Hands-On Bible Sampler - Flipbook - Page 63
page 33
CANAAN
EGYPT
Ni
le River
Mediterranean
Sea
God’s chosen people sometimes went
to Egypt for food, help, and safety.
Both Abraham and Joseph went to
Egypt when people couldn’t grow food
in Canaan. Read MATTHEW 2:13-15 to
find out about another important
person who went to
Egypt for
go
Where do youhe
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safety.
en you need lp
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Thank someone yo en you
helped you wh
needed it.
young. And when he changed his mind and said,
‘The striped animals will be your wages,’ then
the whole flock produced striped young. 9 In this
way, God has taken your father’s animals and
given them to me.
10 “One time during the mating season, I had a
dream and saw that the male goats mating with
the females were streaked, speckled, and spotted. 11 Then in my dream, the angel of God said to
me, ‘Jacob!’ And I replied, ‘Yes, here I am.’
12 “The angel said, ‘Look up, and you will see
that only the streaked, speckled, and spotted
males are mating with the females of your flock.
For I have seen how Laban has treated you. 13I
am the God who appeared to you at Bethel, the
place where you anointed the pillar of stone and
made your vow to me. Now get ready and leave
this country and return to the land of your
birth.’”
14 Rachel and Leah responded, “That’s fine
with us! We won’t inherit any of our father’s
wealth anyway. 15He has reduced our rights to
those of foreign women. And after he sold us, he
wasted the money you paid him for us. 16All the
wealth God has given you from our father legally
belongs to us and our children. So go ahead and
do whatever God has told you.”
17 So Jacob put his wives and children on
... Genesis 31
camels,
he drove all his livestock in front
of him. He packed all the belongings he had acquired in Paddan-aram and set out for the land
of Canaan, where his father, Isaac, lived. 19At the
time they left, Laban was some distance away,
shearing his sheep. Rachel stole her father’s
household idols and took them with her. 20Jacob
outwitted Laban the Aramean, for they set out
secretly and never told Laban they were leaving.
21 So Jacob took all his possessions with him and
crossed the Euphrates River, heading for the hill
country of Gilead.
18and
Laban Pursues Jacob
22 Three days later, Laban was told that Jacob had
fled. 23 So he gathered a group of his relatives
and set out in hot pursuit. He caught up with Jacob seven days later in the hill country of Gilead.
24But the previous night God had appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream and told him, “I’m
warning you—leave Jacob alone!”
25 Laban caught up with Jacob as he was
camped in the hill country of Gilead, and he set
up his camp not far from Jacob’s. 26“What do you
mean by deceiving me like this?” Laban demanded. “How dare you drag my daughters away
like prisoners of war? 27 Why did you slip away
secretly? Why did you deceive me? And why
didn’t you say you wanted to leave? I would have
given you a farewell feast, with singing and music, accompanied by tambourines and harps.
28Why didn’t you let me kiss my daughters and
grandchildren and tell them good-bye? You have
acted very foolishly! 29 I could destroy you, but
the God of your father appeared to me last night
and warned me, ‘Leave Jacob alone!’ 30I can
understand your feeling that you must go, and
your intense longing for your father’s home. But
why have you stolen my gods?”
31“I rushed away because I was afraid,” Jacob
answered. “I thought you would take your
daughters from me by force. 32But as for your
gods, see if you can find them, and let the person
who has taken them die! And if you find anything
else that belongs to you, identify it before all
these relatives of ours, and I will give it back!” But
Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the
household idols.
33Laban went first into Jacob’s tent to search
there, then into Leah’s, and then the tents of the
two servant wives—but he found nothing. Finally,
he went into Rachel’s tent. 34But Rachel had
taken the household idols and hidden them in
her camel saddle, and now she was sitting on
them. When Laban had thoroughly searched her
