Morning Readings
Reconciliation Week
Genesis 33:1-16
1 Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two maidservants. 2 He put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. 3 He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.
4 But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. 5 Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. "Who are these with you?" he asked.
Jacob answered, "They are the children God has graciously given your servant."
6 Then the maidservants and their children approached and bowed down. 7 Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down.
8 Esau asked, "What do you mean by all these droves I met?"
"To find favour in your eyes, my lord," he said.
9 But Esau said, "I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself."
10 "No, please!" said Jacob. "If I have found favour in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. 11 Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need." And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.
12 Then Esau said, "Let us be on our way; I'll accompany you."
13 But Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. 14 So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the droves before me and that of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir."
15 Esau said, "Then let me leave some of my men with you."
"But why do that?" Jacob asked. "Just let me find favour in the eyes of my lord."
16 So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir.
Genesis 35:1-12
1 Then God said to Jacob, "Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau."
2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone." 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. 5 Then they set out, and the terror of God fell upon the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.
6 Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. 7 There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, [a] because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.
8 Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So it was named Allon Bacuth. [b]
9 After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, [c] God appeared to him again and blessed him. 10 God said to him, "Your name is Jacob, [d] but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel. [e] " So he named him Israel.
11 And God said to him, "I am God Almighty [f] ; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body. 12 The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you."
Footnotes:
- Genesis 35:7 El Bethel means God of Bethel .
- Genesis 35:8 Allon Bacuth means oak of weeping .
- Genesis 35:9 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia; also in verse 26
- Genesis 35:10 Jacob means he grasps the heel (figuratively, he deceives ).
- Genesis 35:10 Israel means he struggles with God .
- Genesis 35:11 Hebrew El-Shaddai
Evening Readings
The Soul's Food
Jeremiah 15:15-21
15 You understand, O LORD;
remember me and care for me.
Avenge me on my persecutors.
You are long-suffering—do not take me away;
think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.
16 When your words came, I ate them;
they were my joy and my heart's delight,
for I bear your name,
O LORD God Almighty.
17 I never sat in the company of revelers,
never made merry with them;
I sat alone because your hand was on me
and you had filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unending
and my wound grievous and incurable?
Will you be to me like a deceptive brook,
like a spring that fails?
19 Therefore this is what the LORD says:
"If you repent, I will restore you
that you may serve me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
you will be my spokesman.
Let this people turn to you,
but you must not turn to them.
20 I will make you a wall to this people,
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
but will not overcome you,
for I am with you
to rescue and save you,"
declares the LORD.
21 "I will save you from the hands of the wicked
and redeem you from the grasp of the cruel."
Jeremiah 16:17
17 My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.
Jeremiah 17:5-10
5 This is what the LORD says:
"Cursed are those who trust in mortals,
who depend on flesh for their strength
and whose hearts turn away from the LORD.
6 They will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
7 "But blessed are those who trust in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
10 "I the LORD search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward everyone according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve."
Jeremiah 17:14
14 Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed;
save me and I will be saved,
for you are the one I praise.
Jeremiah 17:17
17 Do not be a terror to me;
you are my refuge in the day of disaster.
Leaves for Plucking
Jeremiah 1:6-8
6 "Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am too young."
7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am too young.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD.
