411 And it cometh to pass, at the end of two years of days that Pharaoh is dreaming, and lo, he is standing by the River, 2 and lo, from the River coming up are seven kine, of fair appearance, and fat 'in' flesh, and they feed among the reeds; 3 and lo, seven other kine are coming up after them out of the River, of bad appearance, and lean 'in' flesh, and they stand near the kine on the edge of the River, 4 and the kine of bad appearance and lean 'in' flesh eat up the seven kine of fair appearance, and fat—and Pharaoh awaketh. 5 And he sleepeth, and dreameth a second time, and lo, seven ears are coming up on one stalk, fat and good, 6 and lo, seven ears, thin, and blasted with an east wind, are springing up after them; 7 and the thin ears swallow the seven fat and full ears—and Pharaoh awaketh, and lo, a dream. 8 And it cometh to pass in the morning, that his spirit is moved, and he sendeth and calleth all the scribes of Egypt, and all its wise men, and Pharaoh recounteth to them his dream, and there is no interpreter of them to Pharaoh.
9 And the chief of the butlers speaketh with Pharaoh, saying, 'My sin I mention this day: 10 Pharaoh hath been wroth against his servants, and giveth me into charge in the house of the chief of the executioners, me and the chief of the bakers; 11 and we dream a dream in one night, I and he, each according to the interpretation of his dream we have dreamed. 12 And there 'is' with us a youth, a Hebrew, servant to the chief of the executioners, and we recount to him, and he interpreteth to us our dreams, 'to' each according to his dream hath he interpreted, 13 and it cometh to pass, as he hath interpreted to us so it hath been, me he put back on my station, and him he hanged.' 14 And Pharaoh sendeth and calleth Joseph, and they cause him to run out of the pit, and he shaveth, and changeth his garments, and cometh in unto Pharaoh. 15 And Pharaoh saith unto Joseph, 'A dream I have dreamed, and there is no interpreter of it, and I—I have heard concerning thee, saying, Thou understandest a dream to interpret it,' 16 and Joseph answereth Pharaoh, saying, 'Without me—God doth answer Pharaoh with peace.'
17 And Pharaoh speaketh unto Joseph: 'In my dream, lo, I am standing by the edge of the River, 18 and lo, out of the River coming up are seven kine, fat 'in' flesh, and of fair form, and they feed among the reeds; 19 and lo, seven other kine are coming up after them, thin, and of very bad form, and lean 'in' flesh; I have not seen like these in all the land of Egypt for badness. 20 'And the lean and the bad kine eat up the first seven fat kine, 21 and they come in unto their midst, and it hath not been known that they have come in unto their midst, and their appearance 'is' bad as at the commencement; and I awake. 22 'And I see in my dream, and lo, seven ears are coming up on one stalk, full and good; 23 and lo, seven ears, withered, thin, blasted with an east wind, are springing up after them; 24 and the thin ears swallow the seven good ears; and I tell unto the scribes, and there is none declaring to me.' 25 And Joseph saith unto Pharaoh, 'The dream of Pharaoh is one: that which God is doing he hath declared to Pharaoh; 26 the seven good kine are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years, the dream is one; 27 and the seven thin and bad kine which are coming up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears, blasted with an east wind, are seven years of famine; 28 this 'is' the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: That which God is doing, he hath shewn Pharaoh. 29 'Lo, seven years are coming of great abundance in all the land of Egypt, 30 and seven years of famine have arisen after them, and all the plenty is forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine hath finished the land, 31 and the plenty is not known in the land because of that famine afterwards, for it 'is' very grievous. 32 'And because of the repeating of the dream unto Pharaoh twice, surely the thing is established by God, and God is hastening to do it.
33 'And now, let Pharaoh provide a man, intelligent and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt; 34 let Pharaoh make and appoint overseers over the land, and receive a fifth of the land of Egypt in the seven years of plenty, 35 and they gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and heap up corn under the hand of Pharaoh—food in the cities; and they have kept 'it', 36 and the food hath been for a store for the land, for the seven years of famine which are in the land of Egypt; and the land is cut off by the famine.'
37 And the thing is good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants, 38 and Pharaoh saith unto his servants, 'Do we find like this, a man in whom the spirit of God 'is'?' 39 and Pharaoh saith unto Joseph, 'After God's causing thee to know all this, there is none intelligent and wise as thou; 40 thou—thou art over my house, and at thy mouth do all my people kiss; only in the throne I am greater than thou.' 41 And Pharaoh saith unto Joseph, 'See, I have put thee over all the land of Egypt.' 42 And Pharaoh turneth aside his seal-ring from off his hand, and putteth it on the hand of Joseph, and clotheth him 'with' garments of fine linen, and placeth a chain of gold on his neck, 43 and causeth him to ride in the second chariot which he hath, and they proclaim before him, 'Bow the knee!' and—to put him over all the land of Egypt. 44 And Pharaoh saith unto Joseph, 'I 'am' Pharaoh, and without thee a man doth not lift up his hand and his foot in all the land of Egypt;' 45 and Pharaoh calleth Joseph's name Zaphnath-Paaneah, and he giveth to him Asenath daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On, for a wife, and Joseph goeth out over the land of Egypt.
