311 And he heareth the words of Laban's sons, saying, 'Jacob hath taken all that our father hath; yea, from that which our father hath, he hath made all this honour;' 2 and Jacob seeth the face of Laban, and lo, it is not with him as heretofore. 3 And Jehovah saith unto Jacob, 'Turn back unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred, and I am with thee.' 4 And Jacob sendeth and calleth for Rachel and for Leah to the field unto his flock; 5 and saith to them, 'I am beholding your father's face—that it is not towards me as heretofore, and the God of my father hath been with me, 6 and ye—ye have known that with all my power I have served your father, 7 and your father hath played upon me, and hath changed my hire ten times; and God hath not suffered him to do evil with me. 8 'If he say thus: The speckled are thy hire, then bare all the flock speckled ones; and if he say thus: The ring-straked are thy hire, then bare all the flock ring-straked; 9 and God taketh away the substance of your father, and doth give to me. 10 'And it cometh to pass at the time of the flock conceiving, that I lift up mine eyes and see in a dream, and lo, the he-goats, which are going up on the flock, 'are' ring-straked, speckled, and grisled; 11 and the messenger of God saith unto me in the dream, Jacob, and I say, Here 'am' I. 12 'And He saith, Lift up, I pray thee, thine eyes, and see—all the he-goats which are going up on the flock 'are' ring-straked, speckled, and grisled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to thee; 13 I 'am' the God of Bethel where thou hast anointed a standing pillar, where thou hast vowed a vow to me; now, arise, go out from this land, and turn back unto the land of thy birth.' 14 And Rachel answereth—Leah also—and saith to him, 'Have we yet a portion and inheritance in the house of our father? 15 have we not been reckoned strangers to him? for he hath sold us, and he also utterly consumeth our money; 16 for all the wealth which God hath taken away from our father, it 'is' ours, and our children's; and now, all that God hath said unto thee—do.'
17 And Jacob riseth, and lifteth up his sons and his wives on the camels, 18 and leadeth all his cattle, and all his substance which he hath acquired, the cattle of his getting, which he hath acquired in Padan-Aram, to go unto Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan. 19 And Laban hath gone to shear his flock, and Rachel stealeth the teraphim which her father hath; 20 and Jacob deceiveth the heart of Laban the Aramaean, because he hath not declared to him that he is fleeing; 21 and he fleeth, he and all that he hath, and riseth, and passeth over the River, and setteth his face 'toward' the mount of Gilead. 22 And it is told to Laban on the third day that Jacob hath fled, 23 and he taketh his brethren with him, and pursueth after him a journey of seven days, and overtaketh him in the mount of Gilead. 24 And God cometh in unto Laban the Aramaean in a dream of the night, and saith to him, 'Take heed to thyself lest thou speak with Jacob from good unto evil.'
25 And Laban overtaketh Jacob; and Jacob hath fixed his tent in the mount; and Laban with his brethren have fixed 'theirs' in the mount of Gilead. 26 And Laban saith to Jacob, 'What hast thou done that thou dost deceive my heart, and lead away my daughters as captives of the sword? 27 Why hast thou hidden thyself to flee, and deceivest me, and hast not declared to me, and I send thee away with joy and with songs, with tabret and with harp, 28 and hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters?—now thou hast acted foolishly in doing 'so'; 29 my hand is to God to do evil with you, but the God of your father yesternight hath spoken unto me, saying, Take heed to thyself from speaking with Jacob from good unto evil. 30 'And now, thou hast certainly gone, because thou hast been very desirous for the house of thy father; why hast thou stolen my gods?' 31 And Jacob answereth and saith to Laban, 'Because I was afraid, for I said, Lest thou take violently away thy daughters from me; 32 with whomsoever thou findest thy gods—he doth not live; before our brethren discern for thyself what 'is' with me, and take to thyself:' and Jacob hath not known that Rachel hath stolen them. 33 And Laban goeth into the tent of Jacob, and into the tent of Leah, and into the tent of the two handmaidens, and hath not found; and he goeth out from the tent of Leah, and goeth into the tent of Rachel. 34 And Rachel hath taken the teraphim, and putteth them in the furniture of the camel, and sitteth upon them; and Laban feeleth all the tent, and hath not found; 35 and she saith unto her father, 'Let it not be displeasing in the eyes of my lord that I am not able to rise at thy presence, for the way of women 'is' on me;' and he searcheth, and hath not found the teraphim.
