Old/New Testament
Jacob, the heel-catcher, has met a kindred spirit. Both men are deceivers and manipulators. Both do whatever they can to get the better of the other. It just comes naturally. Laban tricks Jacob first by marrying him to Leah before Rachel. Then, after Jacob and he agree on a clear strategy to separate the flocks, Laban goes behind his back and takes away the animals that rightfully belong to Jacob. But Jacob is crafty, too, and he devises a way to produce striped, speckled, and spotted animals from Laban’s flocks. After the many years of service, Jacob finally outwits Laban and gains a more valuable flock in the process. Deception may work for a while, but there are dire consequences that come with it. Jacob’s situation is about to change, and it isn’t long before his deceptive days are behind him.
31 As time went on, Jacob overheard what Laban’s sons were saying about him.
Laban’s Sons: Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father; he gained all his wealth from taking advantage of him.
2 And Jacob also noticed a change in how Laban looked at him and treated him. He seemed colder toward him than before.
Eternal One (to Jacob): 3 You must now return to the land of your ancestors and to your own family. I will be with you always.
4 So Jacob called his wives Rachel and Leah to meet him in the field where his flock was grazing.
Jacob: 5 I notice your father’s attitude toward me has changed; he doesn’t regard me with the same respect as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. 6 You both know how well I have served your father—with all my strength. 7 However your father cheated me by changing the terms of my salary 10 times, but beyond that my God did not allow him to harm me. 8 If your father said, “The speckled will be your payment,” then all of the flock became speckled; and if he said, “the striped will be your payment,” then all of the flock became striped. 9 In this way, God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me. 10 During the mating season of the flock, I once paid attention to a dream, and in the dream, I saw the male goats that mated with the flock were striped, speckled, and mottled. 11 Then God’s messenger said to me in the dream, “Jacob!” and I answered, “I’m here.” 12 And the messenger said, “Look up right now, and see all of the goats that are mating with the flock are striped, speckled, and mottled because I have noticed everything Laban is doing to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, the place where you poured oil on a pillar and made a vow to Me.[a] Now get up, leave this land, and return to the land where you were born.”
Rachel and Leah: 14 Is there any inheritance at all left for us from our father’s house? 15 He regards us as foreigners now that we’ve married you. He sold us in exchange for your years of labor, and he has been using up all of the money that should have been ours. 16 All of the property God has taken from our father and given to you actually belongs to us and to our children anyway! So do whatever God said to do.
17 So Jacob got up, and he put his children and his wives on camels for the journey. 18 He rounded up all of his livestock and all of the property he had gained, including the livestock he had acquired in Paddan-aram, and he began to drive them to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. 19 Meanwhile Laban had gone off to shear his sheep. While he was out, Rachel stole her father’s household idols. 20 And Jacob likewise deceived Laban the Aramean by hiding from him the fact that he was leaving. 21 He just left quickly with everything he had. He crossed the Euphrates River and set pace south toward the hill country of Gilead.
22 Three days later, Laban was told that Jacob had left. 23 So he gathered a group of his relatives, and together they pursued him for seven days until they closed in on Jacob in the hill country of Gilead. 24 Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream during the night with a message.
Eternal One: Be careful what you say and do to Jacob.
25 Laban caught up to Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent and set up camp in the hill country; and Laban, along with his relatives, also camped in the hill country of Gilead. Laban went out to meet Jacob.
Laban (to Jacob): 26 What have you done, deceiving me and carrying off my daughters as if they were your prisoners of war? 27 Why did you run out on me and try to trick me? Why didn’t you just tell me you were going? I would have sent you off with celebration and songs, with the joyful sounds of the tambourine and lyre. 28 And why didn’t you even allow me to kiss my daughters and grandchildren good-bye? What you have done is foolish. 29 It is certainly in my power to punish you, but the God of your father Isaac spoke to me last night and said, “Be careful what you say and do to Jacob.” 30 Now you have left because you missed your father’s household—I can understand that—but why did you have to steal my family gods?
Jacob (answering Laban): 31 I left because I was afraid, and because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force. 32 But I pledge to you that anyone who stole your gods will not live. I certainly did not take them. Here in the presence of all of our relatives, search the camp and let’s see if anything I have is yours. If there is, you can take it back!
Of course, Jacob had no idea Rachel had stolen the idols.
33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the two female servants’ tent; he searched, but he did not find them. Then he came out of Leah’s tent and into Rachel’s. 34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and concealed them in the camel’s saddle, and she sat on them. Laban looked around and felt everything in the tent, but he did not find them.
Rachel (to her father): 35 Please don’t be angry that I cannot get up for you, sir, but I am in the midst of my “time of month.”
Rachel has learned the art of deception well from her father and her husband.
