Monday in Season after Pentecost

25Verse 25. Now after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can return to my homeland. 26Verse 26. Give me my wives and children for whom I have served you, that I may go on my way. You know how hard I have worked for you.” 27Verse 27. But Laban replied, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.” 28Verse 28. And he added, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.” 29Verse 29. Then Jacob answered, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock have thrived under my care. 30Verse 30. Indeed, you had very little before my arrival, but now your wealth has increased many times over. The LORD has blessed you wherever I set foot. But now, when may I also provide for my own household?” 31Verse 31. “What can I give you?” Laban asked. “You do not need to give me anything,” Jacob replied. “If you do this one thing for me, I will keep on shepherding and keeping your flocks. 32Verse 32. Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat. These will be my wages. 33Verse 33. So my honesty will testify for me when you come to check on my wages in the future. If I have any goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not dark-colored, they will be considered stolen.” 34Verse 34. “Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.” 35Verse 35. That very day Laban removed all the streaked or spotted male goats and every speckled or spotted female goat— every one that had any white on it— and every dark-colored lamb, and he placed them under the care of his sons. 36Verse 36. Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was shepherding the rest of Laban’s flocks.

16Verse 16. At that time two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17Verse 17. One woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth while she was in the house. 18Verse 18. On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also had a baby. We were alone, with no one in the house but the two of us. 19Verse 19. During the night this woman’s son died because she rolled over on him. 20Verse 20. So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I was asleep. She laid him in her bosom and put her dead son at my bosom. 21Verse 21. The next morning, when I got up to nurse my son, I discovered he was dead. But when I examined him, I realized that he was not the son I had borne.” 22Verse 22. “No,” said the other woman, “the living one is my son and the dead one is your son.” But the first woman insisted, “No, the dead one is yours and the living one is mine.” So they argued before the king. 23Verse 23. Then the king replied, “This woman says, ‘My son is alive and yours is dead,’ but that woman says, ‘No, your son is dead and mine is alive.’” 24Verse 24. The king continued, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought him a sword, 25Verse 25. and the king declared, “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.” 26Verse 26. Then the woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she yearned with compassion for her son. “Please, my lord,” she said, “give her the living baby. Do not kill him!” But the other woman said, “He will be neither mine nor yours. Cut him in two!” 27Verse 27. Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. By no means should you kill him; she is his mother.” 28Verse 28. When all Israel heard of the judgment the king had given, they stood in awe of him, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.