Genesis 28
Isaac Sends Jacob to Mesopotamia
1 Now Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.
2 Arise, go to Mesopotamia, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.
3 May God bless you, and increase and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of nations;
4 and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your seed with you, that you may inherit the land of your sojourning, which God gave to Abraham.Ӡ
5 So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Mesopotamia, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Mesopotamia to take himself a wife from there, and as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,”
7 and Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Mesopotamia.
8 Also, Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac.
9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.
Jacob’s Ladder
10 Now Jacob went out from the Well of Oath and went toward Haran.
11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. Then he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.
12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.†
13 So behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. Do not fear, the land on which you lie I will give to you and your seed.
14 Also, your seed shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed.
15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “The Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”
17 So he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”†
18 Now Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone he put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.†
19 Thus Jacob called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city was Luz previously.
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If the Lord God will be with me, and keep me in this way I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on,
21 and bring me back in safety to my father’s house, then the Lord shall be my God.
22 And this stone I set as a pillar shall be God’s house to me, and of all You give me I will surely give a tithe to You.”
Psalms 29
1 For the End; the psalm of an ode at the consecration of the house; by David. †
2 I will exalt You, O Lord, for You lifted me up, And did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
3 O Lord my God, I cry to You, and You will heal me.
4 O Lord, You brought my soul out of Hades; You saved me from those who go down to the pit.
5 Sing praises to the Lord, you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness;
6 For there is wrath in His anger, But life in His will; Weeping will lodge at evening, But great joy in the morning.
7 As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall not be shaken forever.”
8 O Lord, in Your will, grant beauty and power; You turned away Your face, and I was troubled.
9 I shall cry to You, O Lord, And to God I shall make supplication.
10 What profit is there in my blood, When I go down into decay? Will the dust confess You? Or will it declare Your truth?
11 The Lord heard, and had mercy on me; The Lord became my helper.
12 You turned my lamentation into dancing for me; You tore up my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
13 That my glory may sing praise to You, And not be pierced with sadness; O Lord my God, I shall give thanks to You forever.
Proverbs of Solomon 6
A Careless Tongue
1 My son, if you assume the debt of your friend, You will deliver your hand to an enemy;†
2 For a man’s own lips become a strong snare to him, And he is conquered by the utterances of his own mouth.
3 My son, do what I command you, and you will save yourself; For you came into the hands of evil things through your friend;
4 Do not be faint, But provoke even your friend, for whom you assumed a debt;
5 Do not give sleep to your eyes Nor slumber to your eyelids
6 That you may be saved, as a gazelle from the snares, And as a bird from a trap. †
Matthew 18
Forgiveness in the Church
21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”†
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.
25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.†
26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’
27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’
30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.
32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’
34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.
35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”