361 Now these are the generations of Esau, that is to say, Edom. 2 Esau's wives were women of Canaan: Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite, 3 And Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. 4 Adah had a son Eliphaz; and Basemath was the mother of Reuel; 5 Oholibamah was the mother of Jeush, Jalam, and Korah; these are the sons of Esau, whose birth took place in the land of Canaan. 6 Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters, and all the people of his house, and his beasts and his cattle and all his goods which he had got together in the land of Canaan, and went into the land of Seir, away from his brother Jacob. 7 For their wealth was so great that the land was not wide enough for the two of them and all their cattle. 8 So Esau made his living-place in the hill-country of Seir (Esau is Edom).
9 And these are the generations of Esau, the father of the Edomites in the hill-country of Seir: 10 These are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz, the son of Esau's wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau's wife Basemath. 11 The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. 12 And Eliphaz, the son of Esau, had connection with a woman named Timna, who gave birth to Amalek: all these were the children of Esau's wife Adah. 13 And these are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah: they were the children of Esau's wife Basemath. 14 And these are the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon: she was the mother of Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. 15 These were the chiefs among the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz, Esau's first son: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, 16 Korah, Gatam, Amalek: all these were chiefs in the land of Edom, the offspring of Eliphaz, the seed of Adah. 17 And these are the sons of Esau's son Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, Mizzah: these were the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom, the children of Esau's wife Basemath. 18 And these are the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah: these were the chiefs who came from Esau's wife Oholibamah, daughter of Anah. 19 These were the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these were their chiefs.
20 These are the sons of Seir the Horite who were living in that country; Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan: these are the chiefs of the Horites, offspring of Seir in the land of Edom. 22 The children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; Lotan's sister was Timna. 23 And these are the children of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. 24 And these are the children of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah; that same Anah who made the discovery of the water-springs in the waste land, when he was looking after the asses of his father Zibeon. 25 And these are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah his daughter. 26 These are the children of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran. 27 These are the children of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. 28 These are the children of Dishan: Uz and Aran. 29 These were the Horite chiefs: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 30 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. Such were the Horite chiefs in their order in the land of Seir.
31 And these are the kings who were ruling in the land of Edom before there was any king over the children of Israel. 32 Bela, son of Beor, was king in Edom, and the name of his chief town was Dinhabah. 33 At his death, Jobab, son of Zerah of Bozrah, became king in his place. 34 And at the death of Jobab, Husham, from the country of the Temanites, became king in his place. 35 And at the death of Husham, Hadad, son of Bedad, who overcame the Midianites in the field of Moab, became king; his chief town was named Avith. 36 And at the death of Hadad, Samlah of Masrekah became king. 37 And at the death of Samlah, Shaul of Rehoboth by the River became king in his place. 38 And at the death of Shaul, Baal-hanan, son of Achbor, became king. 39 And at the death of Baal-hanan, Hadar became king in his place; his chief town was named Pau, and his wife's name was Mehetabel; she was the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-zahab. 40 These are the names of the chiefs of Esau in the order of their families and their places: Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 43 Magdiel, Iram; these are the Edomite chiefs, in their places in their heritage; this is Esau, the father of the Edomites.
371 Now Jacob was living in the land where his father had made a place for himself, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph, a boy seventeen years old, was looking after the flock, together with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph gave their father a bad account of them. 3 Now the love which Israel had for Joseph was greater than his love for all his other children, because he got him when he was an old man: and he had a long coat made for him. 4 And because his brothers saw that Joseph was dearer to his father than all the others, they were full of hate for him, and would not say a kind word to him.
5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he gave his brothers an account of it, which made their hate greater than ever. 6 And he said to them, Let me give you the story of my dream. 7 We were in the field, getting the grain stems together, and my grain kept upright, and yours came round and went down on the earth before mine. 8 And his brothers said to him, Are you to be our king? will you have authority over us? And because of his dream and his words, their hate for him became greater than ever. 9 Then he had another dream, and gave his brothers an account of it, saying, I have had another dream: the sun and the moon and eleven stars gave honour to me. 10 And he gave word of it to his father and his brothers; but his father protesting said, What sort of a dream is this? am I and your mother and your brothers to go down on our faces to the earth before you? 11 And his brothers were full of envy; but his father kept his words in mind.
12 Now his brothers went to keep watch over their father's flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers with the flock in Shechem? come, I will send you to them. And he said to him, Here am I. 14 And he said to him, Go now, and see if your brothers are well and how the flock is; then come back and give me word. So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a man saw him wandering in the country, and said to him, What are you looking for? 16 And he said, I am looking for my brothers; please give me word of where they are keeping their flock. 17 And the man said, They have gone away from here, for they said in my hearing, Let us go to Dothan. So Joseph went after them and came up with them at Dothan. 18 But they saw him when he was a long way off, and before he came near them they made a secret design against him to put him to death; 19 Saying to one another, See, here comes this dreamer. 20 Let us now put him to death and put his body into one of these holes, and we will say, An evil beast has put him to death: then we will see what becomes of his dreams. 21 But Reuben, hearing these words, got him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life. 22 Do not put him to a violent death, but let him be placed in one of the holes; this he said to keep him safe from their hands, with the purpose of taking him back to his father again.
