many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the temple of the God of Jacob, so ¹  he can teach us his requirements, ²  and ³  we can follow his standards.” ⁴  For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; ⁵  the Lord will issue edicts from Jerusalem. ⁶ 

The day you begin cultivating, you do what you can to make it grow; ¹  the morning you begin planting, you do what you can to make it sprout. Yet the harvest will disappear ²  in the day of disease and incurable pain.

Why does no one challenge me when I come? Why does no one respond when I call? ¹  Is my hand too weak ²  to deliver ³  you? Do I lack the power to rescue you? Look, with a mere shout ⁴  I can dry up the sea; I can turn streams into a desert, so the fish rot away and die from lack of water. ⁵ 

Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen this? Can a country ¹  be brought forth in one day? Can a nation be born in a single moment? Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!

The Lord said, ¹  “Go up and down ²  through the streets of Jerusalem. ³  Look around and see for yourselves. Search through its public squares. See if any of you can find a single person who deals honestly and tries to be truthful. ⁴  If you can, ⁵  then I will not punish this city. ⁶ 

You say, “When will the new moon festival ¹  be over, ²  so we can sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, ³  so we can open up the grain bins? ⁴  We’re eager ⁵  to sell less for a higher price, ⁶  and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales! ⁷ 

Many nations will come, saying, “Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the temple ¹  of Jacob’s God, so he can teach us his commands ²  and we can live by his laws.” ³  For Zion will be the source of instruction; the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. ⁴ 

Of the birds after their kinds, and of the cattle after their kinds, and of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you so you can keep them alive. ¹ 

And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted. ¹ 

that I will take nothing ¹  belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal. That way you can never say, ‘It is I ²  who made Abram rich.’

So Sarai said to Abram, “Since ¹  the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with ²  my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” ³  Abram did what ⁴  Sarai told him.

When God made me wander ¹  from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: ²  Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”

After this, he and the men who were with him ate a meal and stayed there overnight. ¹  When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me leave now so I can return to my master.” ² 

Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I’ve done as you told me. Now sit up ¹  and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me.” ² 

He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau ¹  said to him, “My father, get up ²  and eat some of your son’s wild game. Then you can bless me.” ³ 

Isaac replied to Esau, “Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?”

You can make the bride price and the gift I must bring very expensive, ¹  and I’ll give ²  whatever you ask ³  of me. Just give me the young woman as my wife!”

He instructed the servant who was over his household, “Fill the sacks of the men with as much food as they can carry and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack.

Joseph said to them, “What did you think you were doing? ¹  Don’t you know that a man like me can find out things like this by divination?” ² 

As for you, you meant to harm me, ¹  but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day. ²