Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause

A Maskil^[a] of ^(A)Asaph.

Jacob Sent to Laban

28 Then Isaac called Jacob ^(A)and blessed him and directed him, ^(B)“You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. ^2 (C)Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of ^(D)Bethuel your mother's father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother. ^3 (E)God Almighty^[a] bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. ⁴ May he give ^(F)the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of ^(G)the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!” ⁵ Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

Esau Marries an Ishmaelite

⁶ Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” ⁷ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸ So when Esau saw ^(H)that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, ⁹ Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, ^(I)Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of ^(J)Nebaioth.

Jacob's Dream

¹⁰ Jacob left ^(K)Beersheba and went toward ^(L)Haran. ¹¹ And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. ¹² And he ^(M)dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder^[b] set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, ^(N)the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! ¹³ And behold, ^(O)the Lord stood above it^[c] and said, ^(P)“I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. ^(Q)The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. ¹⁴ Your offspring shall be like ^(R)the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and ^(S)your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, ^(T)I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and ^(U)will bring you back to this land. For I will ^(V)not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” ¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is ^(W)in this place, and I did not know it.” ¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up ^(X)for a pillar ^(Y)and poured oil on the top of it. ¹⁹ He called the name of that place ^(Z)Bethel,^[d] but the name of the city was Luz at the first. ²⁰ Then Jacob ^(AA)made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, ^21 (AB)so that I come again to my father's house in peace, ^(AC)then the Lord shall be my God, ²² and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, ^(AD)shall be God's house. And ^(AE)of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”

I Am the True Vine

15 “I am the ^(A)true vine, and my Father is ^(B)the vinedresser. ^2 (C)Every branch in me that does not bear fruit ^(D)he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, ^(E)that it may bear more fruit. ³ Already ^(F)you are clean ^(G)because of the word that I have spoken to you. ^4 (H)Abide ^(I)in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; ^(J)you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that ^(K)bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me, ^(L)he is thrown away like a branch and withers; ^(M)and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If ^(N)you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ^(O)ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ^8 (P)By this my Father is glorified, that you ^(Q)bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ^9 (R)As the Father has loved me, ^(S)so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ^10 (T)If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as ^(U)I have kept ^(V)my Father's commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹ These things I have spoken to you, ^(W)that my joy may be in you, and that ^(X)your joy may be full.

^12 (Y)“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ^13 (Z)Greater love has no one than this, ^(AA)that someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are ^(AB)my friends ^(AC)if you do what I command you. ^15 (AD)No longer do I call you servants,^[a] for the servant ^(AE)does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for ^(AF)all that I have heard from my Father ^(AG)I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but ^(AH)I chose you and appointed you that you should go and ^(AI)bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that ^(AJ)whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. ¹⁷ These things I command you, ^(AK)so that you will love one another.