36 And it is displeasing to Jacob, and he striveth with Laban; and Jacob answereth and saith to Laban, 'What 'is' my transgression? what my sin, that thou hast burned after me? 37 for thou hast felt all my vessels: what hast thou found of all the vessels of thy house? set here before my brethren, and thy brethren, and they decide between us both. 38 'These twenty years I 'am' with thee: thy ewes and thy she-goats have not miscarried, and the rams of thy flock I have not eaten; 39 the torn I have not brought in unto thee—I, I repay it—from my hand thou dost seek it; I have been deceived by day, and I have been deceived by night; 40 I have been 'thus': in the day consumed me hath drought, and frost by night, and wander doth my sleep from mine eyes. 41 'This 'is' to me twenty years in thy house: I have served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock; and thou changest my hire ten times; 42 unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac, had been for me, surely now empty thou hadst sent me away; mine affliction and the labour of my hands hath God seen, and reproveth yesternight.'
43 And Laban answereth and saith unto Jacob, 'The daughters 'are' my daughters, and the sons my sons, and the flock my flock, and all that thou art seeing 'is' mine; and to my daughters—what do I to these to-day, or to their sons whom they have born? 44 and now, come, let us make a covenant, I and thou, and it hath been for a witness between me and thee.' 45 And Jacob taketh a stone, and lifteth it up 'for' a standing pillar; 46 and Jacob saith to his brethren, 'Gather stones,' and they take stones, and make a heap; and they eat there on the heap; 47 and Laban calleth it Jegar-Sahadutha; and Jacob hath called it Galeed. 48 And Laban saith, 'This heap 'is' witness between me and thee to-day;' therefore hath he called its name Galeed; 49 Mizpah also, for he said, 'Jehovah doth watch between me and thee, for we are hidden one from another; 50 if thou afflict my daughters, or take wives beside my daughters—there is no man with us—see, God 'is' witness between me and thee.' 51 And Laban saith to Jacob, 'Lo, this heap, and lo, the standing pillar which I have cast between me and thee; 52 this heap 'is' witness, and the standing pillar 'is' witness, that I do not pass over this heap unto thee, and that thou dost not pass over this heap and this standing pillar unto me—for evil; 53 the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, doth judge between us—the God of their father,' and Jacob sweareth by the Fear of his father Isaac. 54 And Jacob sacrificeth a sacrifice in the mount, and calleth to his brethren to eat bread, and they eat bread, and lodge in the mount; 55 and Laban riseth early in the morning, and kisseth his sons and his daughters, and blesseth them; and Laban goeth on, and turneth back to his place.
321 And Jacob hath gone on his way, and messengers of God come upon him; 2 and Jacob saith, when he hath seen them, 'This 'is' the camp of God;' and he calleth the name of that place 'Two Camps.'
3 And Jacob sendeth messengers before him unto Esau his brother, towards the land of Seir, the field of Edom, 4 and commandeth them, saying, 'Thus do ye say to my lord, to Esau: Thus said thy servant Jacob, With Laban I have sojourned, and I tarry until now; 5 and I have ox, and ass, flock, and man-servant, and maid-servant, and I send to declare to my lord, to find grace in his eyes.' 6 And the messengers turn back unto Jacob, saying, 'We came in unto thy brother, unto Esau, and he also is coming to meet thee, and four hundred men with him;' 7 and Jacob feareth exceedingly, and is distressed, and he divideth the people who 'are' with him, and the flock, and the herd, and the camels, into two camps, 8 and saith, 'If Esau come in unto the one camp, and have smitten it—then the camp which is left hath been for an escape.'
