18 Then Judah(A) went up to him and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord,(B) let me speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry(C) with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. 19 My lord asked his servants,(D) ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’(E) 20 And we answered, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age.(F) His brother is dead,(G) and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’(H)

21 “Then you said to your servants,(I) ‘Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.’(J) 22 And we said to my lord,(K) ‘The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.’(L) 23 But you told your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’(M) 24 When we went back to your servant my father,(N) we told him what my lord(O) had said.(P)

25 “Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy a little more food.’(Q) 26 But we said, ‘We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’(R)

27 “Your servant my father(S) said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.(T) 28 One of them went away from me, and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.”(U) And I have not seen him since.(V) 29 If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave(W) in misery.’(X)

30 “So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father,(Y) and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life,(Z) 31 sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die.(AA) Your servants(AB) will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave(AC) in sorrow. 32 Your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father. I said, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!’(AD)

33 “Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave(AE) in place of the boy,(AF) and let the boy return with his brothers. 34 How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery(AG) that would come on my father.”(AH)

Read full chapter

Concerning the Unmarried

25 Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord,(A) but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy(B) is trustworthy. 26 Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is.(C) 27 Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife.(D) 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned;(E) and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

29 What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short.(F) From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; 30 those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31 those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.(G)

Read full chapter

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman(A)

21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake,(B) a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake.(C) 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders,(D) named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on(E) her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding(F) for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes,(G) I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.(H)

30 At once Jesus realized that power(I) had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’

32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.(J) Go in peace(K) and be freed from your suffering.”

35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader.(L) “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

36 Overhearing[a] what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.(M) 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader,(N) Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.”(O) 40 But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand(P) and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”).(Q) 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this,(R) and told them to give her something to eat.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Mark 5:36 Or Ignoring

Bible Gateway Recommends