Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

³ Jacob sent men with a message to his brother Esau. Esau was living in the land of Seir, also called Edom. ⁴ Jacob told his men, ‘This is what you must say to my master Esau: Your servant Jacob says, “I have been staying with Laban until now. ⁵ I have cows, donkeys, sheep and goats. I have male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord so that you will be happy with me.” ’

⁶ When the men returned, they said to Jacob, ‘We went to your brother Esau. Now he is coming to meet you and he has 400 men with him.’ ⁷ Jacob was very frightened and upset when he heard this. So he separated his people into two groups. He also separated his animals. ⁸ He thought, ‘If Esau attacks one group, the other group may run away safely.’

⁹ Then Jacob prayed, ‘God of my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac, Lord, you said to me, “Go back to your country and to your relatives. I will do good things for you there.” ¹⁰ You have always loved me. You have continued to be kind to me. I do not deserve this. When I crossed the Jordan River to go to Haran, I only had my stick. But now I can make two big groups of people and animals. ¹¹ I pray that you will save me from the power of my brother Esau. I am afraid that he will come and attack me. He may also attack my family. ¹² But you have said, “I will give you many good things. I will give you so many descendants that nobody will be able to count them. They will be as many as the pieces of sand on the shore of the sea.” ’^[a]

¹³ Jacob stayed in that place for the night. He chose some of his animals as a gift for Esau. ¹⁴ He chose 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 female sheep and 20 male sheep. ¹⁵ He also chose 30 female camels, with their young ones, 40 cows and ten bulls, 20 female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶ He told his servants to take care of them. He separated each group of animals from the other groups. Jacob said to his servants, ‘Go in front of me. Keep some space between each group of animals.’ ¹⁷ He told the servant who led the first group of animals, ‘When my brother Esau meets you, he may ask, “Who do you belong to? Where are you going? Who do all these animals belong to?” ¹⁸ Then you must say, “They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift that he has sent to my lord Esau. Jacob himself is coming behind us.” ’ ¹⁹ Jacob also told the servants who led the other groups of animals, as well as the servants who followed behind them, ‘You are to say the same thing to Esau, when you meet him. ²⁰ You must also say “Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.” ’

Jacob thought, ‘Esau will be happy to receive my gifts. He will no longer be angry with me. Then, when I meet him, he will not hurt me.’ ²¹ So Jacob sent the men with his gifts to go on to meet Esau. But he himself stayed in that place for the night.

¹² This means that God's people must go on being patient and strong. They must continue to obey God's rules. They must continue to trust Jesus.

¹³ Then I heard a voice that spoke from heaven. It said, ‘Write this: From this time, people who continue to believe in the Lord and then they die will be very happy.’ God's Spirit says, ‘Yes, they will rest from their work. God will not forget the good things that they have done.’

The earth's harvest

¹⁴ Then I looked, and I saw a white cloud in front of me. I saw someone who was like a son of man.^[a] He was sitting on the cloud. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp knife in his hand.^{[b] 15} Then another angel came out from God's house in heaven. He shouted with a loud voice to the person who was sitting on the cloud. He told him, ‘Use your sharp knife and start to work. It is time to bring in the harvest. Cut down the plants and bring them in. The harvest on the earth is now ready.’

¹⁶ Then the person who sat on the cloud moved his sharp knife over the earth. He cut down the earth's plants and he brought in the harvest.^[c]

¹⁷ Then another angel came out from God's house in heaven. He also had a sharp knife in his hand. ¹⁸ Again, another angel came from the altar where people offered gifts to God. This angel had authority for the fire on the altar.^[d] He shouted with a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp knife. He told him, ‘Use your knife and cut the grapes off the earth's vine. The grapes are ready now to make wine.’

¹⁹ So the angel moved his sharp knife over the earth. He cut off the grapes which grew in the earth's vineyard. He threw the grapes into the winepress where God stamps on the grapes because he is very angry. ²⁰ The winepress was outside the city. When God stamped on the grapes, the juice that came out of the winepress was blood.^[e] The river of blood was very deep. It rose as high as horses' necks and it went as far as 300 kilometres.