Jacob Flees from Laban

¹Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father's, and from what was our father's he has gained all this wealth.” ²And Jacob saw athat Laban did not regard him with favor as before. ³Then the Lord said to Jacob, b“Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”

⁴So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was ⁵and said to them, c“I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father dhas been with me. ⁶eYou know that I have served your father with all my strength, ⁷yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ften times. But God did not permit him to harm me. ⁸If he said, g‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. ⁹Thus God has htaken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. ¹⁰In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. ¹¹Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ ¹²And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for iI have seen all that Laban is doing to you. ¹³I am the God of Bethel, jwhere you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now karise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’” ¹⁴Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there lany portion or inheritance left to us in our father's house? ¹⁵Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For mhe has sold us, and he has indeed devoured our money. ¹⁶All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”

¹⁷So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels. ¹⁸He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in nPaddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. ¹⁹Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father's ohousehold gods. ²⁰And Jacob tricked1 Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee. ²¹He fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the pEuphrates,2 and qset his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

²²When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, ²³he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴But God came to Laban the Aramean rin a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, seither good or bad.”

²⁵And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁶And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have ttricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword? ²⁷Why did you flee secretly tand trick me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? ²⁸And why did you not permit me uto kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly. ²⁹It is vin my power to do you harm. But the wGod of your3 father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, xeither good or bad.’ ³⁰And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father's house, but why did you ysteal my gods?” ³¹Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. ³²zAnyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

³³So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's. ³⁴Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel's saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them. ³⁵And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot arise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household gods.

³⁶Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? ³⁷For you have felt through all my goods; what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and byour kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. ³⁸These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. ³⁹What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. cFrom my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. ⁴⁰There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. ⁴¹These twenty years I have been in your house. dI served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and eyou have changed my wages ten times. ⁴²fIf the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the gFear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. hGod saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and irebuked you last night.”

⁴³Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day for these my daughters or for their children whom they have borne? ⁴⁴Come now, jlet us make a covenant, you and I. kAnd let it be a witness between you and me.” ⁴⁵So Jacob ltook a stone and set it up as a pillar. ⁴⁶And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. ⁴⁷Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha,4 but Jacob called it Galeed.5 ⁴⁸Laban said, m“This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he named it Galeed, ⁴⁹nand Mizpah,6 for he said, “The Lord watch between you and me, when we are out of one another's sight. ⁵⁰If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, oGod is witness between you and me.”

⁵¹Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me. ⁵²pThis heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm. ⁵³The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the qFear of his father Isaac, ⁵⁴and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called rhis kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country.

⁵⁵7 Early in the morning Laban arose and kissed shis grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned home.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

¹And when he returned to tCapernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ²And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. ³uAnd they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. ⁴And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, vthey removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. ⁵And when Jesus wsaw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, xyour sins are forgiven.” ⁶Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ⁷“Why does this man speak like that? yHe is blaspheming! zWho can forgive sins but God alone?” ⁸And immediately Jesus, aperceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? ⁹Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? ¹⁰But that you may know that bthe Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— ¹¹“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” ¹²And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and cglorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Jesus Calls Levi

¹³He went out again beside the sea, and dall the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. ¹⁴eAnd as he passed by, he saw fLevi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

¹⁵And as he reclined at table in his house, many gtax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶And hthe scribes of1 the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, g“Why does he eat2 with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. iI came not to call the righteous, jbut sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

¹⁸Now kJohn's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, l“Why do John's disciples and mthe disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹And Jesus said to them, n“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰oThe days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and pthen they will fast in that day. ²¹No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. ²²And no one puts new wine into old qwineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”3

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

²³rOne Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples sbegan to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, twhy are they doing uwhat is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ²⁵And he said to them, v“Have you never read wwhat David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: ²⁶how he entered the house of God, in the time of4 xAbiathar the high priest, and ate ythe bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” ²⁷And he said to them, z“The Sabbath was made for man, anot man for the Sabbath. ²⁸So bthe Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

¹So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. ²And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, c“What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? dEven to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” ³Then Queen Esther answered, e“If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. ⁴fFor we have been sold, I and my people, gto be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” ⁵Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared1 to do this?” ⁶And Esther said, h“A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.

Haman Is Hanged

⁷And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into ithe palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. ⁸And the king returned from ithe palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on jthe couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face. ⁹Then kHarbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, lthe gallows2 that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, mwhose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house, fifty cubits3 high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” ¹⁰nSo they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. oThen the wrath of the king abated.

God's Righteous Judgment

¹Therefore you have fno excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For gin passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. ²We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. ³Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴Or do you presume on hthe riches of his kindness and iforbearance and jpatience, knot knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? ⁵But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are lstoring up mwrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

⁶nHe will render to each one according to his works: ⁷to those who oby patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; ⁸but for those who are self-seeking1 and pdo not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. ⁹There will be tribulation and distress qfor every human being who does evil, the Jew rfirst and also the Greek, ¹⁰but glory and honor and speace for everyone who does good, tthe Jew first and also the Greek. ¹¹For uGod shows no partiality.

God's Judgment and the Law

¹²For all who have sinned vwithout the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. ¹³For wit is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. ¹⁴For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, xby nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. ¹⁵They show that the work of the law is ywritten on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them ¹⁶zon that day when, aaccording to my gospel, God judges bthe secrets of men cby Christ Jesus.

¹⁷But if you call yourself a Jew and drely on the law and boast in God ¹⁸and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; ¹⁹and if you are sure that you yourself are ea guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law fthe embodiment of gknowledge and truth— ²¹hyou then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? ²²You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you irob temples? ²³You who jboast in the law kdishonor God by breaking the law. ²⁴For, las it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed mamong the Gentiles because of you.”

²⁵For circumcision indeed is of value nif you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. ²⁶So, if oa man who is uncircumcised keeps pthe precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded2 as circumcision? ²⁷Then he who is physically3 uncircumcised but keeps the law qwill condemn you who have rthe written code4 and circumcision but break the law. ²⁸For sno one is a Jew twho is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. ²⁹But a Jew is one uinwardly, and vcircumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. wHis praise is not from man but from God.