431 And when the grain which they had got in Egypt was all used up, their father said to them, Go again and get us a little food. 2 And Judah said to him, The man said to us with an oath, You are not to come before me again without your brother. 3 If you will let our brother go with us, we will go down and get food: 4 But if you will not send him, we will not go down: for the man said to us, You are not to come before me if your brother is not with you. 5 And Israel said, Why were you so cruel to me as to say to him that you had a brother? 6 And they said, The man put a number of questions to us about ourselves and our family, saying, Is your father still living? have you another brother? And we had to give him answers; how were we to have any idea that he would say, Come back with your brother? 7 Then Judah said to Israel, his father, Send the boy with me, and let us be up and going, so that we and you and our little ones may not come to destruction. 8 Put him into my care and make me responsible for him: if I do not give him safely back to you, let mine be the sin for ever. 9 Truly, if we had not let the time go by, we might have come back again by now. 10 Then their father Israel said to them, If it has to be so, then do this: take of the best fruits of the land in your vessels to give the man, perfumes and honey and spices and nuts:
11 And take twice as much money with you; that is to say, take back the money which was put in your bags, for it may have been an error; 12 And take your brother and go back to the man: 13 And may God, the Ruler of all, give you mercy before the man, so that he may give you back your other brother and Benjamin. If my children are to be taken from me; there is no help for it. 14 So they took what their father said for the man, and twice as much money in their hands, and Benjamin, and went on their journey to Egypt, and came before Joseph.
15 And when Joseph saw Benjamin, he said to his chief servant, Take these men into my house, and make ready a meal, for they will take food with me in the middle of the day. 16 And the servant did as Joseph said, and took the men into Joseph's house. 17 Now the men were full of fear because they had been taken into Joseph's house and they said, It is because of the money which was put back in our bags the first time; he is looking for something against us, so that he may come down on us and take us and our asses for his use. 18 So they went up to Joseph's chief servant at the door of the house, 19 And said, O my lord, we only came down the first time to get food; 20 And when we came to our night's resting-place, on opening our bags we saw that every man's money was in the mouth of his bag, all our money in full weight: and we have it with us to give it back; 21 As well as more money, with which to get food: we have no idea who put our money in our bags. 22 Then the servant said, Peace be with you: have no fear: your God, even the God of your father, has put wealth in your bags for you: I had your money. Then he let Simeon come out to them. 23 And the servant took them into Joseph's house, and gave them water for washing their feet; and he gave their asses food. 24 And they got ready the things for Joseph before he came in the middle of the day: for word was given to them that they were to have a meal there. 25 And when Joseph came in, they gave him the things which they had for him, and went down to the earth before him.
26 And he said, How are you? is your father well, the old man of whom you were talking to me? is he still living? 27 And they said, Your servant, our father, is well, he is still living. And they went down on their faces before him. 28 Then, lifting up his eyes, he saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother's son, and he said, Is this your youngest brother of whom you gave me word? And he said, God be good to you, my son. 29 Then Joseph's heart went out to his brother, and he went quickly into his room, for he was overcome with weeping. 30 Then, after washing his face, he came out, and controlling his feelings said, Put food before us. 31 And they put a meal ready for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who were with him by themselves; because the Egyptians may not take food with the Hebrews, for that would make them unclean. 32 And they were all given their seats before him in order of birth, from the oldest to the youngest: so that they were looking at one another in wonder. 33 And Joseph sent food to them from his table, but he sent five times as much to Benjamin as to any of the others. And they took wine freely with him.
