^28:10Ya`akov went out from Be'er-Sheva, and went toward Charan. ^28:11He came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. ^28:12He dreamed. Behold, a stairway set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of G-d ascending and descending on it. ^28:13Behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, "I am the LORD, the G-d of Avraham your father, and the G-d of Yitzchak. The land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed. ^28:14Your seed will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed. ^28:15Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you."

^28:16Ya`akov awakened out of his sleep, and he said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I didn't know it." ^28:17He was afraid, and said, "How dreadful is this place! This is none other than G-d's house, and this is the gate of heaven."

^28:18Ya`akov rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. <sup>28:19</sup>He called the name of that place Beit-El, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. <sup>28:20</sup>Ya`akov vowed a vow, saying, "If G-d will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on, ^28:21so that I come again to my father's house in shalom, and the LORD will be my G-d, ^28:22then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be G-d's house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give the tenth to you."

Sheni:

^29:1Then Ya`akov went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east. <sup>29:2</sup>He looked, and behold, a well in the field, and, behold, three flocks of sheep lying there by it. For out of that well they watered the flocks. The stone on the well's mouth was great. <sup>29:3</sup>There all the flocks were gathered. They rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again on the well's mouth in its place. <sup>29:4</sup>Ya`akov said to them, "My relatives, where are you from?"

They said, "We are from Charan."

^29:5He said to them, "Do you know Lavan, the son of Nachor?"

They said, "We know him."

^29:6He said to them, "Is it well with him?"

They said, "It is well. See, Rachel, his daughter, is coming with the sheep."

^29:7He said, "Behold, it is still the middle of the day, not time to gather the cattle together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them."

^29:8They said, "We can't, until all the flocks are gathered together, and they roll the stone from the well's mouth. Then we water the sheep."

^29:9While he was yet speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she kept them. ^29:10It happened, when Ya`akov saw Rachel the daughter of Lavan, his mother's brother, and the sheep of Lavan, his mother's brother, that Ya`akov went near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Lavan his mother's brother. ^29:11Ya`akov kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. <sup>29:12</sup>Ya`akov told Rachel that he was her father's brother, and that he was Rivka's son. She ran and told her father.

^29:13It happened, when Lavan heard the news of Ya`akov, his sister's son, that he ran to meet Ya`akov, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Ya`akov told Lavan all these things. <sup>29:14</sup>Lavan said to him, Surely you are my bone and my flesh. He lived with him for a month. <sup>29:15</sup>Lavan said to Ya`akov, "Because you are my brother, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what will your wages be?"

^29:16Lavan had two daughters. The name of the elder was Le'ah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ^29:17Le'ah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful and well favored.

Shlishi:

^29:18Ya`akov loved Rachel. He said, "I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter."

^29:19Lavan said, "It is better that I give her to you, than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me."

^29:20Ya`akov served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her.

^29:21Ya`akov said to Lavan, "Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her."

^29:22Lavan gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. ^29:23It happened in the evening, that he took Le'ah his daughter, and brought her to him. He went in to her. ^29:24Lavan gave Zilpah his handmaid to his daughter Le'ah for a handmaid. ^29:25It happened in the morning that, behold, it was Le'ah. He said to Lavan, "What is this you have done to me? Didn't I serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?"

^29:26Lavan said, "It is not done so in our place, to give the younger before the first born. ^29:27Fulfill the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you will serve with me yet seven other years."

^29:28Ya`akov did so, and fulfilled her week. He gave him Rachel his daughter as wife. ^29:29Lavan gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah, his handmaid, to be her handmaid. ^29:30He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Le'ah, and served with him yet seven other years.

^29:31The LORD saw that Le'ah was hated, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ^29:32Le'ah conceived, and bore a son, and she named him Re'uven. For she said, "Because the LORD has looked at my affliction. For now my husband will love me." ^29:33She conceived again, and bare a son, and said, "Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has therefore given me this son also." She named him Shim`on. ^29:34She conceived again, and bare a son. Said, "Now this time will my husband be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons." Therefore was his name called Levi. ^29:35She conceived again, and bare a son. She said, "This time will I praise the LORD." Therefore she named him Yehudah. Then she stopped bearing.

