The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday January 12, 2017 (NIV)

¹⁷ So Isaac moved away from there, camped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there. ¹⁸ Isaac dug out again the wells that were dug during the lifetime of his father Abraham. The Philistines had closed them up after Abraham’s death. Isaac gave them the same names his father had given them. ¹⁹ Isaac’s servants dug wells in the valley and found a well there with fresh water. ²⁰ Isaac’s shepherds argued with Gerar’s shepherds, each claiming, “This is our water.” So Isaac named the well Esek^[a] because they quarreled with him. ²¹ They dug another well and argued about it too, so he named it Sitnah.^{[b] 22} He left there and dug another well, but they didn’t argue about it, so he named it Rehoboth^[c] and said, “Now the Lord has made an open space for us and has made us fertile in the land.”

²³ Then he went up from Gerar to Beer-sheba. ²⁴ The Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Don’t be afraid because I am with you. I will bless you, and I will give you many children for my servant Abraham’s sake.” ²⁵ So Isaac built an altar there and worshipped in the Lord’s name. Isaac pitched his tent there, and his servants dug a well.

²⁶ But Abimelech set out toward him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his ally and Phicol the commander of his forces. ²⁷ Isaac said to him, “Why have you come after me? You resented me and sent me away from you.”

²⁸ They said, “We now see that the Lord was with you. We propose that there be a formal agreement between us and that we draw up a treaty^[d] with you: ²⁹ you must not treat us badly since we haven’t harmed you and since we have treated you well at all times. Then we will send you away peacefully, for you are now blessed by the Lord.” ³⁰ Isaac prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank. ³¹ They got up early in the morning, and they gave each other their word. Isaac sent them off, and they left peacefully.

³² That day Isaac’s servants informed him about the well that they had been digging and said to him, “We found water.” ³³ He called it Shibah;^[e] therefore, the city’s name has been Beer-sheba^[f] until today.

Esau’s wives

³⁴ When Esau was 40 years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵ They made life very difficult for Isaac and Rebekah.

Jacob acquires his father’s blessing

27 When Isaac had grown old and his eyesight was failing, he summoned his older son Esau and said to him, “My son?”

And Esau said, “I’m here.”

² He said, “I’m old and don’t know when I will die. ³ So now, take your hunting gear, your bow and quiver of arrows, go out to the field, and hunt game for me. ⁴ Make me the delicious food that I love and bring it to me so I can eat. Then I can bless you before I die.”

⁵ Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went out to the field to hunt game to bring back, ⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I just heard your father saying to your brother Esau, ⁷ ‘Bring me some game and make me some delicious food so I can eat, and I will bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’ ⁸ Now, my son, listen to me, to what I’m telling you to do. ⁹ Go to the flock and get me two healthy young goats so I can prepare them as the delicious food your father loves. ¹⁰ You can bring it to your father, he will eat, and then he will bless you before he dies.”

¹¹ Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man, but I have smooth skin. ¹² What if my father touches me and thinks I’m making fun of him? I will be cursed instead of blessed.”

¹³ His mother said to him, “Your curse will be on me, my son. Just listen to me: go and get them for me.” ¹⁴ So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food that his father loved. ¹⁵ Rebekah took her older son Esau’s favorite clothes that were in the house with her, and she put them on her younger son Jacob. ¹⁶ On his arms and smooth neck she put the hide of young goats, ¹⁷ and the delicious food and the bread she had made she put into her son’s hands.

¹⁸ Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.”

And he said, “I’m here. Who are you, my son?”

¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I’m Esau your oldest son. I’ve made what you asked me to. Sit up and eat some of the game so you can bless me.”

²⁰ Isaac said to his son, “How could you find this so quickly, my son?”

He said, “The Lord your God led me right to it.”^[g]

²¹ Isaac said to Jacob, “Come here and let me touch you, my son. Are you my son Esau or not?” ²² So Jacob approached his father Isaac, and Isaac touched him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the arms are Esau’s arms.” ²³ Isaac didn’t recognize him because his arms were hairy like Esau’s arms, so he blessed him.