441 Then he gave orders to the servant who was over his house, saying, Put as much food into the men's bags as will go into them, and put every man's money in the mouth of his bag; 2 And put my cup, my silver cup, in the youngest one's bag, with his money. So he did as Joseph said. 3 And at dawn the men, with their asses, were sent away. 4 And when they had gone only a little way out of the town, Joseph said to the servant who was over his house, Go after them; and when you overtake them, say to them, Why have you done evil in reward for good? 5 Is not this the cup from which my lord takes wine and by which he gets knowledge of the future? Truly, you have done evil. 6 So he overtook them and said these words to them. 7 And they said to him, Why does my lord say such words as these? far be it from your servants to do such a thing: 8 See, the money which was in the mouth of our bags we gave back to you when we came again from Canaan: how then might we take silver or gold from your lord's house? 9 If it comes to light that any of your servants has done this, let him be put to death, and we will be your lord's servants. 10 And he said, Let it be as you say: he in whose bag it is seen will become my servant; and you will not be responsible. 11 Then every man quickly got his bag down and undid it. 12 And he made a search, starting with the oldest and ending with the youngest; and the cup was in Benjamin's bag. 13 Then in bitter grief they put the bags on the asses again and went back to the town. 14 So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house; and he was still there: and they went down on their faces before him. 15 And Joseph said, What is this thing which you have done? had you no thought that such a man as I would have power to see what is secret? 16 And Judah said, What are we to say to my lord? how may we put ourselves right in his eyes? God has made clear the sin of your servants: now we are in your hands, we and the man in whose bag your cup was seen. 17 Then he said, Far be it from me to do so: but the man who had my cup will be my servant; and you may go back to your father in peace.
18 Then Judah came near him, and said, Let your servant say a word in my lord's ears, and let not your wrath be burning against your servant: for you are in the place of Pharaoh to us. 19 My lord said to his servants, Have you a father or a brother? 20 And we said to my lord, We have an old father and a young child, whom he had when he was old; his brother is dead and he is the only son of his mother, and is very dear to his father. 21 And you said to your servants, Let him come down to me with you, so that I may see him. 22 And we said to my lord, His father will not let him go; for if he went away his father would come to his death. 23 But you said to your servants, If your youngest brother does not come with you, you will not see my face again. 24 And when we went back to your servant, our father, we gave him an account of my lord's words. 25 And our father said, Go again and get us a little food. 26 And we said, Only if our youngest brother goes with us will we go down; for we may not see the man's face again if our youngest brother is not with us. 27 And our father said to us, You have knowledge that my wife gave me two sons; 28 The one went away from me, and I said, Truly he has come to a violent death; and from that time I have not seen him, 29 If now you take this one from me, and some evil comes to him, you will make my grey head go down in sorrow to the underworld. 30 If then I go back to your servant, my father, without the boy, because his life and the boy's life are one, 31 When he sees that the boy is not with us, he will come to his death, and our father's grey head will go down in sorrow to the underworld. 32 For I made myself responsible for the boy to my father, saying, If I do not give him safely back to you, let mine be the sin for ever. 33 So now let me be my lord's servant here in place of the boy, and let him go back with his brothers. 34 For how may I go back to my father without the boy, and see the evil which will come on my father?
451 Then Joseph, unable to keep back his feelings before those who were with him, gave orders for everyone to be sent away, and no one was present when he made clear to his brothers who he was. 2 And so loud was his weeping, that it came to the ears of the Egyptians and all Pharaoh's house. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph: is my father still living? But his brothers were not able to give him an answer for they were troubled before him. 4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me. And they came near, And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sent into Egypt. 5 Now do not be troubled or angry with yourselves for sending me away, because God sent me before you to be the saviour of your lives. 6 For these two years have been years of need, and there are still five more years to come in which there will be no ploughing or cutting of grain. 7 God sent me before you to keep you and yours living on earth so that you might become a great nation. 8 So now it was not you who sent me here, but God: and he has made me as a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9 Now go quickly to my father, and say to him, Your son Joseph says, God has made me ruler over all the land of Egypt: come down to me straight away: 10 The land of Goshen will be your living-place, and you will be near me; you and your children and your children's children, and your flocks and herds and all you have: 11 And there I will take care of you, so that you and your family may not be in need, for there are still five bad years to come. 12 Now truly, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth which says these things to you. 13 Give my father word of all my glory in Egypt and of all you have seen; and come back quickly with my father. 14 Then, weeping, he took Benjamin in his arms, and Benjamin himself was weeping on Joseph's neck. 15 Then he gave a kiss to all his brothers, weeping over them; and after that his brothers had no fear of talking to him.