46 And Joseph 'is' a son of thirty years in his standing before Pharaoh king of Egypt, and Joseph goeth out from the presence of Pharaoh, and passeth over through all the land of Egypt; 47 and the land maketh in the seven years of plenty by handfuls. 48 And he gathereth all the food of the seven years which have been in the land of Egypt, and putteth food in the cities; the food of the field which 'is' round about 'each' city hath he put in its midst; 49 and Joseph gathereth corn as sand of the sea, multiplying exceedingly, until that he hath ceased to number, for there is no number. 50 And to Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine cometh, whom Asenath daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On, hath borne to him, 51 and Joseph calleth the name of the first-born Manasseh: 'for, God hath made me to forget all my labour, and all the house of my father;' 52 and the name of the second he hath called Ephraim: 'for, God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of mine affliction.' 53 And the seven years of plenty are completed which have been in the land of Egypt, 54 and the seven years of famine begin to come, as Joseph said, and famine is in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt hath been bread; 55 and all the land of Egypt is famished, and the people crieth unto Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh saith to all the Egyptians, 'Go unto Joseph; that which he saith to you—do.' 56 And the famine has been over all the face of the land, and Joseph openeth all 'places' which have 'corn' in them, and selleth to the Egyptians; and the famine is severe in the land of Egypt, 57 and all the earth hath come to Egypt, to buy, unto Joseph, for the famine was severe in all the earth.
421 And Jacob seeth that there is corn in Egypt, and Jacob saith to his sons, 'Why do you look at each other?' 2 he saith also, 'Lo, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt, go down thither, and buy for us from thence, and we live and do not die;' 3 and the ten brethren of Joseph go down to buy corn in Egypt, 4 and Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob hath not sent with his brethren, for he said, 'Lest mischief meet him.' 5 And the sons of Israel come to buy in the midst of those coming, for the famine hath been in the land of Canaan, 6 and Joseph is the ruler over the land, he who is selling to all the people of the land, and Joseph's brethren come and bow themselves to him—face to the earth.
7 And Joseph seeth his brethren, and discerneth them, and maketh himself strange unto them, and speaketh with them sharp things, and saith unto them, 'From whence have ye come?' and they say, 'From the land of Canaan—to buy food.' 8 And Joseph discerneth his brethren, but they have not discerned him, 9 and Joseph remembereth the dreams which he dreamed of them, and saith unto them, 'Ye 'are' spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye have come.' 10 And they say unto him, 'No, my lord, but thy servants have come to buy food; 11 we 'are' all of us sons of one man, we 'are' right men; thy servants have not been spies;' 12 and he saith unto them, 'No, but the nakedness of the land ye have come to see;' 13 and they say, 'Thy servants 'are' twelve brethren; we 'are' sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and lo, the young one 'is' with our father to-day, and the one is not.' 14 And Joseph saith unto them, 'This 'is' that which I have spoken unto you, saying, Ye 'are' spies, 15 by this ye are proved: Pharaoh liveth! if ye go out from this—except by your young brother coming hither; 16 send one of you, and let him bring your brother, and ye, remain ye bound, and let your words be proved, whether truth be with you: and if not—Pharaoh liveth! surely ye 'are' spies;' 17 and he removeth them unto charge three days. 18 And Joseph saith unto them on the third day, 'This do and live; God I fear! 19 if ye 'are' right men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your ward, and ye, go, carry in corn 'for' the famine of your houses, 20 and your young brother ye bring unto me, and your words are established, and ye die not;' and they do so.
21 And they say one unto another, 'Verily we 'are' guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul, in his making supplication unto us, and we did not hearken: therefore hath this distress come upon us.' 22 And Reuben answereth them, saying, 'Spake I not unto you, saying, Sin not against the lad? and ye hearkened not; and his blood also, lo, it is required.' 23 And they have not known that Joseph understandeth, for the interpreter 'is' between them; 24 and he turneth round from them, and weepeth, and turneth back unto them, and speaketh unto them, and taketh from them Simeon, and bindeth him before their eyes. 25 And Joseph commandeth, and they fill their vessels 'with' corn, also to put back the money of each unto his sack, and to give to them provision for the way; and one doth to them so. 26 And they lift up their corn upon their asses, and go from thence, 27 and the one openeth his sack to give provender to his ass at a lodging-place, and he seeth his money, and lo, it 'is' in the mouth of his bag, 28 and he saith unto his brethren, 'My money hath been put back, and also, lo, in my bag:' and their heart goeth out, and they tremble, one to another saying, 'What 'is' this God hath done to us!'
