161 And Sarai, Abram's wife, hath not borne to him, and she hath an handmaid, an Egyptian, and her name 'is' Hagar; 2 and Sarai saith unto Abram, 'Lo, I pray thee, Jehovah hath restrained me from bearing, go in, I pray thee, unto my handmaid; perhaps I am built up from her;' and Abram hearkeneth to the voice of Sarai. 3 And Sarai, Abram's wife, taketh Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, at the end of the tenth year of Abram's dwelling in the land of Canaan, and giveth her to Abram her husband, to him for a wife,
4 and he goeth in unto Hagar, and she conceiveth, and she seeth that she hath conceived, and her mistress is lightly esteemed in her eyes. 5 And Sarai saith unto Abram, 'My violence 'is' for thee; I—I have given mine handmaid into thy bosom, and she seeth that she hath conceived, and I am lightly esteemed in her eyes; Jehovah doth judge between me and thee.' 6 And Abram saith unto Sarai, 'Lo, thine handmaid 'is' in thine hand, do to her that which is good in thine eyes;' and Sarai afflicted her, and she fleeth from her presence.
7 And a messenger of Jehovah findeth her by the fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way 'to' Shur, 8 and he saith, 'Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, whence hast thou come, and whither dost thou go?' and she saith, 'From the presence of Sarai, my mistress, I am fleeing.' 9 And the messenger of Jehovah saith to her, 'Turn back unto thy mistress, and humble thyself under her hands;'
10 and the messenger of Jehovah saith to her, 'Multiplying I multiply thy seed, and it is not numbered from multitude;' 11 and the messenger of Jehovah saith to her, 'Behold thou 'art' conceiving, and bearing a son, and hast called his name Ishmael, for Jehovah hath hearkened unto thine affliction; 12 and he is a wild-ass man, his hand against every one, and every one's hand against him—and before the face of all his brethren he dwelleth.' 13 And she calleth the name of Jehovah who is speaking unto her, 'Thou 'art', O God, my beholder;' for she said, 'Even here have I looked behind my beholder?' 14 therefore hath one called the well, 'The well of the Living One, my beholder;' lo, between Kadesh and Bered.
15 And Hagar beareth to Abram a son; and Abram calleth the name of his son, whom Hagar hath borne, Ishmael; 16 and Abram 'is' a son of eighty and six years in Hagar's bearing Ishmael to Abram.
171 And Abram is a son of ninety and nine years, and Jehovah appeareth unto Abram, and saith unto him, 'I 'am' God Almighty, walk habitually before Me, and be thou perfect; 2 and I give My covenant between Me and thee, and multiply thee very exceedingly.' 3 And Abram falleth upon his face, and God speaketh with him, saying,
4 'I—lo, My covenant 'is' with thee, and thou hast become father of a multitude of nations; 5 and thy name is no more called Abram, but thy name hath been Abraham, for father of a multitude of nations have I made thee; 6 and I have made thee exceeding fruitful, and made thee become nations, and kings go out from thee.
7 'And I have established My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee, to their generations, for a covenant age-during, to become God to thee, and to thy seed after thee; 8 and I have given to thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, the whole land of Canaan, for a possession age-during, and I have become their God.' 9 And God saith unto Abraham, 'And thou dost keep My covenant, thou and thy seed after thee, to their generations; 10 this 'is' My covenant which ye keep between Me and you, and thy seed after thee: Every male of you 'is' to be circumcised; 11 and ye have circumcised the flesh of your foreskin, and it hath become a token of a covenant between Me and you. 12 'And a son of eight days is circumcised by you; every male to your generations, born in the house, or bought with money from any son of a stranger, who is not of thy seed; 13 he is certainly circumcised who 'is' born in thine house, or bought with thy money; and My covenant hath become in your flesh a covenant age-during; 14 and an uncircumcised one, a male, the flesh of whose foreskin is not circumcised, even that person hath been cut off from his people; My covenant he hath broken.'
15 And God saith unto Abraham, 'Sarai thy wife—thou dost not call her name Sarai, for Sarah 'is' her name; 16 and I have blessed her, and have also given to thee a son from her; and I have blessed her, and she hath become nations—kings of peoples are from her.' 17 And Abraham falleth upon his face, and laugheth, and saith in his heart, 'To the son of an hundred years is one born? or doth Sarah—daughter of ninety years—bear?' 18 And Abraham saith unto God, 'O that Ishmael may live before Thee;' 19 and God saith, 'Sarah thy wife is certainly bearing a son to thee, and thou hast called his name Isaac, and I have established My covenant with him, for a covenant age-during, to his seed after him. 20 As to Ishmael, I have heard thee; lo, I have blessed him, and made him fruitful, and multiplied him, very exceedingly; twelve princes doth he beget, and I have made him become a great nation; 21 and My covenant I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah doth bear to thee at this appointed time in the next year;' 22 and He finisheth speaking with him, and God goeth up from Abraham.
