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Isaac was now old and had become blind. He sent for his older son Esau and said to him, "Son!" "Yes," he answered.
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Isaac said, "You see that I am old and may die soon.
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Take your bow and arrows, go out into the country, and kill an animal for me.
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Cook me some of that tasty food that I like, and bring it to me. After I have eaten it, I will give you my final blessing before I die."
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While Isaac was talking to Esau, Rebecca was listening. So when Esau went out to hunt,
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she said to Jacob, "I have just heard your father say to Esau,
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'Bring me an animal and cook it for me. After I have eaten it, I will give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.'
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Now, son," Rebecca continued, "listen to me and do what I say.
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Go to the flock and pick out two fat young goats, so that I can cook them and make some of that food your father likes so much.
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You can take it to him to eat, and he will give you his blessing before he dies."
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But Jacob said to his mother, "You know that Esau is a hairy man, but I have smooth skin.
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Perhaps my father will touch me and find out that I am deceiving him; in this way, I will bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing."
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His mother answered, "Let any curse against you fall on me, my son; just do as I say, and go and get the goats for me."
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So he went to get them and brought them to her, and she cooked the kind of food that his father liked.
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Then she took Esau's best clothes, which she kept in the house, and put them on Jacob.
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She put the skins of the goats on his arms and on the hairless part of his neck.
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She handed him the tasty food, along with the bread she had baked.
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Then Jacob went to his father and said, "Father!" "Yes," he answered. "Which of my sons are you?"
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Jacob answered, "I am your older son Esau; I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of the meat that I have brought you, so that you can give me your blessing."
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Isaac said, "How did you find it so quickly, son?" Jacob answered, "The LORD your God helped me find it."
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Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come closer so that I can touch you. Are you really Esau?"
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Jacob moved closer to his father, who felt him and said, "Your voice sounds like Jacob's voice, but your arms feel like Esau's arms."
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He did not recognize Jacob, because his arms were hairy like Esau's. He was about to give him his blessing,
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but asked again, "Are you really Esau?" "I am," he answered.
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Isaac said, "Bring me some of the meat. After I eat it, I will give you my blessing." Jacob brought it to him, and he also brought him some wine to drink.
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Then his father said to him, "Come closer and kiss me, son."
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As he came up to kiss him, Isaac smelled his clothes---so he gave him his blessing. He said, "The pleasant smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed.
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May God give you dew from heaven and make your fields fertile! May he give you plenty of grain and wine!
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May nations be your servants, and may peoples bow down before you. May you rule over all your relatives, and may your mother's descendants bow down before you. May those who curse you be cursed, and may those who bless you be blessed."
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Isaac finished giving his blessing, and as soon as Jacob left, his brother Esau came in from hunting.
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He also cooked some tasty food and took it to his father. He said, "Please, father, sit up and eat some of the meat that I have brought you, so that you can give me your blessing."
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"Who are you?" Isaac asked. "Your older son Esau," he answered.
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Isaac began to tremble and shake all over, and he asked, "Who was it, then, who killed an animal and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came. I gave him my final blessing, and so it is his forever."
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When Esau heard this, he cried out loudly and bitterly and said, "Give me your blessing also, father!"
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Isaac answered, "Your brother came and deceived me. He has taken away your blessing."
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Esau said, "This is the second time that he has cheated me. No wonder his name is Jacob. He took my rights as the first-born son, and now he has taken away my blessing. Haven't you saved a blessing for me?"
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Isaac answered, "I have already made him master over you, and I have made all his relatives his slaves. I have given him grain and wine. Now there is nothing that I can do for you, son!"
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Esau continued to plead with his father: "Do you have only one blessing, father? Bless me too, father!" He began to cry.
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Then Isaac said to him, "No dew from heaven for you, No fertile fields for you.
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You will live by your sword, But be your brother's slave. Yet when you rebel, You will break away from his control."
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Esau hated Jacob, because his father had given Jacob the blessing. He thought, "The time to mourn my father's death is near; then I will kill Jacob."
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But when Rebecca heard about Esau's plan, she sent for Jacob and said, "Listen, your brother Esau is planning to get even with you and kill you.
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Now, son, do what I say. Go at once to my brother Laban in Haran,
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and stay with him for a while, until your brother's anger cools down
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and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send someone to bring you back. Why should I lose both of my sons on the same day?"
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Rebecca said to Isaac, "I am sick and tired of Esau's foreign wives. If Jacob also marries one of these Hittites, I might as well die."
1
Isaac called Jacob, greeted him, and told him, "Don't marry a Canaanite.
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Go instead to Mesopotamia, to the home of your grandfather Bethuel, and marry one of the young women there, one of your uncle Laban's daughters.
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May Almighty God bless your marriage and give you many children, so that you will become the father of many nations!
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May he bless you and your descendants as he blessed Abraham, and may you take possession of this land, in which you have lived and which God gave to Abraham!"
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Isaac sent Jacob away to Mesopotamia, to Laban, who was the son of Bethuel the Aramean and the brother of Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
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Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Mesopotamia to find a wife. He also learned that when Isaac blessed him, he commanded him not to marry a Canaanite woman.
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He found out that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Mesopotamia.
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Esau then understood that his father Isaac did not approve of Canaanite women.
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So he went to Ishmael son of Abraham and married his daughter Mahalath, who was the sister of Nebaioth.
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Jacob left Beersheba and started toward Haran.
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At sunset he came to a holy place and camped there. He lay down to sleep, resting his head on a stone.
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He dreamed that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and coming down on it.
