The King Rejoices in the Lord's Strength

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

A Treaty with Abimelech

²² At that time ^(A)Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, ^(B)“God is with you in all that you do. ²³ Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but ^(C)as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.” ²⁴ And Abraham said, “I will swear.”

²⁵ When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants ^(D)had seized, ²⁶ Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.” ²⁷ So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men ^(E)made a covenant. ²⁸ Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart. ²⁹ And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” ³⁰ He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this^[a] may be a witness for me that I dug this well.” ³¹ Therefore ^(F)that place was called Beersheba,^[b] because there both of them swore an oath. ³² So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³ Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and ^(G)called there on the name of the Lord, ^(H)the Everlasting God. ³⁴ And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.

The Sacrifice of Isaac

22 After these things ^(I)God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ² He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to ^(J)the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” ³ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy^[c] will go over there and worship and come again to you.” ⁶ And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and ^(K)laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. ⁷ And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” ⁸ Abraham said, ^(L)“God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

⁹ When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and ^(M)laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹² He said, ^(N)“Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for ^(O)now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” ¹³ And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called the name of that place, ^(P)“The Lord will provide”;^[d] as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”^[e]

¹⁵ And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶ and said, ^(Q)“By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring ^(R)as the stars of heaven and ^(S)as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess ^(T)the gate of his^[f] enemies, ¹⁸ and ^(U)in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, ^(V)because you have obeyed my voice.” ¹⁹ So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to ^(W)Beersheba. And Abraham lived at ^(X)Beersheba.

²⁰ Now after these things it was told to Abraham, “Behold, ^(Y)Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: ^21 (Z)Uz his firstborn, ^(AA)Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, ²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³ (^(AB)Bethuel fathered Rebekah.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. ²⁴ Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Jesus Again Foretells Death, Resurrection

^30 (A)They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, ³¹ for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, ^(B)after three days he will rise.” ^32 (C)But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.

Who Is the Greatest?

³³ And ^(D)they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house ^(E)he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” ³⁴ But they kept silent, for on the way ^(F)they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. ³⁵ And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, ^(G)“If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶ And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and ^(H)taking him in his arms, he said to them, ^37 (I)“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and ^(J)whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

Anyone Not Against Us Is for Us

^38 (K)John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone ^(L)casting out demons in your name,^[a] and ^(M)we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” ³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. ^40 (N)For the one who is not against us is for us. ⁴¹ For truly, I say to you, ^(O)whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.

Temptations to Sin

^42 (P)“Whoever causes one of ^(Q)these little ones who believe in me to sin,^{[b] (R)}it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. ^43 (S)And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to ^(T)hell,^[c] to ^(U)the unquenchable fire.^{[d] 45 (V)}And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into ^(W)hell. ^47 (X)And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into ^(Y)hell, ⁴⁸ ‘where ^(Z)their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ ⁴⁹ For everyone will be salted with fire.^{[e] 50 (AA)}Salt is good, ^(AB)but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? ^(AC)Have salt in yourselves, and ^(AD)be at peace with one another.”