9 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ^(A)“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. ^2 (B)The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. ^3 (C)Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And ^(D)as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. ⁴ But you shall not eat flesh with its ^(E)life, that is, its blood. ⁵ And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: ^(F)from every beast I will require it and ^(G)from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

⁷ And you,^[a] be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

⁸ Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ⁹ “Behold, ^(J)I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, ¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. ^11 (K)I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” ¹² And God said, ^(L)“This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: ¹³ I have set ^(M)my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, ^15 (N)I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶ When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember ^(O)the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” ¹⁷ God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. ² And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in ^(A)the land of Shinar and settled there. ³ And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, ^(B)and bitumen for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower ^(C)with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” ⁵ And ^(D)the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. ⁶ And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, ^(E)let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.” ⁸ So ^(F)the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. ⁹ Therefore its name was called ^(G)Babel, because there the Lord confused^[a] the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

Joseph's Brothers Return to Egypt

43 Now the famine was ^(A)severe in the land. ² And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.” ³ But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your ^(B)brother is with you.’ ⁴ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. ⁵ But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’” ⁶ Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” ⁷ They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” ⁸ And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may ^(C)live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. ⁹ I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. ^(D)If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. ¹⁰ If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.”

¹¹ Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little ^(E)balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. ¹² Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money ^(F)that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. ¹³ Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man. ¹⁴ May ^(G)God Almighty^{[a] (H)}grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, ^(I)if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”

¹⁵ So the men took this present, and they took double the money with them, and Benjamin. They arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ^(J)steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.” ¹⁷ The man did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph's house. ¹⁸ And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph's house, and they said, “It is because of the money, which was replaced in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may assault us and fall upon us to make us servants and seize our donkeys.” ¹⁹ So they went up to the steward of Joseph's house and spoke with him at the door of the house, ²⁰ and said, ^(K)“Oh, my lord, ^(L)we came down the first time to buy food. ²¹ And ^(M)when we came to the lodging place we opened our sacks, and there was each man's money in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. So we have brought it again with us, ²² and we have brought other money down with us to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.” ²³ He replied, “Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴ And when the man had brought the men into Joseph's house and ^(N)given them water, and they had washed their feet, and when he had given their donkeys fodder, ²⁵ they prepared ^(O)the present for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present that they had with them and ^(P)bowed down to him to the ground. ²⁷ And he inquired about their welfare and said, “Is your father well, the old man ^(Q)of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” ²⁸ They said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” And they ^(R)bowed their heads and prostrated themselves. ²⁹ And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, ^(S)his mother's son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, ^(T)of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!” ³⁰ Then Joseph hurried out, for ^(U)his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and ^(V)wept there. ³¹ Then he washed his face and came out. And ^(W)controlling himself he said, “Serve the food.” ³² They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for that is ^(X)an abomination to the Egyptians. ³³ And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth. And the men looked at one another in amazement. ^34 (Y)Portions were taken to them from Joseph's table, but Benjamin's portion was ^(Z)five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry^[b] with him.

²⁷ And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will ^(A)strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ ²⁸ But after I am raised up, ^(B)I will go before you to Galilee.” ^29 (C)Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” ³⁰ And ^(D)Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before ^(E)the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” ³¹ But ^(F)he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

^32 (G)And they went ^(H)to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³ And he took with him ^(I)Peter and James and John, and began ^(J)to be greatly distressed and troubled. ³⁴ And he said to them, ^(K)“My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and ^(L)watch.”^{[a] 35} And going a little farther, he fell on the ground ^(M)and prayed that, if it were possible, ^(N)the hour might pass from him. ³⁶ And he said, ^(O)“Abba, Father, ^(P)all things are possible for you. Remove ^(Q)this cup from me. ^(R)Yet not what I will, but what you will.” ³⁷ And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? ^38 (S)Watch and ^(T)pray that you may not ^(U)enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ³⁹ And again he went away and prayed, ^(V)saying the same words. ⁴⁰ And again he came and found them sleeping, for ^(W)their eyes were very heavy, and ^(X)they did not know what to answer him. ⁴¹ And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? ^(Y)It is enough; ^(Z)the hour has come. ^(AA)The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴² Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

^43 (AB)And immediately, while he was still speaking, ^(AC)Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. ⁴⁴ Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” ⁴⁵ And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, ^(AD)“Rabbi!” And he ^(AE)kissed him. ⁴⁶ And they laid hands on him and seized him. ⁴⁷ But one of those who stood by drew his ^(AF)sword and struck the servant^[b] of the high priest and cut off his ear. ⁴⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? ^49 (AG)Day after day I was with you in the temple ^(AH)teaching, and you did not seize me. But ^(AI)let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” ^50 (AJ)And they all left him and fled.

A Young Man Flees

⁵¹ And a young man followed him, with nothing but ^(AK)a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, ⁵² but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.

Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial

³¹ “Simon, Simon, behold, ^(A)Satan demanded to have you,^{[a] (B)}that he might sift you like wheat, ³² but ^(C)I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, ^(D)strengthen your brothers.” ³³ Peter^[b] said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both ^(E)to prison and ^(F)to death.” ^34 (G)Jesus^[c] said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”

Scripture Must Be Fulfilled in Jesus

³⁵ And he said to them, ^(H)“When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” ³⁶ He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. ³⁷ For I tell you that ^(I)this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ^(J)‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For ^(K)what is written about me has its fulfillment.” ³⁸ And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two ^(L)swords.” And he said to them, ^(M)“It is enough.”

Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives

^39 (N)And he came out and went, ^(O)as was his custom, to ^(P)the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. ^40 (Q)And when he came to ^(R)the place, he said to them, ^(S)“Pray that you may not ^(T)enter into temptation.” ⁴¹ And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and ^(U)knelt down and prayed, ⁴² saying, ^(V)“Father, if you are willing, remove ^(W)this cup from me. ^(X)Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” ⁴³ And there appeared to him ^(Y)an angel from heaven, strengthening him. ⁴⁴ And ^(Z)being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.^{[d] 45} And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, ⁴⁶ and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and ^(AA)pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

^47 (AB)While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called ^(AC)Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, ⁴⁸ but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” ⁴⁹ And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike ^(AD)with the sword?” ⁵⁰ And one of them struck the servant^[e] of the high priest and cut off his right ear. ⁵¹ But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. ⁵² Then Jesus said to the chief priests and ^(AE)officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? ⁵³ When ^(AF)I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is ^(AG)your hour, and ^(AH)the power of darkness.”