Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
13 Certainly[a] you made my mind and heart;[b]
you wove me together[c] in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give you thanks because your deeds are awesome and amazing.[d]
You knew me thoroughly;[e]
15 my bones were not hidden from you,
when[f] I was made in secret
and sewed together in the depths of the earth.[g]
16 Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb.[h]
All the days ordained for me
were recorded in your scroll
before one of them came into existence.[i]
17 How difficult it is for me to fathom your thoughts about me, O God![j]
How vast is their sum total.[k]
18 If I tried to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
Even if I finished counting them,
I would still have to contend with you.[l]
3 Jacob sent messengers on ahead[a] to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the region[b] of Edom. 4 He commanded them, “This is what you must say to my lord Esau: ‘This is what your servant[c] Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban until now.[d] 5 I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent[e] this message[f] to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”
6 The messengers returned to Jacob and said, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has 400 men with him.” 7 Jacob was very afraid and upset. So he divided the people who were with him into two camps, as well as the flocks, herds, and camels. 8 “If Esau attacks one camp,”[g] he thought,[h] “then the other camp will be able to escape.”[i]
9 Then Jacob prayed,[j] “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said[k] to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’[l] 10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love[m] you have shown[n] your servant. With only my walking stick[o] I crossed the Jordan,[p] but now I have become two camps. 11 Rescue me,[q] I pray, from the hand[r] of my brother Esau,[s] for I am afraid he will come[t] and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children.[u] 12 But you[v] said, ‘I will certainly make you prosper[w] and will make[x] your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.’”[y]
13 Jacob[z] stayed there that night. Then he sent[aa] as a gift[ab] to his brother Esau 14 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams, 15 30 female camels with their young, 40 cows and 10 bulls, and 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys. 16 He entrusted them to[ac] his servants, who divided them into herds.[ad] He told his servants, “Pass over before me, and keep some distance between one herd and the next.” 17 He instructed the servant leading the first herd,[ae] “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong?[af] Where are you going? Whose herds are you driving?’[ag] 18 then you must say,[ah] ‘They belong[ai] to your servant Jacob.[aj] They have been sent as a gift to my lord Esau.[ak] In fact Jacob himself is behind us.’”[al]
19 He also gave these instructions to the second and third servants, as well as all those who were following the herds, saying, “You must say the same thing to Esau when you meet him.[am] 20 You must also say, ‘In fact your servant Jacob is behind us.’”[an] Jacob thought,[ao] “I will first appease him[ap] by sending a gift ahead of me.[aq] After that I will meet him.[ar] Perhaps he will accept me.”[as] 21 So the gifts were sent on ahead of him[at] while he spent that night in the camp.[au]
12 This requires[a] the steadfast endurance[b] of the saints—those who obey[c] God’s commandments and hold to[d] their faith in Jesus.[e]
13 Then[f] I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this:
‘Blessed are the dead,
those who die in the Lord from this moment on!’”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they can rest from their hard work,[g] because their deeds will follow them.”[h]
14 Then[i] I looked, and a white cloud appeared,[j] and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man![k] He had[l] a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then[m] another angel came out of the temple, shouting in a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud, “Use[n] your sickle and start to reap,[o] because the time to reap has come, since the earth’s harvest is ripe!” 16 So[p] the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17 Then[q] another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Another[r] angel, who was in charge of[s] the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to the angel[t] who had the sharp sickle, “Use[u] your sharp sickle and gather[v] the clusters of grapes[w] off the vine of the earth,[x] because its grapes[y] are now ripe.”[z] 19 So[aa] the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard[ab] of the earth and tossed them into the great[ac] winepress of the wrath of God. 20 Then[ad] the winepress was stomped[ae] outside the city, and blood poured out of the winepress up to the height of horses’ bridles[af] for a distance of almost 200 miles.[ag]
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