Reading: Genesis 27, Matthew 26

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 firstborn; 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 subtlety, 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; and 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 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples,² Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.³ Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,⁴ And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety, and kill him.⁵ But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.⁶ Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,⁷ There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.⁸ But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?⁹ For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.¹⁰ When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.¹¹ For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.¹² For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.¹³ Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.¹⁴ Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,¹⁵ And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.¹⁶ And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.¹⁷ Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?¹⁸ And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.¹⁹ And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.²⁰ Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.²¹ And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.²² And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?²³ And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.²⁴ The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.²⁵ Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.²⁶ And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.²⁷ And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;²⁸ For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.²⁹ But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.³⁰ And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.³¹ Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.³² But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.³³ Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.³⁴ Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.³⁵ Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.³⁶ Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.³⁷ And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.³⁸ Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.³⁹ And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.⁴⁰ And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?⁴¹ Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.⁴² He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.⁴³ And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.⁴⁴ And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.⁴⁵ Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.⁴⁶ Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.⁴⁷ And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.⁴⁸ Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.⁴⁹ And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.⁵⁰ And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.⁵¹ And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear.⁵² Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.⁵³ Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?⁵⁴ But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?⁵⁵ In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me.⁵⁶ But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.⁵⁷ And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.⁵⁸ But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest's palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.⁵⁹ Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;⁶⁰ But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses,⁶¹ And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.⁶² And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?⁶³ But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.⁶⁴ Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.⁶⁵ Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.⁶⁶ What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.⁶⁷ Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,⁶⁸ Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?⁶⁹ Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.⁷⁰ But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.⁷¹ And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.⁷² And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.⁷³ And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.⁷⁴ Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.⁷⁵ And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.