Genesis 22

• 1. Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!Here I am," he replied.
• 2. Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
• 3. Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.
• 4. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.
• 5. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
• 6. Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,
• 7. Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
• 8. Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
• 9. When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
• 10. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
• 11. But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!Here I am," he replied.
• 12. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
• 13. Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
• 14. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
• 15. The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time
• 16. and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
• 17. I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,
• 18. and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
• 19. Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
• 20. Some time later Abraham was told, "Milcah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor:
• 21. Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram),
• 22. Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel."
• 23. Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight sons to Abraham's brother Nahor.
• 24. His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maacah.

Matthew 21

• 1. As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,
• 2. saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.
• 3. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."
• 4. This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
• 5. "Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"
• 6. The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.
• 7. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.
• 8. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
• 9. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!Hosanna in the highest!"
• 10. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?"
• 11. The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."
• 12. Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.
• 13. "It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'"
• 14. The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.
• 15. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant.
• 16. "Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him. "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read, "'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise'?"
• 17. And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
• 18. Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry.
• 19. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered.
• 20. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked.
• 21. Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.
• 22. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
• 23. Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you this authority?"
• 24. Jesus replied, "I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
• 25. John's baptism--where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or from men?"
• 26. They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?' But if we say, 'From men'--we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet."
• 27. So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." Then he said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
• 28. "What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.'
• 29. "'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
• 30. "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go.
• 31. "Which of the two did what his father wanted?The first," they answered.
• 32. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
• 33. "Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey.
• 34. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
• 35. "The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.
• 36. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way.
• 37. Last of all, he sent his son to them. 'They will respect my son,' he said.
• 38. "But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.'
• 39. So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
• 40. "Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"
• 41. "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end," they replied, "and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time."
• 42. Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?
• 43. "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
• 44. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."
• 45. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them.
• 46. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

Nehemiah 11

• 1. Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the remaining nine were to stay in their own towns.
• 2. The people commended all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.
• 3. These are the provincial leaders who settled in Jerusalem (now some Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants and descendants of Solomon's servants lived in the towns of Judah, each on his own property in the various towns,
• 4. while other people from both Judah and Benjamin lived in Jerusalem): From the descendants of Judah: Athaiah son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, a descendant of Perez;
• 5. and Maaseiah son of Baruch, the son of Col-Hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, a descendant of Shelah.
• 6. The descendants of Perez who lived in Jerusalem totaled 468 able men.
• 7. From the descendants of Benjamin: Sallu son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah,
• 8. and his followers, Gabbai and Sallai-928 men.
• 9. Joel son of Zicri was their chief officer, and Judah son of Hassenuah was over the Second District of the city.
• 10. From the priests: Jedaiah; the son of Joiarib; Jakin;
• 11. Seraiah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, supervisor in the house of God,
• 12. and their associates, who carried on work for the temple-822 men; Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malkijah,
• 13. and his associates, who were heads of families-242 men; Amashsai son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer,
• 14. and his associates, who were able men-128. Their chief officer was Zabdiel son of Haggedolim.
• 15. From the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni;
• 16. Shabbethai and Jozabad, two of the heads of the Levites, who had charge of the outside work of the house of God;
• 17. Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, the director who led in thanksgiving and prayer; Bakbukiah, second among his associates; and Abda son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.
• 18. The Levites in the holy city totaled 284.
• 19. The gatekeepers: Akkub, Talmon and their associates, who kept watch at the gates-172 men.
• 20. The rest of the Israelites, with the priests and Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, each on his ancestral property.
• 21. The temple servants lived on the hill of Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa were in charge of them.
• 22. The chief officer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica. Uzzi was one of Asaph's descendants, who were the singers responsible for the service of the house of God.
• 23. The singers were under the king's orders, which regulated their daily activity.
• 24. Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, one of the descendants of Zerah son of Judah, was the king's agent in all affairs relating to the people.
• 25. As for the villages with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in Kiriath Arba and its surrounding settlements, in Dibon and its settlements, in Jekabzeel and its villages,
• 26. in Jeshua, in Moladah, in Beth Pelet,
• 27. in Hazar Shual, in Beersheba and its settlements,
• 28. in Ziklag, in Meconah and its settlements,
• 29. in En Rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth,
• 30. Zanoah, Adullam and their villages, in Lachish and its fields, and in Azekah and its settlements. So they were living all the way from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom.
• 31. The descendants of the Benjamites from Geba lived in Micmash, Aija, Bethel and its settlements,
• 32. in Anathoth, Nob and Ananiah,
• 33. in Hazor, Ramah and Gittaim,
• 34. in Hadid, Zeboim and Neballat,
• 35. in Lod and Ono, and in the Valley of the Craftsmen.
• 36. Some of the divisions of the Levites of Judah settled in Benjamin.

New International Version

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