創世記31:1-21

31:1 雅各聽見拉班的兒子們有話說：「雅各把我們父親所有的都奪了去，並藉著我們父親的，得了這一切的榮耀（或譯：財）。」
31:2 雅各見拉班的氣色向他不如從前了。
31:3 耶和華對雅各說：「你要回你祖、你父之地，到你親族那裡去，我必與你同在。」
31:4 雅各就打發人，叫拉結和利亞到田野羊群那裡來，
31:5 對她們說：「我看你們父親的氣色向我不如從前了；但我父親的上帝向來與我同在。
31:6 你們也知道，我盡了我的力量服事你們的父親。
31:7 你們的父親欺哄我，十次改了我的工價；然而上帝不容他害我。
31:8 他若說：『有點的歸你作工價』，羊群所生的都有點；他若說：『有紋的歸你作工價』，羊群所生的都有紋。
31:9 這樣，上帝把你們父親的牲畜奪來賜給我了。
31:10 羊配合的時候，我夢中舉目一看，見跳母羊的公羊都是有紋的、有點的、有花斑的。
31:11 上帝的使者在那夢中呼叫我說：『雅各。』我說：『我在這裡。』
31:12 他說：『你舉目觀看，跳母羊的公羊都是有紋的、有點的、有花斑的；凡拉班向你所做的，我都看見了。
31:13 我是伯特利的上帝；你在那裡用油澆過柱子，向我許過願。現今你起來，離開這地，回你本地去吧！』」
31:14 拉結和利亞回答雅各說：「在我們父親的家裡還有我們可得的分嗎？還有我們的產業嗎？
31:15 我們不是被他當作外人嗎？因為他賣了我們，吞了我們的價值。
31:16 上帝從我們父親所奪出來的一切財物，那就是我們和我們孩子們的。現今凡上帝所吩咐你的，你只管去行吧！」
31:17 雅各起來，使他的兒子和妻子都騎上駱駝，
31:18 又帶著他在巴旦‧亞蘭所得的一切牲畜和財物，往迦南地、他父親以撒那裡去了。
31:19 當時拉班剪羊毛去了，拉結偷了他父親家中的神像。
31:20 雅各背著亞蘭人拉班偷走了，並不告訴他，
31:21 就帶著所有的逃跑。他起身過大河，面向基列山行去。

 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.” ² And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.

³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”
⁴ So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. ⁵ He said to them, “I see that your father’s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me. ⁶ You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength, ⁷ yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. ⁸ If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young. ⁹ So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.
¹⁰ “In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. ¹¹ The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’ ¹² And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. ¹³ I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.’”
¹⁴ Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate? ¹⁵ Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. ¹⁶ Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.”
¹⁷ Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, ¹⁸ and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram,^[a] to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
¹⁹ When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods. ²⁰ Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. ²¹ So he fled with all he had, crossed the Euphrates River, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.

************

    雅各偷偷回迦南，不讓拉班知道！因為雅各清楚拉班想利用他，絕對不會讓他回去的！

箴言25:4-5

25:4 除去銀子的渣滓就有銀子出來，銀匠能以做器皿。
25:5 除去王面前的惡人，國位就靠公義堅立。

⁴ Remove the dross from the silver,
    and a silversmith can produce a vessel;
⁵ remove wicked officials from the king’s presence,
    and his throne will be established through righteousness.

***********

    煉銀有一種方法叫吹灰法，就是讓銀礦熔化成湯，雜質就會浮起來，然會用吹的方式，將雜質吹掉，就會留下銀，如此就可以將銀精煉出來！正如這裡所說：「除去銀子的渣滓就有銀子出來，銀匠能以做器皿。」

    而作者把這個觀念延伸到王怎樣用人，所以盡接著說：「除去王面前的惡人，國位就靠公義堅立」。也因此，王權的建立要合乎上帝的公義，如此才能有永續的經營，讓國永遠堅立！

    國是如此，教會也要如此經營，要靠著主的恩典除去罪惡的影響，教教會不只是地位上聖潔，也朝著真實的聖潔努力，好彰顯上帝的榮耀！

創世記30:25-43

30:25 拉結生約瑟之後，雅各對拉班說：「請打發我走，叫我回到我本鄉本土去。
30:26 請你把我服事你所得的妻子和兒女給我，讓我走；我怎樣服事你，你都知道。」
30:27 拉班對他說：「我若在你眼前蒙恩，請你仍與我同住，因為我已算定，耶和華賜福與我是為你的緣故」；
30:28 又說：「請你定你的工價，我就給你。」
30:29 雅各對他說：「我怎樣服事你，你的牲畜在我手裡怎樣，是你知道的。
30:30 我未來之先，你所有的很少，現今卻發大眾多，耶和華隨我的腳步賜福與你。如今，我甚麼時候才為自己興家立業呢？」
30:31 拉班說：「我當給你甚麼呢？」雅各說：「甚麼你也不必給我，只有一件事，你若應承，我便仍舊牧放你的羊群。
30:32 今天我要走遍你的羊群，把綿羊中凡有點的、有斑的，和黑色的，並山羊中凡有斑的、有點的，都挑出來；將來這一等的就算我的工價。
30:33 以後你來查看我的工價，凡在我手裡的山羊不是有點有斑的，綿羊不是黑色的，那就算是我偷的；這樣便可證出我的公義來。」
30:34 拉班說：「好啊！我情願照著你的話行。」
30:35 當日，拉班把有紋的、有斑的公山羊，有點的、有斑的、有雜白紋的母山羊，並黑色的綿羊，都挑出來，交在他兒子們的手下，
30:36 又使自己和雅各相離三天的路程。雅各就牧養拉班其餘的羊。
30:37 雅各拿楊樹、杏樹、楓樹的嫩枝，將皮剝成白紋，使枝子露出白的來，
30:38 將剝了皮的枝子，對著羊群，插在飲羊的水溝裡和水槽裡，羊來喝的時候，牝牡配合。
30:39 羊對著枝子配合，就生下有紋的、有點的、有斑的來。
30:40 雅各把羊羔分出來，使拉班的羊與這有紋和黑色的羊相對，把自己的羊另放一處，不叫他和拉班的羊混雜。
30:41 到羊群肥壯配合的時候，雅各就把枝子插在水溝裡，使羊對著枝子配合。
30:42 只是到羊瘦弱配合的時候就不插枝子。這樣，瘦弱的就歸拉班，肥壯的就歸雅各。
30:43 於是雅各極其發大，得了許多的羊群、僕婢、駱駝，和驢。

²⁵ After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland. ²⁶ Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you, and I will be on my way. You know how much work I’ve done for you.”
²⁷ But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” ²⁸ He added, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.”
²⁹ Jacob said to him, “You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care. ³⁰ The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?”
³¹ “What shall I give you?” he asked.
“Don’t give me anything,” Jacob replied. “But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them: 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. They will be my wages. ³³ And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored, will be considered stolen.”
³⁴ “Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.” ³⁵ That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs, and he placed them in the care of his sons. ³⁶ Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban’s flocks.
³⁷ Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. ³⁸ Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink, ³⁹ they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. ⁴⁰ Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animals that belonged to Laban. Thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban’s animals. ⁴¹ Whenever the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches, ⁴² but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob. ⁴³ In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

