The Daily Audio Bible

¹⁷ So Isaac left that place. He camped in the Valley of Gerar and lived there. ¹⁸ Long before this time Abraham had dug many wells. After Abraham died, the Philistines filled them with dirt. So Isaac dug those wells again. He gave them the same names his father had given them. ¹⁹ Isaac’s servants dug a well in the valley. From it a spring of water flowed. ²⁰ But the men who herded sheep in Gerar argued with Isaac’s servants. They said, “This water is ours.” So Isaac named that well Argue because they argued with him. ²¹ Then Isaac’s servants dug another well. The people also argued about it. So Isaac named that well Fight. ²² Isaac moved from there and dug another well. No one argued about this one. So he named that well Room Enough. Isaac said, “Now the Lord has made room for us. We will be successful in this land.”

²³ From there Isaac went to Beersheba. ²⁴ The Lord appeared to Isaac that night. The Lord said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Don’t be afraid because I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants. I will do this because of my servant Abraham.” ²⁵ So Isaac built an altar and worshiped the Lord there. He made a camp there, and his servants dug a well.

²⁶ Abimelech came from Gerar to see Isaac. Abimelech brought with him Ahuzzath, who advised him, and Phicol, the commander of his army. ²⁷ Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to see me? You were my enemy. You forced me to leave your country.”

²⁸ They answered, “Now we know that the Lord is with you. We will make a promise to you. And we would like you to make one to us. We would like to make an agreement with you. ²⁹ We did not hurt you. So promise you will not hurt us. And we were good to you, and we sent you away in peace. Now the Lord has blessed you.”

³⁰ So Isaac prepared food for them, and they all ate and drank. ³¹ Early the next morning the men made a promise to each other. Then Isaac sent them away, and they left in peace.

³² That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We found water in that well.” ³³ So Isaac named it Shibah^[a] and that city is still called Beersheba even now.

³⁴ When Esau was 40 years old, he married two Hittite women. One was Judith daughter of Beeri. The other was Basemath daughter of Elon. ³⁵ These women brought much sorrow to Isaac and Rebekah.

Jacob Tricks Isaac

27 When Isaac was old, his eyes were not good. He could not see clearly. One day he called his older son Esau to him. Isaac said, “Son.”

Esau answered, “Here I am.”

² Isaac said, “I am old. I don’t know when I might die. ³ So take your bow and arrows, and go hunting in the field. Kill an animal for me to eat. ⁴ Prepare the tasty food that I love. Bring it to me, and I will eat. Then I will bless you before I die.” ⁵ So Esau went out in the field to hunt.

Rebekah was listening as Isaac said this to his son Esau. ⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen, I heard your father talking to your brother Esau. ⁷ Your father said, ‘Kill an animal. Prepare some tasty food for me to eat. Then I will bless you before the Lord before I die.’ ⁸ So obey me, my son. Do what I tell you. ⁹ Go out to our goats and bring me two young ones. I will prepare them just the way your father likes them. ¹⁰ Then you will take the food to your father. And he will bless you before he dies.”

¹¹ But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man. I am smooth! ¹² If my father touches me, he will know I am not Esau. Then he will not bless me. He will place a curse on me because I tried to trick him.”

¹³ So Rebekah said to him, “If your father puts a curse on you, I will accept the blame. Just do what I said. Go and get the goats for me.”

¹⁴ So Jacob went out and got two goats and brought them to his mother. Then she cooked them in the special way Isaac enjoyed. ¹⁵ She took the best clothes of her older son Esau that were in the house. She put them on the younger son Jacob. ¹⁶ She took the skins of the goats. And she put them on Jacob’s hands and neck. ¹⁷ Then she gave Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

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

And his father said, “Yes, my son. Who are you?”

¹⁹ Jacob said to him, “I am Esau, your first son. I have done what you told me. Now sit up and eat some meat of the animal I hunted for you. Then bless me.”

²⁰ But Isaac asked his son, “How did you find and kill the animal so quickly?”

Jacob answered, “Because the Lord your God led me to find it.”

²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son. If I can touch you, I will know if you are really my son Esau.”

²² So Jacob came near to Isaac his father. Isaac touched him and said, “Your voice sounds like Jacob’s voice. But your hands are hairy like the hands of Esau.” ²³ Isaac did not know it was Jacob, because his hands were hairy like Esau’s hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob. ²⁴ Isaac asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”

Jacob answered, “Yes, I am.”

