27 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see,^(A) he called for Esau his older son^(B) and said to him, “My son.”

“Here I am,” he answered.

² Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death.^{(C) 3} Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country^(D) to hunt some wild game for me. ⁴ Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like^(E) and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing^(F) before I die.”^(G)

⁵ Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country^(H) to hunt game and bring it back, ⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob,^(I) “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, ⁷ ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’^{(J) 8} Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you:^{(K) 9} Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats,^(L) so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it.^{(M) 10} Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing^(N) before he dies.”

¹¹ Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man^(O) while I have smooth skin. ¹² What if my father touches me?^(P) I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse^(Q) on myself rather than a blessing.”

¹³ His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me.^(R) Just do what I say;^(S) go and get them for me.”

¹⁴ So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it.^{(T) 15} Then Rebekah took the best clothes^(U) of Esau her older son,^(V) which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. ¹⁶ She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins.^{(W) 17} Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

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

“Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”^(X)

¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn.^(Y) I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game,^(Z) so that you may give me your blessing.”^(AA)

²⁰ Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”

“The Lord your God gave me success,^(AB)” he replied.

²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you,^(AC) my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”

²² Jacob went close to his father Isaac,^(AD) who touched^(AE) him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau;^(AF) so he proceeded to bless him. ²⁴ “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.

“I am,” he replied.

²⁵ Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”^(AG)

Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”

²⁷ So he went to him and kissed^(AH) him^(AI). When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes,^(AJ) he blessed him and said,

³⁰ After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. ³¹ He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”^(AS)

³² His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”^(AT)

“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.^(AU)”

³³ Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me?^(AV) I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!^(AW)”

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

³⁵ But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully^(AZ) and took your blessing.”^(BA)

³⁶ Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob^[a]?^(BB) This is the second time he has taken advantage of^(BC) me: He took my birthright,^(BD) and now he’s taken my blessing!”^(BE) Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

³⁷ Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine.^(BF) So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”

³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.^(BG)

³⁹ His father Isaac answered him,^(BH)

⁴¹ Esau held a grudge^(BN) against Jacob^(BO) because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning^(BP) for my father are near; then I will kill^(BQ) my brother Jacob.”^(BR)

⁴² When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau^(BS) had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you.^{(BT) 43} Now then, my son, do what I say:^(BU) Flee at once to my brother Laban^(BV) in Harran.^{(BW) 44} Stay with him for a while^(BX) until your brother’s fury subsides. ⁴⁵ When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him,^(BY) I’ll send word for you to come back from there.^(BZ) Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite^(CA) women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land,^(CB) from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”^(CC)

Divorce^(A)

10 Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan.^(B) Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.^(C)

² Some Pharisees^(D) came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

³ “What did Moses command you?” he replied.

⁴ They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”^(E)

⁵ “It was because your hearts were hard^(F) that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. ⁶ “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’^{[a](G) 7} ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,^{[b] 8} and the two will become one flesh.’^[c](H) So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

¹⁰ When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. ¹¹ He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.^{(I) 12} And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”^(J)

The Little Children and Jesus^(K)

¹³ People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.^{(L) 15} Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”^{(M) 16} And he took the children in his arms,^(N) placed his hands on them and blessed them.

The Rich and the Kingdom of God^(O)

¹⁷ As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees^(P) before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”^(Q)

¹⁸ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’^[d]”^(R)

²⁰ “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

²¹ Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor,^(S) and you will have treasure in heaven.^(T) Then come, follow me.”^(U)

²² At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

²³ Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich^(V) to enter the kingdom of God!”

