“ I have always loved you,” says the Lord. But you retort,“ Really? How have you loved us?” And the Lord replies,“ This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob,

耶和华说：“我曾爱你们。”你们却说：“你在何事上爱我们呢？”耶和华说：“以扫不是雅各的哥哥吗？我却爱雅各，

耶和华说：“我曾爱你们。”你们却说：“你在何事上爱我们呢？”耶和华说：“以扫不是雅各的哥哥吗？我却爱雅各，

耶和华说：“我曾爱你们。”你们却说：“你在何事上爱我们呢？”耶和华说：“以扫不是雅各的哥哥吗？我却爱雅各，

耶和华说：“我曾爱你们。”你们却说：“你在何事上爱我们呢？”耶和华说：“以扫不是雅各的哥哥吗？但我却爱雅各，

耶和华说：“我爱你们。”你们却说：“你怎样爱了我们呢？”耶和华说：“以扫不是雅各的哥哥吗？我却爱雅各，

耶和华说：“我爱了你们。”你们竟然问：“你是怎么爱我们的呢？”耶和华宣告：“以扫难道不是雅各的哥哥吗？我却爱雅各，

耶和華說：「我曾愛你們。」你們卻說：「你在何事上愛我們呢？」耶和華說：「以掃不是雅各的哥哥嗎？我卻愛雅各，

耶和華說：「我曾愛你們。」你們卻說：「你在何事上愛我們呢？」耶和華說：「以掃不是雅各的哥哥嗎？我卻愛雅各，

耶和華說：「我曾愛你們。」你們卻說：「你在何事上愛我們呢？」耶和華說：「以掃不是雅各的哥哥嗎？我卻愛雅各，

耶和華說：「我曾愛你們。」你們卻說：「你在何事上愛我們呢？」耶和華說：「以掃不是雅各的哥哥嗎？但我卻愛雅各，

耶和華說：“我愛你們。”你們卻說：“你怎樣愛了我們呢？”耶和華說：“以掃不是雅各的哥哥嗎？我卻愛雅各，

永恆主說：『我愛了你們。』但你們卻說：『你在甚麼事上愛了我們呢？』永恆主發神諭說：『以掃豈不是雅各的哥哥麼？然而我卻愛了雅各，

耶和華說：「我愛了你們。」你們竟然問：「你是怎麼愛我們的呢？」耶和華宣告：「以掃難道不是雅各的哥哥嗎？我卻愛雅各，

耶和華曰、我愛爾、爾曰、於何愛我、耶和華曰、以掃非雅各之兄乎、然我愛雅各、

耶和華曰、我眷愛爾、爾曰、眷愛余躬、何以為徵、耶和華曰、以掃為雅各之兄、我愛雅各、

主曰、我愛爾、爾曰、主於何處愛我、主於何處愛我或作主以何愛我又作主愛我以何為徵主曰、以掃非雅各之兄乎、我愛雅各、

“ I have loved you,” says the Lord.“ But you ask,‘ How have you loved us?’“ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord.“ Yet I have loved Jacob,

“ Israel, I have loved you,” says the Lord.“ But you ask,‘ How have you loved us?’“ Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” says the Lord.“ But I chose Jacob

“ I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say,“ How have you loved us?”“ Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord.“ Yet I have loved Jacob

“ I have loved you,” says the LORD. Yet you ask,“ How have you loved us?”“ Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” This is the LORD’s declaration.“ Even so, I loved Jacob,

“ I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say,“ How have You loved us?”“ Was Esau not Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord.“ Yet I have loved Jacob;

“ I have loved you,” says the Lord.“ Yet you say,‘ In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the Lord.“ Yet Jacob I have loved;

I have loved you, saith Jehovah. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith Jehovah: yet I loved Jacob;

“ I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you ask:“ How have You loved us?”“ Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” This is the Lord’s declaration.“ Even so, I loved Jacob,

I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us?[ Was] not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,

“ I have shown love to you,” says the LORD, but you say,“ How have you shown love to us?”“ Esau was Jacob’s brother,” the LORD explains,“ yet I chose Jacob

“ I have loved you,” says Yahweh. Yet you say,“ How have you loved us?”“ Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” says Yahweh,“ Yet I loved Jacob;

Long ago the Lord said to Israel:“ I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.

