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28 Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. Then Isaac gave him a command and said, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman. 2 So leave this place and go to Paddan Aram. Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father. Laban, your mother’s brother, lives there. Marry one of his daughters. 3 I pray that God All-Powerful[a] will bless you and give you many children. I pray that you will become the father of a great nation 4 and that God will bless you and your children the same way he blessed Abraham. And I pray that you will own the land where you live. This is the land God gave to Abraham.”
5 So Isaac sent Jacob to Rebekah’s brother in Paddan Aram. Jacob went to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean. Laban was the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 Esau learned that his father Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan Aram to find a wife there. He also learned that Isaac commanded Jacob not to marry a Canaanite woman. 7 Esau learned that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and went to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau saw from this that his father did not want his sons to marry Canaanite women. 9 Esau already had two wives, but he went to Abraham’s son Ishmael and married another woman, Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael. Mahalath was Nebaioth’s sister.
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10 Jacob left Beersheba and went to Haran. 11 The sun had already set when he came to a good place to spend the night. He took a rock there and laid his head on it to sleep. 12 Jacob had a dream. He dreamed there was a ladder that was on the ground and reached up into heaven. He saw the angels of God going up and down the ladder. 13 And then Jacob saw the Lord standing by the ladder. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. I will give you the land that you are lying on now. I will give this land to you and to your children. 14 You will have as many descendants as there are particles of dust on the earth. They will spread east and west, north and south. All the families on earth will be blessed because of you and your descendants.
15 “I am with you, and I will protect you everywhere you go. I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised.”
16 Then Jacob woke up and said, “I know that the Lord is in this place, but I did not know he was here until I slept.”
17 Jacob was afraid and said, “This is a very great place. This is the house of God. This is the gate to heaven.”
18 Jacob got up very early in the morning. He took the rock he had slept on and set it up on its edge. Then he poured oil on the rock. In this way he made it a memorial to God. 19 The name of that place was Luz, but Jacob named it Bethel.[b]
20 Then Jacob made a promise. He said, “If God will be with me, and if he will protect me on this trip, and if he gives me food to eat and clothes to wear, 21 and if I return in peace to my father’s house—if he does all these things—then the Lord will be my God. 22 I am setting this stone up as a memorial stone. It will show that this is a holy place for God, and I will give God one-tenth of all he gives me.”
Jacob Meets Rachel
29 Then Jacob continued his trip. He went to the country in the East. 2 He looked and saw a well in the field. There were three flocks of sheep lying near the well, where the sheep drank water. There was a large rock covering the mouth of the well. 3 When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the rock away from the well. Then all the sheep could drink from the water. After the sheep were full, the shepherds would put the rock back in its place.
4 Jacob said to the shepherds there, “Brothers, where are you from?”
They answered, “We are from Haran.”
5 Then Jacob said, “Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor?”
The shepherds answered, “We know him.”
6 Then Jacob said, “How is he?”
They answered, “He is well. Look, that is his daughter Rachel coming now with his sheep.”
7 Jacob said, “Look, it is still day and long before the sun sets. It is not yet time for the animals to be gathered together for the night. So give them water and let them go back into the field.”
8 But they said, “We cannot do that until all the flocks are gathered together. Then we will move the rock from the well, and all the sheep will drink.”
9 While Jacob was talking with the shepherds, Rachel came with her father’s sheep. (It was her job to take care of the sheep.) 10 Rachel was Laban’s daughter. Laban was the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s mother. When Jacob saw Rachel, he went and moved the rock and gave water to the sheep. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and cried. 12 He told her that he was from her father’s family. He told her that he was the son of Rebekah. So Rachel ran home and told her father.
13 When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran to meet him. Laban hugged him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban everything that had happened.
14 Then Laban said, “This is wonderful! You are from my own family.” So Jacob stayed with Laban for a month.
Laban Tricks Jacob
15 One day Laban said to Jacob, “You are a relative of mine. It is not right for you to continue working for me without pay. What should I pay you?”
16 Now Laban had two daughters. The older was Leah and the younger was Rachel.
17 Leah’s eyes were gentle,[c] but Rachel was beautiful. 18 Jacob loved Rachel, so he said to Laban, “I will work seven years for you if you will allow me to marry your daughter Rachel.”
19 Laban said, “It would be better for her to marry you than someone else. So stay with me.”
20 So Jacob stayed and worked for Laban for seven years. But it seemed like a very short time because he loved Rachel very much.
