18and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live: 19If you are honest, leave one of your brothers in custody while the rest of you go and take back grain to relieve the hunger of your households. 20Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die.”

And to this they consented.

21 Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”

22 And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!”

23 They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them. 24And he turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes.

25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s silver to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out, 26and they loaded the grain on their donkeys and departed.

27 At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of the sack. 28“My silver has been returned!” he said to his brothers. “It is here in my sack.”

Their hearts sank, and trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”

29 When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they described to him all that had happened to them: 30“The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.

31 But we told him, ‘We are honest men, not spies. 32We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’

33 Then the man who is lord of the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go. 34But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’”

35 As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! And when they and their father saw the bags of silver, they were dismayed.

36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!”

37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him.”

38 But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”

1 Now the famine was still severe in the land. 2So when Jacob’s sons had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

3 But Judah replied, “The man solemnly warned us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ 4If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5But if you will not send him, we will not go; for the man told us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”

6“Why did you bring this trouble upon me?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man you had another brother?”

7 They replied, “The man questioned us in detail about ourselves and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”

8 And Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will go at once, so that we may live and not die— neither we, nor you, nor our children. 9I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible. If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then may I bear the guilt before you all my life. 10If we had not delayed, we could have come and gone twice by now.”

11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man — a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds. 12Take double the silver with you so that you may return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. 13Take your brother as well, and return to the man at once. 14May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”

15 So the men took these gifts, along with double the amount of silver, and Benjamin as well. Then they hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with his brothers, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they shall dine with me at noon.” 17The man did as Joseph had commanded and took the brothers to Joseph’s house.

18 But the brothers were frightened that they had been taken to Joseph’s house. “We have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time,” they said. “They intend to overpower us and take us as slaves, along with our donkeys.”

19 So they approached Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. 20“Please, sir,” they said, “we really did come down here the first time to buy food. 21But when we came to the place we lodged for the night, we opened our sacks and, behold, each of us found his silver in the mouth of his sack! It was the full amount of our silver, and we have brought it back with us. 22We have brought additional silver with us to buy food. We do not know who put our silver in our sacks.”

23“It is fine,” said the steward. “Do not be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, gave you the treasure that was in your sacks. I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24And the steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet, and provided food for their donkeys.

25 Since the brothers had been told that they were going to eat a meal there, they prepared their gift for Joseph’s arrival at noon. 26When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought, and they bowed to the ground before him.

27 He asked if they were well, and then he asked, “How is your elderly father you told me about? Is he still alive?”

28“Your servant our father is well,” they answered. “He is still alive.” And they bowed down to honor him.

29 When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Then he declared, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”

30 Joseph hurried out because he was moved to tears for his brother, and he went to a private room to weep. 31Then he washed his face and came back out. Regaining his composure, he said, “Serve the meal.”

32 They separately served Joseph, his brothers, and the Egyptians. They ate separately because the Egyptians would not eat with the Hebrews, since that was detestable to them. 33They were seated before Joseph in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest, and the men looked at one another in astonishment. 34When the portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of the others. So they feasted and drank freely with Joseph.

47 Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and caught all kinds of fish. 48When it was full, the men pulled it ashore. Then they sat down and sorted the good fish into containers, but threw the bad away.

49 So will it be at the end of the age: The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

51 Have you understood all these things?”

“Yes,” they answered.

52 Then He told them, “For this reason, every scribe who has been discipled in the kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

53 When Jesus had finished these parables, He withdrew from that place. 54Coming to His hometown, He taught the people in their synagogue, and they were astonished. “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers?” they asked. 55“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother’s name Mary, and aren’t His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? 56Aren’t all His sisters with us as well? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57And they took offense at Him.

But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own household is a prophet without honor.” 58And He did not do many miracles there, because of their unbelief.

1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus 2and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

3 Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5Although Herod wanted to kill John, he was afraid of the people, because they regarded John as a prophet.

6 On Herod’s birthday, however, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod 7so much that he promised with an oath to give to her whatever she asked.

8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”

9 The king was grieved, but because of his oaths and his guests, he ordered that her wish be granted 10and sent to have John beheaded in the prison.

11 John’s head was brought in on a platter and presented to the girl, who carried it to her mother.

12 Then John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. And they went and informed Jesus.