The Daily Audio Bible

Jacob in Bethel

35 God said to Jacob, “Go to the city of Bethel and live there. Make an altar to the God who appeared to you there. This was when you were running away from your brother Esau.”

² So Jacob said to his family and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods you have. Make yourselves clean, and change your clothes. ³ We will leave here and go to Bethel. There I will build an altar to God. He has helped me during my time of trouble. He has been with me everywhere I have gone.” ⁴ So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had. And they gave him the earrings they were wearing. He hid them under the great tree near the town of Shechem. ⁵ Then Jacob and his sons left there. But God caused the people in the nearby cities to be afraid. So they did not follow the sons of Jacob. ⁶ And Jacob and all the people who were with him went to Luz. It is now called Bethel. It is in the land of Canaan. ⁷ There Jacob built an altar. He named the place Bethel, after God, because God had appeared to him there. That was when he was running from his brother.

⁸ Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak tree at Bethel. They named that place Oak of Crying.

Jacob’s New Name

⁹ When Jacob came back from Northwest Mesopotamia, God appeared to him again. And God blessed him. ¹⁰ God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. But you will not be called Jacob any longer. Your new name will be Israel.” So he called him Israel. ¹¹ God said to him, “I am God All-Powerful. Have many children and grow in number as a nation. You will be the ancestor of many nations and kings. ¹² I gave Abraham and Isaac land. I will give that same land to you and your descendants.” ¹³ Then God left him. ¹⁴ Jacob set up a stone on edge in that place where God had talked to him. And he poured a drink offering and olive oil on it to make it special for God. ¹⁵ And Jacob named the place Bethel.

Rachel Dies Giving Birth

¹⁶ Jacob and his group left Bethel. Before they came to Ephrath, Rachel began giving birth to her baby. ¹⁷ But she was having much trouble with this birth. When Rachel’s nurse saw this, she said, “Don’t be afraid, Rachel. You are giving birth to another son.” ¹⁸ Rachel gave birth to the son, but she died. As she lay dying, she named the boy Son of My Suffering. But Jacob called him Benjamin.^[a]

¹⁹ Rachel was buried on the road to Ephrath, a district of Bethlehem. ²⁰ And Jacob set up a rock on her grave to honor her. That rock is still there today. ²¹ Then Israel, also called Jacob, continued his journey. He camped just south of Migdal Eder.

²² While Israel was in that land Reuben had physical relations with Israel’s slave woman Bilhah. And Israel heard about it.

The Family of Israel

Jacob had 12 sons. ²³ He had 6 sons by his wife Leah. Reuben was his first son. Then Leah had Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.

²⁴ He had 2 sons by his wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

²⁵ He had 2 sons by Rachel’s slave girl Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.

²⁶ And he had 2 sons by Leah’s slave girl Zilpah: Gad and Asher.

These are Jacob’s sons who were born in Northwest Mesopotamia.

²⁷ Jacob went to his father Isaac at Mamre near Hebron. This is where Abraham and Isaac had lived. ²⁸ Isaac lived 180 years. ²⁹ So Isaac breathed his last breath and died when he was very old. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Esau’s Family

36 This is the family history of Esau (also called Edom).

² Esau married women from the land of Canaan. He married Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite. And he married Oholibamah daughter of Anah. Anah was the son of Zibeon the Hivite. And he married ³ Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth.

⁴ Adah gave Esau one son, Eliphaz. Basemath gave Esau Reuel. ⁵ And Oholibamah gave Esau Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were Esau’s sons who were born in the land of Canaan.

⁶ Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters and all the people who lived with him. He took his herds and other animals. And he took all the belongings he had gotten in Canaan. And he went to a land away from his brother Jacob. ⁷ Esau and Jacob’s belongings were becoming too many for them to live in the same land. The land where they had lived could not support both of them. They had too many herds. ⁸ So Esau lived in the mountains of Edom. (Esau is also named Edom.)

⁹ This is the family history of Esau. He is the ancestor of the Edomites, who live in the mountains of Edom.

¹⁰ Esau’s sons were Eliphaz son of Adah and Esau, and Reuel son of Basemath and Esau.

¹¹ Eliphaz had five sons: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam and Kenaz. ¹² Eliphaz also had a slave woman named Timna. Timna and Eliphaz gave birth to Amalek. These were Esau’s grandsons by his wife Adah.

¹³ Reuel had four sons: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were Esau’s grandsons by his wife Basemath.

