Jacob’s Return to Bethel

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to ^(A)Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, ^(B)who appeared to you ^(C)when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”

² And Jacob said to his ^(D)household and to all who were with him, “Put away ^(E)the foreign gods that are among you, ^(F)purify yourselves, and change your garments. ³ Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, ^(G)who answered me in the day of my distress ^(H)and has been with me in the way which I have gone.” ⁴ So they gave Jacob all the foreign ^[a]gods which were in their hands, and the ^(I)earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under ^(J)the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.

⁵ And they journeyed, and ^(K)the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. ⁶ So Jacob came to ^(L)Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. ⁷ And he ^(M)built an altar there and called the place ^[b]El Bethel, because ^(N)there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

⁸ Now ^(O)Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called ^[c]Allon Bachuth.

⁹ Then ^(P)God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and ^(Q)blessed him. ¹⁰ And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; ^(R)your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, ^(S)but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. ¹¹ Also God said to him: ^(T)“I am God Almighty. ^(U)Be fruitful and multiply; ^(V)a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. ¹² The ^(W)land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.” ¹³ Then God ^(X)went^[d] up from him in the place where He talked with him. ¹⁴ So Jacob ^(Y)set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. ¹⁵ And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, ^(Z)Bethel.

Death of Rachel

¹⁶ Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor. ¹⁷ Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; ^(AA)you will have this son also.” ¹⁸ And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name ^[e]Ben-Oni; but his father called him ^[f]Benjamin. ¹⁹ So ^(AB)Rachel died and was buried on the way to ^(AC)Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ²⁰ And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave ^(AD)to this day.

The Coming of the Son of Man^(A)

^29 (B)“Immediately after the tribulation of those days ^(C)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ^30 (D)Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, ^(E)and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ^31 (F)And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His ^[a]elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The Parable of the Fig Tree^(G)

³² “Now learn ^(H)this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ So you also, when you see all these things, know ^(I)that ^[b]it is near—at the doors! ³⁴ Assuredly, I say to you, ^(J)this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. ^35 (K)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

No One Knows the Day or Hour^(L)

^36 (M)“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of ^[c]heaven, ^(N)but My Father only. ³⁷ But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ^38 (O)For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ^40 (P)Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. ^42 (Q)Watch therefore, for you do not know what ^[d]hour your Lord is coming. ^43 (R)But know this, that if the master of the house had known what ^[e]hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. ^44 (S)Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant^(T)

^45 (U)“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food ^[f]in due season? ^46 (V)Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. ⁴⁷ Assuredly, I say to you that ^(W)he will make him ruler over all his goods. ⁴⁸ But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master ^(X)is delaying ^[g]his coming,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, ⁵⁰ the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is ^(Y)not aware of, ⁵¹ and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. ^(Z)There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Joseph Dreams of Greatness

37 Now Jacob dwelt in the land ^(A)where his father was a ^[a]stranger, in the land of Canaan. ² This is the history of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought ^(B)a bad report of them to his father.

³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was ^(C)the son of his old age. Also he ^(D)made him a tunic of many colors. ⁴ But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they ^(E)hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

⁵ Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. ⁶ So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: ^7 (F)There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

⁸ And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

⁹ Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, ^(G)the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”

¹⁰ So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and ^(H)your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” ¹¹ And ^(I)his brothers envied him, but his father ^(J)kept the matter in mind.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹² Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in ^(K)Shechem. ¹³ And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.”

So he said to him, “Here I am.”

¹⁴ Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of ^(L)Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

¹⁵ Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”

¹⁶ So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. ^(M)Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”

¹⁷ And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in ^(N)Dothan.

¹⁸ Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, ^(O)they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ Then they said to one another, “Look, this ^[b]dreamer is coming! ^20 (P)Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

²¹ But ^(Q)Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” ²² And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.

²³ So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they ^(R)stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. ²⁴ Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

^25 (S)And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of ^(T)Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, ^(U)balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. ²⁶ So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and ^(V)conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and ^(W)let not our hand be upon him, for he is ^(X)our brother and ^(Y)our flesh.” And his brothers listened. ²⁸ Then ^(Z)Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, ^(AA)and sold him to the Ishmaelites for ^(AB)twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹ Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he ^(AC)tore his clothes. ³⁰ And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad ^(AD)is no more; and I, where shall I go?”

³¹ So they took ^(AE)Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. ³² Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”

³³ And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A ^(AF)wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” ³⁴ Then Jacob ^(AG)tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and ^(AH)mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ And all his sons and all his daughters ^(AI)arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For ^(AJ)I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

³⁶ Now ^(AK)the ^[c]Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

The Law of Liberty

14 Receive^(A) one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. ² For one believes he ^(B)may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. ³ Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and ^(C)let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. ^4 (D)Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

^5 (E)One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ He who ^(F)observes the day, observes it to the Lord; ^[a]and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for ^(G)he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. ⁷ For ^(H)none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. ⁸ For if we ^(I)live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For ^(J)to this end Christ died ^[b]and rose and lived again, that He might be ^(K)Lord of both the dead and the living. ¹⁰ But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For ^(L)we shall all stand before the judgment seat of ^[c]Christ. ¹¹ For it is written:

¹² So then ^(N)each of us shall give account of himself to God. ¹³ Therefore let us not judge one another ^[d]anymore, but rather resolve this, ^(O)not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.

The Law of Love

¹⁴ I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus ^(P)that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. ¹⁵ Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. ^(Q)Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. ^16 (R)Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; ^17 (S)for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and ^(T)peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ For he who serves Christ in ^[e]these things ^(U)is acceptable to God and approved by men.

^19 (V)Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which ^(W)one may ^[f]edify another. ^20 (X)Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. ^(Y)All things indeed are pure, ^(Z)but it is evil for the man who eats with ^[g]offense. ²¹ It is good neither to eat ^(AA)meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles ^[h]or is offended or is made weak. ^22 [i]Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. ^(AB)Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. ²³ But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for ^(AC)whatever is not from faith is ^[j]sin.