Bible Reading February 2-4
(World English Bible)
Feb. 2
Genesis 33
Gen 33:1 Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men. He divided the children between Leah, Rachel, and the two handmaids.
Gen 33:2 He put the handmaids and their children in front, Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph at the rear.
Gen 33:3 He himself passed over in front of them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
Gen 33:4 Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, fell on his neck, kissed him, and they wept.
Gen 33:5 He lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, "Who are these with you?" He said, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant."
Gen 33:6 Then the handmaids came near with their children, and they bowed themselves.
Gen 33:7 Leah also and her children came near, and bowed themselves. After them, Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed themselves.
Gen 33:8 Esau said, "What do you mean by all this company which I met?" Jacob said, "To find favor in the sight of my lord."
Gen 33:9 Esau said, "I have enough, my brother; let that which you have be yours."
Gen 33:10 Jacob said, "Please, no, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present at my hand, because I have seen your face, as one sees the face of God, and you were pleased with me.
Gen 33:11 Please take the gift that I brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough." He urged him, and he took it.
Gen 33:12 Esau said, "Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before you."
Gen 33:13 Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds with me have their young, and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die.
Gen 33:14 Please let my lord pass over before his servant, and I will lead on gently, according to the pace of the livestock that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord to Seir."
Gen 33:15 Esau said, "Let me now leave with you some of the folk who are with me." He said, "Why? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord."
Gen 33:16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.
Gen 33:17 Jacob traveled to Succoth, built himself a house, and made shelters for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
Gen 33:18 Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan Aram; and encamped before the city.
Gen 33:19 He bought the parcel of ground where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money.
Gen 33:20 He erected an altar there, and called it El Elohe Israel.
Genesis 34
Gen 34:1 Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
Gen 34:2 Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humbled her.
Gen 34:3 His soul joined to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young lady, and spoke kindly to the young lady.
Gen 34:4 Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, "Get me this young lady as a wife."
Gen 34:5 Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; and his sons were with his livestock in the field. Jacob held his peace until they came.
Gen 34:6 Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to talk with him.
Gen 34:7 The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it. The men were grieved, and they were very angry, because he had done folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter; a which thing ought not to be done.
Gen 34:8 Hamor talked with them, saying, "The soul of my son, Shechem, longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife.
Gen 34:9 Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.
Gen 34:10 You shall dwell with us, and the land will be before you. Live and trade in it, and get possessions in it."
Gen 34:11 Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you will tell me I will give.
Gen 34:12 Ask me a great amount for a dowry, and I will give whatever you ask of me, but give me the young lady as a wife."
Gen 34:13 The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceit, and spoke, because he had defiled Dinah their sister,
Gen 34:14 and said to them, "We can't do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised; for that is a reproach to us.
Gen 34:15 Only on this condition will we consent to you. If you will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised;
Gen 34:16 then will we give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.
Gen 34:17 But if you will not listen to us, to be circumcised, then we will take our sister, and we will be gone."
Gen 34:18 Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor's son.
Gen 34:19 The young man didn't wait to do this thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter, and he was honored above all the house of his father.
Gen 34:20 Hamor and Shechem, his son, came to the gate of their city, and talked with the men of their city, saying,
Gen 34:21 "These men are peaceful with us. Therefore let them live in the land and trade in it. For behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.
Gen 34:22 Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people, if every male among us is circumcised, as they are circumcised.
Gen 34:23 Won't their livestock and their possessions and all their animals be ours? Only let us give our consent to them, and they will dwell with us."
Gen 34:24 All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor, and to Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
Gen 34:25 It happened on the third day, when they were sore, that two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword, came upon the unsuspecting city, and killed all the males.
Gen 34:26 They killed Hamor and Shechem, his son, with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went away.
Gen 34:27 Jacob's sons came on the dead, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.
Gen 34:28 They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys, that which was in the city, that which was in the field,
Gen 34:29 and all their wealth. They took captive all their little ones and their wives, and took as plunder everything that was in the house.
Gen 34:30 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my house."
Gen 34:31 They said, "Should he deal with our sister as with a prostitute?"
Feb. 4
Genesis 35
Gen 35:1 God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother."
Gen 35:2 Then Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, change your garments.
Gen 35:3 Let us arise, and go up to Bethel. I will make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went."
Gen 35:4 They gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
Gen 35:5 They traveled, and a terror of God was on the cities that were around them, and they didn't pursue the sons of Jacob.
Gen 35:6 So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.
Gen 35:7 He built an altar there, and called the place El Beth El; because there God was revealed to him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
Gen 35:8 Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and its name was called Allon Bacuth.
Gen 35:9 God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him.
Gen 35:10 God said to him, "Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be Jacob any more, but your name will be Israel." He named him Israel.
Gen 35:11 God said to him, "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will come out of your body.
Gen 35:12 The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and to your seed after you will I give the land."
Gen 35:13 God went up from him in the place where he spoke with him.
