Genesis 40 and Matthew 25:14--30 (NIV)

Genesis 40
The Cupbearer and the Baker

1    Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt.
2     Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,
3     and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined.
4     The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them.  After they had been in custody for some time,
5     each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.
6     When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected.
7     So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”
8     “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.”  Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”
9     So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, “In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, 10   and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes.
11   Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand.”
12    “This is what it means, ” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days.
13   Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.
14   But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison.
15   I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.”
16   When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread.
17    In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”
18    “This is what it means,” Joseph said. “The three baskets are three days.
19    Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale your body on a pole. And the birds will eat away your flesh.”
20    Now the third day was Pharaoh’s birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials:
21    He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand  22    but he impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.
23   The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.

Matthew 25:14-30

The Parable of the Talents

14  “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15  To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 
16  The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 
17   So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 
18   But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19   “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 
20   The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
21   “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22   “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
23   “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24   “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 
25   So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26   “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 
27   Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28   “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 
29   For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 
30   And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 

Genesis 39 and Matthew 25:1-13 (NIV)

Genesis 39
Joseph and Potiphar's Wife

1    Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.

2    The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 

3    When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, 

4    Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 

From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the 

5    household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 

6    So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.  Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 

7    and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”

8    But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 

9    No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 

10  And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

11  One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside.
12  She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.
13  When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house,
14   she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. 
15   When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”
16   She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home.
17   Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me.
18   But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”
19   When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. 
20   Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.
But while Joseph was there in the prison,
21   the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 
22   So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 
23   The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. 



Matthew 25:1-13
The Parable of the Ten Virgins

1    “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 

2    Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 

3    The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 

4    The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 

5    The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

6    “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7    “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 
8    The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9    “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10  “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11  “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12  “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13  “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. 

Genesis 38 and Matthew 24:36-51 (NIV)

Genesis 38
Judah and Tamar
1    At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah.
2    There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and made love to her;
3    she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er.
4    She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan.
5    She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him.
6    Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.
7    But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death.
8    Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.”
9    But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother.
10  What he did was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death also.
11  Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s household until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s household.
12  After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him.
13  When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,”
14  she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.
15  When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.
16  Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.”  “And what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked.
17  “I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he said.  “Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?” she asked.
18  He said, “What pledge should I give you?”  “Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.
19  After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again.
20  Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her.
21  He asked the men who lived there, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?”
“There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,” they said.
22  So he went back to Judah and said, “I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’”
23  Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.”
24  About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.”  Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!”
25  As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.”
26  Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again.
27  When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.
28  As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, “This one came out first.”
29  But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, “So this is how you have broken out!” And he was named Perez.
30  Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah.



Matthew 24:36-51
The Day and Hour Unknown
36  “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 
37  As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 
38  For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 
39  and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 
40  Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 
41  Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42  “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 
43  But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 
44  So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
45  “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 
46  It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 
47  Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 
48  But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 
49  and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 
50  The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 
51  He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Genesis 37:12-36 and Matthew 24:1-35 (NIV)

Genesis 37:12-36
Joseph Sold by His Brothers
12  Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem,
13  and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.”  “Very well,” he replied.
14  So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.  When Joseph arrived at Shechem,
15  a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16  He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”
17  “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’”
So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan.
18  But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.
19  “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other.
20  “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”
21  When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said.
22  “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.
23  So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— 24  and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
25  As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
26  Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?
27  Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.
28  So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
29  When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes.
30  He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there! Where can I turn now?”
31  Then they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.
32  They took the ornate robe back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.”
33  He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”
34  Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days.
35  All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.” So his father wept for him.
36  Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.

