Genesis 26
Isaac and Abimelech
1 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the first famine in the days of Abraham; and Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
2 Then the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I will tell you.†
3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your seed I give all these lands; and I will perform the oath I swore to Abraham your father.†
4 And I will make your seed multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give your seed all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;†
5 because Abraham your father obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My ordinances, and My laws.Ӡ
6 So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.
7 Now the men of the place asked about his wife, and he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” lest the men of the place should kill him for Rebekah, because she was beautiful to behold.
8 Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of Gerar looked through a window and saw Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife.
9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I said to myself, ‘Lest I should die on account of her.’ ”
10 Thus Abimelech said, “Why have you done this to us? One of the people could easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.”
11 So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him.
13 The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous;
14 for he had herds of sheep and oxen and many fields. So the Philistines envied him.
15 Now the Philis-tines had stopped up all the wells his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth.
16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
17 Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
18 Again, Isaac dug the wells of water they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names his father had called them.
19 Also, Isaac’s servants dug in the valley of Gerar, and found a well of fresh water there.
20 But the herdsmen of Gerar fought with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Injustice, because they quarreled with him.†
21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Enmity.
22 So he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not fight over it. Thus he called its name Room, because he said, “Now the Lord has made room for us, and has increased us in the land.”
23 Then he went up from there to the Well of Oath.
24 Now the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your seed for My servant Abraham’s sake.”†
25 So he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord; and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.†
26 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his friend, and Phichol the commander-in-chief of his army.
27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”
28 But they said, “We have certainly seen the Lord is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you,
29 that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good, and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.’ ”
30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.
31 Then they arose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
32 It came to pass the same day, Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they dug, and said to him, “We have found water.”
33 So he called it, Oath; therefore, the name of the city is the Well of Oath to this day.
34 Now when Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.†
35 But they were contentious with Isaac and Rebekah.
Psalms 27
1 Of David. †To You, O Lord, I cry; O my God, may You not pass over me in silence; May You never be silent to me, Else I would become like those who go down into the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplication when I pray to You And when I lift up my hands toward Your holy temple.
3 May You not associate my soul with sinners, Nor destroy me with the workers of injustice, Who speak peace with their neighbor, But evil is in their hearts.
4 Give them according to their works, According to the wickedness of their pursuits; Give them according to the works of their hands; Return to them their due reward.
5 Because they do not understand the works of the Lord, Nor the deeds of His hands, You will destroy them, and never rebuild them.
6 Blessed is the Lord, Because He heard the voice of my supplication.
7 The Lord is my helper and my champion; In Him my heart hoped, and I was helped, And my flesh revived; And I will give thanks to Him willingly.
8 The Lord is the strength of His people, And the protector of the salvation of His anointed.
9 Save Your people, and bless Your inheritance; And shepherd them, and raise them up forever.
Proverbs of Solomon 5
The Sanctity of Marriage
15 Drink waters from your vessels And from the fountains of your spring.
16 Do not let the waters from your fountain be spilled by you, But let your waters pass through your wide places;
17 Let them be only for you, And let no stranger partake with you;
18 Let the fountain of your water be for you alone, And rejoice together with the wife of your youth.
19 Let your loving deer and graceful colt keep company with you, And let her alone go before you and be with you at all times; For in living with her love, you will be great.
Matthew 17
The Transfiguration
1 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves;†
2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.†
3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
4 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”
6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.
7 But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.”
8 When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
9 Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.”
10 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
11 Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.
12 But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.”
13 Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.
The Disciples Lack Faith
14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying,†
15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.
16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”
18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”†
20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Jesus’ Suffering
22 Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men,†
23 and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful.
Jesus Pays the Temple Tax
24 When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?”†
25 He said, “Yes.” And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?”
26 Peter said to Him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.
27 Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”