Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A psalm of David.

Jacob Becomes the Owner of Large Flocks

²⁵ After Rachel had Joseph, Jacob spoke to Laban. He said, “Send me on my way. I want to go back to my own home and country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and children. I worked for you to get them. So I’ll be on my way. You know how much work I’ve done for you.”

²⁷ But Laban said to him, “If you are pleased with me, stay here. I’ve discovered that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” ²⁸ He continued, “Name your pay. I’ll give it to you.”

²⁹ Jacob said to him, “You know how hard I’ve worked for you. You know that your livestock has done better under my care. ³⁰ You had only a little before I came. But that little has become a lot. The Lord has blessed you everywhere I’ve been. But when can I do something for my own family?”

³¹ “What should I give you?” Laban asked.

“Don’t give me anything,” Jacob replied. “Just do one thing for me. Then I’ll go on taking care of your flocks and watching over them. ³² Let me go through all your flocks today. Let me remove every speckled or spotted sheep. Let me remove every dark-colored lamb. Let me remove every speckled or spotted goat. They will be my pay. ³³ My honesty will be a witness about me in days to come. It will be a witness every time you check on what you have paid me. Suppose I have a goat that doesn’t have speckles or spots. Or suppose I have a lamb that isn’t dark colored. Then it will be considered stolen.”

³⁴ “I agree,” said Laban. “Let’s do what you have said.” ³⁵ That same day Laban removed all the male goats that had stripes or spots. He removed all the female goats that had speckles or spots. They were the ones that had white on them. He also removed all the dark-colored lambs. He had his sons take care of them. ³⁶ Then he put a journey of three days between himself and Jacob. But Jacob continued to take care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷ Jacob took freshly cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees. He made white stripes on the branches by peeling off their bark. ³⁸ Then he placed the peeled branches in all the stone tubs where the animals drank water. He placed them there so they would be right in front of the flocks when they came to drink. The flocks were ready to mate when they came to drink. ³⁹ So they mated in front of the branches. And the flocks gave birth to striped, speckled or spotted little ones. ⁴⁰ Jacob put the little ones of the flock to one side by themselves. But he made the older ones face the striped and dark-colored animals that belonged to Laban. In that way, he made separate flocks for himself. He didn’t put them with Laban’s animals. ⁴¹ Every time the stronger females were ready to mate, Jacob would place the branches in the stone tubs. He would place them in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches. ⁴² But if the animals were weak, he wouldn’t place the branches there. So the weak animals went to Laban. And the strong ones went to Jacob. ⁴³ That’s how Jacob became very rich. He became the owner of large flocks. He also had many male and female servants. And he had many camels and donkeys.

¹⁷ “My fellow Israelites, I know you didn’t realize what you were doing. Neither did your leaders. ¹⁸ But God had given a promise through all the prophets. And this is how he has made his promise come true. He said that his Messiah would suffer. ¹⁹ So turn away from your sins. Turn to God. Then your sins will be wiped away. The time will come when the Lord will make everything new. ²⁰ He will send the Messiah. Jesus has been appointed as the Messiah for you. ²¹ Heaven must receive him until the time when God makes everything new. He promised this long ago through his holy prophets. ²² Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me. He will be one of your own people. You must listen to everything he tells you. ²³ Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’ (Deuteronomy 18:15,18,19)

²⁴ “Beginning with Samuel, all the prophets spoke about this. They said these days would come. ²⁵ What the prophets said was meant for you. The covenant God made with your people long ago is yours also. He said to Abraham, ‘All nations on earth will be blessed through your children.’ (Genesis 22:18; 26:4) ²⁶ God raised up Jesus, who serves him. God sent him first to you. He did it to bless you. He wanted to turn each of you from your evil ways.”