The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday January 15, 2020 (NIV)

¹⁷ So Jacob got up and put his children and wives on the camels. ¹⁸ He took all the livestock and possessions he had acquired in Paddan-aram, and he drove his herds to go to the land of Canaan, to his father Isaac. ¹⁹ When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.^{(A) 20} And Jacob deceived^[a] Laban the Aramean, not telling him that he was fleeing. ²¹ He fled with all his possessions, crossed the Euphrates, and headed for^[b] the hill country of Gilead.

Laban Overtakes Jacob

²² On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. ²³ So he took his relatives with him, pursued Jacob for seven days, and overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴ But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night. “Watch yourself!” God warned him. “Don’t say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”^(B)

²⁵ When Laban overtook Jacob, Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban and his relatives also pitched their tents in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁶ Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and taken my daughters away like prisoners of war! ²⁷ Why did you secretly flee from me, deceive me, and not tell me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and lyres, ²⁸ but you didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters. You have acted foolishly. ²⁹ I could do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me: ‘Watch yourself! Don’t say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ ³⁰ Now you have gone off because you long for your father’s family—but why have you stolen my gods?” ^(C)

³¹ Jacob answered, “I was afraid, for I thought you would take your daughters from me by force. ³² If you find your gods with anyone here, he will not live!^(D) Before our relatives, point out anything that is yours and take it.” Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.

³³ So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, Leah’s tent, and the tents of the two concubines,^[c] but he found nothing. When he left Leah’s tent, he went into Rachel’s tent. ³⁴ Now Rachel had taken Laban’s household idols, put them in the saddlebag of the camel, and sat on them. Laban searched the whole tent but found nothing.

³⁵ She said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence;^(E) I am having my period.” So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols.

Jacob’s Covenant with Laban

³⁶ Then Jacob became incensed and brought charges against Laban. “What is my crime?” he said to Laban. “What is my sin, that you have pursued me? ³⁷ You’ve searched all my possessions! Have you found anything of yours?^[d] Put it here before my relatives and yours, and let them decide between the two of us. ³⁸ I’ve been with you these twenty years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams from your flock. ³⁹ I did not bring you any of the flock torn by wild beasts; I myself bore the loss. You demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or by night. ⁴⁰ There I was—the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes. ⁴¹ For twenty years in your household I served you—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks^(F)—and you have changed my wages ten times! ⁴² If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, certainly now you would have sent me off empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and my hard work,^[e] and he issued his verdict last night.”

⁴³ Then Laban answered Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters; the sons, my sons; and the flocks, my flocks! Everything you see is mine! But what can I do today for these daughters of mine or for the children they have borne? ⁴⁴ Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I.^(G) Let it be a witness between the two of us.”

⁴⁵ So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a marker.^{(H) 46} Then Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a mound, then ate there by the mound. ⁴⁷ Laban named the mound Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Galeed.^[f]

⁴⁸ Then Laban said, “This mound is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore the place was called Galeed ⁴⁹ and also Mizpah,^[g](I) for he said, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are out of each other’s sight. ⁵⁰ If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, though no one is with us, understand that God will be a witness between you and me.”^{(J) 51} Laban also said to Jacob, “Look at this mound and the marker I have set up between you and me. ⁵² This mound is a witness and the marker is a witness that I will not pass beyond this mound to you, and you will not pass beyond this mound and this marker to do me harm. ⁵³ The God of Abraham, and the gods^(K) of Nahor—the gods of their father^[h]—will judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. ⁵⁴ Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. So they ate a meal and spent the night on the mountain. ⁵⁵ Laban got up early in the morning, kissed his grandchildren and daughters, and blessed them. Then Laban left to return home.

Preparing to Meet Esau

32 Jacob went on his way, and God’s angels met him.^{(L) 2} When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s camp.” So he called that place Mahanaim.^[i](M)

³ Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the territory of Edom. ⁴ He commanded them, “You are to say to my lord Esau, ‘This is what your servant Jacob says. I have been staying with Laban and have been delayed until now. ⁵ I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female slaves. I have sent this message to inform my lord, in order to seek your favor.’”^(N)

⁶ When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau; he is coming to meet you—and he has four hundred men with him.”^{(O) 7} Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; he divided the people with him into two camps, along with the flocks, herds, and camels. ⁸ He thought, “If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it, the remaining one can escape.”^(P)

⁹ Then Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac,^(Q) the Lord who said to me, ‘Go back to your land and to your family, and I will cause you to prosper,’^{(R) 10} I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. Indeed, I crossed over the Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two camps. ¹¹ Please rescue me from my brother Esau, for I am afraid of him; otherwise, he may come and attack me, the mothers, and their children. ¹² You have said, ‘I will cause you to prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to be counted.’”^(S)

²⁴ A disciple^[a] is not above his teacher, or a slave above his master.^{(A) 25} It is enough for a disciple to become like his teacher and a slave like his master. If they called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more the members of his household!^(B)

Fear God

²⁶ “Therefore,^(C) don’t be afraid of them, since there is nothing covered that won’t be uncovered and nothing hidden that won’t be made known.^{(D) 27} What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. What you hear in a whisper,^[b] proclaim on the housetops.^{(E) 28} Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; ^(F) rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.^{(G) 29} Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny?^[c] Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s^(H) consent.^{[d] 30} But even the hairs of your head have all been counted.^{(I) 31} So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.^(J)

Acknowledging Christ

³² “Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge me before others, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.^{(K) 33} But whoever denies me before others,^(L) I will also deny him before my Father in heaven. ³⁴ Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.^{(M) 35} For I came to turn

³⁷ The one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; ^(O) the one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸ And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹ Anyone who finds his life will lose it,^(P) and anyone who loses his life because of me will find it.^(Q)

A Cup of Cold Water

⁴⁰ “The one who welcomes you welcomes me,^(R) and the one who welcomes me welcomes him who sent me.^{(S) 41} Anyone who welcomes a prophet^(T) because he is a prophet^[f] will receive a prophet’s reward. And anyone who welcomes a righteous person because he’s righteous^[g] will receive a righteous person’s reward. ⁴² And whoever gives^(U) even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple,^[h](V) truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”

John the Baptist Doubts

11 When Jesus had finished giving instructions to his twelve disciples, he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.^{(W) 2} Now when John heard in prison what the Christ was doing, he sent a message through his disciples^{(X) 3} and asked him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” ^(Y)

⁴ Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: ⁵ The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy^[i] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news,^{(Z) 6} and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me.”^(AA)

Psalm 13

A Plea for Deliverance

For the choir director. A psalm of David.