I Will Bless the Lord

Of David.

26 (A)Vindicate me, O Lord,
    for I have (B)walked in my integrity,
    and I have (C)trusted in the Lord without wavering.
(D)Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
    test my heart and (E)my mind.[a]
For your (F)steadfast love is before my eyes,
    and I (G)walk in your (H)faithfulness.

I do not (I)sit with men of (J)falsehood,
    nor do I consort with hypocrites.
I (K)hate the assembly of evildoers,
    and I will not sit with the wicked.

I (L)wash my hands in innocence
    and go around your altar, O Lord,
proclaiming thanksgiving aloud,
    and telling all your (M)wondrous deeds.

O Lord, I (N)love the habitation of your house
    and the place where your glory dwells.
(O)Do not sweep my soul away with sinners,
    nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
10 in whose hands are evil devices,
    and whose right hands are full of (P)bribes.

11 But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;
    redeem me, and be gracious to me.
12 My foot stands on (Q)level ground;
    in (R)the great assembly I will bless the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 26:2 Hebrew test my kidneys and my heart

God's Promise to Isaac

26 Now there was a famine in the land, besides (A)the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to (B)Abimelech king of the (C)Philistines. And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell (D)in the land of which I shall tell you. (E)Sojourn in this land, and (F)I will be with you and will bless you, for (G)to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish (H)the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. (I)I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And (J)in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because (K)Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Isaac and Abimelech

So Isaac settled in Gerar. When the men of the place asked him about his wife, (L)he said, “She is my sister,” for (M)he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because (N)she was attractive in appearance. When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with[a] Rebekah his wife. So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’” 10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and (O)you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord (P)blessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. 14 He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines (Q)envied him. 15 (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells (R)that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

17 So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And (S)he gave them the names that his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar (T)quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek,[b] because they contended with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah.[c] 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth,[d] saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, (U)“I am the God of Abraham your father. (V)Fear not, for (W)I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake.” 25 So he (X)built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well.

26 When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and (Y)Phicol the commander of his army, 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and (Z)have sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. (AA)You are now the blessed of the Lord.” 30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 In the morning they rose early and (AB)exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. 32 That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” 33 He called it Shibah;[e] therefore the name of the city is (AC)Beersheba to this day.

34 When Esau was forty years old, he took (AD)Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, 35 and (AE)they made life bitter[f] for Isaac and Rebekah.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 26:8 Hebrew may suggest an intimate relationship
  2. Genesis 26:20 Esek means contention
  3. Genesis 26:21 Sitnah means enmity
  4. Genesis 26:22 Rehoboth means broad places, or room
  5. Genesis 26:33 Shibah sounds like the Hebrew for oath
  6. Genesis 26:35 Hebrew they were bitterness of spirit

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

18 And (A)Sadducees came to him, (B)who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that (C)if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man[a] must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. 21 And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. 22 And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because (D)you know neither the Scriptures nor (E)the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither (F)marry nor (G)are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised, (H)have you not read in (I)the book of Moses, in (J)the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, (K)‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

The Great Commandment

28 (L)And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, (M)‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, (N)the Lord is one. 30 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 (O)The second is this: (P)‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment (Q)greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that (R)he is one, and (S)there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all (T)the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, (U)is much more than all (V)whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (W)And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

35 (X)And as (Y)Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that (Z)the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, (AA)in the Holy Spirit, declared,

(AB)“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
    until I put your enemies (AC)under your feet.”’

37 David himself calls him Lord. So (AD)how is he his son?” And the great throng (AE)heard him gladly.

Beware of the Scribes

38 (AF)And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and (AG)the places of honor at feasts, 40 (AH)who devour widows' houses and (AI)for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The Widow's Offering

41 (AJ)And he sat down opposite (AK)the treasury and watched the people (AL)putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two (AM)small copper coins, which make a penny.[b] 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, (AN)this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her (AO)poverty has put in everything she had, all (AP)she had to live on.”

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 12:19 Greek his brother
  2. Mark 12:42 Greek two lepta, which make a kodrantes; a kodrantes (Latin quadrans) was a Roman copper coin worth about 1/64 of a denarius (which was a day's wage for a laborer)

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