Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Parashat Toledot

Esau and Jacob

¹⁹ Now these are the genealogies of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham fathered Isaac. ²⁰ Isaac was 40 years old when he took for himself Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. ²¹ Isaac prayed to Adonai on behalf of his wife because she was barren. Adonai answered his plea and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.

²² But the children struggled with one another inside her, and she said, “If it’s like this, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of Adonai. ²³ Adonai said to her:

²⁴ When her time came to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ Now the first came out reddish, all of him was like a fur coat, and they named him Esau. ²⁶ Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding onto Esau’s heel—so he was named Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when he fathered them.

²⁷ When the boys grew up, Esau became a man knowledgeable in hunting, an outdoorsman, while Jacob was a mild man, remaining in tents. ²⁸ Now Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

²⁹ Now Jacob cooked a stew. When Esau came in from the field, he was exhausted, ³⁰ so Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me some of this really red stuff, because I’m exhausted”—that is why he is called Edom.

³¹ So Jacob said, “Sell your birthright to me today.”

³² Esau said, “Look, I’m about to die. Of whatever use is this to me—a birthright?”

³³ Jacob said, “Make a pledge to me now.”

So he made a pledge to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. ^{[a] 34} Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

NUN נ

Life in the Spirit

8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Messiah Yeshua. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yeshua has set you free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what was impossible for the Torah—since it was weakened on account of the flesh—God has done. Sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as a sin offering, He condemned sin in the flesh— ⁴ so that the requirement of the Torah might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Ruach.

⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Ruach set their minds on the things of the Ruach. ⁶ For the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Ruach is life and shalom. ⁷ For the mindset of the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not submit itself to the law of God—for it cannot. ⁸ So those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ However, you are not in the flesh but in the Ruach—if indeed the Ruach Elohim dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Ruach of Messiah, he does not belong to Him. ¹⁰ But if Messiah is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the Spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Ruach of the One who raised Yeshua from the dead dwells in you, the One who raised Messiah Yeshua from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Ruach who dwells in you.

Simple Stories, Profound Truths

13 On that day after Yeshua left the house, He was sitting by the sea. ² And large crowds gathered around Him; so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the shore. ³ And He told them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, a sower went out to spread some seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some seeds fell by the road; and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil. They sprang up immediately, because the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶ But when the sun came up, they were scorched; and because they had no roots, they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew and choked them out. ⁸ But others fell on good soil and were producing fruit. They yielded a crop—some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears,^[a] let him hear.”

Parable of the Sower Explained

¹⁸ “You then, hear the parable of the sower. ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one having been sown along the road.

²⁰ “The one sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. ²¹ Yet he has no root himself but lasts only a short while; and when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.

²² “But the one sown among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word; and the worries of the world and the seduction of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

²³ “Now the one sown on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands. He indeed bears fruit, yielding a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty times what was sown.”