The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?^(A)

^34 (B)But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. ³⁵ Then one of them, ^(C)a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

³⁷ Jesus said to him, ^(D)“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ^(E)‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ^40 (F)On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus: How Can David Call His Descendant Lord?^(G)

^41 (H)While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, ⁴² saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”

They said to Him, “The ^(I)Son of David.”

⁴³ He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying:

⁴⁵ If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” ^46 (K)And no one was able to answer Him a word, ^(L)nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.

Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees^(M)

23 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, ² saying: ^(N)“The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³ Therefore whatever they tell you ^[a]to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for ^(O)they say, and do not do. ^4 (P)For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. ⁵ But all their works they do to ^(Q)be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. ^6 (R)They love the ^[b]best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, ⁷ greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ ^8 (S)But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your ^[c]Teacher, ^[d]the Christ, and you are all brethren. ⁹ Do not call anyone on earth your father; ^(T)for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. ¹⁰ And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. ¹¹ But ^(U)he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. ^12 (V)And whoever exalts himself will be ^[e]humbled, and he who humbles himself will be ^[f]exalted.

Jacob Meets Rachel

29 So Jacob went on his journey ^(A)and came to the land of the people of the East. ² And he looked, and saw a ^(B)well in the field; and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks. A large stone was on the well’s mouth. ³ Now all the flocks would be gathered there; and they would roll the stone from the well’s mouth, water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well’s mouth.

⁴ And Jacob said to them, “My brethren, where are you from?”

And they said, “We are from ^(C)Haran.”

⁵ Then he said to them, “Do you know ^(D)Laban the son of Nahor?”

And they said, “We know him.”

⁶ So he said to them, ^(E)“Is he well?”

And they said, “He is well. And look, his daughter Rachel ^(F)is coming with the sheep.”

⁷ Then he said, “Look, it is still ^[a]high day; it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.”

⁸ But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.”

⁹ Now while he was still speaking with them, ^(G)Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰ And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near and ^(H)rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. ¹¹ Then Jacob ^(I)kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. ¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he was ^(J)her father’s relative and that he was Rebekah’s son. ^(K)So she ran and told her father.

¹³ Then it came to pass, when Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister’s son, that ^(L)he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. So he told Laban all these things. ¹⁴ And Laban said to him, ^(M)“Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month.

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, ^(N)what should your wages be?” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah’s eyes were ^[b]delicate, but Rachel was ^(O)beautiful of form and appearance.

¹⁸ Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, ^(P)“I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”

¹⁹ And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob ^(Q)served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.

Israel’s Rejection Not Total

11 I say then, ^(A)has God cast away His people? ^(B)Certainly not! For ^(C)I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. ² God has not cast away His people whom ^(D)He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, ^3 (E)“Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”? ⁴ But what does the divine response say to him? ^(F)“I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” ^5 (G)Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. ⁶ And ^(H)if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. ^[a]But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

⁷ What then? ^(I)Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were ^(J)blinded. ⁸ Just as it is written:

⁹ And David says:

Israel’s Rejection Not Final

¹¹ I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But ^(N)through their ^[b]fall, to provoke them to ^(O)jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. ¹² Now if their ^[c]fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!

¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as ^(P)I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, ¹⁴ if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and ^(Q)save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be ^(R)but life from the dead?

¹⁶ For if ^(S)the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. ¹⁷ And if ^(T)some of the branches were broken off, ^(U)and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and ^[d]fatness of the olive tree, ^18 (V)do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

¹⁹ You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” ²⁰ Well said. Because of ^(W)unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. ²² Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, ^[e]goodness, ^(X)if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise ^(Y)you also will be cut off. ²³ And they also, ^(Z)if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

²⁵ For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be ^(AA)wise in your own ^[f]opinion, that ^(AB)blindness in part has happened to Israel ^(AC)until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And so all Israel will be ^[g]saved, as it is written:

²⁸ Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are ^(AF)beloved for the sake of the fathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are ^(AG)irrevocable. ³⁰ For as you ^(AH)were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, ³¹ even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. ³² For God has ^[h]committed them ^(AI)all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.

³³ Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

³⁶ For ^(AM)of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, ^(AN)to whom be glory forever. Amen.