Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A psalm by David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd.
I am never in need.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside peaceful waters.
3 He renews my soul.
He guides me along the paths of righteousness
for the sake of his name.
4 Even though I walk through the dark valley of death,
because you are with me, I fear no harm.
Your rod and your staff give me courage.
5 You prepare a banquet for me while my enemies watch.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup overflows.
6 Certainly, goodness and mercy will stay close to me all the days of my life,
and I will remain in the Lord’s house for days without end.
Jacob’s Flocks Prosper
25 After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Let me go home to my own country. 26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I’ve worked, and let me go. You know how much work I’ve done for you.”
27 Laban replied, “Listen to me. I’ve learned from the signs I’ve seen that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” 28 So he offered, “Name your wages, and I’ll pay them.”
29 Jacob responded, “You know how much work I’ve done for you and what has happened to your livestock under my care. 30 The little that you had before I came has grown to a large amount. The Lord has blessed you wherever I’ve been. When can I do something for my own family?”
31 Laban asked, “What should I give you?”
“Don’t give me anything,” Jacob answered. “Instead, do something for me, then I’ll go back to taking care of and watching your flocks again. 32 Let me go through all of your flocks today and take every speckled or spotted sheep, every black lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. 33 My honesty will speak for itself whenever you come to check on my wages. Any goat I have that isn’t speckled or spotted or any lamb that isn’t black will be considered stolen.”
34 Laban answered, “Agreed. We’ll do as you’ve said.” 35 However, that same day Laban took out the striped and spotted male goats, all the speckled and spotted female goats (every one with white on it), and every black lamb. He had his sons take charge of them. 36 He traveled three days away from Jacob. Jacob continued to take care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37 Then Jacob took fresh-cut branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled the bark on them in strips of white, uncovering the white which was on the branches. 38 He placed the peeled branches in the troughs directly in front of the flocks, at the watering places where the flocks came to drink. When they were in heat and came to drink, 39 they mated in front of the branches. Then they gave birth to young that were striped, speckled, or spotted.
40 Jacob separated the rams from the flock and made the rest of the sheep face any that were striped or black in Laban’s flocks. So he made separate herds for himself and did not add them to Laban’s flocks. 41 Whenever the stronger of the flocks were in heat, Jacob would lay the branches in the troughs in front of them so that they would mate by the branches. 42 But when the flocks in heat were weak, he didn’t lay down the branches. So the weaker ones belonged to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob. 43 As a result, Jacob became very wealthy. He had large flocks, male and female slaves, camels, and donkeys.
17 “And now, brothers, I know that like your rulers you didn’t know what you were doing. 18 But in this way God made the sufferings of his Messiah come true. God had predicted these sufferings through all the prophets. 19 So change the way you think and act, and turn ⌞to God⌟ to have your sins removed. 20 Then times will come when the Lord will refresh you. He will send you Jesus, whom he has appointed to be the Christ. 21 Heaven must receive Jesus until the time when everything will be restored as God promised through his holy prophets long ago.
22 “Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will send you a prophet, an Israelite like me. Listen to everything he tells you. 23 Those who won’t listen to that prophet will be excluded from the people.’ 24 Samuel and all the prophets who followed him spoke about these days. 25 You are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the promise [a] that God made to our ancestors when he said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendant all people on earth will be blessed.’ 26 God has brought his servant back to life and has sent him to you first. God did this to bless you by turning every one of you from your evil ways.”
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