Isaac Settles in Gerar

26 Now there was ^(A)a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to ^(B)Abimelech king of the Philistines. ² And the Lord ^(C)appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; ^(D)stay in the land of which I shall tell you. ³ Live for a time in this land and ^(E)I will be with you and ^(F)bless you, for ^(G)to you and to your ^[a]descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish ^(H)the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. ^4 (I)I will multiply your ^[b]descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your ^[c]descendants all these lands; and ^(J)by your ^[d]descendants all the nations of the earth ^[e]shall be blessed, ⁵ because Abraham ^[f](K)obeyed Me and fulfilled his duty to Me, and kept My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

⁶ So Isaac lived in Gerar. ⁷ When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “^(L)She is my sister,” for he was ^(M)afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “^[g]the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, since she is ^(N)beautiful.” ⁸ Now it came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down through a window, and saw them, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. ⁹ Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she certainly is your wife! So how is it that you said, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘otherwise I might be killed on account of her.’” ¹⁰ And ^(O)Abimelech said, “What is this that you have done to us? One of the people might easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” ¹¹ So Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, “He who ^(P)touches this man or his wife will certainly be put to death.”

¹² Now Isaac sowed in that land and ^[h]reaped in the same year a hundred times as much. And ^(Q)the Lord blessed him, ¹³ and the man ^(R)became rich, and continued to grow ^[i]richer until he became very ^[j]wealthy; ¹⁴ for ^(S)he had possessions of flocks ^[k]and herds, and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ Now ^(T)all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up ^[l]by filling them with dirt. ¹⁶ Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are ^[m](U)too powerful for us.” ¹⁷ So Isaac departed from there and camped in the Valley of Gerar, and ^[n]settled there.

Argument over the Wells

¹⁸ Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which ^[o]had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he ^[p]gave them the same names which his father had ^[q]given them. ¹⁹ But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of ^[r]flowing water, ²⁰ the herdsmen of Gerar ^(V)quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well ^[s]Esek, because they argued with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it ^[t]Sitnah. ²² Then he moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it ^[u]Rehoboth, for he said, “^[v](W)At last the Lord has made ^[w]room for us, and we will be ^(X)fruitful in the land.”

²³ And he went up from there to ^(Y)Beersheba. ²⁴ And the Lord ^(Z)appeared to him the same night and said,

²⁵ So he built an ^(AD)altar there and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Covenant with Abimelech

²⁶ Then ^(AE)Abimelech came to him from Gerar ^[y]with his adviser Ahuzzath, and Phicol the commander of his army. ²⁷ Isaac said to them, “^(AF)Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” ²⁸ They said, “We have seen plainly ^(AG)that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘An oath must now be taken ^[z]by us,’ that is, ^[aa]by you and us. So let us make a covenant with you, ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you ^[ab]and have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace. You are now the ^(AH)blessed of the Lord.” ³⁰ Then ^(AI)he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹ In the morning they got up early and ^[ac](AJ)exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away, and they left him in peace. ³² Now it came about on the same day, that Isaac’s servants came in and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” ³³ So he called it ^[ad]Shibah; therefore the name of the city is ^(AK)Beersheba to this day.

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old ^(AL)he ^[ae]married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; ³⁵ and ^(AM)they ^[af]brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

Jacob’s Deception

27 Now it came about, when Isaac was old and ^(AN)his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his ^(AO)older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” ² Then ^[ag](AP)Isaac said, “Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death. ³ Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and ^(AQ)hunt game for me; ⁴ and prepare a delicious meal for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that ^(AR)my soul may bless you before I die.”

⁵ Now Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home, ^6 (AS)Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, ⁷ ‘Bring me some game and prepare a delicious meal for me, so that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ ⁸ So now, my son, ^(AT)listen to ^[ah]me ^[ai]as I command you. ⁹ Go now to the flock and ^[aj]bring me two choice ^[ak]young goats from there, so that I may prepare them as a delicious meal for your father, such as he loves. ¹⁰ Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.” ¹¹ But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “Behold, my brother Esau is a ^(AU)hairy man and I am a smooth man. ^12 (AV)Perhaps my father will touch me, then I will be like a ^[al]deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.” ¹³ But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only ^(AW)obey my voice, and go, get the goats for me.” ¹⁴ So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made a delicious meal such as his father loved. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the ^[am]best ^(AX)garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. ¹⁶ And she put the skins of the ^[an]young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ She also gave the delicious meal and the bread which she had made ^[ao]to her son Jacob.

