The Berean Pursuit
So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. "Do not take a wife from the Canaanite women," he commanded. "Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your mother's father Bethuel, and take a wife from among the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples. And may He give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants, so that you may possess the land where you dwell as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham."
So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife there, commanding him, "Do not marry a Canaanite woman," and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and gone to Paddan-aram.
And seeing that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women, Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham's son Ishmael, in addition to the wives he already had.
Meanwhile Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. On reaching a certain place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. And taking one of the stones from that place, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.
And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God's angels were going up and down the ladder. And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you now lie. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and east and north and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. Look, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
When Jacob woke up, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was unaware of it." And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!"
Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar. He poured oil on top of it, and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz.
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear, so that I may return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God. And this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give You a tenth."
Jacob resumed his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. He looked and saw a well in the field, and near it lay three flocks of sheep, because the sheep were watered from this well. And a large stone covered the mouth of the well. When all the flocks had been gathered there, the shepherds would roll away the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.
"My brothers," Jacob asked the shepherds, "where are you from?"
"We are from Haran," they answered.
"Do you know Laban the grandson of Nahor?" Jacob asked.
"We know him," they replied.
"Is he well?" Jacob inquired.
"Yes," they answered, "and here comes his daughter Rachel with his sheep."
"Look," said Jacob, "it is still broad daylight; it is not yet time to gather the livestock. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture."
But they replied, "We cannot, until all the flocks have been gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep."
While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. As soon as Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother's brother Laban, with Laban's sheep, he went up and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle's sheep. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. He told Rachel that he was Rebekah's son, a relative of her father, and she ran and told her father.
When Laban heard the news about his sister's son Jacob, he ran out to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home, where Jacob told him all that had happened.
Then Laban declared, "You are indeed my own flesh and blood."
After Jacob had stayed with him a month, Laban said to him, "Just because you are my relative, should you work for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be."
Now Laban had two daughters; the older was named Leah, and the younger was named Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful. Since Jacob loved Rachel, he answered, "I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel."
Laban replied, "Better that I give her to you than to another. Stay here with me." So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, yet it seemed but a few days because of his love for her.
Finally Jacob said to Laban, "Grant me my wife, for my time is complete, and I want to sleep with her."
So Laban invited all the men of that place and prepared a feast. But when evening came, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her. And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maidservant.
When morning came, there was Leah! "What have you done to me?" Jacob said to Laban. "Wasn't it for Rachel that I served you? Why have you deceived me?"
Laban replied, "It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older. Finish this week's celebration, and we will give you the younger one in return for another seven years of work."
And Jacob did just that. He finished the week's celebration, and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. Laban also gave his servant girl Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maidservant.
Jacob slept with Rachel as well, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. So he worked for Laban another seven years.
When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben, for she said, "The LORD has seen my affliction. Surely my husband will love me now."
Again she conceived and gave birth to a son, and she said, "Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has given me this son as well." So she named him Simeon.
Once again Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she said, "Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." So he was named Levi.
And once more she conceived and gave birth to a son and said, "This time I will praise the LORD." So she named him Judah. Then Leah stopped having children.
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and as soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will return it shortly.'?"
So they went and found the colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. They untied it, and some who were standing there asked, "Why are you untying the colt?"
The disciples answered as Jesus had instructed them, and the people gave them permission. Then they led the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, and He sat on it.
Many in the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut from the fields. The ones who went ahead and those who followed were shouting:
"Hosanna!"
"Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!"
"Hosanna in the highest!"
Then Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
The next day, when they had left Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if there was any fruit on it. But when He reached it, He found nothing on it except leaves, since it was not the season for figs. Then He said to the tree, "May no one ever eat of your fruit again." And His disciples heard this statement.
When they arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. And He would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. Then Jesus began to teach them, and He declared, "Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"
When the chief priests and scribes heard this, they looked for a way to kill Him. For they were afraid of Him, because the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.
And when evening came, Jesus and His disciples went out of the city.
As they were walking back in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from its roots. Peter remembered it and said, "Look, Rabbi! The fig tree You cursed has withered."
"Have faith in God," Jesus said to them. "Truly I tell you that if anyone says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and has no doubt in his heart but believes that it will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well."
After their return to Jerusalem, Jesus was walking in the temple courts, and the chief priests, scribes, and elders came up to Him. "By what authority are You doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave You the authority to do them?"
"I will ask you one question," Jesus replied, "and if you answer Me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John's baptism-was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me!"
They deliberated among themselves what they should answer: "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will ask, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men'..." they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John truly was a prophet. So they answered, "We do not know."
And Jesus replied, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."