15th January

¹ And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I.² And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:³ Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;⁴ And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.⁵ And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.⁶ And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,⁷ Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD before my death.⁸ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.⁹ Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:¹⁰ And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.¹¹ And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:¹² My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.¹³ And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.¹⁴ And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved.¹⁵ And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son:¹⁶ And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:¹⁷ And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.¹⁸ And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?¹⁹ And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy first born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.²⁰ And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the LORD thy God brought it to me.²¹ And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.²² And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.²³ And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him.²⁴ And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am.²⁵ And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine and he drank.²⁶ And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son.²⁷ And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed:²⁸ Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:²⁹ Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.³⁰ And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.³¹ And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me.³² And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau.³³ And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.³⁴ And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.³⁵ And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.³⁶ And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?³⁷ And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?³⁸ And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.³⁹ And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above;⁴⁰ And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.⁴¹ And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.⁴² And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.⁴³ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;⁴⁴ And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away;⁴⁵ Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?⁴⁶ And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?

¹ Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.² Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.³ When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.⁴ For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.⁵ I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.⁶ For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.⁷ Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.⁸ I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.⁹ Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.¹⁰ Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.¹¹ Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

¹ And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,² And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.³ And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.⁴ Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.⁵ While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.⁶ And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.⁷ And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.⁸ And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.⁹ And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.¹⁰ And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?¹¹ And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.¹² But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.¹³ Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.¹⁴ And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,¹⁵ Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.¹⁶ And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.¹⁷ Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.¹⁸ And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.¹⁹ Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?²⁰ And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.²¹ Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.²² And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men:²³ And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.²⁴ And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?²⁵ He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?²⁶ Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.²⁷ Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.