Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Second Poem[a]
Let Me See You
Bride:
8 Hark! I hear the voice of my beloved.
Look, here he comes,
leaping across the mountains[b]
bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Look where he stands
behind our wall,
peering in through the windows,
gazing through the lattice.
10 My beloved speaks,
and he says to me:
“Arise, my beloved,
my fair one, and come!
11 [c]For see, the winter is past,
the rains are over and gone.
12 The flowers appear in the countryside;
the season of joyful songs has arrived,
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree puts forth its figs
and the blossoms on the vine give forth their fragrance.
Arise, my beloved,
my fair one, and come!”
30 Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just left his father, when Esau, his brother, arrived from the hunt. 31 He also prepared a meal and brought it to his father and said to him, “Rise, my father, and eat the wild game of your son, so that you may bless me.”
32 His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”
He answered, “I am your firstborn son, Esau.”
33 Isaac was seized by a violent trembling and said, “Then who was it who prepared the wild game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you arrived, and I blessed him; and the blessing will remain with him.”
34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he shrieked and let out a bitter cry. He said to his father, “Bless me too, my father.” 35 He answered, “Your brother came here with trickery and received your blessing.”
36 He then said, “He has been well named Jacob,[a] for he has supplanted me twice. He already took away my birthright and now he has taken my blessing.” He added, “Do you not have a blessing left for me?”
37 Isaac answered Esau and said, “Behold, I have made him your lord and I have given him his brothers as his servants. He is to be maintained with grain and wine. What can I do for you, my son?”
38 Esau told his father, “Do you only have one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” But Isaac was silent, and Esau cried out aloud.
39 Finally Isaac spoke and said,
“Behold, far from the riches of the earth
shall your dwelling be
and far from the dew of the heavens.
40 You shall live by the sword
and serve your brother.
But then, when you have dominion,
you shall break the yoke from your neck.”
41 Jacob Flees to Mesopotamia.[b] Esau hated Jacob on account of the blessing that his father had given him. Esau thought, “The time to mourn my father is drawing near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42 When Rebekah was told what Esau, her older son, had said, she called Jacob, her younger son, and said, “Esau your brother wants to get even with you by killing you. 43 So obey me, my son. Rise, and flee to Haran, to my brother Laban. 44 Remain with him for some time, till your brother’s anger has calmed. 45 When the fury of your brother is soothed and he has forgotten what you did to him, I will send for you to bring you back from there. Why should I be deprived of the two of you in a single day?”
46 Rebekah said to Isaac, “I despise my life because of those Hittite women. If Jacob were to take a wife from among the Hittites, from among the daughters of the land, what good would life be to me?”
Justification through Faith in Jesus[a]
The World in the Wrath of God[b]
18 Exchanging the Truth of God for a Lie. The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. 19 For that which can be known about God is clearly evident to them because God has revealed it plainly to them. 20 Ever since the creation of the world the invisible attributes of God’s eternal power and divine nature have been clearly understood and perceived through the things he has made.
Therefore, the conduct of these people is inexcusable. 21 Despite knowing God, they refused to honor him as God or give thanks to him. As a result, their speculations became foolish and their uncomprehending hearts became darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, in reality they became fools, 23 exchanging the glory of the immortal God for images fashioned in the likeness of a mortal man or birds or fourfooted animals or reptiles.
24 Therefore, God abandoned them in the sinful lusts of their hearts to impurity and the mutual degradation of their bodies. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and offered worship and service to the creature rather than to the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
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