Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
8 “[a]Listen! My beloved!
Behold, he is coming,
Climbing (A)on the mountains,
Leaping on the hills!
9 “My beloved is like a (B)gazelle or a (C)young [b]stag.
Behold, he is standing behind our wall,
He is looking through the windows,
He is peering (D)through the lattice.
10 “My beloved responded and said to me,
‘(E)Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along.
11 ‘For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
12 ‘The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for [c]pruning the vines,
And the voice of the (F)turtledove has been heard in our land.
13 ‘The (G)fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the (H)vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!’”
The Stolen Blessing
30 Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31 Then he also made savory food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, “(A)Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that [a](B)you may bless me.” 32 Isaac his father said to him, “(C)Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, (D)your firstborn, Esau.” 33 Then Isaac [b]trembled violently, and said, “(E)Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? (F)Yes, and he shall be blessed.” 34 When Esau heard the words of his father, (G)he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” 35 And he said, “(H)Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.” 36 Then he said, “[c]Is he not rightly named (I)Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37 But Isaac replied to Esau, “Behold, I have made him (J)your master, and all his [d]relatives I have given to him [e]as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?” 38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” So Esau lifted his voice and (K)wept.
39 Then (L)Isaac his father answered and said to him,
“Behold, [f](M)away from the [g]fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling,
And [h]away from the dew of heaven from above.
40 “By your sword you shall live,
And your brother (N)you shall serve;
But it shall come about (O)when you become restless,
That you will [i]break his yoke from your neck.”
41 So Esau (P)bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said [j]to himself, “(Q)The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42 Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, “Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you. 43 Now therefore, my son, (R)obey my voice, and arise, [k]flee to (S)Haran, to my brother (T)Laban! 44 Stay with him (U)a few days, until your brother’s fury [l]subsides, 45 until your brother’s anger [m]against you subsides and he forgets (V)what you did to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?”
46 Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of [n]living because of (W)the daughters of Heth; (X)if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
Unbelief and Its Consequences
18 For (A)the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who (B)suppress the truth [a]in unrighteousness, 19 because (C)that which is known about God is evident [b]within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For (D)since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, (E)being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not [c]honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became (F)futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 (G)Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and (H)exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and [d]crawling creatures.
24 Therefore (I)God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be (J)dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for [e]a (K)lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, (L)who is blessed [f]forever. Amen.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.