Saturday 4 July 2043

1When Isaac was old,and his eyes were dim,so that he could not see,he called Esau his elder son,and said to him, “My son?”

He said to him, “Here I am.”

2He said, “See now, I am old.I don’t know the day of my death.3Now therefore, please take your weapons,your quiver and your bow,and go out to the field,and get me venison.4Make me savory food,such as I love, and bring it to me,that I may eat, andthat my soul may bless you before I die.”

5Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son.Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.· · · verses 6–14 are not read15Rebekah took the good clothes of Esau,her elder son, which were with her in the house,and put them on Jacob, her younger son.16She put the skins of the young goats on his hands,and on the smooth of his neck.17She gave the savory food and the bread,which she had prepared,into the hand of her son Jacob.

18He came to his father, and said, “My father?”

He said, “Here I am.Who are you, my son?”

19Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn.I have done what you asked me to do.Please arise, sit and eat of my venison,that your soul may bless me.”

20Isaac said to his son,“How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?”

He said, “Because the Lord your God gave me success.”

21Isaac said to Jacob,“Please come near,that I may feel you,my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”

22Jacob went near to Isaac his father.He felt him, and said,“The voice is Jacob’s voice,but the hands are the hands of Esau.”23He didn’t recognize him,because his hands were hairy,like his brother Esau’s hands.So he blessed him.24He said, “Are you really my son Esau?”

He said, “I am.”

25He said, “Bring it near to me,and I will eat of my son’s venison,that my soul may bless you.”

He brought it near to him, and he ate.He brought him wine, and he drank.26His father Isaac said to him,“Come near now, and kiss me, my son.”27He came near, and kissed him.He smelled the smell of his clothing,and blessed him, and said,

“Behold, the smell of my sonis as the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed.28God give you of the dew of the sky,of the fatness of the earth,and plenty of grain and new wine.29Let peoples serve you,and nations bow down to you.Be lord over your brothers.Let your mother’s sons bow down to you.Cursed be everyone who curses you.Blessed be everyone who blesses you.”

1Praise the Lord!Praise the Lord’s name!Praise him, you servants of the Lord,2you who stand in the Lord’s house,in the courts of our God’s house.

3Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.Sing praises to his name, for that is pleasant.4For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,Israel for his own possession.

5For I know that the Lord is great,that our Lord is above all gods.6Whatever the Lord pleased, that he has done,in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.

14Then John’s disciples came to him,saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often,but your disciples don’t fast?”

15Jesus said to them,“Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?But the days will comewhen the bridegroom will be taken away from them,and then they will fast.16No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment;for the patch would tear away from the garment,and a worse hole is made.17Neither do people put new wine into old wineskins,or else the skins would burst,and the wine be spilled,and the skins ruined.No, they put new wine into fresh wineskins,and both are preserved.”