12th January

¹ And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.² And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.³ And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.⁴ Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.⁵ And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.⁶ And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.⁷ And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?⁸ And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.⁹ And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.¹⁰ And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.¹¹ And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.¹² And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.¹³ And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.¹⁴ And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.¹⁵ And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,¹⁶ And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:¹⁷ That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;¹⁸ And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.¹⁹ So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.²⁰ And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor;²¹ Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram,²² And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.²³ And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother.²⁴ And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.

¹ And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.² And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.³ And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,⁴ I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.⁵ And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,⁶ Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.⁷ And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.⁸ And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,⁹ That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you.¹⁰ And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,¹¹ Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.¹² And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.¹³ And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.¹⁴ And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,¹⁵ My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.¹⁶ And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.¹⁷ And the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure¹⁸ Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.¹⁹ And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.²⁰ And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.

¹ Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.² Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.³ For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth.⁴ I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.⁵ I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.⁶ I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD:⁷ That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.⁸ LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.⁹ Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men:¹⁰ In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.¹¹ But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.¹² My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the LORD.

¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?² When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.³ Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.⁴ One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.⁵ For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.⁶ And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.⁷ Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.⁸ When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.⁹ Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.¹⁰ When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.¹¹ Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.¹² Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.¹³ I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.¹⁴ Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

¹ Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.² Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.³ Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.⁴ Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.⁵ Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.⁶ Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.⁷ The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.⁸ The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.⁹ Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.

¹ At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus,² And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.³ For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife.⁴ For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.⁵ And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.⁶ But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.⁷ Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.⁸ And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger.⁹ And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.¹⁰ And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.¹¹ And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.¹² And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.¹³ When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.¹⁴ And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.¹⁵ And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.¹⁶ But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.¹⁷ And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.¹⁸ He said, Bring them hither to me.¹⁹ And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.²⁰ And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.²¹ And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.²² And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.²³ And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.²⁴ But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.²⁵ And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.²⁶ And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.²⁷ But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.²⁸ And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.²⁹ And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.³⁰ But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.³¹ And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?³² And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.³³ Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.³⁴ And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.³⁵ And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;³⁶ And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.