The Daily Audio Bible
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30 Rachel saw that she was not giving birth to children for Jacob. So she envied her sister Leah. Rachel said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
2 Jacob became angry with her. He said, “Can I do what only God can do? He is the one who has kept you from having children.”
3 Then Rachel said, “Here is my slave girl Bilhah. Have physical relations with her so she can give birth to a child for me. Then I can have my own family through her.”
4 So Rachel gave Bilhah, her slave girl, to Jacob as a wife. And he had physical relations with her. 5 She became pregnant and gave Jacob a son. 6 Rachel said, “God has declared me innocent. He has listened to my prayer and has given me a son.” So Rachel named this son Dan.[a]
7 Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son. 8 Rachel said, “I have struggled hard with my sister. And I have won.” So she named that son Naphtali.[b]
9 Leah saw that she had stopped having children. So she gave her slave girl Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 10 Then Zilpah had a son. 11 Leah said, “I am lucky.” So she named her son Gad.[c] 12 Zilpah gave birth to another son. 13 Leah said, “I am very happy! Now women will call me happy.” So she named that son Asher.[d]
14 During the wheat harvest Reuben went into the field and found some mandrake[e] plants. He brought them to his mother Leah. But Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15 Leah answered, “You have already taken away my husband. Now you are trying to take away my son’s mandrakes.”
But Rachel answered, “If you will give me your son’s mandrakes, you may sleep with Jacob tonight.”
16 When Jacob came in from the field that night, Leah went out to meet him. She said, “You will have intimate relations with me tonight. I have paid for you with my son’s mandrakes.” So Jacob slept with her that night.
17 Then God answered Leah’s prayer, and she became pregnant again. She gave birth to a fifth son. 18 Leah said, “God has given me what I paid for, because I gave my slave girl to my husband.” So Leah named her son Issachar.[f]
19 Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son. 20 She said, “God has given me a fine gift. Now surely Jacob will honor me, because I have given him six sons.” So Leah named the son Zebulun.[g]
21 Later Leah gave birth to a daughter. She named her Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel and answered her prayer. God made it possible for her to have children. 23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She said, “God has taken away my shame.” 24 She named him Joseph.[h] Rachel said, “I wish the Lord would give me another son.”
Jacob Tricks Laban
25 After the birth of Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Now let me go to my own home and country. 26 Give me my wives and my children, and let me go. I have earned them by working for you. You know that I served you well.”
27 Laban said to him, “If I have pleased you, please stay. I know the Lord has blessed me because of you. 28 Tell me what I should pay you, and I will give it to you.”
29 Jacob answered, “You know that I have worked hard for you. Your flocks have grown while I cared for them. 30 When I came, you had little. Now you have much. Every time I did something for you, the Lord blessed you. But when will I be able to do something for my own family?”
31 Laban asked, “Then what should I give you?”
Jacob answered, “I don’t want you to give me anything. Just do this one thing. Then I will come back and take care of your flocks. 32 Today let me go through all your flocks of white sheep and black goats. I will take every spotted or speckled lamb. I will take every black lamb and every spotted or speckled goat. That will be my pay. 33 In the future you can easily see if I am honest. You can come to look at my flocks. If I have any goat that isn’t speckled or spotted or any sheep that isn’t black, you will know I stole it.”
34 Laban answered, “Agreed! We will do what you ask.” 35 But that day Laban took away all the male goats that had streaks or spots. And he took all the speckled and spotted female goats (all those that had white on them). And he took all the black sheep. He told his sons to watch over them. 36 Laban took these animals to a place that was three days’ journey away from Jacob. Jacob took care of all the animals that were left.
37 So Jacob cut green branches from poplar, almond and plane trees. He peeled off some of the bark so that the branches had white stripes on them. 38 He put the branches in front of the flocks at the watering places. When the animals came to drink, they also mated there. 39 So the goats mated in front of the branches. Then the young that were born were streaked, speckled or spotted. 40 Jacob separated the young animals from the others. And he made them face the streaked and dark animals in Laban’s flock. Jacob kept his animals separate from Laban’s. 41 When the stronger animals in the flock were mating, Jacob put the branches before their eyes. This was so the animals would mate near the branches. 42 But when the weaker animals mated, Jacob did not put the branches there. So the animals born from the weaker animals were Laban’s. And the animals born from the stronger animals were Jacob’s. 43 In this way Jacob became very rich. He had large flocks, many male and female servants, camels and donkeys.
Jacob Runs Away
31 One day Jacob heard Laban’s sons talking. They said, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned. Jacob has become rich in this way.” 2 Then Jacob noticed that Laban was not as friendly as he had been before. 3 The Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land where your ancestors lived. I will be with you.”