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they took off his long coat which he had on; 24 And they took him and put him in the hole: now the hole had no water in it. 25 Then seating themselves, they took their meal: and looking up, they saw a travelling band of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead on their way to Egypt, with spices and perfumes on their camels. 26 And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there in putting our brother to death and covering up his blood? 27 Let us give him to these Ishmaelites for a price, and let us not put violent hands on him, for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers gave ear to him. 28 And some traders from Midian went by; so pulling Joseph up out of the hole, they gave him to the Ishmaelites for twenty bits of silver, and they took him to Egypt. 29 Now when Reuben came back to the hole, Joseph was not there; and giving signs of grief, 30 He went back to his brothers, and said, The child is gone; what am I to do?
31 Then they took Joseph's coat, and put on it some of the blood from a young goat which they had put to death, 32 And they took the coat to their father, and said, We came across this; is it your son's coat or not? 33 And he saw that it was, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast has put him to death; without doubt Joseph has come to a cruel end. 34 Then Jacob, giving signs of grief, put on haircloth, and went on weeping for his son day after day. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters came to give him comfort, but he would not be comforted, saying with weeping, I will go down to the underworld to my son. So great was his father's sorrow for him. 36 And in Egypt the men of Midian gave him for a price to Potiphar, a captain of high position in Pharaoh's house.
381 Now at that time, Judah went away from his brothers and became the friend of a man of Adullam named Hirah. 2 And there he saw the daughter of a certain man of Canaan named Shua, and took her as his wife. 3 And she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Er. 4 And again she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Onan. 5 Then she had another son, to whom she gave the name Shelah; she was at Chezib when the birth took place. 6 And Judah took a wife for his first son Er, and her name was Tamar. 7 Now Er, Judah's first son, did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so that he put him to death. 8 Then Judah said to Onan, Go in to your brother's wife and do what it is right for a husband's brother to do; make her your wife and get offspring for your brother. 9 But Onan, seeing that the offspring would not be his, went in to his brother's wife, but let his seed go on to the earth, so that he might not get offspring for his brother. 10 And what he did was evil in the eyes of the Lord, so that he put him to death, like his brother. 11 Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, Go back to your father's house and keep yourself as a widow till my son Shelah becomes a man: for he had in his mind the thought that death might come to him as it had come to his brothers. So Tamar went back to her father's house.
12 And after a time, Bath-shua, Judah's wife, came to her end; and after Judah was comforted for her loss, he went to Timnah, where they were cutting the wool of his sheep, and his friend Hirah of Adullam went with him. 13 And when Tamar had news that her father-in-law was going up to Timnah to the wool-cutting, 14 She took off her widow's clothing, and covering herself with her veil, she took her seat near Enaim on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was now a man, but she had not been made his wife. 15 When Judah saw her he took her to be a loose woman of the town, because her face was covered. 16 And turning to her by the roadside, he said to her, Let me come in to you; for he had no idea that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What will you give me as my price? 17 And he said, I will give you a young goat from the flock. And she said, What will you give me as a sign till you send it? 18 And he said, What would you have? And she said, Your ring and its cord and the stick in your hand. So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she became with child by him. 19 Then she got up and went away and took off her veil and put on her widow's clothing. 20 Then Judah sent his friend Hirah with the young goat, to get back the things which he had given as a sign to the woman: but she was not there. 21 And he put questions to the men of the place, saying, Where is the loose woman who was in Enaim by the wayside? And they said, There was no such woman there. 22 So he went back to Judah, and said, I have not seen her, and the men of the place say that there is no such woman there. 23 And Judah said, Let her keep the things, so that we may not be shamed; I sent the young goat, but you did not see the woman.
24 Now about three months after this, word came to Judah that Tamar, his daughter-in-law, had been acting like a loose woman and was with child. And Judah said, Take her out and let her be burned. 25 And while she was being taken out, she sent word to her father-in-law, saying, The man whose property these things are, is the father of my child: say then, whose are this ring and this cord and this stick? 26 Then Judah said openly that they were his, and said, She is more upright than I am, for I did not give her to Shelah my son. And he had no more connection with her. 27 And when the time came for her to give birth, it was clear that there were two children in her body. 28 And while she was in the act of giving birth, one of them put out his hand; and the woman who was with her put a red thread round his hand, saying, This one came out first. 29 But then he took his hand back again, and his brother came first to birth: and the woman said, What an opening you have made for yourself! So he was named Perez. 30 And then his brother came out, with the red thread round his hand, and he was named Zerah.