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And there was the LORD standing beside him. "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham and Isaac," he said. "I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying.
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They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations.
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Remember, I will be with you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you."
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Jacob woke up and said, "The LORD is here! He is in this place, and I didn't know it!"
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He was afraid and said, "What a terrifying place this is! It must be the house of God; it must be the gate that opens into heaven."
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Jacob got up early next morning, took the stone that was under his head, and set it up as a memorial. Then he poured olive oil on it to dedicate it to God.
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He named the place Bethel. (The town there was once known as Luz.)
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Then Jacob made a vow to the LORD: "If you will be with me and protect me on the journey I am making and give me food and clothing,
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and if I return safely to my father's home, then you will be my God.
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This memorial stone which I have set up will be the place where you are worshiped, and I will give you a tenth of everything you give me."
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One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."
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Jesus said to them, "When you pray, say this: 'Father: May your holy name be honored; may your Kingdom come.
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Give us day by day the food we need.
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Forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone who does us wrong. And do not bring us to hard testing.' "
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And Jesus said to his disciples, "Suppose one of you should go to a friend's house at midnight and say, 'Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread.
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A friend of mine who is on a trip has just come to my house, and I don't have any food for him!'
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And suppose your friend should answer from inside, 'Don't bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.'
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Well, what then? I tell you that even if he will not get up and give you the bread because you are his friend, yet he will get up and give you everything you need because you are not ashamed to keep on asking.
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And so I say to you: Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
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For those who ask will receive, and those who seek will find, and the door will be opened to anyone who knocks.
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Would any of you who are fathers give your son a snake when he asks for fish?
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Or would you give him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
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As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
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Jesus was driving out a demon that could not talk; and when the demon went out, the man began to talk. The crowds were amazed,
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but some of the people said, "It is Beelzebul, the chief of the demons, who gives him the power to drive them out."
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Others wanted to trap Jesus, so they asked him to perform a miracle to show that God approved of him.
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But Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to them, "Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long; a family divided against itself falls apart.
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So if Satan's kingdom has groups fighting each other, how can it last? You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so.
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If this is how I drive them out, how do your followers drive them out? Your own followers prove that you are wrong!
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No, it is rather by means of God's power that I drive out demons, and this proves that the Kingdom of God has already come to you.
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"When a strong man, with all his weapons ready, guards his own house, all his belongings are safe.
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But when a stronger man attacks him and defeats him, he carries away all the weapons the owner was depending on and divides up what he stole.
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"Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering.
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"When an evil spirit goes out of a person, it travels over dry country looking for a place to rest. If it can't find one, it says to itself, 'I will go back to my house.'
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So it goes back and finds the house clean and all fixed up.
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Then it goes out and brings seven other spirits even worse than itself, and they come and live there. So when it is all over, that person is in worse shape than at the beginning."
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When Jesus had said this, a woman spoke up from the crowd and said to him, "How happy is the woman who bore you and nursed you!"
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But Jesus answered, "Rather, how happy are those who hear the word of God and obey it!"
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As the people crowded around Jesus, he went on to say, "How evil are the people of this day! They ask for a miracle, but none will be given them except the miracle of Jonah.
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In the same way that the prophet Jonah was a sign for the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be a sign for the people of this day.
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On the Judgment Day the Queen of Sheba will stand up and accuse the people of today, because she traveled all the way from her country to listen to King Solomon's wise teaching; and there is something here, I tell you, greater than Solomon.
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On the Judgment Day the people of Nineveh will stand up and accuse you, because they turned from their sins when they heard Jonah preach; and I assure you that there is something here greater than Jonah!
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"No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a bowl; instead, it is put on the lampstand, so that people may see the light as they come in.
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Your eyes are like a lamp for the body. When your eyes are sound, your whole body is full of light; but when your eyes are no good, your whole body will be in darkness.
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Make certain, then, that the light in you is not darkness.
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If your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be bright all over, as when a lamp shines on you with its brightness."
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When Jesus finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and sat down to eat.
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The Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus had not washed before eating.
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So the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of your cup and plate, but inside you are full of violence and evil.
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Fools! Did not God, who made the outside, also make the inside?
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But give what is in your cups and plates to the poor, and everything will be ritually clean for you.
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"How terrible for you Pharisees! You give to God one tenth of the seasoning herbs, such as mint and rue and all the other herbs, but you neglect justice and love for God. These you should practice, without neglecting the others.
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"How terrible for you Pharisees! You love the reserved seats in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces.
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How terrible for you! You are like unmarked graves which people walk on without knowing it."
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One of the teachers of the Law said to him, "Teacher, when you say this, you insult us too!"
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Jesus answered, "How terrible also for you teachers of the Law! You put onto people's backs loads which are hard to carry, but you yourselves will not stretch out a finger to help them carry those loads.
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How terrible for you! You make fine tombs for the prophets---the very prophets your ancestors murdered.
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You yourselves admit, then, that you approve of what your ancestors did; they murdered the prophets, and you build their tombs.
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For this reason the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and messengers; they will kill some of them and persecute others.'
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So the people of this time will be punished for the murder of all the prophets killed since the creation of the world,
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from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the Holy Place. Yes, I tell you, the people of this time will be punished for them all!
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"How terrible for you teachers of the Law! You have kept the key that opens the door to the house of knowledge; you yourselves will not go in, and you stop those who are trying to go in!"
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When Jesus left that place, the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to criticize him bitterly and ask him questions about many things,
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trying to lay traps for him and catch him saying something wrong.
