11 And these 'are' the names of the sons of Israel who are coming into Egypt with Jacob; a man and his household have they come; 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 And all the persons coming out of the thigh of Jacob are seventy persons; as to Joseph, he was in Egypt. 6 And Joseph dieth, and all his brethren, and all that generation; 7 and the sons of Israel have been fruitful, and they teem, and multiply, and are very very mighty, and the land is filled with them.
8 And there riseth a new king over Egypt, who hath not known Joseph, 9 and he saith unto his people, 'Lo, the people of the sons of Israel 'is' more numerous and mighty than we; 10 give help! let us act wisely concerning it, lest it multiply, and it hath come to pass, when war happeneth, that it hath been joined, even it, unto those hating us, and hath fought against us, and hath gone out up of the land.' 11 And they set over it princes of tribute, so as to afflict it with their burdens, and it buildeth store-cities for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses; 12 and as they afflict it, so it multiplieth, and so it breaketh forth, and they are vexed because of the sons of Israel; 13 and the Egyptians cause the sons of Israel to serve with rigour, 14 and make their lives bitter in hard service, in clay, and in brick, and in every 'kind' of service in the field; all their service in which they have served 'is' with rigour.
15 And the king of Egypt speaketh to the midwives, the Hebrewesses, (of whom the name of the one 'is' Shiphrah, and the name of the second Puah), 16 and saith, 'When ye cause the Hebrew women to bear, and have looked on the children; if it 'is' a son—then ye have put him to death; and if it 'is' a daughter—then she hath lived.' 17 And the midwives fear God, and have not done as the king of Egypt hath spoken unto them, and keep the lads alive; 18 and the king of Egypt calleth for the midwives, and saith to them, 'Wherefore have ye done this thing, and keep the lads alive?' 19 And the midwives say unto Pharaoh, 'Because the Hebrew women 'are' not as the Egyptian women, for they 'are' lively; before the midwife cometh in unto them—they have borne!' 20 And God doth good to the midwives, and the people multiply, and are very mighty; 21 and it cometh to pass, because the midwives have feared God, that He maketh for them households; 22 and Pharaoh layeth a charge on all his people, saying, 'Every son who is born—into the River ye do cast him, and every daughter ye do keep alive.'
21 And there goeth a man of the house of Levi, and he taketh the daughter of Levi, 2 and the woman conceiveth, and beareth a son, and she seeth him that he 'is' fair, and she hideth him three months, 3 and she hath not been able any more to hide him, and she taketh for him an ark of rushes, and daubeth it with bitumen and with pitch, and putteth the lad in it, and putteth 'it' in the weeds by the edge of the River; 4 and his sister stationeth herself afar off, to know what is done to him.
5 And a daughter of Pharaoh cometh down to bathe at the River, and her damsels are walking by the side of the River, and she seeth the ark in the midst of the weeds, and sendeth her handmaid, and she taketh it, 6 and openeth, and seeth him—the lad, and lo, a child weeping! and she hath pity on him, and saith, 'This is 'one' of the Hebrews' children.' 7 And his sister saith unto the daughter of Pharaoh, 'Do I go? when I have called for thee a suckling woman of the Hebrews, then she doth suckle the lad for thee;' 8 and the daughter of Pharaoh saith to her, 'Go;' and the virgin goeth, and calleth the mother of the lad, 9 and the daughter of Pharaoh saith to her, 'Take this lad away, and suckle him for me, and I—I give thy hire;' and the woman taketh the lad, and suckleth him. 10 And the lad groweth, and she bringeth him in to the daughter of Pharaoh, and he is to her for a son, and she calleth his name Moses, and saith, 'Because—from the water I have drawn him.'
11 And it cometh to pass, in those days, that Moses is grown, and he goeth out unto his brethren, and looketh on their burdens, and seeth a man, an Egyptian, smiting a man, a Hebrew, 'one' of his brethren, 12 and he turneth hither and thither, and seeth that there is no man, and smiteth the Egyptian, and hideth him in the sand. 13 And he goeth out on the second day, and lo, two men, Hebrews, striving! and he saith to the wrong-doer, 'Why dost thou smite thy neighbour?' 14 and he saith, 'Who set thee for a head and a judge over us? to slay me art thou saying 'it', as thou hast slain the Egyptian?' and Moses feareth, and saith, 'Surely the thing hath been known.' 15 And Pharaoh heareth of this thing, and seeketh to slay Moses, and Moses fleeth from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelleth in the land of Midian, and dwelleth by the well.
