Abraham’s Faith Confirmed^(A)

22 Now it came to pass after these things that ^(B)God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

² Then He said, “Take now your son, ^(C)your only son Isaac, whom you ^(D)love, and go ^(E)to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a ^(F)burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

³ So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. ⁵ And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the ^[a]lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will ^(G)come back to you.”

⁶ So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and ^(H)laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. ⁷ But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”

And he said, “Here I am, my son.”

Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the ^[b]lamb for a burnt offering?”

⁸ And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the ^(I)lamb for a ^(J)burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.

⁹ Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and ^(K)laid him on the altar, upon the wood. ¹⁰ And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

¹¹ But the ^(L)Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

So he said, “Here I am.”

¹² And He said, ^(M)“Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for ^(N)now I know that you fear God, since you have not ^(O)withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

¹³ Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ And Abraham called the name of the place, ^[c]The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

¹⁵ Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, ¹⁶ and said: ^(P)“By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— ¹⁷ blessing I will ^(Q)bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants ^(R)as the stars of the heaven ^(S)and as the sand which is on the seashore; and ^(T)your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. ^18 (U)In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, ^(V)because you have obeyed My voice.”

The King on a Cross^(A)

^21 (B)Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross. ^22 (C)And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. ^23 (D)Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it. ²⁴ And when they crucified Him, ^(E)they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.

²⁵ Now ^(F)it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. ²⁶ And ^(G)the inscription of His ^[a]accusation was written above:

THE KING OF THE JEWS.

^27 (H)With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. ^28 [b]So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ^(I)“And He was numbered with the transgressors.”

²⁹ And ^(J)those who passed by blasphemed Him, ^(K)wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! ^(L)You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, ³⁰ save Yourself, and come down from the cross!”

³¹ Likewise the chief priests also, ^(M)mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved ^(N)others; Himself He cannot save. ³² Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and ^[c]believe.”

Even ^(O)those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

Jesus Dies on the Cross^(P)

³³ Now ^(Q)when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. ³⁴ And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, ^(R)“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

³⁵ Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, “Look, He is calling for Elijah!” ³⁶ Then ^(S)someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and ^(T)offered it to Him to drink, saying, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.”

^37 (U)And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.

³⁸ Then ^(V)the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹ So ^(W)when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that ^[d]He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”

^40 (X)There were also women looking on ^(Y)from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, ⁴¹ who also ^(Z)followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

¹⁸ And ^(A)He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, ^(B)the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Reconciled in Christ

¹⁹ For it pleased the Father that ^(C)in Him all the fullness should dwell, ²⁰ and ^(D)by Him to reconcile ^(E)all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, ^(F)having made peace through the blood of His cross.

²¹ And you, ^(G)who once were alienated and enemies in your mind ^(H)by wicked works, yet now He has ^(I)reconciled ^22 (J)in the body of His flesh through death, ^(K)to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— ²³ if indeed you continue ^(L)in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are ^(M)not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, ^(N)which was preached to every creature under heaven, ^(O)of which I, Paul, became a minister.