Now Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken away all that belonged to our father and built all this wealth at our father’s expense.” And Jacob saw from the countenance of Laban that his attitude toward him had changed. Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” So Jacob sent word and called Rachel and Leah to the field where his flocks were, and he told them, “I can see from your father’s countenance that his attitude toward me has changed; but the God of my father has been with me. . . .

When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.

When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister. “Give me children, or I will die!” she said to Jacob.

Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?”

“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

And Jacob did just that. He finished the week’s celebration, and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife.

Since Jacob loved Rachel, he answered, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”

Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful.

So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, yet it seemed but a few days because of his love for her.

Jacob slept with Rachel as well, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. So he worked for Laban another seven years.

Now Laban had two daughters; the older was named Leah, and the younger was named Rachel.

When morning came, there was Leah! “What have you done to me?” Jacob said to Laban. “Wasn’t it for Rachel that I served you? Why have you deceived me?”

“Is he well?” Jacob inquired. “Yes,” they answered, “and here comes his daughter Rachel with his sheep.”

Now as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way in the land of Canaan, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess.

The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud.

He told Rachel that he was Rebekah’s son, a relative of her father, and she ran and told her father.

Then Laban declared, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” After Jacob had stayed with him a month,

Finally Jacob said to Laban, “Grant me my wife, for my time is complete, and I want to sleep with her.”

And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maidservant.

Finish this week’s celebration, and we will give you the younger one in return for another seven years of work.”

Laban also gave his servant girl Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maidservant.

And once more she conceived and gave birth to a son and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” So she named him Judah. Then Leah stopped having children.

But Leah replied, “Is it not enough that you have taken away my husband? Now you want to take my son’s mandrakes as well?” “Very well,” said Rachel, “he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”

Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb,

Now while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.

Later, they set out from Bethel, and while they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult. During her severe labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you are having another son.” And with her last breath—for she was dying—she named him Ben-oni. But his father called him Benjamin.

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. . . .

But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.

When you leave me today, you will find two men at Rachel’s tomb in Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you seek have been found, and now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and started worrying about you, asking, “What should I do about my son?”’

Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. . . .

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.

Now to Him who is able to do so much more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,

As soon as Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, with Laban’s sheep, he went up and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep.

Laban said to him, “Just because you are my relative, should you work for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.”

Laban said to him, “Just because you are my relative, should you work for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.” Now Laban had two daughters; the older was named Leah, and the younger was named Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful. Since Jacob loved Rachel, he answered, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” Laban replied, “Better that I give her to you than to another. Stay here with me.” . . .

So Laban invited all the men of that place and prepared a feast.

But when evening came, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her.

Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older.

And Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben, for she said, “The LORD has seen my affliction. Surely my husband will love me now.”

Now during the wheat harvest, Reuben went out and found some mandrakes in the field. When he brought them to his mother, Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; He has heard my plea and given me a son.” So she named him Dan.

Then Rachel said, “In my great struggles, I have wrestled with my sister and won.” So she named him Naphtali.

And Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we have any portion or inheritance left in our father’s house?

Are we not regarded by him as outsiders? Not only has he sold us, but he has certainly squandered what was paid for us.

If you find your gods with anyone here, he shall not live! In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself if anything is yours, and take it back.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.

So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, then Leah’s tent, and then the tents of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. Now Rachel had taken Laban’s household idols, put them in the saddlebag of her camel, and was sitting on them. And Laban searched everything in the tent but found nothing. Rachel said to her father, “Sir, do not be angry that I cannot stand up before you; for I am having my period.” So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols.

Now Rachel had taken Laban’s household idols, put them in the saddlebag of her camel, and was sitting on them. And Laban searched everything in the tent but found nothing.

So Jacob sent word and called Rachel and Leah to the field where his flocks were,

So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.

Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.

This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.

For no word from God will ever fail.”

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.

He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth.”

What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

“We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints— the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard in the word of truth, the gospel . . .

For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me face to face, that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric. For although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I delight to see your orderly condition and firm faith in Christ. . . .

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only to please them while they are watching, but with sincerity of heart and fear of the Lord.

Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men,

Masters, supply your slaves with what is right and fair, since you know that you also have a Master in heaven. Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful, as you pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may declare it clearly, as I should. Act wisely toward outsiders, redeeming the time. . . .

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.

This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me.

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us.