The Call of Abram

12 Now ^(A)the Lord said^[a] to Abram, “Go from your country^[b] and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. ^2 (B)And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ^3 (C)I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and ^(D)in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”^[c]

⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from ^(E)Haran. ⁵ And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, ⁶ Abram ^(F)passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to ^(G)the oak^[d] of ^(H)Moreh. At that time ^(I)the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷ Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ^(J)“To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸ From there he moved to the hill country on the east of ^(K)Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. ⁹ And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

¹⁰ Now ^(L)there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹ When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, ¹² and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they ^(M)will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³ Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” ¹⁴ When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. ¹⁶ And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷ But the Lord ^(N)afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. ¹⁸ So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this 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 my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” ²⁰ And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

12 At that time ^(A)Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and ^(B)they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. ² But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, ^(C)“Look, your disciples are doing ^(D)what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” ³ He said to them, ^(E)“Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: ⁴ how he entered the house of God and ate ^(F)the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? ⁵ Or have you not read ^(G)in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? ⁶ I tell you, ^(H)something greater than the temple is here. ⁷ And if you had known ^(I)what this means, ^(J)‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸ For ^(K)the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand

⁹ He went on from there and ^(L)entered their synagogue. ¹⁰ And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, ^(M)“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—^(N)so that they might accuse him. ¹¹ He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, ^(O)if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? ^12 (P)Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So ^(Q)it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And ^(R)the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

God's Chosen Servant

¹⁵ Jesus, aware of this, ^(S)withdrew from there. And ^(T)many followed him, and he healed them all ¹⁶ and ^(U)ordered them not to make him known. ^17 (V)This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

^22 (AA)Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. ^23 (AB)And all the people were amazed, and said, ^(AC)“Can this be the Son of David?” ²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, ^(AD)“It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” ^25 (AE)Knowing their thoughts, ^(AF)he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. ²⁶ And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, ^(AG)by whom do ^(AH)your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁸ But if it is ^(AI)by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then ^(AJ)the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²⁹ Or ^(AK)how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed ^(AL)he may plunder his house. ^30 (AM)Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. ^31 (AN)Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but ^(AO)the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. ³² And whoever speaks a word ^(AP)against the Son of Man ^(AQ)will be forgiven, but ^(AR)whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in ^(AS)this age or in the age to come.

A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit

^33 (AT)“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, ^(AU)for the tree is known by its fruit. ^34 (AV)You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, ^(AW)when you are evil? ^(AX)For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ^35 (AY)The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. ³⁶ I tell you, ^(AZ)on the day of judgment ^(BA)people will give account for ^(BB)every careless word they speak, ³⁷ for ^(BC)by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The Sign of Jonah

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, ^(BD)we wish to see a sign from you.” ³⁹ But he answered them, ^(BE)“An evil and ^(BF)adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰ For ^(BG)just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, ^(BH)so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ^41 (BI)The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and ^(BJ)condemn it, for ^(BK)they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, ^(BL)something greater than Jonah is here. ^42 (BM)The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, ^(BN)something greater than Solomon is here.

Return of an Unclean Spirit

⁴³ “When ^(BO)the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through ^(BP)waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and ^(BQ)the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this ^(BR)evil generation.”

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

⁴⁶ While he was still speaking to the people, behold, ^(BS)his mother and his ^(BT)brothers^[a] stood outside, asking to speak to him.^{[b] 48} But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹ And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ⁵⁰ For ^(BU)whoever ^(BV)does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Report from Jerusalem

1 The words of ^(A)Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it happened in the month of ^(B)Chislev, ^(C)in the twentieth year, as I was in ^(D)Susa the citadel, ² that ^(E)Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. ³ And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and ^(F)shame. ^(G)The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, ^(H)and its gates are destroyed by fire.”

Nehemiah's Prayer

⁴ As soon as I heard these words I ^(I)sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the ^(J)God of heaven. ⁵ And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, ^(K)the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ^6 (L)let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, ^(M)confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even ^(N)I and my father's house have sinned. ^7 (O)We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules ^(P)that you commanded your servant Moses. ⁸ Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, ^(Q)I will scatter you among the peoples, ^9 (R)but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, ^(S)though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them ^(T)to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ ^10 (U)They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. ¹¹ O Lord, ^(V)let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

Now I was ^(W)cupbearer to the king.