So Laban searched, but he did not find the household gods.
36 When Jacob saw that Laban’s search had come up empty, he became angry and confronted Laban.
Jacob: What is my offense? What have I done that is so wicked to make you pursue me like a common criminal? 37 You searched through all of my things, and what have you found that belonged to you? Whatever it is, set it down here between your family and mine, and they can decide whose it is. 38 I’ve worked for you for 20 years. Your ewes and your female goats have never miscarried under my care. I have never feasted on any of the rams in your flocks. 39 When wild animals attacked, I didn’t bring the carcass to you to deal with; I bore the cost myself. You required me to cover any losses, whether the animals were stolen by day or night, and I did so. 40 There I was—at your service—during the day I was hounded by heat; during the night I was cold and couldn’t get a good night’s sleep. 41 For 20 years, I have been in your household. I served you 14 of those years in return for your two daughters, and six years for your flock. And you have altered my payment 10 times. 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God knows my plight and how hard I’ve labored for you, and it was He who reprimanded you last night!
Laban: 43 The daughters you speak of are my daughters; the children are my grandchildren; the flocks are my flocks; all you see is mine. But what can I do today about these daughters of mine and the children from their wombs? 44 Come, let’s make a covenant between us, you and me, and let there be a witness to our agreement.
45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46 He told his relatives to gather up more stones. So they all took stones and made a large pile of them. Then they ate there by the pile. 47 Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha (Aramaic for “witness-pile”) and Jacob called it Galeed (Hebrew for “witness-pile”).
Laban: 48 This pile of stones stands as a witness to the agreement we have made today.
This is why he called it Galeed. 49 The pillar was called Mizpah, which means “watch post.”
Laban: May the Eternal One watch us when we are away from one another. 50 If you in any way mistreat my daughters or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, even though no one else is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.
51 See this pile of stones and this pillar which I have set between us. 52 This pile is a witness and this pillar is a witness that I will not pass beyond this pile of stones to harm you, and you will not pass beyond this pile and this pillar to harm me. 53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor (the God of their father Terah) serve as judge between us.
This is no sweet farewell. It is a parting of the ways between two men who don’t trust one another. Both are tricksters, but they are family. It is probably best from now on if they avoid each other completely.
So Jacob swore an oath on the Fear of Isaac, his father; 54 and Jacob offered a sacrifice on the hill there and called all of his relatives together to eat bread. And they all ate bread and spent the rest of the night in the hill country. 55 Early the next morning, Laban got up, kissed his grandchildren and his daughters, and blessed them; and then he left and returned home.
32 Jacob went on his way as well. As he went, messengers of God met him along the way. 2 When Jacob saw them, he acknowledged that this was God’s camp, so he named that place Mahanaim, which means “two camps.” 3-4 Jacob knew he had to pass by the territory of Edom where his brother Esau lived in the land of Seir. He sent messengers ahead with a message for Esau.
Jacob (to his messengers): This is what I want you to say to my master Esau: “Your servant Jacob says this: ‘I have lived with Laban as a foreigner and stayed there working for him until now. 5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female slaves. I have sent my messengers to inform you, my master, of all this so that I might regain your trust and favor.’”
6 The messengers went out to Esau and then returned to Jacob with a troubling report.
Messengers: We went to your brother Esau and gave him your message. He is coming to meet you, but 400 men are with him.
7 When Jacob heard their report, he was afraid and extremely distressed. He divided up the people who were with him, the flocks, the herds, and the camels into two camps, 8 thinking, “If Esau comes to one camp and crushes it, at least then the other might escape.” 9 Then Jacob prayed.
Jacob: O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Eternal One who said to me, “You must now return to the land of your ancestors and to your own family. I will make good things happen for you.” 10 I know I am not worthy of even a little of all of the loyal love and faithfulness You have shown to me, Your servant. You have already blessed me because I left home and crossed the Jordan with nothing except my staff. Now I have grown into two large camps. 11 Rescue me now, please, from the hand of my brother, from the grip of Esau. I am afraid that he may come and crush us all, the children alongside their mothers. 12 Remember You told me, “I will make good things happen for you and make your descendants as many as the grains of sand on the shores, which are too numerous to count.”
Jacob has come to the end of himself. He has struggled with his brother and the rest of his family for his entire life. He was born a “heel-catcher,” a deceiver, and he lived the part well. But he can’t go on like this any longer. With Esau on his way, by this time tomorrow he could well be dead and his family killed or captured. He desperately needs God’s blessing and protection, so he grieves and agonizes through the night. Through stabbing pain Jacob demands a blessing from his unknown assailant, but he cannot receive it until he confesses his name. Once he does, his name is changed. No longer is he known as Jacob; from now on he is “Israel,” he who wrestles with God. This is the turning point in Jacob’s life. He lays aside his former self and takes up a new name, a new identity. If Jacob is to be the one to carry on God’s covenant and the source of universal blessing, he has to change.
