Sunday, 14 January

1.   Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants. 2.   And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last. 3.   Then he 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, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 5.   And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, "Who are these with you?" So he said, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant." 6.   Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and bowed down. 7.   And Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed down. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed down. 8.   Then Esau said, "What do you mean by all this company which I met?" And he said, " These are to find favor in the sight of my lord." 9.   But Esau said, "I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself." 10.   And Jacob said, "No, please, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present from my hand, inasmuch as I have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God, and you were pleased with me. 11.   "Please, take my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough." So 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 that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds which are nursing are with me. And if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flock will die. 14.   "Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace which the livestock that go before me, and the children, are able to endure, until I come to my lord in Seir." 15.   And Esau said, "Now let me leave with you some of the people who are with me." But he said, "What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord." 16.   So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. 17.   And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, built himself a house, and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. 18.   Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city. 19.   And he bought the parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. 20.   Then he erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel.

1.   Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 2.   And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and violated her. 3.   His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman. 4.   So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, "Get me this young woman as a wife." 5.   And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock 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.   And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it ; and the men were grieved and very angry, because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing which ought not to be done. 8.   But Hamor spoke with them, saying, "The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9.   "And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves. 10.   "So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it." 11.   Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12.   "Ask me ever so much dowry and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me; but give me the young woman as a wife." 13.   But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 14.   And they said to them, "We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one 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 daughter and be gone." 18.   And 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 more honorable than all the household of his father. 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 to us 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.   And all who went out of the gate of his city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son; every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city. 25.   Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the 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.   And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out. 27.   The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because 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 all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they plundered even all that was in the houses. 30.   Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, 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 harlot?"

1.   Then 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.   And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. 3.   "Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone." 4.   So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem. 5.   And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6.   So Jacob came to Luz (that is , Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. 7.   And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother. 8.   Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Bachuth. 9.   Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. 10.   And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name." So He called his name Israel. 11.   Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. 12.   "The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land." 13.   Then God went up 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.   And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel. 16.   Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth , and she had hard labor. 17.   Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, "Do not fear; you will have this son also." 18.   And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben–Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. 19.   So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is , Bethlehem). 20.   And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day. 21.   Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. 22.   And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard about it . Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: 23.   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 Padan Aram. 27.   Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (that is , Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt. 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. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

1.   And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him , He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. 2.   Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3.   Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; 4.   Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. 5.   These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6.   "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7.   "And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8.   "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 9.   "Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, 10.   "nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food. 11.   "Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. 12.   "And when you go into a household, greet it. 13.   "If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14.   "And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. 15.   "Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!