Abram Journeys to Egypt

12 Now ^(A)the Lord said to Abram,

⁴ So Abram went away as the Lord had spoken to him; and ^(G)Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their ^(H)possessions which they had accumulated, and ^(I)the ^[c]people which they had acquired in Haran, and they ^[d]set out for the land of Canaan; ^(J)so they came to the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram passed through the land as far as the site of ^(K)Shechem, to the ^[e]oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time. ⁷ And the Lord ^(L)appeared to Abram and said, “^(M)To your ^[f]descendants I will give this land.” So he built ^(N)an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. ⁸ Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent with ^(O)Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and ^(P)called upon the name of the Lord. ⁹ Then Abram journeyed on, continuing toward ^(Q)the ^[g]Negev.

¹⁰ Now there was ^(R)a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a time, because the famine was ^(S)severe in the land. ¹¹ It came about, when he ^[h]was approaching Egypt, that he said to his wife Sarai, “See now, I know that you are a ^[i](T)beautiful woman; ^12 (U)and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³ Please say that you are ^(V)my sister so that it may go well for me because of you, and that ^[j](W)I may live on account of you.” ¹⁴ Now it came about, when Abram entered Egypt, that the Egyptians ^[k]saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and ^(X)the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶ Therefore ^(Y)he treated Abram well for her sake; and ^[l](Z)he gave him sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷ But the Lord ^(AA)struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸ Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “^(AB)What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for myself as a wife? Now then, ^[m]here is your wife, take her and go!” ²⁰ And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they ^[n]escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.

Abram and Lot

13 So Abram went up from Egypt to ^(AC)the ^[o]Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him.

² Now Abram was ^(AD)very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. ³ And he went ^[p]on his journeys from the ^[q]Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, ^(AE)between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to the place of the ^(AF)altar which he had made there previously; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. ⁵ Now ^(AG)Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents. ⁶ And ^(AH)the land could not ^[r]support both of them ^[s]while living together, ^(AI)for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. ^7 (AJ)And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Now ^(AK)the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.

^8 (AL)So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are relatives! ⁹ Is the entire land not before you? Please separate from me; if you choose the left, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right, then I will go to the left.” ¹⁰ Lot raised his eyes and saw all the ^[t]vicinity of the ^(AM)Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord ^(AN)destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like ^(AO)the garden of the Lord, ^(AP)like the land of Egypt ^[u]going toward ^(AQ)Zoar. ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself all the ^[v]vicinity of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. So they separated from each other. ¹² Abram ^[w]settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot ^[x]settled in ^(AR)the cities of the ^[y]vicinity of the Jordan, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. ¹³ Now ^(AS)the men of Sodom were ^[z]exceedingly wicked ^(AT)sinners against the Lord.

¹⁴ The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “^(AU)Now raise your eyes and look from the place where you are, ^(AV)northward and southward, and eastward and westward; ^15 (AW)for all the land which you see ^(AX)I will give to you and to your ^[aa]descendants forever. ¹⁶ I will make your ^[ab]descendants ^(AY)as plentiful as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can count the dust of the earth, then your ^[ac]descendants could also be counted. ¹⁷ Arise, ^(AZ)walk about in the land through its length and width; for ^(BA)I will give it to you.” ¹⁸ Then Abram moved his tent and came and lived by the ^[ad](BB)oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron; and there he built ^(BC)an altar to the Lord.

War of the Kings

14 And it came about in the days of Amraphel king of ^(BD)Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of ^(BE)Elam, and Tidal king of ^[ae]Goiim, ² that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of ^(BF)Admah, and Shemeber king of ^(BG)Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, ^(BH)Zoar). ³ All these kings ^[af]came as allies to ^(BI)the Valley of Siddim (that is, ^(BJ)the Salt Sea). ⁴ For twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵ And in the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and ^[ag]defeated the ^(BK)Rephaim in ^(BL)Ashteroth-karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in ^[ah](BM)Shaveh-kiriathaim, ⁶ and the ^(BN)Horites on their Mount Seir, as far as ^(BO)El-paran, which is by the wilderness. ⁷ Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, ^(BP)Kadesh), and ^[ai]conquered all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, who lived in ^(BQ)Hazazon-tamar. ⁸ And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out; and they lined up for battle against them in ^(BR)the Valley of Siddim, ⁹ against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of ^[aj]Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. ¹⁰ Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and ^(BS)the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell ^[ak]into them. But those who survived fled to the ^(BT)hill country. ¹¹ Then they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and departed. ¹² They also took Lot, ^(BU)Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed, ^(BV)for he was living in Sodom.

