251 Now Abraham took another wife , whose name was Keturah . 2 She bore to him Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah . 3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan . And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim . 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah . All these were the sons of Keturah . 5 Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac ; 6 but to the sons of his concubines , Abraham gave gifts while he was still living , and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward , to the land of the east .
7 These are all the years of Abraham's life that he lived , one hundred and seventy-five years . 8 Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age , an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people . 9 Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah , in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite , facing e Mamre , 10 the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth ; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife .
11 It came about after the death of Abraham , that God blessed his son Isaac ; and Isaac lived by Beer-lahai-roi .
12 Now these are the records of the generations of Ishmael , Abraham's son , whom Hagar the Egyptian , Sarah's maid , bore to Abraham ; 13 and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael , by their names , in the order of their birth : Nebaioth , the firstborn of Ishmael , and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam 14 and Mishma and Dumah and Massa , 15 Hadad and Tema , Jetur , Naphish and Kedemah . 16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names , by their villages , and by their camps ; twelve e princes according to their tribes . 17 These are the years of the life of Ishmael , one hundred and thirty-seven e years ; and he breathed his last and died , and was gathered to his people . 18 They settled from Havilah to Shur which is east e of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria ; he settled in defiance e of all his relatives .
19 Now these are the records of the generations of Isaac , Abraham's son : Abraham became the father of Isaac ; 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah , the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram , the sister of Laban the Aramean , to be his wife . 21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife , because she was barren ; and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived . 22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said , "If it is so , why then am I this way?" So she went to inquire of the Lord . 23 The Lord said to her, " Two nations are in your womb ; And two peoples will be separated from your body ; And one people shall be stronger than the other ; And the older shall serve the younger ." 24 When her days to be delivered were fulfilled , behold , there were twins in her womb . 25 Now the first came forth red , all over like a hairy garment ; and they named e him Esau . 26 Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau's heel , so his name was called Jacob ; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.
27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter , a man of the field , but Jacob was a peaceful man , living in tents . 28 Now Isaac loved Esau , because he had a taste for game , but Rebekah loved Jacob .
29 When Jacob had cooked stew , Esau came in from the field and he was famished ; 30 and Esau said to Jacob , "Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished ." Therefore e his name was called Edom . 31 But Jacob said , "First sell me your birthright ." 32 Esau said , "Behold , I am about to die ; so of what use then is the birthright to me?" 33 And Jacob said , "First swear to me"; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob . 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew ; and he ate and drank , and rose and went on his way . Thus Esau despised his birthright .
261 Now there was a famine in the land , besides e the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham . So Isaac went to Gerar , to Abimelech king of the Philistines . 2 The Lord appeared to him and said , "Do not go down to Egypt ; stay in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 "Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands , and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham . 4 " I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven , and will give your descendants all these lands ; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed ; 5 because e Abraham obeyed e Me and kept My charge , My commandments , My statutes and My laws ."
6 So Isaac lived in Gerar . 7 When the men of the place asked about his wife , he said , " She is my sister ," for he was afraid to say , "my wife ," thinking, "the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah , for she is beautiful ." 8 It came about, when he had been there a long time , that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window , and saw , and behold , Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah . 9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said , "Behold , certainly she is your wife ! How then did you say , 'She is my sister '?" And Isaac said to him, "Because I said , 'I might die on account of her.' " 10 Abimelech said , "What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife , and you would have brought guilt upon us." 11 So Abimelech charged all the people , saying , "He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death ."
12 Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold e . And the Lord blessed him, 13 and the man became rich , and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy ; 14 for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household , so that the Philistines envied him. 15 Now all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father , the Philistines stopped up by filling them with earth . 16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac , "Go away from us, for you are too powerful for us." 17 And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar , and settled there . 18 Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham , for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham ; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing water , 20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac , saying , "The water is ours!" So he named e the well Esek , because they contended with him. 21 Then they dug another well , and they quarreled over it too , so he named e it Sitnah . 22 He moved away from there and dug another well , and they did not quarrel over it; so he named e it Rehoboth , for he said , " At last e the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land ." 23 Then he went up from there to Beersheba . 24 The Lord appeared to him the same night and said , " I am the God of your father Abraham ; Do not fear , for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants , For the sake of My servant Abraham ." 25 So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord , and pitched his tent there ; and there Isaac's servants dug a well .
26 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with his adviser Ahuzzath and Phicol the commander of his army . 27 Isaac said to them, " Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?" 28 They said , "We see plainly that the Lord has been with you; so we said , 'Let there now be an oath between us, even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm , just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace . You are now the blessed of the Lord .' " 30 Then he made them a feast , and they ate and drank . 31 In the morning they arose early and exchanged oaths ; then Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace . 32 Now it came about on the same day , that Isaac's servants came in and told him about e the well which they had dug , and said to him, "We have found water ." 33 So he called it Shibah ; therefore e the name of the city is Beersheba to this day .