And Jacob prayed on. 13 He spent the night there, and from his possessions he prepared a gift for his brother Esau: 14 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 female sheep and 20 rams, 15 30 milk camels and their colts, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys. 16 When he had rounded them up, he made various servants responsible for driving each herd. He gave them instructions.
Jacob: Travel on ahead of me, and put some distance between each herd.
17 (to the leader) When Esau, my brother, meets you and asks you, “To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose herds are these?” 18 then say, “They belong to your servant, Jacob, and are a gift sent to my master, Esau. Jacob is coming along behind us.”
19 Jacob instructed those responsible for the second and third herds, as well as those who followed behind to help:
Jacob: When you meet Esau, say the same thing these other herdsman have said, 20 and make sure you tell him, “Your servant Jacob is coming along behind us.”
(to himself) I might be able to appease Esau with these gifts. He will see them before he sees me. When I see his face, I’ll know whether he’ll accept and forgive me.
21 So the gifts were driven on ahead, and he stayed the night in the camp, waiting.
22 Later that same night, Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his 11 children; and he crossed the Jabbok River. 23 He sent them all ahead across the stream along with everything he had; 24 but Jacob stayed behind, left alone in his distress and doubt. In the twilight of his anguish, an unknown man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When the man saw he was not winning the battle with Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was thrown out of joint as he continued to wrestle with him.
Man: 26 Let me go; the dawn is breaking.
Jacob: I will not let you go unless you bless me.
Man: 27 What’s your name?
Jacob: Jacob.
Man: 28 You will no longer go by the name Jacob. From now on, your name will be Israel because you have wrestled with God and humanity, and you have prevailed.
Jacob: 29 Please, tell me your name.
Man: Why do you ask what my name is?
Right then and right there the man blessed Jacob. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel because as he said, “I have come face to face with God, and yet my life was spared.” 31 The sun began to rise as Jacob passed by Penuel, limping because of his dislocated hip. 32 And to this day, the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached near the hip socket of any animal, since that is where God struck Jacob when He dislocated his hip.
18 As He was saying these things, a certain official came before Jesus and knelt in front of Him.
Official: My daughter just died. Would You come and lay Your hands on her? Then, I know, she would live again.
19 Jesus got up, and He and His disciples went with the man. 20-21 But as they were heading to the man’s house, a woman who had been hemorrhaging and bleeding for 12 years—12 years!—crept up behind Jesus.
She evidently believes that if she so much as touches the fringes of His cloak, she will be healed.
And so she came up behind Him and touched His cloak. 22 Jesus turned around and saw her.
Jesus: Take heart, daughter. Your faith has healed you.
And indeed, from that moment, the woman was healed. 23 Then Jesus went to the official’s house. He saw flute players and mourners.
Jesus (to the crowd): 24 Go away, and do your ministering somewhere else. This girl is not dead. She is merely asleep.
The crowd—who knew with certainty that the girl was dead—laughed at Him. 25 But they obeyed Him and left the house, and once they were gone, Jesus went to the girl. When He took her hand, she opened her eyes and stood up. 26 When the crowds outside learned that the girl was indeed alive, they spread throughout the town and the surrounding country telling everyone what had happened.
27 Jesus left the official’s house. And as He was walking, two blind men began to follow Him.
Blind Men: Son of David! Have mercy on us!
28 Jesus went to their house, and the blind men sat in front of Him.
Jesus: Do you believe that I am able to do this?
Blind Men: Yes, Lord.
Faith in Jesus and His power is essential for healing, so it isn’t surprising that all it takes is Jesus’ touch to heal these men.
Jesus (touching their eyes): 29 According to your faith, it will be done to you.
30 And they could see. Then Jesus spoke to them as He had spoken to the leper.
Jesus: Don’t tell anyone about this.
31 But when the men (who could now see) left, they told everyone in the area they met what had happened.
32 Later a man who was possessed by demons and could not talk was brought to Jesus. 33 Jesus drove out the demons, and the mute man spoke. The crowds were amazed.
Crowd: Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.
Pharisees: 34 It must be the prince of demons who gives Him the power to cast out demons.
35 Jesus went through many towns and villages. He taught in their synagogues. He preached the good news of the kingdom of God. He healed every disease and sickness. 36 Whenever crowds came to Him, He had compassion for them because they were so deeply distraught, malaised, and heart-broken. They seemed to Him like lost sheep without a shepherd. 37 Jesus understood what an awesome task was before Him, so He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest to send more workers into His harvest field.”
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.