Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Jacob and Esau

¹⁹ This is the report about Abraham's son, Isaac, and his family.

Abraham became the father of Isaac. ²⁰ When Isaac was 40 years old, he married Rebekah. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel. Bethuel was an Aramean from Paddan Aram. She was the sister of Laban the Aramean. ²¹ Rebekah could not have children. So Isaac prayed to the Lord for Rebekah. The Lord did as Isaac asked. And Isaac's wife, Rebekah, became pregnant. ²² The babies inside her were fighting with each other. Rebekah said, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ So Rebekah went to ask the Lord. ²³ The Lord said to Rebekah, ‘The two children who are in your body will become two separate nations of people. One group will be stronger than the other. The older son will become a servant to the younger son.’^[a]

²⁴ The time came for Rebekah to give birth. There were two babies inside her. ²⁵ The first baby to come out had a red body. Hair covered the whole of his body. They called him Esau. ²⁶ After this, his brother came out. His hand was holding the back of Esau's foot. They called him Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

²⁷ Time passed and the boys grew. Esau became a good hunter, out in the fields. Jacob was a quiet man. He stayed near to the tents.

The authority of the law

7 My Christian friends, you know about laws. You know that we have to obey them. The laws have authority over someone while they are still alive. ² So think about this. A woman who has a husband must stay with him as long as he still lives. That is what the law says. But if her husband dies, she becomes free from that law about her marriage. ³ While her husband is alive, the law has authority over her. If she goes to live with another man, the law says that she has done something wrong. People will call her an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she becomes free from that law. If she then marries another man, she will not be doing anything wrong.

⁴ My friends, it is like that for you too. When Christ's body died on the cross, it is as if you also died with him. Because of that, you are no longer under the authority the law. Now you are free to belong to someone else. You belong to Christ, whom God raised up after his death. As a result, we can live in a good way that will please God. ⁵ In our old lives, we did the bad things that we wanted to do. God's laws brought bad thoughts into our minds. As a result, our bodies did many wrong things. In the end, those bad things lead to death.^{[a] 6} But now we have become free from the authority of the law. It is as if we have died. So those rules no longer control us. We do not still try to obey rules that someone has written down. That is the old way. Instead, we serve God in a new way. God's Spirit helps us to please him.