Isaac Blesses Jacob

¹When Isaac was old and zhis eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” ²He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. ³aNow then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, ⁴and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul bmay bless you before I die.”

⁵Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, ⁶Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, ⁷‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the Lord before I die.’ ⁸Now therefore, my son, cobey my voice as I command you. ⁹Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves. ¹⁰And you shall bring it to your father to eat, dso that he may bless you before he dies.” ¹¹But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, emy brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. ¹²Perhaps my father fwill feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring ga curse upon myself and not a blessing.” ¹³His mother said to him, h“Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.”

¹⁴So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved. ¹⁵Then Rebekah took the ibest garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. ¹⁶And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷And she put the delicious food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

¹⁸So he went in to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” ¹⁹Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” ²⁰But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success.” ²¹Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I jmay feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” ²²So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³And he did not recognize him, because khis hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands. lSo he blessed him. ²⁴He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” ²⁵Then he said, “Bring it near to me, mthat I may eat of my son's game and bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

²⁶Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments land blessed him and said,

“See, nthe smell of my son

is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed!

²⁸May God give you of othe dew of heaven

and of the fatness of the earth

and pplenty of grain and wine.

²⁹Let peoples serve you,

and nations qbow down to you.

rBe lord over your brothers,

and may your mother's sons bow down to you.

sCursed be everyone who curses you,

and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”

³⁰As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. ³¹He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that you may bless me.” ³²His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” ³³Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.” ³⁴As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, the cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” ³⁵But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” ³⁶Esau said, u“Is he not rightly named Jacob?1 For he has cheated me these two times. vHe took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” ³⁷Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, wI have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and xwith grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” ³⁸Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And tEsau lifted up his voice and wept.

³⁹Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:

“Behold, yaway from2 the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be,

and away from3 the dew of heaven on high.

⁴⁰By your sword you shall live,

and you zshall serve your brother;

but when you grow restless

ayou shall break his yoke from your neck.”

⁴¹Now Esau bhated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, c“The days of mourning for my father are approaching; dthen I will kill my brother Jacob.” ⁴²But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. ⁴³Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran ⁴⁴and stay with him a while, until your brother's fury turns away— ⁴⁵until your brother's anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?”

⁴⁶Then Rebekah said to Isaac, e“I loathe my life because of the Hittite women.4 fIf Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

¹When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, ²m“You know that after two days nthe Passover is coming, and othe Son of Man pwill be delivered up to be crucified.”

³qThen the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in rthe palace of the high priest, whose name was sCaiaphas, ⁴tand plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. ⁵But they said, “Not during the feast, ulest there be an uproar among the people.”

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

⁶vNow when Jesus was at wBethany in the house of Simon the leper,1 ⁷a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. ⁸And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? ⁹For this could have been sold for a large sum and xgiven to the poor.” ¹⁰But yJesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹For zyou always have the poor with you, but ayou will not always have me. ¹²In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it bto prepare me for burial. ¹³Truly, I say to you, wherever cthis gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told din memory of her.”

Judas to Betray Jesus

¹⁴eThen one of the twelve, whose name was fJudas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they gpaid him hthirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶And from that moment he sought an opportunity ito betray him.

The Passover with the Disciples

¹⁷jNow on kthe first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” ¹⁸He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, l‘The Teacher says, mMy time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” ¹⁹And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.

²⁰nWhen it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve.2 ²¹And as they were eating, ohe said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” ²²And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” ²³He answered, p“He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. ²⁴The Son of Man goes qas it is written of him, but rwoe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! sIt would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” ²⁵Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, tRabbi?” He said to him, u“You have said so.”

Institution of the Lord's Supper

²⁶vNow as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and wafter blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; xthis is my body.” ²⁷And he took a cup, and when he yhad given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, ²⁸for xthis is my zblood of the3 covenant, which is poured out for amany bfor the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you cin my Father's kingdom.”

Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial

³⁰dAnd when they had sung a hymn, ethey went out to fthe Mount of Olives. ³¹Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will gstrike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ ³²But after I am raised up, hI will go before you to Galilee.” ³³iPeter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” ³⁴jJesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, kbefore the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” ³⁵lPeter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

³⁶mThen Jesus went with them eto a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷And taking with him nPeter and othe two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸Then he said to them, p“My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and qwatch4 with me.” ³⁹And going a little farther he fell on his face rand prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let sthis cup pass from me; tnevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” ⁴⁰And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? ⁴¹qWatch and upray that you vmay not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ⁴²Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, wyour will be done.” ⁴³And again he came and found them sleeping, for xtheir eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for ythe third time, saying the same words again. ⁴⁵Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on.5 See, zthe hour is at hand, and athe Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

⁴⁷bWhile he was still speaking, cJudas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. ⁴⁸Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” ⁴⁹And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, dRabbi!” And he kissed him. ⁵⁰Jesus said to him, e“Friend, fdo what you came to do.”6 Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. ⁵¹And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his gsword and struck the servant7 of the high priest and cut off his ear. ⁵²Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For hall who take the sword will perish by the sword. ⁵³iDo you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me jmore than twelve klegions of angels? ⁵⁴lBut how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” ⁵⁵At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day mI sat in the temple nteaching, and you did not seize me. ⁵⁶But lall this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” oThen all the disciples left him and fled.

