Genesis 33; Genesis 34; Genesis 35; Matthew 10:1-20

1 And Jacob lifting up his eyes, saw Esau coming, and with him four hundred men: and he divided the children of Lia and of Rachel, and of the two handmaids.

2 And he put both the handmaids and their children foremost: and Lia and her children in the second place: and Rachel and Joseph last.

3 And he went forward and bowed down with his face to the ground seven times, until his brother came near.

4 Then Esau ran to meet his brother, and embraced him: and clasping him fast about the neck, and kissing him, wept.

5 And lifting up his eyes, he saw the women and their children, and said: What mean these? And do they belong to thee? He answered: They are the children which God hath given to me, thy servant.

6 Then the handmaids and their children came near and bowed themselves.

7 Lia also, with her children, came near and bowed down in like manner; and last of all, Joseph and Rachel bowed down.

8 And Esau said: What are the droves that I met? He answered: That I might find favour before my lord.

9 But he said: I have plenty, my brother, keep what is thine for thyself.

10 And Jacob said: Do not so I beseech thee, but if I have found favour in thy eyes, receive a little present at my hands: for I have seen thy face, as if I should have seen the countenance of God: be gracious to me,

11 And take the blessing which I have brought thee, and which God hath given me, who giveth all things. He took it with much ado at his brother’s earnest pressing him,

12 And said: Let us go on together, and I will accompany thee in thy journey.

13 And Jacob said: My lord, thou knowest that I have with me tender children, and sheep, and kine with young: which if I should cause to be overdriven, in one day all the flocks will die.

14 May it please my lord to go before his servant: and I will follow softly after him, as I shall see my children to be able, until I come to my lord in Seir.

15 Esau answered: I beseech thee, that some of the people, at least, who are with me, may stay to accompany thee in the way. And he said: There is no necessity: I want nothing else but only to find favour, my lord, in thy sight.

16 So Esau returned that day, the way that he came, to Seir.

17 And Jacob came to Socoth: where having built a house, and pitched tents, he called the name of the place Socoth, that is, Tents.

18 And he passed over to Salem, a city of the Sichemites, which is in the land of Chanaan, after he returned from Mesopotamia of Syria: and he dwelt by the town.

19 And he bought that part of the field, in which he pitched his tents, of the children of Hemor, the father of Sichem, for a hundred lambs.

20 And raising an altar there, he invoked upon it the most mighty God of Israel.

1 And Dina the daughter of Lia went out to see the women of that country.

2 And when Sichem the son of Hemor the Hevite, the prince of that land, saw her, he was in love with her: and took her away, and lay with her, ravishing the virgin.

3 And his soul was fast knit unto her; and whereas she was sad, he comforted her with sweet words.

4 And going to Hemor his father, he said: Get me this damsel to wife.

5 But when Jacob had heard this, his sons being absent, and employed in feeding the cattle, he held his peace till they came back.

6 And when Hemor the father of Sichem was come out to speak to Jacob,

7 Behold his sons came from the field: and hearing what had passed, they were exceeding angry, because he had done a foul thing in Israel, and committed an unlawful act, in ravishing Jacob’s daughter.

8 And Hemor spoke to them: The soul of my son Sichem has a longing for your daughter: give her him to wife:

9 And let us contract marriages one with another: give us your daughters, and take you our daughters.

10 And dwell with us: the land is at your command, till, trade, and possess it.

11 Sichem also said to her father and to her brethren: Let me find favour in your sight, and whatsoever you shall appoint I will give:

12 Raise the dowry, and ask gifts, and I will gladly give what you shall demand: only give me this damsel to wife.

13 The sons of Jacob answered Sichem and his father deceitfully, being enraged at the deflowering of their sister:

14 We cannot do what you demand, nor give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; which with us is unlawful and abominable.

15 But in this we may be allied with you, if you will be like us, and all the male sex among you be circumcised:

16 Then will we mutually give and take your daughters, and ours; and we will dwell with you, and will be one people:

17 But if you will not be circumcised, we will take our daughter and depart.

18 Their offer pleased Hemor, and Sichem, his son:

19 And the young man made no delay, but forthwith fulfilled what was required: for he loved the damsel exceedingly, and he was the greatest man in all his father’s house.

20 And going into the gate of the city, they spoke to the people:

21 These men are peaceable, and are willing to dwell with us: let them trade in the land, and till it, which being large and wide wanteth men to till it: we shall take their daughters for wives, and we will give them ours.

22 One thing there is for which so great a good is deferred: We must circumcise every male among us, following the manner of the nation.

23 And their substance, and cattle, and all that they possess, shall be ours; only in this let us condescend, and by dwelling together, we shall make one people.