“ But as for you, Israel my servant, Jacob my chosen one, descended from Abraham my friend,I have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying,‘ You are my servant.’ For I have chosen you and will not throw you away.

Yet the Lord chose your ancestors as the objects of his love. And he chose you, their descendants, above all other nations, as is evident today.

For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.“ The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations!Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins.But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God.( This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes;he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told,“ Your older son will serve your younger son.”In the words of the Scriptures,“ I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”

“ You have said terrible things about me,” says the Lord.“ But you say,‘ What do you mean? What have we said against you?’“ You have said,‘ What’s the use of serving God? What have we gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the Lord of Heaven’s Armies that we are sorry for our sins?

Because he loved your ancestors, he chose to bless their descendants, and he personally brought you out of Egypt with a great display of power.

Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.

When the Most High assigned lands to the nations, when he divided up the human race, he established the boundaries of the peoples according to the number in his heavenly court.“ For the people of Israel belong to the Lord; Jacob is his special possession.He found them in a desert land, in an empty, howling wasteland. He surrounded them and watched over them; he guarded them as he would guard his own eyes.Like an eagle that rouses her chicks and hovers over her young, so he spread his wings to take them up and carried them safely on his pinions.The Lord alone guided them; they followed no foreign gods.He let them ride over the highlands and feast on the crops of the fields. He nourished them with honey from the rock and olive oil from the stony ground.He fed them yogurt from the herd and milk from the flock, together with the fat of lambs. He gave them choice rams from Bashan, and goats, together with the choicest wheat. You drank the finest wine, made from the juice of grapes.

You have wearied the Lord with your words.“ How have we wearied him?” you ask. You have wearied him by saying that all who do evil are good in the Lord’s sight, and he is pleased with them. You have wearied him by asking,“ Where is the God of justice?”

Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you.

At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said,“ I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants.Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions— to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.

So Jacob went over and kissed him. And when Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he was finally convinced, and he blessed his son. He said,“ Ah! The smell of my son is like the smell of the outdoors, which the Lord has blessed!“ From the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth, may God always give you abundant harvests of grain and bountiful new wine.May many nations become your servants, and may they bow down to you. May you be the master over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. All who curse you will be cursed, and all who bless you will be blessed.”As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and almost before Jacob had left his father, Esau returned from his hunt.

Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.“ But you ask,‘ How can we return when we have never gone away?’“ Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me!“ But you ask,‘ What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’“ You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me.

May God Almighty bless you and give you many children. And may your descendants multiply and become many nations!May God pass on to you and your descendants the blessings he promised to Abraham. May you own this land where you are now living as a foreigner, for God gave this land to Abraham.”

“ O my people, listen to the words of the Lord! Have I been like a desert to Israel? Have I been to them a land of darkness? Why then do my people say,‘ At last we are free from God! We don’t need him anymore!’

He said to me,‘ I will make you fruitful, and I will multiply your descendants. I will make you a multitude of nations. And I will give this land of Canaan to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’

This is what the Lord says:“ What did your ancestors find wrong with me that led them to stray so far from me? They worshiped worthless idols, only to become worthless themselves.

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests:“ A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name!“ But you ask,‘ How have we ever shown contempt for your name?’“ You have shown contempt by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar.“ Then you ask,‘ How have we defiled the sacrifices?’“ You defile them by saying the altar of the Lord deserves no respect.

Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably and said,“ Then who just served me wild game? I have already eaten it, and I blessed him just before you came. And yes, that blessing must stand!”

And the Lord told her,“ The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”

“ Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him.“ From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”“ Please tell me your name,” Jacob said.“ Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.Jacob named the place Peniel( which means“ face of God”), for he said,“ I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.”

The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus,“ And who is my neighbor?”