Jesus Before Caiaphas and the Council

⁵⁷pThen qthose who had seized Jesus led him to rCaiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. ⁵⁸And sPeter was following him at a distance, as far as rthe courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with tthe guards to see the end. ⁵⁹Now the chief priests and the whole council8 uwere seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, ⁶⁰but they found none, vthough many false witnesses came forward. At last wtwo came forward ⁶¹and said, “This man said, x‘I am able to ydestroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’” ⁶²And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”9 ⁶³zBut Jesus remained silent. aAnd the high priest said to him, b“I adjure you by cthe living God, dtell us if you are ethe Christ, fthe Son of God.” ⁶⁴Jesus said to him, g“You have said so. But I tell you, from now on hyou will see the Son of Man iseated at the right hand of Power and hcoming on the clouds of heaven.” ⁶⁵Then the high priest jtore his robes and said, k“He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. ⁶⁶What is your judgment?” They answered, l“He deserves death.” ⁶⁷Then mthey spit in his face nand ostruck him. And some slapped him, ⁶⁸saying, “Prophesy to us, you pChrist! Who is it that struck you?”

Peter Denies Jesus

⁶⁹qNow Peter was sitting outside rin the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” ⁷⁰But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” ⁷¹And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus sof Nazareth.” ⁷²And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” ⁷³After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for tyour accent betrays you.” ⁷⁴Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. ⁷⁵And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, u“Before the rooster crows, you will vdeny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Haman Plots Against the Jews

¹After these things King Ahasuerus qpromoted Haman rthe Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, sand advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him. ²And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. tBut Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage. ³Then the king's servants who were uat the king's gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress vthe king's command?” ⁴And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai's words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew. ⁵And when Haman saw that tMordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was wfilled with fury. ⁶But he disdained1 to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy2 all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

⁷In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, xthey cast Pur (that is, they cast lots) before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is ythe month of Adar. ⁸Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. zTheir laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so that it is not to the king's profit to tolerate them. ⁹If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents3 of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king's business, that they may put it into the king's treasuries.” ¹⁰aSo the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman bthe Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, cthe enemy of the Jews. ¹¹And the king said to Haman, “The money is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.”

¹²dThen the king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king's esatraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, fto every province in its own script and every people in its own language. It was written gin the name of King Ahasuerus hand sealed with the king's signet ring. ¹³Letters were sent iby couriers to all the king's provinces with instruction jto destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, kin one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, land to plunder their goods. ¹⁴mA copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day. ¹⁵iThe couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, nbut the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.

Paul's Defense Before Agrippa

¹So lAgrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:

²“I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today magainst all the accusations of the Jews, ³especially because you are familiar with all the ncustoms and ocontroversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴p“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among qmy own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. ⁵They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that raccording to the strictest sparty of our treligion I have lived as ua Pharisee. ⁶And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in vthe promise made by God to our fathers, ⁷wto which xour twelve tribes hope to yattain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope zI am accused by Jews, O king! ⁸Why is it thought aincredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

⁹b“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of cJesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰dAnd I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority efrom the chief priests, but fwhen they were put to death I cast my vote against them. ¹¹And gI punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them hblaspheme, and iin raging fury against them I jpersecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

¹²“In this connection kI journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. ¹⁴And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me lin the Hebrew language,1 ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶But rise and mstand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, nto appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, ¹⁷odelivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—pto whom I qam sending you ¹⁸rto open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from sthe power of Satan to God, that they may receive tforgiveness of sins and ua place among those who are sanctified vby faith in me.’

¹⁹“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to wthe heavenly vision, ²⁰but declared first xto those in Damascus, ythen in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also zto the Gentiles, that they should arepent and bturn to God, performing deeds cin keeping with their repentance. ²¹For this reason dthe Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ²²eTo this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so fI stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what gthe prophets and Moses said would come to pass: ²³hthat the Christ imust suffer and that, jby being the first kto rise from the dead, lhe would proclaim mlight both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, nyou are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” ²⁵But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, omost excellent Festus, but I am speaking ptrue and qrational words. ²⁶For rthe king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. ²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” ²⁸And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be sa Christian?”2 ²⁹And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day tmight become such as I am—except for uthese chains.”

³⁰Then the king rose, and vthe governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. ³¹And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, w“This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” ³²And Agrippa said to Festus, x“This man could have been set yfree if he had not appealed zto Caesar.”