16 And to a priest of Midian 'are' seven daughters, and they come and draw, and fill the troughs, to water the flock of their father, 17 and the shepherds come and drive them away, and Moses ariseth, and saveth them, and watereth their flock. 18 And they come in to Reuel their father, and he saith, 'Wherefore have ye hastened to come in to-day?' 19 and they say, 'A man, an Egyptian, hath delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also hath diligently drawn for us, and watereth the flock;' 20 and he saith unto his daughters, 'And where 'is' he? why 'is' this?—ye left the man! call for him, and he doth eat bread.' 21 And Moses is willing to dwell with the man, and he giveth Zipporah his daughter to Moses, 22 and she beareth a son, and he calleth his name Gershom, for he said, 'A sojourner I have been in a strange land.'
23 And it cometh to pass during these many days, that the king of Egypt dieth, and the sons of Israel sigh because of the service, and cry, and their cry goeth up unto God, because of the service; 24 and God heareth their groaning, and God remembereth His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob; 25 and God seeth the sons of Israel, and God knoweth.
31 And Moses hath been feeding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, priest of Midian, and he leadeth the flock behind the wilderness, and cometh in unto the mount of God, to Horeb; 2 and there appeareth unto him a messenger of Jehovah in a flame of fire, out of the midst of the bush, and he seeth, and lo, the bush is burning with fire, and the bush is not consumed. 3 And Moses saith, 'Let me turn aside, I pray thee, and I see this great appearance; wherefore is the bush not burned?' 4 and Jehovah seeth that he hath turned aside to see, and God calleth unto him out of the midst of the bush, and saith, 'Moses, Moses;' and he saith, 'Here 'am' I.' 5 And He saith, 'Come not near hither: cast thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place on which thou art standing is holy ground.' 6 He saith also, 'I 'am' the God of thy father, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob;' and Moses hideth his face, for he is afraid to look towards God.
7 And Jehovah saith, 'I have certainly seen the affliction of My people who 'are' in Egypt, and their cry I have heard, because of its exactors, for I have known its pains; 8 and I go down to deliver it out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to cause it to go up out of the land, unto a land good and broad, unto a land flowing with milk and honey—unto the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 9 'And now, lo, the cry of the sons of Israel hath come in unto Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them, 10 and now, come, and I send thee unto Pharaoh, and bring thou out My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.'
11 And Moses saith unto God, 'Who 'am' I, that I go unto Pharaoh, and that I bring out the sons of Israel from Egypt?' 12 and He saith, 'Because I am with thee, and this 'is' to thee the sign that I have sent thee: in thy bringing out the people from Egypt—ye do serve God on this mount.' 13 And Moses saith unto God, 'Lo, I am coming unto the sons of Israel, and have said to them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they have said to me, What 'is' His name? what do I say unto them?' 14 And God saith unto Moses, 'I AM THAT WHICH I AM;' He saith also, 'Thus dost thou say to the sons of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.' 15 And God saith again unto Moses, 'Thus dost thou say unto the sons of Israel, Jehovah, God of your fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; this 'is' My name—to the age, and this My memorial, to generation—generation.
16 'Go, and thou hast gathered the elders of Israel, and hast said unto them: Jehovah, God of your fathers, hath appeareth unto me, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, I have certainly inspected you, and that which is done to you in Egypt; 17 and I say, I bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, unto the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, unto a land flowing 'with' milk and honey. 18 'And they have hearkened to thy voice, and thou hast entered, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye have said unto him, Jehovah, God of the Hebrews, hath met with us; and now, let us go, we pray thee, a journey of three days into the wilderness, and we sacrifice to Jehovah our God. 19 'And I—I have known that the king of Egypt doth not permit you to go, unless by a strong hand, 20 and I have put forth My hand, and have smitten Egypt with all My wonders, which I do in its midst—and afterwards he doth send you away. 21 'And I have given the grace of this people in the eyes of the Egyptians, and it hath come to pass, when ye go, ye go not empty; 22 and 'every' woman hath asked from her neighbour, and from her who is sojourning in her house, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and ye have put 'them' on your sons and on your daughters, and have spoiled the Egyptians.'