²⁵ Then Isaac said, “Bring me the food. I will eat it and bless you.” So Jacob gave him the food, and Isaac ate. Jacob gave him wine, and he drank. ²⁶ Then Isaac said to him, “My son, come near and kiss me.” ²⁷ So Jacob went to his father and kissed him. Isaac smelled Esau’s clothes and blessed him. Isaac said,

³⁰ Isaac finished blessing Jacob. Then, just as Jacob left his father Isaac, Esau came in from hunting. ³¹ Esau also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. He said, “Father, rise and eat the food that your son killed for you. Then bless me.”

³² Isaac asked, “Who are you?”

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

³³ Then Isaac trembled greatly. He said, “Then who was it that hunted the animals and brought me food before you came? I ate it, and I blessed him. And it is too late now to take back my blessing.”

³⁴ When Esau heard the words of his father, he let out a loud and bitter cry. He said to his father, “Bless me—me, too, my father!”

³⁵ But Isaac said, “Your brother came and tricked me. He has taken your blessing.”

³⁶ Esau said, “Jacob^[b] is the right name for him. He has tricked me these two times. He took away my share of everything you own. And now he has taken away my blessing.” Then Esau asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

³⁷ Isaac answered, “I gave Jacob the power to be master over you. And all his brothers will be his servants. And I kept him strong with grain and wine. There is nothing left to give you, my son.”

³⁸ But Esau continued, “Do you have only one blessing, Father? Bless me, too, Father!” Then Esau began to cry out loud.

³⁹ Isaac said to him,

⁴¹ After that Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing from Isaac. Esau thought to himself, “My father will soon die, and I will be sad for him. After that I will kill Jacob.”

⁴² Rebekah heard about Esau’s plan to kill Jacob. So she sent for Jacob. She said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is comforting himself by planning to kill you. ⁴³ So, son, do what I say. My brother Laban is living in Haran. Go to him at once! ⁴⁴ Stay with him for a while, until your brother is not so angry. ⁴⁵ In time, your brother will not be angry. He will forget what you did to him. Then I will send a servant to bring you back. I don’t want to lose both of my sons on the same day.”

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of these Hittite women here in this land, I want to die.”

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man

9 Jesus got into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town. ² Some people brought to Jesus a man who was paralyzed. The man was lying on his mat. Jesus saw that these people had great faith, so he said to the paralyzed man, “Be happy, young man. Your sins are forgiven.”

³ Some of the teachers of the law heard this. They said to themselves, “This man speaks as if he were God—that is blasphemy!”^[a]

⁴ Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said, “Why are you thinking evil thoughts? ⁵ Which is easier: to tell this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Stand up and walk’? ⁶ But I will prove to you that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Stand up. Take your mat and go home.” ⁷ And the man stood up and went home. ⁸ The people saw this and were amazed. They praised God for giving power like this to men.

Jesus Chooses Matthew

⁹ When Jesus was leaving, he saw a man named Matthew. Matthew was sitting in the tax office. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” And Matthew stood up and followed Jesus.

¹⁰ Jesus had dinner at Matthew’s house. Many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with Jesus and his followers. ¹¹ The Pharisees saw this and asked Jesus’ followers, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

¹² Jesus heard the Pharisees ask this. So he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor. Only the sick need a doctor. ¹³ Go and learn what this means: ‘I want faithful love more than I want animal sacrifices.’^[b] I did not come to invite good people. I came to invite sinners.”

Jesus Is Not Like Other Jews

¹⁴ Then the followers of John^[c] came to Jesus. They said to Jesus, “We and the Pharisees often give up eating.^[d] But your followers don’t. Why?”

¹⁵ Jesus answered, “The friends of the bridegroom are not sad while he is with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will leave them. Then his friends are sad, and they will give up eating.

¹⁶ “When someone sews a patch over a hole in an old coat, he never uses a piece of cloth that is not yet shrunk. If he does, the patch will shrink and pull away from the coat. Then the hole will be worse. ¹⁷ Also, people never pour new wine into old leather bags for holding wine. If they do, the old bags will break. The wine will spill, and the wine bags will be ruined. But people always pour new wine into new wine bags. Then the wine and the wine bags will continue to be good.”