Jacob Meets Esau

33 And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, ^(A)Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. ² And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. ³ He himself went on before them, ^(B)bowing 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 when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, ^(E)“The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶ Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. ⁷ Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. ⁸ Esau said, “What do you mean by ^(F)all this company^[a] that I met?” Jacob answered, ^(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 Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. ^(H)For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. ¹¹ Please accept my ^(I)blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he ^(J)urged him, and he took it.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of^[b] you.” ¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. ¹⁴ Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord ^(K)in Seir.”

¹⁵ So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? ^(L)Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” ¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way to ^(M)Seir. ¹⁷ But Jacob journeyed to ^(N)Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.^[c]

¹⁸ And Jacob came safely^[d] to the city of ^(O)Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. ¹⁹ And from the sons of ^(P)Hamor, Shechem's father, ^(Q)he bought for a hundred pieces of money^[e] the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. ²⁰ There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.^[f]

The Defiling of Dinah

34 Now ^(R)Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land. ² And when Shechem the son of ^(S)Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her. ³ And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. ⁴ So Shechem ^(T)spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.”

⁵ Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah. But his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. ⁶ And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. ⁷ The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and ^(U)very angry, because he ^(V)had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter, ^(W)for such a thing must not be done.

⁸ But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your^[g] daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. ⁹ Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. ¹⁰ You shall dwell with us, and ^(X)the land shall be open to you. Dwell and ^(Y)trade in it, and ^(Z)get property in it.” ¹¹ Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, ^(AA)“Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. ¹² Ask me for as great a ^(AB)bride-price^[h] and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.”

¹³ The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. ¹⁴ They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for ^(AC)that would be a disgrace to us. ¹⁵ Only on this condition will we agree with you—that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised. ¹⁶ Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people. ¹⁷ But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.”

¹⁸ Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor's son Shechem. ¹⁹ And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob's daughter. Now ^(AD)he was the most honored of all his father's house. ²⁰ So Hamor and his son Shechem ^(AE)came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, ²¹ “These men are at peace with us; let them dwell in the land and ^(AF)trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters. ²² Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us to become one people—when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. ²³ Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.” ²⁴ And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who ^(AG)went out of the gate of his city.

²⁵ On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, ^(AH)Simeon and Levi, ^(AI)Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males. ²⁶ They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem's house and went away. ²⁷ The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. ²⁸ They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. ²⁹ All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered.

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, ^(AJ)“You have brought trouble on me ^(AK)by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, ^(AL)the Canaanites and the Perizzites. ^(AM)My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” ³¹ But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

God Blesses and Renames Jacob

35 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to ^(AN)Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you ^(AO)when you fled from your brother Esau.” ² So Jacob said to his ^(AP)household and to all who were with him, “Put away ^(AQ)the foreign gods that are among you and ^(AR)purify yourselves and change your garments. ³ Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God ^(AS)who answers me in the day of my distress and ^(AT)has been with me wherever I have gone.” ⁴ So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under ^(AU)the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

⁵ And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. ⁶ And Jacob came to ^(AV)Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, ⁷ and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel,^[i] because ^(AW)there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. ⁸ And ^(AX)Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.^[j]

⁹ God appeared^[k] to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. ¹⁰ And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; ^(AY)no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but ^(AZ)Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. ¹¹ And God said to him, ^(BA)“I am God Almighty:^[l] be ^(BB)fruitful and multiply. ^(BC)A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.^{[m] 12 (BD)}The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” ¹³ Then God ^(BE)went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. ¹⁴ And Jacob ^(BF)set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. ¹⁵ So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him ^(BG)Bethel.

The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac

¹⁶ Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance^[n] from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. ¹⁷ And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for ^(BH)you have another son.” ¹⁸ And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni;^{[o] (BI)}but his father called him Benjamin.^{[p] 19} So ^(BJ)Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to ^(BK)Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), ²⁰ and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is ^(BL)the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day. ²¹ Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

²² While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and ^(BM)lay with Bilhah his father's concubine. And Israel heard of it.

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. ²³ The sons of Leah: ^(BN)Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. ²⁴ The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁵ The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant: Dan and Naphtali. ²⁶ The sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

²⁷ And Jacob came to his father Isaac at ^(BO)Mamre, or ^(BP)Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. ²⁸ Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. ²⁹ And Isaac breathed his last, and he died ^(BQ)and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And ^(BR)his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

The Parable of the Tenants

12 ^(A)And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted ^(B)a vineyard ^(C)and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and ^(D)leased it to tenants and ^(E)went into another country. ² When the season came, he sent a servant^[a] to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. ^3 (F)And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ^4 (G)Again ^(H)he sent to them another servant, and ^(I)they struck him on the head and ^(J)treated him shamefully. ^5 (K)And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. ⁶ He had still one other, ^(L)a beloved son. ^(M)Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those tenants said to one another, ^(N)‘This is the heir. Come, ^(O)let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸ And they took him and killed him and ^(P)threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹ What will the owner of the vineyard do? ^(Q)He will ^(R)come and destroy the tenants and ^(S)give the vineyard to others. ^10 (T)Have you not read ^(U)this Scripture:

¹² And ^(W)they were seeking to arrest him ^(X)but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they ^(Y)left him and went away.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

^13 (Z)And they sent to him some of ^(AA)the Pharisees and some of ^(AB)the Herodians, to ^(AC)trap him in his talk. ¹⁴ And they came and said to him, “Teacher, ^(AD)we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For ^(AE)you are not swayed by appearances,^[c] but truly teach ^(AF)the way of God. Is it lawful to pay ^(AG)taxes to ^(AH)Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” ¹⁵ But, knowing ^(AI)their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why ^(AJ)put me to the test? Bring me ^(AK)a denarius^[d] and let me look at it.” ¹⁶ And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar's.” ¹⁷ Jesus said to them, ^(AL)“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” And they marveled at him.

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

¹⁸ And ^(AM)Sadducees came to him, ^(AN)who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(AO)if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man^[e] must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁰ There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. ²¹ And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. ²² And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. ²³ In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

²⁴ Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because ^(AP)you know neither the Scriptures nor ^(AQ)the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise from the dead, they neither ^(AR)marry nor ^(AS)are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ And as for the dead being raised, ^(AT)have you not read in ^(AU)the book of Moses, in ^(AV)the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ^(AW)‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁷ He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

The Great Commandment

^28 (AX)And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important is, ^(AY)‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, ^(AZ)the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ^31 (BA)The second is this: ^(BB)‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment ^(BC)greater than these.” ³² And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that ^(BD)he is one, and ^(BE)there is no other besides him. ³³ And to love him with all the heart and with all ^(BF)the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, ^(BG)is much more than all ^(BH)whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴ And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” ^(BI)And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

^35 (BJ)And as ^(BK)Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that ^(BL)the Christ is the son of David? ³⁶ David himself, ^(BM)in the Holy Spirit, declared,

³⁷ David himself calls him Lord. So ^(BP)how is he his son?” And the great throng ^(BQ)heard him gladly.

Beware of the Scribes

^38 (BR)And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces ³⁹ and have the best seats in the synagogues and ^(BS)the places of honor at feasts, ^40 (BT)who devour widows' houses and ^(BU)for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The Widow's Offering

^41 (BV)And he sat down opposite ^(BW)the treasury and watched the people ^(BX)putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴² And a poor widow came and put in two ^(BY)small copper coins, which make a penny.^{[f] 43} And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^(BZ)this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. ⁴⁴ For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her ^(CA)poverty has put in everything she had, all ^(CB)she had to live on.”