Judah and Tamar

1 It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and ^oturned aside to a certain ^pAdullamite, whose name was Hirah. 2 There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was ^qShua. He took her and went in to her, 3 and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name ^rEr. 4 She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name ^rOnan. 5 Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name ^rShelah. Judah¹ was in Chezib when she bore him.

6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, ^swas wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. 8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to ^tyour brother’s wife and ^uperform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. 10 And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also. 11 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, ^v“Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained ^win her father’s house.

12 In the course of time the wife of Judah, Shua’s daughter, died. When Judah ^xwas comforted, he went up to ^yTimnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13 And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” 14 she took off her widow’s garments ^zand covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to ^aEnaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, ^band she had not been given to him in marriage. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16 He turned to her at the roadside and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” 17 He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you give me a pledge, until you send it—” 18 He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, ^c“Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him. 19 Then she arose and went away, and taking off ^dher veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.

20 When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her. 21 And he asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute² who was at ^eEnaim at the roadside?” And they said, “No cult prostitute has been here.” 22 So he returned to Judah and said, “I have not found her. Also, the men of the place said, ‘No cult prostitute has been here.’” 23 And Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, or we shall be laughed at. You see, I sent this young goat, and you did not find her.”

24 About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law ^fhas been immoral.³ Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.”⁴ And Judah said, “Bring her out, and ^glet her be burned.” 25 As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please identify whose these are, ^hthe signet and the cord and the staff.” 26 Then Judah identified them and said, ⁱ“She is more righteous than I, since ^jI did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again.

27 When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. 28 And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” 29 But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore his name was called ^kPerez.⁵ 30 Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called ^kZerah.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

1 ^lIn those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2 ^m“I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, ⁿ“Seven.” 6 And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and ^ohaving given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish. And ^phaving blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8 And ^qthey ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, ⁿseven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 10 And immediately he got into ^rthe boat with his disciples and went to the district of ^sDalmanutha.¹

The Pharisees Demand a Sign

11 ^tThe Pharisees came and began to argue with him, ^useeking from him ^va sign from heaven ^wto test him. 12 And ^xhe sighed deeply ^yin his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13 And ^zhe left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod

14 Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; ^abeware of ^bthe leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of ^cHerod.”² 16 And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And ^dJesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? ^eDo you not yet perceive ^for understand? ^fAre your hearts hardened? 18 ^gHaving eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke ^hthe five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20 “And ⁱthe seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21 And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida

22 And they came ^jto Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 And ^khe took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when ^khe had ^lspit on his eyes and ^mlaid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24 And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” 25 Then Jesus³ laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 And he sent him to his home, saying, ⁿ“Do not even enter the village.”

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

27 ^oAnd Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him, ^p“John the Baptist; and others say, ^qElijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, ^r“You are ^sthe Christ.” 30 ^tAnd he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

31 ^uAnd he began to teach them that ^vthe Son of Man must ^wsuffer many things and ^xbe rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and ^yafter three days rise again. 32 And he said this ^zplainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ^a“Get behind me, Satan! For you ^bare not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him ^cdeny himself and ^dtake up his cross and follow me. 35 For ^dwhoever would save his life⁴ will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake ^eand the gospel’s will save it. 36 ^fFor what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For ^gwhat can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For ^hwhoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this ⁱadulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed ^jwhen he comes in the glory of his Father with ^kthe holy angels.”

Eliphaz Speaks: The Innocent Prosper

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

Life in the Spirit

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.¹ 2 For the law of ^hthe Spirit of life ⁱhas set you² free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For ^jGod has done what the law, ^kweakened by the flesh, ^lcould not do. ^mBy sending his own Son ⁿin the likeness of sinful flesh and ^ofor sin,³ he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that ^pthe righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, ^qwho walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For ^rthose who live according to the flesh set their minds on ^sthe things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on ^tthe things of the Spirit. 6 For to set ^uthe mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is ^vhostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; ^windeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact ^xthe Spirit of God dwells in you. ^yAnyone who does not have ^zthe Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of ^ahim who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus⁴ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies ^bthrough his Spirit who dwells in you.

Heirs with Christ

12 So then, brothers,⁵ we are debtors, ^cnot to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you ^dput to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are ^eled by the Spirit of God are ^fsons⁶ of God. 15 For ^gyou did not receive ^hthe spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of ⁱadoption as sons, by whom we cry, ^j“Abba! Father!” 16 ^kThe Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then ^lheirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, ^mprovided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Future Glory

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time ⁿare not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for ^othe revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation ^pwas subjected to futility, not willingly, but ^qbecause of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that ^rthe creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that ^sthe whole creation ^thas been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have ^uthe firstfruits of the Spirit, ^vgroan inwardly as ^wwe wait eagerly for adoption as sons, ^xthe redemption of our bodies. 24 For ^yin this hope we were saved. Now ^zhope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we ^await for it with patience.

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For ^bwe do not know what to pray for as we ought, but ^cthe Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And ^dhe who searches hearts knows what is ^ethe mind of the Spirit, because⁷ the Spirit ^fintercedes for the saints ^gaccording to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together ^hfor good,⁸ for ⁱthose who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he ^jforeknew he also ^kpredestined ^lto be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be ^mthe firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also ⁿjustified, and those whom he justified he also ^oglorified.

God’s Everlasting Love

31 What then shall we say to these things? ^pIf God is for us, who can be⁹ against us? 32 ^qHe who did not spare his own Son but ^rgave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? ^sIt is God who justifies. 34 ^tWho is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—^uwho is at the right hand of God, ^vwho indeed is interceding for us.¹⁰ 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

37 No, in all these things we are more than ^yconquerors through ^zhim who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.