Tuesday in Advent

1Verse 1. When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister. “Give me children, or I will die!” she said to Jacob. 2Verse 2. Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?” 3Verse 3. Then she said, “Here is my maidservant Bilhah. Sleep with her, that she may bear children for me, so that through her I too can build a family.” 4Verse 4. So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah as a wife, and he slept with her, 5Verse 5. and Bilhah conceived and bore him a son. 6Verse 6. Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; He has heard my plea and given me a son.” So she named him Dan. 7Verse 7. And Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8Verse 8. Then Rachel said, “In my great struggles, I have wrestled with my sister and won.” So she named him Naphtali. 9Verse 9. When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 10Verse 10. And Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11Verse 11. Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad. 12Verse 12. When Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, 13Verse 13. Leah said, “How happy I am! For the women call me happy.” So she named him Asher. 14Verse 14. Now during the wheat harvest, Reuben went out and found some mandrakes in the field. When he brought them to his mother, Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15Verse 15. But Leah replied, “Is it not enough that you have taken away my husband? Now you want to take my son’s mandrakes as well?” “Very well,” said Rachel, “he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 16Verse 16. When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night. 17Verse 17. And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore a fifth son to Jacob. 18Verse 18. Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. 19Verse 19. Again Leah conceived and bore a sixth son to Jacob. 20Verse 20. “God has given me a good gift,” she said. “This time my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” And she named him Zebulun. 21Verse 21. After that, Leah gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah. 22Verse 22. Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb, 23Verse 23. and she conceived and gave birth to a son. “God has taken away my shame,” she said. 24Verse 24. She named him Joseph, and said, “May the LORD add to me another son.”

18Verse 18. I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us. 19Verse 19. The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God. 20Verse 20. For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope 21Verse 21. that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22Verse 22. We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time. 23Verse 23. Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24Verse 24. For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see? 25Verse 25. But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently. 26Verse 26. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. 27Verse 27. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28Verse 28. And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. 29Verse 29. For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. 30Verse 30. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.