Malcom: Welcome To Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 91
Esau knew that his father, Isaac, had blessed Jacob and sent him to Pad Arum to
find a wife, and that he had warned Jacob, you must not marry a Canaanite woman.
He also knew that Jacob had obeyed his parents and gone to Patar.
It was now very clear to Esau that his father did not like
the local Canaanite women.
So Esau visited his Uncle Ishmael's family and married one of Ishmael's daughters.
In addition to the wives he already had.
His new wife's name was Mehala.
She was the sister of Nabe and the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son.
Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Herron at Sundown,
he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night.
Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep.
As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven, and
he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway at the top of the stairway,
stood the Lord, and he said, I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham,
and the God of your father, Isaac.
The ground you are lying on belongs to you.
I am giving it to you and your descendants.
Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth.
They will spread out in all directions to the west and the east, to the
north and the south, and all the families of the earth will be blessed
through you and your descendants.
What's more?
I am with you and I will protect you wherever you go.
One day I will bring you back to this land.
I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, surely the Lord is in this place.
And I wasn't even aware of it, but he was also afraid and said,
what an awesome place this is.
It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven.
The next morning, Jacob got up very early.
He took the stone he had rested his head against and he set it
upright as a memorial pillar.
Then he poured olive oil over it.
He named that place Bethel, which means House of God, although
it was previously called Lu.
Then Jacob made this vow, if God will indeed be with me and protect me on
this journey, and if you'll provide me with food and clothing and if I
return safely to my father's home.
Then the Lord will certainly be my God.
And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping
God and I will present to God a 10th of everything he gives me.
Then Jacob hurried on finally arriving in the land of the east.
He saw well in the distance, three flocks of sheep and goats lay in an open field
beside it, waiting to be watered, but a heavy stone covered the mouth of the well.
It was the custom there to wait for all the flocks to arrive before removing
the stone and watering the animals.
Afterward, the stone would be placed back over the mouth of the well.
Jacob went over to the shepherds and asked, where are you from?
My friends?
We are from Heron.
They answered, do you know a man there named Labin, the grandson of Hor?
He asked, yes, we do.
They replied, is he doing well?
Jacob asked.
Yes, he's well.
They answered, look, here comes his daughter Rachel, with the flock.
Now Jacob said, look, it's still broad daylight, too
early to round up the animals.
Why don't you water the sheep and goats so they can get back out to pasture?
We can't water the animals until all the flocks have arrived.
They replied.
Then the shepherds move the stone from the mouth of the well, and
we water all the sheep and goats.
Jacob was still talking with them.
When Rachel arrived with her father's flock for, she was the shepherd and
because Rachel was his cousin, the daughter of Labin, his mother's brother,
and because the sheep and goats belonged to his uncle Labin, Jacob went over to
the well and moved the stone from its mouth and watered his uncle's flock.
Then Jacob kissed Rachel and he wept aloud.
He explained to Rachel that he was her cousin on her father's
side, the son of her aunt Rebecca.
So Rachel quickly ran and told her father Laben.
As soon as Laben heard that his nephew Jacob had arrived, he ran out to meet him.
He embraced and kissed him and brought him home.
When Jacob had told him his story, Laben exclaimed, you
really are my own flesh and blood.
After Jacob had stayed with Laben for about a month, Laben said to him,
You shouldn't work for me without pay, just because we are relatives.
Tell me how much your wages should be.
Now, Leman had two daughters.
The older daughter was named Leah, and the younger one was Rachel.
There was no sparkle in Leah's eyes, but Rachel had a beautiful
figure and a lovely face.
Since Jacob was in love with Rachel, he told her father, I'll work for you for
seven years if you'll give me Rachel, your younger daughter as my wife.
Agreed.
Leben replied, I'd rather give her to you than to anyone else.
Stay and work with me.
So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel, but his love for her
was so strong that it seemed to him.
But a few days, finally, the time came for him to marry her.
I have fulfilled my agreement.
Jacob said to Lavin, now give me my wife so I can sleep with her.
So layman invited everyone in the neighborhood and prepared a wedding feast.
But that night when it was dark, layman took Leah to Jacob and he slept with her.
Layman had given Leah a servant, ZPA to be her maid, but when Jacob woke
up in the morning, it was Leah, what have you done to me, Jacob at Lavin?
I worked seven years for Rachel.
Why have you tricked me?
It's not our custom here to marry off a younger daughter ahead of the firstborn.
Leban replied, but wait until the bridal week is over and then we'll give
you Rachel too, provided you promised to work another seven years for me.
So Jacob agreed to work seven more years, a week after Jacob had married
Leah Leban gave him Rachel too.
Leban gave Rachel a servant Bill ha, to be her maid.
So Jacob slept with Rachel too, and he loved her much more than Leah.
He then stayed and worked for Labin the additional seven years.
When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have
children, but Rachel could not conceive.
So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to his son.
She named him Ruben for she said, the Lord has noticed my misery,
and now my husband will love me.
She soon became pregnant again and gave birth to another son.
She named him Simeon for, she said The Lord heard that I was unloved
and has given me another son.
Then she became pregnant a third time and gave birth to another
son he was named Levi for.
She said, surely this time my husband will feel affection for me
since I have given him three sons.
Once again, Leah became pregnant and gave birth to another son.
She named him Judah for.
She said, now I will praise the Lord.
And then she stopped having children.
When Rachel saw that she wasn't having any children for Jacob,
she became jealous of her sister.
She pleaded with Jacob, give me children, or I'll die.
Then Jacob became furious with Rachel.
Am I God?
He asked.
He's the one who has kept you from having children.
Then Rachel told him, take my maid Bill Ha.
And sleep with her.
She will bear children for me and through her I can have a family too.
So Rachel gave her servant Bill Ha to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her.
Bill Ha.
Became pregnant and presented him with a son.
Rachel named him Dan for, she said, God has vindicated me.
He has heard my request and given me a son.
Then Bill Ha became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son.
Rachel named him Naf Lie for.
She said, I have struggled hard with my sister and I'm winning.
Meanwhile, Leah realized that she wasn't getting pregnant anymore,
so she took her servant Zpa and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
Soon, ZPA presented him with a son.
Leah named him Gad for, she said how fortunate I am.
Then Zpa gave Jacob a second son, and Leah named him Asher
for she said, what Joy is mine?
Now the other women will celebrate with me.
One day during the wheat harvest, Ruben found some mandrakes growing in a field
and brought them to his mother, Leah.
Rachel, begged Leah, please give me some of your son's mandrakes.
Leah angrily replied, wasn't it enough that you stole my husband?
Now, will you steal my son's mandrakes too?
Rachel answered.
I will let Jacob sleep with you tonight if you give me some of the mandrakes.
So that evening, as Jacob was coming home from the fields,
Leah went out to meet him.
You must come and sleep with me tonight.
She said, I have paid for you with some mandrakes that my son found.
So that night he slept with Leah and God answered Leah's prayers.
She became pregnant again and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob.
She named him Iscar for, she said, God has rewarded me for giving my
servant to my husband as a wife.
Then Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob.
She named him Zebulon for, she said, God has given me a good reward.
Now my husband will treat me with respect for I have given him six sons.
Later, she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dina.
Then God remembered Rachel's plight and answered her prayers
by enabling her to have children.
She became pregnant and gave birth to a son.
God has removed my disgrace, she said, and she named him Joseph for she said, may
the Lord add yet another son to my family.
This concludes today's Immer Reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.