311 And he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob has taken away all that was our father's, and of what was our father's he has acquired all this glory. 2 And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and behold, it was not toward him as previously. 3 And Jehovah said to Jacob, Return into the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee. 4 And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the fields to his flock, 5 and said to them, I see your father's countenance, that it is not toward me as previously; but the God of my father has been with me. 6 And you know that with all my power I have served your father. 7 And your father has mocked me, and has changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me. 8 If he said thus; The speckled shall be thy hire, then all the flocks bore speckled; and if he said thus: The ringstraked shall be thy hire, then all the flocks bore ringstraked. 9 And God has taken away the cattle of your father, and given [them] to me. 10 And it came to pass at the time of the ardour of the flocks, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams that leaped upon the flocks were ringstraked, speckled, and spotted. 11 And the Angel of God said to me in a dream, Jacob! And I said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see: all the rams that leap upon the flock are ringstraked, speckled, and spotted; for I have seen all that Laban does to thee. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, where thou vowedst a vow to me. Now arise, depart out of this land, and return to the land of thy kindred. 14 And Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house? 15 Are we not reckoned of him strangers? for he has sold us, and has even constantly devoured our money. 16 For all the wealth that God has taken from our father is ours and our children's; and now whatever God has said to thee do.
17 And Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels, 18 and carried away all his cattle, and all his property that he had acquired—the cattle of his possessions that he had acquired in Padan-Aram, to go to Isaac his father, into the land of Canaan. 19 And Laban had gone to shear his sheep. And Rachel stole the teraphim that [belonged] to her father. 20 And Jacob deceived Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he fled. 21 And he fled with all that he had; and he rose up and passed over the river, and set his face [toward] mount Gilead. 22 And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled. 23 And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey, and overtook him on mount Gilead. 24 And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said to him, Take care thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
25 And Laban came up with Jacob; and Jacob had pitched his tent on the mountain; Laban also with his brethren pitched on mount Gilead. 26 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast deceived me, and hast carried away my daughters as captives of war? 27 Why didst thou flee away covertly, and steal away from me, and didst not tell me, that I might have conducted thee with mirth and with songs, with tambour and with harp; 28 and hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now thou hast acted foolishly. 29 It would be in the power of my hand to do you hurt; but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, Take care that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. 30 And now that thou must needs be gone, because thou greatly longedst after thy father's house, why hast thou stolen my gods? 31 And Jacob answered and said to Laban, I was afraid; for I said, Lest thou shouldest take by force thy daughters from me. 32 With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, he shall not live. Before our brethren discern what is thine with me, and take [it] to thee. But Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. 33 And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the two handmaids' tents, and found nothing; and he went out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the teraphim and put them under the camel's saddle; and she sat upon them. And Laban explored all the tent, but found nothing. 35 And she said to her father, Let it not be an occasion of anger in the eyes of my lord that I cannot rise up before thee, for it is with me after the manner of women. And he searched carefully, but did not find the teraphim.
36 And Jacob was angry, and he disputed with Laban. And Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my fault, what my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me? 37 Whereas thou hast explored all my baggage, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? Set [it] here before my brethren and thy brethren, and let them decide between us both. 38 These twenty years have I been with thee: thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock I have not eaten. 39 What was torn I have not brought to thee; I had to bear the loss of it: of my hand hast thou required it, [whether] stolen by day or stolen by night. 40 Thus it was with me: in the day the heat consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from mine eyes. 41 I have been these twenty years in thy house: I have served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock; and thou hast changed my wages ten times. 42 Had not the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, been with me, it is certain thou wouldest have sent me away now empty. God has looked upon my affliction and the labour of my hands, and has judged last night.
43 And Laban answered and said to Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, and the sons are my sons, and the flock is my flock, and all that thou seest is mine; but as for my daughters, what can I do this day to them, or to their sons whom they have brought forth? 44 And now, come, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be a witness between me and thee. 45 And Jacob took a stone, and set it up [for] a pillar. 46 And Jacob said to his brethren, Gather stones. And they took stones, and made a heap, and ate there upon the heap. 47 And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed. 48 And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed, 49 —and Mizpah; for he said, Let Jehovah watch between me and thee, when we shall be hidden one from another: 50 if thou shouldest afflict my daughters, or if thou shouldest take wives besides my daughters,—no man is with us; see, God is witness between me and thee! 51 And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold the pillar which I have set up between me and thee: 52 [let] this heap be witness, and the pillar a witness, that neither I pass this heap [to go] to thee, nor thou pass this heap and this pillar [to come] to me, for harm. 53 The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us! And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac. 54 And Jacob offered a sacrifice upon the mountain, and invited his brethren to eat bread: and they ate bread, and lodged on the mountain. 55 And Laban rose early in the morning, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them; and Laban went and returned to his place.
