Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh
1 After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. 3 And Jacob said to Joseph, z“God Almighty1 appeared to me at aLuz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, 4 and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you bfor an everlasting possession.’ 5 And now your ctwo sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, dare mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. 6 And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow eRachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance2 to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”
8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” 9 Joseph said to his father, f“They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that gI may bless them.” 10 Now hthe eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, iand he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, j“I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” 12 Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. 14 kAnd Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, lcrossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). 15 And he blessed Joseph and said,
“The God mbefore whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,
16 nthe angel who has oredeemed me from all evil, bless the boys;
and in them let pmy name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
and let them qgrow into a multitude3 in the midst of the earth.”
17 When Joseph saw that his father rlaid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, r“I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, shis younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude4 of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying,
“By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying,
t‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’”
Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but uGod will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover, I have given to vyou rather than to your brothers one mountain slope5 that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”
Zion, the City of Our God
A Song. A Psalm of kthe Sons of Korah.
1 lGreat is the Lord and greatly to be praised
in mthe city of our God!
His nholy mountain, 2 obeautiful in elevation,
is pthe joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
qthe city of the great King.
3 Within her citadels God
has made himself known as a fortress.
4 For behold, rthe kings assembled;
they came on together.
5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
they were in panic; they took to flight.
6 sTrembling took hold of them there,
anguish tas of a woman in labor.
7 By uthe east wind you vshattered
the ships of wTarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in mthe city of our God,
which God will xestablish forever. Selah
9 We have thought on your ysteadfast love, O God,
in the midst of your temple.
10 As your zname, O God,
so your praise reaches to athe ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11 Let Mount bZion be glad!
Let bthe daughters of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments!
12 Walk about Zion, go around her,
number her towers,
13 consider well her cramparts,
go through her citadels,
dthat you may tell the next generation
14 that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor
1 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek krest for you, that it may be well with you? 2 Is not Boaz lour relative, mwith whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3 nWash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” 5 And she replied, “All that you say I will do.”
6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. 7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and ohis heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. 8 At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! 9 He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. pSpread your wings1 over your servant, for you are qa redeemer.” 10 And he said, r“May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than sthe first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. 11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are ta worthy woman. 12 And now it is true that I am ua redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. 13 Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will vredeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, was the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.”
14 So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” 15 And he said, “Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city. 16 And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did you fare, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her, 17 saying, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, ‘You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’” 18 She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.”
Israel Refined for God’s Glory
1 Hear this, O house of Jacob,
dwho are called by the name of Israel,
and ewho came from the waters of Judah,
fwho swear by the name of the Lord
and confess the God of Israel,
but not in truth or right.
2 For they call themselves after the holy city,
gand stay themselves on the God of Israel;
the Lord of hosts is his name.
3 “The former things hI declared of old;
they went out from my mouth, and I announced them;
then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
4 Because I know that iyou are obstinate,
and your neck is an iron sinew
and your forehead brass,
5 hI declared them to you from of old,
before they came to pass I announced them to you,
lest you should say, j‘My idol did them,
my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’
6 “You have heard; now see all this;
and will you not declare it?
From this time forth kI announce to you new things,
hidden things that you have not known.
7 They are created now, not long ago;
before today you have never heard of them,
lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
8 You have never heard, you have never known,
from of old your ear has not been opened.
For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously,
and that lfrom before birth you were called a rebel.
9 m“For my name’s sake I defer my anger;
for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,
that I may not cut you off.
10 Behold, I have refined you, nbut not as silver;
oI have tried1 you in the furnace of affliction.
11 pFor my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
for how should my name2 be profaned?
qMy glory I will not give to another.
The Lord’s Call to Israel
12 “Listen to me, O Jacob,
and Israel, whom I called!
I am he; rI am the first,
and I am the last.
13 My hand slaid the foundation of the earth,
and my right hand sspread out the heavens;
twhen I call to them,
they stand forth together.
14 “Assemble, all of you, and listen!
uWho among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him;
vhe shall perform his purpose on Babylon,
and his arm shall be against wthe Chaldeans.
15 xI, even I, have spoken and called him;
I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way.
16 yDraw near to me, hear this:
from the beginning I have not spoken in secret,
from the time it came to be I have been there.”
And now zthe Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit.
17 Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you to profit,
who leads you in the way you should go.
18 aOh that you had paid attention to my commandments!
bThen your peace would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;
19 cyour offspring would have been like the sand,
and your descendants like its grains;
their name would never be cut off
or destroyed from before me.”
20 dGo out from Babylon, flee from eChaldea,
declare this fwith a shout of joy, proclaim it,
send it out to the end of the earth;
say, g“The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
21 hThey did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;
ihe made water flow for them from the rock;
he split the rock and the water gushed out.
22 j“There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”
The Temptation of Jesus
1 sAnd Jesus, tfull of the Holy Spirit, ureturned from the Jordan and was led vby the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for wforty days, xbeing tempted by the devil. wAnd he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, yhe was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are zthe Son of God, command athis stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, b“It is written, c‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” 5 dAnd the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you eI will give all this authority and their glory, efor it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, f“It is written,
g“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
and hhim only shall you serve.’”
9 iAnd he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are jthe Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,
k“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
to guard you,’
11 and
k“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, l‘You shall not mput the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him nuntil an opportune time.
Jesus Begins His Ministry
14 oAnd Jesus returned pin the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and qa report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And rhe taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
16 sAnd he came to tNazareth, where he had been brought up. And uas was his custom, vhe went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up wto read. 17 And xthe scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18 y“The Spirit of the Lord zis upon me,
because he has anointed me
to aproclaim good news to the poor.
bHe has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and crecovering of sight to the blind,
dto set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 eto proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and fsat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were gfixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today hthis Scripture ihas been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at jthe gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, k“Is not this lJoseph’s son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, m‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did nat Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, ono prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when pthe heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them qbut only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And rthere were many lepers1 in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, sbut only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and tdrove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But upassing through their midst, he went away.
Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon
31 vAnd he wwent down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And xhe was teaching them yon the Sabbath, 32 and zthey were astonished at his teaching, zfor his word possessed authority. 33 And xin the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Ha!2 aWhat have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? bI know who you are—cthe Holy One of God.” 35 But Jesus drebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 36 And ethey were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? eFor with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37 And freports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.
Jesus Heals Many
38 gAnd he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now hSimon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39 And he stood over her and irebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.
40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and jhe laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 kAnd demons also came out of many, lcrying, “You are mthe Son of God!” But he rebuked them and kwould not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was nthe Christ.
Jesus Preaches in Synagogues
42 oAnd when it was day, he departed and went pinto a desolate place. And qthe people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, r“I must spreach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” 44 And he was preaching tin the synagogues of Judea.3