^30:1When Rachel saw that she bore Ya`akov no children, Rachel envied her sister. She said to Ya`akov, "Give me children, or else I will die."

^30:2Ya`akov's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in G-d's place, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"

^30:3She said, "Behold, my maid Bilhah. Go in to her, that she may bear on my knees, and I also may obtain children by her." ^30:4She gave him Bilhah her handmaid as wife, and Ya`akov went in to her. <sup>30:5</sup>Bilhah conceived, and bore Ya`akov a son. ^30:6Rachel said, "God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son." Therefore called she his name Dan. ^30:7Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, conceived again, and bore Ya`akov a second son. ^30:8Rachel said, "With mighty wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed." She named him Naftali.

^30:9When Le'ah saw that she had finished bearing, she took Zilpah, her handmaid, and gave her to Ya`akov as a wife. <sup>30:10</sup>Zilpah, Le'ah's handmaid, bore Ya`akov a son. ^30:11Le'ah said, "How fortunate!" She named him Gad. ^30:12Zilpah, Le'ah's handmaid, bore Ya`akov a second son. ^30:13Le'ah said, "Happy am I, for the daughters will call me happy." She named him Asher.

R'vi'i:

^30:14Re'uven went in the days of wheat harvest, and found dudaim in the field, and brought them to his mother, Le'ah. Then Rachel said to Le'ah, "Please give me some of your son's dudaim."

^30:15She said to her, "Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's dudaim, also?"

Rachel said, "Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son's dudaim."

^30:16Ya`akov came from the field in the evening, and Le'ah went out to meet him, and said, "You must come in to me; for I have surely hired you with my son's dudaim."

He lay with her that night. ^30:17God listened to Le'ah, and she conceived, and bore Ya`akov a fifth son. <sup>30:18</sup>Le'ah said, "God has given me my hire, because I gave my handmaid to my husband." She named him Yissakhar. <sup>30:19</sup>Le'ah conceived again, and bore a sixth son to Ya`akov. ^30:20Le'ah said, "God has endowed me with a good dowry. Now my husband will live with me, because I have borne him six sons." She named him Zevulun. ^30:21Afterwards, she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.

^30:22God remembered Rachel, and G-d listened to her, and opened her womb. ^30:23She conceived, bore a son, and said, "God has taken away my reproach." ^30:24She named him Yosef, saying, "May the LORD add another son to me."

^30:25It happened, when Rachel had borne Yosef, that Ya`akov said to Lavan, "Send me away, that I may go to my own place, and to my country. ^30:26Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go: for you know my service with which I have served you."

Chamishi:

^30:27Lavan said to him, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, stay here, for I have divined that the LORD has blessed me for your sake." ^30:28He said, "Appoint me your wages, and I will give it."

^30:29He said to him, "You know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me. ^30:30For it was little which you had before I came, and it has increased to a multitude. The LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. Now when will I provide for my own house also?"

^30:31He said, "What shall I give you?"

Ya`akov said, "You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it. ^30:32I will pass through all your flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted one, and every black one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. This will be my hire. ^30:33So my righteousness will answer for me hereafter, when you come concerning my hire that is before you. Everyone that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, that might be with me, will be counted stolen."

^30:34Lavan said, "Behold, I desire it to be according to your word."

^30:35That day, he removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons. ^30:36He set three days' journey between himself and Ya`akov, and Ya`akov fed the rest of Lavan's flocks.

^30:37Ya`akov took to himself rods of fresh poplar, almond, plane tree, peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. <sup>30:38</sup>He set the rods which he had peeled opposite the flocks in the gutters in the watering-troughs where the flocks came to drink. They conceived when they came to drink. <sup>30:39</sup>The flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted. <sup>30:40</sup>Ya`akov separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the black in the flock of Lavan: and he put his own droves apart, and didn't put them into Lavan's flock. ^30:41It happened, whenever the stronger of the flock conceived, that Ya`akov laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods; <sup>30:42</sup>but when the flock were feeble, he didn't put them in. So the feebler were Lavan's, and the stronger Ya`akov's. ^30:43The man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, maid-servants and men-servants, and camels and donkeys.