321 And Jacob went on his way; and the angels of God met him. 2 And when Jacob saw them he said, This is the camp of God. And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
3 And Jacob sent messengers before his face to Esau his brother, into the land of Seir, the fields of Edom. 4 And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak to my lord, to Esau: Thy servant Jacob speaks thus—With Laban have I sojourned and tarried until now; 5 and I have oxen, and asses, sheep, and bondmen, and bondwomen; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favour in thine eyes. 6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother, to Esau; and he also is coming to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. 7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid, and was distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the sheep and the cattle and the camels, into two troops. 8 And he said, If Esau come to the one troop and smite it, then the other troop which is left shall escape.
9 And Jacob said, God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Jehovah, who saidst unto me: Return into thy country and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good, 10 —I am too small for all the loving-kindness and all the faithfulness that thou hast shewn unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two troops. 11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, [and] the mother with the children. 12 And thou saidst, I will certainly deal well with thee, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
13 And he lodged there that night; and took of what came to his hand a gift for Esau his brother— 14 two hundred she-goats, and twenty he-goats; two hundred ewes, and twenty rams; 15 thirty milch camels with their colts; forty kine, and ten bulls; twenty she-asses, and ten young asses. 16 And he delivered [them] into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself; and he said to his servants, Go on before me, and put a space between drove and drove. 17 And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meets thee, and asks thee, saying, Whose art thou, and where goest thou, and whose are these before thee? 18 —then thou shalt say, Thy servant Jacob's: it is a gift sent to my lord, to Esau. And behold, he also is behind us. 19 And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, According to this word shall ye speak to Esau when ye find him. 20 And, moreover, ye shall say, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will propitiate him with the gift that goes before me, and afterwards I will see his face: perhaps he will accept me. 21 And the gift went over before him; and he himself lodged that night in the camp.
22 And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok; 23 and he took them and led them over the river, and led over what he had.
24 And Jacob remained alone; and a man wrestled with him until the rising of the dawn. 25 And when he saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the joint of his thigh; and the joint of Jacob's thigh was dislocated as he wrestled with him. 26 And he said, Let me go, for the dawn ariseth. And he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. 27 And he said to him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 28 And he said, Thy name shall not henceforth be called Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast wrestled with God, and with men, and hast prevailed. 29 And Jacob asked and said, Tell [me], I pray thee, thy name. And he said, How is it that thou askest after my name? And he blessed him there. 30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel—For I have seen God face to face, and my life has been preserved. 31 And as he passed over Peniel, the sun rose upon him; and he limped upon his hip. 32 Therefore the children of Israel do not eat of the sinew that is over the joint of the thigh, to this day; because he touched the joint of Jacob's thigh—the sinew.
18 As he spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler coming in did homage to him, saying, My daughter has by this died; but come and lay thy hand upon her and she shall live. 19 And Jesus rose up and followed him, and [so did] his disciples. 20 And behold, a woman, who had had a bloody flux [for] twelve years, came behind and touched the hem of his garment; 21 for she said within herself, If I should only touch his garment I shall be healed. 22 But Jesus turning and seeing her, said, Be of good courage, daughter; thy faith has healed thee. And the woman was healed from that hour. 23 And when Jesus was come to the house of the ruler, and saw the flute-players and the crowd making a tumult, 24 he said, Withdraw, for the damsel is not dead, but sleeps. And they derided him. 25 But when the crowd had been put out, he went in and took her hand; and the damsel rose up. 26 And the fame of it went out into all that land.
27 And as Jesus passed on thence, two blind [men] followed him, crying and saying, Have mercy on us, Son of David. 28 And when he was come to the house, the blind [men] came to him. And Jesus says to them, Do ye believe that I am able to do this? They say to him, Yea, Lord. 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith, be it unto you. 30 And their eyes were opened; and Jesus charged them sharply, saying, See, let no man know it. 31 But they, when they were gone out, spread his name abroad in all that land.
32 But as these were going out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed by a demon. 33 And the demon having been cast out, the dumb spake. And the crowds were astonished, saying, It has never been seen thus in Israel. 34 But the Pharisees said, He casts out the demons through the prince of the demons.
35 And Jesus went round all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every bodily weakness. 36 But when he saw the crowds he was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed, and cast away as sheep not having a shepherd. 37 Then saith he to his disciples, The harvest [is] great and the workmen [are] few; 38 supplicate therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth workmen unto 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.
