for common use? ^22 [s]What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with great ^(AS)patience objects of wrath ^(AT)prepared for destruction? ²³ And He did so to make known ^(AU)the riches of His glory upon ^(AV)objects of mercy, which He ^(AW)prepared beforehand for glory, ²⁴ namely us, whom He also ^(AX)called, ^(AY)not only from among Jews, but also from among Gentiles, ²⁵ as He also says in Hosea:

²⁷ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “^(BC)Though the number of the sons of Israel may be ^(BD)like the sand of the sea, only ^(BE)the remnant will be saved; ^28 (BF)for the Lord will execute His word on the earth, ^[t]thoroughly and ^[u]quickly.” ²⁹ And just as Isaiah foretold:

^30 (BK)What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, but ^(BL)the righteousness that is ^[y]by faith; ³¹ however, Israel, ^(BM)pursuing a law of righteousness, did not ^(BN)arrive at that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it ^[z]by faith, but as though they could ^[aa]by works. They stumbled over ^(BO)the stumbling stone, ³³ just as it is written: