Day 12 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Genesis 33

1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and beheld, and lo! Esau his brother coming, and four hundred men with him; and Jacob divided the children to Lea and to Rachel, and the two handmaidens. 2 And he put the two handmaidens and their children with the first, and Lea and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last. 3 But he advanced himself before them, and did reverence to the ground seven times, until he drew near to his brother. 4 And Esau ran on to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they both wept. 5 And Esau looked up and saw the women and the children, and said, What are these to thee? And he said, The children with which God has mercifully blessed thy servant. 6 And the maid-servants and their children drew near and did reverence. 7 And Lea and her children drew near and did reverence; and after this drew near Rachel and Joseph, and did reverence. 8 And he said, What are these things to thee, all these companies that I have met? And he said, That thy servant might find grace in thy sight, my lord. 9 And Esau said, I have much, my brother; keep thine own. 10 And Jacob said, If I have found grace in thy sight, receive the gifts through my hands; therefore have I seen thy face, as if any one should see the face of God, and thou shalt be well-pleased with me. 11 Receive my blessings, which I have brought thee, because God has had mercy on me, and I have all things; and he constrained him, and he took [them]. 12 And he said, Let us depart, and proceed right onward. 13 And he said to him, My lord knows, that the children are very tender, and the flocks and the herds with me are with young; if then I shall drive them hard one day, all the cattle will die. 14 Let my lord go on before his servant, and I shall have strength on the road according to the ease of the journey before me, and according to the strength of the children, until I come to my lord to Seir. 15 And Esau said, I will leave with thee some of the people who are with me. And he said, Why so? it is enough that I have found favour before thee, [my] lord. 16 And Esau returned on that day on his journey to Seir. 17 And Jacob departs to his tents; and he made for himself there habitations, and for his cattle he made booths; therefore he called the name of that place, Booths. 18 And Jacob came to Salem, a city of Secima, which is in the land of Chanaan, when he departed out of Mesopotamia of Syria, and took up a position in front of the city. 19 And he bought the portion of the field, where he pitched his tent, of Emmor the father of Sychem, for a hundred lambs. 20 And he set up there an altar, and called on the God of Israel.

Genesis 34

1 And Dina, the daughter of Lea, whom she bore to Jacob, went forth to observe the daughters of the inhabitants. 2 And Sychem the son of Emmor the Evite, the ruler of the land, saw her, and took her and lay with her, and humbled her. 3 And he was attached to the soul of Dina the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and he spoke kindly to the damsel. 4 Sychem spoke to Emmor his father, saying, Take for me this damsel to wife. 5 And Jacob heard that the son of Emmor had defiled Dina his daughter (now his sons were with his cattle in the plain). And Jacob was silent until they came. 6 And Emmor the father of Sychem went forth to Jacob, to speak to him. 7 And the sons of Jacob came from the plain; and when they heard, the men were deeply pained, and it was very grievous to them, because [the man] wrought folly in Israel, having lain with the daughter of Jacob, and so it must not be. 8 And Emmor spoke to them, saying, Sychem my son has chosen in his heart your daughter; give her therefore to him for a wife, 9 and intermarry with us. Give us your daughters, and take our daughters for your sons. 10 And dwell in the midst of us; and, behold, the land is spacious before you, dwell in it, and trade, and get possessions in it. 11 And Sychem said to her father and to her brothers, I would find grace before you, and we will give whatever ye shall name. 12 Multiply [your demand of] dowry very much, and I will give accordingly as ye shall say to me, only ye shall give me this damsel for a wife. 13 And the sons of Jacob answered to Sychem and Emmor his father craftily, and spoke to them, because they had defiled Dina their sister. 14 And Symeon and Levi, the brothers of Dina, said to them, We shall not be able to do this thing, to give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, for it is a reproach to us. 15 Only on these terms will we conform to you, and dwell among you, if ye also will be as we are, in that every male of you be circumcised. 16 And we will give our daughters to you, and we will take of your daughters for wives to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will be as one race. 17 But if ye will not hearken to us to be circumcised, we will take our daughter and depart. 18 And the words pleased Emmor, and Sychem the son of Emmor. 19 And the young man delayed not to do this thing, for he was much attached to Jacob's daughter, and he was the most honourable of all in his father's house. 20 And Emmor and Sychem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21 These men are peaceable, let them dwell with us upon the land, and let them trade in it, and behold the land is extensive before them; we will take their daughters to us for wives, and we will give them our daughters. 22 Only on these terms will the men conform to us to dwell with us so as to be one people, if every male of us be circumcised, as they also are circumcised. 23 And shall not their cattle and their herds, and their possessions, be ours? only in this let us conform to them, and they will dwell with us. 24 And all that went in at the gate of their city hearkened to Emmor and Sychem his son, and they were circumcised in the flesh of their foreskin every male. 25 And it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, the two sons of Jacob, Symeon and Levi, Dina's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city securely, and slew every male. 26 And they slew Emmor and Sychem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dina out of the house of Sychem, and went forth. 27 But the sons of Jacob came upon the wounded, and ravaged the city wherein they had defiled Dina their sister. 28 And their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses they took, and all things whatsoever were in the city, and whatsoever were in the plain. 29 And they took captive all the persons of them, and all their store, and their wives, and plundered both whatever things there were in the city, and whatever things there were in the houses. 30 And Jacob said to Symeon and Levi, Ye have made me hateful so that I should be evil to all the inhabitants of the land, both among the Chananites and the Pherezites, and I am few in number; they will gather themselves against me and cut me in pieces, and I shall be utterly destroyed, and my house. 31 And they said, Nay, but shall they treat our sister as an harlot?

