Israel Doubts God’s Love

² “I have loved^(A) you,” says the Lord.

“But you ask,^(B) ‘How have you loved us?’

“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob,^{(C) 3} but Esau I have hated,^(D) and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland^(E) and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.^(F)”

¹⁶ See that no one is sexually immoral,^(A) or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.^{(B) 17} Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears,^(C) he could not change what he had done.