²⁴ The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is^[e] to enter the kingdom of God!^{(W) 25} It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”^(X)

²⁶ The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”^(Y)

²⁸ Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”^(Z)

²⁹ “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel ³⁰ will fail to receive a hundred times as much^(AA) in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come^(AB) eternal life.^{(AC) 31} But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”^(AD)

Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time^(AE)

³² They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve^(AF) aside and told them what was going to happen to him. ³³ “We are going up to Jerusalem,”^(AG) he said, “and the Son of Man^(AH) will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.^(AI) They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, ³⁴ who will mock him and spit on him, flog him^(AJ) and kill him.^(AK) Three days later^(AL) he will rise.”^(AM)

The Request of James and John^(AN)

³⁵ Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

³⁶ “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

³⁷ They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”^(AO)

³⁸ “You don’t know what you are asking,”^(AP) Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup^(AQ) I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”^(AR)

³⁹ “We can,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with,^{(AS) 40} but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

⁴¹ When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. ⁴² Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ⁴³ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,^{(AT) 44} and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,^(AU) and to give his life as a ransom for many.”^(AV)

Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight^(AW)

⁴⁶ Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth,^(AX) he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David,^(AY) have mercy on me!”

⁴⁸ Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” ⁵⁰ Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

⁵¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, “Rabbi,^(AZ) I want to see.”

⁵² “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.”^(BA) Immediately he received his sight and followed^(BB) Jesus along the road.

Jesus Goes to the Festival of Tabernacles

7 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want^[a] to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders^(A) there were looking for a way to kill him.^{(B) 2} But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles^(C) was near, ³ Jesus’ brothers^(D) said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. ⁴ No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵ For even his own brothers did not believe in him.^(E)

⁶ Therefore Jesus told them, “My time^(F) is not yet here; for you any time will do. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me^(G) because I testify that its works are evil.^{(H) 8} You go to the festival. I am not^[b] going up to this festival, because my time^(I) has not yet fully come.” ⁹ After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰ However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. ¹¹ Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus^(J) and asking, “Where is he?”

¹² Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”

Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.”^{(K) 13} But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.^(L)

Jesus Teaches at the Festival

¹⁴ Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.^{(M) 15} The Jews^(N) there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning^(O) without having been taught?”^(P)

¹⁶ Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.^{(Q) 17} Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out^(R) whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. ¹⁸ Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory,^(S) but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. ¹⁹ Has not Moses given you the law?^(T) Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”^(U)

²⁰ “You are demon-possessed,”^(V) the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

²¹ Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle,^(W) and you are all amazed. ²² Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision^(X) (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs),^(Y) you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. ²³ Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? ²⁴ Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”^(Z)

Division Over Who Jesus Is

²⁵ At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill?^{(AA) 26} Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities^(AB) really concluded that he is the Messiah?^{(AC) 27} But we know where this man is from;^(AD) when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

²⁸ Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts,^(AE) cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from.^(AF) I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true.^(AG) You do not know him, ²⁹ but I know him^(AH) because I am from him and he sent me.”^(AI)

³⁰ At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him,^(AJ) because his hour had not yet come.^{(AK) 31} Still, many in the crowd believed in him.^(AL) They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs^(AM) than this man?”

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.

³³ Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time,^(AN) and then I am going to the one who sent me.^{(AO) 34} You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”^(AP)

³⁵ The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered^(AQ) among the Greeks,^(AR) and teach the Greeks? ³⁶ What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”^(AS)

³⁷ On the last and greatest day of the festival,^(AT) Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.^{(AU) 38} Whoever believes^(AV) in me, as Scripture has said,^(AW) rivers of living water^(AX) will flow from within them.”^{[c](AY) 39} By this he meant the Spirit,^(AZ) whom those who believed in him were later to receive.^(BA) Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.^(BB)

⁴⁰ On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”^(BC)

⁴¹ Others said, “He is the Messiah.”

Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee?^{(BD) 42} Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants^(BE) and from Bethlehem,^(BF) the town where David lived?” ⁴³ Thus the people were divided^(BG) because of Jesus. ⁴⁴ Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.^(BH)

Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders

⁴⁵ Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

⁴⁶ “No one ever spoke the way this man does,”^(BI) the guards replied.

⁴⁷ “You mean he has deceived you also?”^(BJ) the Pharisees retorted. ⁴⁸ “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?^{(BK) 49} No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”

⁵⁰ Nicodemus,^(BL) who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, ⁵¹ “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”

⁵² They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”^(BM)

[The earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53—8:11. A few manuscripts include these verses, wholly or in part, after John 7:36, John 21:25, Luke 21:38 or Luke 24:53.]

⁵³ Then they all went home,