^31:1He heard the words of Lavan's sons, saying, "Ya`akov has taken away all that was our father's. From that which was our father's, has he gotten all this wealth." <sup>31:2</sup>Ya`akov saw the expression on Lavan's face, and, behold, it was not toward him as before. ^31:3The LORD said to Ya`akov, "Return to the land of your fathers, and to your relatives, and I will be with you."

^31:4Ya`akov sent and called Rachel and Le'ah to the field to his flock, <sup>31:5</sup>and said to them, "I see the expression on your father's face, that it is not toward me as before; but the G-d of my father has been with me. <sup>31:6</sup>You know that I have served your father with all of my strength. <sup>31:7</sup>Your father has deceived me, and changed my wages ten times, but G-d didn't allow him to hurt me. <sup>31:8</sup>If he said this, 'The speckled will be your wages,' then all the flock bore speckled. If he said this, 'The streaked will be your wages,' then all the flock bore streaked. <sup>31:9</sup>Thus G-d has taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me. <sup>31:10</sup>It happened at the time that the flock conceive, that I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which leaped on the flock were streaked, speckled, and grizzled. <sup>31:11</sup>The angel of G-d said to me in the dream, 'Ya`akov,' and I said, 'Here I am.' ^31:12He said, 'Now lift up your eyes, and behold, all the male goats which leap on the flock are streaked, speckled, and grizzled, for I have seen all that Lavan does to you. ^31:13I am the G-d of Beit-El, where you anointed a pillar, where you vowed a vow to me. Now arise, get out from this land, and return to the land of your birth."

^31:14Rachel and Le'ah answered him, "Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house? ^31:15Aren't we accounted by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also quite devoured our money. ^31:16For all the riches which G-d has taken away from our father, that is ours and our children's. Now then, whatever G-d has said to you, do."

Shishi:

^31:17Then Ya`akov rose up, and set his sons and his wives on the camels, <sup>31:18</sup>and he carried away all his cattle, and all his substance which he had gathered, the cattle of his getting, which he had gathered in Paddan-Aram, to go to Yitzchak his father to the land of Kana`an. ^31:19Now Lavan had gone to shear his sheep: and Rachel stole the terafim that were her father's.

^31:20Ya`akov deceived Lavan the Arammian, in that he didn't tell him that he was running away. <sup>31:21</sup>So he fled with all that he had. He rose up, passed over the River, and set his face toward the mountain of Gil`ad.

^31:22Lavan was told on the third day that Ya`akov had fled. <sup>31:23</sup>He took his relatives with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey. He overtook him in the mountain of Gil`ad. ^31:24God came to Lavan, the Arammian, in a dream of the night, and said to him, "Take heed to yourself that you don't speak to Ya`akov either good or bad."

^31:25Lavan caught up with Ya`akov. Now Ya`akov had pitched his tent in the mountain, and Lavan with his relatives encamped in the mountain of Gil`ad. <sup>31:26</sup>Lavan said to Ya`akov, "What have you done, that you have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword? ^31:27Why did you flee secretly, and deceive me, and didn't tell me, that I might have sent you away with mirth and with songs, with tambourine and with harp; ^31:28and didn't allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now have you done foolishly. ^31:29It is in the power of my hand to hurt you, but the G-d of your father spoke to me last night, saying, 'Take heed to yourself that you don't speak to Ya`akov either good or bad.' ^31:30Now, you want to be gone, because you sore longed after your father's house, but why have you stolen my gods?"

^31:31Ya`akov answered Lavan, "Because I was afraid, for I said, 'Lest you should take your daughters from me by force.' <sup>31:32</sup>With whoever you find your gods, he shall not live. Before our relatives, discern what is yours with me, and take it." For Ya`akov didn't know that Rachel had stolen them.

