³⁰ As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. ³¹ He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that you may bless me.” ³² His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” ³³ Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.” ³⁴ As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, ^(A)he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” ³⁵ But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” ³⁶ Esau said, ^(B)“Is he not rightly named Jacob?^[a] For he has cheated me these two times. ^(C)He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” ³⁷ Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, ^(D)I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and ^(E)with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” ³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And ^(F)Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

³⁹ Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:

Abimelech's Conspiracy

9 Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to ^(A)his mother's relatives and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family, ² “Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that all ^(B)seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that ^(C)I am ^(D)your bone and your flesh.”

³ And his mother's relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, ^(E)“He is our brother.” ⁴ And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of ^(F)Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired ^(G)worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him. ⁵ And he went to his father's house at ^(H)Ophrah ^(I)and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself. ⁶ And all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all ^(J)Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.

⁷ When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of ^(K)Mount Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ^8 (L)The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ^(M)‘Reign over us.’ ⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹² And the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹³ But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that ^(N)cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and ^(O)take refuge in my shade, but if not, ^(P)let fire come out of the bramble and devour ^(Q)the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶ “Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and integrity when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with ^(R)Jerubbaal and his house and have done to him ^(S)as his deeds deserved— ¹⁷ for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian, ¹⁸ and you have risen up against my father's house this day ^(T)and have killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made ^(U)Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the leaders of Shechem, ^(V)because he is your relative— ¹⁹ if you then have acted in good faith and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then ^(W)rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰ But if not, ^(X)let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from Beth-millo and devour Abimelech.” ²¹ And Jotham ran away and fled and went to ^(Y)Beer and lived there, because of Abimelech his brother.

Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah's Help

37 ^(A)As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. ² And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet ^(B)Isaiah the son of Amoz. ³ They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a ^(C)day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; ^(D)children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. ^4 (E)It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for ^(F)the remnant that is left.’”

⁵ When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, ⁶ Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. ⁷ Behold, ^(G)I will put a spirit in him, so that ^(H)he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and ^(I)I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”

⁸ The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^(J)Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left ^(K)Lachish. ⁹ Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of ^(L)Cush,^[a] “He has set out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ^(M)‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. ¹¹ Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? ^12 (N)Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, ^(O)Gozan, ^(P)Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? ^13 (Q)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

^34 (A)And when they had crossed over, they came to land at ^(B)Gennesaret. ³⁵ And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and ^(C)brought to him all who were sick ³⁶ and implored him that they might only touch ^(D)the fringe of his garment. And ^(E)as many as touched it were made well.

Traditions and Commandments

15 ^(F)Then Pharisees and ^(G)scribes came to Jesus ^(H)from Jerusalem and said, ^2 (I)“Why do your disciples break ^(J)the tradition of the elders? ^(K)For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” ³ He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God commanded, ^(L)‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ^(M)‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”^{[a] 6} he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have ^(N)made void the word^[b] of God. ^7 (O)You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

¹³ After they finished speaking, ^(A)James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. ^14 (B)Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them ^(C)a people for his name. ¹⁵ And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

¹⁹ Therefore ^(H)my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who ^(I)turn to God, ²⁰ but should write to them ^(J)to abstain from ^(K)the things polluted by idols, and from ^(L)sexual immorality, and from ^(M)what has been strangled, and from ^(N)blood. ²¹ For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, ^(O)for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”