VAYISHLACH (AND HE SENT)

Parashat Vayishlach

Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau

⁴ Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom. ⁵ He also commanded them saying, “This is what you should say to my lord, to Esau: ‘This is what your servant Jacob said: I’ve been staying with Laban, and have lingered until now. ⁶ Now I’ve come to possess oxen and donkeys, flocks, male servants and female servants. I sent word to tell my lord, in order to find favor in your eyes.’”

⁷ The messengers returned to Jacob saying, “We went to your brother, to Esau, and he’s also coming out to meet you—and 400 men with him.”

⁸ So Jacob became extremely afraid and distressed. He divided the people with him, along with the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, ⁹ for he thought, “If Esau comes to one camp and strikes it, the camp that’s left will escape.”

¹⁰ Then Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Adonai, who said to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will do good with you.’ ¹¹ I am unworthy of all the proofs of mercy and of all the dependability that you have shown to your servant. For with only my staff I crossed over this Jordan, and now I’ve become two camps. ¹² Deliver me, please, from my brother’s hand, from Esau’s hand, for I’m afraid of him that he’ll come and strike me—the mothers with the children. ¹³ You Yourself said, ‘I will most certainly do good with you, and will make your seed like the sand of the sea that cannot be counted because of its abundance.’”

¹⁴ So he stayed overnight there. Then from all that had come into his possession he took an offering for Esau his brother: ¹⁵ 200 female goats, 20 billy goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, ¹⁶ 30 milking camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys. ¹⁷ He put them in the hands of his servants, each herd by itself, and he said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put a gap between each of the herds.” ¹⁸ Then he commanded the first one saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do all these before you belong?’ ¹⁹ then you are to say, ‘To your servant, to Jacob—it’s an offering sent to my lord, to Esau. And look, he’s also behind us.’” ²⁰ And he also commanded the second one, the third one, and all those who were going behind the flocks, saying, “Say the same exact thing to Esau when you find him. ²¹ Then you are to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is also behind us.’” For he thought, “Let me appease him with the offering that goes ahead of me, and afterward see his face, perhaps he’ll lift up my face.” ²² So the offering passed over ahead of him, while he spent that night in the camp.

²³ Then he got up that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok. ²⁴ He took them and sent them across the stream, and he sent across whatever he had.

Jacob Wrestles With God

²⁵ So Jacob remained all by himself. Then a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. ^{[a] 26} When He saw that He had not overcome him, He struck the socket of his hip, so He dislocated the socket of Jacob’s hip when He wrestled with him. ²⁷ Then He said, “Let Me go, for the dawn has broken.”

But he said, “I won’t let You go unless You bless me.”

²⁸ Then He said to him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he said.

²⁹ Then He said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but rather Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men, and you have overcome.”

³⁰ Then Jacob asked and said, “Please tell me Your name.”

But He said, “What’s this—you are asking My name?” Then He blessed him there.

³¹ So Jacob named the place Peniel, “for I’ve seen God face to face, and my life has been spared.”

³² Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed by Peniel—limping because of his hip. ³³ That is why the children of Israel do not eat the tendon of the hip socket, to this very day, because He struck the socket of Jacob’s thigh on the tendon of the hip.

Jacob Meets Esau

33 Then Jacob glanced up and saw, behold, there was Esau coming—and 400 men with him. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants. ² He put the female servants and their children first, then Leah and her children behind them, then Rachel and Joseph behind them. ³ But he himself passed on ahead of them, and bowed to the ground seven times until he came near to his brother.

⁴ But Esau ran to meet him, hugged him, fell on his neck and kissed him—and they wept. ⁵ His eyes glanced up and he saw the women and the children, and said, “Who are these with you?”

“The children whom God has graciously given your servant,” he said. ⁶ Then the female servants approached, they and their children, and bowed down. ⁷ Leah also approached, along with her children, and they bowed down, and finally, Joseph and Rachel approached and bowed down.

⁸ “What do you mean by this whole caravan that I’ve met?”

So he said, “To find favor in your eyes, my lord.”

⁹ But Esau said, “I have plenty! O my brother, do keep all that belongs to you.”