9 And Jacob saith, 'God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Jehovah who saith unto me, Turn back to thy land, and to thy kindred, and I do good with thee: 10 I have been unworthy of all the kind acts, and of all the truth which Thou hast done with thy servant—for, with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. 11 'Deliver me, I pray Thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I am fearing him, less he come and have smitten me—mother beside sons; 12 and Thou—Thou hast said, I certainly do good with thee, and have set thy seed as the sand of the sea, which is not numbered because of the multitude.'
13 And he lodgeth there during that night, and taketh from that which is coming into his hand, a present for Esau his brother: 14 she-goats two hundred, and he-goats twenty, ewes two hundred, and rams twenty, 15 suckling camels and their young ones thirty, cows forty, and bullocks ten, she-asses twenty, and foals ten; 16 and he giveth into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and saith unto his servants, 'Pass over before me, and a space ye do put between drove and drove.' 17 And he commandeth the first, saying, 'When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and hath asked thee, saying, Whose 'art' thou? and whither goest thou? and whose 'are' these before thee? 18 then thou hast said, Thy servant Jacob's: it 'is' a present sent to my lord, to Esau; and lo, he also 'is' behind us.' 19 And he commandeth also the second, also the third, also all who are going after the droves, saying, 'According to this manner do ye speak unto Esau in your finding him, 20 and ye have said also, Lo, thy servant Jacob 'is' behind us;' for he said, 'I pacify his face with the present which is going before me, and afterwards I see his face; it may be he lifteth up my face;' 21 and the present passeth over before his face, and he hath lodged during that night in the camp.
22 And he riseth in that night, and taketh his two wives, and his two maid-servants, and his eleven children, and passeth over the passage of Jabbok; 23 and he taketh them, and causeth them to pass over the brook, and he causeth that which he hath to pass over.
24 And Jacob is left alone, and one wrestleth with him till the ascending of the dawn; 25 and he seeth that he is not able for him, and he cometh against the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh is disjointed in his wrestling with him; 26 and he saith, 'Send me away, for the dawn hath ascended:' and he saith, 'I send thee not away, except thou hast blessed me.' 27 And he saith unto him, 'What 'is' thy name?' and he saith, 'Jacob.' 28 And he saith, 'Thy name is no more called Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast been a prince with God and with men, and dost prevail.' 29 And Jacob asketh, and saith, 'Declare, I pray thee, thy name;' and he saith, 'Why 'is' this, thou askest for My name?' and He blesseth him there. 30 And Jacob calleth the name of the place Peniel: for 'I have seen God face unto face, and my life is delivered;' 31 and the sun riseth on him when he hath passed over Penuel, and he is halting on his thigh; 32 therefore the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew which shrank, which 'is' on the hollow of the thigh, unto this day, because He came against the hollow of Jacob's thigh, against the sinew which shrank.
18 While he is speaking these things to them, lo, a ruler having come, was bowing to him, saying that 'My daughter just now died, but, having come, lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.' 19 And Jesus having risen, did follow him, also his disciples, 20 and lo, a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, having come to him behind, did touch the fringe of his garments, 21 for she said within herself, 'If only I may touch his garment, I shall be saved.' 22 And Jesus having turned about, and having seen her, said, 'Be of good courage, daughter, thy faith hath saved thee,' and the woman was saved from that hour. 23 And Jesus having come to the house of the ruler, and having seen the minstrels and the multitude making tumult, 24 he saith to them, 'Withdraw, for the damsel did not die, but doth sleep,' and they were deriding him; 25 but, when the multitude was put forth, having gone in, he took hold of her hand, and the damsel arose, 26 and the fame of this went forth to all the land.
27 And Jesus passing on thence, two blind men followed him, calling and saying, 'Deal kindly with us, Son of David.' 28 And he having come to the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus saith to them, 'Believe ye that I am able to do this?' They say to him, 'Yes, sir.' 29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, 'According to your faith let it be to you,' 30 and their eyes were opened, and Jesus strictly charged them, saying, 'See, let no one know;' 31 but they, having gone forth, did spread his fame in all that land.
32 And as they are coming forth, lo, they brought to him a man dumb, a demoniac, 33 and the demon having been cast out, the dumb spake, and the multitude did wonder, saying that 'It was never so seen in Israel:' 34 but the Pharisees said, 'By the ruler of the demons he doth cast out the demons.'
