27 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see,^(A) he called for Esau his older son^(B) and said to him, “My son.”

“Here I am,” he answered.

² Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death.^{(C) 3} Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country^(D) to hunt some wild game for me. ⁴ Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like^(E) and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing^(F) before I die.”^(G)

⁵ Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country^(H) to hunt game and bring it back, ⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob,^(I) “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, ⁷ ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’^{(J) 8} Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you:^{(K) 9} Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats,^(L) so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it.^{(M) 10} Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing^(N) before he dies.”

¹¹ Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man^(O) while I have smooth skin. ¹² What if my father touches me?^(P) I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse^(Q) on myself rather than a blessing.”

¹³ His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me.^(R) Just do what I say;^(S) go and get them for me.”

¹⁴ So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it.^{(T) 15} Then Rebekah took the best clothes^(U) of Esau her older son,^(V) which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. ¹⁶ She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins.^{(W) 17} Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

¹⁸ He went to his father and said, “My father.”

“Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”^(X)

¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn.^(Y) I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game,^(Z) so that you may give me your blessing.”^(AA)

²⁰ Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”

“The Lord your God gave me success,^(AB)” he replied.

²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you,^(AC) my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”

²² Jacob went close to his father Isaac,^(AD) who touched^(AE) him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau;^(AF) so he proceeded to bless him. ²⁴ “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.

“I am,” he replied.

²⁵ Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”^(AG)

Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”

²⁷ So he went to him and kissed^(AH) him^(AI). When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes,^(AJ) he blessed him and said,

³⁰ After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. ³¹ He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”^(AS)

³² His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”^(AT)

“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.^(AU)”

³³ Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me?^(AV) I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!^(AW)”

³⁴ When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry^(AX) and said to his father, “Bless^(AY) me—me too, my father!”

³⁵ But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully^(AZ) and took your blessing.”^(BA)

³⁶ Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob^[a]?^(BB) This is the second time he has taken advantage of^(BC) me: He took my birthright,^(BD) and now he’s taken my blessing!”^(BE) Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

³⁷ Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine.^(BF) So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”

³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.^(BG)

³⁹ His father Isaac answered him,^(BH)

⁴¹ Esau held a grudge^(BN) against Jacob^(BO) because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning^(BP) for my father are near; then I will kill^(BQ) my brother Jacob.”^(BR)

⁴² When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau^(BS) had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you.^{(BT) 43} Now then, my son, do what I say:^(BU) Flee at once to my brother Laban^(BV) in Harran.^{(BW) 44} Stay with him for a while^(BX) until your brother’s fury subsides. ⁴⁵ When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him,^(BY) I’ll send word for you to come back from there.^(BZ) Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite^(CA) women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land,^(CB) from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”^(CC)

8 ¹ but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.^(A)

² At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.^{(B) 3} The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group ⁴ and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.^(C) Now what do you say?” ⁶ They were using this question as a trap,^(D) in order to have a basis for accusing him.^(E)

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. ⁷ When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone^(F) at her.”^{(G) 8} Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

⁹ At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰ Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹ “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,”^(H) Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”^(I)

Dispute Over Jesus’ Testimony

¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am^(J) the light of the world.^(K) Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”^(L)

¹³ The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”^(M)

¹⁴ Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going.^(N) But you have no idea where I come from^(O) or where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge by human standards;^(P) I pass judgment on no one.^{(Q) 16} But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.^{(R) 17} In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true.^{(S) 18} I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”^(T)

¹⁹ Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”

“You do not know me or my Father,”^(U) Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”^{(V) 20} He spoke these words while teaching^(W) in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put.^(X) Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.^(Y)

Dispute Over Who Jesus Is

²¹ Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die^(Z) in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”^(AA)

²² This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

²³ But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.^{(AB) 24} I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he,^(AC) you will indeed die in your sins.”

²⁵ “Who are you?” they asked.

“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. ²⁶ “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy,^(AD) and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”^(AE)

²⁷ They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. ²⁸ So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up^[a] the Son of Man,^(AF) then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.^{(AG) 29} The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone,^(AH) for I always do what pleases him.”^{(AI) 30} Even as he spoke, many believed in him.^(AJ)

Dispute Over Whose Children Jesus’ Opponents Are

³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching,^(AK) you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”^(AL)

³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants^(AM) and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.^{(AN) 35} Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.^{(AO) 36} So if the Son sets you free,^(AP) you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me,^(AQ) because you have no room for my word. ³⁸ I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence,^(AR) and you are doing what you have heard from your father.^[b]”^(AS)

³⁹ “Abraham is our father,” they answered.

“If you were Abraham’s children,”^(AT) said Jesus, “then you would^[c] do what Abraham did. ⁴⁰ As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me,^(AU) a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.^(AV) Abraham did not do such things. ⁴¹ You are doing the works of your own father.”^(AW)

“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”^(AX)

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me,^(AY) for I have come here from God.^(AZ) I have not come on my own;^(BA) God sent me.^{(BB) 43} Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil,^(BC) and you want to carry out your father’s desires.^(BD) He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.^{(BE) 45} Yet because I tell the truth,^(BF) you do not believe me! ⁴⁶ Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears what God says.^(BG) The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Jesus’ Claims About Himself

⁴⁸ The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan^(BH) and demon-possessed?”^(BI)

⁴⁹ “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ I am not seeking glory for myself;^(BJ) but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹ Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”^(BK)

⁵² At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed!^(BL) Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. ⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham?^(BM) He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

⁵⁴ Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself,^(BN) my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.^{(BO) 55} Though you do not know him,^(BP) I know him.^(BQ) If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word.^{(BR) 56} Your father Abraham^(BS) rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it^(BT) and was glad.”

⁵⁷ “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

⁵⁸ “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born,^(BU) I am!”^{(BV) 59} At this, they picked up stones to stone him,^(BW) but Jesus hid himself,^(BX) slipping away from the temple grounds.