¹⁰ Yet Jacob said, “No, please! If I have found favor in your eyes, then you will take my offering from my hand. For this is the reason I’ve seen your face—it is like seeing the face of God—and you’ve accepted me! ¹¹ Please, take my blessing that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me, and because I have everything.” So he kept urging him until he accepted.

¹² Then he said, “Let’s journey and be on our way, and I’ll go ahead of you. ¹³ He continued, “My lord knows that the children are tender, and that the flocks and the cattle in my care are nursing. So if they were pushed hard just one day, all the flocks would die. ¹⁴ Please, let my lord pass on ahead of your servant, and I’ll move on further gradually, at a pace suited to the livestock that are before me and at a pace suited to the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”

¹⁵ Then Esau said, “Please let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.”

But he said, “What’s this? Let me find favor in my lord’s eyes.”

¹⁶ So on that day Esau returned on his way to Seir, ¹⁷ but Jacob journeyed to Sukkot and built a house for himself, and for his livestock he made booths. That is the reason that place is called Sukkot.

¹⁸ So Jacob arrived in shalom to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram, and camped right in front of the city. ¹⁹ He purchased the portion of the field there where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for 100 pieces of money. ²⁰ There he set up an altar, and he called it, El is Israel’s God.

Dinah Defiled by Shechem

34 Now Dinah, Leah’s daughter whom she bore for Jacob, went out to look at the daughters of the land. ² When Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her and raped her. ³ But his soul clung to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, and he loved the young woman and spoke reassuringly to the young woman. ⁴ So Shechem said to his father Hamor saying, “Get me this girl for a wife.”

⁵ Now Jacob had heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah while his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob kept quiet until they came in. ⁶ Meanwhile Shechem’s father Hamor went out to Jacob in order to speak with him. ⁷ Jacob’s sons had already come in from the field when they heard, and the men were deeply grieved and furious, because he had committed a vile deed in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, which ought never to be done.

⁸ But Hamor spoke with them saying, “My son Shechem—he’s very attached to your daughter. Please give her to him for a wife. ⁹ Intermarry with us. You can give your daughters to us, and you can take our daughters for yourselves. ¹⁰ You can live with us, and the land will be open to you: live in it, move about freely in it, and settle down in it.”

¹¹ Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Would that I find favor in your eyes! Whatever you say to me I’ll give. ¹² Set the dowry and the presents as high as you like and I’ll give whatever you say to me. But give me the young woman as a wife.”

¹³ But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully as they spoke, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. ¹⁴ They said to them, “We can’t do this thing—give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised—for this is a disgrace to us. ¹⁵ Only by this will we consent to you: if you will become like us, by circumcising every male. ¹⁶ Then we’ll give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves, and live with you, and become one people. ¹⁷ But if you don’t listen to us and be circumcised, we’ll take our daughter and leave.”

¹⁸ Now their words seemed good to Hamor as well as Hamor’s son Shechem. ¹⁹ So the young man did not hesitate to do it, since he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. Now he was honored above everyone else in his father’s house. ²⁰ So Hamor and his son Shechem came into the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying: ²¹ “These men are enjoying a peaceful relationship with us and they are living in the land and moving about freely in it. As for the land, look, it’s spread out on both sides before us. We can take their daughters to be our wives, and we can give our daughters to them. ²² But by this did these men consent to us, to live with us and to become one people—when all our males are circumcised as they are circumcised. ²³ Their livestock and their possessions: won’t they be ours? Only let us consent to them so that they’ll live with us.”

²⁴ Now everyone who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and to his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, every one who went out the gate of his city. ²⁵ Then on the third day while they were in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came against the city undisturbed and killed every male. ²⁶ Hamor and his son Shechem they killed with the sword, then took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left. ²⁷ Jacob’s sons came upon the slain and plundered the city because they defiled their sister. ²⁸ They took their flocks, their cattle and their donkeys, those that were in the city as well as those that were in the field. ²⁹ All their wealth, their little children, and their wives they captured and plundered, as well as everything that was in the houses.

³⁰ But Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You’ve brought trouble on me, making me a stench among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am but a few men—they’ll gather against me and strike me—then I’ll be destroyed, my household and I.”

³¹ But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

Rededication at Beth-El

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Get up! Go up to Beth-El and stay there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

² So Jacob said to his household and to everyone who was with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Cleanse yourselves and change your clothes. ³ Now let’s get up and go up to Beth-El so that I can make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and has been with me in the way that I have gone.”