²⁴ Isaac said, “Are you really my son Esau?”

And he said, “I am.”

²⁵ Isaac said, “Bring some food here and let me eat some of my son’s game so I can bless you.” Jacob put it before him and he ate, and he brought him wine and he drank. ²⁶ His father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ So he came close and kissed him. When Isaac smelled the scent of his clothes, he blessed him,

Esau receives a secondary blessing

³⁰ After Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and just as Jacob left his father Isaac, his brother Esau came back from his hunt. ³¹ He too made some delicious food, brought it to his father, and said, “Let my father sit up and eat from his son’s game so that you may bless me.”

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

And he said, “I’m your son, your oldest son, Esau.”

³³ Isaac was so shocked that he trembled violently. He said, “Who was the hunter just here with game? He brought me food, and I ate all of it before you came. I blessed him, and he will stay blessed!”

³⁴ When Esau heard what his father said, he let out a loud agonizing cry and wept bitterly. He said to his father, “Bless me! Me too, my father!”

³⁵ Isaac said, “Your brother has already come deceitfully and has taken your blessing.”

³⁶ Esau said, “Isn’t this why he’s called Jacob? He’s taken me^[h] twice now: he took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing.” He continued, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

³⁷ Isaac replied to Esau, “I’ve already made him more powerful than you, and I’ve made all of his brothers his servants. I’ve made him strong with grain and wine. What can I do for you, my son?”

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

³⁹ His father Isaac responded and said to him,

Jacob sent away for protection

⁴¹ Esau was furious at Jacob because his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, When the period of mourning for the death of my father is over, I will kill my brother.

⁴² Rebekah was told what her older son Esau was planning, so she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Esau your brother is planning revenge. He plans to kill you. ⁴³ So now, my son, listen to me: Get up and escape to my brother Laban in Haran. ⁴⁴ Live with him for a short while until your brother’s rage subsides, ⁴⁵ until your brother’s anger at you goes away and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I suffer the loss of both of you on one day?”

⁴⁶ Rebekah then said to Isaac, “I really loathe these Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women, like the women of this land, why should I go on living?”

Healing of a man who was paralyzed

9 Boarding a boat, Jesus crossed to the other side of the lake and went to his own city. ² People brought to him a man who was paralyzed, lying on a cot. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man who was paralyzed, “Be encouraged, my child, your sins are forgiven.”

³ Some legal experts said among themselves, “This man is insulting God.”

⁴ But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why do you fill your minds with evil things? ⁵  Which is easier—to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶  But so you will know that the Human One^[a] has authority on the earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“Get up, take your cot, and go home.” ⁷ The man got up and went home. ⁸ When the crowds saw what had happened, they were afraid and praised God, who had given such authority to human beings.

Calling of Matthew

⁹ As Jesus continued on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at a kiosk for collecting taxes. He said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him. ¹⁰ As Jesus sat down to eat in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners joined Jesus and his disciples at the table.

¹¹ But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹² When Jesus heard it, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do. ¹³  Go and learn what this means: I want mercy and not sacrifice.^[b] I didn’t come to call righteous people, but sinners.”

Question about fasting

¹⁴ At that time John’s disciples came and asked Jesus, “Why do we and the Pharisees frequently fast, but your disciples never fast?”

¹⁵ Jesus responded, “The wedding guests can’t mourn while the groom is still with them, can they? But the days will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they’ll fast.

¹⁶ “No one sews a piece of new, unshrunk cloth on old clothes because the patch tears away the cloth and makes a worse tear. ¹⁷  No one pours new wine into old wineskins. If they did, the wineskins would burst, the wine would spill, and the wineskins would be ruined. Instead, people pour new wine into new wineskins so that both are kept safe.”