4 So Jacob told Rachel and Leah to meet him in the field where he kept his flocks. 5 He said to them, “I have seen that your father is not as friendly with me as he used to be. But the God of my father has been with me. 6 You both know that I have worked as hard as I could for your father. 7 But he cheated me. He has changed my pay ten times. But God has not allowed your father to harm me. 8 At one time Laban said, ‘You can have all the speckled goats as your pay.’ After that, all the animals gave birth to speckled young ones. But then Laban said, ‘You can have all the streaked goats as your pay.’ After that, all the animals gave birth to streaked babies. 9 So God has taken the animals away from your father. And God has given them to me.
10 “I had a dream during the season when the animals were mating. I saw that the only male goats who were mating were streaked, speckled or spotted. 11 The angel of God spoke to me in that dream. He said, ‘Jacob!’ I answered, ‘Yes!’ 12 The angel said, ‘Look! Only the streaked, speckled or spotted goats are mating. I have seen all the wrong things Laban does to you. 13 I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel. There you poured olive oil on the stone you set up on end. There you made a promise to me. Now I want you to leave here. Go back to the land where you were born.’”
14 Rachel and Leah answered Jacob, “Our father has nothing to give us when he dies. 15 He has treated us like strangers. He sold us to you, and then he spent all of the money you paid for us. 16 God took all this wealth from our father, and now it belongs to us and our children. So you do whatever God told you to do.”
Jesus Sends Out His Apostles
10 Jesus called his 12 followers together. He gave them power to drive out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and sickness. 2 These are the names of the 12 apostles: Simon (also called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot. Judas is the one who turned against Jesus.
5 These 12 men he sent out with the following order: “Don’t go to the non-Jewish people. And don’t go into any town where the Samaritans live. 6 But go to the people of Israel. They are like sheep that are lost. 7 When you go, preach this: ‘The kingdom of heaven is coming soon.’ 8 Heal the sick. Give dead people life again. Heal those who have harmful skin diseases. Force demons to leave people. I give you these powers freely. So help other people freely. 9 Don’t carry any money with you—gold or silver or copper. 10 Don’t carry a bag. Take for your trip only the clothes and sandals you are wearing. Don’t take a walking stick. A worker should be given the things he needs.
11 “When you enter a city or town, find some worthy person there and stay in his home until you leave. 12 When you enter that home, say, ‘Peace be with you.’ 13 If the people there welcome you, let your peace stay there. But if they don’t welcome you, take back the peace you wished for them. 14 And if a home or town refuses to welcome you or listen to you, then leave that place. Shake its dust off your feet.[a] 15 I tell you the truth. On the Judgment Day it will be worse for that town than for the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah.[b]
Jesus Warns His Apostles
16 “Listen! I am sending you out, and you will be like sheep among wolves. So be as smart as snakes. But also be like doves and do nothing wrong. 17 Be careful of people. They will arrest you and take you to court. They will whip you in their synagogues. 18 Because of me you will be taken to stand before governors and kings. You will tell them and the non-Jewish people about me. 19 When you are arrested, don’t worry about what to say or how you should say it. At that time you will be given the things to say. 20 It will not really be you speaking. The Spirit of your Father will be speaking through you.
21 “Brothers will turn against their own brothers and give them over to be killed. Fathers will turn against their own children and give them to be killed. Children will fight against their own parents and have them killed. 22 All people will hate you because you follow me. But the person who continues strong until the end will be saved. 23 When you are treated badly in one city, go to another city. I tell you the truth. You will not finish going through all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
A Prayer Against Liars
For the director of music. By the sheminith. A song of David.
12 Save me, Lord, because the good people are all gone.
No true believers are left on earth.
2 Everyone lies to his neighbors.
They say one thing and mean another.
3 The Lord will stop those lying lips.
He will cut off those bragging tongues.
4 They say, “Our tongues will help us win.
We can say what we wish. No one is our master.”
5 But the Lord says,
“I will now rise up
because the poor are being hurt.
Because of the moans of the helpless,
I will give them the help they want.”
6 The Lord’s words are pure.
They are like silver purified by fire,
like silver purified seven times over.
7 Lord, keep us safe.
Always protect us from such people.
8 The wicked are all around us.
Everyone loves what is wrong.
13 Happy is the person who finds wisdom.
And happy is the person who gets understanding.
14 Wisdom is worth more than silver.
It brings more profit than gold.
15 Wisdom is more precious than rubies.
Nothing you want is equal to it.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.