The Beatitudes^(A)

5 And seeing the multitudes, ^(B)He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. ² Then He opened His mouth and ^(C)taught them, saying:

^11 (N)Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of ^(O)evil against you falsely for My sake. ^12 (P)Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for ^(Q)so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Seven Chosen to Serve

6 Now in those days, ^(A)when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the ^(B)Hellenists,^[a] because their widows were neglected ^(C)in the daily distribution. ² Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, ^(D)“It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. ³ Therefore, brethren, ^(E)seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this ^(F)business; ⁴ but we ^(G)will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

⁵ And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, ^(H)a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and ^(I)Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and ^(J)Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, ⁶ whom they set before the apostles; and ^(K)when they had prayed, ^(L)they laid hands on them.

⁷ Then ^(M)the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many ^(N)of the priests were obedient to the faith.

Stephen Accused of Blasphemy

⁸ And Stephen, full of ^[b]faith and power, did great ^(O)wonders and signs among the people. ⁹ Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. ¹⁰ And ^(P)they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. ^11 (Q)Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” ¹² And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. ¹³ They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak ^[c]blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; ^14 (R)for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” ¹⁵ And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.

A Song of Confidence in God’s Triumph over Evil

Abraham and Keturah^(A)

25 Abraham again took a wife, and her name was ^(B)Keturah. ² And ^(C)she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³ Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. ⁴ And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.

⁵ And ^(D)Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. ⁶ But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he ^(E)sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to ^(F)the country of the east.

Abraham’s Death and Burial

⁷ This is the sum of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years. ⁸ Then Abraham breathed his last and ^(G)died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and ^(H)was gathered to his people. ⁹ And ^(I)his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of ^(J)Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, ^10 (K)the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. ^(L)There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife. ¹¹ And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac dwelt at ^(M)Beer Lahai Roi.

The Families of Ishmael and Isaac^(N)

¹² Now this is the ^(O)genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. ¹³ And ^(P)these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ^15 [a]Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their ^[b]settlements, ^(Q)twelve princes according to their nations. ¹⁷ These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years; and ^(R)he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. ^18 (S)(They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria.) He ^[c]died ^(T)in the presence of all his brethren.

¹⁹ This is the ^(U)genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. ^(V)Abraham begot Isaac. ²⁰ Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, ^(W)the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, ^(X)the sister of Laban the Syrian. ²¹ Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; ^(Y)and the Lord granted his plea, ^(Z)and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²² But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” ^(AA)So she went to inquire of the Lord.

²³ And the Lord said to her:

²⁴ So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ And the first came out red. He was ^(AE)like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name ^[d]Esau. ²⁶ Afterward his brother came out, and ^(AF)his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so ^(AG)his name was called ^[e]Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

²⁷ So the boys grew. And Esau was ^(AH)a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was ^(AI)a ^[f]mild man, ^(AJ)dwelling in tents. ²⁸ And Isaac loved Esau because he ^(AK)ate of his game, ^(AL)but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Esau Sells His Birthright^(AM)

²⁹ Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. ³⁰ And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called ^[g]Edom.

³¹ But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”

³² And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so ^(AN)what is this birthright to me?”

³³ Then Jacob said, ^[h]“Swear to me as of this day.”

So he swore to him, and ^(AO)sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴ And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then ^(AP)he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau ^(AQ)despised his birthright.

Isaac and Abimelech

26 There was a famine in the land, besides ^(AR)the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to ^(AS)Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.

² Then the Lord appeared to him and said: ^(AT)“Do not go down to Egypt; live in ^(AU)the land of which I shall tell you. ^3 (AV)Dwell in this land, and ^(AW)I will be with you and ^(AX)bless you; for to you and your descendants ^(AY)I give all these lands, and I will perform ^(AZ)the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴ And ^(BA)I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; ^(BB)and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; ^5 (BC)because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

⁶ So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. ⁷ And the men of the place asked about his wife. And ^(BD)he said, “She is my sister”; for ^(BE)he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought, “lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is ^(BF)beautiful to behold.” ⁸ Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, ^[i]showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. ⁹ Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’ ”

¹⁰ And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and ^(BG)you would have brought guilt on us.” ¹¹ So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who ^(BH)touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

¹² Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year ^(BI)a hundredfold; and the Lord ^(BJ)blessed him. ¹³ The man ^(BK)began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; ¹⁴ for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines ^(BL)envied him. ¹⁵ Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells ^(BM)which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. ¹⁶ And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for ^(BN)you are much mightier than we.”

¹⁷ Then Isaac departed from there and ^[j]pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. ¹⁸ And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. ^(BO)He called them by the names which his father had called them.

¹⁹ Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. ²⁰ But the herdsmen of Gerar ^(BP)quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well ^[k]Esek, because they quarreled with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name ^[l]Sitnah. ²² And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name ^[m]Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall ^(BQ)be fruitful in the land.”

²³ Then he went up from there to Beersheba. ²⁴ And the Lord ^(BR)appeared to him the same night and said, ^(BS)“I am the God of your father Abraham; ^(BT)do not fear, for ^(BU)I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.” ²⁵ So he ^(BV)built an altar there and ^(BW)called on the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

²⁶ Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, ^(BX)and Phichol the commander of his army. ²⁷ And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, ^(BY)since you hate me and have ^(BZ)sent me away from you?”

²⁸ But they said, “We have certainly seen that the Lord ^(CA)is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a ^[n]covenant with you, ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. ^(CB)You are now the blessed of the Lord.’ ”

^30 (CC)So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹ Then they arose early in the morning and ^(CD)swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

³² It came to pass the same day that Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” ³³ So he called it ^[o]Shebah. ^(CE)Therefore the name of the city is ^[p]Beersheba to this day.

^34 (CF)When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵ And ^(CG)they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.