Select: First Reading Second Reading Bible Background
First Reading: Genesis Chapter 25 and 26Genesis 25
25:1 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore him Zimran,
Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. 3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba
and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites and
the Leummites. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah.
All these were descendants of Keturah.
5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6 But while he was still living,
he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son
Isaac to the land of the east.
7 Altogether, Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. 8 Then Abraham
breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years;
and he was gathered to his people. 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in
the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite,
10 the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried
with his wife Sarah. 11 After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac, who
then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.
12 This is the account of Abraham's son Ishmael, whom Sarah's maidservant, Hagar
the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.
13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their
birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma,
Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 16 These were the
sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according
to their settlements and camps. 17 Altogether, Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven
years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. 18
His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the border of
Egypt, as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their
brothers.
19 This is the account of Abraham's son Isaac.
Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he
married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister
of Laban the Aramean.
21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The
LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies
jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this happening to
me?" So she went to inquire of the LORD.
23 The LORD said to her,
"Two nations are in your womb,and two peoples from within you will be separated;one
people will be stronger than the other,and the older will serve the younger."
24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.
25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment;
so they named him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping
Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave
birth to them.
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country,
while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste
for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country,
famished. 30 He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew!
I'm famished!" (That is why he was also called Edom.)
31 Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright."
32 "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright
to me?"
33 But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him,
selling his birthright to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and
then got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.
Genesis 26
26:1 Now there was a famine in the land — besides the earlier famine of
Abraham's time — and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in
Gerar. 2 The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt;
live in the land where I tell you to live. 3 Stay in this land for a while,
and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I
will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham.
4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will
give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will
be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands,
my decrees and my laws." 6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, "She is
my sister," because he was afraid to say, "She is my wife." He
thought, "The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because
she is beautiful."
8 When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked
down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelech
summoned Isaac and said, "She is really your wife! Why did you say, 'She
is my sister'?"
Isaac answered him, "Because I thought I might lose my life on account
of her."
10 Then Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the men
might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon
us."
11 So Abimelech gave orders to all the people: "Anyone who molests this
man or his wife shall surely be put to death."
12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold,
because the LORD blessed him. 13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued
to grow until he became very wealthy. 14 He had so many flocks and herds and
servants that the Philistines envied him. 15 So all the wells that his father's
servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped
up, filling them with earth.
16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Move away from us; you have become too
powerful for us."
17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled
there. 18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father
Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave
them the same names his father had given them.
19 Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there.
20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen and said, "The
water is ours!" So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him.
21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he
named it Sitnah. 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one
quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, "Now the LORD has given
us room and we will flourish in the land."
23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 That night the LORD appeared to him
and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I
am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants
for the sake of my servant Abraham."
25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched
his tent, and there his servants dug a well.
26 Meanwhile, Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal
adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. 27 Isaac asked them, "Why
have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?"
28 They answered, "We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so we said,
'There ought to be a sworn agreement between us' — between us and you.
Let us make a treaty with you 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we did
not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now
you are blessed by the LORD."
30 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31 Early the next
morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way,
and they left him in peace.
32 That day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug.
They said, "We've found water!" 33 He called it Shibah, and to this
day the name of the town has been Beersheba.
34 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite,
and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 They were a source of grief
to Isaac and Rebekah.
Matthew 12
12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples
were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees
saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful
on the Sabbath."
3 He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions
were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the
consecrated bread-which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.
5 Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple
desecrate the day and yet are innocent? 6 I tell you that one greater than the
temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not
sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man
is Lord of the Sabbath."
9 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10 and a man with
a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked
him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"
11 He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit
on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more
valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
13 Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched
it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14 But the
Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.
15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Many followed him, and he
healed all their sick, 16 warning them not to tell who he was. 17 This was to
fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
18 "Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19
He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. 20
A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he leads justice to victory. 21 In his name the nations will put their
hope."
22 Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus
healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23 All the people were astonished
and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"
24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub,
the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against
itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will
not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How
then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom
do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if
I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon
you.
29 "Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his
possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.
30 "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with
me scatters. 31 And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven
men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who
speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks
against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age
to come.
33 "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and
its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of
vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow
of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good man brings good things out of the
good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored
up in him. 36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of
judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you
will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher,
we want to see a miraculous sign from you."
39 He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous
sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For
as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the
Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41
The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn
it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah
is here. 42 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation
and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's
wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.
43 "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places
seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, 'I will return to the house
I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put
in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked
than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that
man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."
46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood
outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, "Your mother and
brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you."
48 He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"
49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers.
50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister
and mother."
BIBLE SUPERSTARS
ABRAHAM
Part 1 of 2
We first meet Abram (later renamed Abraham) in Genesis 11. He is listed as the oldest son of Terah of the descendents of Shem. Abram or Abraham is a key person in the unfolding of God's purpose. In Genesis 12 he is called from his home country to a land that God would show him. That land shown to Abraham by God is the central location of the unfolding of Biblical events known as Israel, The Promised Land, The Holy Land, etc.
God calls Abraham to leave his home and Abraham believes God and obeys. As a result of this Abraham received several promises from God which can be found in Genesis 12, 13, 15, 17, and 22. These promises can be summarized as follows:
At the time when Abram received the original promises he had no children and by the end of his life all the land he owned he had purchased to bury his wife Sarah. The rest of the Bible unfolds the story of the gospel message that Abraham heard in these promises.
Select: First Reading Second Reading Bible Background