Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 23^[a]

Prayer to the Good Shepherd

¹ A psalm of David.

²⁵ Jacob’s Means of Becoming Prosperous.^[a] After Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Let me go and return to my homeland. ²⁶ Give me my wives, for whom I have served you, and my children, so that I can leave. You know how I served you.”

²⁷ Laban said to him, “If I have found favor with you, please stay, for through divination I have come to know that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” ²⁸ He added, “Establish your salary and I will give it to you.”

²⁹ He answered, “You know how I served you and how your possessions have multiplied through my work. ³⁰ What little you had before I arrived has grown beyond measure, and the Lord has blessed you since my arrival. But now, when will I be able to work for myself as well?”

³¹ Laban then said, “What must I do for you?” Jacob answered, “You do not have to do anything if you will do the following for me. I will return to pasture your flock and watch over it. ³² Today I will pass through all the animals. I will separate every dark animal from among the sheep and every goat that is spotted or speckled. This will be my salary. ³³ In the future, let my honesty answer for me. When you come to verify my salary, every animal that is not speckled or spotted from among the goats and those that are not dark from among the sheep, if you find them with me, will be considered to have been robbed.”

³⁴ Laban said, “Good, let it be as you have said.” ³⁵ That day he removed the speckled and spotted he-goats and the speckled and spotted she-goats, all of those that had some white on them, and every sheep that was a dark color. He placed the flock in the care of his sons, ³⁶ and he determined that there should be a distance of a three days’ journey by camel from Jacob’s flock. Jacob cared for the rest of Laban’s flock.

³⁷ But Jacob took fresh shoots of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and he made white^[b] stripes in them by peeling the bark back down to the white core of the shoots. ³⁸ He then took the shoots from which he had peeled the bark and he placed them in the channels, that is, in the watering troughs where the animals came to drink. They were placed where the animals could see them, and the animals mated when they came to drink. ³⁹ Thus, the animals mated in the sight of the shoots, and the goats had kids that were streaked, speckled, and spotted.^[c]

⁴⁰ As for the sheep, Jacob separated them and had them face the animals that were streaked or fully dark of the flock of Laban. He put his own flock in a separate place; he did not put them together with Laban’s flock. ⁴¹ Every once in a while, the healthier animals mated, and Jacob would put the shoots in the trough where the animals could see them, so that they would mate in the sight of the shoots. ⁴² When the animals were weak, he did not put them there. Thus, the weak animals belonged to Laban, and those that were healthy belonged to Jacob. ⁴³ He grew rich beyond measure and possessed great numbers of flocks, male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys.

¹⁷ “Now I am aware, brethren, that you acted out of ignorance as did your rulers. ¹⁸ God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the Prophets, revealing that his Christ would suffer. ¹⁹ Repent, therefore, and be converted so that your sins may be wiped away, ²⁰ that a time of refreshment may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, that is, Jesus. ²¹ He must remain in heaven until the time comes for the universal restoration announced by God in ages past through his holy Prophets. ²² For Moses said,

²⁴ “Furthermore, all the Prophets who have spoken, from Samuel onward, predicted these days.

²⁵ “You are the heirs of the Prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors when he told Abraham, ‘And in your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ ²⁶ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each one of you from your wicked ways.”