Reference:
🔊 Listen & Read FullReference:
🔊 Listen & Read FullReference:
🔊 Listen & Read FullReference:
🔊 Listen & Read FullReference:
🔊 Listen & Read FullReference:
🔊 Listen & Read FullReference:
🔊 Listen & Read FullAbraham dies, and God’s blessing passes to Isaac. Rebekah struggles with pregnancy but receives a prophecy: her twins, Esau and Jacob, will become two nations, and the older will serve the younger. Esau, the elder, sells his birthright to Jacob for a meal. During a famine, Isaac stays in Gerar, where God reaffirms His promise. Like his father, Isaac deceives the locals about his wife Rebekah, but he prospers and eventually makes peace with the Philistines. In old age, Isaac plans to bless Esau, but Rebekah helps Jacob deceive him and receive the blessing instead. Esau is furious and vows to kill Jacob, so Rebekah sends Jacob away to her brother Laban. On the journey, Jacob dreams of a ladder reaching to heaven, and God confirms the covenant with him. In Haran, Jacob meets Rachel at a well and falls in love. He agrees to work seven years for her, but is tricked into marrying her sister Leah first. Jacob then marries Rachel as well, serving another seven years. The sisters begin a bitter rivalry, each striving to bear children. Leah bears multiple sons, and Rachel, though initially barren, finally gives birth to Joseph—setting the stage for future conflict and fulfillment of God’s promises.
Jacob’s prosperity sparks tension as he outsmarts Laban with a strange but successful breeding strategy. Sensing danger, Jacob flees with his family—only to be pursued by Laban and confronted over stolen idols and years of resentment. After making a covenant of peace, Jacob prepares to face a far greater fear: his brother Esau, who once vowed to kill him. The night before their meeting, Jacob wrestles with a mysterious man who changes his name to Israel, marking a turning point in his life. To his surprise, Esau greets him with forgiveness, and the brothers reconcile. God then calls Jacob back to Bethel, where Rachel dies in childbirth and Isaac’s life ends, passing the legacy to a new generation. But all is not at peace—Jacob’s favorite son, Joseph, is hated by his brothers. Their jealousy leads to betrayal, setting in motion a story that will carry God’s promises into Egypt and beyond.
Chain Reaction
Director writes a starting word on their whiteboard (e.g., habitat).
Next player reads it, writes the first word that comes to mind, and flashes their board.
As they flash, they also say their word out loud.
Next player responds to that word—writing, flashing, and saying theirs.
Keep the chain going, one by one. Move quickly—don’t overthink!
At the end, take a second to enjoy how far the words wandered.
Story Spark
A rapid-fire group storytelling exercise.
one of the players pick a Bible verse from the days reading
each player is assigned a word in order
they tell a story each player in turn using their assigned word.
Each person adds one sentence, keeping the story moving quickly.
Stop after a few people or when time’s up—laugh at how wild the story got.
The Last Shall Be First
The director says a sentence out loud (e.g., “The storm rolled into the village.”)
The next player writes and says a new sentence that starts with the last word of the previous one (e.g., “Village roads were muddy and narrow.”)
The next player continues by using the last word of that sentence to begin theirs (“Narrow paths led into the forest.”)
Keep the chain going—each player responds fast, one after the other.
No repeats and no long pauses! Keep it moving and fun.
After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away so I may return to my own place and to my own country. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go. You know the service I have rendered to you.” But Laban replied, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me on account of you.” He continued, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.”
Jacob answered, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock has fared under my care. What you had before I came was little, and it has increased greatly—the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. But now, when may I also provide for my own household?”
Laban asked, “What shall I give you?”
Jacob replied, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will continue to shepherd and keep your flock: Let me go through your entire flock today and remove from it every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and every speckled or spotted goat. These shall be my wages. So my integrity will testify for me in the future when you check on my wages. If you find any goat that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen.”
Laban said, “Agreed. Let it be as you have said.” That same day, Laban removed the streaked and spotted male goats, all the speckled and spotted female goats—every one with white on it—and all the dark-colored lambs, and gave them to his sons. Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob tended the rest of Laban’s flocks.
Jacob took branches of fresh poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white inside. He placed the peeled branches in the watering troughs in front of the flocks where they came to drink, so that they would mate in front of the branches. When the flocks mated before the branches, they bore young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted.
Jacob set apart the lambs and made the flocks face the streaked and dark-colored animals in Laban’s flock. He kept his own droves separate and did not mix them with Laban’s animals. Whenever the stronger animals were mating, Jacob placed the branches in the troughs before their eyes so they would mate near the branches. But when the weaker animals came to mate, he did not put the branches there. So the weak animals went to Laban, and the stronger ones to Jacob.
Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.” Jacob also noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been. Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”
So Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah and brought them to the field where his flock was. He said to them, “I see that your father’s attitude toward me has changed, but the God of my father has been with me. You know how hard I’ve worked for your father. Yet he has deceived me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not allow him to harm me. If Laban said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled young. And if he said, ‘The streaked will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young. So God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.
“In the mating season, I had a dream. I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled, and spotted. And in the dream, the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’ And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled, and spotted, because I have seen everything Laban has done to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to Me. Now get up, leave this land, and return to your native land.’”
Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share or inheritance in our father’s house? Does he not regard us as foreigners? He has sold us and spent what was paid for us. Surely all the wealth that God has taken from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.”
Then Jacob got up and put his children and wives on camels. He drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. Meanwhile, Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household idols. Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. So Jacob fled with everything he had. He crossed the Euphrates River and headed for the hill country of Gilead.
On the third day, Laban was told that Jacob had fled. Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” When Laban caught up with Jacob, Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and so Laban and his relatives camped nearby.
Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You deceived me and carried off my daughters like captives of war. Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and daughters goodbye. You have acted foolishly. I have the power to harm you, but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s house—but why did you steal my gods?”
Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, because I thought you might take your daughters away from me by force. But if you find anyone who has your gods, he shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether anything of yours is with me—and take it.” Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the household idols.
So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, then into Leah’s tent, and then into the tent of the two female servants, but found nothing. After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s. Now Rachel had taken the household idols and hidden them in the camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched everything in the tent but found nothing. Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I’m having my monthly period.” So he searched but did not find the idols.
Jacob became angry and confronted Laban. “What is my offense? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me? You have searched all my belongings—have you found anything that belongs to you? Put it here before my relatives and yours, and let them judge between us. I’ve been with you for twenty years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten rams from your flocks. I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. You demanded payment from me for any stolen by day or night. I was consumed by heat during the day and by cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six more for your flocks—and you changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God saw my hardship and the labor of my hands, and last night He rebuked you.”
Laban replied, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about my daughters or the children they have borne? Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”
So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. He said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there beside it. Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed. Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” That is why it was called Galeed, and also Mizpah, for he said, “May the LORD watch between you and me when we are absent from each other. If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”
Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap and this pillar I have set up between you and me. This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to harm you, and you will not pass beyond it to harm me. May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.
Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night on the mountain. Early the next morning, Laban kissed his grandchildren and daughters and blessed them. Then he returned home.
As Jacob continued on his way, the angels of God met him. When he saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God,” so he named that place Mahanaim. Then Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. He instructed them to say, “This is what your servant Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban and have remained there until now. I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male and female servants. I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.”
When the messengers returned, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you—along with four hundred men.” Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people with him, as well as the flocks, herds, and camels, into two camps. He said, “If Esau comes and attacks one camp, then the other camp can escape.”
Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. When I crossed the Jordan, I had only my staff, but now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, along with the mothers and children. But You said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”
Jacob spent the night there and selected a gift for Esau from what he had: two hundred female goats, twenty male goats, two hundred ewes, twenty rams, thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys, and ten male donkeys. He gave them to his servants in separate herds and told them to go ahead of him, keeping some distance between each herd. He instructed the first one: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? Whose animals are these?’ say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’” Jacob gave the same instructions to the second, third, and all the others who followed the herds: “Say the same thing to Esau when you meet him, and be sure to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” For he thought, “I will appease him with the gifts going ahead of me. Afterward, perhaps he will receive me.” So the gifts went on ahead, while Jacob himself spent the night in the camp.
During the night Jacob got up, took his two wives, two maidservants, and eleven sons, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip, so his hip was dislocated as they wrestled. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.”
Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” And he blessed Jacob there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been spared.” The sun rose above him as he passed by Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. That is why, to this day, the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near that tendon.
Jacob looked up and saw Esau approaching with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants. He placed the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. Jacob himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. But Esau ran to meet Jacob, embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him—and they both wept.
Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked. Jacob answered, “These are the children God has graciously given your servant.” Then the maidservants and their children approached and bowed down. Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down.
Esau asked, “What do you mean by all these herds I met?”
Jacob replied, “To find favor in your sight, my lord.”
But Esau said, “I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”
Jacob insisted, “No, please! If I have found favor with you, accept this gift from me. Seeing your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me so favorably. Please take the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” Because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.
Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll go ahead of you.” But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and I must care for the nursing flocks and herds. If they are driven too hard for even one day, the animals may die. Please let my lord go ahead of his servant. I will move along slowly at the pace of the livestock and the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
Esau replied, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”
Jacob said, “Why do that? Just let me find favor in your sight, my lord.” So that day Esau started back to Seir. But Jacob traveled to Succoth, where he built a house for himself and shelters for his livestock. That is why the place was called Succoth.
