Genesis 30

• 1. When Rachel saw that she wasn't having any children, she became jealous of her sister. "Give me children, or I'll die!" she exclaimed to Jacob.
• 2. Jacob flew into a rage. "Am I God?" he asked. "He is the only one able to give you children!"
• 3. Then Rachel told him, "Sleep with my servant, Bilhah, and she will bear children for me."
• 4. So Rachel gave him Bilhah to be his wife, and Jacob slept with her.
• 5. Bilhah became pregnant and presented him with a son.
• 6. Rachel named him Dan, for she said, "God has vindicated me! He has heard my request and given me a son."
• 7. Then Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son.
• 8. Rachel named him Naphtali, for she said, "I have had an intense struggle with my sister, and I am winning!"
• 9. Meanwhile, Leah realized that she wasn't getting pregnant anymore, so she gave her servant, Zilpah, to Jacob to be his wife.
• 10. Soon Zilpah presented him with another son.
• 11. Leah named him Gad, for she said, "How fortunate I am!"
• 12. Then Zilpah produced a second son,
• 13. and Leah named him Asher, for she said, "What joy is mine! The other women will consider me happy indeed!"
• 14. One day during the wheat harvest, Reuben found some mandrakes growing in a field and brought the roots to his mother, Leah. Rachel begged Leah to give some of them to her.
• 15. But Leah angrily replied, "Wasn't it enough that you stole my husband? Now will you steal my son's mandrake roots, too?" Rachel said, "I will let him sleep with you tonight in exchange for the mandrake roots."
• 16. So that evening, as Jacob was coming home from the fields, Leah went out to meet him. "You must sleep with me tonight!" she said. "I have paid for you with some mandrake roots my son has found." So Jacob slept with her.
• 17. And God answered her prayers. She became pregnant again and gave birth to her fifth son.
• 18. She named him Issachar, for she said, "God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband as a wife."
• 19. Then she became pregnant again and had a sixth son.
• 20. She named him Zebulun, for she said, "God has given me good gifts for my husband. Now he will honor me, for I have given him six sons."
• 21. Later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
• 22. Then God remembered Rachel's plight and answered her prayers by giving her a child.
• 23. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. "God has removed my shame," she said.
• 24. And she named him Joseph, for she said, "May the LORD give me yet another son."
• 25. Soon after Joseph was born to Rachel, Jacob said to Laban, "I want to go back home.
• 26. Let me take my wives and children, for I have earned them from you, and let me be on my way. You know I have fully paid for them with my service to you."
• 27. "Please don't leave me," Laban replied, "for I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because you are here.
• 28. How much do I owe you? Whatever it is, I'll pay it."
• 29. Jacob replied, "You know how faithfully I've served you through these many years, and how your flocks and herds have grown.
• 30. You had little indeed before I came, and your wealth has increased enormously. The LORD has blessed you from everything I do! But now, what about me? When should I provide for my own family?"
• 31. "What wages do you want?" Laban asked again. Jacob replied, "Don't give me anything at all. Just do one thing, and I'll go back to work for you.
• 32. Let me go out among your flocks today and remove all the sheep and goats that are speckled or spotted, along with all the dark-colored sheep. Give them to me as my wages.
• 33. This will make it easy for you to see whether or not I have been honest. If you find in my flock any white sheep or goats that are not speckled, you will know that I have stolen them from you."
• 34. "All right," Laban replied. "It will be as you have said."
• 35. But that very day Laban went out and removed all the male goats that were speckled and spotted, the females that were speckled and spotted with any white patches, and all the dark-colored sheep. He placed them in the care of his sons,
• 36. and they took them three days' distance from where Jacob was. Meanwhile, Jacob stayed and cared for Laban's flock.
• 37. Now Jacob took fresh shoots from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off strips of the bark to make white streaks on them.
• 38. Then he set up these peeled branches beside the watering troughs so Laban's flocks would see them as they came to drink, for that was when they mated.
• 39. So when the flocks mated in front of the white-streaked branches, all of their offspring were streaked, speckled, and spotted.
• 40. Jacob added them to his own flock, thus separating the lambs from Laban's flock. Then at mating time, he turned the flocks toward the streaked and dark-colored rams in Laban's flock. This is how he built his flock from Laban's.
• 41. Whenever the stronger females were ready to mate, Jacob set up the peeled branches in front of them.
• 42. But he didn't do this with the weaker ones, so the weaker lambs belonged to Laban, and the stronger ones were Jacob's.
• 43. As a result, Jacob's flocks increased rapidly, and he became very wealthy, with many servants, camels, and donkeys.

