³ Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother ^(A)in the land of Seir, ^(B)the ^[a]country of Edom. ⁴ And he commanded them, saying, ^(C)“Speak thus to my lord Esau, ‘Thus your servant Jacob says: “I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now. ^5 (D)I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that ^(E)I may find favor in your sight.” ’ ”

⁶ Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and ^(F)he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” ⁷ So Jacob was greatly afraid and ^(G)distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies. ⁸ And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and ^[b]attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.”

^9 (H)Then Jacob said, ^(I)“O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord ^(J)who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’: ¹⁰ I am not worthy of the least of all the ^(K)mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with ^(L)my staff, and now I have become two companies. ^11 (M)Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and ^[c]attack me and ^(N)the mother with the children. ¹² For ^(O)You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the ^(P)sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”

¹³ So he lodged there that same night, and took what ^[d]came to his hand as ^(Q)a present for Esau his brother: ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. ¹⁶ Then he delivered them to the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put some distance between successive droves.” ¹⁷ And he commanded the first one, saying, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going? Whose are these in front of you?’ ¹⁸ then you shall say, ‘They are your servant Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord Esau; and behold, he also is behind us.’ ” ¹⁹ So he commanded the second, the third, and all who followed the droves, saying, “In this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him; ²⁰ and also say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will ^(R)appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” ²¹ So the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp.

Wrestling with God

²² And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, ^(S)and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. ²³ He took them, sent them ^[e]over the brook, and sent over what he had. ²⁴ Then Jacob was left alone; and ^(T)a Man wrestled with him until the ^[f]breaking of day. ²⁵ Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He ^[g]touched the socket of his hip; and ^(U)the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. ²⁶ And ^(V)He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”

But he said, ^(W)“I will not let You go unless You bless me!”

²⁷ So He said to him, “What is your name?”

He said, “Jacob.”

²⁸ And He said, ^(X)“Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but ^[h]Israel; for you have ^(Y)struggled with God and ^(Z)with men, and have prevailed.”

²⁹ Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.”

And He said, ^(AA)“Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He ^(AB)blessed him there.

³⁰ So Jacob called the name of the place ^[i]Peniel: “For ^(AC)I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple^(A)

24 Then ^(B)Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. ² And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, ^(C)not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age^(D)

³ Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, ^(E)the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ^(F)“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them: ^(G)“Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁵ For ^(H)many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ ^(I)and will deceive many. ⁶ And you will hear of ^(J)wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for ^[a]all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For ^(K)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be ^(L)famines, ^[b]pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.

^9 (M)“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. ¹⁰ And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹ Then ^(N)many false prophets will rise up and ^(O)deceive many. ¹² And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow ^(P)cold. ^13 (Q)But he who endures to the end shall be saved. ¹⁴ And this ^(R)gospel of the kingdom ^(S)will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

The Great Tribulation^(T)

^15 (U)“Therefore when you see the ^(V)‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” ^(W)(whoever reads, let him understand), ¹⁶ “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. ¹⁸ And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. ¹⁹ But ^(X)woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹ For ^(Y)then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. ²² And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; ^(Z)but for the ^[c]elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

^23 (AA)“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For ^(AB)false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, ^(AC)if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ See, I have told you beforehand.

²⁶ “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. ^27 (AD)For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ^28 (AE)For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

Jacob and Esau Meet

33 Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, ^(A)Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants. ² And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last. ³ Then he crossed over before them and ^(B)bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

^4 (C)But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, ^(D)and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. ⁵ And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, “Who are these with you?”

So he said, “The children ^(E)whom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶ Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and bowed down. ⁷ And Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed down. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed down.

⁸ Then Esau said, “What do you mean by ^(F)all this company which I met?”

And he said, “These are ^(G)to find favor in the sight of my lord.”

⁹ But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”

¹⁰ And Jacob said, “No, please, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present from my hand, inasmuch as I ^(H)have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God, and you were pleased with me. ¹¹ Please, take ^(I)my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt ^(J)graciously with me, and because I have ^[a]enough.” ^(K)So he urged him, and he took it.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let us take our journey; let us go, and I will go before you.”

¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds which are nursing are with me. And if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flock will die. ¹⁴ Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace which the livestock that go before me, and the children, ^[b]are able to endure, until I come to my lord ^(L)in Seir.”

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

But he said, “What need is there? ^(M)Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” ¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. ¹⁷ And Jacob journeyed to ^(N)Succoth, built himself a house, and made ^[c]booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called ^[d]Succoth.

Jacob Comes to Canaan

¹⁸ Then Jacob came ^[e]safely to ^(O)the city of ^(P)Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city. ¹⁹ And ^(Q)he bought the parcel of ^[f]land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. ²⁰ Then he erected an altar there and called it ^(R)El^[g] Elohe Israel.

Submit to Government

13 Let every soul be ^(A)subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. ² Therefore whoever resists ^(B)the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will ^[a]bring judgment on themselves. ³ For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? ^(C)Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. ⁴ For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. ⁵ Therefore ^(D)you must be subject, not only because of wrath ^(E)but also for conscience’ sake. ⁶ For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. ^7 (F)Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

Love Your Neighbor^(G)

⁸ Owe no one anything except to love one another, for ^(H)he who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For the commandments, ^(I)“You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” ^[b]“You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ^(J)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore ^(K)love is the fulfillment of the law.

Put on Christ

¹¹ And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time ^(L)to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. ¹² The night is far spent, the day is at hand. ^(M)Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and ^(N)let us put on the armor of light. ^13 (O)Let us walk ^[c]properly, as in the day, ^(P)not in revelry and drunkenness, ^(Q)not in lewdness and lust, ^(R)not in strife and envy. ¹⁴ But ^(S)put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and ^(T)make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.