The Sons of Jacob

30 Now when Rachel saw that ^(A)she had not borne Jacob any children, ^[a]she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “^(B)Give me children, or else I am going to die.” ² Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has ^(C)withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” ³ Then she said, “^(D)Here is my female slave Bilhah: have relations with her that she may ^(E)give birth ^[b]on my knees, so that ^[c](F)by her I too may obtain a child.” ⁴ So ^(G)she gave him her slave Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had relations with her. ⁵ Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has ^[d](H)vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son.” Therefore she named him ^[e]Dan. ⁷ And Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ So Rachel said, “With ^[f]mighty wrestling I have ^[g]wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him Naphtali.

⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ And Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ Then Leah said, “^[h]How fortunate!” So she named him ^[i]Gad. ¹² And Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ Then Leah said, “^[j]Happy am I! For women ^(I)will call me happy.” So she named him ^[k]Asher.

¹⁴ Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found ^(J)mandrake fruits in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁵ But she said to her, “Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Therefore he may sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁶ When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must have relations with me, for I have indeed hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night. ¹⁷ God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Then Leah said, “God has given me my ^[l]reward, because I gave my slave to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. ¹⁹ And Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift; finally my husband ^[m]will acknowledge me as his wife, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. ²¹ Afterward she gave birth to a daughter, and named her Dinah.

²² Then ^(K)God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and ^(L)opened her womb. ²³ So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and said, “God has ^(M)taken away my disgrace.” ²⁴ And she named him Joseph, saying, “^(N)May the Lord ^[n]give me another son.”

Jacob Prospers

²⁵ Now it came about, when Rachel had given birth to Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “^(O)Send me away, so that I may go to my own place and to my own country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and my children ^(P)for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you yourself know my service which I have ^[o]rendered you.” ²⁷ But Laban said to him, “If ^[p]it pleases you at all, stay with me; I have determined by divination ^(Q)that the Lord has blessed me on your account.” ²⁸ He ^[q]continued, “^(R)Name me your wages, and I will give them.” ²⁹ But Jacob said to him, “^(S)You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have ^[r]fared with me. ³⁰ For you had little before ^[s]I came, and it has ^[t]increased to a multitude, and the Lord has blessed you ^[u]wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household also?” ³¹ So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock: ³² let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every ^(T)speckled or spotted sheep and every black sheep among the lambs, and the spotted or speckled among the goats; and those shall be my wages. ³³ So my ^[v]honesty will answer for me later, when you come concerning my ^[w]wages. Every one that is not speckled or spotted among the goats, or black among the lambs, if found with me, will be considered stolen.” ³⁴ Laban said, “^[x]Good, let it be according to your word.” ³⁵ So he removed on that day the striped or spotted male goats, and all the speckled or spotted female goats, every one with white on it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and put them in the ^[y]care of his sons. ³⁶ And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷ Then Jacob ^[z]took fresh rods of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white that was ^[aa]in the rods. ³⁸ He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the drinking troughs, that is, in the watering channels where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink. ³⁹ So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks delivered striped, speckled, and spotted offspring. ⁴⁰ Then Jacob separated the lambs, and ^[ab]made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock. ⁴¹ Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the drinking troughs, so that they would mate by the rods; ⁴² but when the flock was sickly, he did not put them in; so the sickly were Laban’s, and the stronger were Jacob’s. ⁴³ So ^(U)the man ^[ac]became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Jacob Leaves Secretly for Canaan