Matthew 24:1-35
Signs of the End of the Age
1    Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.
2    “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
3    As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4    Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 
5    For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 
6    You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 
7    Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 
8    All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9    “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 
10  At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 
11  and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 
12  Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 
13  but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 
14  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
15  “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 
16  then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 
17  Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 
18  Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 
19  How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 
20  Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 
21  For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22  “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 
23  At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 
24  For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 
25  See, I have told you ahead of time.
26  “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 
27  For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 
28  Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
29  “Immediately after the distress of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
30  “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 
31  And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
32  “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 
33  Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 
34  Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 
35  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Genesis 37:1-11 and Matthew 23 (NIV)

Genesis 37:1-11
Joseph's Dream
1    Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.
2    This is the account of Jacob’s family line.  Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
3    Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him.
4   When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
5    Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more.
6    He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had:
7    We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”
8    His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
9    Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
10   When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”
11   His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.



Matthew 23
Seven Woes
1    Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
2    “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 
3    So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 
4    They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5    “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 
6    they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 
7    they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
8    “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 
9    And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 
10  Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 
11  The greatest among you will be your servant. 
12  For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. 
13  “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
^[14]
15  “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
16  “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ 
17  You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 
18  You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 
19  You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 
20  Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 
21  And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.
22  And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
23  “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 
24  You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25  “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 
26  Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27  “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29  “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 
30  And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 
31  So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 
32  Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!
33  “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 
34  Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 
35  And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 
36  Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.
37  “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 
38  Look, your house is left to you desolate. 
39  For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Genesis 36:31-43 and Matthew 22:41-46 (NIV)

Genesis 36:31-43
The Rulers of Edom
31  These were the kings who reigned in Edom before any Israelite king reigned:
32  Bela son of Beor became king of Edom. His city was named Dinhabah.
33  When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah succeeded him as king.
34  When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites succeeded him as king.
35  When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, succeeded him as king. His city was named Avith.
36  When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah succeeded him as king.
37  When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the river succeeded him as king.
38  When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan son of Akbor succeeded him as king.
39  When Baal-Hanan son of Akbor died, Hadad succeeded him as king. His city was named Pau, and his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.
40  These were the chiefs descended from Esau, by name, according to their clans and regions:
Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,
41  Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,
42  Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,
43  Magdiel and Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements in the land they occupied.
This is the family line of Esau, the father of the Edomites.


Matthew 22:41-46
Whose Son Is the Christ?
41  While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
42  “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”  “The son of David,” they replied.
43  He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
44  “‘The Lord said to my Lord:  “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’
45  If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”
46  No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Genesis 36:1-30 and Matthew 22:34-40 (NIV)

Genesis 36:1-30
Esau's Descendants
1    This is the account of the family line of Esau (that is, Edom).
2    Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite—
3    also Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.
4    Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel,
5    and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were the sons of Esau, who were born to him in Canaan.
6    Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the members of his household, as well as his livestock and all his other animals and all the goods he had acquired in Canaan, and moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob.
7    Their possessions were too great for them to remain together; the land where they were staying could not support them both because of their livestock.
8    So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir.
9    This is the account of the family line of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir.
10  These are the names of Esau’s sons:  Eliphaz, the son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau’s wife Basemath.
11  The sons of Eliphaz:  Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam and Kenaz.
12  Esau’s son Eliphaz also had a concubine named Timna, who bore him Amalek. These were grandsons of Esau’s wife Adah.
13  The sons of Reuel:  Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.
14  The sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon, whom she bore to Esau:  Jeush, Jalam and Korah.
15  These were the chiefs among Esau’s descendants:  The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau:  Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,
16  Korah, Gatam and Amalek. These were the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in Edom; they were grandsons of Adah.
17  The sons of Esau’s son Reuel:  Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in Edom; they were grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.
18  The sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah:  Chiefs Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah.
19  These were the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these were their chiefs.
20  These were the sons of Seir the Horite, who were living in the region:  Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,
21  Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These sons of Seir in Edom were Horite chiefs.
22  The sons of Lotan:  Hori and Homam. Timna was Lotan’s sister.
23  The sons of Shobal:  Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho and Onam.
24  The sons of Zibeon:  Aiah and Anah. This is the Anah who discovered the hot springs in the desert while he was grazing the donkeys of his father Zibeon.
25  The children of Anah:  Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah.
26  The sons of Dishon:  Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Keran.
27  The sons of Ezer:  Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan.
28  The sons of Dishan:  Uz and Aran.
29  These were the Horite chiefs:  Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,
30  Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These were the Horite chiefs, according to their divisions, in the land of Seir.

