The Twelve Apostles^(A)

10 And ^(B)when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. ² Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, ^(C)who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and ^[a]Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; ^4 (D)Simon the ^[b]Cananite, and Judas ^(E)Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

Sending Out the Twelve^(F)

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: ^(G)“Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of ^(H)the Samaritans. ^6 (I)But go rather to the ^(J)lost sheep of the house of Israel. ^7 (K)And as you go, preach, saying, ^(L)‘The kingdom of heaven ^[c]is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, ^[d]cleanse the lepers, ^[e]raise the dead, cast out demons. ^(M)Freely you have received, freely give. ^9 (N)Provide neither gold nor silver nor ^(O)copper in your money belts, ¹⁰ nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; ^(P)for a worker is worthy of his food.

^11 (Q)“Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. ¹² And when you go into a household, greet it. ^13 (R)If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. ^(S)But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ^14 (T)And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, ^(U)shake off the dust from your feet. ¹⁵ Assuredly, I say to you, ^(V)it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!

Persecutions Are Coming^(W)

^16 (X)“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. ^(Y)Therefore be wise as serpents and ^(Z)harmless^[f] as doves. ¹⁷ But beware of men, for ^(AA)they will deliver you up to councils and ^(AB)scourge you in their synagogues. ^18 (AC)You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. ^19 (AD)But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For ^(AE)it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; ^20 (AF)for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

Conflict over Circumcision

15 And ^(A)certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, ^(B)“Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that ^(C)Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.

³ So, ^(D)being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, ^(E)describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. ⁴ And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them. ⁵ But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”

The Jerusalem Council

⁶ Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. ⁷ And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: ^(F)“Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. ⁸ So God, ^(G)who knows the heart, ^[a]acknowledged them by ^(H)giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, ^9 (I)and made no distinction between us and them, ^(J)purifying their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now therefore, why do you test God ^(K)by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? ¹¹ But ^(L)we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus ^[b]Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”

¹² Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had ^(M)worked through them among the Gentiles. ¹³ And after they had ^[c]become silent, ^(N)James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me: ^14 (O)Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. ¹⁵ And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

^18 [e]“Known to God from eternity are all His works. ¹⁹ Therefore ^(Q)I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who ^(R)are turning to God, ²⁰ but that we ^(S)write to them to abstain ^(T)from things polluted by idols, ^(U)from ^[f]sexual immorality, ^(V)from things strangled, and from blood. ²¹ For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, ^(W)being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

The Lord the Shepherd of His People

A Psalm of David.

Burial of Jacob

50 Then Joseph ^(A)fell on his father’s face and ^(B)wept over him, and kissed him. ² And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to ^(C)embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. ³ Forty days were required for him, for such are the days required for those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians ^(D)mourned^[a] for him seventy days.

⁴ Now when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to ^(E)the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, ^5 (F)‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying; in my grave ^(G)which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come back.’ ”

⁶ And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

⁷ So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁸ as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen. ⁹ And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering.

¹⁰ Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they ^(H)mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. ^(I)He observed seven days of mourning for his father. ¹¹ And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called ^[b]Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

¹² So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them. ¹³ For ^(J)his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre, which Abraham ^(K)bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place. ¹⁴ And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.

Joseph Reassures His Brothers

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, ^(L)they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may ^[c]actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.” ¹⁶ So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying, ¹⁷ ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; ^(M)for they did evil to you.” ’ Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of ^(N)the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

¹⁸ Then his brothers also went and ^(O)fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”

¹⁹ Joseph said to them, ^(P)“Do not be afraid, ^(Q)for am I in the place of God? ^20 (R)But as for you, you meant evil against me; but ^(S)God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. ²¹ Now therefore, do not be afraid; ^(T)I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke ^[d]kindly to them.

Death of Joseph^(U)

²² So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. ²³ Joseph saw Ephraim’s children ^(V)to the third generation. ^(W)The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, ^(X)were also brought up on Joseph’s knees.

²⁴ And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but ^(Y)God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land ^(Z)of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” ²⁵ Then ^(AA)Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely ^[e]visit you, and ^(AB)you shall carry up my ^(AC)bones from here.” ²⁶ So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.