Gen 35:14 Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it.
Gen 35:15 Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him "Bethel."
Gen 35:16 They traveled from Bethel. There was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel travailed. She had hard labor.
Gen 35:17 When she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid, for now you will have another son."
Gen 35:18 It happened, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin.
Gen 35:19 Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath (the same is Bethlehem).
Gen 35:20 Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. The same is the Pillar of Rachel's grave to this day.
Gen 35:21 Israel traveled, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder.
Gen 35:22 It happened, while Israel lived in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.
Gen 35:23 The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
Gen 35:24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
Gen 35:25 The sons of Bilhah (Rachel's handmaid): Dan and Naphtali.
Gen 35:26 The sons of Zilpah (Leah's handmaid): Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.
Gen 35:27 Jacob came to Isaac his father, to Mamre, to Kiriath Arba (which is Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac lived as foreigners.
Gen 35:28 The days of Isaac were one hundred eighty years.
Gen 35:29 Isaac gave up the spirit, and died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. Esau and Jacob, his sons, buried him.
Feb. 2, 3
Matthew 17
Mat 17:1 After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves.
Mat 17:2 He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light.
Mat 17:3 Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him.
Mat 17:4 Peter answered, and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, let's make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
Mat 17:5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him."
Mat 17:6 When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces, and were very afraid.
Mat 17:7 Jesus came and touched them and said, "Get up, and don't be afraid."
Mat 17:8 Lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, except Jesus alone.
Mat 17:9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Don't tell anyone what you saw, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead."
Mat 17:10 His disciples asked him, saying, "Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
Mat 17:11 Jesus answered them, "Elijah indeed comes first, and will restore all things,
Mat 17:12 but I tell you that Elijah has come already, and they didn't recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted to. Even so the Son of Man will also suffer by them."
Mat 17:13 Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the Baptizer.
Mat 17:14 When they came to the multitude, a man came to him, kneeling down to him, saying,
Mat 17:15 "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is epileptic, and suffers grievously; for he often falls into the fire, and often into the water.
Mat 17:16 So I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him."
Mat 17:17 Jesus answered, "Faithless and perverse generation! How long will I be with you? How long will I bear with you? Bring him here to me."
Mat 17:18 Jesus rebuked him, the demon went out of him, and the boy was cured from that hour.
Mat 17:19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately, and said, "Why weren't we able to cast it out?"
Mat 17:20 He said to them, "Because of your unbelief. For most certainly I tell you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
Mat 17:21 But this kind doesn't go out except by prayer and fasting."
Mat 17:22 While they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be delivered up into the hands of men,
Mat 17:23 and they will kill him, and the third day he will be raised up." They were exceedingly sorry.
Mat 17:24 When they had come to Capernaum, those who collected the didrachma coins came to Peter, and said, "Doesn't your teacher pay the didrachma?"
Mat 17:25 He said, "Yes." When he came into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth receive toll or tribute? From their children, or from strangers?"
Mat 17:26 Peter said to him, "From strangers." Jesus said to him, "Therefore the children are exempt.
Mat 17:27 But, lest we cause them to stumble, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take up the first fish that comes up. When you have opened its mouth, you will find a stater coin. Take that, and give it to them for me and you."
Matthew 18
Mat 18:1 In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?"
Mat 18:2 Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the midst of them,
Mat 18:3 and said, "Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Mat 18:4 Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Mat 18:5 Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me,
Mat 18:6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him that a huge millstone should be hung around his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depths of the sea.
Mat 18:7 "Woe to the world because of occasions of stumbling! For it must be that the occasions come, but woe to that person through whom the occasion comes!
Mat 18:8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire.
Mat 18:9 If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of fire.
Mat 18:10 See that you don't despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
Mat 18:11 For the Son of Man came to save that which was lost.
Mat 18:12 "What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray?
Mat 18:13 If he finds it, most certainly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.
Mat 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
Mat 18:15 "If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother.
Mat 18:16 But if he doesn't listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
Mat 18:17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.
Mat 18:18 Most certainly I tell you, whatever things you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you release on earth will have been released in heaven.
Mat 18:19 Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.
Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them."
Mat 18:21 Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?"
Mat 18:22 Jesus said to him, "I don't tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven.
Mat 18:23 Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to reconcile accounts with his servants.
Mat 18:24 When he had begun to reconcile, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.
Mat 18:25 But because he couldn't pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
Mat 18:26 The servant therefore fell down and kneeled before him, saying, 'Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!'
Mat 18:27 The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
Mat 18:28 "But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him one hundred denarii, and he grabbed him, and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!'
Mat 18:29 "So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will repay you!'
Mat 18:30 He would not, but went and cast him into prison, until he should pay back that which was due.
Mat 18:31 So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told to their lord all that was done.
Mat 18:32 Then his lord called him in, and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me.
Mat 18:33 Shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?'
Mat 18:34 His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due to him.
Mat 18:35 So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don't each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds."