Mark 1

• 1. Here begins the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.
• 2. In the book of the prophet Isaiah, God said, "Look, I am sending my messenger before you, and he will prepare your way.
• 3. He is a voice shouting in the wilderness: 'Prepare a pathway for the Lord's coming! Make a straight road for him!'"
• 4. This messenger was John the Baptist. He lived in the wilderness and was preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had turned from their sins and turned to God to be forgiven.
• 5. People from Jerusalem and from all over Judea traveled out into the wilderness to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.
• 6. His clothes were woven from camel hair, and he wore a leather belt; his food was locusts and wild honey.
• 7. He announced: "Someone is coming soon who is far greater than I am--so much greater that I am not even worthy to be his slave.
• 8. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!"
• 9. One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and he was baptized by John in the Jordan River.
• 10. And when Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens split open and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove on him.
• 11. And a voice came from heaven saying, "You are my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with you."
• 12. Immediately the Holy Spirit compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness.
• 13. He was there for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him.
• 14. Later on, after John was arrested by Herod Antipas, Jesus went to Galilee to preach God's Good News.
• 15. "At last the time has come!" he announced. "The Kingdom of God is near! Turn from your sins and believe this Good News!"
• 16. One day as Jesus was walking along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother, Andrew, fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen.
• 17. Jesus called out to them, "Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!"
• 18. And they left their nets at once and went with him.
• 19. A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee's sons, James and John, in a boat mending their nets.
• 20. He called them, too, and immediately they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men and went with him.
• 21. Jesus and his companions went to the town of Capernaum, and every Sabbath day he went into the synagogue and taught the people.
• 22. They were amazed at his teaching, for he taught as one who had real authority--quite unlike the teachers of religious law.
• 23. A man possessed by an evil spirit was in the synagogue,
• 24. and he began shouting, "Why are you bothering us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One sent from God!"
• 25. Jesus cut him short. "Be silent! Come out of the man."
• 26. At that, the evil spirit screamed and threw the man into a convulsion, but then he left him.
• 27. Amazement gripped the audience, and they began to discuss what had happened. "What sort of new teaching is this?" they asked excitedly. "It has such authority! Even evil spirits obey his orders!"
• 28. The news of what he had done spread quickly through that entire area of Galilee.
• 29. After Jesus and his disciples left the synagogue, they went over to Simon and Andrew's home, and James and John were with them.
• 30. Simon's mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. They told Jesus about her right away.
• 31. He went to her bedside, and as he took her by the hand and helped her to sit up, the fever suddenly left, and she got up and prepared a meal for them.
• 32. That evening at sunset, many sick and demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus.
• 33. And a huge crowd of people from all over Capernaum gathered outside the door to watch.
• 34. So Jesus healed great numbers of sick people who had many different kinds of diseases, and he ordered many demons to come out of their victims. But because they knew who he was, he refused to allow the demons to speak.
• 35. The next morning Jesus awoke long before daybreak and went out alone into the wilderness to pray.
• 36. Later Simon and the others went out to find him.
• 37. They said, "Everyone is asking for you."
• 38. But he replied, "We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too, because that is why I came."
• 39. So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and expelling demons from many people.
• 40. A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. "If you want to, you can make me well again," he said.
• 41. Moved with pity, Jesus touched him. "I want to," he said. "Be healed!"
• 42. Instantly the leprosy disappeared--the man was healed.
• 43. Then Jesus sent him on his way and told him sternly,
• 44. "Go right over to the priest and let him examine you. Don't talk to anyone along the way. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy, so everyone will have proof of your healing."
• 45. But as the man went on his way, he spread the news, telling everyone what had happened to him. As a result, such crowds soon surrounded Jesus that he couldn't enter a town anywhere publicly. He had to stay out in the secluded places, and people from everywhere came to him there.

Esther 6

• 1. That night the king had trouble sleeping, so he ordered an attendant to bring the historical records of his kingdom so they could be read to him.
• 2. In those records he discovered an account of how Mordecai had exposed the plot of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the door to the king's private quarters. They had plotted to assassinate the king.
• 3. "What reward or recognition did we ever give Mordecai for this?" the king asked. His attendants replied, "Nothing has been done."
• 4. "Who is that in the outer court?" the king inquired. Now, as it happened, Haman had just arrived in the outer court of the palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai from the gallows he had prepared.
• 5. So the attendants replied to the king, "Haman is out there.Bring him in," the king ordered.
• 6. So Haman came in, and the king said, "What should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me?" Haman thought to himself, "Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?"
• 7. So he replied, "If the king wishes to honor someone,
• 8. he should bring out one of the king's own royal robes, as well as the king's own horse with a royal emblem on its head.
• 9. Instruct one of the king's most noble princes to dress the man in the king's robe and to lead him through the city square on the king's own horse. Have the prince shout as they go, `This is what happens to those the king wishes to honor!'"
• 10. "Excellent!" the king said to Haman. "Hurry and get the robe and my horse, and do just as you have said for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the gate of the palace. Do not fail to carry out everything you have suggested."
• 11. So Haman took the robe and put it on Mordecai, placed him on the king's own horse, and led him through the city square, shouting, "This is what happens to those the king wishes to honor!"
• 12. Afterward Mordecai returned to the palace gate, but Haman hurried home dejected and completely humiliated.
• 13. When Haman told his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends what had happened, they said, "Since Mordecai--this man who has humiliated you--is a Jew, you will never succeed in your plans against him. It will be fatal to continue to oppose him."
• 14. While they were still talking, the king's eunuchs arrived to take Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared.

New Living Translation: 29 of 365 days.