Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A prayer of David.^[a]

Time to Leave—Jacob Runs Away

31 One day Jacob heard Laban’s sons talking. They said, “Jacob has taken everything that our father owned. He has become rich—and he has taken all this wealth from our father.” ² Then Jacob noticed that Laban was not as friendly as he had been in the past. ³ The Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to your own land where your ancestors lived. I will be with you.”

⁴ So Jacob told Rachel and Leah to meet him in the field where he kept his flocks of sheep and goats. ⁵ He said to them, “I have noticed that your father is not as friendly with me as he used to be. But the God of my father has been with me. ⁶ You both know that I have worked as hard as I could for your father. ⁷ But he cheated me. He has changed my pay ten times. But during all this time, God protected me from all of Laban’s tricks.

⁸ “At one time Laban said, ‘You can keep all the goats with spots. This will be your pay.’ After he said this, all the animals gave birth to spotted goats, so they were all mine. But then Laban said, ‘I will keep the spotted goats. You can have all the striped goats. That will be your pay.’ After he said this, all the animals gave birth to striped goats. ⁹ So God has taken the animals away from your father and has given them to me.

¹⁰ “I had a dream during the time when the animals were mating. I saw that the only male goats that were mating were the ones with stripes and spots. ¹¹ The angel of God spoke to me in that dream. The angel said, ‘Jacob!’

“I answered, ‘Yes!’

¹² “The angel said, ‘Look, only the striped and spotted goats are mating. I am causing this to happen. I have seen all the wrong things Laban has been doing to you. I am doing this so that you can have all the new baby goats. ¹³ I am the God who came to you at Bethel, and there you made an altar, poured olive oil on it, and made a promise to me. Now I want you to be ready to go back to the country where you were born.’”

¹⁴ Rachel and Leah answered Jacob, “Our father has nothing to give us when he dies. ¹⁵ He treated us like strangers. He sold us to you, and then he spent all the money that should have been ours. ¹⁶ God took all this wealth from our father, and now it belongs to us and our children. So you should do whatever God told you to do.”

¹⁷ So Jacob prepared for the trip. He put his children and his wives on camels. ¹⁸ Then they began traveling back to the land of Canaan, where his father lived. All the flocks of animals that Jacob owned walked ahead of them. He carried everything with him that he had gotten while he lived in Paddan Aram.

¹⁹ While Laban was gone to cut the wool from his sheep, Rachel went into his house and stole the false gods that belonged to her father.

²⁰ Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean. He did not tell Laban he was leaving. ²¹ Jacob took his family and everything he owned and left quickly. They crossed the Euphrates River and traveled toward the hill country of Gilead.

Ask God for What You Need^(A)

⁷ “Continue to ask, and God will give to you. Continue to search, and you will find. Continue to knock, and the door will open for you. ⁸ Yes, whoever continues to ask will receive. Whoever continues to look will find. And whoever continues to knock will have the door opened for them.

⁹ “Do any of you have a son? If he asked for bread, would you give him a rock? ¹⁰ Or if he asked for a fish, would you give him a snake? Of course not! ¹¹ You people are so bad, but you still know how to give good things to your children. So surely your heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask him.