291 Then Jacob went on his journey , and came to the land of the sons of the east . 2 He looked , and saw a well in the field , and behold , three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for from that well they watered the flocks . Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large . 3 When all the flocks were gathered there , they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep , and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well . 4 Jacob said to them, "My brothers , where are you from?" And they said , "We are from Haran ." 5 He said to them, "Do you know Laban the son of Nahor ?" And they said , "We know him." 6 And he said to them, "Is it well with him?" And they said , "It is well , and here is Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep ." 7 He said , "Behold , it is still high day ; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered . Water the sheep , and go , pasture them." 8 But they said , "We cannot e , until e all the flocks are gathered , and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well ; then we water the sheep ."
9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep , for she was a shepherdess . 10 When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother , and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother , Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother . 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel , and lifted his voice and wept . 12 Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and that he was Rebekah's son , and she ran and told her father . 13 So when Laban heard the news of Jacob his sister's son , he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house . Then he related to Laban all these things . 14 Laban said to him, "Surely you are my bone and my flesh ." And he stayed with him a month .
15 Then Laban said to Jacob , "Because you are my relative , should you therefore serve me for nothing ? Tell me, what shall your wages be?" 16 Now Laban had two daughters ; the name of the older was Leah , and the name of the younger was Rachel . 17 And Leah's eyes were weak , but Rachel was beautiful of form and face . 18 Now Jacob loved Rachel , so he said , " I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel ." 19 Laban said , "It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man ; stay with me." 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed e to him but a few days because of his love for her. 21 Then Jacob said to Laban , "Give me my wife , for my time is completed , that I may go in to her." 22 Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast . 23 Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah , and brought her to him; and Jacob went in to her. 24 Laban also gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid . 25 So it came about in the morning that, behold , it was Leah ! And he said to Laban , " What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me?" 26 But Laban said , "It is not the practice e in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn . 27 "Complete the week of this one , and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me for another seven years ." 28 Jacob did so and completed her week , and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife . 29 Laban also gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid . 30 So Jacob went in to Rachel also , and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah , and he served with Laban for another seven years .
31 Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved , and He opened her womb , but Rachel was barren . 32 Leah conceived and bore a son and named e him Reuben , for she said , "Because the Lord has seen my affliction ; surely now my husband will love me." 33 Then she conceived again and bore a son and said , " Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved , He has therefore given me this son also ." So she named e him Simeon . 34 She conceived again and bore a son and said , "Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons ." Therefore e he was named e Levi . 35 And she conceived again and bore a son and said , "This time I will praise the Lord ." Therefore e she named e him Judah . Then she stopped bearing .
301 Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she became jealous of her sister ; and she said to Jacob , " Give me children , or else e I die ." 2 Then Jacob's anger burned against Rachel , and he said , "Am I in the place of God , who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb ?" 3 She said , " Here is my maid Bilhah , go in to her that she may bear on my knees , that through her I too may have children ." 4 So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife , and Jacob went in to her. 5 Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son . 6 Then Rachel said , "God has vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son ." Therefore e she named him Dan . 7 Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son . 8 So Rachel said , "With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister , and I have indeed prevailed ." And she named him Naphtali . 9 When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing , she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife . 10 Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son . 11 Then Leah said , "How fortunate !" So she named him Gad . 12 Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son . 13 Then Leah said , "Happy am I! For women will call me happy ." So she named him Asher .
14 Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field , and brought them to his mother Leah . Then Rachel said to Leah , "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes ." 15 But she said to her, "Is it a small matter for you to take my husband ? And would you take my son's mandrakes also ?" So Rachel said , "Therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes ." 16 When Jacob came in from the field in the evening , then Leah went out to meet him and said , "You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrakes ." So he lay with her that night . 17 God gave heed to Leah , and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son . 18 Then Leah said , "God has given me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband ." So she named him Issachar . 19 Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob . 20 Then Leah said , "God has endowed me with a good gift ; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons ." So she named him Zebulun . 21 Afterward she bore a daughter and named e her Dinah . 22 Then God remembered Rachel , and God gave heed to her and opened her womb . 23 So she conceived and bore a son and said , "God has taken away my reproach ." 24 She named e him Joseph , saying , " May the Lord give me another son ."
25 Now it came about when Rachel had borne Joseph , that Jacob said to Laban , " Send me away , that I may go to my own place and to my own country . 26 "Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me depart ; for you yourself know my service which I have rendered you." 27 But Laban said to him, "If now it pleases e you, stay with me; I have divined that the Lord has blessed me on your account ." 28 He continued , " Name me your wages , and I will give it." 29 But he said to him, " You yourself know how e I have served you and how e your cattle have fared with me. 30 "For you had little before I came and it has increased to a multitude , and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned . But now , when shall I provide for my own household also ?" 31 So he said , "What shall I give you?" And Jacob said , "You shall not give me anything . If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock : 32 let me pass through your entire flock today , removing from there every speckled and spotted sheep and every black one among the lambs and the spotted and speckled among the goats ; and such shall be my wages . 33 "So my honesty will answer for me later e , when you come concerning my wages . Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs , if found with me, will be considered stolen ." 34 Laban said , "Good , let it be according to your word ." 35 So he removed on that day the striped and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats , every one with white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep , and gave them into the care of his sons . 36 And he put a distance of three days' journey between himself and Jacob , and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks .
37 Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane trees , and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white which was in the rods . 38 He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the gutters , even in the watering troughs , where the flocks came to drink ; and they mated when they came to drink . 39 So the flocks mated by the rods , and the flocks brought forth striped , speckled , and spotted . 40 Jacob separated the lambs , and made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban ; and he put his own herds apart , and did not put them with Laban's flock . 41 Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating , Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters , so that they might mate by the rods ; 42 but when the flock was feeble , he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban's and the stronger Jacob's . 43 So the man became exceedingly prosperous , and had large flocks and female and male servants e and camels and donkeys .
91 Getting into a boat , Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city . 2 And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed . Seeing their faith , Jesus said to the paralytic , " Take courage , son ; your sins are forgiven ." 3 And some of the scribes said to themselves , "This fellow blasphemes ." 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said , "Why are you thinking evil in your hearts ? 5 "Which is easier , to say , ' Your sins are forgiven ,' or to say , 'Get up, and walk '? 6 "But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins "-then He said to the paralytic , "Get up, pick up your bed and go home ." 7 And he got up and went home . 8 But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck , and glorified God , who had given such authority to men .
9 As Jesus went on from there , He saw a man called Matthew , sitting in the tax collector's booth ; and He said to him, " Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him. 10 Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house , behold , many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples . 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples , " Why e is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners ?" 12 But when Jesus heard this, He said , "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician , but those who are sick . 13 "But go and learn what this means : ' I DESIRE COMPASSION , AND NOT SACRIFICE ,' for I did not come to call the righteous , but sinners ."
14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking , "Why e do we and the Pharisees fast , but Your disciples do not fast ?" 15 And Jesus said to them, "The attendants of the bridegroom cannot e mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast . 16 "But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment ; for the patch pulls away from the garment , and a worse tear results . 17 "Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins ; otherwise the wineskins burst , and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined ; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins , and both are preserved ."
(Read Matthew 9:1-8)
The faith of the friends of the paralytic in bringing him to Christ, was a strong faith; they firmly believed that Jesus Christ both could and would heal him. A strong faith regards no obstacles in pressing after Christ. It was a humble faith; they brought him to attend on Christ. It was an active faith. Sin may be pardoned, yet the sickness not be removed; the sickness may be removed, yet the sin not pardoned: but if we have the comfort of peace with God, with the comfort of recovery from sickness, this makes the healing a mercy indeed. This is no encouragement to sin. If thou bring thy sins to Jesus Christ, as thy malady and misery to be cured of, and delivered from, it is well; but to come with them, as thy darlings and delight, thinking still to retain them and receive him, is a gross mistake, a miserable delusion. The great intention of the blessed Jesus in the redemption he wrought, is to separate our hearts from sin. Our Lord Jesus has perfect knowledge of all that we say within ourselves. There is a great deal of evil in sinful thoughts, which is very offensive to the Lord Jesus. Christ designed to show that his great errand to the world was, to save his people from their sins. He turned from disputing with the scribes, and spake healing to the sick man. Not only he had no more need to be carried upon his bed, but he had strength to carry it. God must be glorified in all the power that is given to do good.
(Read Matthew 9:9)
Matthew was in his calling, as the rest of those whom Christ called. As Satan comes with his temptations to the idle, so Christ comes with his calls to those who are employed. We are all naturally averse from thee, O God; do thou bid us to follow thee; draw us by thy powerful word, and we shall run after thee. Speak by the word of the Spirit to our hearts, the world cannot hold us down, Satan cannot stop our way, we shall arise and follow thee. A saving change is wrought in the soul, by Christ as the author, and his word as the means. Neither Matthew's place, nor his gains by it, could detain him, when Christ called him. He left it, and though we find the disciples, who were fishers, occasionally fishing again afterwards, we never more find Matthew at his sinful gain.
(Read Matthew 9:10-13)
Some time after his call, Matthew sought to bring his old associates to hear Christ. He knew by experience what the grace of Christ could do, and would not despair concerning them. Those who are effectually brought to Christ, cannot but desire that others also may be brought to him. Those who suppose their souls to be without disease will not welcome the spiritual Physician. This was the case with the Pharisees; they despised Christ, because they thought themselves whole; but the poor publicans and sinners felt that they wanted instruction and amendment. It is easy, and too common, to put the worst constructions upon the best words and actions. It may justly be suspected that those have not the grace of God themselves, who are not pleased with others' obtaining it. Christ's conversing with sinners is here called mercy; for to promote the conversion of souls is the greatest act of mercy. The gospel call is a call to repentance; a call to us to change our minds, and to change our ways. If the children of men had not been sinners, there had been no need for Christ to come among them. Let us examine whether we have found out our sickness, and have learned to follow the directions of our great Physician.
(Read Matthew 9:14-17)
John was at this time in prison; his circumstances, his character, and the nature of the message he was sent to deliver, led those who were peculiarly attached to him, to keep frequent fasts. Christ referred them to John's testimony of him, John 3:29. Though there is no doubt that Jesus and his disciples lived in a spare and frugal manner, it would be improper for his disciples to fast while they had the comfort of his presence. When he is with them, all is well. The presence of the sun makes day, and its absence produces night. Our Lord further reminded them of common rules of prudence. It was not usual to take a piece of rough woolen cloth, which had never been prepared, to join to an old garment, for it would not join well with the soft, old garment, but would tear it further, and the rent would be made worse. Nor would men put new wine into old leathern bottles, which were going to decay, and would be liable to burst from the fermenting of the wine; but putting the new wine into strong, new, skin bottles, both would be preserved. Great caution and prudence are necessary, that young converts may not receive gloomy and forbidding ideas of the service of our Lord; but duties are to be urged as they are able to bear them.
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