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The Tower of Babel
11 Now all the earth [a]used the same language and [b]the same words. 2 And it came about, as they journeyed [c]east, that they found a plain in the land (A)of Shinar and [d]settled there. 3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and [e]fire them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used (B)tar for mortar. 4 And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top (C)will reach into heaven, and let’s make (D)a name for ourselves; otherwise we (E)will be scattered abroad over the face of all the earth.” 5 Now (F)the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the [f]men had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have [g](G)the same language. And this is what they have started to do, and now nothing which they plan to do will be [h]impossible for them. 7 Come, [i](H)let Us go down and there (I)confuse their [j]language, so that they will not understand one another’s [k]speech.” 8 So the Lord (J)scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth; and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore it was named [l](K)Babel, because there the Lord confused the [m]language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
Descendants of Shem
10 (L)These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old when he fathered Arpachshad, two years after the flood; 11 and Shem lived five hundred years after he fathered Arpachshad, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
12 Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and fathered Shelah; 13 and Arpachshad lived 403 years after he fathered Shelah, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
14 Shelah lived thirty years, and fathered Eber; 15 and Shelah lived 403 years after he fathered Eber, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and fathered Peleg; 17 and Eber lived 430 years after he fathered Peleg, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
18 Peleg lived thirty years, and fathered Reu; 19 and Peleg lived 209 years after he fathered Reu, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and fathered Serug; 21 and Reu lived 207 years after he fathered Serug, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
22 Serug lived thirty years, and fathered Nahor; 23 and Serug lived two hundred years after he fathered Nahor, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and fathered (M)Terah; 25 and Nahor lived 119 years after he fathered Terah, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
26 Terah lived seventy years, and (N)fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and (O)Haran fathered (P)Lot. 28 Haran died [n]during the lifetime of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in (Q)Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 Abram and (R)Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was (S)Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was (T)Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah [o]and Iscah. 30 (U)Sarai was unable to conceive; she did not have a child.
31 Now Terah took his son Abram, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they departed [p]together from (V)Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran and [q]settled there. 32 The days of Terah were 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.
Abram Journeys to Egypt
12 Now (W)the Lord said to Abram,
“Go from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 And (X)I will make you into a great nation,
And (Y)I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And you shall (Z)be a blessing;
3 And (AA)I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who [r]curses you I will [s]curse.
(AB)And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
4 So Abram went away as the Lord had spoken to him; and (AC)Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their (AD)possessions which they had accumulated, and (AE)the [t]people which they had acquired in Haran, and they [u]set out for the land of Canaan; (AF)so they came to the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land as far as the site of (AG)Shechem, to the [v]oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time. 7 And the Lord (AH)appeared to Abram and said, “(AI)To your [w]descendants I will give this land.” So he built (AJ)an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 8 Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent with (AK)Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and (AL)called upon the name of the Lord. 9 Then Abram journeyed on, continuing toward (AM)the [x]Negev.
10 Now there was (AN)a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a time, because the famine was (AO)severe in the land. 11 It came about, when he [y]was approaching Egypt, that he said to his wife Sarai, “See now, I know that you are a [z](AP)beautiful woman; 12 (AQ)and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Please say that you are (AR)my sister so that it may go well for me because of you, and that [aa](AS)I may live on account of you.” 14 Now it came about, when Abram entered Egypt, that the Egyptians [ab]saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and (AT)the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16 Therefore (AU)he treated Abram well for her sake; and [ac](AV)he gave him sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the Lord (AW)struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “(AX)What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for myself as a wife? Now then, [ad]here is your wife, take her and go!” 20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they [ae]escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.
Abram and Lot
13 So Abram went up from Egypt to (AY)the [af]Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him.
2 Now Abram was (AZ)very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. 3 And he went [ag]on his journeys from the [ah]Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, (BA)between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the (BB)altar which he had made there previously; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
The Sermon on the Mount; The Beatitudes
5 (A)Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on (B)the [a]mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 And (C)He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,
3 “[b](D)Blessed are the poor in spirit, for (E)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are (F)those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 “Blessed are (G)the [c]gentle, for they will inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are (H)those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are (I)the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are (J)the pure in heart, for (K)they will see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for (L)they will be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who have been (M)persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for (N)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people (O)insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for (P)in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Disciples and the World
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but (Q)if the salt has become tasteless, how [d]can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by people.
14 “You are (R)the light of the world. A city set on a [e]hill cannot be hidden; 15 (S)nor do people light a lamp and put it under a [f]basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may (T)see your good works, and (U)glorify your Father who is in heaven.
17 “Do not presume that I came to abolish the (V)Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, (W)until heaven and earth pass away, not [g]the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished! 19 Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches [h]others to do the same, shall be called least (X)in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever [i]keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 “For I say to you that unless your (Y)righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Personal Relationships
21 “(Z)You have heard that [j]the ancients were told, ‘(AA)You shall not murder,’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be answerable to (AB)the court.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be answerable to (AC)the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘[k]You good-for-nothing,’ shall be answerable to [l](AD)the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the [m](AE)fiery hell. 23 Therefore, if you are (AF)presenting your [n]offering at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your [o]offering there before the altar and go; first be (AG)reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your [p]offering. 25 (AH)[q]Come to good terms with your accuser quickly, while you are with him on the way to court, so that your accuser will not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you will not be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I say to you, (AI)you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last [r]quadrans.
Prayer for Protection from the Wicked.
For the music director; for [a]flute accompaniment. A Psalm of David.
5 (A)Listen to my words, Lord,
Consider my (B)sighing.
2 Listen to (C)the sound of my cry for help, (D)my King and my God,
For to You I pray.
3 In the morning, Lord, [b]You will hear my voice;
In the (E)morning I will present my [c]prayer to You and be on the (F)watch.
4 For You are not a God (G)who takes pleasure in wickedness;
(H)No evil can dwell with You.
5 The (I)boastful will not (J)stand before Your eyes;
You (K)hate all who do injustice.
6 You (L)destroy those who speak lies;
The Lord loathes (M)the person of bloodshed and deceit.
7 But as for me, (N)by Your abundant graciousness I will enter Your house,
[d]At Your holy temple I will (O)bow in (P)reverence for You.
8 Lord, (Q)lead me (R)in Your righteousness (S)because of my enemies;
Make Your way [e]straight before me.
9 For there is (T)nothing [f]trustworthy in [g]their mouth;
Their (U)inward part is destruction itself.
Their (V)throat is an open grave;
They [h]flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them pay, God;
(W)Have them fall by their own schemes!
(X)Scatter them in the multitude of their wrongdoings,
For they are (Y)rebellious against You.
24 Because (A)I called and you (B)refused,
I (C)stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;
25 And you (D)neglected all my advice
And did not (E)want my rebuke;
26 I will also (F)laugh at your (G)disaster;
I will mock when your (H)dread comes,
27 When your dread comes like a storm
And your disaster comes like a (I)whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
28 Then they will (J)call on me, but I will not answer;
They will (K)seek me diligently but will not find me,
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.