Genesis 35

1 And God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to the place, Bæthel, and dwell there; and make there an altar to the God that appeared to thee, when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. 2 And Jacob said to his house, and to all that were with him, Remove the strange gods that are with you from the midst of you, and purify yourselves, and change your clothes. 3 And let us rise and go up to Bæthel, and let us there make an altar to God who hearkened to me in the day of calamity, who was with me, and preserved me throughout in the journey, by which I went. 4 And they gave to Jacob the strange gods, which were in their hands, and the ear-rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the turpentine tree which is in Secima, and destroyed them to this day. 5 So Israel departed from Secima, and the fear of God was upon the cities round about them, and they did not pursue after the children of Israel. 6 And Jacob came to Luza, which is in the land of Chanaan, which is Bæthel, he and all the people that were with him. 7 And he built there an altar, and called the name of the place Bæthel; for there God appeared to him, when he fled from the face of his brother Esau. 8 And Deborrha, Rebecca's nurse, died, and was buried below Bæthel under the oak; and Jacob called its name, The Oak of Mourning. 9 And God appeared to Jacob once more in Luza, when he came out of Mesopotamia of Syria, and God blessed him. 10 And God said to him, Thy name shall not be called Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name; and he called his name Israel. 11 And God said to him, I am thy God; increase and multiply; for nations and gatherings of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins. 12 And the land which I gave to Abraam and Isaac, I have given it to thee; and it shall come to pass that I will give this land also to thy seed after thee. 13 And God went up from him from the place where he spoke with him. 14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where God spoke with him, [even] a pillar of stone; and offered a libation upon it, and poured oil upon it. 15 And Jacob called the name of the place in which God spoke with him, Bæthel. 16 [And Jacob removed from Bæthel, and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Gader,] and it came to pass when he drew nigh to Chabratha, to enter into Ephratha, Rachel travailed; and in her travail she was in hard labour. 17 And it came to pass in her hard labour, that the midwife said to her, Be of good courage, for thou shalt also have this son. 18 And it came to pass in her giving up the ghost (for she was dying), that she called his name, The son of my pain; but his father called his name Benjamin. 19 So Rachel died, and was buried in the way of the course of Ephratha, this is Bethleem. 20 And Jacob set up a pillar on her tomb; this is the pillar on the tomb of Rachel, until this day. 22 And it came to pass when Israel dwelt in that land, that Ruben went and lay with Balla, the concubine of his father Jacob; and Israel heard, and the thing appeared grievous before him. And the sons of Jacob were twelve. 23 The sons of Lea, the first-born of Jacob; Ruben, Symeon, Levi, Judas, Issachar, Zabulon. 24 And the sons of Rachel; Joseph and Benjamin. 25 And the sons of Balla, the hand-maid of Rachel; Dan and Nephthalim. 26 And the sons of Zelpha, the hand-maid of Lea; Gad and Aser. These [are] the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Mesopotamia of Syria. 27 And Jacob came to Isaac his father to Mambre, to a city of the plain; this is Chebron in the land of Chanaan, where Abraam and Isaac sojourned. 28 And the days of Isaac which he lived were an hundred and eighty years. 29 And Isaac gave up the ghost and died, and was laid to his family, old and full of days; and Esau and Jacob his sons buried him.

Matthew 9

1 He entered into a boat and crossed over, and came into his own city. 2 Behold, they brought to him a man who was paralyzed, lying on a bed. Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, cheer up! Your sins are forgiven you.” 3 Behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man blasphemes.” 4 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins—” (then he said to the paralytic), “Get up, and take up your mat, and go to your house.” 7 He arose and departed to his house. 8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such authority to men. 9 As Jesus passed by from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collection office. He said to him, “Follow me.” He got up and followed him. 10 As he sat in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. 13 But you go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” 14 Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?” 15 Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch would tear away from the garment, and a worse hole is made. 17 Neither do people put new wine into old wineskins, or else the skins would burst, and the wine be spilled, and the skins ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” 18 While he told these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 Jesus got up and followed him, as did his disciples. 20 Behold, a woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years came behind him, and touched the fringe of his garment; 21 for she said within herself, “If I just touch his garment, I will be made well.” 22 But Jesus, turning around and seeing her, said, “Daughter, cheer up! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour. 23 When Jesus came into the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd in noisy disorder, 24 he said to them, “Make room, because the girl isn’t dead, but sleeping.” They were ridiculing him. 25 But when the crowd was sent out, he entered in, took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26 The report of this went out into all that land. 27 As Jesus passed by from there, two blind men followed him, calling out and saying, “Have mercy on us, son of David!” 28 When he had come into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They told him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” 30 Then their eyes were opened. Jesus strictly commanded them, saying, “See that no one knows about this.” 31 But they went out and spread abroad his fame in all that land. 32 As they went out, behold, a mute man who was demon possessed was brought to him. 33 When the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke. The multitudes marveled, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!” 34 But the Pharisees said, “By the prince of the demons, he casts out demons.” 35 Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. 36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them because they were harassed and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest indeed is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers into his harvest.”