Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Prayer for Vindication and Protection

A prayer of David.^[a]

Jacob Flees from Laban

31 Now he^[a] heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying, “Jacob has taken all that our father has,” and “From that which was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.” ² Then Jacob saw the face of Laban and, behold, it was not like it had been in the past.^{[b] 3} And Yahweh said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your ancestors^[c] and to your family, and I will be with you.” ⁴ So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flocks, ⁵ and he said to them, “Look, I see the face of your father, that it is not like it has been toward me in the past.^[d] But the God of my father is with me. ⁶ Now you yourselves know that I have served your father with all my strength, ⁷ and your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God has not allowed him to harm me. ⁸ If thus he said, ‘Speckled shall be your wage,’ then all the flock bore speckled. And if he said, ‘Streaked shall be your wage,’ then all the flock bore streaked. ⁹ God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me. ¹⁰ Now it happened that at the time of the mating of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams mounting the flock were streaked, speckled, and dappled. ¹¹ Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’ ¹² And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see—all the rams mounting the flock are streaked, speckled, and dappled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. ¹³ I am the God of Bethel where you anointed a stone pillar, where you made a vow to me. Now get up, go out from this land and return to the land of your birth.’” ¹⁴ Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there yet a portion for us, and an inheritance in the house of our father? ¹⁵ Are we not regarded as foreigners by him, because he has sold us and completely consumed our money? ¹⁶ For all the wealth that God has taken away from our father, it belongs to us and to our sons. So now, all that God has said to you, do.” ¹⁷ Then Jacob got up and put his children and his wives on the camels. ¹⁸ And he drove all his livestock and his possessions that he had acquired, the livestock of his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-Aram, in order to go to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan.

¹⁹ Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole the idols^[e] that belonged to her father. ²⁰ And Jacob tricked^[f] Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he intended to flee. ²¹ Then he fled with all that he had, and arose and crossed the Euphrates^[g] and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

The Sermon on the Mount: Ask, Seek, Knock

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened for you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. ⁹ Or what man is there among you, if his son will ask him for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or also if he will ask for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ Therefore if you, although you^[a] are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?