¹³ Then ^[al]a survivor came and told Abram the ^(BW)Hebrew. Now he was residing by the ^[am](BX)oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and they were ^[an](BY)allies with Abram. ¹⁴ When Abram heard that ^(BZ)his relative had been taken captive, he ^[ao]led out his trained men, ^(CA)born in his house, numbering 318, and went in pursuit as far as ^(CB)Dan. ¹⁵ Then ^(CC)he divided ^[ap]his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and ^[aq]defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is ^[ar]north of ^(CD)Damascus. ¹⁶ He ^(CE)brought back all the possessions, and also brought back ^(CF)his relative Lot with his possessions, and also the women, and the other people.

God’s Promise to Abram

¹⁷ Then after his return from the ^[as]defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, ^(CG)the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, ^(CH)the King’s Valley). ¹⁸ And ^(CI)Melchizedek the king of Salem brought out ^(CJ)bread and wine; now he was a ^(CK)priest of ^[at]God Most High. ¹⁹ And he blessed him and said,

And ^(CM)he gave him a tenth of everything. ²¹ Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the ^[ax]people to me and take the possessions for yourself.” ²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have ^[ay]sworn to the Lord ^[az](CN)God Most High, ^[ba](CO)Possessor of heaven and earth, ²³ that ^(CP)I will not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, so that you do not say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ ^24 [bb]I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, ^(CQ)Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share.”

The First Disciples

5 ^(A)Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by ^(B)the lake of Gennesaret; ² and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. ³ And ^(C)He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little distance from the land. And He sat down and continued teaching the crowds from the boat. ⁴ Now when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and ^(D)let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ Simon responded and said, “^(E)Master, ^(F)we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but ^[a]I will do as You say and let down the nets.” ⁶ And when they had done this, ^(G)they caught a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to tear; ⁷ so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, to the point that they were sinking. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ⁹ For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; ¹⁰ and likewise also were ^[b]James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “^(H)Do not fear; from now on you will be ^(I)catching people.” ¹¹ When they had brought their boats to land, ^(J)they left everything and followed Him.

A Man with Leprosy Healed

^12 (K)While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man ^[c]covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” ¹³ And He reached out with His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ And He ordered him to tell no one, saying, “But go and ^(L)show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” ¹⁵ But ^(M)the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. ¹⁶ But Jesus Himself would often slip away ^[d]to the ^[e]wilderness and ^(N)pray.

A Man Lowered Through a Roof

^17 [f]One day He was teaching, and ^(O)there were some Pharisees and ^(P)teachers of the Law sitting there who had ^(Q)come from every village of Galilee and Judea, and from Jerusalem; and ^(R)the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. ^18 (S)And some men were carrying a man on a stretcher who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. ¹⁹ But when they did not find any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on ^(T)the roof and let him down ^(U)through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. ²⁰ And seeing their faith, He said, “^[g]Friend, ^(V)your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ The scribes and the Pharisees ^(W)began thinking of the implications, saying, “^(X)Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? ^(Y)Who can forgive sins, except God alone?” ²² But Jesus, ^[h]aware of their thoughts, responded and said to them, “Why are you thinking this way in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ²⁴ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” He said to the ^(Z)man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher, and go home.” ²⁵ And immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home ^(AA)glorifying God. ²⁶ And ^[i]they were all struck with astonishment and began ^(AB)glorifying God. They were also filled ^(AC)with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today!”

Call of Levi (Matthew)

^27 (AD)After that He went out and looked at a tax collector named ^[j](AE)Levi sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” ²⁸ And he ^(AF)left everything behind, and got up and began following Him.

²⁹ And ^(AG)Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a large crowd of ^(AH)tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. ^30 (AI)The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling to His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and ^[k]sinners?” ³¹ And Jesus answered and said to them, “^(AJ)It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners.”

³³ And they said to Him, “^(AK)The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do ^[l]the same, but Yours eat and drink.” ³⁴ And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the ^[m]attendants of the groom fast while the groom is with them, can you? ^35 (AL)But the days will come; and when the groom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” ³⁶ And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the patch from the new garment will not match the old. ³⁷ And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹ And no one, after drinking old wine wants new; for he says, ‘The old is fine.’”