Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord Helps the Poor

113 Praise the Lord! Praise Him, O you who serve the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. ² Let the name of the Lord be honored, now and forever. ³ The name of the Lord is to be praised from the time the sun rises to when it sets. ⁴ The Lord is high above all nations. His shining-greatness is above the heavens.

⁵ Who is like the Lord our God? He sits on His throne on high. ⁶ He looks down upon the heavens and the earth. ⁷ He raises the poor from the dust. He lifts those in need from the ashes. ⁸ He makes them sit with rulers, with the rulers of His people. ⁹ He gives a home to the woman who could not give birth and makes her the mother of children. Praise the Lord!

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.

¹⁵ Christ is as God is. God cannot be seen. Christ lived before anything was made. ¹⁶ Christ made everything in the heavens and on the earth. He made everything that is seen and things that are not seen. He made all the powers of heaven. Everything was made by Him and for Him. ¹⁷ Christ was before all things. All things are held together by Him. ¹⁸ Christ is the head of the church which is His body. He is the beginning of all things. He is the first to be raised from the dead. He is to have first place in everything. ¹⁹ God the Father was pleased to have everything made perfect by Christ, His Son. ²⁰ Everything in heaven and on earth can come to God because of Christ’s death on the cross. Christ’s blood has made peace.