Reading: Genesis 32, Mark 3

¹ And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.² And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.³ And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.⁴ And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:⁵ And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.⁶ And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.⁷ Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;⁸ And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.⁹ And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:¹⁰ I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.¹¹ Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.¹² And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.¹³ And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother;¹⁴ Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,¹⁵ Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.¹⁶ And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.¹⁷ And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?¹⁸ Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us.¹⁹ And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him.²⁰ And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.²¹ So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.²² And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.²³ And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.²⁴ And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.²⁵ And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.²⁶ And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.²⁷ And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.²⁸ And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.²⁹ And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.³⁰ And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.³¹ And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.³² Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.

¹ And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.² And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.³ And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.⁴ And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.⁵ And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.⁶ And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.⁷ But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea,⁸ And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.⁹ And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.¹⁰ For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.¹¹ And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.¹² And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.¹³ And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.¹⁴ And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,¹⁵ And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:¹⁶ And Simon he surnamed Peter;¹⁷ And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:¹⁸ And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite,¹⁹ And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.²⁰ And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.²¹ And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.²² And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.²³ And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?²⁴ And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.²⁵ And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.²⁶ And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.²⁷ No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.²⁸ Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:²⁹ But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:³⁰ Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.³¹ There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.³² And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.³³ And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?³⁴ And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!³⁵ For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.