21 After seven years Jacob said to Laban, “Give me Rachel so that I can marry her. My time of work for you is finished.”
22 So Laban gave a party for all the people in that place. 23 That night Laban brought his daughter Leah to Jacob. Jacob and Leah had sexual relations together. 24 (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter to be her maid.) 25 In the morning Jacob saw that it was Leah he had slept with, and he said to Laban, “You have tricked me. I worked hard for you so that I could marry Rachel. Why did you trick me?”
26 Laban said, “In our country we don’t allow the younger daughter to marry before the older daughter. 27 Continue for the full week of the marriage ceremony, and I will also give you Rachel to marry. But you must serve me another seven years.”
28 So Jacob did this and finished the week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife. 29 (Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her maid.) 30 So Jacob had sexual relations with Rachel also. And Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. Jacob worked for Laban for another seven years.
Jacob’s Family Grows
31 The Lord saw that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, so he made it possible for Leah to have children. But Rachel did not have any children.
32 Leah gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben.[d] She named him this because she said, “The Lord has seen my troubles. My husband does not love me. So now maybe my husband will love me.”
33 Leah became pregnant again and had another son. She named this son Simeon.[e] She said, “The Lord has heard that I am not loved, so he gave me this son.”
34 Leah became pregnant again and had another son. She named this son Levi.[f] She said, “Now, surely my husband will love me. I have given him three sons.”
35 Then Leah gave birth to another son. She named this son Judah.[g] Leah named him this because she said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” Then Leah stopped having children.
Jesus Gives Life to a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman(A)
18 While Jesus was still talking, a leader of the synagogue came to him. The leader bowed down before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But if you will come and touch her with your hand, she will live again.”
19 So Jesus and his followers went with the man.
20 On the way, there was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. She came close behind Jesus and touched the bottom of his coat. 21 She was thinking, “If I can touch his coat, I will be healed.”
22 Jesus turned and saw the woman. He said, “Be happy, dear woman. You are made well because you believed.” Then the woman was healed.
23 Jesus continued going with the Jewish leader and went into the leader’s house. He saw people there who make music for funerals. And he saw a crowd of people crying loudly. 24 Jesus said, “Go away. The girl is not dead. She is only sleeping.” But the people laughed at him. 25 After the people were put out of the house, Jesus went into the girl’s room. He held the girl’s hand, and the girl stood up. 26 The news about this spread all around the area.
Jesus Heals More People
27 As Jesus was going away from there, two blind men followed him. They said loudly, “Show kindness to us, Son of David.”
28 Jesus went inside, and the blind men went with him. He asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to make you see again?” They answered, “Yes, Lord, we believe.”
29 Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “You believe that I can make you see again, so it will happen.” 30 Then the men were able to see. Jesus gave them a strong warning. He said, “Don’t tell anyone about this.” 31 But they left and spread the news about Jesus all around that area.
32 As these two men were leaving, some people brought another man to Jesus. This man could not talk because he had a demon inside him. 33 Jesus forced the demon out, and the man was able to talk. The people were amazed and said, “We have never seen anything like this in Israel.”
34 But the Pharisees said, “The ruler of demons is the one that gives him power to force demons out.”
Jesus Feels Sorry for the People
35 Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages. He taught in their synagogues and told people the Good News about God’s kingdom. He healed all kinds of diseases and sicknesses. 36 Jesus saw the many people and felt sorry for them because they were worried and helpless—like sheep without a shepherd to lead them. 37 Jesus said to his followers, “There is such a big harvest of people to bring in. But there are only a few workers to help harvest them. 38 God owns the harvest. Ask him to send more workers to help gather his harvest.”
To the director: A song of David.
11 I trust in the Lord, so why did you tell me to run and hide?
Why did you say, “Fly like a bird to your mountain?”
2 Like hunters, the wicked hide in the dark.
They get their bows ready and aim their arrows.
They shoot at good, honest people.
3 What would good people do
if the wicked destroyed all that is good?[a]
4 The Lord is in his holy temple.
The Lord sits on his throne in heaven.
He sees everything that happens.
He watches people closely.
5 The Lord examines those who are good and those who are wicked;
he hates those who enjoy hurting others.
6 He will make hot coals and burning sulfur fall like rain on the wicked.
They will get nothing but a hot, burning wind.
7 The Lord always does what is right, and he loves seeing people do right.
Those who live good lives will be with him.[b]
11 My son, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline, and don’t be angry when he corrects you. 12 The Lord corrects the one he loves, just as a father corrects a child he cares about.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International