²⁸ Then the young woman ran and told her mother's household about these things.

²⁹ Rebekah had a brother whose name was ^(A)Laban. Laban ran out toward the man, to the spring. ³⁰ As soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms, and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man. And behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. ³¹ He said, “Come in, ^(B)O blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” ³² So the man came to the house and unharnessed the camels, and gave ^(C)straw and fodder to the camels, and there was ^(D)water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³ Then food was set before him to eat. But he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.” He said, “Speak on.”

³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham's servant. ³⁵ The Lord ^(E)has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys. ³⁶ And Sarah my master's wife ^(F)bore a son to my master when she was old, and ^(G)to him he has given all that he has. ^37 (H)My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell, ³⁸ but you shall go to my father's house and to my clan and take a wife for my son.’

⁴⁹ Now then, if you are going to ^(A)show steadfast love and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing has come from the Lord; we cannot ^(B)speak to you bad or good. ⁵¹ Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, ^(C)as the Lord has spoken.”

God Will Judge with Equity

To the choirmaster: according to ^(A)Do Not Destroy. ^(B)A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

¹² Therefore ^(A)lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, ¹³ and ^(B)make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint ^(C)but rather be healed. ^14 (D)Strive for peace with everyone, and for the ^(E)holiness ^(F)without which no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵ See to it that no one ^(G)fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ^(H)“root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; ¹⁶ that no one is ^(I)sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷ For you know that ^(J)afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

¹⁸ For you have not come to ^(K)what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest ¹⁹ and ^(L)the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words ^(M)made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. ²⁰ For they could not endure the order that was given, ^(N)“If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” ²¹ Indeed, ^(O)so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” ²² But you have come to ^(P)Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, ^(Q)the heavenly Jerusalem, and to ^(R)innumerable angels in festal gathering, ²³ and to ^(S)the assembly^[a] of the firstborn who are ^(T)enrolled in heaven, and to ^(U)God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ and to Jesus, ^(V)the mediator of a new covenant, and to ^(W)the sprinkled blood ^(X)that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵ See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For ^(Y)if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. ²⁶ At that time ^(Z)his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ^(AA)“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” ²⁷ This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates ^(AB)the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore let us be grateful for receiving ^(AC)a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus ^(AD)let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our ^(AE)God is a consuming fire.

¹⁴ About the middle of the feast Jesus went up ^(A)into the temple and began teaching. ¹⁵ The Jews therefore ^(B)marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning,^[a] when he has never studied?” ¹⁶ So Jesus answered them, ^(C)“My teaching is not mine, but his ^(D)who sent me. ^17 (E)If anyone's will is to do God's^[b] will, ^(F)he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I ^(G)am speaking on my own authority. ¹⁸ The one who speaks on his own authority ^(H)seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. ^19 (I)Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. ^(J)Why do you seek to kill me?” ²⁰ The crowd answered, ^(K)“You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” ²¹ Jesus answered them, “I did ^(L)one work, and you all marvel at it. ^22 (M)Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but ^(N)from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. ²³ If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, ^(O)are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? ^24 (P)Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Can This Be the Christ?

²⁵ Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom ^(Q)they seek to kill? ²⁶ And here he is, ^(R)speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that ^(S)the authorities really know that this is the Christ? ²⁷ But ^(T)we know ^(U)where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, ^(V)no one will know where he comes from.” ²⁸ So Jesus proclaimed, ^(W)as he taught in the temple, ^(X)“You know me, and you know where I come from. But ^(Y)I have not come of my own accord. ^(Z)He who sent me is true, ^(AA)and him you do not know. ^29 (AB)I know him, for I come ^(AC)from him, and ^(AD)he sent me.” ^30 (AE)So they were seeking to arrest him, but ^(AF)no one laid a hand on him, ^(AG)because his hour had not yet come. ³¹ Yet ^(AH)many of the people believed in him. They said, ^(AI)“When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

Officers Sent to Arrest Jesus

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd ^(AJ)muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent ^(AK)officers to arrest him. ³³ Jesus then said, ^(AL)“I will be with you a little longer, and then ^(AM)I am going to him who sent me. ^34 (AN)You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” ³⁵ The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? ^(AO)Does he intend to go to ^(AP)the Dispersion among ^(AQ)the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶ What does he mean by saying, ^(AR)‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”