21 And brother will give up brother to death, and the father his child: and children will go against their fathers and mothers, and put them to death. 22 And you will be hated by all men because of my name: but he who is strong to the end will have salvation. 23 But when they are cruel to you in one town, go in flight to another: for truly, I say to you, You will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the Son of man comes. 24 A disciple is not greater than his master, or a servant than his lord. 25 It is enough for the disciple that he may be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have given the name Beelzebub to the master of the house, how much more to those of his house!
26 Have, then, no fear of them: because nothing is covered which will not come to light, or secret which will not be made clear. 27 What I say to you in the dark, say in the light: and what comes to your ear secretly, say publicly from the house-tops. 28 And have no fear of those who put to death the body, but are not able to put to death the soul. But have fear of him who has power to give soul and body to destruction in hell. 29 Are not sparrows two a farthing? and not one of them comes to an end without your Father: 30 But the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Then have no fear; you are of more value than a flock of sparrows. 32 To everyone, then, who gives witness to me before men, I will give witness before my Father in heaven. 33 But if anyone says before men that he has no knowledge of me, I will say that I have no knowledge of him before my Father in heaven.
34 Do not have the thought that I have come to send peace on the earth; I came not to send peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to put a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law: 36 And a man will be hated by those of his house. 37 He who has more love for his father or mother than for me is not good enough for me; he who has more love for son or daughter than for me is not good enough for me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and come after me is not good enough for me. 39 He who has the desire to keep his life will have it taken from him, and he who gives up his life because of me will have it given back to him.
40 He who gives honour to you gives honour to me; and he who gives honour to me gives honour to him who sent me. 41 He who gives honour to a prophet, in the name of a prophet, will be given a prophet's reward; and he who gives honour to an upright man, in the name of an upright man, will be given an upright man's reward. 42 And whoever gives to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he will not go without his reward.
(Read Matthew 10:16-42)
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them what they should suffer, and from whom. Thus Christ has dealt fairly and faithfully with us, in telling us the worst we can meet with in his service; and he would have us deal so with ourselves, in sitting down and counting the cost. Persecutors are worse than beasts, in that they prey upon those of their own kind. The strongest bonds of love and duty, have often been broken through from enmity against Christ. Sufferings from friends and relations are very grievous; nothing cuts more. It appears plainly, that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution; and we must expect to enter into the kingdom of God through many tribulations. With these predictions of trouble, are counsels and comforts for a time of trial. The disciples of Christ are hated and persecuted as serpents, and their ruin is sought, and they need the serpent's wisdom. Be ye harmless as doves. Not only, do nobody any hurt, but bear nobody any ill-will. Prudent care there must be, but not an anxious, perplexing thought; let this care be cast upon God. The disciples of Christ must think more how to do well, than how to speak well. In case of great peril, the disciples of Christ may go out of the way of danger, though they must not go out of the way of duty. No sinful, unlawful means may be used to escape; for then it is not a door of God's opening. The fear of man brings a snare, a perplexing snare, that disturbs our peace; an entangling snare, by which we are drawn into sin; and, therefore, it must be striven and prayed against. Tribulation, distress, and persecution cannot take away God's love to them, or theirs to him. Fear Him, who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. They must deliver their message publicly, for all are deeply concerned in the doctrine of the gospel. The whole counsel of God must be made known, Acts 20:27. Christ shows them why they should be of good cheer. Their sufferings witnessed against those who oppose his gospel. When God calls us to speak for him, we may depend on him to teach us what to say. A believing prospect of the end of our troubles, will be of great use to support us under them. They may be borne to the end, because the sufferers shall be borne up under them. The strength shall be according to the day. And it is great encouragement to those who are doing Christ's work, that it is a work which shall certainly be done. See how the care of Providence extends to all creatures, even to the sparrows. This should silence all the fears of God's people; Ye are of more value than many sparrows. And the very hairs of your head are all numbered. This denotes the account God takes and keeps of his people. It is our duty, not only to believe in Christ, but to profess that faith, in suffering for him, when we are called to it, as well as in serving him. That denial of Christ only is here meant which is persisted in, and that confession only can have the blessed recompence here promised, which is the real and constant language of faith and love. Religion is worth every thing; all who believe the truth of it, will come up to the price, and make every thing else yield to it. Christ will lead us through sufferings, to glory with him. Those are best prepared for the life to come, that sit most loose to this present life. Though the kindness done to Christ's disciples be ever so small, yet if there be occasion for it, and ability to do no more, it shall be accepted. Christ does not say that they deserve a reward; for we cannot merit any thing from the hand of God; but they shall receive a reward from the free gift of God. Let us boldly confess Christ, and show love to him in all things.