Matthew 22:34-40
The Greatest Commandment
34  Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.
35  One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36  “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 
38  This is the first and greatest commandment. 
39  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 
40  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Genesis 35:16-29 and Matthew 22:23-33 (NIV)

Genesis 35:16-29
The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac
16  Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty.
17  And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, “Don’t despair, for you have another son.”
18  As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.
19  So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
20  Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb.
21  Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder.
22  While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.  Jacob had twelve sons:
23  The sons of Leah:  Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.
24  The sons of Rachel:  Joseph and Benjamin.
25  The sons of Rachel’s servant Bilhah:  Dan and Naphtali.
26  The sons of Leah’s servant Zilpah:  Gad and Asher.  These were the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.
27  Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.
28  Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years.
29  Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.


Matthew 22:23-33
Marriage at the Resurrection
23  That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question.
24  “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.
25  Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother.
26  The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh.
27  Finally, the woman died.
28  Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”
29  Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 
30  At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 
31  But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 
32  ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
33  When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

Genesis 35:1-15 and Matthew 22:15-22 (NIV)

Genesis 35:1-15
Jacob Return to Bethel
1    Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”
2    So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.
3    Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.”
4    So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem.
5    Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.
6    Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.
7    There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.
8    Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak outside Bethel. So it was named Allon Bakuth.
9    After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him.
10  God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel.
11  And God said to him, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants.
12  The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”
13  Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.
14  Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it.
15  Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.



Matthew 22:15-22
Paying Taxes to Caesar
15  Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.
16  They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are.
17  Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”
18  But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?
19  Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius,
20  and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
21  “Caesar’s,” they replied.  Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
22  When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

Genesis 34:18-31 and Matthew 22:1-14 (NIV)

Genesis 34:18-31
Dinah and the Shechemites

18  Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem.
19  The young man, who was the most honored of all his father’s family, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter.
20  So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to the men of their city.
21  “These men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours.
22  But the men will agree to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are.
23  Won’t their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us agree to their terms, and they will settle among us.”
24  All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.
25  Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male.
26  They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left.
27  The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where their sister had been defiled.
28  They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields.
29  They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses.
30  Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”
31  But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”


Matthew 22:1-14
Parable of the Wedding Banquet
1    Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying:
2    “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 
3    He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4    “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
5    “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 
6    The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 
7    The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8    “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 
9    So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 
10  So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11  “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 
12  He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
13  “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14  “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Genesis 34:1-17 and Matthew 21:33-46 (NIV)

Genesis 34:1-17
Dinah and the Shechemites
1    Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land.
2    When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her.
3    His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4    And Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.”
5    When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home.
6    Then Shechem’s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob.
7    Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious, because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in Israel by sleeping with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.
8    But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife.
9    Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves.
10  You can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, trade in it, and acquire property in it.”
11  Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask.
12  Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I’ll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the young woman as my wife.”
13  Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob’s sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor.
14  They said to them, “We can’t do such a thing; we can’t give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us.
15  We will enter into an agreement with you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males.
16  Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We’ll settle among you and become one people with you.
17  But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our sister and go.”


Matthew 21:33-46
The Parable of the Tenants
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 moved to another place. 
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 cornerstone; 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  Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone 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.

Genesis 33 and Matthew 21:28-32 (NIV)

Genesis 33
Jacob Meets Esau
1    Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants.
2    He put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear.
3    He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.
4    But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.
5    Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked.
Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.”
6    Then the female servants and their children approached and bowed down.
7    Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down.
8    Esau asked, “What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?”  “To find favor in your eyes, my lord,” he said.
9    But Esau said, “I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”
10  “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably.
11  Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.
12  Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”
13  But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die.
14  So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
15  Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”  “But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”
16  So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir.
17  Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth.
18  After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city.
19  For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent.
20  There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.

