Jan 18th

Then Jacob said when he saw them, “This is God’s camp.” So he named that place Mahanaim.

Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

He also commanded them saying, “Thus you shall say to my lord, to Esau: ‘Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have sojourned with Laban and have been delayed until now;

and I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female slaves; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.” ’ ”

Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother, to Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”

Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two camps.

And he said, “If Esau comes to the one camp and strikes it, then the camp which remains will escape.”

And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Yahweh, who said to me, ‘Return to your land and to your kin, and I will prosper you,’

I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the truth which You have shown to Your slave; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.

Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and strike me down with the mothers and the children.

For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.’ ”

So he spent the night there. Then he took from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau:

two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.

And he gave them into the hand of his servants, every flock by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on before me and put a space between flocks.”

And he commanded the first one in front, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?’

then you shall say, ‘These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a present sent to my lord, to Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.’ ”

Then he commanded also the second and the third and all those who followed the flocks, saying, “After this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him;

and you shall say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will appease his face with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will lift up my face.”

So the present passed on before him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.

And he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two servant-women and his eleven children and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.

And he took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had.

Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of dawn.

And he saw that he had not prevailed against him, so he touched the socket of his thigh; and so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.

Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”

Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there.

So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been delivered.”

And the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh.

Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh because he touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.

Then Jacob lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two servant-women.

And he put the servant-women and their children first, and Leah and her children after them, and Rachel and Joseph after them.

But he himself passed on ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.

And he lifted up his eyes and saw the women and the children and said, “Who are these with you?” And he said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”

Then the servant-women came near with their children, and they bowed down.

Leah likewise came near with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed down.

And he said, “What do you mean by all these camps which I have met?” And he said, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.”

But Esau said, “I have plenty, my brother; let what you have be your own.”

And Jacob said, “No, please, if now I have found favor in your sight, then take my present from my hand, for I see your face as one sees the face of God, and you have received me favorably.

Please take my blessing which has been brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have everything.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.

Then Esau said, “Let us take our journey and go, and I will go before you.”

But he said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak and that the flocks and herds which are nursing are a care to me. And if they are driven hard one day, all the flocks will die.

Please let my lord pass on before his servant, and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord at Seir.”

Then Esau said, “Please let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “Why do this? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”

So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.

But Jacob journeyed to Succoth and built for himself a house and made booths for his livestock; therefore the place is named Succoth.

Now Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city.

Then he bought a portion of a field where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred qesitah.

Then he set up there an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.

Then Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her and took her and lay with her and violated her.

And he was deeply attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke to the heart of the young woman.

So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl as a wife.”

Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter; but his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob kept silent until they came in.

Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him.

Now the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved, and they were very angry because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.

But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod,

so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.

Now having been prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”

And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests.

And he sent and had John beheaded in the prison.

And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.

And his disciples came and took away the body and buried it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself; and when the crowds heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities.

And when He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.

Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!”

But they *said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”

And He said, “Bring them here to Me.”

And ordering the crowds to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food. And breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds,

and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets.

And there were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away.

And after He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.

But the boat was already many stadia away from the land, being battered by the waves; for the wind was against them.

And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.

Now when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.

But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”