34 When Esau was forty years old he married e Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite , and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite ; 35 and they brought grief e to Isaac and Rebekah .
81 When Jesus came down from the mountain , large crowds followed Him. 2 And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said , "Lord , if You are willing , You can make me clean ." 3 Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying , "I am willing ; be cleansed ." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed . 4 And Jesus said to him, " See that you tell no one ; but go , show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded , as a testimony to them."
5 And when Jesus entered Capernaum , a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, 6 and saying , "Lord , my servant is lying paralyzed at home , fearfully tormented ." 7 Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 But the centurion said , "Lord , I am not worthy for You to come under my roof , but just say the word , and my servant will be healed . 9 "For I also am a man under authority , with soldiers under me; and I say to this one , 'Go !' and he goes , and to another , 'Come !' and he comes , and to my slave , 'Do this !' and he does it." 10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following , "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel . 11 "I say to you that many will come from east and west , and recline at the table with Abraham , Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven ; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness ; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth ." 13 And Jesus said to the centurion , "Go ; it shall be done for you as you have believed ." And the servant was healed that very moment .
14 When Jesus came into Peter's home , He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever . 15 He touched her hand , and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him. 16 When evening came , they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed ; and He cast out the spirits with a word , and healed all who were ill e . 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet : " HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES ."
(Read Matthew 8:1)
This verse refers to the close of the foregoing sermon. Those to whom Christ has made himself known, desire to know more of him.
(Read Matthew 8:2-4)
In these verses we have an account of Christ's cleansing a leper, who came and worshipped him, as one clothed with Divine power. This cleansing directs us, not only to apply to Christ, who has power over bodily diseases, for the cure of them, but it also teaches us in what manner to apply to him. When we cannot be sure of God's will, we may be sure of his wisdom and mercy. No guilt is so great, but there is that in Christ's blood which atones for it; no corruption so strong, but there is that in his grace which can subdue it. To be made clean we must commend ourselves to his pity; we cannot demand it as a debt, but we must humbly request it as a favour. Those who by faith apply to Christ for mercy and grace, may be sure that he is freely willing to give them the mercy and grace they thus seek. And those afflictions are blessed that bring us to know Christ, and cause us to seek help and salvation from him. Let those who are cleansed from their spiritual leprosy, go to Christ's ministers and open their case, that they may advise, comfort, and pray for them.
(Read Matthew 8:5-13)
This centurion was a heathen, a Roman soldier. Though he was a soldier, yet he was a godly man. No man's calling or place will be an excuse for unbelief and sin. See how he states his servant's case. We should concern ourselves for the souls of our children and servants, who are spiritually sick, who feel not spiritual evils, who know not that which is spiritually good; and we should bring them to Christ by faith and prayers. Observe his self-abasement. Humble souls are made more humble by Christ's gracious dealings with them. Observe his great faith. The more diffident we are of ourselves, the stronger will be our confidence in Christ. Herein the centurion owns him to have Divine power, and a full command of all the creatures and powers of nature, as a master over his servants. Such servants we all should be to God; we must go and come, according to the directions of his word and the disposals of his providence. But when the Son of man comes he finds little faith, therefore he finds little fruit. An outward profession may cause us to be called children of the kingdom; but if we rest in that, and have nothing else to show, we shall be cast out. The servant got a cure of his disease, and the master got the approval of his faith. What was said to him, is said to all, Believe, and ye shall receive; only believe. See the power of Christ, and the power of faith. The healing of our souls is at once the effect and evidence of our interest in the blood of Christ.
(Read Matthew 8:14-17)
Peter had a wife, yet was an apostle of Christ, who showed that he approved of the married state, by being thus kind to Peter's wife's relations. The church of Rome, which forbids ministers to marry, goes contrary to that apostle upon whom they rest so much. He had his wife's mother with him in his family, which is an example to be kind to our relations. In spiritual healing, the Scripture speaks the word, the Spirit gives the touch, touches the heart, touches the hand. Those who recover from fevers, commonly are weak and feeble some time after; but to show that this cure was above the power of nature, the woman was at once so well as to go about the business of the house. The miracles which Jesus did being noised abroad, many thronged to him. He healed all that were sick, though the patient was ever so mean, and the case ever so bad. Many are the diseases and calamities to which we are liable in the body; and there is more, in those words of the gospel, that Jesus Christ bore our sicknesses and carried our sorrows, to support and comfort us under them, than in all the writings of the philosophers. Let us not grudge labour, trouble, or expense in doing good to others.