31 Now ^[ad]Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what belonged to our father he has made all this ^[ae]wealth.” ² And Jacob saw the ^[af]attitude of Laban, and behold, it was not friendly toward him as it had been before. ³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “^(V)Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and ^(W)I will be with you.” ⁴ So Jacob sent word and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field, ⁵ and said to them, “^(X)I see your father’s ^[ag]attitude, that it is not friendly toward me as it was before, but ^(Y)the God of my father has been with me. ^6 (Z)You know that I have served your father with all my strength. ⁷ Yet your father has ^(AA)cheated me and ^(AB)changed my wages ten times; however, ^(AC)God did not allow him to do me harm. ⁸ If ^(AD)he said this: ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flock delivered speckled; and if he said this: ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock delivered striped. ⁹ So God has ^(AE)taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me. ¹⁰ And it came about at the time when the flock was breeding that I raised my eyes and saw in a dream—and behold—the male goats that were ^[ah]mating were striped, speckled, or mottled. ¹¹ Then ^(AF)the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob’; and I said, ‘Here I am.’ ¹² He said, ‘Now raise your eyes and see that all the male goats that are ^[ai]mating are striped, speckled, or mottled; for ^(AG)I have seen everything that Laban has been doing to you. ¹³ I am ^(AH)the God of Bethel, where you ^(AI)anointed a memorial stone, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, ^[aj]leave this land, and ^(AJ)return to the land of your birth.’” ¹⁴ Rachel and Leah said to him, “Do we still have any share or inheritance in our father’s house? ¹⁵ Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For ^(AK)he has sold us, and has also ^[ak]entirely consumed our ^[al]purchase price. ¹⁶ Surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children; now then, do whatever God has told you.”

¹⁷ Then Jacob stood up and put his children and his wives on camels; ¹⁸ and he drove away all his livestock and all his property which he had acquired, the livestock he possessed which he had acquired in Paddan-aram, ^(AL)to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. ¹⁹ Laban had gone to shear his flock, and Rachel stole the ^[am](AM)household idols that were her father’s. ²⁰ And Jacob ^[an]deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was fleeing. ²¹ So he fled with all that he had; and he got up and crossed the Euphrates River, and set ^[ao]out for the hill country of ^(AN)Gilead.

Laban Pursues Jacob

²² When Laban was informed on the third day that Jacob had fled, ²³ he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴ However, ^(AO)God came to Laban the Aramean in a ^(AP)dream of the night and said to him, “^[ap](AQ)Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad.”

²⁵ And Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen camped in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁶ Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done ^[aq]by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword? ²⁷ Why did you flee secretly and ^[ar]deceive me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with ^(AR)tambourine and with ^(AS)lyre; ²⁸ and did not allow me ^(AT)to kiss my ^[as]grandchildren and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly. ²⁹ It is in ^[at]my power to do you harm, but ^(AU)the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘^[au](AV)Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.’ ³⁰ Now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house; but why did you steal ^(AW)my gods?” ³¹ Then Jacob replied to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. ^32 (AX)The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our relatives ^[av]point out what is yours ^[aw]among my belongings and take it for yourself.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

³³ So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two slave women, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. ³⁴ Now Rachel had taken the ^[ax]household idols and put them in the camel’s saddlebag, and she sat on them. So Laban searched through all the tent, but did not find them. ³⁵ And she said to her father, “May my lord not be angry that I cannot ^(AY)stand in your presence, because the ^[ay]way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the ^[az](AZ)household idols.

³⁶ Then Jacob became angry and argued with Laban; and Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me? ³⁷ Though you have searched through all my property, what have you found of all your household property? Set it here in front of my relatives and your relatives, so that they may decide between the two of us. ³⁸ For these twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flocks. ³⁹ I did not even bring to you that which was torn by wild animals; I took the loss myself. You demanded it of my hand whether stolen by day or stolen by night. ⁴⁰ This is how I was: by day the ^[ba]heat consumed me and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. ⁴¹ For these twenty years I have been in your house; ^(BA)I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you ^(BB)changed my wages ten times. ⁴² If ^(BC)the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. ^(BD)God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, so He ^(BE)rendered judgment last night.”

