The Sons of Jacob

30 Now when Rachel saw that ^(A)she bore Jacob no children, ^[a]she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “^(B)Give me children, or else I die.” ² Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has ^(C)withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” ³ She said, “^(D)Here is my maid Bilhah, go in to her that she may ^(E)bear on my knees, that ^[b](F)through her I too may have children.” ⁴ So ^(G)she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵ Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has ^[c](H)vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son.” Therefore she named him ^[d]Dan. ⁷ Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ So Rachel said, “With ^[e]mighty wrestlings I have ^[f]wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him Naphtali.

⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ Then Leah said, “^[g]How fortunate!” So she named him ^[h]Gad. ¹² Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ Then Leah said, “^[i]Happy am I! For women ^(I)will call me happy.” So she named him ^[j]Asher.

¹⁴ Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found ^(J)mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁵ But she said to her, “Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁶ When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, then Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. ¹⁷ God gave heed to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Then Leah said, “God has given me my ^[k]wages because I gave my maid to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. ¹⁹ Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift; now my husband ^[l]will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. ²¹ Afterward she bore a daughter and named her Dinah.

²² Then ^(K)God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and ^(L)opened her womb. ²³ So she conceived and bore a son and said, “God has ^(M)taken away my reproach.” ²⁴ She named him Joseph, saying, “^(N)May the Lord ^[m]give me another son.”

Jacob Prospers

²⁵ Now it came about when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “^(O)Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my own country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and my children ^(P)for whom I have served you, and let me depart; for you yourself know my service which I have ^[n]rendered you.” ²⁷ But Laban said to him, “If now ^[o]it pleases you, stay with me; I have divined ^(Q)that the Lord has blessed me on your account.” ²⁸ He ^[p]continued, “^(R)Name me your wages, and I will give it.” ²⁹ But he said to him, “^(S)You yourself know how I have served you and how your cattle have ^[q]fared with me. ³⁰ For you had little before ^[r]I came and it has ^[s]increased to a multitude, and the Lord has blessed you ^[t]wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household also?” ³¹ So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock: ³² let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every ^(T)speckled and spotted sheep and every black ^[u]one among the lambs and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages. ³³ So my ^[v]honesty will answer for me later, when you come concerning my ^[w]wages. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, will be considered stolen.” ³⁴ Laban said, “^[x]Good, let it be according to your word.” ³⁵ So he removed on that day the striped and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, every one with white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the ^[y]care of his sons. ³⁶ And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷ Then Jacob ^[z]took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white which was ^[aa]in the rods. ³⁸ He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the gutters, even in the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink; and they ^[ab]mated when they came to drink. ³⁹ So the flocks ^[ac]mated by the rods, and the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. ⁴⁰ Jacob separated the lambs, and ^[ad]made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock. ⁴¹ Moreover, whenever the ^[ae]stronger of the flock ^[af]were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters, so that they might ^[ag]mate by the rods; ⁴² but when the flock was feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the ^[ah]stronger Jacob’s. ⁴³ So ^(U)the man ^[ai]became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys.

Preaching of John the Baptist

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, ^(A)the Son of God.

^2 (B)As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

⁴ John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness ^[b](E)preaching a baptism of repentance for the ^(F)forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. ⁶ John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore ^(G)a leather belt around his waist, and ^[c]his diet was locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And he was ^[d]preaching, and saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. ⁸ I baptized you ^[e]with water; but He will baptize you ^[f]with the Holy Spirit.”

The Baptism of Jesus

^9 (H)In those days Jesus ^(I)came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens ^[g]opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; ¹¹ and a voice came out of the heavens: “^(J)You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

^12 (K)Immediately the Spirit *impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. ¹³ And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by ^(L)Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

^14 (M)Now after John had been ^[h]taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, ^[i](N)preaching the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “^(O)The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God ^[j]is at hand; ^(P)repent and ^[k]believe in the gospel.”

^16 (Q)As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” ¹⁸ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. ¹⁹ Going on a little farther, He saw ^[l]James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. ²⁰ Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away ^[m]to follow Him.

^21 (R)They *went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath ^(S)He entered the synagogue and began to teach. ^22 (T)They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. ²³ Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, ²⁴ saying, “^(U)What ^[n]business do we have with each other, Jesus ^[o]of ^(V)Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—^(W)the Holy One of God!” ²⁵ And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” ²⁶ Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. ²⁷ They were all ^(X)amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” ²⁸ Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.

Crowds Healed

^29 (Y)And immediately after they came ^(Z)out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with ^[p]James and John. ³⁰ Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they *spoke to ^[q]Jesus about her. ³¹ And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she ^[r]waited on them.

^32 (AA)When evening came, ^(AB)after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were ^(AC)demon-possessed. ³³ And the whole ^(AD)city had gathered at the door. ³⁴ And He ^(AE)healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

^35 (AF)In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and ^(AG)was praying there. ³⁶ Simon and his companions searched for Him; ³⁷ they found Him, and *said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” ³⁸ He *said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may ^[s]preach there also; for that is what I came for.” ^39 (AH)And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, ^[t]preaching and casting out the demons.

^40 (AI)And a leper *came to Jesus, beseeching Him and ^(AJ)falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” ⁴¹ Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and *said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” ⁴² Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. ⁴³ And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, ⁴⁴ and He *said to him, “^(AK)See that you say nothing to anyone; but ^(AL)go, show yourself to the priest and ^(AM)offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” ⁴⁵ But he went out and began to ^(AN)proclaim it freely and to ^(AO)spread the news around, to such an extent that ^[u]Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but ^[v]stayed out in unpopulated areas; and ^(AP)they were coming to Him from everywhere.