24 And they all agreed, and circumcised all the males.

25 And behold the third day, when the pain of the wound was greatest: two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dina, taking their swords, entered boldly into the city and slew all the men.

26 And they killed also Hemor and Sichem, and took away their sister Dina out of Sichem’s house.

27 And when they were gone out, the other sons of Jacob came upon the slain; and plundered the city in revenge of the rape.

28 And they took their sheep, and their herds, and their asses, wasting all they had in their houses and in their fields.

29 And their children and wives they took captive.

30 And when they had boldly perpetrated these things, Jacob said to Simeon and Levi: You have troubled me, and made me hateful to the Chanaanites and Pherezites, the inhabitants of this land. We are few: they will gather themselves together and kill me; and both I, and my house shall be destroyed.

31 They answered: Should they abuse our sister as a strumpet?

1 In the mean time God said to Jacob: Arise and go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar to God, who appeared to thee when thou didst flee from Esau, thy brother.

2 And Jacob having called together all his household, said: Cast away the strange gods that are among you, and be cleansed, and change your garments.

3 Arise, and let us go up to Bethel, that we may make there an altar to God; who heard me in the day of my affliction, and accompanied me in my journey.

4 So they gave him all the strange gods they had, and the earrings which were in their ears: and he buried them under the turpentine tree, that is behind the city of Sichem.

5 And when they were departed, the terror of God fell upon all the cities round about, and they durst not pursue after them as they went away.

6 And Jacob came to Luza, which is in the land of Chanaan, surnamed Bethel: he and all the people that were with him.

7 And he built there an altar, and called the name of that place, The house of God: for there God appeared to him when he fled from his brother.

8 At the same time Debora, the nurse of Rebecca, died, and was buried at the foot of Bethel, under an oak, and the name of that place was called, The oak of weeping.

9 And God appeared again to Jacob, after he returned from Mesopotamia of Syria, and he blessed him,

10 Saying: Thou shalt not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name. And he called him Israel.

11 And said to him: I am God almighty, increase thou and be multiplied. Nations and peoples of nations shall be from thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins.

12 And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to thee, and to thy seed after thee.

13 And he departed from him.

14 But he set up a monument of stone, in the place where God had spoken to him: pouring drink offerings upon it, and pouring oil thereon:

15 And calling the name of that place Bethel.

16 And going forth from thence, he came in the spring time to the land which leadeth to Ephrata: wherein when Rachel was in travail,

17 By reason of her hard labour, she began to be in danger, and the midwife said to her: Fear not, for thou shalt have this son also.

18 And when her soul was departing for pain, and death was now at hand, she called the name of her son Benoni, that is, the son of my pain: but his father called him Benjamin, that is, the son of the right hand.

19 So Rachel died, and was buried in the highway that leadeth to Ephrata, this is Bethlehem.

20 And Jacob erected a pillar over her sepulchre: this is the pillar of Rachel’s monument, to this day.

21 Departing thence, he pitched his tent beyond the Flock tower.

22 And when he dwelt in that country, Ruben went, and slept with Bala the concubine of his father: which he was not ignorant of. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.

23 The sons of Lia: Ruben the first born, and Simeon, and Levi, and Juda, and Issachar, and Zabulon.

24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

25 The sons of Bala, Rachel’s handmaid: Dan and Nephthali.

26 The sons of Zelpha, Lia’s handmaid: Gad and Aser: these are the sons of Jacob, that were born to him in Mesopotamia of Syria.

27 And he came to Isaac his father in Mambre, the city of Arbee, this is Hebron: wherein Abraham and Isaac sojourned.

28 And the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years.

29 And being spent with age he died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

1 And having called his twelve disciples together, he gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities.

2 And the names of the twelve Apostles are these: The first, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother,

3 James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the publican, and James the son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus,

4 Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

5 These twelve Jesus sent: commanding them, saying: Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the city of the Samaritans enter ye not.

6 But go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

7 And going, preach, saying: The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils: freely have you received, freely give.

9 Do not possess gold, nor silver, nor money in your purses:

10 Nor scrip for your journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor a staff; for the workman is worthy of his meat.

11 And into whatsoever city or town you shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there abide till you go thence.

12 And when you come into the house, salute it, saying: Peace be to this house.

13 And if that house be worthy, your peace shall come upon it; but if it be not worthy, your peace shall return to you.

14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words: going forth out of that house or city shake off the dust from your feet.

15 Amen I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

16 Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves.

17 But beware of men. For they will deliver you up in councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues.

18 And you shall be brought before governors, and before kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles:

19 But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what to speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak:

20 For it is not you that speak, but the spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.