35 And Jesus was going up and down all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the reign, and healing every sickness and every malady among the people. 36 And having seen the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, that they were faint and cast aside, as sheep not having a shepherd, 37 then saith he to his disciples, 'The harvest indeed 'is' abundant, but the workmen few; 38 beseech ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he may put forth workmen to His harvest.'
(Read Matthew 9:18-26)
The death of our relations should drive us to Christ, who is our life. And it is high honour to the greatest rulers to attend on the Lord Jesus; and those who would receive mercy from Christ, must honour him. The variety of methods Christ took in working his miracles, perhaps was because of the different frames and tempers of mind, which those were in who came to him, and which He who searches the heart perfectly knew. A poor woman applied herself to Christ, and received mercy from him by the way. If we do but touch, as it were, the hem of Christ's garment by living faith, our worst evils will be healed; there is no other real cure, nor need we fear his knowing things which are a grief and burden to us, but which we would not tell to any earthly friend. When Christ entered the ruler's house, he said, Give place. Sometimes, when the sorrow of the world prevails, it is difficult for Christ and his comforts to enter. The ruler's daughter was really dead, but not so to Christ. The death of the righteous is in a special manner to be looked on as only a sleep. The words and works of Christ may not at first be understood, yet they are not therefore to be despised. The people were put forth. Scorners who laugh at what they do not understand, are not proper witnesses of the wonderful works of Christ. Dead souls are not raised to spiritual life, unless Christ take them by the hand: it is done in the day of his power. If this single instance of Christ's raising one newly dead so increased his fame, what will be his glory when all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and come forth; those that have done good to the resurrection of life, and those that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation!
(Read Matthew 9:27-31)
At this time the Jews expected Messiah would appear; these blind men knew and proclaimed in the streets of Capernaum that he was come, and that Jesus was he. Those who, by the providence of God, have lost their bodily sight, may, by the grace of God, have the eyes of their understanding fully enlightened. And whatever our wants and burdens are, we need no more for supply and support, than to share in the mercy of our Lord Jesus. In Christ is enough for all. They followed him crying aloud. He would try their faith, and would teach us always to pray, and not to faint, though the answer does not come at once. They followed Christ, and followed him crying; but the great question is, Do ye believe? Nature may make us earnest, but it is only grace that can work faith. Christ touched their eyes. He gives sight to blind souls by the power of his grace going with his word, and he puts the cure upon their faith. Those who apply to Jesus Christ, shall be dealt with, not according to their fancies, nor according to their profession, but according to their faith. Christ sometimes concealed his miracles, because he would not indulge the conceit which prevailed among the Jews, that their Messiah should be a temporal prince, and so give occasion to the people to attempt tumults and seditions.
(Read Matthew 9:32-34)
Of the two, better a dumb devil than a blaspheming one. Christ's cures strike at the root, and remove the effect by taking away the cause; they open the lips, by breaking Satan's power in the soul. Nothing can convince those who are under the power of pride. They will believe anything, however false or absurd, rather than the Holy Scriptures; thus they show the enmity of their hearts against a holy God.
(Read Matthew 9:35-38)
Jesus visited not only the great and wealthy cities, but the poor, obscure villages; and there he preached, there he healed. The souls of the meanest in the world are as precious to Christ, and should be so to us, as the souls of those who make the greatest figure. There were priests, Levites, and scribes, all over the land; but they were idol shepherds, Zechariah 11:17; therefore Christ had compassion on the people as sheep scattered, as men perishing for lack of knowledge. To this day vast multitudes are as sheep not having a shepherd, and we should have compassion and do all we can to help them. The multitudes desirous of spiritual instruction formed a plenteous harvest, needing many active labourers; but few deserved that character. Christ is the Lord of the harvest. Let us pray that many may be raised up and sent forth, who will labour in bringing souls to Christ. It is a sign that God is about to bestow some special mercy upon a people, when he stirs them up to pray for it. And commissions given to labourers in answer to prayer, are most likely to be successful.
