Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹³ For thou haddest in possession my reins; thou tookest me up from the womb of my mother. (For thou haddest my reins in thy possession/For thou formedest my inner parts; yea, thou madest me in my mother’s womb.)

¹⁴ I shall acknowledge to thee, for thou art magnified dreadfully; thy works be wonderful, and my soul shall know (that) full much. (I shall praise thee, for thou art greatly to be feared/for thou hath filled me with awe; thy works be wonderful, and I truly know that.)

¹⁵ My bone, which thou madest in private, is not hid from thee; and my substance (formed) in the lower parts of earth. (My bones, which thou madest in secret, be not a mystery to thee; yea, when my substance was formed in the lower parts of the earth.)

¹⁶ Thine eyes saw mine unperfect thing, and all men shall be written in thy book; days shall be formed, and no man is in those. (Thine eyes saw my imperfect substance, and all was written in thy Book; but when those days were formed, no man was there.)

¹⁷ Forsooth, God, thy friends be made honourable full much to me; the princehood of them is comforted full much. (But, God, how deep be thy thoughts to me; and how many of them there be!)

¹⁸ I shall number them, and they shall be multiplied above the gravel; I rose up, and yet I am with thee. (If I tried to count them all up, their number would be more than all the grains of sand. And then I awake; and still I am with thee.)

33 Forsooth Jacob raised up his eyes, and saw Esau coming, and four hundred men with him; and he parted the sons of Leah, and of Rachel, and of both the servantesses (and he divided the children between Leah, and Rachel, and the two slave-girls).

² And he put ever either handmaid, and the free children of them, in the beginning (And he put the slave-girls, and their children, at the front); soothly he put Leah, and her sons, in the second place; forsooth he put Rachel and Joseph (at) the last.

³ And Jacob went before (them), and worshipped lowly to the earth seven times (and bowed low to the ground seven times), till his brother nighed.

⁴ And so Esau ran against his brother (And Esau ran to meet his brother), and embraced him, and Esau held his neck, and kissed him, and (they) wept (together).

⁵ And when Esau’s eyes were raised up, he saw the women, and the little children of them, and said, What will these (mean) to themselves? and whether they pertain to thee? (And when Esau raised up his eyes, he saw the women, and their little children, and he said, Who be these? do they pertain to thee?) Jacob answered, They be the little children, which God hath given to me, thy servant.

⁶ And the handmaids and their sons nighed, and were bowed. (And the slave-girls and their sons came near, and they bowed.)

⁷ Also Leah nighed with her free children; and when they had worshipped in like manner, Joseph and Rachel last worshipped. (And Leah came near with her children; and when they had bowed before him in like manner, then lastly Joseph and Rachel bowed before him.)

⁸ And Esau said, What be these companies, which I met? And Jacob answered, (So) That I should find grace before my lord.

⁹ And he said, My brother, I have full many things, thy things be to thee.

¹⁰ And Jacob said, I beseech thee, do not thou (say) so, but if I have found grace in thine eyes, take thou a little gift of mine hands; for I saw so thy face as (though) I had seen the cheer of God; be thou merciful to me, (And Jacob said, I beseech thee, do not thou say that, but if I have found grace in thine eyes, take thou a little gift from my hands; for I see thy face as if I see the face of God; be thou merciful to me,)

¹¹ and receive the blessing which I have brought to thee, and which blessing God giving all things gave to me. Scarcely (desiring it), while the brother compelled (him), he received (it), (and receive the blessing which I have brought to thee, which blessing God, who giveth all things, hath given to me. Scarcely desiring it, but because his brother compelled him, Esau at last accepted the gifts,)

¹² and said, Go we together, and I shall be (a) fellow of thy way. (and he said, Now let us go together, and I shall give thee fellowship on the way.)

¹³ And Jacob said, My lord, thou knowest that I have little children tender, and sheep, and kine with calves with me, and if I shall make them for to travail more in going, all the flocks shall die in one day; (But Jacob said, My lord, thou knowest that I have tender little children with me, and sheep, and cows with their calves, and if I make them go any further this day, all the flocks shall die;)

¹⁴ my lord go (on) before his servant, and I shall follow little and little his steps (and I shall follow his steps little and little), as I see that my little children be able (to go), till I come to my lord, into Seir.

¹⁵ Esau answered, I pray thee, that (some) of the people which is with me, dwell they namely fellows of thy way. Jacob said, It is no need; I have need to this one thing only, that I find grace in thy sight, my lord. (Esau answered, Then I pray thee, let some of the people who be with me give thee fellowship on the way. But Jacob said, There is no need; yea, I only have need of this one thing, that I find grace in thine eyes, my lord.)

¹⁶ And so Esau turned again in that day in the way by which he came, into Seir. (And so Esau returned that day by the way by which he came, back toward Seir.)

¹⁷ And Jacob came into Succoth, where when he had builded an house, and had set tents, he called the name of that place Succoth, that is, tabernacles. (But Jacob went to Succoth, where when he had built a house, and some shelters for his beasts, he called that place Succoth, or Shelters.)

²¹ Say to me, ye that will be under the law, have ye not read the law?

²² For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, one of a servant, and one of a free woman [one of the handmaiden, and one of the free wife].

²³ But he that was of the servant, was born after the flesh; but he that was of the free woman, by a promise.^[a]

²⁴ The which things be said by another understanding. For these be two testaments; one in the hill of Sinai, engendering into servage, which is Agar.^[b]

²⁵ For Sinai is an hill that is in Arabia, which hill is joined to it that is now Jerusalem, and serveth with her children.

²⁶ But that Jerusalem that is above, is free, which is our mother.

²⁷ For it is written, Be glad, thou barren, that bearest not; break out and cry, that bringest forth no children [break out and cry, thou that childest not]; for many sons be of her that is left of her husband [for many sons be of the deserted, or left woman], more than of her that hath an husband.

²⁸ For, brethren, we be sons of promise after Isaac; [Forsooth, brethren, we be after Isaac the sons of promise;]

²⁹ but now as this that was born after the flesh pursued him that was after the Spirit, so now.^[c]

³⁰ But what saith the scripture? Cast out the servant and her son, for the son of the servant shall not be heir with the son of the free wife.^[d]

³¹ And so, brethren, we be not sons of the servant, but of the free wife, by which freedom Christ hath made us free.^[e]

5 Stand ye therefore, and do not ye again be held in the yoke of servage. [Therefore stand ye, and again do not ye be together holden in the yoke of servage.]