Jan 21, 2023
January 21: Genesis 22; Matthew 21; Nehemiah 11; Acts 21
With family: Genesis 22; Matthew 21
Genesis 22 (Listen)
The Sacrifice of Isaac
*22 *After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” *2 *He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” *3 *So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. *4 *On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. *5 *Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy1 will go over there and worship and come again to you.” *6 *And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. *7 *And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” *8 *Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
*9 *When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. *10 *Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. *11 *But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” *12 *He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” *13 *And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. *14 *So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”;2 as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”3
*15 *And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven *16 *and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, *17 *I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his4 enemies, *18 *and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” *19 *So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.
*20 *Now after these things it was told to Abraham, “Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: *21 *Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, *22 *Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” *23 *(Bethuel fathered Rebekah.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. *24 *Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah. Footnotes
[1] 22:5 Or _young man_; also verse 12
[2] 22:14 Or _will see_
[3] 22:14 Or _he will be seen_
[4] 22:17 Or _their_
(ESV)
Matthew 21 (Listen)
The Triumphal Entry
*21 *Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, *2 *saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. *3 *If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” *4 *This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
*5 * “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt,1 the foal of a beast of burden.’”
*6 *The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. *7 *They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. *8 *Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. *9 *And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” *10 *And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” *11 *And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” Jesus Cleanses the Temple
*12 *And Jesus entered the temple2 and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. *13 *He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
*14 *And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. *15 *But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, *16 *and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
“‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise’?”
*17 *And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there. Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
*18 *In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. *19 *And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.
*20 *When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” *21 *And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. *22 *And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” The Authority of Jesus Challenged
*23 *And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” *24 *Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. *25 *The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ *26 *But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” *27 *So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. The Parable of the Two Sons
*28 *“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ *29 *And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. *30 *And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. *31 *Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. *32 *For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it…