¹Now the famine was severe in the land. ²And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.” ³But Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ” ⁴“If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. ⁵But if you will not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ” ⁶And Israel said, “Why did you deal so wrongfully with me as to tell the man whether you had still another brother?” ⁷But they said, “The man asked us pointedly about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ And we told him according to these words. Could we possibly have known that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” ⁸Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. ⁹I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. ¹⁰For if we had not lingered, surely by now we would have returned this second time.” ¹¹And their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and carry down a present for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. ¹²Take double money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight. ¹³Take your brother also, and arise, go back to the man. ¹⁴And may God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved, I am bereaved!” ¹⁵So the men took that present and Benjamin, and they took double money in their hand, and arose and went down to Egypt; and they stood before Joseph. ¹⁶When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my home, and slaughter an animal and make ready; for these men will dine with me at noon.” ¹⁷Then the man did as Joseph ordered, and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house. ¹⁸Now the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, “It is because of the money, which was returned in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may make a case against us and fall upon us, to take us as slaves with our donkeys.” ¹⁹When they drew near to the steward of Joseph’s house, they talked with him at the door of the house, ²⁰and said, “O sir, we indeed came down the first time to buy food; ²¹but it happened, when we came to the encampment, that we opened our sacks, and there, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; so we have brought it back in our hand. ²²And we have brought down other money in our hands to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.” ²³But he said, “Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴So the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed. ²⁵Then they made the present ready for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they would eat bread there. ²⁶And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed down before him to the earth. ²⁷Then he asked them about their well-being, and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” ²⁸And they answered, “Your servant our father is in good health; he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads down and prostrated themselves. ²⁹Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your younger brother of whom you spoke to me?” And he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁰Now his heart yearned for his brother; so Joseph made haste and sought somewhere to weep. And he went into his chamber and wept there. ³¹Then he washed his face and came out; and he restrained himself, and said, “Serve the bread.” ³²So they set him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. ³³And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked in astonishment at one another. ³⁴Then he took servings to them from before him, but Benjamin’s serving was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.

¹Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!” ²And Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” ³Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, ⁴“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?” ⁵And Jesus, answering them, began to say: “Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁶For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and will deceive many. ⁷But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. ⁸For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows. ⁹But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them. ¹⁰And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. ¹¹But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. ¹²Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. ¹³And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. ¹⁴“So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁵Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of his house. ¹⁶And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. ¹⁷But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ¹⁸And pray that your flight may not be in winter. ¹⁹For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be. ²⁰And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days. ²¹Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, He is there!’ do not believe it. ²²For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²³But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand. ²⁴“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; ²⁵the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. ²⁶Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven. ²⁸“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near—at the doors! ³⁰Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. ³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. ³²“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. ³⁴It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. ³⁵Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning— ³⁶lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. ³⁷And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”

¹Then Job answered and said: ²“Truly I know it is so, But how can a man be righteous before God? ³If one wished to contend with Him, He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand. ⁴God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered? ⁵He removes the mountains, and they do not know When He overturns them in His anger; ⁶He shakes the earth out of its place, And its pillars tremble; ⁷He commands the sun, and it does not rise; He seals off the stars; ⁸He alone spreads out the heavens, And treads on the waves of the sea; ⁹He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south; ¹⁰He does great things past finding out, Yes, wonders without number. ¹¹If He goes by me, I do not see Him; If He moves past, I do not perceive Him; ¹²If He takes away, who can hinder Him? Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’ ¹³God will not withdraw His anger, The allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him. ¹⁴“How then can I answer Him, And choose my words to reason with Him? ¹⁵For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him; I would beg mercy of my Judge. ¹⁶If I called and He answered me, I would not believe that He was listening to my voice. ¹⁷For He crushes me with a tempest, And multiplies my wounds without cause. ¹⁸He will not allow me to catch my breath, But fills me with bitterness. ¹⁹If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong; And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court? ²⁰Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse. ²¹“I am blameless, yet I do not know myself; I despise my life. ²²It is all one thing; Therefore I say, ‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’ ²³If the scourge slays suddenly, He laughs at the plight of the innocent. ²⁴The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, who else could it be? ²⁵“Now my days are swifter than a runner; They flee away, they see no good. ²⁶They pass by like swift ships, Like an eagle swooping on its prey. ²⁷If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,’ ²⁸I am afraid of all my sufferings; I know that You will not hold me innocent. ²⁹If I am condemned, Why then do I labor in vain? ³⁰If I wash myself with snow water, And cleanse my hands with soap, ³¹Yet You will plunge me into the pit, And my own clothes will abhor me. ³²“For He is not a man, as I am, That I may answer Him, And that we should go to court together. ³³Nor is there any mediator between us, Who may lay his hand on us both. ³⁴Let Him take His rod away from me, And do not let dread of Him terrify me. ³⁵Then I would speak and not fear Him, But it is not so with me.

¹Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. ²Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. ³For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. ⁴For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. ⁵Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. ⁶For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. ⁷Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. ⁸Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. ¹¹And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. ¹²The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. ¹³Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. ¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.