231 'Thou dost not lift up a vain report; thou dost not put thy hand with a wicked man to be a violent witness. 2 'Thou art not after many to evil, nor dost thou testify concerning a strife, to turn aside after many to cause 'others' to turn aside; 3 and a poor man thou dost not honour in his strife. 4 'When thou meetest thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou dost certainly turn it back to him; 5 when thou seest the ass of him who is hating thee crouching under its burden, then thou hast ceased from leaving 'it' to it—thou dost certainly leave 'it' with him. 6 'Thou dost not turn aside the judgment of thy needy one in his strife; 7 from a false matter thou dost keep far off, and an innocent and righteous man thou dost not slay; for I do not justify a wicked man. 8 'And a bribe thou dost not take; for the bribe bindeth the open-'eyed', and perverteth the words of the righteous. 9 'And a sojourner thou dost not oppress, and ye—ye have known the soul of the sojourner, for sojourners ye have been in the land of Egypt.
10 'And six years thou dost sow thy land, and hast gathered its increase; 11 and the seventh thou dost release it, and hast left it, and the needy of thy people have eaten, and their leaving doth the beast of the field eat; so dost thou to thy vineyard—to thine olive-yard. 12 'Six days thou dost do thy work, and on the seventh day thou dost rest, so that thine ox and thine ass doth rest, and the son of thine handmaid and the sojourner is refreshed; 13 and in all that which I have said unto you ye do take heed; and the name of other gods ye do not mention; it is not heard on thy mouth.
14 'Three times thou dost keep a feast to Me in a year; 15 the Feast of Unleavened things thou dost keep; seven days thou dost eat unleavened things, as I have commanded thee, at the time appointed 'in' the month of Abib; for in it thou hast come forth out of Egypt, and ye do not appear 'in' My presence empty; 16 and the Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of thy works which thou sowest in the field; and the Feast of the In-Gathering, in the outgoing of the year, in thy gathering thy works out of the field. 17 'Three times in a year do all thy males appear before the face of the Lord Jehovah. 18 'Thou dost not sacrifice on a fermented thing the blood of My sacrifice, and the fat of My festival doth not remain till morning; 19 the beginning of the first-fruits of thy ground thou dost bring into the house of Jehovah thy God; thou dost not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
20 'Lo, I am sending a messenger before thee to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee in unto the place which I have prepared; 21 be watchful because of his presence, and hearken to his voice, rebel not against him, for he beareth not with your transgression, for My name 'is' in his heart; 22 for, if thou diligently hearken to his voice, and hast done all that which I speak, then I have been at enmity with thine enemies, and have distressed those distressing thee. 23 'For My messenger goeth before thee, and hath brought thee in unto the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, and I have cut them off. 24 'Thou dost not bow thyself to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their doings, but dost utterly devote them, and thoroughly break their standing pillars. 25 'And ye have served Jehovah your God, and He hath blessed thy bread and thy water, and I have turned aside sickness from thine heart; 26 there is not a miscarrying and barren one in thy land; the number of thy days I fulfil: 27 My terror I send before thee, and I have put to death all the people among whom thou comest, and I have given the neck of all thine enemies unto thee. 28 'And I have sent the hornet before thee, and it hath cast out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee; 29 I cast them not out from before thee in one year, lest the land be a desolation, and the beast of the field hath multiplied against thee; 30 little 'by' little I cast them out from before thee, till thou art fruitful, and hast inherited the land. 31 'And I have set thy border from the Red Sea, even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness unto the River: for I give into your hand the inhabitants of the land, and thou hast cast them out from before thee; 32 thou dost not make a covenant with them, and with their gods; 33 they do not dwell in thy land, lest they cause thee to sin against Me when thou servest their gods, when it becometh a snare to thee.'
241 And unto Moses He said, 'Come up unto Jehovah, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and ye have bowed yourselves afar off;' 2 and Moses hath drawn nigh by himself unto Jehovah; and they draw not nigh, and the people go not up with him. 3 And Moses cometh in, and recounteth to the people all the words of Jehovah, and all the judgments, and all the people answer—one voice, and say, 'All the words which Jehovah hath spoken we do.' 4 And Moses writeth all the words of Jehovah, and riseth early in the morning, and buildeth an altar under the hill, and twelve standing pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel; 5 and he sendeth the youths of the sons of Israel, and they cause burnt-offerings to ascend, and sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings to Jehovah—calves. 6 And Moses taketh half of the blood, and putteth in basins, and half of the blood hath he sprinkled on the altar; 7 and he taketh the Book of the Covenant, and proclaimeth in the ears of the people, and they say, 'All that which Jehovah hath spoken we do, and obey.' 8 And Moses taketh the blood, and sprinkleth on the people, and saith, 'Lo, the blood of the covenant which Jehovah hath made with you, concerning all these things.'
9 And Moses goeth up, Aaron also, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they see the God of Israel, and under His feet 'is' as the white work of the sapphire, and as the substance of the heavens for purity; 11 and unto those of the sons of Israel who are near He hath not put forth His hand, and they see God, and eat and drink.
12 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Come up unto Me to the mount, and be there, and I give to thee the tables of stone, and the law, and the command, which I have written to direct them.' 13 And Moses riseth—Joshua his minister also—and Moses goeth up unto the mount of God; 14 and unto the elders he hath said, 'Abide ye for us in this 'place', until that we turn back unto you, and lo, Aaron and Hur 'are' with you—he who hath matters doth come nigh unto them.' 15 And Moses goeth up unto the mount, and the cloud covereth the mount; 16 and the honour of Jehovah doth tabernacle on mount Sinai, and the cloud covereth it six days, and He calleth unto Moses on the seventh day from the midst of the cloud. 17 And the appearance of the honour of Jehovah 'is' as a consuming fire on the top of the mount, before the eyes of the sons of Israel; 18 and Moses goeth into the midst of the cloud, and goeth up unto the mount, and Moses is on the mount forty days and forty nights.
201 'For the reign of the heavens is like to a man, a householder, who went forth with the morning to hire workmen for his vineyard, 2 and having agreed with the workmen for a denary a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 'And having gone forth about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market-place idle, 4 and to these he said, Go ye—also ye—to the vineyard, and whatever may be righteous I will give you; 5 and they went away. 'Again, having gone forth about the sixth and the ninth hour, he did in like manner. 6 And about the eleventh hour, having gone forth, he found others standing idle, and saith to them, Why here have ye stood all the day idle? 7 they say to him, Because no one did hire us; he saith to them, Go ye—ye also—to the vineyard, and whatever may be righteous ye shall receive. 8 'And evening having come, the lord of the vineyard saith to his steward, Call the workmen, and pay them the reward, having begun from the last—unto the first. 9 And they of about the eleventh hour having come, did receive each a denary. 10 'And the first having come, did suppose that they shall receive more, and they received, they also, each a denary, 11 and having received 'it', they were murmuring against the householder, saying, 12 that These, the last, wrought one hour, and thou didst make them equal to us, who were bearing the burden of the day—and the heat. 13 'And he answering said to one of them, Comrade, I do no unrighteousness to thee; for a denary didst not thou agree with me? 14 take that which is thine, and go; and I will to give to this, the last, also as to thee; 15 is it not lawful to me to do what I will in mine own? is thine eye evil because I am good? 16 So the last shall be first, and the first last, for many are called, and few chosen.'
(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.
