Genesis 25:19-34

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These are the generations of Abrahams son Isaac.

Isaac was the son of Abraham. 20 At the age of forty Isaac married Rebecca, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram, and sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac prayed to YHWH on behalf of Rebecca, for they had no children. God listened to the prayers and Rebecca conceived. 22 The babies in her womb struggled with each other. Rebecca said, If this is the way it is to be, why go on living? She asked for divine guidance and 23 YHWH said to her,
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Two nations are in your womb, two tribes in your belly who will be rivals. One will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger. When the time came for her to deliver, she gave birth to twin boys. 25 The first to enter the world was very ruddy, and had so much hair on his body that he looked as if he was wearing a fur coat. So they named him Esau, Rough One. 26 When the second came out, he was grasping Esaus heel, so they named him Jacob, Heel-Grabber. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebecca delivered the twins.
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The children grew up. Esau became a skilled hunter and enjoyed the open country, while the quiet Jacob preferred to stay at home. 28 Isaac, who especially enjoyed wild game, favored Esau while Rebecca favored Jacob.
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One day, when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from hunting, famished. He said to Jacob, Im starvinglet me have some of the red stuff, that red stew. This is why he was also called Edom, Red One.
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Jacob replied, Not until you sell me the rights you own from being firstborn.

Esau replied, Here I am ravenous for food. What good is my birthright to me now?
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Jacob said, Swear to me first!

So Esau swore to Jacob and sold his birthright. 34 Only then did Jacob give Esau some bread and the lentil stew. He ate and drank, then got up and left. This is how little Esau valued his birthright

Psalm 119:105-112
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Now I know your word is a lamp for my steps, for the path just ahead of me. I resolve and swear to keep your ordinances of justice. I have suffered much, YHWH give me life as you have promised. Please accept my heartfelt praises, YHWH, and teach me your decrees. Though constantly I take my life in my hands, I never forgot your Law. The corrupt laid their traps for me, but I havent strayed from your precepts. Your decrees are all the inheritance Ill ever want theyre the joy of my heart. I set my heart to keep your statutes, forever and to the letter.

Romans 8:1-11
There is no longer any condemnation, however, for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 The law of the Spiritthe Spirit of life in Christ Jesushas freed you from the law of sin and death. 3 What the Law was powerless to do because human nature made it so weak, God didby sending the Only Begotten in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering, thereby condemning sin in the flesh.4 In this way, the just demands of the Law could be fulfilled in us, who live not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 Those who live according to the flesh have their mind set on the things of the flesh; those who live by the Spirit, on things of the Spirit.
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The mind of the flesh is death, but that of the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind of the flesh stands in opposition to God; it is not subject to Gods lawindeed, it cannot be, 8 since those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Those who do not have the Spirit of Christ do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit lives because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then the One who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through the Spirit dwelling in you.
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Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Later that day, Jesus left the house and sat down by the lake shore. 2 Such great crowds gathered that he went and took a seat in a boat, while the crowd stood along the shore. 3 He addressed them at length in parables: One day, a farmer went out sowing seed. 4 Some of the seed landed on a footpath, where birds came and ate it up. 5 Some of the seed fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. this seed sprouted at once since the soil had no depth, 6 but when the sun rose and scorched it, it withered away for lack of roots. 7 Again, some of the seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. 8 And some of it landed on good soil, and yielded a crop thirty, sixty, even a hundred times what was sown. 9 Let those who have ears to hear, hear this!
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Now listen to the parable of the sower. 19 When people hear the message about the kindom of God without understanding it, the Evil One comes along and snatches away what was sown in their hearts. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 Those who received the seed that fell on rocky ground are the ones who hear the word and at first welcome it with joy. 21 But they have no roots, so they last only for a while. When some setback or persecution comes because of the message, they quickly fall away. 22 Those who receive the message that fell among the thorns are the ones who hear the word, but then worldly anxieties and the lure of wealth choke it off, and the message produces no fruit. 23 But those who receive the seed that fell on rich soil are those who hear the message and understand it. They produce a crop that yields a hundred, or sixty or thirty times what was sown.
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