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Genesis 31

Jacob Runs from Laban

    ⁴Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah to meet him in the field where he kept his sheep, ⁵and he told them:

   Your father isn't as friendly with me as he used to be, but the God my ancestors worshiped has been on my side. ⁶You know that I have worked hard for your father ⁷and that he keeps cheating me by changing my wages time after time. But God has protected me. ⁸When your father said the speckled sheep would be my wages, all of them were speckled. And when he said the spotted ones would be mine, all of them were spotted. ⁹That's how God has taken sheep and goats from your father and given them to me.

    ¹⁰Once, when the flocks were mating, I dreamed that all the rams were either spotted or speckled. ¹¹Then God's angel called me by name. I answered, ¹²and he said, "Notice that all the rams are either spotted or speckled. I know everything Laban is doing to you, ¹³and I am the God you worshiped at Bethel, ^[a] when you poured olive oil on a rock and made a promise to me. Leave here right away and return to the land where you were born." ¹⁴Rachel and Leah said to Jacob:

   There's nothing left for us to inherit from our father. ¹⁵He treats us like foreigners and has even cheated us out of the bride price ^[b] that should have been ours. ¹⁶Now do whatever God tells you to do. Even the property God took from our father and gave to you really belongs to us and our children. ¹⁷Then Jacob, his wives, and his children got on camels and left ¹⁸for the home of his father Isaac in Canaan. Jacob took all of the flocks, herds, and other property that he had gotten in northern Syria. ^{[c] 19}Before Rachel left, she stole the household idols ^[d] while Laban was out shearing his sheep. ²⁰Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean ^[e] by not saying that he intended to leave. ²¹When Jacob crossed the Euphrates River and headed for the hill country of Gilead, he took with him everything he owned.

Laban Catches Up with Jacob

    ²⁵Jacob had set up camp in the hill country of Gilead, when Laban and his relatives came and set up camp in another part of the hill country. Laban went to Jacob ²⁶and said:

   Look what you've done! You've tricked me and run off with my daughters like a kidnapper. ²⁷Why did you sneak away without telling me? I would have given you a going-away party with singing and with music on tambourines and harps. ²⁸You didn't even give me a chance to kiss my own grandchildren and daughters good-by. That was really foolish. ²⁹I could easily hurt you, but the God your father worshiped has warned me not to make any threats or promises.

    ³⁰I can understand why you were eager to return to your father, but why did you have to steal my idols?

    ³¹Jacob answered, "I left secretly because I was afraid you would take your daughters from me by force. ³²If you find that any one of us has taken your idols, I'll have that person killed. Let your relatives be witnesses. Show me what belongs to you, and you can take it back." Jacob did not realize that Rachel had stolen the household idols.

    ³³Laban searched the tents of Jacob, Leah, and the two servant women, ^[f] but did not find the idols. Then he started for Rachel's tent. ³⁴She had already hidden them in the cushion she used as a saddle and was sitting on it. Laban searched everywhere and did not find them. ³⁵Rachel said, "Father, please don't be angry with me for not getting up; I am having my period." Laban kept on searching, but still did not find the idols. ³⁶Jacob became very angry and said to Laban:

   What have I done wrong? Have I committed some crime? Is that why you hunted me down? ³⁷After searching through everything I have, did you find anything of yours? If so, put it here, where your relatives and mine can see it. Then we can decide what to do.

    ³⁸In all the twenty years that I've worked for you, not one of your sheep or goats has had a miscarriage, and I've never eaten even one of your rams. ³⁹If a wild animal killed one of your sheep or goats, I paid for it myself. In fact, you demanded the full price, whether the animal was killed during the day or at night. ^{[g] 40}I sweated every day, and I couldn't sleep at night because of the cold. ⁴¹I had to work fourteen of these twenty long years to earn your two daughters and another six years to buy your sheep and goats. During that time you kept changing my wages. ⁴²If the fearsome God ^[h] worshiped by Abraham and my father Isaac had not been on my side, you would have sent me away without a thing. But God saw my hard work, and he knew the trouble I was in, so he helped me. Then last night he told you how wrong you were.

Jacob and Laban Make an Agreement

    ⁴⁵After Jacob had set up a large rock, ⁴⁶he told his men to get some more rocks and pile them up next to it. Then Jacob and Laban ate a meal together beside the rocks. ⁴⁷Laban named the pile of rocks Jegar Sahadutha. ^[i] But Jacob named it Galeed. ^{[j] 48}Laban said to Jacob, "This pile of rocks will remind us of our agreement." That's why the place was named Galeed. ⁴⁹Laban also said, "This pile of rocks means that the LORD will watch us both while we are apart from each other." So the place was also named Mizpah. ^{[k] 50}Then Laban said:

   If you mistreat my daughters or marry other women, I may not know about it, but remember, God is watching us! ^51-52Both this pile of rocks and this large rock have been set up between us as a reminder. I must never go beyond them to attack you, and you must never go beyond them to attack me. ⁵³My father Nahor, your grandfather Abraham, and their ancestors all worshiped the same God, and he will make sure that we each keep the agreement.

