Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Prayer with Confidence in Final Salvation

A Prayer of David.

Jacob Flees from Laban

31 Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this ^(A)wealth.” ² And Jacob saw the ^(B)countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not ^(C)favorable toward him as before. ³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, ^(D)“Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will ^(E)be with you.”

⁴ So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock, ⁵ and said to them, ^(F)“I see your father’s ^[a]countenance, that it is not favorable toward me as before; but the God of my father ^(G)has been with me. ⁶ And ^(H)you know that with all my might I have served your father. ⁷ Yet your father has deceived me and ^(I)changed my wages ^(J)ten times, but God ^(K)did not allow him to hurt me. ⁸ If he said thus: ^(L)‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: ‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked. ⁹ So God has ^(M)taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.

¹⁰ “And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted. ¹¹ Then ^(N)the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’ ¹² And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for ^(O)I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. ¹³ I am the God of Bethel, ^(P)where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now ^(Q)arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’ ”

¹⁴ Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, ^(R)“Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? ¹⁵ Are we not considered strangers by him? For ^(S)he has sold us, and also completely consumed our money. ¹⁶ For all these riches which God has taken from our father are really ours and our children’s; now then, whatever God has said to you, do it.”

¹⁷ Then Jacob rose and set his sons and his wives on camels. ¹⁸ And he carried away all his livestock and all his possessions which he had gained, his acquired livestock which he had gained in Padan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of ^(T)Canaan. ¹⁹ Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the ^(U)household^[b] idols that were her father’s. ²⁰ And Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. ²¹ So he fled with all that he had. He arose and crossed the river, and ^(V)headed^[c] toward the mountains of Gilead.

Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking^(A)

^7 (B)“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For ^(C)everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ^9 (D)Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? ¹¹ If you then, ^(E)being 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!