Day 10 – January 10, 2022

Genesis 29:1 – 30:43

Jacob and Rachel

​¹ Now Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the east, to Laban. ² So he looked and saw a well in the field; and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it, for out of that well they watered the flocks; and a large stone was on the well’s mouth. ³ Now all the flocks would be gathered there; and they would roll the stone from the well’s mouth, water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well’s mouth.

⁴ So Jacob said to them, “My brethren, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.” ⁵ Then he said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.” ⁶ So he said to them, “Is he well?” They said, “He is well. Look, his daughter Rachel is coming with the sheep.” ⁷ Then he said, “It is still high day; it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.” ⁸ But they said, “We cannot, until all the shepherds are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well’s mouth; then we will water the sheep.”

⁹ Now while he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰ And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother’s brother, Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban, his mother’s brother. ¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. ¹² So Jacob told Rachel he was her father’s relative and Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father these words. ¹³ Then it came to pass, when Laban heard the report about Jacob, his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. So he told Laban all these things. ¹⁴ Now Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month.

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my brother, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah’s eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. ¹⁸ Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.” ¹⁹ So Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than to another man. Stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her. ²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.”

  ²² Now Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a wedding feast. ²³ Thus it came to pass in the evening, he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. ²⁴ So Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a handmaiden. ²⁵ Then it came to pass in the morning, behold, it was Leah; and he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?” ²⁶ Laban replied, “It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. ²⁷ Fulfill her week, and I will give you this one also for the service you will render me still another seven years.”

²⁸ Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also. ²⁹ Laban also gave his handmaiden Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a handmaiden. ³⁰ Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah; and he served with Laban still another seven years.

Jacob’s Children

³¹ But when the Lord saw Leah was hated, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. ³² So Leah conceived and bore Jacob a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, “The Lord has surely looked on my humiliation. Now therefore, my husband will love me.” ³³ Then she conceived again and bore Jacob a second son, and said, “Because the Lord heard I was hated, He has therefore given me this son also.” So she called his name Simeon. ³⁴ She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be on my side, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore she called his name Levi. ³⁵ Now she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will give thanks to the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

​¹ Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die.” ² So Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” ³ She replied to Jacob, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear on my knees, that I also may have children by her.” ⁴ She then gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵ Thus Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaiden, conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has judged me; and He has heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore, she called his name Dan. ⁷ Now Rachel’s handmaiden Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Then Rachel said, “God has helped me, and I have wrestled with my sister; and indeed, I have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.

⁹ Now when Leah saw she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her handmaiden and gave her to Jacob as wife. ¹⁰ So Jacob went in to her, and Zilpah, Leah’s handmaiden, conceived and bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ Then Leah said, “Good fortune!” Thus she called his name Gad. ¹² Now Zilpah, Leah’s handmaiden, bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ Then Leah said, “I am blessed, for the women will call me blessed.” So she called his name Asher.

¹⁴ Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Thus Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁵ But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Not so! Let him lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁶ Now when Jacob came out of the field in the evening, 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 Thus God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Then Leah said, “God has given me my wages, because I have given my handmaiden to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar. ¹⁹ Now Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will choose me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun. ²¹ Afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

The Agreement of Jacob and Laban

²² Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. ²³ Thus she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” ²⁴ So she called his name Joseph, and said, “The Lord shall add another son to me.”

  ²⁵ Now it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know the service I rendered you.” ²⁷ Then Laban said to him, “If I could find grace in your eyes, I would seek for it divinely, for God has blessed me by your coming.” ²⁸ So he said, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.” ²⁹ Jacob replied, “You know how I have served you and how numerous your cattle became with me. ³⁰ For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the Lord has blessed you since my coming. Now therefore, when shall I also establish my own house?”

³¹ Thus Laban said to him, “What shall I give you?” Jacob replied, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your sheep: ³² Let me pass through all your flocks today, removing from them all the gray sheep, and all the spotted and speckled among the goats; and these shall be my wages. ³³ So my righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and gray among the sheep, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.” ³⁴ Then Laban said to him, “Let it be according to your word.” ³⁵ So he removed that day all the male goats that were speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the gray ones among the sheep, and gave them into the hands of his sons. ³⁶ Then he put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷ Now Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, tearing off the bark. So the white strips he had peeled appeared on the rods as spotted. ³⁸ Then he placed the rods he had peeled in the gutters of the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so they should conceive at the rods as they came to drink. ³⁹ So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth speckled, spotted, and ash-colored speckled. ⁴⁰ But Jacob separated the male lambs, and placed a speckled ram before the sheep and all that were spotted among the male lambs. Then he separated for himself flocks by themselves and did not mix them with the sheep of Laban.

⁴¹ Thus it came to pass, whenever the sheep conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the sheep in the gutters, so they might conceive according to the rods. ⁴² But whenever the sheep had already given birth, he did not put them in. Thus it came to pass, that the unmarked were Laban’s and the marked were Jacob’s. ⁴³ So the man became exceedingly rich, and had many cattle and oxen, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.

Psalms 12

For the End; a psalm by David.

² How long, O Lord? Will You forget me to the end?

How long will You turn Your face from me?

³ How long will I take counsel in my soul,

Having grief in my heart daily?

How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

⁴ Look upon me and hear me, O Lord my God;

Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep in death,

⁵ Lest my enemy say,

“I prevailed against him”;

Those who afflict me greatly rejoice, if I am shaken.

⁶ But I hope in Your mercy;

My heart shall greatly rejoice in Your salvation;

I will sing to the Lord, who shows kindness to me;

I will sing to the name of the Lord Most High.

Psalms 13

For the End; a psalm by David.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

  They are corrupt, they are abominable in their habits;

There is none, not even one, who does good.

² The Lord stooped down from heaven to look upon the sons of men,

To see if there were any who understood or sought God.

³ All turned aside and were altogether corrupted;

There was not even one doing good, no, not one.

Their throat is an open tomb;

They deal deceptively with their tongues;

The poison of serpents is under their lips,

Whose mouth is full of curses and bitterness;

Their feet are swift to shed blood;

Affliction and suffering are in their ways,

And the way of peace they have not known;

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

⁴ Do all the workers of lawlessness not know?

They eat up my people as they eat bread, and they do not call upon the Lord.

⁵ They were in great fear where no fear was,

Because God is in the righteous generation.

⁶ You shamed the counsel of the poor man,

Because the Lord is his hope.

⁷ Who will bring about the salvation of Israel out of Zion?

When the Lord returns His people from captivity,

Let Jacob greatly rejoice, and let Israel be glad.

Proverbs 2:10-16

For if wisdom comes into your mind,

And the perception in your soul seems to be good,

¹¹ Then good counsel will guard you,

And holy thinking will keep you;

¹² That it might rescue you from an evil way

And from a man who speaks nothing trustworthy.

¹³ Woe to those who forsake the paths of uprightness

So they may walk in the ways of darkness,

¹⁴ Who delight in evils

And rejoice in evil perversion,

¹⁵ Whose ways are crooked

And their paths devious,

¹⁶ So they may cause you to be far from the straight way

And a stranger to righteous judgment.

Matthew 8:1-17

When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.

² And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

³ Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

⁴ And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant

⁵ Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him,

⁶ saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”

⁷ And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

⁸ The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.

⁹ “For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

¹⁰ When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

  ¹¹ “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

¹² “But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹³ Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

Peter’s Mother-in-Law Healed

¹⁴ Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever.

¹⁵ So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.

Many Healed in the Evening

¹⁶ When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,

¹⁷ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

“He Himself took our infirmities

And bore our sicknesses.”