Judah and Tamar

38 It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and ^(A)turned aside to a certain ^(B)Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. ² There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was ^(C)Shua. He took her and went in to her, ³ and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name ^(D)Er. ⁴ She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name ^(E)Onan. ⁵ Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name ^(F)Shelah. Judah^[a] was in Chezib when she bore him.

⁶ And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. ⁷ But Er, Judah's firstborn, ^(G)was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. ⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to ^(H)your brother's wife and ^(I)perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” ⁹ But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother's wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. ¹⁰ And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also. ¹¹ Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, ^(J)“Remain a widow in your father's house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained ^(K)in her father's house.

¹² In the course of time the wife of Judah, Shua's daughter, died. When Judah ^(L)was comforted, he went up to ^(M)Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³ And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” ¹⁴ she took off her widow's garments ^(N)and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to ^(O)Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, ^(P)and she had not been given to him in marriage. ¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. ¹⁶ He turned to her at the roadside and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” ¹⁷ He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you give me a pledge, until you send it—” ¹⁸ He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, ^(Q)“Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹ Then she arose and went away, and taking off ^(R)her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰ When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman's hand, he did not find her. ²¹ And he asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute^[b] who was at ^(S)Enaim at the roadside?” And they said, “No cult prostitute has been here.” ²² So he returned to Judah and said, “I have not found her. Also, the men of the place said, ‘No cult prostitute has been here.’” ²³ And Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, or we shall be laughed at. You see, I sent this young goat, and you did not find her.”

²⁴ About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law ^(T)has been immoral.^[c] Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.”^[d] And Judah said, “Bring her out, and ^(U)let her be burned.” ²⁵ As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please identify whose these are, ^(V)the signet and the cord and the staff.” ²⁶ Then Judah identified them and said, ^(W)“She is more righteous than I, since ^(X)I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again.

²⁷ When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. ²⁸ And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” ²⁹ But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore his name was called ^(Y)Perez.^{[e] 30} Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called ^(Z)Zerah.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

8 ^(A)In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, ^2 (B)“I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. ³ And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” ⁴ And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” ⁵ And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, ^(C)“Seven.” ⁶ And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and ^(D)having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. ⁷ And they had a few small fish. And ^(E)having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. ⁸ And ^(F)they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, ^(G)seven baskets full. ⁹ And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. ¹⁰ And immediately he got into ^(H)the boat with his disciples and went to the district of ^(I)Dalmanutha.^[a]

The Pharisees Demand a Sign

^11 (J)The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, ^(K)seeking from him ^(L)a sign from heaven ^(M)to test him. ¹² And ^(N)he sighed deeply ^(O)in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” ¹³ And ^(P)he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod

¹⁴ Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵ And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; ^(Q)beware of ^(R)the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of ^(S)Herod.”^{[b] 16} And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. ¹⁷ And ^(T)Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? ^(U)Do you not yet perceive ^(V)or understand? ^(W)Are your hearts hardened? ^18 (X)Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? ¹⁹ When I broke ^(Y)the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” ²⁰ “And ^(Z)the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” ²¹ And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida

²² And they came ^(AA)to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. ²³ And ^(AB)he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when ^(AC)he had ^(AD)spit on his eyes and ^(AE)laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴ And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” ²⁵ Then Jesus^[c] laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶ And he sent him to his home, saying, ^(AF)“Do not even enter the village.”

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

^27 (AG)And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” ²⁸ And they told him, ^(AH)“John the Baptist; and others say, ^(AI)Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹ And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, ^(AJ)“You are ^(AK)the Christ.” ^30 (AL)And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

^31 (AM)And he began to teach them that ^(AN)the Son of Man must ^(AO)suffer many things and ^(AP)be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and ^(AQ)after three days rise again. ³² And he said this ^(AR)plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ^(AS)“Get behind me, Satan! For you ^(AT)are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

³⁴ And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him ^(AU)deny himself and ^(AV)take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵ For ^(AW)whoever would save his life^[d] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake ^(AX)and the gospel's will save it. ^36 (AY)For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For ^(AZ)what can a man give in return for his soul? ³⁸ For ^(BA)whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this ^(BB)adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed ^(BC)when he comes in the glory of his Father with ^(BD)the holy angels.”

Eliphaz Speaks: The Innocent Prosper

4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

Life in the Spirit

8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.^{[a] 2} For the law of ^(A)the Spirit of life ^(B)has set you^[b] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. ³ For ^(C)God has done what the law, ^(D)weakened by the flesh, ^(E)could not do. ^(F)By sending his own Son ^(G)in the likeness of sinful flesh and ^(H)for sin,^[c] he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that ^(I)the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, ^(J)who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For ^(K)those who live according to the flesh set their minds on ^(L)the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on ^(M)the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to set ^(N)the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the mind that is set on the flesh is ^(O)hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; ^(P)indeed, it cannot. ⁸ Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact ^(Q)the Spirit of God dwells in you. ^(R)Anyone who does not have ^(S)the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of ^(T)him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus^[d] from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies ^(U)through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Heirs with Christ

¹² So then, brothers,^[e] we are debtors, ^(V)not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you ^(W)put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are ^(X)led by the Spirit of God are ^(Y)sons^[f] of God. ¹⁵ For ^(Z)you did not receive ^(AA)the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of ^(AB)adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ^(AC)“Abba! Father!” ^16 (AD)The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then ^(AE)heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, ^(AF)provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Future Glory

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time ^(AG)are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for ^(AH)the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation ^(AI)was subjected to futility, not willingly, but ^(AJ)because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that ^(AK)the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² For we know that ^(AL)the whole creation ^(AM)has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³ And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have ^(AN)the firstfruits of the Spirit, ^(AO)groan inwardly as ^(AP)we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, ^(AQ)the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For ^(AR)in this hope we were saved. Now ^(AS)hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we ^(AT)wait for it with patience.

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For ^(AU)we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but ^(AV)the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷ And ^(AW)he who searches hearts knows what is ^(AX)the mind of the Spirit, because^[g] the Spirit ^(AY)intercedes for the saints ^(AZ)according to the will of God. ²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together ^(BA)for good,^[h] for ^(BB)those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he ^(BC)foreknew he also ^(BD)predestined ^(BE)to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be ^(BF)the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also ^(BG)justified, and those whom he justified he also ^(BH)glorified.

God's Everlasting Love

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? ^(BI)If God is for us, who can be^[i] against us? ^32 (BJ)He who did not spare his own Son but ^(BK)gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? ^(BL)It is God who justifies. ^34 (BM)Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—^(BN)who is at the right hand of God, ^(BO)who indeed is interceding for us.^{[j] 35} Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than ^(BR)conquerors through ^(BS)him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.