⁴ So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods in their hand and the rings in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak tree near Shechem. ⁵ Then they journeyed, and the terror of God was on the cities that were around them, so they did not pursue Jacob’s sons. ⁶ Then Jacob arrived at Luz in the land of Canaan (that is Beth-El), he and all the people who were with him. ⁷ He built an altar there and called the place El-Beth-El because God had revealed Himself to him there when he fled from the presence of his brother.

⁸ Then Rebekah’s nurse Deborah died, and was buried below Beth-El, under the oak—so it was named Oak of Weeping.

⁹ God appeared to Jacob again, after he returned from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him. ¹⁰ God said to him:

¹³ Then God went up from him at the place where He had spoken with him. ¹⁴ Jacob set up a memorial stone in the place where He had spoken with him—a stone pillar—and he poured a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. ¹⁵ Jacob named the place where God spoke with him Beth-El.

Rachel’s Death in Childbirth

¹⁶ Then they traveled from Beth-El, and while they were still a distance from entering Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, but her labor was difficult. ¹⁷ While she was struggling to give birth, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for this is also a son for you.” ¹⁸ Now as her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Ben-Oni, but his father named him Benjamin. ¹⁹ Then Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ²⁰ Jacob set up a memorial stone over her grave. (It is the memorial stone over Rachel’s grave to this day.)

Israel Returns to Isaac

²¹ Then Israel journeyed on and set up his tent beyond the tower of Eder. ²² While Israel was living in that land, Reuben went and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it.

Now Jacob had twelve sons. ²³ Leah’s sons were Jacob’s firstborn Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. ²⁴ Rachel’s sons were Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁵ The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s female servant, were Dan and Naphtali, ²⁶ and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s female servant, were Gad and Asher. These are Jacob’s sons, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

²⁷ Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre of Kiriat-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.

²⁸ Now Isaac’s days were 180 years. ²⁹ Then Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his peoples, old and full of days. So his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Esau Fathers the Edomites

36 Now these are the genealogies of Esau (that is, Edom). ² Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah daughter of Anah, daughter of Tzivion the Hivite, ³ and Basemath daughter of Ishmael, sister of Nebaioth. ⁴ Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel, ⁵ and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were Esau’s sons, who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

⁶ Now Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters and all the people of his household, as well as his livestock, all his cattle, and all his possessions that he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to a land away from his brother Jacob. ⁷ For their possessions were too numerous for them to dwell together, and the land where they were residing was unable to support them because of their livestock. ⁸ So Esau lived in Mount Seir (Esau is Edom).

⁹ So these are the genealogies of Esau, the father of Edom in the hill country of Seir. ¹⁰ These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz son of Esau’s wife Adah and Reuel son of Esau’s wife Basemath. ¹¹ The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam and Kenaz. ¹² Now Timna was a concubine to Esau’s son Eliphaz, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These are the sons of Esau’s wife Adah. ¹³ These are Reuel’s sons: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath. ¹⁴ These were the sons of Oholibamah, daughter of Anah, daughter of Esau’s wife Zibion—she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam and Korah.

¹⁵ These are the chiefs from Esau’s sons. The sons of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn were chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, ¹⁶ chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These are the chiefs from Eliphaz in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Adah. ¹⁷ These are the sons of Esau’s son Reuel: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These are chiefs from Reuel in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath. ¹⁸ These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah. These are the chiefs from Oholibamah, daughter of Esau’s wife Anah. ¹⁹ These are Esau’s sons, and these are their chiefs (that is, Edom).

²⁰ These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ²¹ Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These are the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom. ²² The sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam. Lotan’s sister is Timna. ²³ These are Shobal’s sons: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho and Onam. ²⁴ These are Zibeon’s sons: Aiah and Anah (that is, the Anah who found the hot springs in the desert while he was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibeon). ²⁵ These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, Anah’s daughter. ²⁶ These are Dishon’s sons: Hemdan, Eshban, Itran and Cheran. ²⁷ These are Ezer’s sons: Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan. ²⁸ These are Dishan’s sons: Uz and Aran. ²⁹ These are the chiefs of the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Tzivion, chief Anah, ³⁰ chief Dishon, chief Ezer, chief Dishan—these are the chiefs of the Horites according to their chiefly divisions in the land of Seir.