¹⁴ Esau’s third wife was Oholibamah. She was the daughter of Anah. (Anah was the son of Zibeon.) Esau and Oholibamah gave birth to Jeush, Jalam and Korah.

¹⁵ These were the leaders that came from Esau. Esau’s first son was Eliphaz. From him came these leaders: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, ¹⁶ Korah, Gatam and Amalek. These were the leaders that came from Eliphaz in the land of Edom. They were the grandsons of Adah.

¹⁷ Esau’s son Reuel was the father of these leaders: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were the leaders that came from Reuel in the land of Edom. They were the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

¹⁸ Esau’s wife Oholibamah gave birth to these leaders: Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These are the leaders that came from Esau’s wife Oholibamah. She was the daughter of Anah. ¹⁹ These were the sons of Esau (also called Edom), and these were their leaders.

²⁰ These were the sons of Seir the Horite, who were living in the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ²¹ Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These sons of Seir were the leaders of the Horites in Edom.

²² The sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam. (Timna was Lotan’s sister.)

²³ The sons of Shobal were Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho and Onam.

²⁴ The sons of Zibeon were Aiah and Anah. Anah is the man who found the hot springs in the desert. He found them while he was caring for his father’s donkeys.

²⁵ The children of Anah were Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah.

²⁶ The sons of Dishon were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Keran.

²⁷ The sons of Ezer were Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan.

²⁸ The sons of Dishan were Uz and Aran.

²⁹ These were the names of the Horite leaders: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ³⁰ Dishon, Ezer and Dishan.

These men were the leaders of the Horite families. They lived in the land of Edom.

³¹ These are the kings who ruled in the land of Edom before the Israelites ever had a king.

³² Bela son of Beor was the king of Edom. He came from the city of Dinhabah.

³³ When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah became king. Jobab was from Bozrah.

³⁴ When Jobab died, Husham became king. He was from the land of the Temanites.

³⁵ When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad became king. Hadad had defeated Midian in the country of Moab. Hadad was from the city of Avith.

³⁶ When Hadad died, Samlah became king. He was from Masrekah.

³⁷ When Samlah died, Shaul became king. He was from Rehoboth on the Euphrates River.

³⁸ When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan son of Acbor became king.

³⁹ When Baal-Hanan son of Acbor died, Hadad became king. He was from the city of Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred. Matred was the daughter of Me-Zahab.

⁴⁰ These Edomite leaders came from Esau. They are listed by their families and regions. Their names were Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, ⁴¹ Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, ⁴² Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, ⁴³ Magdiel and Iram. These were the leaders of Edom. (Esau was the father of the Edomites.) The area where each of these families lived was named after that family.

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

12 About that same time, Jesus was walking through some fields of grain on a Sabbath day. His followers were with him, and they were hungry. So they began to pick the grain and eat it. ² The Pharisees saw this, and they said to Jesus, “Look! Your followers are doing something that is against the Jewish law to do on the Sabbath day.”

³ Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he and the people with him were hungry? ⁴ David went into God’s house. He and those with him ate the bread that was made holy for God. It was against the law for them to eat that bread. Only the priests were allowed to eat it. ⁵ And have you not read in the law of Moses that on every Sabbath day the priests in the Temple break this law about the Sabbath day? But the priests are not wrong for doing that. ⁶ I tell you that there is something here that is greater than the Temple. ⁷ The Scripture says, ‘I want faithful love more than I want animal sacrifices.’^[a] You don’t really know what those words mean. If you understood them, you would not judge those who have done nothing wrong.

⁸ “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day.”

Jesus Heals a Man’s Crippled Hand

⁹ Jesus left there and went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ In the synagogue, there was a man with a crippled hand. Some Jews there were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus of doing wrong. So they asked him, “Is it right to heal on the Sabbath day?”^[b]

¹¹ Jesus answered, “If any of you has a sheep, and it falls into a ditch on the Sabbath day, then you will take the sheep and help it out of the ditch. ¹² Surely a man is more important than a sheep. So the law of Moses allows people to do good things on the Sabbath day.”

¹³ Then Jesus said to the man with the crippled hand, “Let me see your hand.” The man put his hand out, and the hand became well again, the same as the other hand. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees left and made plans to kill Jesus.

Jesus Is God’s Chosen Servant

¹⁵ Jesus knew what the Pharisees were doing, so he left that place. Many people followed him, and he healed all who were sick. ¹⁶ But Jesus warned the people not to tell who he was. ¹⁷ He did these things to make come true what Isaiah the prophet had said:

What God Demands

A song of David.