Jacob Sent to Laban

28 So Isaac called for Jacob, blessed him, commanded him and said to him, “Don’t take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ² Get up, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. ³ Now may El Shaddai bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you so that you will become an assembly of peoples. ⁴ And may he give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed with you that you may take possession of the land of your sojourn, which God gave to Abraham.”

⁵ Then Isaac sent Jacob away and he went toward Paddan-aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. ⁶ Now Esau saw that Isaac blessed Jacob when he sent him to Paddan-aram to take for himself a wife from there, when he blessed him and commanded him saying, “Don’t take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.” ⁷ Jacob listened to his father Isaac and to his mother and went toward Paddan-aram. ⁸ Then Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were contemptible in his father Isaac’s eyes. ⁹ So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, Nebaioth’s sister for his wife, besides his other wives.

Parashat Vayetze

Jacob’s Ladder From Heaven

¹⁰ Then Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. ¹¹ He happened upon a certain place and spent the night there, for the sun had set. So he took one of the stones from the place and put it by his head and lay down in that place. ¹² He dreamed: All of a sudden, there was a stairway set up on the earth and its top reaching to the heavens—and behold, angels of God going up and down on it! ¹³ Surprisingly, Adonai was standing on top of it^[a] and He said, “I am Adonai, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your seed. ¹⁴ Your seed will be as the dust of the land, and you will burst forth to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed—and in your seed. ¹⁵ Behold, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land, for I will not forsake you until I have done what I promised you.”

¹⁶ Jacob woke up from his sleep and said, “Undoubtedly, Adonai is in this place—and I was unaware.” ¹⁷ So he was afraid and said, “How fearsome this place is! This is none other than the House of God—this must be the gate of heaven!”

¹⁸ Early in the morning Jacob got up and took the stone, which he had placed by his head, and set it up as a memorial stone and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ He called the name of that place Beth-El (though originally the city’s name was Luz). ²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this way that I am going, and provide me food to eat and clothes to wear, ²¹ and I return in shalom to my father’s house, then Adonai will be my God. ²² So this stone which I set up as a memorial stone will become God’s House, and of everything You provide me I will definitely give a tenth of it to You.”

Jacob Loves Rachel

29 Then Jacob lifted up his feet and went to the land of the peoples of the east. ² When he looked, suddenly, there was a well in the field, and there were three herds of sheep resting by it. (For from that well they would water the flocks. The stone on the mouth of the well was large. ³ When all the herds gathered there, they would roll away the stone from the mouth of the well and water the flocks, and put the stone back to its place over the mouth of the well.)

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

“We’re from Haran,” they said.

⁵ So he said to them, “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s son?”

They said, “We know.”

⁶ He said to them, “Is he well?”

“Well,” they said. “Look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the flock.”

⁷ He said, “Since it’s still the middle of the day, it’s not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the flock and let them go and graze.”

⁸ But they said, “We can’t, not until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled away from the mouth of the well—then we water the flock.”

⁹ While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with the flock that belonged to her father (for she was a shepherdess). ¹⁰ Now when Jacob saw Rachel (the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother), Jacob stepped forward and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban, his mother’s brother. ¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. ¹² Then Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s relative and that he was Rebekah’s son. So she ran and told her father.

¹³ Now when Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, hugged and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Then he told Laban all these things. ¹⁴ Laban said to him, “Surely you are my own bone and flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month.

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Should you, my relative, serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?”

¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah’s eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. ¹⁸ Jacob was in love with Rachel, so he said, “Let me serve you for seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”

¹⁹ Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than I give her to another man! Stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob worked for Rachel seven years, yet in his eyes it was like a few days, because of his love for her.

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are completed, so I may go to her.” ²² So Laban gathered all the men of the place and he prepared a feast. ²³ When it was evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to him, and he went to her. ²⁴ Laban also gave her Zilpah his female servant to his daughter Leah as a female servant.

²⁵ So when it was morning, behold there she was, Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you’ve done to me? Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked with you? So why have you deceived me?”

²⁶ But Laban said, “It’s not done so in our place—to give the younger before the first-born. ²⁷ Complete the bridal week for this one. Then we’ll also give you this other—for work that you’ll do with me—another seven years more.”

²⁸ So Jacob did; he also completed this one’s bridal week. Then he gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. ²⁹ Laban also gave his daughter Rachel his female servant Bilhah, to be a servant for her.

³⁰ Jacob also went to Rachel and indeed loved Rachel more than Leah. So he served with him for yet another seven years.

Rivalry Continues With Wives

³¹ Now Adonai saw that Leah was unloved, so he opened her womb; but Rachel was unable to conceive. ³² Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son and named him Reuben because she said, “For Adonai has seen my affliction. Surely now my husband will love me.” ³³ Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to a son, and said, “For Adonai heard that I am hated, so He’s given me this one also,” and she named him Simeon. ³⁴ Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will join himself to me because I’ve given birth to three sons for him.” For this reason he was named Levi. ³⁵ Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to a son and said, “This time I praise Adonai.” For this reason she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.

Compassion in the Shepherd’s Touch

¹⁸ Just as He was saying these things to them, a synagogue leader came and began to bow before Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come lay Your hand on her and she will live.” ¹⁹ And Yeshua got up and began to follow him, with His disciples.

²⁰ Just then a woman, losing blood for twelve years,^[a] came from behind and touched the tzitzit of His garment. ²¹ For she kept saying to herself, “If only I touch His garment, I will be healed.”

²² But then Yeshua turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” He said, “your faith has made you well.” That very hour the woman was healed.

²³ When Yeshua came into the synagogue leader’s house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, ²⁴ He said, “Go away, for the girl isn’t dead, but sleeping.” And they began jeering at Him. ²⁵ But when the crowd had been cleared out, He went in and took her hand, and the girl got up. ²⁶ And news of this spread all around that region.

²⁷ As Yeshua went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Ben-David, have mercy on us!”

²⁸ When He went into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Yeshua said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

“Yes, Master,” they said to Him.

²⁹ Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith, let it be done for you.” ³⁰ And their eyes were opened. And Yeshua warned them sternly, “See that no one knows.” ³¹ But they went out and spread the news about Him all around that region.

³² As they were going out, a mute man plagued by a demon was brought to Him. ³³ After the demon was driven out, the mute man started speaking. The crowds were astounded, saying, “Never has anything like this been seen in Israel!” ³⁴ But the Pharisees were saying, “By the prince of demons He drives out demons.”

³⁵ Now Yeshua was going around all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness. ³⁶ When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ^{[b] 37} Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. ³⁸ Therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest that He may send out workers into His harvest field.”

Judgment from Heaven

Psalm 11

Discipline as the Father’s Love