^31:33Lavan went into Ya`akov's tent, into Le'ah's tent, and into the tent of the two maid-servants; but he didn't find them. He went out of Le'ah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent. ^31:34Now Rachel had taken the terafim, put them in the camel's saddle, and sat on them. Lavan felt about all the tent, but didn't find them. ^31:35She said to her father, "Don't let my lord be angry that I can't rise up before you; for the manner of women is on me." He searched, but didn't find the terafim.

^31:36Ya`akov was angry, and argued with Lavan. Ya`akov answered Lavan, "What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued after me? ^31:37Now that you have felt around in all my stuff, what have you found of all your household stuff? Set it here before my relatives and your relatives, that they may judge between us two. ^31:38These twenty years have I been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven't eaten the rams of your flocks. ^31:39That which was torn of animals, I didn't bring to you. I bore the loss of it. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. ^31:40Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from my eyes. ^31:41These twenty years have I been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. ^31:42Unless the G-d of my father, the G-d of Avraham, and the fear of Yitzchak, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. G-d has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night."

Shvi'i:

^31:43Lavan answered Ya`akov, "The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine: and what can I do this day to these my daughters, or to their children whom they have borne? ^31:44Now come, let us make a covenant, you and I; and let it be for a witness between me and you."

^31:45Ya`akov took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. <sup>31:46</sup>Ya`akov said to his relatives, "Gather stones." They took stones, and made a heap. They ate there by the heap. ^31:47Lavan called it Yegar-Sahaduta, but Ya`akov called it Gal`ed. ^31:48Lavan said, "This heap is witness between me and you this day." Therefore it was named Gal`ed <sup>31:49</sup>and Mitzpah, for he said, "The LORD watch between me and you, when we are absent one from another. <sup>31:50</sup>If you will afflict my daughters, and if you will take wives besides my daughters, no man is with us; behold, G-d is witness between me and you." <sup>31:51</sup>Lavan said to Ya`akov, "See this heap, and see the pillar, which I have set between me and you. ^31:52May this heap be a witness, and the pillar be a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and that you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. ^31:53The G-d of Avraham, and the G-d of Nachor, the G-d of their father, judge between us." Then Ya`akov swore by the fear of his father, Yitzchak. <sup>31:54</sup>Ya`akov offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his relatives to eat bread. They ate bread, and stayed all night in the mountain. ^31:55Early in the morning, Lavan rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them. Lavan departed and returned to his place.

Maftir:

^32:1Ya`akov went on his way, and the angels of G-d met him. <sup>32:2</sup>When he saw them, Ya`akov said, "This is G-d's host." He called the name of that place Machanayim.

^11:7My people are determined to turn from me.
      Though they call to Ha`Elyon,
      He certainly won't exalt them.

 ^11:8"How can I give you up, Efrayim?
      How can I hand you over, Yisra'el?
      How can I make you like Admah?
      How can I make you like Tzevoyim?

 My heart is turned within me,
      My compassion is aroused.

 ^11:9I will not execute the fierceness of my anger.
      I will not return to destroy Efrayim:
      For I am G-d, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of you;
      And I will not come in wrath.

 ^11:10They will walk after the LORD,
      Who will roar like a lion;
      For he will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west.

 ^11:11They will come trembling like a bird out of Egypt,
      And like a dove out of the land of Ashshur;

 And I will settle them in their houses," says the LORD.

 ^11:12Efrayim surrounds me with falsehood,
      And the house of Yisra'el with deceit;
      And Yehudah still us unruly with G-d,
      And is unfaithful to the Holy One.

 ^12:1Efrayim feeds on wind,
      And chases the east wind.
      He continually multiplies lies and desolation.
      They make a covenant with Ashshur,
      And oil is carried into Egypt.

 ^12:2The LORD also has a controversy with Yehudah,
      And will punish Ya`akov according to his ways;
      According to his deeds he will repay him.

 ^12:3In the womb he took his brother by the heel;
      And in his manhood he had power with G-d.

 ^12:4Indeed, he had power over the angel, and prevailed;
      He wept, and made supplication to him.
      He found him at Beit-El, and there he spoke with us,
      ^12:5Even the LORD, the G-d Tzva'ot,;
      The LORD is his name of renown!

