The Birth of Esau and Jacob

¹⁹ These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: ^(A)Abraham fathered Isaac, ²⁰ and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, ^(B)the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of ^(C)Paddan-aram, ^(D)the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. ²¹ And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And ^(E)the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²² The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?”^[a] So she went ^(F)to inquire of the Lord. ²³ And the Lord said to her,

²⁴ When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ The first came out red, ^(J)all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. ²⁶ Afterward his brother came out with ^(K)his hand holding Esau's heel, so ^(L)his name was called Jacob.^[c] Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

²⁷ When the boys grew up, Esau was ^(M)a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, ^(N)dwelling in tents. ²⁸ Isaac loved Esau because ^(O)he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Esau Sells His Birthright

²⁹ Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. ³⁰ And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.^[d]) ³¹ Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” ³² Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” ³³ Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and ^(P)sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Restore Us, O God

To the choirmaster: according to ^(A)Lilies. A Testimony. Of ^(B)Asaph, a Psalm.

Sacrifices Pleasing to God

13 Let ^(A)brotherly love continue. ^2 (B)Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby ^(C)some have entertained angels unawares. ^3 (D)Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. ^4 (E)Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge ^(F)the sexually immoral and adulterous. ⁵ Keep your life ^(G)free from love of money, and ^(H)be content with what you have, for he has said, ^(I)“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” ⁶ So we can confidently say,

⁷ Remember ^(L)your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and ^(M)imitate their faith. ⁸ Jesus Christ is ^(N)the same yesterday and today and forever. ⁹ Do not be ^(O)led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, ^(P)not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. ¹⁰ We have an altar ^(Q)from which those who serve the tent^[a] have no right to eat. ¹¹ For ^(R)the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned ^(S)outside the camp. ¹² So Jesus also ^(T)suffered ^(U)outside the gate in order to sanctify the people ^(V)through his own blood. ¹³ Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear ^(W)the reproach he endured. ¹⁴ For ^(X)here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. ^15 (Y)Through him then let us continually offer up ^(Z)a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, ^(AA)the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. ¹⁶ Do not neglect to do good and ^(AB)to share what you have, for such ^(AC)sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Rivers of Living Water

^37 (A)On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ^(B)“If anyone thirsts, let him ^(C)come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, ^(D)as^[a] the Scripture has said, ^(E)‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of ^(F)living water.’” ³⁹ Now ^(G)this he said about the Spirit, ^(H)whom those who believed in him were to receive, ^(I)for as yet the Spirit had not been ^(J)given, ^(K)because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Division Among the People

⁴⁰ When they heard these words, ^(L)some of the people said, “This really is ^(M)the Prophet.” ⁴¹ Others said, “This is ^(N)the Christ.” But some said, ^(O)“Is the Christ to come from Galilee? ⁴² Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes ^(P)from the offspring of David, and comes ^(Q)from Bethlehem, the village ^(R)where David was?” ⁴³ So there was ^(S)a division among the people over him. ^44 (T)Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

^45 (U)The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” ⁴⁶ The officers answered, ^(V)“No one ever spoke like this man!” ⁴⁷ The Pharisees answered them, ^(W)“Have you also been deceived? ^48 (X)Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹ But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” ^50 (Y)Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, ^51 (Z)“Does our law judge a man without first ^(AA)giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” ⁵² They replied, ^(AB)“Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that ^(AC)no prophet arises from Galilee.”