18 And the Lord appeared to him by the ^(A)oaks^[a] of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. ² He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. ^(B)When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth ³ and said, “O Lord,^[b] if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. ⁴ Let a ^(C)little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, ⁵ while I bring a morsel of bread, that ^(D)you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—^(E)since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” ⁶ And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs^[c] of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” ⁷ And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. ⁸ Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

⁹ They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is ^(F)in the tent.” ¹⁰ The Lord said, “I will surely return to you ^(G)about this time next year, and ^(H)Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. ¹¹ Now ^(I)Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. ^12 (J)So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ^(K)“After I am worn out, and ^(L)my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” ¹³ The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ ^14 (M)Is anything too hard^[d] for the Lord? ^(N)At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁵ But Sarah denied it,^[e] saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

Jacob Fears Esau

32 Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. ² And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God's ^(A)camp!” So he called the name of that place ^(B)Mahanaim.^[a]

³ And Jacob sent^[b] messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of ^(C)Seir, the country of Edom, ⁴ instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. ⁵ I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that ^(D)I may find favor in your sight.’”

⁶ And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and ^(E)he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.” ⁷ Then Jacob was ^(F)greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, ⁸ thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.”

⁹ And Jacob said, ^(G)“O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who ^(H)said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ ^10 (I)I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. ¹¹ Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for ^(J)I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. ¹² But ^(K)you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”

¹³ So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took ^(L)a present for his brother Esau, ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶ These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.” ¹⁷ He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’ ¹⁸ then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’” ¹⁹ He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, ²⁰ and you shall say, ‘Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I may appease him^[c] with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”^{[d] 21} So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.

Jacob Wrestles with God

²² The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children,^[e] and crossed the ford of the ^(M)Jabbok. ²³ He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. ²⁴ And Jacob was left alone. And ^(N)a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. ²⁵ When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. ²⁶ Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, ^(O)“I will not let you go unless you bless me.” ²⁷ And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸ Then he said, ^(P)“Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,^[f] for ^(Q)you have striven with God and ^(R)with men, and have prevailed.” ²⁹ Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, ^(S)“Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. ³⁰ So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel,^[g] saying, “For ^(T)I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

¹¹ And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me ^(A)the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided ^(B)his property between them. ¹³ Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in ^(C)reckless living. ¹⁴ And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to^[a] one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ And he ^(D)was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ “But ^(E)when he ^(F)came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! ¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, ^(G)I have sinned against ^(H)heaven and before you. ^19 (I)I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ ²⁰ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ^(J)ran and ^(K)embraced him and ^(L)kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. ^(M)I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’^{[b] 22} But the father said to his servants,^[c] ‘Bring quickly ^(N)the best robe, and put it on him, and put ^(O)a ring on his hand, and ^(P)shoes on his feet. ²³ And bring ^(Q)the fattened calf and kill it, and ^(R)let us eat and celebrate. ²⁴ For this my son ^(S)was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷ And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, ²⁹ but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might ^(T)celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours came, ^(U)who has devoured ^(V)your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ ³¹ And he said to him, ‘Son, ^(W)you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² It was fitting ^(X)to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother ^(Y)was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

The Full Assurance of Faith

^19 (A)Therefore, brothers,^[a] since we have confidence to enter ^(B)the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by ^(C)the new and living way that he opened for us through ^(D)the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹ and since we have ^(E)a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts ^(F)sprinkled clean ^(G)from an evil conscience and our bodies ^(H)washed with pure water. ^23 (I)Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for ^(J)he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And ^(K)let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ^25 (L)not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and ^(M)all the more as you see ^(N)the Day drawing near.

²⁶ For ^(O)if we go on sinning deliberately ^(P)after receiving the knowledge of the truth, ^(Q)there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ^27 (R)but a fearful expectation of judgment, and ^(S)a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. ^28 (T)Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy ^(U)on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one ^(V)who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned ^(W)the blood of the covenant ^(X)by which he was sanctified, and has ^(Y)outraged the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know him who said, ^(Z)“Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, ^(AA)“The Lord will judge his people.” ^31 (AB)It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³² But recall the former days when, after ^(AC)you were enlightened, you endured ^(AD)a hard struggle with sufferings, ³³ sometimes being ^(AE)publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. ³⁴ For ^(AF)you had compassion on those in prison, and ^(AG)you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had ^(AH)a better possession and an abiding one. ³⁵ Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has ^(AI)a great reward. ³⁶ For ^(AJ)you have need of endurance, so that ^(AK)when you have done the will of God you may ^(AL)receive what is promised. ³⁷ For,

³⁹ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.