 ^12:6Therefore turn to your G-d.
      Keep kindness and justice,
      And wait for your G-d continually.

 ^12:7A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand.
      He loves to defraud.

 ^12:8Efrayim said, "Surely I have become rich,
      I have found myself wealth.
      In all my wealth they won't find in me any iniquity that is sin."

 ^12:9"But I am the LORD your G-d from the land of Egypt.
      I will yet again make you to dwell in tents,
      As in the days of the solemn feast.

 ^12:10I have also spoken to the prophets,
      And I have multiplied visions;
      And by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables.

 ^12:11If Gil`ad is wicked,
      Surely they are worthless.

 In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls.
      Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the field.

 ^12:12Ya`akov fled into the country of Aram,
      And Yisra'el served to get a wife,
      And for a wife he tended flocks and herds.

 ^12:13By a prophet the LORD brought Yisra'el up out of Egypt,
      And by a prophet he was preserved.

 ^12:14Efrayim has provoked to anger most bitterly.
      Therefore his blood will be left on him,
      And his his Lord will repay his contempt.

 ^13:1When Efrayim spoke, there was trembling.
      He exalted himself in Yisra'el,
      But when he became guilty in Ba`al, he died.

 ^13:2Now they sin more and more,
      And have made themselves molten images of their silver,
      Even idols according to their own understanding,
      All of them the work of the craftsmen.
      They say of them, "They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves."

 ^13:3Therefore they will be like the morning cloud,
      And like the dew that passes away early,
      Like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor,
      And like the smoke out of the chimney.

 ^13:4"Yet I am the LORD your G-d from the land of Egypt;
      And you will know no G-d but me,
      And besides me there is no savior.

 ^13:5I knew you in the wilderness,
      In the land of great drought.

 ^13:6According to their pasture, so were they filled;
      They were filled, and their heart was exalted.
      Therefore they have forgotten me.

 ^13:7Therefore am I to them like a lion;
      Like a leopard I will lurk by the path.

 ^13:8I will meet them like a bear that is bereaved of her cubs,
      And will tear the covering of their heart.
      And there I will devour them like a lioness.
      The wild animal will tear them.

 ^13:9You are destroyed, Yisra'el, because you are against me,
      Against your help.

 ^13:10Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities?
      And your judges, of whom you said, 'Give me a king and princes?'

 ^13:11I have given you a king in my anger,
      And have taken him away in my wrath.

 ^13:12The guilt of Efrayim is stored up.
      His sin is stored up.

 ^13:13The sorrows of a travailing woman will come on him.
      He is an unwise son;
      For when it is time, he doesn't come to the opening of the womb.

 ^13:14I will ransom them from the power of She'ol.
      I will redeem them from death!
      Death, where are your plagues?
      She'ol, where is your destruction?

 Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.
      ^13:15Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind will come,
      The breath of the LORD coming up from the wilderness;
      And his spring will become dry,
      And his fountain will be dried up.
      He will plunder the storehouse of treasure.

 ^13:16Shomron will bear her guilt;
      For she has rebelled against her G-d.
      They will fall by the sword.
      Their infants will be dashed in pieces,
      And their pregnant women will be ripped open."

 ^14:1Yisra'el, return to the LORD your G-d;
      For you have fallen because of your sin.

 ^14:2Take words with you, and return to the LORD.
      Tell him, "Forgive all our sins,
      And accept that which is good:
      So we offer like bulls our lips.

 ^14:3Ashshur can't save us.
      We won't ride on horses;
      Neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, 'Our gods!'
      For in you the fatherless finds mercy."

 ^14:4"I will heal their waywardness.
      I will love them freely;
      For my anger is turned away from him.

 ^14:5I will be like the dew to Yisra'el.
      He will blossom like the lily,
      And send down his roots like Levanon.

 ^14:6His branches will spread,
      And his beauty will be like the olive tree,
      And his fragrance like Levanon.

