¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram^[a] caught by its horns.^(A) He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.^{(B) 14} So Abraham called^(C) that place The Lord^(D) Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.^(E)”

⁷ Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb^(A) for the burnt offering?”

⁸ Abraham answered, “God himself will provide^(B) the lamb^(C) for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

⁹ When they reached the place God had told him about,^(D) Abraham built an altar^(E) there and arranged the wood^(F) on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar,^(G) on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife^(H) to slay his son.^{(I) 11} But the angel of the Lord^(J) called out to him from heaven,^(K) “Abraham! Abraham!”^(L)

“Here I am,”^(M) he replied.

¹² “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God,^(N) because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.^(O)”

⁴ Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem,^(A) the elders of the town trembled^(B) when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?^(C)”

⁵ Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate^(D) yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶ When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab^(E) and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance,^(F) but the Lord looks at the heart.”^(G)

Psalm 26

Of David.

13 If I speak in the tongues^[a](A) of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy^(B) and can fathom all mysteries^(C) and all knowledge,^(D) and if I have a faith^(E) that can move mountains,^(F) but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor^(G) and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b](H) but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient,^(I) love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.^{(J) 5} It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,^(K) it is not easily angered,^(L) it keeps no record of wrongs.^{(M) 6} Love does not delight in evil^(N) but rejoices with the truth.^{(O) 7} It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.^(P)

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies,^(Q) they will cease; where there are tongues,^(R) they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part^(S) and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes,^(T) what is in part disappears.

Faith in Action

11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for^(A) and assurance about what we do not see.^(B)

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.^(A) He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸ even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^[a](B)

The Parable of the Weeds

²⁴ Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like^(A) a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

²⁷ “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

²⁸ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

²⁹ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”^(B)

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast^(C)(D)

³¹ He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like^(E) a mustard seed,^(F) which a man took and planted in his field. ³² Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”^(G)

³³ He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like^(H) yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds^[a] of flour^(I) until it worked all through the dough.”^(J)

³⁴ Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.^{(K) 35} So was fulfilled^(L) what was spoken through the prophet: