Old/New Testament

Jacob Flees to Haran

29 And Jacob continued his journey^[a] and went to the land of the Easterners.^{[b] 2} And he looked, and behold, there was a well in the field, and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. And the stone on the mouth of the well was large. ³ And when all the flocks were gathered there, they rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well. And they watered the sheep and returned the stone upon the mouth of the well to its place. ⁴ And Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.” ⁵ And he said to them, “Do you know Laban, son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.” ⁶ And he said to them, “Is he well?”^[c] And they said, “He is well. Now look, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep.” ⁷ And he said, “Look, it is still broad daylight;^[d] it is not the time for the livestock to be gathered. Give water to the sheep and go, pasture them.” ⁸ And they said, “We are not able, until all the flocks are gathered. Then the stone is rolled away from the mouth of the well, and we water the sheep.” ⁹ While he was speaking with them, Rachel came with the sheep which belonged to her father, for she was pasturing them. ¹⁰ And it happened that, when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother’s brother, Jacob drew near and rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of Laban, his mother’s brother. ¹¹ And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. ¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he was the relative of her father, and that he was the son of Rebekah. And she ran and told her father. ¹³ And it happened that when Laban heard the message about Jacob, the son of his sister, he ran to meet him. And he embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things. ¹⁴ And Laban said to him, “Surely you are my flesh and my bone!” And he stayed with him a month.

Jacob’s Marriages

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Just because you are my brother should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wage should be.” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Now the eyes of Leah were dull, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. ¹⁸ And Jacob loved Rachel and said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.” ¹⁹ Then Laban said, “Better that I give her to you than I give her to another man. Stay with me.” ²⁰ And Jacob worked for Rachel seven years, but they were as a few days in his eyes because he loved her. ²¹ And Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, that I may go in to her, for my time^[e] is completed.” ²² So Laban gathered all the men of the place and prepared a feast. ²³ And it happened that in the evening he took Leah his daughter and brought her to him, and he went in to her. ²⁴ And Laban gave Zilpah his female servant to her, to Leah his daughter as a female servant. ²⁵ And it happened that in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Now why did you deceive me?” ²⁶ Then Laban said, “It is not the custom^[f] in our country to give the younger before the firstborn. ²⁷ Complete the week of this one,^[g] then I will also give you the other, on the condition that you will work for me^[h] another seven years.” ²⁸ And Jacob did so. So he completed the week of this one,^[i] then he gave Rachel his daughter to him as a wife. ²⁹ And Laban gave Bilhah his female servant to Rachel his daughter as a female servant. ³⁰ Then he also went in to Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with him yet another seven years.

Jacob’s Children

³¹ When Yahweh saw that Leah was unloved he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ³² Then Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because Yahweh has noticed my misery, that I am unloved. Now my husband will love me.” ³³ And she conceived again and gave birth to a son. And she said, “It is because Yahweh has heard that I am unloved that he gave me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. ³⁴ And she conceived again and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me, for I have borne him three sons.” Therefore, she called his name Levi. ³⁵ And she conceived again and gave birth to a son. And she said, “This time I will praise Yahweh.” Therefore she called his name Judah. And she ceased bearing children.

Jacob’s Children

30 When Rachel saw that she could not bear children to Jacob, Rachel envied her sister. And she said to Jacob, “Give me children—if not, I will die!” ² And Jacob became angry^[j] with Rachel. And he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” ³ Then she said, “Here is my servant girl Bilhah; go in to her that she may bear children as my surrogate.^[k] Then I will even have children^[l] by her.” ⁴ Then she gave him Bilhah, her female servant, as a wife, and Jacob went in to her ⁵ And Bilhah conceived and gave birth to a son for Jacob. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. ⁷ And Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, conceived again and bore a second son to Jacob. ⁸ And Rachel said, “I have struggled a mighty struggle with my sister and have prevailed.” And she called his name Naphtali. ⁹ When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took Zilpah her female servant and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ And Zilpah, the female slave of Leah, bore a son to Jacob. ¹¹ Then Leah said, “Good fortune!” And she called his name Gad. ¹² And Zilpah, Leah’s female servant, bore a second son to Jacob. ¹³ Then Leah said, “How happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.

¹⁴ And in the days of the wheat harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and he brought them to Leah his mother. And Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁵ And she said to her, “Is your taking my husband such a small thing that you will also take the mandrakes of my son?” Then Rachel said, “Then he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁶ When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him. And she said, “Come in to me, for I have hired^[m] you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he slept with her that night. ¹⁷ And God listened to Leah and she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. ¹⁸ Then Leah said, “God has given me my wage since I gave my servant girl to my husband.” And she called his name Issachar. ¹⁹ And Leah conceived again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob. ²⁰ And Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift. This time my husband will acknowledge me, because I bore him six sons.” And she called his name Zebulun. ²¹ And afterward she gave birth to a daughter. And she called her name Dinah. ²² Then God remembered Rachel and listened to her, and God opened her womb. ²³ And she conceived and gave birth to a son. And she said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” ²⁴ And she called his name Joseph, saying, “Yahweh has added to me another son.”

Jacob’s Prosperity

²⁵ And it happened that as soon as Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away that I may go to my place and my land. ²⁶ Give me my wives and my children for which I have served you, and let me go. For you yourself know my service that I have rendered to you.” ²⁷ But Laban said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, I have learned by divination that Yahweh has blessed me because of you.” ²⁸ And he said, “Name your wage to me and I will give it.” ²⁹ Then he said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have been with me.^{[n] 30} For you had little before me, and it has increased abundantly. And Yahweh has blessed you wherever I turned.^[o] So then, when shall I provide for my own family also?” ³¹ And he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “Do not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flocks and keep them. ³² Let me pass through all your flocks today, removing all the speckled and spotted sheep from them, along with^[p] every dark-colored sheep among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. That^[q] shall be my wages. ³³ And my righteousness will answer for me later^[r] when you come concerning my wages before you. Every one that is not speckled or spotted among the goats, or dark-colored among the sheep shall be stolen if it is with me.” ³⁴ Then Laban said, “Look! Very well. It shall be according to your word.” ³⁵ But that day he^[s] removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, all that had white on it, and every dark-colored ram, and put them in the charge of his sons.^{[t] 36} And he put a journey of three days between him and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the remainder of Laban’s flock. ³⁷ Then Jacob took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled white strips on them, exposing the white which was on the branches. ³⁸ And he set the branches that he had peeled in front of the flocks, in the troughs and in the water containers. And they were in heat when they came to drink. ³⁹ And the flocks mated by the branches, so the flocks bore streaked, speckled, and spotted. ⁴⁰ And Jacob separated the lambs and turned the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the dark-colored in Laban’s flocks. And he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with the flocks of Laban. ⁴¹ And whenever any of the stronger of the flocks were in heat, Jacob put the branches in full view^[u] of the flock in the troughs that they might mate among the branches. ⁴² But with the more feeble of the flock he would not put them there. So the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger were Jacob’s. ⁴³ And the man became exceedingly^[v] rich and had large flocks, female slaves, male slaves, camels, and donkeys.

A Paralytic Healed

9 And getting into a boat, he crossed over and came to his own town.^{[a] 2} And behold, they brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher, and when^[b] Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Have courage, child, your sins are forgiven.” ³ And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming!” ⁴ And knowing^[c] their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? ⁵ For which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶ But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your stretcher and go to your home.” ⁷ And he got up and^[d] went to his home. ⁸ But when^[e] the crowds saw this,^[f] they were afraid and glorified God who had given such authority to men.

Matthew Called to Follow Jesus

⁹ And as^[g] Jesus was going away from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth and said to him, “Follow me!” And he stood up and^[h] followed him.

¹⁰ And it happened as^[i] he was dining^[j] in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners were coming and^[k] dining^[l] with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹ And when they^[m] saw it,^[n] the Pharisees began to say to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² And when he^[o] heard it,^[p] he said, “Those who are healthy do not have need of a physician, but those who are sick.^{[q] 13} But go and^[r] learn what it means, “I want mercy and not sacrifice.”^[s] For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

On Fasting

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John^[t] approached him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, “The bridegroom’s attendants^[u] are not able to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them. But days are coming when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ But no one puts a patch of unshrunken cloth on an old garment, for its patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear becomes worse. ¹⁷ Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise^[v] the wineskins burst and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are destroyed. But they put new wine into new wineskins and both are preserved.”