Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You [a]covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for [b]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 (A)My [c]frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
17 (B)How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.
3 Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother (A)in the land of Seir, (B)the [a]country of Edom. 4 And he commanded them, saying, (C)“Speak thus to my lord Esau, ‘Thus your servant Jacob says: “I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now. 5 (D)I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that (E)I may find favor in your sight.” ’ ”
6 Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and (F)he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” 7 So Jacob was greatly afraid and (G)distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies. 8 And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and [b]attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.”
9 (H)Then Jacob said, (I)“O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord (J)who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’: 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the (K)mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with (L)my staff, and now I have become two companies. 11 (M)Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and [c]attack me and (N)the mother with the children. 12 For (O)You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the (P)sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”
13 So he lodged there that same night, and took what [d]came to his hand as (Q)a present for Esau his brother: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. 16 Then he delivered them to the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put some distance between successive droves.” 17 And he commanded the first one, saying, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going? Whose are these in front of you?’ 18 then you shall say, ‘They are your servant Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord Esau; and behold, he also is behind us.’ ” 19 So he commanded the second, the third, and all who followed the droves, saying, “In this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him; 20 and also say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will (R)appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” 21 So the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp.
12 (A)Here is the [a]patience of the saints; (B)here[b] are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying [c]to me, “Write: (C)‘Blessed are the dead (D)who die in the Lord from now on.’ ”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, (E)“that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow (F)them.”
Reaping the Earth’s Harvest
14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel (G)came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, (H)“Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come [d]for You to reap, for the harvest (I)of the earth is ripe.” 16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
Reaping the Grapes of Wrath
17 Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
18 And another angel came out from the altar, (J)who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, (K)“Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.” 19 So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into (L)the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And (M)the winepress was trampled (N)outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, (O)up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred [e]furlongs.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.