Jacob Sent to His Uncle Laban

28 Then Isaac called Jacob and ^(A)blessed him, and ^[a]charged him, and said to him: ^(B)“You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ^2 (C)Arise, go to ^(D)Padan Aram, to the house of ^(E)Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of ^(F)Laban your mother’s brother.

⁵ So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Esau Marries Mahalath

⁶ Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” ⁷ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram. ⁸ Also Esau saw ^(K)that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. ⁹ So Esau went to Ishmael and ^(L)took ^(M)Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, ^(N)the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.

Jacob’s Vow at Bethel

¹⁰ Now Jacob ^(O)went out from Beersheba and went toward ^(P)Haran. ¹¹ So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. ¹² Then he ^(Q)dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there ^(R)the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

^13 (S)And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: ^(T)“I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; ^(U)the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. ¹⁴ Also your ^(V)descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad ^(W)to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and ^(X)in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, ^(Y)I am with you and will ^(Z)keep^[c] you wherever you go, and will ^(AA)bring you back to this land; for ^(AB)I will not leave you ^(AC)until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in ^(AD)this place, and I did not know it.” ¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

¹⁸ Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, ^(AE)set it up as a pillar, ^(AF)and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ And he called the name of ^(AG)that place ^[d]Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. ^20 (AH)Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If ^(AI)God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me ^(AJ)bread to eat and clothing to put on, ²¹ so that ^(AK)I come back to my father’s house in peace, ^(AL)then the Lord shall be my God. ²² And this stone which I have set as a pillar ^(AM)shall be God’s house, ^(AN)and of all that You give me I will surely give a ^[e]tenth to You.”

Jacob Meets Rachel

29 So Jacob went on his journey ^(AO)and came to the land of the people of the East. ² And he looked, and saw a ^(AP)well in the field; and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks. A large stone was on the well’s mouth. ³ Now all the flocks would be gathered there; and they would roll the stone from the well’s mouth, water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well’s mouth.

⁴ And Jacob said to them, “My brethren, where are you from?”

And they said, “We are from ^(AQ)Haran.”

⁵ Then he said to them, “Do you know ^(AR)Laban the son of Nahor?”

And they said, “We know him.”

⁶ So he said to them, ^(AS)“Is he well?”

And they said, “He is well. And look, his daughter Rachel ^(AT)is coming with the sheep.”

⁷ Then he said, “Look, it is still ^[f]high day; it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.”

⁸ But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.”

⁹ Now while he was still speaking with them, ^(AU)Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰ And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near and ^(AV)rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. ¹¹ Then Jacob ^(AW)kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. ¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he was ^(AX)her father’s relative and that he was Rebekah’s son. ^(AY)So she ran and told her father.

¹³ Then it came to pass, when Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister’s son, that ^(AZ)he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. So he told Laban all these things. ¹⁴ And Laban said to him, ^(BA)“Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month.

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, ^(BB)what should your wages be?” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah’s eyes were ^[g]delicate, but Rachel was ^(BC)beautiful of form and appearance.

¹⁸ Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, ^(BD)“I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”

¹⁹ And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob ^(BE)served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may ^(BF)go in to her.” ²² And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and ^(BG)made a feast. ²³ Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. ²⁴ And Laban gave his maid ^(BH)Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. ²⁵ So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you ^(BI)deceived me?”

²⁶ And Laban said, “It must not be done so in our ^[h]country, to give the younger before the firstborn. ^27 (BJ)Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.”

²⁸ Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also. ²⁹ And Laban gave his maid ^(BK)Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid. ³⁰ Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also ^(BL)loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban ^(BM)still another seven years.

The Children of Jacob

³¹ When the Lord ^(BN)saw that Leah was ^[i]unloved, He ^(BO)opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. ³² So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name ^[j]Reuben; for she said, “The Lord has surely ^(BP)looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.” ³³ Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am ^[k]unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name ^[l]Simeon. ³⁴ She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called ^[m]Levi. ³⁵ And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name ^(BQ)Judah.^[n] Then she stopped bearing.

Satan Tempts Jesus^(A)

4 Then ^(B)Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and ^(C)was led by the Spirit ^[a]into the wilderness, ² being ^[b]tempted for forty days by the devil. And ^(D)in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

³ And the devil said to Him, “If You are ^(E)the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

⁴ But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ^(F)‘Man shall not live by bread alone, ^[c]but by every word of God.’ ”

^5 [d]Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for ^(G)this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

⁸ And Jesus answered and said to him, ^[e]“Get behind Me, Satan! ^[f]For it is written, ^(H)‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

^9 (I)Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. ¹⁰ For it is written:

¹¹ and,

¹² And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ^(L)‘You shall not ^[g]tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

¹³ Now when the devil had ended every ^[h]temptation, he departed from Him ^(M)until an opportune time.

Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry^(N)

^14 (O)Then Jesus returned ^(P)in the power of the Spirit to ^(Q)Galilee, and ^(R)news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. ¹⁵ And He ^(S)taught in their synagogues, ^(T)being glorified by all.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth^(U)

¹⁶ So He came to ^(V)Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, ^(W)He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

²⁰ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is ^(Z)fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² So all bore witness to Him, and ^(AA)marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, ^(AB)“Is this not Joseph’s son?”

²³ He said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in ^(AC)Capernaum,^[k] do also here in ^(AD)Your country.’ ” ²⁴ Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no ^(AE)prophet is accepted in his own country. ²⁵ But I tell you truly, ^(AF)many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; ²⁶ but to none of them was Elijah sent except to ^[l]Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ^27 (AG)And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸ So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were ^(AH)filled with ^[m]wrath, ^29 (AI)and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. ³⁰ Then ^(AJ)passing through the midst of them, He went His way.

Jesus Casts Out an Unclean Spirit^(AK)

³¹ Then ^(AL)He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. ³² And they were ^(AM)astonished at His teaching, ^(AN)for His word was with authority. ^33 (AO)Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴ saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? ^(AP)I know who You are—^(AQ)the Holy One of God!”

³⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ^[n]“Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him. ³⁶ Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” ³⁷ And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Peter’s Mother-in-Law Healed^(AR)

^38 (AS)Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was ^[o]sick with a high fever, and they ^(AT)made request of Him concerning her. ³⁹ So He stood over her and ^(AU)rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.

Many Healed After Sabbath Sunset^(AV)

^40 (AW)When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. ^41 (AX)And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, ^(AY)“You are ^[p]the Christ, the Son of God!”

And He, ^(AZ)rebuking them, did not allow them to ^[q]speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee^(BA)

^42 (BB)Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; ⁴³ but He said to them, “I must ^(BC)preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” ^44 (BD)And He was preaching in the synagogues of ^[r]Galilee.