Matthew 21:28-32

The Parable of the Two Sons
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.  Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 
32  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.

Genesis 32:22-32 and Matthew 21:23-27 (NIV)

Genesis 32:22-32
Jacob Wrestles with God
22  That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
23  After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.
24  So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.
25  When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.
26  Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”  But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27  The man asked him, “What is your name?”  “Jacob,” he answered.
28  Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
29  Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”  But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
30  So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
31  The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
32  Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near

Matthew 21:23-27
The Authority of Jesus Questioned
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 of human origin?”  They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’
26  But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—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.

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Genesis 32:1-21 and Matthew 21:18-22 (NIV)

Genesis 32:1-21
Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau
1    Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2    When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.
3    Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
4    He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now.
5    I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.’”
6    When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”
7    In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well.
8    He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape.”
9    Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, LORD, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’
10  I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps.
11  Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children.
12   But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”
13   He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau:
14   two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
15   thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.
16   He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.”
17   He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’
18   then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’”
19   He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: “You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him.
20   And be sure to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.”
21   So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.

Matthew 21:18-22
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
18   Early in the morning, as Jesus 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, “Truly I tell you, 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.”

Genesis 31:43-55 and Matthew 21:12-17 (NIV)

Genesis 31:43-55
Laban Blesses Daughters & Grandchildren

43  Laban answered Jacob, “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne?
44  Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”
45  So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.
46  He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap.
47  Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.
48  Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” That is why it was called Galeed.
49  It was also called Mizpah, because he said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.
50  If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”
51  Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me.
52  This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me.
53  May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.”
So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac.
54  He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.
55  Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.


Matthew 21:12-17
Jesus at the Temple
12  Jesus entered the temple courts 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 courts, “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, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”
17  And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

Genesis 31:36-42 and Matthew 21:;1-11 (NIV)

Genesis 31:36-42
Laban Pursues Jacob

36  Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. “What is my crime?” he asked Laban. “How have I wronged you that you hunt me down?
37  Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.
38  “I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks.
39  I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night.
40  This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes.
41  It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times.
42  If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.”


Matthew 21:1-11
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
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, say 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 Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and 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 and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.
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 heaven!”
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.”

Genesis 31:22-35 and Matthew 20:29-34 (NIV)

Genesis 31:22-35
Leban Pursues Jacob
22  On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled.
23  Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.
24  Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
25  Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too.
26  Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You’ve deceived me, and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war.
27  Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of timbrels and harps?
28  You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. You have done a foolish thing.
29  I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’
30  Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?”
31  Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force.
32  But if you find anyone who has your gods, that person shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.
33  So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent.
34  Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.
35  Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I’m having my period.” So he searched but could not find the household gods.

Matthew 20:29-34
Two Blind Men Receive Sight
29  As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.
30  Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
31  The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
32  Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
33  “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”
34  Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

Genesis 31:1-21 and Matthew 20:17-28 (NIV)

Genesis 31:1-21
Jacob Flees From Leban

 1    Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.”
2    And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.
3    Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”
4    So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were.
5    He said to them, “I see that your father’s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me.
6    You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength,
7    yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me.
8    If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young.
9    So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.
10  “In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted.
11  The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’
12  And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.
13  I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.’”
14  Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate?
15  Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. 16  Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.”
17  Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels,
18  and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
19  When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods.
20  Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away.
21  So he fled with all he had, crossed the Euphrates River, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.

Matthew 20:17-19
Jesus Again Predicts His Death
17  Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them,
18  “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 
19  and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
Matthew 20:20-28
A Mother's Request
20  Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
21  “What is it you want?” he asked.  She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”
22  “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”  “We can,” they answered.
23  Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”
24  When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.
25  Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 
26  Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 
27  and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 
28  just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”