Fasting to Be Seen Only by God

¹⁶ “Moreover, ^(A)when you fast, do not be like the ^[a]hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. ¹⁷ But you, when you fast, ^(B)anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you ^[b]openly.

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven^(C)

^19 (D)“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; ^20 (E)but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The Lamp of the Body^(F)

^22 (G)“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is ^[c]good, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if your eye is ^[d]bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

You Cannot Serve God and Riches

^24 (H)“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. ^(I)You cannot serve God and ^[e]mammon.

The Damascus Road: Saul Converted^(A)

9 Then ^(B)Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest ² and asked ^(C)letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

^3 (D)As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. ⁴ Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, ^(E)why are you persecuting Me?”

⁵ And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”

Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ^[a]It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

⁶ So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁷ And ^(F)the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. ⁹ And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Ananias Baptizes Saul

¹⁰ Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus ^(G)named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.”

And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

¹¹ So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul ^(H)of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. ¹² And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”

¹³ Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, ^(I)how much ^[b]harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all ^(J)who call on Your name.”

¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for ^(K)he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before ^(L)Gentiles, ^(M)kings, and the ^(N)children^[c] of Israel. ¹⁶ For ^(O)I will show him how many things he must suffer for My ^(P)name’s sake.”

^17 (Q)And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and ^(R)laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord ^[d]Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and ^(S)be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.

¹⁹ So when he had received food, he was strengthened. ^(T)Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.

The Character of Those Who May Dwell with the Lord

A Psalm of David.

The Dinah Incident

34 Now ^(A)Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. ² And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he ^(B)took her and lay with her, and violated her. ³ His soul ^[a]was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke ^[b]kindly to the young woman. ⁴ So Shechem ^(C)spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as a wife.”

⁵ And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Jacob ^(D)held^[c] his peace until they came. ⁶ Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. ⁷ And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved and very angry, because he ^(E)had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, ^(F)a thing which ought not to be done. ⁸ But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. ⁹ And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves. ¹⁰ So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it.”

¹¹ Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. ¹² Ask me ever so much ^(G)dowry^[d] and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me; but give me the young woman as a wife.”

¹³ But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke ^(H)deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. ¹⁴ And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is ^(I)uncircumcised, for ^(J)that would be a reproach to us. ¹⁵ But on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised, ¹⁶ then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. ¹⁷ But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone.”

¹⁸ And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. ¹⁹ So the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. He was ^(K)more honorable than all the household of his father.

²⁰ And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the ^(L)gate of their city, and spoke with the men of their city, saying: ²¹ “These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For indeed the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give them our daughters. ²² Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. ²³ Will not their livestock, their property, and every animal of theirs be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.” ²⁴ And all who went out of the gate of his city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son; every male was circumcised, all who ^(M)went out of the gate of his city.

²⁵ Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, ^(N)Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males. ²⁶ And they ^(O)killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out. ²⁷ The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled. ²⁸ They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field, ²⁹ and all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they plundered even all that was in the houses.

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, ^(P)“You have ^(Q)troubled me ^(R)by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; ^(S)and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”

³¹ But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?”

Jacob’s Return to Bethel

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to ^(T)Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, ^(U)who appeared to you ^(V)when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”

² And Jacob said to his ^(W)household and to all who were with him, “Put away ^(X)the foreign gods that are among you, ^(Y)purify yourselves, and change your garments. ³ Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, ^(Z)who answered me in the day of my distress ^(AA)and has been with me in the way which I have gone.” ⁴ So they gave Jacob all the foreign ^[e]gods which were in their hands, and the ^(AB)earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under ^(AC)the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.

⁵ And they journeyed, and ^(AD)the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. ⁶ So Jacob came to ^(AE)Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. ⁷ And he ^(AF)built an altar there and called the place ^[f]El Bethel, because ^(AG)there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

⁸ Now ^(AH)Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called ^[g]Allon Bachuth.

⁹ Then ^(AI)God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and ^(AJ)blessed him. ¹⁰ And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; ^(AK)your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, ^(AL)but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. ¹¹ Also God said to him: ^(AM)“I am God Almighty. ^(AN)Be fruitful and multiply; ^(AO)a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. ¹² The ^(AP)land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.” ¹³ Then God ^(AQ)went^[h] up from him in the place where He talked with him. ¹⁴ So Jacob ^(AR)set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. ¹⁵ And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, ^(AS)Bethel.

Death of Rachel

¹⁶ Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor. ¹⁷ Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; ^(AT)you will have this son also.” ¹⁸ And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name ^[i]Ben-Oni; but his father called him ^[j]Benjamin. ¹⁹ So ^(AU)Rachel died and was buried on the way to ^(AV)Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ²⁰ And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave ^(AW)to this day.

²¹ Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond ^(AX)the tower of Eder. ²² And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and ^(AY)lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard about it.

Jacob’s Twelve Sons

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: ²³ the sons of Leah were ^(AZ)Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; ²⁴ the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin; ²⁵ the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali; ²⁶ and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram.

Death of Isaac

²⁷ Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at ^(BA)Mamre, or ^(BB)Kirjath Arba^[k] (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt. ²⁸ Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. ²⁹ So Isaac breathed his last and died, and ^(BC)was ^[l]gathered to his people, being old and full of days. And ^(BD)his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.