The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday January 12, 2020 (NIV)

¹⁷ So Isaac left there, camped in the Gerar Valley, and lived there. ¹⁸ Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and that the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. He gave them the same names his father had given them. ¹⁹ Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of spring^[a] water there. ²⁰ But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek^[b] because they argued with him.^{(A) 21} Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also, so he named it Sitnah.^{[c] 22} He moved from there and dug another, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Rehoboth^[d] and said, “For now the Lord has made space for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

The Lord Appears to Isaac

²³ From there he went up to Beer-sheba, ²⁴ and the Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham.^(B) Do not be afraid, for I am with you.^(C) I will bless you and multiply your offspring because of my servant Abraham.”

²⁵ So he built an altar there,^(D) called on the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there. Isaac’s servants also dug a well there.^(E)

Covenant with Abimelech

²⁶ Now Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.^{(F) 27} Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me? You hated me and sent me away from you.”

²⁸ They replied, “We have clearly seen how the Lord has been with you. We think there should be an oath between two parties—between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you: ²⁹ You will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have done only what was good to you, sending you away in peace. You are now blessed by the Lord.”^(G)

³⁰ So he prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank. ³¹ They got up early in the morning and swore an oath to each other.^[e](H) Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace. ³² On that same day Isaac’s servants came to tell him about the well they had dug, saying to him, “We have found water!” ^{(I) 33} He called it Sheba.^[f] Therefore the name of the city is still Beer-sheba^[g](J) today.

Esau’s Wives

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hethite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hethite.^{(K) 35} They made life bitter^[h] for Isaac and Rebekah.^(L)

The Stolen Blessing

27 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could not see,^(M) he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.”

And he answered, “Here I am.”

² He said, “Look, I am old and do not know the day of my death. ³ So now take your hunting gear, your quiver and bow, and go out in the field to hunt some game for me.^{(N) 4} Then make me a delicious meal that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I can bless you before I die.”^(O)

⁵ Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac said to his son Esau. So while Esau went to the field to hunt some game to bring in, ⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father talking with your brother Esau. He said, ⁷ ‘Bring me game and make a delicious meal for me to eat so that I can bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’ ⁸ Now, my son, listen to me and do what I tell you. ⁹ Go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I will make them into a delicious meal for your father—the kind he loves. ¹⁰ Then take it to your father to eat so that he may bless you before he dies.”

¹¹ Jacob answered Rebekah his mother, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a man with smooth skin.^{(P) 12} Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself.”

¹³ His mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me.”

¹⁴ So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food his father loved. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were in the house, and had her younger son Jacob wear them. ¹⁶ She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ Then she handed the delicious food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.

¹⁸ When he came to his father, he said, “My father.”

And he answered, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”

¹⁹ Jacob replied to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may bless me.”

²⁰ But Isaac said to his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?”

He replied, “Because the Lord your God made it happen for me.”

²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau or not?”

²² So Jacob came closer to his father Isaac. When he touched him, he said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. ²⁴ Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”

And he replied, “I am.”

²⁵ Then he said, “Bring it closer to me, and let me eat some of my son’s game so that I can bless you.” Jacob brought it closer to him, and he ate; he brought him wine, and he drank.

²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come closer and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ So he came closer and kissed him. When Isaac smelled^[i] his clothes, he blessed him and said:

³⁰ As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau arrived from his hunting. ³¹ He had also made some delicious food and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”

³² But his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”

He answered, “I am Esau your firstborn son.”

³³ Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably. “Who was it then,” he said, “who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you came in, and I blessed him. Indeed, he will be blessed!”

³⁴ When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!” ^(V)

³⁵ But he replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

³⁶ So he said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob?^[j](W) For he has cheated me twice now. He took my birthright, and look, now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

³⁷ But Isaac answered Esau, “Look, I have made him a master over you, have given him all of his relatives as his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, my son?”

³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly.^[k]

³⁹ His father Isaac answered him,

Esau’s Anger

⁴¹ Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau determined in his heart: “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴² When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. ⁴³ So now, my son, listen to me. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran, ⁴⁴ and stay with him for a few days until your brother’s anger subsides— ⁴⁵ until your brother’s rage turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?”

⁴⁶ So Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick of my life because of these Hethite girls.^(X) If Jacob marries someone from around here,^[m] like these Hethite girls, what good is my life?” ^(Y)

The Son of Man Forgives and Heals

9 So he got into a boat, crossed over, and came to his own town.^{(A) 2} Just then^(B) some men^[a] brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.”^(C)

³ At this, some of the scribes said to themselves, “He’s blaspheming!” ^(D)

⁴ Perceiving their thoughts,^(E) Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts?^{[b] 5} For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then he told the paralytic, “Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.” ⁷ So he got up and went home. ⁸ When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck^[c][d] and gave glory^(F) to God, who had given such authority to men.

The Call of Matthew

⁹ As Jesus went on from there,^(G) he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the toll booth, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.^(H)

¹⁰ While he was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples.^{(I) 11} When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ^(J)

¹² Now when he heard this, he said, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick.^{(K) 13} Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice.^[e](L) For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”^[f]

A Question about Fasting

¹⁴ Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” ^(M)

¹⁵ Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests^[g] be sad while the groom is with them? The time^[h] will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse. ¹⁷ And no one puts^[i] new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”