   Then Jacob made a promise in the name of the fearsome God ^[l] his father Isaac had worshiped. ⁵⁴Jacob killed an animal and offered it as a sacrifice there on the mountain, and he invited his men to eat with him. After the meal they spent the night on the mountain. ⁵⁵Early the next morning, Laban kissed his daughters and his grandchildren good-by, then he left to go back home.

Genesis 32

Jacob Gets Ready To Meet Esau

    ⁶When the messengers returned, they told Jacob, "We went to your brother Esau, and now he is heading this way with four hundred men."

    ⁷Jacob was so frightened that he divided his people, sheep, cattle, and camels into two groups. ⁸He thought, "If Esau attacks one group, perhaps the other can escape."

    ⁹Then Jacob prayed:

   You, LORD, are the God who was worshiped by my grandfather Abraham and by my father Isaac. You told me to return home to my family, and you promised to be with me and make me successful. ¹⁰I don't deserve all the good things you have done for me, your servant. When I first crossed the Jordan, I had only my walking stick, but now I have two large groups of people and animals. ¹¹Please rescue me from my brother. I am afraid he will come and attack not only me, but my wives and children as well. ¹²But you have promised that I would be a success and that someday it will be as hard to count my descendants as it is to count the stars in the sky.

    ¹³After Jacob had spent the night there, he chose some animals as gifts for Esau: ^14-15two hundred female goats and twenty males, two hundred female sheep and twenty males, thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten males.

    ¹⁶Jacob put servants in charge of each herd and told them, "Go ahead of me and keep a space between each herd." ¹⁷Then he said to the servant in charge of the first herd, "When Esau meets you, he will ask whose servant you are. He will want to know where you are going and who owns those animals in front of you. ¹⁸So tell him, `They belong to your servant Jacob, who is coming this way. He is sending them as a gift to his master Esau.' "

    ¹⁹Jacob also told the men in charge of the second and third herds and those who followed to say the same thing when they met Esau. ²⁰And Jacob told them to be sure to say that he was right behind them. Jacob hoped the gifts would make Esau friendly, so Esau would be glad to see him when they met. ²¹Jacob's men took the gifts on ahead of him, but he spent the night in camp.

Jacob's Name Is Changed to Israel

   A man came and fought with Jacob until just before daybreak. ²⁵When the man saw that he could not win, he struck Jacob on the hip and threw it out of joint. ²⁶They kept on wrestling until the man said, "Let go of me! It's almost daylight."

   "You can't go until you bless me," Jacob replied.

    ²⁷Then the man asked, "What is your name?"

   "Jacob," he answered.

    ²⁸The man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob. You have wrestled with God and with men, and you have won. That's why your name will be Israel." ^{[n] 29}Jacob said, "Now tell me your name."

   "Don't you know who I am?" he asked. And he blessed Jacob.

    ³⁰Jacob said, "I have seen God face to face, and I am still alive." So he named the place Peniel. ^{[o] 31}The sun was coming up as Jacob was leaving Peniel. He was limping because he had been struck on the hip, ³²and the muscle on his hip joint had been injured. That's why even today the people of Israel don't eat the hip muscle of any animal.

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A Dying Girl and a Sick Woman

(Mark 5.21-43; Luke 8.40-56)

    ¹⁹Jesus and his disciples got up and went with the man.

    ²⁰A woman who had been bleeding for twelve years came up behind Jesus and barely touched his clothes. ²¹She had said to herself, "If I can just touch his clothes, I will get well."

    ²²Jesus turned. He saw the woman and said, "Don't worry! You are now well because of your faith." At that moment she was healed.

    ²³When Jesus went into the home of the official and saw the musicians and the crowd of mourners, ^{[a] 24}he said, "Get out of here! The little girl isn't dead. She is just asleep." Everyone started laughing at Jesus. ²⁵But after the crowd had been sent out of the house, Jesus went to the girl's bedside. He took her by the hand and helped her up. ²⁶News about this spread all over that part of the country.

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

   "Yes, Lord," they answered.

    ²⁹Jesus touched their eyes and said, "Because of your faith, you will be healed." ³⁰They were able to see, and Jesus strictly warned them not to tell anyone about him. ³¹But they left and talked about him to everyone in that part of the country.

Jesus Heals a Man Who Could Not Talk

    ³⁴But the Pharisees said, "The leader of the demons gives him the power to force out demons."

Jesus Has Pity on People