Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt

42 Now ^(A)Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” ² He said, “Behold, ^(B)I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us ^[a]from that place, ^(C)so that we may live and not die.” ³ Then ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴ But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother ^(D)Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “^(E)I am afraid that harm may befall him.” ⁵ So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, ^(F)for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.

⁶ Now ^(G)Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and ^(H)bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. ⁷ When Joseph saw his brothers he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and ^(I)spoke to them harshly. And he said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

⁸ But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although ^(J)they did not recognize him. ⁹ Joseph ^(K)remembered the dreams which he ^[b]had about them, and said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the ^[c]undefended parts of our land.” ¹⁰ Then they said to him, “No, ^(L)my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹ We are all sons of one man; we are ^(M)honest men, your servants are not spies.” ¹² Yet he said to them, “No, but you have come to look at the ^[d]undefended parts of our land!” ¹³ But they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with ^(N)our father today, and ^(O)one is no longer alive.” ¹⁴ Joseph said to them, “It is as I said ^[e]to you, you are spies; ¹⁵ by this you will be tested: ^(P)by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here! ¹⁶ Send one of you that he may get your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is ^(Q)truth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” ¹⁷ So he put them all together in ^(R)prison for three days.

¹⁸ Now Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for ^(S)I fear God: ¹⁹ if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in ^[f]your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry grain for the famine of your households, ²⁰ and ^(T)bring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be verified, and you will not die.” And they did so. ²¹ Then they said to one another, “^(U)Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.” ²² Reuben answered them, saying, “^(V)Did I not tell ^[g]you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? ^[h](W)Now comes the reckoning for his blood.” ²³ They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them. ²⁴ He turned away from them and ^(X)wept. But when he returned to them and spoke to them, he ^(Y)took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. ^25 (Z)Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain and to restore every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. And thus it was done for them.

²⁶ So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there. ²⁷ As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his ^(AA)money; and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. ²⁸ Then he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned, and behold, it is even in my sack.” And their hearts ^[i]sank, and they turned ^[j]trembling to one another, saying, “^(AB)What is this that God has done to us?”

Simeon Is Held Hostage

²⁹ When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, ³⁰ “The man, the lord of the land, ^(AC)spoke harshly with us, and took us for spies of the country. ³¹ But we said to him, ‘We are ^(AD)honest men; we are not spies. ³² We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’ ³³ The man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘^(AE)By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the famine of your households, and go. ³⁴ But bring your youngest brother to me that I may know that you are not spies, but ^[k]honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you may ^(AF)trade in the land.’”

³⁵ Now it came about as they were emptying their sacks, that behold, ^(AG)every man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were dismayed. ³⁶ Their father Jacob said to them, “You have ^(AH)bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.” ³⁷ Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my ^[l]care, and I will return him to you.” ³⁸ But ^[m]Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his ^(AI)brother is dead, and he alone is left. ^(AJ)If harm should befall him on the journey ^[n]you are taking, then you will ^(AK)bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”

Parable of the Vine-growers

12 ^(A)And He began to speak to them in parables: “^(B)A man ^(C)planted a vineyard and put a ^[a]wall around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and rented it out to ^[b]vine-growers and went on a journey. ² At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers. ³ They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. ⁵ And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. ⁶ He had one more to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ ⁸ They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹ What will the ^[c]owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Have you not even read this Scripture:

^12 (F)And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the ^[d]people, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so ^(G)they left Him and went away.

Jesus Answers the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes

^13 (H)Then they *sent some of the Pharisees and ^(I)Herodians to Him in order to ^(J)trap Him in a statement. ¹⁴ They *came and *said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and ^[e]defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it ^[f]lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not? ¹⁵ Shall we pay or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a ^[g]denarius to look at.” ¹⁶ They brought one. And He *said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “^(K)Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they ^[h]were amazed at Him.

^18 (L)Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) *came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(M)if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should ^[i]marry the wife and raise up children to his brother. ²⁰ There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children. ²¹ The second one ^[j]married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; ²² and so ^[k]all seven left no children. Last of all the woman died also. ²³ In the resurrection, ^[l]when they rise again, which one’s wife will she be? For ^[m]all seven had married her.” ²⁴ Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not ^[n]understand the Scriptures or the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ But ^[o]regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, ^(N)in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘^(O)I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ^27 (P)He is not the God ^[p]of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”

^28 (Q)One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and ^(R)recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the ^[q]foremost of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘^(S)Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; ^30 (T)and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this, ‘^(U)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” ³² The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that ^(V)He is One, and there is no one else besides Him; ^33 (W)and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as himself, ^(X)is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” ^(Y)After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.

^35 (Z)And Jesus began to say, as He ^(AA)taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that ^[r]the Christ is the ^(AB)son of David? ³⁶ David himself said ^[s]in the Holy Spirit,

³⁷ David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And ^(AD)the large crowd ^[t]enjoyed listening to Him.

^38 (AE)In His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like ^(AF)respectful greetings in the market places, ³⁹ and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, ^40 (AG)who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Mite

^41 (AH)And He sat down opposite ^(AI)the treasury, and began observing how the people were ^(AJ)putting ^[u]money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. ⁴² A poor widow came and put in two ^[v]small copper coins, which amount to a ^[w]cent. ⁴³ Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all ^[x]the contributors to the treasury; ⁴⁴ for they all put in out of their ^[y]surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, ^[z]all she had ^(AK)to live on.”