Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A song of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd.
I will always have everything I need.[a]
2 He gives me green pastures to lie in.
He leads me by calm pools of water.
3 He restores my strength.
He leads me on right paths[b] to show that he is good.
4 Even if I walk through a valley as dark as the grave,[c]
I will not be afraid of any danger, because you are with me.
Your rod and staff[d] comfort me.
5 You prepared a meal for me in front of my enemies.
You welcomed me as an honored guest.[e]
My cup is full and spilling over.
6 Your goodness and mercy will be with me all my life,
and I will live in the Lord’s house[f] a long, long time.[g]
Jacob Tricks Laban
25 After the birth of Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Now let me go back to my own homeland. 26 Give me my wives and my children. I have earned them by working for you. You know that I served you well.”
27 Laban said to him, “Please, let me say something. I know[a] that the Lord has blessed me because of you. 28 Tell me what I should pay you, and I will give it to you.”
29 Jacob answered, “You know that I have worked hard for you. Your flocks have grown and been well while I cared for them. 30 When I came, you had little. Now you have much, much more. Every time I did something for you, the Lord blessed you. Now it is time for me to work for myself—it is time to do things for my family.”
31 Laban asked, “Then what should I give you?”
Jacob answered, “I don’t want you to give me anything! I only want you to let me do this one thing: I will go back and take care of your sheep. 32 But let me go through all your flocks today and take every lamb with spots or stripes. Let me take every black young goat and every female goat with stripes or spots. That will be my pay. 33 In the future you can easily see if I am honest. You can come to look at my flocks. If I have any goat that isn’t spotted or any sheep that isn’t black, you will know that I stole it.”
34 Laban answered, “I agree to that. We will do what you ask.” 35 But that day Laban hid all the male goats that had spots. And he hid all the female goats that had spots on them. He also hid all the black sheep. Laban told his sons to watch these sheep. 36 So the sons took all the spotted animals and led them to another place. They traveled for three days. Jacob stayed and took care of all the animals that were left.
37 Then Jacob cut green branches from poplar and almond trees. He stripped off some of the bark so that the branches had white stripes on them. 38 He put the branches in front of the flocks at the watering places. When the animals came to drink, they also mated in that place. 39 Then when the goats mated in front of the branches, the young that were born were spotted, striped, or black.
40 Jacob separated the spotted and the black animals from the other animals in the flock. He kept his animals separate from Laban’s. 41 Any time the stronger animals in the flock were mating, Jacob put the branches before their eyes. The animals mated near those branches. 42 But when the weaker animals mated, Jacob did not put the branches there. So the young animals born from the weak animals were Laban’s. And the young animals born from the stronger animals were Jacob’s. 43 In this way Jacob became very rich. He had large flocks, many servants, camels, and donkeys.
17 “My brothers, I know that what you did to Jesus was done because you did not understand what you were doing. And your leaders did not understand any more than you did. 18 But God said these things would happen. Through the prophets he said that his Messiah would suffer and die. I have told you how God made this happen. 19 So you must change your hearts and lives. Come back to God, and he will forgive your sins. 20 Then the Lord will give you times of spiritual rest. He will send you Jesus, the one he chose to be the Messiah.
21 “But Jesus must stay in heaven until the time when all things will be made right again. God told about this time when he spoke long ago through his holy prophets. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will give you a prophet. That prophet will come from among your own people. He will be like me. You must obey everything he tells you. 23 And anyone who refuses to obey that prophet will die, separated from God’s people.’[a]
24 “Samuel, and all the other prophets who spoke for God after Samuel, said that this time would come. 25 And what those prophets talked about is for you, their descendants. You have received the agreement that God made with your fathers. God said to your father Abraham, ‘Every nation on earth will be blessed through your descendants.’[b] 26 God has sent his special servant Jesus. He sent him to you first. He sent him to bless you by causing each of you to turn away from your evil ways.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International