Genesis 31–33; Luke 13

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Genesis 31–33

Jacob Flees from Laban

Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth. And Jacob saw athat Laban did not regard him with favor as before. Then the Lord said to Jacob, bReturn to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.

So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was and said to them, cI see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father dhas been with me. eYou know that I have served your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ften times. But God did not permit him to harm me. If he said, gThe spotted shall be your wages, then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, The striped shall be your wages, then all the flock bore striped. Thus God has htaken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. 10 In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. 11 Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, Jacob, and I said, Here I am! 12 And he said, Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for iI have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, jwhere you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now karise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred. 14 Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, Is there lany portion or inheritance left to us in our father’s house? 15 Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For mhe has sold us, and he has indeed devoured our money. 16 All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.

17 So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels. 18 He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in nPaddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. 19 Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s ohousehold gods. 20 And Jacob tricked1 Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee. 21 He fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the pEuphrates,2 and qset his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

22 When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, 23 he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. 24 But God came to Laban the Aramean rin a dream by night and said to him, Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, seither good or bad.

25 And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead. 26 And Laban said to Jacob, What have you done, that you have ttricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword? 27 Why did you flee secretly tand trick me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? 28 And why did you not permit me uto kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly. 29 It is vin my power to do you harm. But the wGod of your3 father spoke to me last night, saying, Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, xeither good or bad. 30 And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house, but why did you ysteal my gods? 31 Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. 32 zAnyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it. Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s. 34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel’s saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them. 35 And she said to her father, Let not my lord be angry that I cannot arise before you, for the way of women is upon me. So he searched but did not find the household gods.

36 Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? 37 For you have felt through all my goods; what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and byour kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. 38 These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. 39 What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. cFrom my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40 There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41 These twenty years I have been in your house. dI served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and eyou have changed my wages ten times. 42 fIf the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the gFear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. hGod saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and irebuked you last night.

43 Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day for these my daughters or for their children whom they have borne? 44 Come now, jlet us make a covenant, you and I. kAnd let it be a witness between you and me. 45 So Jacob ltook a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46 And Jacob said to his kinsmen, Gather stones. And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. 47 Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha,4 but Jacob called it Galeed.5 48 Laban said, mThis heap is a witness between you and me today. Therefore he named it Galeed, 49 nand Mizpah,6 for he said, The Lord watch between you and me, when we are out of one another’s sight. 50 If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, oGod is witness between you and me.

51 Then Laban said to Jacob, See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me. 52 pThis heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm. 53 The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us. So Jacob swore by the qFear of his father Isaac, 54 and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called rhis kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country.

55 7 Early in the morning Laban arose and kissed shis grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned home.

Jacob Fears Esau

Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them he said, This is God’s tcamp! So he called the name of that place uMahanaim.8

And Jacob sent9 messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of vSeir, the country of Edom, instructing them, Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that wI may find favor in your sight.

And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your brother Esau, and xhe is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him. Then Jacob was ygreatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, thinking, If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.

And Jacob said, zO God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who asaid to me, Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good, 10 bI am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. 11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for cI fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. 12 But dyou said, I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

13 So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took ea present for his brother Esau, 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove. 17 He instructed the first, When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you? 18 then you shall say, They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us. 19 He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, 20 and you shall say, Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us. For he thought, I may appease him10 with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.11 21 So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.

Jacob Wrestles with God

22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children,12 and crossed the ford of the fJabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24 And Jacob was left alone. And ga man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, Let me go, for the day has broken. But Jacob said, hI will not let you go unless you bless me. 27 And he said to him, What is your name? And he said, Jacob. 28 Then he said, iYour name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,13 for jyou have striven with God and kwith men, and have prevailed. 29 Then Jacob asked him, Please tell me your name. But he said, lWhy is it that you ask my name? And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel,14 saying, For mI have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered. 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed nPenuel, limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.

Jacob Meets Esau

And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, oEsau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. He himself went on before them, pbowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

qBut Esau ran to meet him and embraced him rand fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, Who are these with you? Jacob said, sThe children whom God has graciously given your servant. Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. Esau said, What do you mean by tall this company15 that I met? Jacob answered, uTo find favor in the sight of my lord. But Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself. 10 Jacob said, No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. vFor I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. 11 Please accept my wblessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. Thus he xurged him, and he took it.

12 Then Esau said, Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of16 you. 13 But Jacob said to him, My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. 14 Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord yin Seir.

15 So Esau said, Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me. But he said, What need is there? zLet me find favor in the sight of my lord. 16 So Esau returned that day on his way to aSeir. 17 But Jacob journeyed to bSuccoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.17

18 And Jacob came safely18 to the city of cShechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. 19 And from the sons of dHamor, Shechem’s father, ehe bought for a hundred pieces of money19 the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. 20 There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.20


Luke 13

Repent or Perish

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood pPilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, qDo you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you rrepent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in sSiloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you rrepent, you will all likewise perish.

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

And he told this parable: A man had ta fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. uCut it down. Why should it use up the ground? And he answered him, Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.

A Woman with a Disabling Spirit

10 Now vhe was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had had wa disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, Woman, you are freed from your disability. 13 And he xlaid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she yglorified God. 14 But zthe ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus ahad healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, bThere are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day. 15 Then the Lord answered him, You hypocrites! cDoes not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman, da daughter of Abraham whom eSatan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day? 17 As he said these things, fall his adversaries were put to shame, and gall the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

18 hHe said therefore, What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like ia grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.

20 And again he said, To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 jIt is like leaven that a woman took and hid in kthree measures of flour, until it was lall leavened.

The Narrow Door

22 mHe went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and njourneying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, Lord, owill those who are saved be few? And he said to them, 24 pStrive qto enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 rWhen once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, sLord, open to us, then he will answer you, tI do not know where you come from. 26 Then you will begin to say, uWe ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets. 27 But he will say, I tell you, tI do not know where you come from. vDepart from me, all you workers of evil! 28 wIn that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see wAbraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but wyou yourselves cast out. 29 And wpeople will come from east and west, and from north and south, and xrecline at table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, ysome are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.

Lament over Jerusalem

31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, Get away from zhere, for aHerod wants to kill you. 32 And he said to them, Go and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day bI finish my course. 33 Nevertheless, cI dmust go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that ea prophet should perish away from Jerusalem. 34 fO Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that gkills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! hHow often would I have igathered jyour children together kas a hen gathers her brood lunder her wings, and myou were not willing! 35 Behold, nyour house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, oBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!