23 And Abraham taketh Ishmael his son, and all those born in his house, and all those bought with his money—every male among the men of Abraham's house—and circumciseth the flesh of their foreskin, in this self-same day, as God hath spoken with him. 24 And Abraham 'is' a son of ninety and nine years in the flesh of his foreskin being circumcised; 25 and Ishmael his son 'is' a son of thirteen years in the flesh of his foreskin being circumcised; 26 in this self-same day hath Abraham been circumcised, and Ishmael his son; 27 and all the men of his house—born in the house, and bought with money from the son of a stranger—have been circumcised with him.
27 'Ye heard that it was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not commit adultery; 28 but I—I say to you, that every one who is looking on a woman to desire her, did already commit adultery with her in his heart. 29 'But, if thy right eye doth cause thee to stumble, pluck it out and cast from thee, for it is good to thee that one of thy members may perish, and not thy whole body be cast to gehenna. 30 'And, if thy right hand doth cause thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast from thee, for it is good to thee that one of thy members may perish, and not thy whole body be cast to gehenna.
31 'And it was said, That whoever may put away his wife, let him give to her a writing of divorce; 32 but I—I say to you, that whoever may put away his wife, save for the matter of whoredom, doth make her to commit adultery; and whoever may marry her who hath been put away doth commit adultery.
33 'Again, ye heard that it was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not swear falsely, but thou shalt pay to the Lord thine oaths; 34 but I—I say to you, not to swear at all; neither by the heaven, because it is the throne of God, 35 nor by the earth, because it is His footstool, nor by Jerusalem, because it is a city of a great king, 36 nor by thy head mayest thou swear, because thou art not able one hair to make white or black; 37 but let your word be, Yes, Yes, No, No, and that which is more than these is of the evil.
38 'Ye heard that it was said: Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth; 39 but I—I say to you, not to resist the evil, but whoever shall slap thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other; 40 and whoever is willing to take thee to law, and thy coat to take—suffer to him also the cloak. 41 'And whoever shall impress thee one mile, go with him two, 42 to him who is asking of thee be giving, and him who is willing to borrow from thee thou mayest not turn away.
43 'Ye heard that it was said: Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and shalt hate thine enemy; 44 but I—I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those cursing you, do good to those hating you, and pray for those accusing you falsely, and persecuting you, 45 that ye may be sons of your Father in the heavens, because His sun He doth cause to rise on evil and good, and He doth send rain on righteous and unrighteous. 46 'For, if ye may love those loving you, what reward have ye? do not also the tax-gatherers the same? 47 and if ye may salute your brethren only, what do ye abundant? do not also the tax-gatherers so? 48 ye shall therefore be perfect, as your Father who 'is' in the heavens is perfect.
(Read Matthew 5:27-32)
Victory over the desires of the heart, must be attended with painful exertions. But it must be done. Every thing is bestowed to save us from our sins, not in them. All our senses and powers must be kept from those things which lead to transgression. Those who lead others into temptation to sin, by dress or in other ways, or leave them in it, or expose them to it, make themselves guilty of their sin, and will be accountable for it. If painful operations are submitted to, that our lives may be saved, what ought our minds to shrink from, when the salvation of our souls is concerned? There is tender mercy under all the Divine requirements, and the grace and consolations of the Spirit will enable us to attend to them.
(Read Matthew 5:33-37)
There is no reason to consider that solemn oaths in a court of justice, or on other proper occasions, are wrong, provided they are taken with due reverence. But all oaths taken without necessity, or in common conversation, must be sinful, as well as all those expressions which are appeals to God, though persons think thereby to evade the guilt of swearing. The worse men are, the less they are bound by oaths; the better they are, the less there is need for them. Our Lord does not enjoin the precise terms wherein we are to affirm or deny, but such a constant regard to truth as would render oaths unnecessary.
(Read Matthew 5:38-42)
The plain instruction is, Suffer any injury that can be borne, for the sake of peace, committing your concerns to the Lord's keeping. And the sum of all is, that Christians must avoid disputing and striving. If any say, Flesh and blood cannot pass by such an affront, let them remember, that flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God; and those who act upon right principles will have most peace and comfort.
(Read Matthew 5:43-48)
The Jewish teachers by "neighbour" understood only those who were of their own country, nation, and religion, whom they were pleased to look upon as their friends. The Lord Jesus teaches that we must do all the real kindness we can to all, especially to their souls. We must pray for them. While many will render good for good, we must render good for evil; and this will speak a nobler principle than most men act by. Others salute their brethren, and embrace those of their own party, and way, and opinion, but we must not so confine our respect. It is the duty of Christians to desire, and aim at, and press towards perfection in grace and holiness. And therein we must study to conform ourselves to the example of our heavenly Father, 1 Peter 1:15,16. Surely more is to be expected from the followers of Christ than from others; surely more will be found in them than in others. Let us beg of God to enable us to prove ourselves his children.
