Meditate

28. Jacob Flees to Laban

28

Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, “You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women.²Go at once to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father; and take as wife from there one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.³May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and numerous, that you may become a company of peoples.⁴May he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien—land that God gave to Abraham.”⁵Thus Isaac sent Jacob away; and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

Esau Marries Ishmael’s Daughter

⁶ Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he charged him, “You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women,”⁷and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram.⁸So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please his father Isaac,⁹Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, and sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

¹⁰ Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran.¹¹He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place.¹²And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.¹³And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring;¹⁴and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.¹⁵Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”¹⁶Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!”¹⁷And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.¹⁹He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first.²⁰Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear,²¹so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God,²²and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you.”

8. Life Through the Spirit

Life in the Spirit

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There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.²For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.³For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,⁴so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

40. Psalm 40

Psalm 40

Thanksgiving for Deliverance and Prayer for Help

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

1

I waited patiently for the Lord;

he inclined to me and heard my cry.

2

He drew me up from the desolate pit,

out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock,

making my steps secure.

3

He put a new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear,

and put their trust in the Lord.

4

Happy are those who make

the Lord their trust,

who do not turn to the proud,

to those who go astray after false gods.

5

You have multiplied, O Lord my God,

your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;

none can compare with you.

Were I to proclaim and tell of them,

they would be more than can be counted.

6

Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,

but you have given me an open ear.

Burnt offering and sin offering

you have not required.

7

Then I said, “Here I am;

in the scroll of the book it is written of me.

8

I delight to do your will, O my God;

your law is within my heart.”

9

I have told the glad news of deliverance

in the great congregation;

see, I have not restrained my lips,

as you know, O Lord.

10

I have not hidden your saving help within my heart,

I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;

I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness

from the great congregation.

11

Do not, O Lord, withhold

your mercy from me;

let your steadfast love and your faithfulness

keep me safe forever.

12

For evils have encompassed me

without number;

my iniquities have overtaken me,

until I cannot see;

they are more than the hairs of my head,

and my heart fails me.

13

Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;

O Lord, make haste to help me.

14

Let all those be put to shame and confusion

who seek to snatch away my life;

let those be turned back and brought to dishonor

who desire my hurt.

15

Let those be appalled because of their shame

who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”

16

But may all who seek you

rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who love your salvation

say continually, “Great is the Lord!”

17

As for me, I am poor and needy,

but the Lord takes thought for me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

do not delay, O my God.