Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A prayer by David.

Jacob’s Second and Third Encounters with God

31 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father and has gained all his wealth from him.” ² He also noticed that Laban did not appear as friendly to him as before.

³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your ancestors and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”

⁴ So Jacob sent a message to Rachel and Leah to come out to the open country where his flocks were. ⁵ He said to them, “I have seen that your father isn’t as friendly to me as he was before, but the God of my father has been with me. ⁶ You know that I have worked as hard as I could for your father. ⁷ Your father has cheated me. He has changed my wages 10 times. But God hasn’t let him harm me. ⁸ Whenever he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ all the flocks gave birth to speckled young. And whenever he said, ‘The striped ones will be your wages,’ all the flocks gave birth to striped young. ⁹ So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.

¹⁰ “During the mating season I had a dream: I looked up and saw that the male goats which were mating were striped, speckled, or spotted. ¹¹ In the dream the Messenger of God called to me, ‘Jacob!’ And I answered, ‘Yes, here I am.’ ¹² He said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped, speckled, or spotted, because I have seen everything that Laban is doing to you. ¹³ I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel,^[a] where you poured olive oil on a stone marker for a holy purpose and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land, and go back to the land of your relatives.’ ”

¹⁴ Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there anything left in our father’s household for us to inherit? ¹⁵ Doesn’t he think of us as foreigners? Not only did he sell us, but he has used up the money that was paid for us. ¹⁶ Certainly, all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. Now do whatever God has told you.”

Laban and Jacob Make Peace

¹⁷ Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels. ¹⁸ He drove all his livestock ahead of him and took all the possessions that he had accumulated. He took his own livestock that he had accumulated in Paddan Aram and went back to his father Isaac in Canaan.

¹⁹ When Laban went to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s idols. ²⁰ Jacob also tricked Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was leaving. ²¹ So he left in a hurry with all that belonged to him. He crossed the Euphrates River and went toward the mountains of Gilead.

The Power of Prayer^(A)

⁷ “Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. ⁸ Everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find, and for the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹ “If your child asks you for bread, would any of you give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if your child asks for a fish, would you give him a snake? ¹¹ Even though you’re evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. So how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him?