16 And news of these things went through Pharaoh's house, and it was said that Joseph's brothers were come; and it seemed good to Pharaoh and his servants. 17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to your brothers, Put your goods on your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan; 18 And get your father and your families and come back to me: and I will give you all the good things of Egypt, and the fat of the land will be your food. 19 And say to them, This you are to do: take carts from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and get your father and come back. 20 And take no thought for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours. 21 And the children of Israel did as he said; and Joseph gave them carts as had been ordered by Pharaoh, and food for their journey. 22 To every one of them he gave three changes of clothing; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred bits of silver and five changes of clothing. 23 And to his father he sent ten asses with good things from Egypt on their backs, and ten she-asses with grain and bread and food for his father on the journey. 24 And he sent his brothers on their way, and said to them, See that you have no argument on the road.
25 So they went up from Egypt and came to the land of Canaan, to their father Jacob. 26 And they said to him, Joseph is living, and is ruler over all the land of Egypt. And at this word Jacob was quite overcome, for he had no faith in it. 27 And they gave him an account of everything Joseph had said to them; and when he saw the carts which Joseph had sent for them, his spirit came back to him: 28 And Israel said, It is enough: Joseph my son is still living; I will go and see him before my death.
24 But the Pharisees, hearing of it, said, This man only sends evil spirits out of men by Beelzebub, the ruler of evil spirits. 25 And having knowledge of their thoughts he said to them, Every kingdom having division in itself is made waste, and every town or house having division in itself will come to destruction. 26 And if Satan sends out Satan, he makes war against himself; how then will he keep his kingdom? 27 And if I by Beelzebub send evil spirits out of men, by whom do your sons send them out? So let them be your judges. 28 But if I by the Spirit of God send out evil spirits, then is the kingdom of God come on you. 29 Or how may one go into a strong man's house and take his goods, if he does not first put cords round the strong man? and then he may take his goods. 30 Whoever is not with me is against me; and he who does not take part with me in getting people together, is driving them away. 31 So I say to you, Every sin and every evil word against God will have forgiveness; but for evil words against the Spirit there will be no forgiveness. 32 And whoever says a word against the Son of man, will have forgiveness; but whoever says a word against the Holy Spirit, will not have forgiveness in this life or in that which is to come. 33 Make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for by its fruit you will get knowledge of the tree. 34 You offspring of snakes, how are you, being evil, able to say good things? because out of the heart's store come the words of the mouth. 35 The good man out of his good store gives good things; and the evil man out of his evil store gives evil things. 36 And I say to you that in the day when they are judged, men will have to give an account of every foolish word they have said. 37 For by your words will your righteousness be seen, and by your words you will be judged.
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees, hearing this, said to him, Master, we are looking for a sign from you. 39 But he, answering, said to them, An evil and false generation is looking for a sign; and no sign will be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah: 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of the great fish, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will come up in the day of judging and give their decision against this generation: because they were turned from their sins at the preaching of Jonah; and now a greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will come up in the day of judging and give her decision against this generation: for she came from the ends of the earth to give ear to the wisdom of Solomon; and now a greater than Solomon is here.
43 But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of a man, goes through dry places looking for rest, and getting it not. 44 Then he says, I will go back into my house from which I came out; and when he comes, he sees that there is no one in it, but that it has been made fair and clean. 45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits worse than himself, and they go in and make it their living-place: and the last condition of that man is worse than the first. Even so will it be with this evil generation.
46 While he was still talking to the people, his mother and his brothers came, desiring to have talk with him. 47 And one said to him, See, your mother and your brothers are outside, desiring to have talk with you. 48 But he in answer said to him who gave the news, Who is my mother and who are my brothers? 49 And he put out his hand to his disciples and said, See, my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the pleasure of my Father in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.
