The Sacrifice of Isaac

¹After these things kGod tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ²He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to lthe land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” ³So 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. ⁴On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. ⁵Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy1 will go over there and worship and come again to you.” ⁶And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and mlaid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. ⁷And 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?” ⁸Abraham said, n“God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

⁹When 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 olaid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. ¹¹But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹²He said, p“Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for qnow I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” ¹³And 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. ¹⁴So Abraham called the name of that place, r“The Lord will provide”;2 as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”3

¹⁵And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶and said, s“By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring tas the stars of heaven and uas the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess vthe gate of his4 enemies, ¹⁸and win your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, xbecause you have obeyed my voice.” ¹⁹So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to yBeersheba. And Abraham lived at yBeersheba.

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

The Triumphal Entry

¹qNow when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to rthe Mount of Olives, then Jesus ssent two disciples, ²saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” ⁴This took place tto fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

⁵u“Say to the daughter of Zion,

‘Behold, your king is coming to you,

vhumble, and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt,1 the foal of a beast of burden.’”

⁶The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. ⁷They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. ⁸Most of the crowd wspread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, x“Hosanna to ythe Son of David! zBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna ain the highest!” ¹⁰And bwhen he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹And the crowds said, “This is cthe prophet Jesus, dfrom Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

¹²eAnd Jesus entered the temple2 and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of fthe money-changers and the seats of those who sold gpigeons. ¹³He said to them, “It is written, h‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but iyou make it a den of robbers.”

¹⁴jAnd the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵kBut when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, x“Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, ¹⁶and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; lhave you never read,

m“‘Out of the mouth of ninfants and nursing babies

you have prepared praise’?”

¹⁷And oleaving them, he pwent out of the city to qBethany and lodged there.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

¹⁸rIn the morning, as he was returning to the city, she became hungry. ¹⁹tAnd seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

²⁰When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” ²¹And Jesus answered them, u“Truly, I say to you, vif you have faith and wdo not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, x‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. ²²And vwhatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, yif you have faith.”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

²³zAnd when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him aas he was teaching, and said, b“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” ²⁴Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵The baptism of John, cfrom where did it come? dFrom heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, e‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶But if we say, ‘From man,’ fwe are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was ga prophet.” ²⁷So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸h“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in ithe vineyard today.’ ²⁹And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he jchanged his mind and went. ³⁰And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. ³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, kthe tax collectors and lthe prostitutes go into mthe kingdom of God before you. ³²For John came to you nin the way of righteousness, and oyou did not believe him, but pthe tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward jchange your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

³³q“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ra vineyard sand put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and tleased it to tenants, and uwent into another country. ³⁴When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants3 to the tenants tto get his fruit. ³⁵vAnd the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and wstoned another. ³⁶xAgain he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. ³⁷Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, y‘This is the heir. Come, zlet us kill him and have his inheritance.’ ³⁹And they took him and athrew him out of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰bWhen therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹They said to him, c“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and dlet out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, e“Have you never read in the Scriptures:

f“‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;4

this was the Lord's doing,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

⁴³Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God gwill be taken away from you and given to a people hproducing its fruits. ⁴⁴And ithe one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and jwhen it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”5

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶And lalthough they were seeking to arrest him, mthey feared the crowds, because they held him to be na prophet.

The Leaders in Jerusalem

¹Now the leaders of the people hlived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people icast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem jthe holy city, while nine out of ten1 remained in the other towns. ²And the people blessed all the men kwho willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.

³lThese are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the towns of Judah meveryone lived on his property in their towns: Israel, the priests, the Levites, nthe temple servants, oand the descendants of Solomon's servants. ⁴And in Jerusalem lived certain of the sons of Judah and of the sons of Benjamin. Of the sons of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of the sons of pPerez; ⁵and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, son of Col-hozeh, son of Hazaiah, son of Adaiah, son of Joiarib, son of Zechariah, son of the Shilonite. ⁶All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were 468 valiant men.

⁷And these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, son of Joed, son of Pedaiah, son of Kolaiah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah, ⁸and his brothers, men of valor, 928.2 ⁹Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city.

