Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

(vii) ⁴³ Lavan answered Ya‘akov, “The daughters are mine, the children are mine, the flocks are mine, and everything you see is mine! But what can I do today about these daughters of mine or the children they have borne? ⁴⁴ So now, come, let’s make a covenant, I and you; and let it stand as a testimony between me and you.” ⁴⁵ Ya‘akov took a stone and set it upright as a standing-stone. ⁴⁶ Then Ya‘akov said to his kinsmen, “Gather some stones”; and they took stones, made a pile of them and ate there by the pile of stones. ⁴⁷ Lavan called it Y’gar-Sahaduta [“pile of witness” in Aramaic], while Ya‘akov called it Gal-‘Ed [“pile of witness” in Hebrew].

⁴⁸ Lavan said, “This pile witnesses between me and you today.” This is why it is called Gal-‘Ed ⁴⁹ and also HaMitzpah [the watchtower], because he said, “May Adonai watch between me and you when we are apart from each other. ⁵⁰ If you cause pain to my daughters, or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, then, even if no one is there with us, still God is witness between me and you.” ⁵¹ Lavan also said to Ya‘akov, “Here is this pile, and here is this standing-stone, which I have set up between me and you. ⁵² May this pile be a witness, and may the standing-stone be a witness, that I will not pass beyond this pile to you, and you will not pass beyond this pile and this standing-stone to me, to cause harm. ⁵³ May the God of Avraham and also the god of Nachor, the god of their father, judge between us.” But Ya‘akov swore by the One his father Yitz’chak feared. ⁵⁴ Ya‘akov offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his kinsmen to the meal. They ate the food and spent the whole night on the mountain.

32 (Maftir) ^(31:55) Early in the morning Lavan got up, kissed his sons and daughters, and blessed them. Then Lavan left and returned to his own place. ^2 (1) Ya‘akov went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

¹⁴ Keep reminding people of this, and charge them solemnly before the Lord not to engage in word-battles. They accomplish nothing useful and are a catastrophe for the hearers! ¹⁵ Do all you can to present yourself to God as someone worthy of his approval, as a worker with no need to be ashamed, because he deals straightforwardly with the Word of the Truth. ¹⁶ But keep away from godless babbling, for those who engage in it will only become more ungodly, ¹⁷ and their teaching will eat away at people like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are among these; ¹⁸ they have missed the mark, as far as the truth is concerned, by saying that our resurrection has already taken place; and they are overturning some people’s faith. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, stamped with these words:

and,

²⁰ In a large house there are dishes and pots not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. That is, some are meant for honorable use and some for dishonorable. ²¹ If a person keeps himself free of defilement by the latter, he will be a vessel set aside for honorable use by the master of the house and ready for every kind of good work. ²² So, flee the passions of youth; and, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart, pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love and peace. ²³ But stay away from stupid and ignorant controversies — you know that they lead to fights, ²⁴ and a slave of the Lord shouldn’t fight. On the contrary, he should be kind to everyone, a good teacher, and not resentful when mistreated. ²⁵ Also he should be gentle as he corrects his opponents. For God may perhaps grant them the opportunity to turn from their sins, acquire full knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ come to their senses and escape the trap of the Adversary, after having been captured alive by him to do his will.