231 " You shall not bear a false report ; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness . 2 "You shall not follow e the masses in doing evil , nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice; 3 nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his dispute . 4 " If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey wandering away , you shall surely return it to him 5 " If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load , you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him. 6 " You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute . 7 " Keep far from a false charge , and do not kill the innocent or the righteous , for I will not acquit the guilty . 8 " You shall not take a bribe , for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just . 9 " You shall not oppress a stranger , since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger , for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt .
10 " You shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield , 11 but on the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow , so that the needy of your people may eat ; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat . You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove . 12 " Six days you are to do your work , but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest , and the son of your female slave , as well as your stranger , may refresh themselves. 13 "Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard ; and do not mention the name of other gods , nor let them be heard from your mouth .
14 " Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me 15 "You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread ; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread , as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month Abib , for in it you came out of Egypt . And none shall appear before Me empty-handed . 16 "Also you shall observe the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field ; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field . 17 " Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD . 18 " You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread ; nor is the fat of My feast to remain overnight until morning . 19 "You shall bring the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God . " You are not to boil a young goat in the milk of its mother
20 "Behold , I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared . 21 "Be on your guard before e him and obey his voice ; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression , since My name is in him 22 "But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say , then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries . 23 " For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites , the Hittites , the Perizzites , the Canaanites , the Hivites and the Jebusites ; and I will completely destroy them. 24 " You shall not worship their gods , nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds ; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their sacred pillars in pieces . 25 " But you shall serve the Lord your God , and He will bless your bread and your water ; and I will remove sickness from your midst . 26 "There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land ; I will fulfill the number of your days . 27 "I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come , and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 "I will send hornets ahead of you so that they will drive out the Hivites , the Canaanites , and the Hittites before e you. 29 " I will not drive them out before you in a single year , that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. 30 "I will drive them out before you little by little , until e you become fruitful and take possession of the land . 31 " I will fix your boundary from the Red e Sea to the sea of the Philistines , and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand , and you will drive them out before you. 32 " You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods . 33 " They shall not live in your land , because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods , it will surely be a snare to you."
241 Then He said to Moses , " Come up to the Lord , you and Aaron , Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel , and you shall worship at a distance . 2 "Moses alone , however, shall come near to the Lord , but they shall not come near , nor shall the people come up with him." 3 Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances ; and all the people answered with one voice and said , " All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do !" 4 Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord . Then he arose early in the morning , and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve e pillars for the twelve e tribes of Israel . 5 He sent young men of the sons of Israel , and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord . 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins , and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar . 7 Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people ; and they said , " All that the Lord has spoken we will do , and we will be obedient !" 8 So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people , and said , "Behold the blood of the covenant , which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words ."
9 Then Moses went up with Aaron , Nadab and Abihu , and seventy of the elders of Israel , 10 and they saw the God of Israel ; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire , as clear as the sky itself . 11 Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel ; and they saw God , and they ate and drank .
12 Now the Lord said to Moses , "Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there , and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction ." 13 So Moses arose with Joshua his servant , and Moses went up to the mountain of God . 14 But to the elders he said , " Wait here for us until e we return to you. And behold , Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a legal matter , let him approach them." 15 Then Moses went up to the mountain , and the cloud covered the mountain . 16 The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai , and the cloud covered it for six days ; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud . 17 And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountain top . 18 Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain ; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights .
201 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard . 2 "When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day , he sent them into his vineyard . 3 "And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place ; 4 and to those he said , 'You also go into the vineyard , and whatever e is right I will give you.' And so they went . 5 "Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour , and did the same thing . 6 "And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day long?' 7 "They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too .' 8 "When evening came , the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman , 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages , beginning with the last group to the first .' 9 "When those hired about the eleventh hour came , each one received a denarius . 10 "When those hired first came , they thought that they would receive more ; but each of them also received a denarius . 11 "When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner , 12 saying , 'These last men have worked only one hour , and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day .' 13 "But he answered and said to one of them, ' Friend , I am doing you no wrong ; did you not agree with me for a denarius ? 14 'Take what is yours and go , but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 'Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own ? Or is your eye envious because I am generous ?' 16 "So the last shall be first , and the first last ."
(Read Matthew 20:1-16)
The direct object of this parable seems to be, to show that though the Jews were first called into the vineyard, at length the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles, and they should be admitted to equal privileges and advantages with the Jews. The parable may also be applied more generally, and shows, 1. That God is debtor to no man. 2. That many who begin last, and promise little in religion, sometimes, by the blessing of God, arrive at a great deal of knowledge, grace, and usefulness. 3. That the recompense of reward will be given to the saints, but not according to the time of their conversion. It describes the state of the visible church, and explains the declaration that the last shall be first, and the first last, in its various references. Till we are hired into the service of God, we are standing all the day idle: a sinful state, though a state of drudgery to Satan, may be called a state of idleness. The market-place is the world, and from that we are called by the gospel. Come, come from this market-place. Work for God will not admit of trifling. A man may go idle to hell, but he that will go to heaven, must be diligent. The Roman penny was sevenpence halfpenny in our money, wages then enough for the day's support. This does not prove that the reward of our obedience to God is of works, or of debt; when we have done all, we are unprofitable servants; but it signifies that there is a reward set before us, yet let none, upon this presumption, put off repentance till they are old. Some were sent into the vineyard at the eleventh hour; but nobody had hired them before. The Gentiles came in at the eleventh hour; the gospel had not been before preached to them. Those that have had gospel offers made them at the third or sixth hour, and have refused them, will not have to say at the eleventh hour, as these had, No man has hired us. Therefore, not to discourage any, but to awaken all, be it remembered, that now is the accepted time. The riches of Divine grace are loudly murmured at, among proud Pharisees and nominal Christians. There is great proneness in us to think that we have too little, and others too much of the tokens of God's favour; and that we do too much, and others too little in the work of God. But if God gives grace to others, it is kindness to them, and no injustice to us. Carnal worldlings agree with God for their penny in this world; and choose their portion in this life. Obedient believers agree with God for their penny in the other world, and must remember they have so agreed. Didst not thou agree to take up with heaven as thy portion, thy all; wilt thou seek for happiness in the creature? God punishes none more than they deserve, and recompenses every service done for him; he therefore does no wrong to any, by showing extraordinary grace to some. See here the nature of envy. It is an evil eye, which is displeased at the good of others, and desires their hurt. It is a grief to ourselves, displeasing to God, and hurtful to our neighbours: it is a sin that has neither pleasure, profit, nor honour. Let us forego every proud claim, and seek for salvation as a free gift. Let us never envy or grudge, but rejoice and praise God for his mercy to others as well as to ourselves.
