Tuesday, 23 January

25.   And 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 my service which I have done for you." 27.   And Laban said to him, "Please stay , if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the LORD has blessed me for your sake." 28.   Then he said, "Name me your wages, and I will give it ." 29.   So Jacob said to him, "You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been 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. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?" 31.   So he said, "What shall I give you?" And Jacob said, "You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks: 32.   "Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and 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 brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me." 34.   And Laban said, "Oh, that it were according to your word!" 35.   So he removed that day 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 brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand 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, and exposed the white which was in the rods. 38.   And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink. 39.   So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted. 40.   Then Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban’s flock. 41.   And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. 42.   But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. 43.   Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

1.   Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, "Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this wealth." 2.   And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not favorable toward him as before. 3.   Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you." 4.   So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock, 5.   and said to them, "I see your father’s countenance, that it is not favorable toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me. 6.   "And you know that with all my might I have served your father. 7.   "Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me. 8.   "If he said thus: ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: ‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked. 9.   "So God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. 10.   "And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray–spotted. 11.   "Then the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’ 12.   "And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray–spotted; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13.   ‘I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’" 14.   Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, "Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? 15.   "Are we not considered strangers by him? For he has sold us, and also completely consumed our money. 16.   "For all these riches which God has taken from our father are really ours and our children’s; now then, whatever God has said to you, do it." 17.   Then Jacob rose and set his sons and his wives on camels. 18.   And he carried away all his livestock and all his possessions which he had gained, his acquired livestock which he had gained in Padan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. 19.   Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the household idols that were her father’s. 20.   And Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. 21.   So he fled with all that he had. He arose and crossed the river, and headed toward the mountains of Gilead.

1.   Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the house. 2.   So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter. 3.   And the king said to her, "What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you––up to half the kingdom!" 4.   So Esther answered, "If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him." 5.   Then the king said, "Bring Haman quickly, that he may do as Esther has said." So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared. 6.   At the banquet of wine the king said to Esther, "What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!" 7.   Then Esther answered and said, "My petition and request is this : 8.   "If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, then let the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said." 9.   So Haman went out that day joyful and with a glad heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, and that he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with indignation against Mordecai. 10.   Nevertheless Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and called for his friends and his wife Zeresh. 11.   Then Haman told them of his great riches, the multitude of his children, everything in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and servants of the king. 12.   Moreover Haman said, "Besides, Queen Esther invited no one but me to come in with the king to the banquet that she prepared; and tomorrow I am again invited by her, along with the king. 13.   "Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate." 14.   Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, "Let a gallows be made, fifty cubits high, and in the morning suggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it; then go merrily with the king to the banquet." And the thing pleased Haman; so he had the gallows made.

1.   That night the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. 2.   And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 3.   Then the king said, "What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?" And the king’s servants who attended him said, "Nothing has been done for him." 4.   So the king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. 5.   The king’s servants said to him, "Haman is there, standing in the court." And the king said, "Let him come in." 6.   So Haman came in, and the king asked him, "What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?" Now Haman thought in his heart, "Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?" 7.   And Haman answered the king, " For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8.   "let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal crest placed on its head. 9.   "Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then parade him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’" 10.   Then the king said to Haman, "Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king’s gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken." 11.   So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!" 12.   Afterward Mordecai went back to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. 13.   When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him." 14.   While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs came, and hastened to bring Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

1.   So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. 2.   And on the second day, at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, "What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!" 3.   Then Queen Esther answered and said, "If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. 4.   "For we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss." 5.   So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, "Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?" 6.   And Esther said, "The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!" So Haman was terrified before the king and queen. 7.   Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. 8.   When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was . Then the king said, "Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?" As the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9.   Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, "Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman." Then the king said, "Hang him on it!" 10.   So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided.

1.   Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 2.   "Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread." 3.   He answered and said to them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4.   "For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 5.   "But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God " –– 6.   ‘then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 7.   "Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 8.   ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 9.   And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’" 10.   When He had called the multitude to Himself , He said to them, "Hear and understand: 11.   "Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." 12.   Then His disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?" 13.   But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14.   "Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch." 15.   Then Peter answered and said to Him, "Explain this parable to us." 16.   So Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding? 17.   "Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18.   "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19.   "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 20.   "These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."