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29 (A)May peoples serve you,
    and nations bow down to you;
Be master of your brothers,
    and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be those who curse you,
    and blessed be those who bless you.”

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29 May nations serve you
    and peoples bow down to you.(A)
Be lord over your brothers,
    and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.(B)
May those who curse you be cursed
    and those who bless you be blessed.(C)

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18 Edom will be dispossessed,
    and no survivor is left in Seir.
Israel will act boldly,

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18 Edom(A) will be conquered;
    Seir,(B) his enemy, will be conquered,(C)
    but Israel(D) will grow strong.

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Israel Preferred to Edom

(A)I love you, says the Lord;
    but you say, “How do you love us?”
[a](B)Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?—oracle of the Lord.
    I loved Jacob, but rejected Esau;
I made his mountains a waste,
    his heritage a desert for jackals.
(C)If Edom says, “We have been crushed,
    but we will rebuild the ruins,”
Thus says the Lord of hosts:
    They indeed may build, but I will tear down,
And they shall be called “territory of wickedness,”
    the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.
(D)Your own eyes will see it, and you will say,
    “Great is the Lord, even beyond the territory of Israel.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1:3–5 The thought passes from the person Esau to his descendants, Edom, and from the person Jacob to his descendants, Israel; cf. Gn 25:21–23. In the New Testament, Paul uses this passage as an example of God’s freedom of choice in calling the Gentiles to faith (Rom 9:13).

Israel Doubts God’s Love

“I have loved(A) you,” says the Lord.

“But you ask,(B) ‘How have you loved us?’

“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob,(C) but Esau I have hated,(D) and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland(E) and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.(F)

Edom(G) may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild(H) the ruins.”

But this is what the Lord Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish.(I) They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord.(J) You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great(K) is the Lord—even beyond the borders of Israel!’(L)

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10 And not only that,(A) but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one husband, our father Isaac[a] 11 before they had yet been born or had done anything, good or bad, in order that God’s elective plan might continue, 12 not by works but by his call—she was told, “The older shall serve the younger.”(B) 13 As it is written:(C)

“I loved Jacob
    but hated Esau.”[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 9:10 Children by one husband, our father Isaac: Abraham had two children, Ishmael and Isaac, by two wives, Hagar and Sarah, respectively. In that instance Isaac, although born later than Ishmael, became the bearer of the messianic promise. In the case of twins born to Rebecca, God’s elective procedure is seen even more dramatically, and again the younger, contrary to Semitic custom, is given the preference.
  2. 9:13 The literal rendering, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated,” suggests an attitude of divine hostility that is not implied in Paul’s statement. In Semitic usage “hate” means to love less; cf. Lk 14:26 with Mt 10:37. Israel’s unbelief reflects the mystery of the divine election that is always operative within it. Mere natural descent from Abraham does not ensure the full possession of the divine gifts; it is God’s sovereign prerogative to bestow this fullness upon, or to withhold it from, whomsoever he wishes; cf. Mt 3:9; Jn 8:39. The choice of Jacob over Esau is a case in point.

10 Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac.(A) 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad(B)—in order that God’s purpose(C) in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”[a](D) 13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”[b](E)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 9:12 Gen. 25:23
  2. Romans 9:13 Mal. 1:2,3