¹⁰Of the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin, ¹¹Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, ruler of the house of God, ¹²and their brothers who did the work of the house, 822; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah, ¹³and his brothers, heads of fathers' houses, 242; and Amashsai, the son of Azarel, son of Ahzai, son of Meshillemoth, son of Immer, ¹⁴and their brothers, mighty men of valor, 128; their overseer was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim.

¹⁵And of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, son of Bunni; ¹⁶and Shabbethai and qJozabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who were over rthe outside work of the house of God; ¹⁷and sMattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zabdi, son of Asaph, who was the leader of the praise,3 who gave thanks, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers; and Abda the son of Shammua, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun. ¹⁸All the Levites in tthe holy city were 284.

¹⁹The gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were 172. ²⁰And the rest of Israel, and of the priests and the Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, uevery one in his inheritance. ²¹vBut the temple servants lived on Ophel; and Ziha and Gishpa were over the temple servants.

²²The overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Mica, of the sons of Asaph, the singers, over the work of the house of God. ²³wFor there was a command from the king concerning them, and a fixed provision for the singers, xas every day required. ²⁴And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king's side4 in all matters concerning the people.

Villages Outside Jerusalem

²⁵And as for the villages, with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in yKiriath-arba and its villages, and in Dibon and its villages, and in Jekabzeel and its villages, ²⁶and in Jeshua and in Moladah and Beth-pelet, ²⁷in Hazar-shual, in Beersheba and its villages, ²⁸in Ziklag, in Meconah and its villages, ²⁹in En-rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth, ³⁰Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, and Azekah and its villages. So they encamped from Beersheba to zthe Valley of Hinnom. ³¹The people of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash, Aija, Bethel and its villages, ³²Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, ³³Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, ³⁴Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, ³⁵Lod, and aOno, the valley of craftsmen. ³⁶And certain divisions of the Levites in Judah were assigned to Benjamin.

Paul Goes to Jerusalem

¹And when swe had parted from them and set sail, we tcame by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.1 ²And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. ³When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo. ⁴And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And uthrough the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. ⁵When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, vaccompanied us until we were outside the city. And wkneeling down on the beach, we prayed ⁶and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.

⁷When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted xthe brothers2 and stayed with them for one day. ⁸On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of yPhilip zthe evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. ⁹He had four unmarried daughters, awho prophesied. ¹⁰While we were staying for many days, a prophet named bAgabus came down from Judea. ¹¹And coming to us, he ctook Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, d“Thus says the Holy Spirit, e‘This is how the Jews3 at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and fdeliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” ¹²When we heard this, we and the people there gurged him not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³Then Paul answered, g“What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For hI am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem ifor the name of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴And since he would not be persuaded, jwe ceased and said, k“Let the will of the Lord be done.”

¹⁵After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.

Paul Visits James

¹⁷When we had come to Jerusalem, lthe brothers received us gladly. ¹⁸On the following day Paul went in with us to mJames, and all nthe elders were present. ¹⁹After greeting them, ohe related one by one pthe things that God had done among the Gentiles through his qministry. ²⁰And when they heard it, they rglorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all szealous for the law, ²¹and they have been told about you that you teach all tthe Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, utelling them vnot to circumcise their children or wwalk according to xour customs. ²²What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men ywho are under a vow; ²⁴take these men and zpurify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, yso that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law. ²⁵But as for the Gentiles who have believed, awe have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled,4 and from sexual immorality.” ²⁶Then Paul took the men, and the next day zhe purified himself along with them and bwent into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and cthe offering presented for each one of them.

Paul Arrested in the Temple

²⁷When cthe seven days were almost completed, dthe Jews from Asia, eseeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, ²⁸crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who fis teaching everyone everywhere against the people and gthe law and gthis place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and hhas defiled gthis holy place.” ²⁹For they had previously seen iTrophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. ³⁰Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and jdragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. ³¹jAnd as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of kthe cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. ³²lHe at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him mto be bound nwith two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done. ³⁴oSome in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into pthe barracks. ³⁵And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, ³⁶for the mob of the people followed, crying out, q“Away with him!”

Paul Speaks to the People

³⁷As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? ³⁸Are you not rthe Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out sinto the wilderness?” ³⁹Paul replied, t“I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.” ⁴⁰And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, umotioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in vthe Hebrew language,5 saying: