Genesis 11 - 12, Matthew 9-10:23, Psalm 6

The Tower of Babel

11Now the whole earth ¹had the same language and ²the same words. ²And it happened as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land ^aof Shinar and ¹settled there. ³Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and they had ^atar for mortar. ⁴And they said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top ^awill reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves ^ba name, lest we ^cbe scattered over the face of the whole earth.” ⁵^aThen Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. ⁶And Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have ¹^,^athe same language. And this is what they have begun to do. So now nothing which they purpose to do will be ²impossible for them. ⁷“Come, ^alet Us go down and there ^bconfuse their ¹language, so that they will not understand one another’s ²language.” ⁸So Yahweh ^ascattered them from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. ⁹Therefore its name was called ¹^,^aBabel, because there Yahweh confused the ²language of the whole earth; and from there Yahweh scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

The Generations of Shem

¹⁰^aThese are the generations of Shem. Shem was 100 years old and ¹became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood; ¹¹and Shem lived 500 years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

¹²And Arpachshad lived 35 years and became the father of Shelah; ¹³and Arpachshad lived 403 years after he became the father of Shelah, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

¹⁴And Shelah lived 30 years and became the father of Eber; ¹⁵and Shelah lived 403 years after he became the father of Eber, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

¹⁶And Eber lived 34 years and became the father of Peleg; ¹⁷and Eber lived 430 years after he became the father of Peleg, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

¹⁸And Peleg lived 30 years and became the father of Reu; ¹⁹and Peleg lived 209 years after he became the father of Reu, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

²⁰And Reu lived 32 years and became the father of Serug; ²¹and Reu lived 207 years after he became the father of Serug, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

²²And Serug lived 30 years and became the father of Nahor; ²³and Serug lived 200 years after he became the father of Nahor, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

²⁴Nahor lived 29 years and became the father of ^aTerah; ²⁵and Nahor lived 119 years after he became the father of Terah, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

²⁶And Terah lived 70 years and became ^athe father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

The Generations of Terah

²⁷Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and ^aHaran became the father of ^bLot. ²⁸And Haran died ¹in the presence of Terah his father in the land of his birth, in ^aUr of the Chaldeans. ²⁹Abram and ^aNahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was ^bSarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife was ^cMilcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. ³⁰^aAnd Sarai was barren; she had no child.

³¹And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out ¹together from ^aUr of the Chaldeans in order to go to the land of Canaan; and they came as far as Haran and ²settled there. ³²And the days of Terah were 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.

Yahweh Appears to Abram

12And ^aYahweh said to Abram, “¹Go forth from your land,And from your kinAnd from your father’s house,To the land which I will show you;

²And ^aI will make you a great nation,And ^bI will bless you,And make your name great;And so ¹^,^cyou shall be a blessing;³And ^aI will bless those who bless you,And the one who ¹curses you I will ²curse.^bAnd in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

⁴So Abram went forth as Yahweh had spoken to him; and ^aLot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵So Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their ^apossessions which they had accumulated, and ^bthe ¹persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go forth to the land of Canaan; ^cthus they came to the land of Canaan. ⁶And Abram passed through the land as far as the site of ^aShechem, to the ¹oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. ⁷Then Yahweh ^aappeared to Abram and said, “^bTo your seed I will give this land.” So he built ^can altar there to Yahweh who had appeared to him. ⁸Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with ^aBethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to Yahweh and ^bcalled upon the name of Yahweh. ⁹And Abram journeyed on, continuing toward ^athe ¹Negev.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

¹⁰Now there was ^aa famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was ^bsevere in the land. ¹¹And it happened as he drew near to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Now behold, I know that you are a woman ^abeautiful in appearance; ¹²^aand it will be when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³“Please say that you are ^amy sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that ¹^,^bI may live on account of you.” ¹⁴Now it happened when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians ¹saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵And Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and ^athe woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶Therefore ^ahe treated Abram well because of her; and sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels ¹^,^bcame into his possession.

¹⁷But Yahweh ^astruck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “^aWhat is this 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? So now, ¹here is your wife, take her and go.” ²⁰So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they ¹sent him away with his wife and all that belonged to him.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

9And getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to ^aHis own city.

²^aAnd behold, they brought to Him a ^bparalytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “^cTake courage, ¹son; ^dyour sins are forgiven.” ³And behold, some of the scribes said ¹to themselves, “This man ^ablasphemes.” ⁴And Jesus ^aknowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? ⁵“For which is easier, to say, ‘^aYour sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶“But so that you may know that ^athe Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He *said to the ^bparalytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” ⁷And he got up and ¹went home. ⁸But when the crowds saw this, they were afraid, and ^aglorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Matthew and Sinners Called

⁹^aAnd as Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called ^bMatthew, sitting in the tax office; and He *said to him, “^cFollow Me!” And he stood up and followed Him.

¹⁰¹Then it happened that as ²Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and ³sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. ¹¹And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “^aWhy is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” ¹²But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not ^athose who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³“But go and learn ¹^,^awhat this means: ‘^bI desire ²compassion, ³and not sacrifice,’ for ^cI did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

¹⁴Then the disciples of John *came to Him, ¹asking, “Why do we and ^athe Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵And Jesus said to them, “Can the ¹attendants of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶“But no one puts ¹a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for ²the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. ¹⁷“Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Miracles of Healing

¹⁸^aWhile He was saying these things to them, behold, ¹a synagogue ²official came and ³^,^bwas bowing down before Him, and said, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” ¹⁹And Jesus got up and began to follow him, and so did His disciples.

²⁰And behold, a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched ^athe ¹fringe of His ²garment; ²¹for she was saying ¹to herself, “If I only ^atouch His garment, I will ²be saved from this.” ²²But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, ^atake courage; ^byour faith has ¹saved you.” ²At once the woman was ³saved from her hemorrhage.

²³And when Jesus came into the ¹official’s house, and saw ^athe flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder, ²⁴He was saying, “Leave; for the girl ^ahas not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him. ²⁵But ^awhen the crowd had been sent out, coming in, He ^btook her by the hand, and the girl ¹got up. ²⁶^aAnd this news spread throughout all that land.

²⁷And as Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, ¹crying out, “Have mercy on us, ^aSon of David!” ²⁸And when He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus *said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They *said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” ²⁹Then He touched their eyes, saying, “¹It shall be done to you ^aaccording to your faith.” ³⁰And their eyes were opened. And Jesus ^asternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows about this!” ³¹But they went out and ^aspread the news about Him throughout all that land.

³²Now as they were going out, behold, ^aa mute, ^bdemon-possessed man ¹was brought to Him. ³³And after the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds marveled, saying, “^aNothing like this has ¹ever been seen in Israel.” ³⁴But the Pharisees were saying, “He ^acasts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

³⁵And Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, ^ateaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

³⁶^aAnd seeing the crowds, He felt compassion for them, ^bbecause they were ¹distressed and ²downcast like sheep ³without a shepherd. ³⁷Then He *said to His disciples, “^aThe harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. ³⁸“Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Jesus Appoints the Twelve

10^aAnd summoning His twelve disciples, Jesus gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to ^bheal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

²^aNow the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, ^bSimon, who is called Peter, and ^cAndrew his brother; and ^dJames the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ³^aPhilip and ¹Bartholomew; ^bThomas and ^cMatthew the tax collector; ^dJames the son of Alphaeus, and ^eThaddaeus; ⁴Simon the ¹Zealot, and ^aJudas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.

The Twelve Disciples Sent Out

⁵^aThese twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them, saying, “Do not ¹go ²in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the ^bSamaritans; ⁶but rather go to ^athe lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷“And as you go, ¹preach, saying, ‘^aThe kingdom of heaven ²is at hand.’ ⁸“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. ⁹“^aDo not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, ¹⁰or a ¹bag for your journey, or even two ²tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for ^athe worker is worthy of his ³support. ¹¹“And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay there until you leave. ¹²“Now as you enter the ¹house, ^agive it your ²greeting. ¹³“And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴“And whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you leave that house or that city, ^ashake the dust off your feet. ¹⁵“Truly I say to you, ^ait will be more tolerable for the land of ^bSodom and Gomorrah in ^cthe day of judgment than for that city.

The Promise of Persecution

¹⁶“^aBehold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so ¹be ^bshrewd as serpents and ^cinnocent as doves. ¹⁷“But beware of men, for they will deliver you over to the ^acourts and flog you ^bin their synagogues; ¹⁸and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹“^aBut when they deliver you over, ^bdo not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given to you in that hour what you are to say. ²⁰“For ^ait is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

²¹“^aAnd brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and ^bchildren will rise up against parents and ¹cause them to be put to death. ²²“^aAnd you will be hated by all because of My name, but ^bit is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

²³“But whenever they ^apersecute you in this city, flee to ¹the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel ^buntil the Son of Man comes.

Yahweh, Rescue My Soul

For the choir director. With stringed instruments. According to the ¹Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

O Yahweh, ^ado not reprove me in Your anger,Nor discipline me in Your wrath.²Be gracious to me, O Yahweh, for I am ^apining away;^bHeal me, O Yahweh, for ^cmy bones are dismayed.³And my ^asoul is greatly dismayed;But You, O Yahweh—^bhow long?⁴Return, O Yahweh, ^arescue my ¹soul;Save me because of Your lovingkindness.⁵For ^athere is no remembrance of You in death;In Sheol who will give You thanks?⁶I am ^aweary with my sighing;Every night I make my bed swim,I flood my couch with ^bmy tears.⁷My ^aeye has wasted away with grief;It has become old because of all my adversaries.⁸^aDepart from me, all you workers of iniquity,For Yahweh ^bhas heard the sound of my weeping.⁹Yahweh ^ahas heard my supplication,Yahweh ^breceives my prayer.¹⁰All my enemies will ^abe ashamed and greatly dismayed;They shall ¹turn back, they will ^bsuddenly be ashamed.