(Read Matthew 12:22-30)
A soul under Satan's power, and led captive by him, is blind in the things of God, and dumb at the throne of grace; sees nothing, and says nothing to the purpose. Satan blinds the eyes by unbelief, and seals up the lips from prayer. The more people magnified Christ, the more desirous the Pharisees were to vilify him. It was evident that if Satan aided Jesus in casting out devils, the kingdom of hell was divided against itself; how then could it stand! And if they said that Jesus cast out devils by the prince of the devils, they could not prove that their children cast them out by any other power. There are two great interests in the world; and when unclean spirits are cast out by the Holy Spirit, in the conversion of sinners to a life of faith and obedience, the kingdom of God is come unto us. All who do not aid or rejoice in such a change are against Christ.
(Read Matthew 12:31-32)
Here is a gracious assurance of the pardon of all sin upon gospel terms. Christ herein has set an example to the sons of men, to be ready to forgive words spoken against them. But humble and conscientious believers, at times are tempted to think they have committed the unpardonable sin, while those who have come the nearest to it, seldom have any fear about it. We may be sure that those who indeed repent and believe the gospel, have not committed this sin, or any other of the same kind; for repentance and faith are the special gifts of God, which he would not bestow on any man, if he were determined never to pardon him; and those who fear they have committed this sin, give a good sign that they have not. The trembling, contrite sinner, has the witness in himself that this is not his case.
(Read Matthew 12:33-37)
Men's language discovers what country they are of, likewise what manner of spirit they are of. The heart is the fountain, words are the streams. A troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring, must send forth muddy and unpleasant streams. Nothing but the salt of grace, cast into the spring, will heal the waters, season the speech, and purify the corrupt communication. An evil man has an evil treasure in his heart, and out of it brings forth evil things. Lusts and corruptions, dwelling and reigning in the heart, are an evil treasure, out of which the sinner brings forth bad words and actions, to dishonour God, and hurt others. Let us keep constant watch over ourselves, that we may speak words agreeable to the Christian character.
(Read Matthew 12:38-45)
Though Christ is always ready to hear and answer holy desires and prayers, yet those who ask amiss, ask and have not. Signs were granted to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham and Gideon; but denied to those who demanded them to excuse their unbelief. The resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power, called here the sign of the prophet Jonah, was the great proof of Christ's being the Messiah. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale, and then came out again alive, thus Christ would be so long in the grave, and then rise again. The Ninevites would shame the Jews for not repenting; the queen of Sheba, for not believing in Christ. And we have no such cares to hinder us, we come not to Christ upon such uncertainties. This parable represents the case of the Jewish church and nation. It is also applicable to all those who hear the word of God, and are in part reformed, but not truly converted. The unclean spirit leaves for a time, but when he returns, he finds Christ is not there to shut him out; the heart is swept by outward reformation, but garnished by preparation to comply with evil suggestions, and the man becomes a more decided enemy of the truth. Every heart is the residence of unclean spirits, except those which are temples of the Holy Ghost, by faith in Christ.
(Read Matthew 12:46-50)
Christ's preaching was plain, easy, and familiar, and suited to his hearers. His mother and brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him, when they should have been standing within, desiring to hear him. Frequently, those who are nearest to the means of knowledge and grace are most negligent. We are apt to neglect that which we think we may have any day, forgetting that to-morrow is not ours. We often meet with hinderances in our work from friends about us, and are taken off by care for the things of this life, from the concerns of our souls. Christ was so intent on his work, that no natural or other duty took him from it. Not that, under pretence of religion, we may be disrespectful to parents, or unkind to relations; but the lesser duty must stand by, while the greater is done. Let us cease from men, and cleave to Christ; let us look upon every Christian, in whatever condition of life, as the brother, sister, or mother of the Lord of glory; let us love, respect, and be kind to them, for his sake, and after his example.
