daily-reading-plan-header

Genesis 33–35

1 Then Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants. 2 He put the female servants and their children in front, then Leah and her children next, and then Rachel and Joseph last. 3 He went on before them, bowing 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 When Esau looked up and saw the women and the children, he said, “Who are those with you?”

Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”

6 Then the female servants came near, they and their children, and they bowed down. 7 Leah also with her children came near and bowed themselves. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed themselves.

8 Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?”

Jacob answered, “These are to find favor in the sight of my lord.”

9 Esau said, “I have enough, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”

10 Jacob said, “No, I pray you, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my gift from my hand. For I have seen your face, and it is as though I have seen the face of God, with you having received me favorably. 11 Please take my blessing that has been brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have plenty.” So he urged him, and he took it.

12 Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of you.”

13 But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds with young are with me. If they are driven too hard one day, all the flock will die. 14 Please let my lord pass over before his servant, and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the livestock that goes before me and the pace the children will be able to endure, until I come to my lord at Seir.”

15 So Esau said, “Let me leave some of the people that are with me with you.”

But Jacob said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”

16 So Esau returned that day making his way back to Seir. 17 But Jacob journeyed to Sukkoth and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Sukkoth.

18 Jacob came peacefully to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan Aram, and camped before the city. 19 He bought a parcel of a field, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver. 20 He erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel.

Chapter 34

1 Now Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 2 When Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her and defiled her. 3 He was very smitten by Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke kindly to her. 4 Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.”

5 Now Jacob heard that Shechem had violated his daughter Dinah, but his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came.

6 Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to commune with him. 7 The sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it, and the men were grieved and were very disturbed, because Shechem had disgraced Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing that should not be done.

8 Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. I pray that you will give her to him to marry. 9 Make marriages with us, and give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You may dwell with us, and the land will be before you. Dwell and trade in it and get possessions in it.”

11 Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12 You can make the dowry and gift I must bring high, and I will give according to what you say to me. Just give me the girl to marry.”

13 The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 14 They said to them, “We cannot do this. To give our sister to one who is uncircumcised would be a disgrace to us. 15 But we will consent to you in this: If you will become as we are, that is, every one of your males be 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 listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will leave.”

18 Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. 19 The young man did not delay to do the thing, because he wanted Jacob’s daughter. Now he was more respected than all the household of his father. 20 So Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and they 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 the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as our wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22 Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us and be one people: if every male among us will be circumcised as they are circumcised. 23 Will not their livestock and their possessions and every animal of theirs be ours? Only, let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.”

24 All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and Shechem his son, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

25 On the third day, when they were in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and went to the unsuspecting city and killed all the males. 26 They killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword and took Dinah out of the house of Shechem and departed. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and looted the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28 They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys and whatever was in the city and in the fields. 29 They took captive and looted all their wealth, all their little ones, and their wives, even all that was in each house.

30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me revolting among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. Our being few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and slay me, and I will be destroyed, both I and my household.”

31 But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

Chapter 35

1 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, dwell there, and there make an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”

2 So 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 clothes. 3 Let us arise and go up to Bethel, and there I will make an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their possession and all their earrings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem. 5 As they traveled, the terror of God was on the cities that were 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 There he built an altar and called the place El Bethel, because God had appeared to him there when he fled from his brother.

8 Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried beneath Bethel under the oak. So it was called Allon Bakuth.

9 God appeared to Jacob again when he came out of Paddan Aram and blessed him. 10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be called Jacob any more, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel.

11 God said to him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will come from you, and kings shall come forth from you. 12 The land that I gave Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, and to your descendants after you I will give the land.” 13 Then God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him.

14 Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it too. 15 So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

16 They journeyed from Bethel, and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had a difficult labor. 17 When she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear. You will have this son also.” 18 As her soul was departing (for she died), she called his name Ben-Oni, but his father called him Benjamin.

19 Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. 20 Jacob set a pillar on her grave. It is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.

21 Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. 22 When Israel lived in that land, 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 and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Zebulun.

24 The sons of Rachel were

Joseph and Benjamin.

25 And 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 are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Paddan Aram.

27 Jacob came back to Isaac his father in Mamre of Kiriath Arba (which is Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. 28 Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. 29 And 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.

Matthew 10:1–20

1 He called His twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority 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 Zealot; 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 any city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

9 “Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper for your purses, 10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor shoes, nor even staffs. For the workman is worthy of his keep.

11 “In whatever city or town you enter, inquire in it who is worthy. And live there until you leave. 12 When you come into a house, greet it. 13 If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 Whoever will not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. 15 Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment than for that town.

16 “Look, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. 17 But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. 18 You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought of how or what you will speak. For it will be given you at that time what you will speak. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks through you.”