 ^14:7Men will dwell in his shade.
      They will revive like the grain,
      And blossom like the vine.
      Their fragrance will be like the wine of Levanon.

 ^14:8Efrayim, what have I to do any more with idols?
      I answer, and will take care of him.
      I am like a green fir tree;
      From me your fruit is found."

 ^14:9Who is wise, that he may understand these things?
      Who is prudent, that he may know them?
      For the ways of the LORD are right,
      And the righteous walk in them;
      But the rebellious stumble in them.

^1:19This is Yochanan's testimony, when the Yehudim sent kohanim and Levites from Yerushalayim to ask him, "Who are you?"

^1:20He confessed, and didn't deny, but he confessed, "I am not the Messiah."

^1:21They asked him, "What then? Are you Eliyah?"

He said, "I am not."

"Are you the Prophet?"

He answered, "No."

^1:22They said therefore to him, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"

^1:23He said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as Yesha`yahu the prophet said."

^1:24The ones who had been sent were from the Perushim. ^1:25They asked him, "Why then do you immerse, if you are not the Messiah, nor Eliyah, nor the Prophet?"

^1:26Yochanan answered them, "I immerse in water, but among you stands one whom you don't know. ^1:27He is the one who comes after me, who is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I'm not worthy to loosen." ^1:28These things were done in Beit-Anyah beyond the Yarden, where Yochanan was immersing.

^1:29The next day, he saw Yeshua coming to him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of G-d, who takes away the sin of the world! ^1:30This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.' ^1:31I didn't know him, but for this reason I came immersing in water: that he would be revealed to Yisra'el." ^1:32Yochanan testified, saying, "I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him. ^1:33I didn't recognize him, but he who sent me to immerse in water, he said to me, 'On whomever you will see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he who immerses in the Holy Spirit.' ^1:34I have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of G-d."

^1:35Again, the next day, Yochanan was standing with two of his talmidim, ^1:36and he looked at Yeshua as he walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of G-d!" ^1:37The two talmidim heard him speak, and they followed Yeshua. ^1:38Yeshua turned, and saw them following, and said to them, "What are you looking for?"

They said to him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher), "where are you staying?"

^1:39He said to them, "Come, and see."

They came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour. ^1:40One of the two who heard Yochanan, and followed him, was Andrai, Shim`on Kefa's brother. <sup>1:41</sup>He first found his own brother, Shim`on, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah!" (which is, being interpreted, Anointed One). ^1:42He brought him to Yeshua. Yeshua looked at him, and said, "You are Shim`on the son of Yonah. You shall be called Kefa" (which is by interpretation, Rock). ^1:43On the next day, he was determined to go out into the Galil, and he found Philip. Yeshua said to him, "Follow me." ^1:44Now Philip was from Beit-Tzaidah, of the city of Andrai and Kefa. ^1:45Philip found Natan'el, and said to him, "We have found him, of whom Moshe in the law, and the prophets, wrote: Yeshua of Natzeret, the son of Yosef."

^1:46Natan'el said to him, "Can any good thing come out of Natzeret?"

Philip said to him, "Come and see."

^1:47Yeshua saw Natan'el coming to him, and said about him, "Behold, an Yisra'elite indeed, in whom is no deceit!"

^1:48Natan'el said to him, "How do you know me?"

Yeshua answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."

^1:49Natan'el answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of G-d! You are King of Yisra'el!"

^1:50Yeshua answered him, "Because I told you, 'I saw you underneath the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these!" ^1:51He said to him, "Most assuredly, I tell you, hereafter you will see heaven opened, and the angels of G-d ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

The Blessing of the Messiah
Ba-rooch ah-ta Adonai Eh-lo-hay-noo, meh-lekh ha-oh-lahm, ah-sher keed-sha-noo beed-va-reh-kha v'na-tahn la-noo et Yeshua M'shee-khay-noo, v'tzee-va-noo l'he-oat oar la-oh-lahm. O-mein. Blessed are You, O Lord our G-d, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us in Your Word, and given us us Yeshua, our Messiah, and commanded us to be a light to the world. Amen.

[ Top ]