³¹ Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the sons of Israel. ³² Bela son of Beor reigned in Edom—the name of his city was Dinhabah. ³³ When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place. ³⁴ When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. ³⁵ When Husham died, Haddad son of Bedad, who struck down the Midianites in the field of Moab, reigned in his place—the name of his city was Avit. ³⁶ When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place. ³⁷ When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehovot by the River reigned in his place. ³⁸ When Shaul died, Baal-hanan son of Achbor reigned in his place. ³⁹ When Baal-hanan son of Achbor died, Hadar reigned in his place—the name of his city is Pau, and his wife’s name is Mehetabel, daughter of Matred, daughter of Me-zehab.

⁴⁰ Now these are the names of the chiefs from Esau according to their family divisions, according to their places, by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth, ⁴¹ chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, ⁴² chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, ⁴³ chief Magdiel, chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom according to their places of residence in the land of their possession. This is Esau, the father of Edom.

Edom’s Arrogance and Ruin

¹ The vision of Obadiah. Thus says Adonai Elohim concerning Edom:

The House of Jacob will be a Fire

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¹¹ By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive^[a] when she was barren and past the age, since she considered the One who had made the promise to be faithful. ¹² So from one—and him as good as dead—were fathered offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and as uncountable as the sand on the seashore.^[b]

¹³ These all died in faith without receiving the things promised—but they saw them and welcomed them from afar, and they confessed that they were strangers and sojourners on the earth. ^{[c] 14} For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵ If indeed they had been thinking about where they had come from, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But as it is, they yearn for a better land—that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had received the promises was offering up his one and only son— ¹⁸ the one about whom it was said, “Through Isaac offspring shall be named for you.” ^{[d] 19} He reasoned that God was able to raise him up even from the dead—and in a sense, he did receive him back from there.

²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come.

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Religious Leaders Demand Signs

16 Now the Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Yeshua, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. ² But He replied to them, “When evening comes, you say, ‘Fair weather coming, for the sky is red,’ ³ and in the morning, ‘Stormy weather today, for the sky is red and gloomy.’ You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times! ⁴ An evil and adulterous generation clamors for a sign, yet no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.”^[a] And leaving them behind, He went away.

⁵ Now when the disciples came to the other side of the sea, they had forgotten to take bread. ⁶ “Watch out,” Yeshua said to them, “and beware of the hametz of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷ And they began to discuss among themselves, saying, “We didn’t bring any bread.”

⁸ But knowing this, Yeshua said, “O you of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? ⁹ You still don’t get it? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets of leftovers you gathered? ¹⁰ Or how about the seven loaves for the four thousand and all the baskets of leftovers you gathered? ¹¹ How is it that you don’t understand that I wasn’t talking to you about bread? Now beware of the hametz of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” ¹² Then they understood that He wasn’t talking about the hametz in the bread, but about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

The Father Reveals His Son

¹³ When Yeshua came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They answered, “Some say John the Immerser, others say Elijah, and still others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

¹⁵ He said, “But who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Yeshua said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven! ¹⁸ And I also tell you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My community^[b]; and the gates of Sheol will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will have been forbidden in heaven and what you permit on earth will have been permitted in heaven.” ²⁰ Then He ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Messiah.

First Prediction: Death and Resurrection

²¹ From that time on, Yeshua began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and ruling kohanim and Torah scholars, and be killed, and be raised on the third day.

²² Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Never, Master! This must never happen to You!”

²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but the things of men.”

²⁴ Then Yeshua said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then ‘He will repay everyone according to his deeds.’ ^{[c] 28} Amen, I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

Two Witnesses and a Voice from Heaven

17 After six days, Yeshua takes with Him Peter and Jacob and John his brother, and brings them up a high mountain by themselves. ² Now He was transfigured before them; His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. ³ And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Yeshua. ⁴ Peter responded to Yeshua, “Master, it’s good for us to be here! If You wish, I will make three sukkot here—one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”^[d]

⁵ While He was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice from out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”^[e]

⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell face down, terrified. ⁷ But Yeshua came and touched them. “Get up,” He said. “Stop being afraid.” ⁸ And lifting their eyes, they saw no one except Yeshua alone.