The Covenant of Mizpah

⁴³ Then Laban replied to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the ^[bb]children are my ^[bc]grandchildren, ^(BF)the flocks are my flocks, and everything that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these daughters of mine or to their children to whom they have given birth? ⁴⁴ So now come, let’s ^(BG)make a covenant, ^[bd]you and I, and ^(BH)it shall be a witness between ^[be]you and me.” ⁴⁵ Then Jacob took ^(BI)a stone and set it up as a memorial stone. ⁴⁶ Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. ⁴⁷ Now Laban ^(BJ)called it ^[bf]Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it ^[bg]Galeed. ⁴⁸ Laban said, “^(BK)This heap is a witness between ^[bh]you and me this day.” Therefore it was named Galeed, ⁴⁹ and ^[bi](BL)Mizpah, for he said, “May the Lord keep watch between ^[bj]you and me when we are ^[bk]absent one from the other. ⁵⁰ If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, ^(BM)God is witness between ^[bl]you and me.” ⁵¹ Laban also said to Jacob, “Behold this heap and behold the memorial stone which I have set between ^[bm]you and me. ⁵² This heap is a witness, and the memorial stone is a witness, that I will not pass by this heap to you for harm, and you will not pass by this heap and this memorial stone to me, for harm. ^53 (BN)The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, ^(BO)judge between us.” So Jacob swore by ^(BP)the fear of his father Isaac. ⁵⁴ Then Jacob ^(BQ)offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his relatives to ^[bn]the meal; and they ate ^[bo]the meal and spent the night on the mountain. ^55 [bp]Then early in the morning Laban got up, and ^(BR)kissed his ^[bq]grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place.

The Lord, a Refuge and Defense.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

Parable of the Vine-growers

12 ^(A)And He began to speak to them in parables: “^(B)A man ^(C)planted a vineyard and put a ^[a]fence around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and leased it to ^[b]vine-growers and went on a journey. ² And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive his share of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers. ³ And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ And again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. ⁵ And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. ⁶ He had one more man to send, a beloved son; he sent him to them last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ ⁸ And they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹ What will the ^[c]owner of the vineyard do? He will come and put the vine-growers to death, and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Have you not even read this Scripture:

^12 (F)And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the ^[e]people, for they understood that He told the parable against them. And so ^(G)they left Him and went away.

Jesus Answers the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes

^13 (H)Then they *sent some of the Pharisees and ^(I)Herodians to Him in order to ^(J)trap Him in a statement. ¹⁴ They came and *said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and ^[f]do not care what anyone thinks; for You ^[g]are not partial to anyone, but You teach the way of God in truth. Is it ^[h]permissible to pay a ^[i]poll-tax to Caesar, or not? ¹⁵ Are we to pay, or not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a ^[j]denarius to look at.” ¹⁶ And they brought one. And He *said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “^(K)Pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at Him.

^18 (L)Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) *came to ^[k]Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(M)if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and does not leave a child, his brother is to ^[l]marry the wife and raise up ^[m]children for his brother. ²⁰ There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children. ²¹ The second one ^[n]married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; ²² and so the seven together left no children. Last of all the woman also died. ²³ In the resurrection, which one’s wife will she be? For each of the seven had her as his wife.” ²⁴ Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not ^[o]understand the Scriptures nor the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ But ^[p]regarding the fact that the dead rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, ^(N)in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘^(O)I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ^27 (P)He is not the God ^[q]of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”

^28 (Q)One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and ^(R)recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the ^[r]foremost of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The ^[s]foremost is, ‘^(S)Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one; ^30 (T)and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ‘^(U)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” ³² And the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher; You have truly stated that ^(V)He is One, and there is no other besides Him; ^33 (W)and to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, ^(X)is much more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” ^(Y)And then, no one dared any longer to question Him.

^35 (Z)And Jesus responded and began saying, as He ^(AA)taught in the temple area, “How is it that the scribes say that the ^[t]Christ is the ^(AB)son of David? ³⁶ David himself said ^[u]in the Holy Spirit,

³⁷ David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And ^(AD)the large crowd ^[v]enjoyed listening to Him.

^38 (AE)And in His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like ^(AF)personal greetings in the marketplaces, ³⁹ and seats of honor in the synagogues, and places of honor at banquets, ^40 (AG)who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive all the more condemnation.”

The Widow’s Coins

^41 (AH)And Jesus sat down opposite ^(AI)the treasury, and began watching how the ^[w]people were ^(AJ)putting ^[x]money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large amounts. ⁴² And a poor widow came and put in two ^[y]lepta coins, which amount to a ^[z]quadrans. ⁴³ Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all ^[aa]the contributors to the treasury; ⁴⁴ for they all put in out of their ^[ab]surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, ^[ac]all she had ^(AK)to live on.”