Later, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped within sight of the city. For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought the plot of land where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father. There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel (“God, the God of Israel”).
God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods among you, purify yourselves, and change your clothes. Then let us arise and go to Bethel. There I will build an altar to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the earrings in their ears, and he buried them under the oak near Shechem.
As they journeyed, a great terror from God fell upon the surrounding cities, so no one pursued them. Jacob and all who were with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. There he built an altar and called the place El-Bethel, because it was there that God had revealed Himself when Jacob was fleeing from his brother. Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So it was named Allon-bacuth (“oak of weeping”).
After Jacob returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob. Your name will be Israel.” So He named him Israel. And God said, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will descend from you. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.” Then God went up from him at the place where He had spoken. Jacob set up a stone pillar at that place and poured out a drink offering on it and anointed it with oil. He called the place where God had spoken to him Bethel.
Then they moved on from Bethel, and while they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into hard labor and had great difficulty. As she was dying, she gave birth to a son and named him Ben-Oni (“son of my sorrow”), but Jacob called him Benjamin (“son of the right hand”). Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb, which is still called Rachel’s tomb to this day.
Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. While Israel was living in that land, Reuben went in and slept with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it.
Jacob had twelve sons: The sons of Leah were Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. The sons of Rachel’s servant Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali. The sons of Leah’s servant Zilpah were Gad and Asher. These were the sons born to Jacob in Paddan-aram.
Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years. Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Jacob settled in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived. Joseph, a seventeen-year-old, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s concubines. Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a richly ornamented robe. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all of them, they hated Joseph and could not speak a kind word to him.
Joseph had a dream and shared it with his brothers, which made them hate him even more. He said, “Listen to this dream: we were binding sheaves in the field, and suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down.” His brothers asked, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” Then Joseph had another dream and told it to his father and brothers: “The sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” His father rebuked him and asked, “Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
One day, when Joseph’s brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, Israel said to Joseph, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks.” Joseph traveled to Shechem and then to Dothan, where he found them. When the brothers saw him coming from a distance, they conspired to kill him. “Here comes that dreamer!” they said. “Let’s kill him and throw him into a cistern. Then we’ll say a wild animal devoured him and see what becomes of his dreams.” But Reuben intervened, planning to rescue him later, and convinced them not to kill him—only to throw him into a dry pit.
When Joseph arrived, they stripped him of his special robe and threw him into the cistern. As they sat down to eat, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead on their way to Egypt. Judah suggested they sell Joseph instead of killing him. The brothers agreed and sold Joseph for twenty shekels of silver. The Midianite traders took him to Egypt. When Reuben returned and found the pit empty, he tore his clothes in grief.
The brothers then took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in its blood. They brought it to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.” Jacob recognized it and cried out, “It is my son’s robe! A wild beast has devoured him!” He tore his clothes, mourned deeply, and refused all comfort, saying, “I will go down to the grave mourning my son.” Meanwhile, in Egypt, the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
Summary of Today’s Story
After Joseph is born, Jacob asks Laban to let him return home, proposing a deal to take only the speckled and spotted livestock. Using a clever breeding strategy, Jacob prospers greatly, which stirs jealousy in Laban’s household. God tells Jacob to return to Canaan, so he secretly departs with his family and flocks. Laban pursues them but is warned by God not to harm Jacob. After a tense exchange, Jacob and Laban make a peace covenant. As Jacob approaches home, he fears Esau’s anger and prepares gifts and defenses. That night, he wrestles with God and receives a new name—Israel. But Esau welcomes him with forgiveness, and the brothers reconcile. Jacob then travels to Bethel, where God reaffirms His covenant, and Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin. Later, Isaac dies and is buried by both sons. Meanwhile, Joseph—Jacob’s favored son—shares prophetic dreams that anger his brothers. They sell him into slavery and deceive their father, while Joseph is taken to Egypt, unknowingly beginning a journey that will shape the future of Israel.
Teaser for Upcoming Story
As Joseph’s story unfolds in Egypt, a surprising detour reveals Judah’s scandalous encounter with his daughter-in-law Tamar—showing how God’s plan weaves through even the most broken situations. Back in Egypt, Joseph rises in integrity and favor despite being falsely accused and imprisoned. In prison, he interprets dreams for Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker, planting seeds that will one day lead him to Pharaoh himself. When Pharaoh is troubled by dreams no one can explain, Joseph is finally remembered—and brought from prison to the palace to reveal a coming famine and offer a divine solution. Appointed as second-in-command, Joseph prepares the land and stores grain. Soon, his starving brothers arrive from Canaan, unaware that the powerful Egyptian official they beg for food is their long-lost brother. Joseph tests them with cunning and care, setting the stage for an emotional reckoning and a family’s redemption. The tension builds, secrets stir, and grace begins to rise.