Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Birth of Esau and Jacob

¹⁹ These are the children and their children’s children of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham was the father of Isaac. ²⁰ Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Paddan-aram, and the sister of Laban the Syrian. ²¹ Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she could not give birth and the Lord answered him. Rebekah was able to give birth. ²² But the babies within her fought together. And she said, “If this is so, why am I like this?” She went to ask the Lord why. ²³ The Lord said to her, “Two nations are within you. Two peoples will be divided from your body. One will be stronger than the other. And the older will serve the younger.”

²⁴ When the day came for her to give birth, there were two babies to be born. ²⁵ The first to come out was red and he had hair all over his body. They gave him the name of Esau. ²⁶ Then the brother was born. His hand was holding Esau’s heel. So he was given the name of Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

Esau Sells His Birth-Right

²⁷ When the boys grew older, Esau became a good hunter, a man of the field. But Jacob was a man of peace, living in tents. ²⁸ Isaac showed favor to Esau, because he liked to eat the meat of the animals Esau killed. But Rebekah showed favor to Jacob.

²⁹ As Jacob was getting food ready one day, Esau came in from the field and was very hungry. ³⁰ Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red meat, for I am very hungry.” That is why his name was called Edom. ³¹ But Jacob said, “First, sell me your birth-right.” ³² Esau said, “See, I am about to die. So what good is my birth-right to me?” ³³ Jacob said, “First give me your promise.” So Esau promised, and sold his birth-right to Jacob. ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau bread and vegetables, and Esau ate and drank. Then Esau stood up and went on his way. So Esau hated his birth-right.

¹⁰⁵ Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. ¹⁰⁶ I have promised that I will keep Your Law. And I will add strength to this promise. ¹⁰⁷ I am in much suffering. O Lord, give me life again by Your Word. ¹⁰⁸ Take my willing gift of thanks, O Lord, and teach me Your Law. ¹⁰⁹ My life is always in my hand, yet I do not forget Your Law. ¹¹⁰ The sinful have set a trap for me, yet I have not turned from Your Law. ¹¹¹ I have been given Your Law forever. It is the joy of my heart. ¹¹² I have set my heart on obeying Your Law forever, even to the end.

8 Now, because of this, those who belong to Christ will not suffer the punishment of sin. ² The power of the Holy Spirit has made me free from the power of sin and death. This power is mine because I belong to Christ Jesus. ³ The Law could not make me free from the power of sin and death. It was weak because it had to work with weak human beings. But God sent His own Son. He came to earth in a body of flesh which could be tempted to sin as we in our bodies can be. He gave Himself to take away sin. By doing that, He took away the power sin had over us. ⁴ In that way, Jesus did for us what the Law said had to be done. We do not do what our sinful old selves tell us to do anymore. Now we do what the Holy Spirit wants us to do. ⁵ Those who let their sinful old selves tell them what to do live under that power of their sinful old selves. But those who let the Holy Spirit tell them what to do are under His power. ⁶ If your sinful old self is the boss over your mind, it leads to death. But if the Holy Spirit is the boss over your mind, it leads to life and peace. ⁷ The mind that thinks only of ways to please the sinful old self is fighting against God. It is not able to obey God’s Laws. It never can. ⁸ Those who do what their sinful old selves want to do cannot please God.

⁹ But you are not doing what your sinful old selves want you to do. You are doing what the Holy Spirit tells you to do, if you have God’s Spirit living in you. No one belongs to Christ if he does not have Christ’s Spirit in him. ¹⁰ If Christ is in you, your spirit lives because you are right with God, and yet your body is dead because of sin. ¹¹ The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. If the same Holy Spirit lives in you, He will give life to your bodies in the same way.

Jesus Teaches with Picture-Stories ^(A)

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the shore of the lake. ² Then He got in a boat and sat down because so many people had gathered around Him. Many people were standing on the shore.

The Picture-Story of the Man Who Planted Seeds

³ Jesus taught them many things by using picture-stories. He said, “A man went out to plant seeds. ⁴ As he planted the seeds, some fell by the side of the road. The birds came and ate the seeds. ⁵ Some seeds fell between rocks. The seeds came up at once because there was so little ground. ⁶ When the sun was high in the sky, they dried up and died because they had no root. ⁷ Some seeds fell among thorns. The thorns grew and did not give the seeds room to grow. ⁸ Some seeds fell on good ground and gave much grain. Some gave one hundred times as much grain. Some gave sixty times as much grain. Some gave thirty times as much grain. ⁹ You have ears, then listen.”

Jesus Tells about the Man Who Planted Seeds

¹⁸ “Listen to the picture-story of the man who planted seeds in the ground. ¹⁹ When anyone hears the Word about the holy nation and does not understand it, the devil comes and takes away what was put in his heart. He is like the seed that fell by the side of the road. ²⁰ The seed which fell between rocks is like the person who receives the Word with joy as soon as he hears it. ²¹ Its root is not deep and it does not last long. When troubles and suffering come because of the Word, he gives up and falls away. ²² The seed which fell among thorns is like the person who hears the Word but the cares of this life, and the love for money let the thorns come up and do not give the seed room to grow and give grain. ²³ The seed which fell on good ground is like the one who hears the Word and understands it. He gives much grain. Some seed gives one hundred times as much grain. Some gives sixty times as much grain. Some gives thirty times as much grain.”