************

    拉班耍詭計，上帝卻讓雅各有智慧來面對，使他能夠有豐盛的財富。

      人要怎樣惡待我們是無法防範，但上帝總是有辦法讓我們得勝有餘！

創世記30章

                                   創世記30: 1-24   ,

                                   創世記30:25-43    ,

創世記30: 1-24

30:1 拉結見自己不給雅各生子，就嫉妒她姊姊，對雅各說：「你給我孩子，不然我就死了。」
30:2 雅各向拉結生氣，說：「叫你不生育的是上帝，我豈能代替他作主呢？」
30:3 拉結說：「有我的使女辟拉在這裡，你可以與她同房，使她生子在我膝下，我便因她也得孩子（原文是被建立）。」
30:4 拉結就把她的使女辟拉給丈夫為妾；雅各便與她同房，
30:5 辟拉就懷孕，給雅各生了一個兒子。
30:6 拉結說：「上帝伸了我的冤，也聽了我的聲音，賜我一個兒子」，因此給他起名叫但（就是伸冤的意思）。
30:7 拉結的使女辟拉又懷孕，給雅各生了第二個兒子。
30:8 拉結說：「我與我姊姊大大相爭，並且得勝」，於是給他起名叫拿弗他利（就是相爭的意思）。
30:9 利亞見自己停了生育，就把使女悉帕給雅各為妾。
30:10 利亞的使女悉帕給雅各生了一個兒子。
30:11 利亞說：「萬幸！」於是給他起名叫迦得（就是萬幸的意思）。
30:12 利亞的使女悉帕又給雅各生了第二個兒子。
30:13 利亞說：「我有福啊，眾女子都要稱我是有福的」，於是給他起名叫亞設（就是有福的意思）。
30:14 割麥子的時候，流便往田裡去，尋見風茄，拿來給他母親利亞。拉結對利亞說：「請你把你兒子的風茄給我些。」
30:15 利亞說：「你奪了我的丈夫還算小事嗎？你又要奪我兒子的風茄嗎？」拉結說：「為你兒子的風茄，今夜他可以與你同寢。」
30:16 到了晚上，雅各從田裡回來，利亞出來迎接他，說：「你要與我同寢，因為我實在用我兒子的風茄把你雇下了。」那一夜，雅各就與她同寢。
30:17 上帝應允了利亞，她就懷孕，給雅各生了第五個兒子。
30:18 利亞說：「上帝給了我價值，因為我把使女給了我丈夫」，於是給他起名叫以薩迦（就是價值的意思）。
30:19 利亞又懷孕，給雅各生了第六個兒子。
30:20 利亞說：「上帝賜我厚賞；我丈夫必與我同住，因我給他生了六個兒子」，於是給他起名西布倫（就是同住的意思）。
30:21 後來又生了一個女兒，給她起名叫底拿。
30:22 上帝顧念拉結，應允了她，使她能生育。
30:23 拉結懷孕生子，說：「上帝除去了我的羞恥」，
30:24 就給他起名叫約瑟（就是增添的意思），意思說：「願耶和華再增添我一個兒子。」

When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”

² Jacob became angry with her and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”
³ Then she said, “Here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her.”
⁴ So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her, ⁵ and she became pregnant and bore him a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son.” Because of this she named him Dan.^[a]
7 Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Then Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.” So she named him Naphtali.^[b]
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ Then Leah said, “What good fortune!”^[c] So she named him Gad.^[d]
12 Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ Then Leah said, “How happy I am! The women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher.^[e]
14 During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
¹⁵ But she said to her, “Wasn’t it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son’s mandrakes too?”
“Very well,” Rachel said, “he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”
¹⁶ So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You must sleep with me,” she said. “I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.
¹⁷ God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.^[f]
19 Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.^[g]
21 Some time later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
²² Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive. ²³ She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” ²⁴ She named him Joseph,^[h] and said, “May the Lord add to me another son.”

************

    上帝讓雅各家的女人們為了爭寵生下了一堆兒女，使人丁眾多，讓雅各家成了一個大家庭，好為上帝做美好的見證！

    在我們的生命中，上帝也是這樣恩待我們，讓我們在基督裡享受一切的豐美，甚至超過自己所求所想，正如雅各家所發生的一切！

    願主保守，讓我們在服事主的當中，感受到主的美好，歸榮耀給上帝！