141 At that time did Herod the tetrarch hear the fame of Jesus, 2 and said to his servants, 'This is John the Baptist, he did rise from the dead, and because of this the mighty energies are working in him.' 3 For Herod having laid hold on John, did bind him, and did put him in prison, because of Herodias his brother Philip's wife, 4 for John was saying to him, 'It is not lawful to thee to have her,' 5 and, willing to kill him, he feared the multitude, because as a prophet they were holding him. 6 But the birthday of Herod being kept, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst, and did please Herod, 7 whereupon with an oath he professed to give her whatever she might ask. 8 And she having been instigated by her mother—'Give me (says she) here upon a plate the head of John the Baptist; 9 and the king was grieved, but because of the oaths and of those reclining with him, he commanded 'it' to be given; 10 and having sent, he beheaded John in the prison, 11 and his head was brought upon a plate, and was given to the damsel, and she brought 'it' nigh to her mother. 12 And his disciples having come, took up the body, and buried it, and having come, they told Jesus,
13 and Jesus having heard, withdrew thence in a boat to a desolate place by himself, and the multitudes having heard did follow him on land from the cities. 14 And Jesus having come forth, saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion upon them, and did heal their infirm; 15 and evening having come, his disciples came to him, saying, 'The place is desolate, and the hour hath now past, let away the multitudes that, having gone to the villages, they may buy to themselves food.' 16 And Jesus said to them, 'They have no need to go away—give ye them to eat.' 17 And they say to him, 'We have not here except five loaves, and two fishes.' 18 And he said, 'Bring ye them to me hither.' 19 And having commanded the multitudes to recline upon the grass, and having taken the five loaves and the two fishes, having looked up to the heaven, he did bless, and having broken, he gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes, 20 and they did all eat, and were filled, and they took up what was over of the broken pieces twelve hand-baskets full; 21 and those eating were about five thousand men, apart from women and children.
(Read Matthew 14:1-12)
The terror and reproach of conscience, which Herod, like other daring offenders, could not shake off, are proofs and warnings of a future judgment, and of future misery to them. But there may be the terror of convictions, where there is not the truth of conversion. When men pretend to favour the gospel, yet live in evil, we must not favour their self-delusion, but must deliver our consciences as John did. The world may call this rudeness and blind zeal. False professors, or timid Christians, may censure it as want of civility; but the most powerful enemies can go no further than the Lord sees good to permit. Herod feared that the putting of John to death might raise a rebellion among the people, which it did not; but he never feared it might stir up his own conscience against him, which it did. Men fear being hanged for what they do not fear being damned for. And times of carnal mirth and jollity are convenient times for carrying on bad designs against God's people. Herod would profusely reward a worthless dance, while imprisonment and death were the recompence of the man of God who sought the salvation of his soul. But there was real malice to John beneath his consent, or else Herod would have found ways to get clear of his promise. When the under shepherds are smitten, the sheep need not be scattered while they have the Great Shepherd to go to. And it is better to be drawn to Christ by want and loss, than not to come to him at all.
(Read Matthew 14:13-21)
When Christ and his word withdraw, it is best for us to follow, seeking the means of grace for our souls before any worldly advantages. The presence of Christ and his gospel, makes a desert not only tolerable, but desirable. This little supply of bread was increased by Christ's creating power, till the whole multitude were satisfied. In seeking the welfare of men's souls, we should have compassion on their bodies likewise. Let us also remember always to crave a blessing on our meals, and learn to avoid all waste, as frugality is the proper source of liberality. See in this miracle an emblem of the Bread of life, which came down from heaven to sustain our perishing souls. The provisions of Christ's gospel appear mean and scanty to the world, yet they satisfy all that feed on him in their hearts by faith with thanksgiving.