29 And they come in unto Jacob their father, to the land of Canaan, and they declare to him all the things meeting them, saying, 30 'The man, the lord of the land, hath spoken with us sharp things, and maketh us as spies of the land; 31 and we say unto him, We 'are' right men, we have not been spies, 32 we 'are' twelve brethren, sons of our father, the one is not, and the young one 'is' to-day with our father in the land of Canaan. 33 'And the man, the lord of the land, saith unto us, By this I know that ye 'are' right men—one of your brethren leave with me, and 'for' the famine of your houses take ye and go, 34 and bring your young brother unto me, and I know that ye 'are' not spies, but ye 'are' right men; your brother I give to you, and ye trade with the land.' 35 And it cometh to pass, they are emptying their sacks, and lo, the bundle of each man's silver 'is' in his sack, and they see their bundles of silver, they and their father, and are afraid; 36 and Jacob their father saith unto them, 'Me ye have bereaved; Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and Benjamin ye take—against me have been all these.' 37 And Reuben speaketh unto his father, saying, 'My two sons thou dost put to death, if I bring him not in unto thee; give him into my hand, and I—I bring him back unto thee;' 38 and he saith, 'My son doth not go down with you, for his brother 'is' dead, and he by himself is left; when mischief hath met him in the way in which ye go, then ye have brought down my grey hairs in sorrow to sheol.'
121 At that time did Jesus go on the sabbaths through the corn, and his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck ears, and to eat, 2 and the Pharisees having seen, said to him, 'Lo, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do on a sabbath.' 3 And he said to them, 'Did ye not read what David did, when he was hungry, himself and those with him— 4 how he went into the house of God, and the loaves of the presentation did eat, which it is not lawful to him to eat, nor to those with him, except to the priests alone? 5 'Or did ye not read in the Law, that on the sabbaths the priests in the temple do profane the sabbath, and are blameless? 6 and I say to you, that a greater than the temple is here; 7 and if ye had known what is: Kindness I will, and not sacrifice—ye had not condemned the blameless, 8 for the son of man is lord even of the sabbath.'
9 And having departed thence, he went to their synagogue, 10 and lo, there was a man having the hand withered, and they questioned him, saying, 'Is it lawful to heal on the sabbaths?' that they might accuse him. 11 And he said to them, 'What man shall be of you, who shall have one sheep, and if this may fall on the sabbaths into a ditch, will not lay hold on it and raise 'it'? 12 How much better, therefore, is a man than a sheep?—so that it is lawful on the sabbaths to do good.' 13 Then saith he to the man, 'Stretch forth thy hand,' and he stretched 'it' forth, and it was restored whole as the other.
14 And the Pharisees having gone forth, held a consultation against him, how they might destroy him,
15 and Jesus having known, withdrew thence, and there followed him great multitudes, and he healed them all, 16 and did charge them that they might not make him manifest, 17 that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, 18 'Lo, My servant, whom I did choose, My beloved, in whom My soul did delight, I will put My Spirit upon him, and judgment to the nations he shall declare, 19 he shall not strive nor cry, nor shall any hear in the broad places his voice, 20 a bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench, till he may put forth judgment to victory, 21 and in his name shall nations hope.'
22 Then was brought to him a demoniac, blind and dumb, and he healed him, so that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed, and said, 'Is this the Son of David?'
(Read Matthew 12:1-8)
Being in the corn-fields, the disciples began to pluck the ears of corn: the law of God allowed it, Deuteronomy 5:14. No law must be understood so as to contradict its own end. And as Christ is the Lord of the sabbath, it is fit the day and the work of it should be dedicated to him.
(Read Matthew 12:9-13)
Christ shows that works of mercy are lawful and proper to be done on the Lord's day. There are more ways of doing well upon sabbath days, than by the duties of worship: attending the sick, relieving the poor, helping those who need speedy relief, teaching the young to care for their souls; these are doing good: and these must be done from love and charity, with humility and self-denial, and shall be accepted, Genesis 4:7. This, like other cures which Christ wrought, had a spiritual meaning. By nature our hands are withered, and we are unable of ourselves to do any thing that is good. Christ only, by the power of his grace, cures us; he heals the withered hand by putting life into the dead soul, works in us both to will and to do: for, with the command, there is a promise of grace given by the word.
(Read Matthew 12:14-21)
The Pharisees took counsel to find some accusation, that Jesus might be condemned to death. Aware of their design, as his time was not come, he retired from that place. Face does not more exactly answer to face in water, than the character of Christ drawn by the prophet, to his temper and conduct as described by the evangelists. Let us with cheerful confidence commit our souls to so kind and faithful a Friend. Far from breaking, he will strengthen the bruised reed; far from quenching the smoking flax, or wick nearly out, he will rather blow it up into a flame. Let us lay aside contentious and angry debates; let us receive one another as Christ receives us. And while encouraged by the gracious kindness of our Lord, we should pray that his Spirit may rest upon us, and make us able to copy his example.
(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.