⁹ As they were coming down from the mountain, Yeshua commanded them, saying, “Do not tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

¹⁰ The disciples questioned Him, saying, “Why then do the Torah scholars say that Elijah must come first?”

¹¹ Yeshua replied, “Indeed, Elijah is coming and will restore all things. ^{[f] 12} I tell you that Elijah already came; and they didn’t recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted. In the same way, the Son of Man is about to suffer at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that He was speaking to them about John the Immerser.

See What Faith Can Do

¹⁴ When they came to the crowd, a man came to Yeshua, falling on his knees before Him and saying, ¹⁵ “Master, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and suffers badly. For he often falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶ I brought him to Your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”

¹⁷ And answering, Yeshua said, “O faithless and twisted generation!^[g] How long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” ¹⁸ Yeshua rebuked the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was healed from that very hour.

¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Yeshua in private and said, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁰ And He said to them, “Because you trust so little. Amen, I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (²¹ )^[h]

Second Prediction: Death and Resurrection

²² Now while they were gathering in the Galilee, Yeshua said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men; ²³ and they will kill Him, and on the third day He will be raised.” And the disciples became greatly distressed.

²⁴ When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple tax came to Peter and said, “Your teacher pays the Temple tax,^[i] doesn’t He?”

²⁵ “Yes,” Peter said.

Now when Peter came into the house, Yeshua spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? The kings of the earth, from whom do they collect tolls or tax? From their sons or from strangers?”

²⁶ After Peter said, “From strangers,” Yeshua said to him, “Then the sons are free. ²⁷ But so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw out a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. And when you open its mouth, you’ll find a coin.^[j] Take that, and give it to them, for Me and you.”

Childlike Humility

18 At that hour the disciples came to Yeshua, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

² And He called a child to Himself, set him in the midst of them, ³ and said, “Amen, I tell you, unless you turn and become like children, you shall never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Whoever then shall humble himself like this child, this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoever welcomes one such child in My name, welcomes Me.

⁶ “But whoever causes one of these little ones who trust in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck and to be sunk in the depth of the sea! ⁷ Woe to the world because of snares! For snares must come, but woe to that man through whom the snare comes!

⁸ “And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you. It’s better for you to enter into life crippled or lame than, having two hands or two feet, to be thrown into fiery Gehenna. ⁹ If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. It’s better for you to enter into life with one eye than, having two eyes, to be thrown into fiery Gehenna.

Parable of the Lost Sheep

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father in heaven. (¹¹ )^[k]

¹² “What do you think? If a certain man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go looking for the one that is straying? ¹³ And if he finds it, amen I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t stray. ¹⁴ Even so, it’s not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.”

Restoring a Lost Brother

¹⁵ “Now if your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault while you’re with him alone. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take with you one or two more, so that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand.’ ^{[l] 17} But if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to Messiah’s community. And if he refuses to listen even to Messiah’s community, let him be to you as a pagan and a tax collector.

¹⁸ “Amen, I tell you, whatever you forbid on earth will have been forbidden in heaven and what you permit on earth will have been permitted in heaven. ¹⁹ Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.”

Lessons about Forgiveness

²¹ Then Peter came to Him and said, “Master, how often shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”

²² Yeshua said to him, “No, not up to seven times, I tell you, but seventy times seven! ^{[m] 23} Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴ When he had begun to settle up, a man was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. ^{[n] 25} But since he didn’t have the money to repay, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. ²⁶ Then the slave fell on his knees and begged him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I’ll repay you everything.’ ²⁷ And the master of that slave, filled with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt.

²⁸ “Now that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii. And he grabbed him and started choking him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe!’

²⁹ “So his fellow slave fell down and kept begging him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I’ll pay you back.’ ³⁰ Yet he was unwilling. Instead, he went off and threw the man into prison until he paid back all he owed.

³¹ “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply distressed. They went to their master and reported in detail all that had happened. ³² Then summoning the first slave, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³ Wasn’t it necessary for you also to show mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed mercy to you?’ ³⁴ Enraged, the master handed him over to the torturers until he paid back all he owed.

³⁵ “So also My heavenly Father will do to you, unless each of you, from your hearts, forgives his brother.”