Day 12 – Genesis 33-35; Psalms 16; Proverbs 3:1–5; Matthew 9:1–17

Genesis 33-35  

​¹ Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau his brother was coming, and four hundred men with him. So Jacob divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants. ² Then he put the maidservants and their sons in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last. ³ He then crossed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. ⁴ But Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him; and they wept. ⁵ Then he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, “Who are these with you?” He replied, “The children God mercifully gave your servant.” ⁶ Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and bowed down. ⁷ Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed down. Afterward Rachel and Joseph came near, and they bowed down.

⁸ Then Esau said, “What are these things to you, all this company I met?” So he said, “That your servant might find grace in the sight of my Lord.” ⁹ But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” ¹⁰ But Jacob replied, “If I have now found grace in your sight, receive the present from my hands, inasmuch as I have seen your face, as though someone might see the face of God; and you were pleased with me. ¹¹ Receive my blessing I brought you, because God has shown me mercy; and I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let us take our journey; let us go, and I will go before you.” ¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows the children are weak, and the flocks and herds with me are giving birth. If therefore the men should drive them hard one day, all the cattle would die. ¹⁴ Let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace the children are able to bear, until I come to my lord in Seir.” ¹⁵ Then Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people with me.” But he said, “What need is there? It is enough that I found grace in my lord’s sight.” ¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.

¹⁷ Then Jacob journeyed to Succoth, built houses, and made booths for his cattle. Therefore, he called the name of that place, Succoth. ¹⁸ Then Jacob came safely to Salem, a city of Shechem, in the land of Canaan, when he came from Mesopotamia of Syria; and he took up a position in front of the city. ¹⁹ He then bought the parcel of land where he pitched his tent from Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred male lambs. ²⁰ There he set up an altar and called on the God of Israel.

The Violation of Dinah

​¹ Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. ² But when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, a ruler of the land, saw her, he took her, lay with her, and violated her. ³ Now his soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and sought to win her heart. ⁴ Then Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get this young woman as a wife for me.”

  ⁵ But Jacob heard Hamor’s son had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his cattle in the field; so Jacob held his peace until they came. ⁶ Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. ⁷ Now the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were stunned and extremely grieved, because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, something that should never have happened. ⁸ But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “My son Shechem is passionately in love with your daughter. Give her to him as a wife. ⁹ Make marriages with us; give us your daughters, and take our daughters for your sons. ¹⁰ Dwell among us, and behold, the land before you is spacious. Dwell therein and trade, and acquire possessions in it.”

¹¹ Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find grace in your eyes, and we will give whatever you ask. ¹² Make the dowry as great as you wish, and I will give it; only give me this young woman as a wife.” ¹³ But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke deceitfully to them, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. ¹⁴ So Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah and the sons of Leah, said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us. ¹⁵ But on this condition we will consent to you, if you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised, ¹⁶ then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. ¹⁷ But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughters and be gone.”

¹⁸ Now their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. ¹⁹ So the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. He was the most esteemed of all those in his father’s house. ²⁰ And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke with the men of their city, saying, ²¹ “These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For indeed, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters. ²² Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us is circumcised, as they are circumcised. ²³ Will not their livestock, their property, and every animal of theirs be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.” ²⁴ Thus all who went out of the gate of their city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son; every male was circumcised in the flesh.

²⁵ Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, two sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males. ²⁶ They also killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out. ²⁷ Then the sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city in which Dinah their sister had been defiled. ²⁸ They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field; ²⁹ and took captive all their wives, their children, and their servants and plundered whatever was in the city and in the houses.

  ³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You made me an object of hatred, so as to be evil to all the inhabitants of the land, both among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.” ³¹ But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

Jacob at Bethel

​¹ Now God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.” ² Then Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. ³ Let us arise and go up to Bethel and make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my tribulation, and was with me and saved me on the road I traveled.” ⁴ So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods in their hands, and the earrings in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree near Shechem.

⁵ Then Israel departed from Shechem, and the fear of God was upon all the cities around them. Thus they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. ⁶ Now Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), in the land of Canaan, he and all the people with him. ⁷ He built an altar there and called the place Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother Esau. ⁸ Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak. So Jacob called its name the Oak of Mourning.

⁹ Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Mesopotamia, and blessed him. ¹⁰ God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not any more be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” ¹¹ God also said to him, “I am your God. Increase and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. ¹² The land I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your seed after you I give this land.” ¹³ Then God ascended from him in the place where He talked with him. ¹⁴ So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. ¹⁵ Thus Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him Bethel.

The Death of Rachel

¹⁶ Then Jacob departed from Bethel, and when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored with much difficulty in childbirth. ¹⁷ Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Take courage; you will have this son also.” ¹⁸ So it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. ¹⁹ Thus Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ²⁰ Then Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.

  ²¹ Now Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. ²² So it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. Israel heard about it, and it was seen as evil in his sight.

The Twelve Sons of Jacob

²³ Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: the sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; ²⁴ the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin; ²⁵ the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali; ²⁶ and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Mesopotamia of Syria.

The Death of Isaac

²⁷ Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac sojourned. ²⁸ Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. ²⁹ So Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days. Thus his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Psalms 16  

​¹ A prayer of David.

Listen, O Lord of my righteousness;

Attend to my supplication;

Give ear to my prayer that is not with deceitful lips.

² From Your face let my judgment come;

Let my eyes behold uprightness.

³ You tested my heart, when You visited me in the night;

You tried me in the fire, and found nothing unjust in me.

⁴ That my mouth might not speak of the works of men,

I held to hard ways because of the words of Your lips.

⁵ Restore my steps in Your paths,

That my footsteps may not slip.

⁶ I cried out, because You listened to me, O God;

Incline Your ear to me, and hear my words.

⁷ Magnify Your mercies,

O You who save those who hope in You

From those who rise up against Your right hand.

⁸ Keep me as the apple of Your eye;

In the shelter of Your wings, You will shelter me

⁹ From the face of the ungodly who trouble me.

My enemies surrounded my soul;

¹⁰ Their fat enclosed them;

Their mouth spoke arrogantly.

¹¹ Casting me out, they now surround me;

They set their eyes to bend down to the earth.

¹² They seized me like a lion ready to tear its prey,

Like a young lion lurking in secret places.

¹³ Arise, O Lord, outrun them and trip up their heels;

Rescue my soul from the ungodly,

And Your sword from the enemies of Your hand.

¹⁴ O Lord, destroy them from the earth;

Scatter them in their life.

Their belly is filled with Your hidden things;

They are satisfied with their sons,

And they leave their possessions to their children.

¹⁵ As for me, in righteousness I shall behold Your face;

I shall be satisfied when Your glory is revealed.

Proverbs 3:1–5  

​¹ My son, do not forget my laws,

But let your heart keep my words;

² For length of days, and years of life and peace

They will add to you.

³ Do not let almsgiving and faithfulness forsake you,

But hang them upon your neck;

⁴ And you will find grace

And provide good things before the Lord and men.

⁵ Trust in God with all your heart,

And do not exalt your own wisdom.

Matthew 9:1–17

​¹ So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.

² Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

³ And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”

⁴ But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?

⁵ “For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’?

⁶ “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

⁷ And he arose and departed to his house.

⁸ Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

⁹ As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

¹⁰ Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.

¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹² When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

¹³ “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

¹⁶ “No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.¹⁷ “Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”