¹⁸ Then he came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” ¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. ^(AY)Come now, sit and eat of my game, so that ^[ap](AZ)you may bless me.” ²⁰ Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “^(BA)Because the Lord your God made it ^[aq]come to me.” ²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come close, so that ^(BB)I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” ²² So Jacob came close to his father Isaac, and he touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ And he did not recognize him, because his hands were ^(BC)hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. ²⁴ And he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.” ²⁵ So he said, “Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, that ^[ar](BD)I may bless you.” And he brought it to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come close and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he ^(BE)blessed him and said,

The Stolen Blessing

³⁰ Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, that his brother Esau came in from his hunting. ³¹ Then he also made a delicious meal, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, “^(BN)Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that ^[as](BO)you may bless me.” ³² His father Isaac said to him, “^(BP)Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, ^(BQ)your firstborn, Esau.” ³³ Then Isaac ^[at]trembled violently, and said, “^(BR)Who then was he who hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate from all of it before you came, and blessed him? ^(BS)Yes, and he shall be blessed.” ³⁴ When Esau heard the words of his father, ^(BT)he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me as well, my father!” ³⁵ And he said, “^(BU)Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.” ³⁶ Then Esau said, “^[au]Is he not rightly named ^[av](BV)Jacob, for he has betrayed me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” ³⁷ But Isaac replied to Esau, “Behold, I have made him ^(BW)your master, and I have given to him all his relatives ^[aw]as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” ³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me as well, my father.” So Esau raised his voice and ^(BX)wept.

³⁹ Then ^(BY)his father Isaac answered and said to him,

⁴¹ So Esau ^(CC)held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said ^[bb]to himself, “^(CD)The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” ⁴² Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent word and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, “Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you. ⁴³ Now then, my son, ^(CE)obey my voice, and arise, ^[bc]flee to ^(CF)Haran, to my brother ^(CG)Laban! ⁴⁴ Stay with him ^(CH)a few days, until your brother’s fury ^[bd]subsides, ⁴⁵ until your brother’s anger ^[be]against you subsides and he forgets ^(CI)what you did to him. Then I will send word and get you from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?”

⁴⁶ And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of ^[bf]living because of ^(CJ)the daughters of Heth; ^(CK)if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth like these from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

Jesus’ Teaching about Divorce

10 ^(A)Setting out from there, Jesus *went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds *gathered to Him again, and, ^(B)as He was accustomed, He once more began to teach them.

² And some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began questioning Him whether it was lawful for a man to ^[a]divorce his wife. ³ And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴ They said, “^(C)Moses permitted a man to write a ^[b]certificate of divorce and ^[c]send his wife away.” ⁵ But Jesus said to them, “^[d](D)Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. ⁶ But ^(E)from the beginning of creation, God ^(F)created them male and female. ^7 (G)For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother^[e], ^8 (H)and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore, what God has joined together, no person is to separate.”

¹⁰ And in the house the disciples again began questioning Him about this. ¹¹ And He *said to them, “^(I)Whoever ^[f]divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; ¹² and ^(J)if she herself ^[g]divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

^13 (K)And they were bringing children to Him so that He would touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Allow the children to come to Me; do not ^[h]forbid them, ^(L)for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, ^(M)whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” ¹⁶ And He ^(N)took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

The Rich Young Ruler

^17 (O)As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and ^(P)knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do so that I may ^(Q)inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸ But Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘^(R)Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not give false testimony, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” ²⁰ And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept ^(S)all these things from my youth.” ²¹ Looking at him, Jesus showed love to him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have ^(T)treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²² But he ^[i]was deeply dismayed by ^[j]these words, and he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

²³ And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, “^(U)How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴ And the disciples ^(V)were amazed at His words. But Jesus responded again and *said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ^25 (W)It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ And they were even more astonished, and said to Him, “^[k]Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ Looking at them, Jesus *said, “^(X)With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

^28 (Y)Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and have followed You.” ²⁹ Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, ^(Z)there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, ^30 [l]but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in ^[m]the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in ^(AA)the age to come, eternal life. ³¹ But ^(AB)many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”

Jesus’ Sufferings Foretold

^32 (AC)Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they ^(AD)were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, ³³ saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and ^(AE)the Son of Man will be ^[n]handed over to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will ^[o]hand Him over to the Gentiles. ³⁴ And they will mock Him and ^(AF)spit on Him, and flog Him and kill Him; and three days later He will rise from the dead.”

^35 [p](AG)James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, *came up to ^[q]Jesus, saying to Him, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” ³⁶ And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” ³⁷ They said to Him, “^[r]Grant that we ^(AH)may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.” ³⁸ But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^(AI)to drink the cup that I drink, or ^(AJ)to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” ³⁹ They said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink ^(AK)you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. ⁴⁰ But to sit on My right or on My left is not Mine to give; ^(AL)but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

^41 (AM)Hearing this, the other ten began to feel indignant with ^[s]James and John. ⁴² Calling them to Himself, Jesus *said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles domineer over them; and their ^[t]people in high position exercise authority over them. ⁴³ But it is not this way among you; ^(AN)rather, whoever wants to become ^[u]prominent among you shall be your servant; ⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first among you shall be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man ^(AO)did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His ^[v]life as a ransom for many.”

Bartimaeus Receives His Sight

^46 (AP)Then they *came to Jericho. And later, ^(AQ)as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a beggar who was blind named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. ⁴⁷ And when he heard that it was Jesus the ^(AR)Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, ^(AS)Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “^(AT)Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹ And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they *called the man who was blind, saying to him, “^(AU)Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” ⁵⁰ And throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ And replying to him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the man who was blind said to Him, “^[w](AV)Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” ⁵² And Jesus said to him, “Go; ^(AW)your faith has ^[x]made you well.” And immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.