331 And Jacob lifteth up his eyes, and looketh, and lo, Esau is coming, and with him four hundred men; and he divideth the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two maid-servants; 2 and he setteth the maid-servants and their children first, and Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last. 3 And he himself passed over before them, and boweth himself to the earth seven times, until his drawing nigh unto his brother, 4 and Esau runneth to meet him, and embraceth him, and falleth on his neck, and kisseth him, and they weep;
5 and he lifteth up his eyes, and seeth the women and the children, and saith, 'What 'are' these to thee?' And he saith, 'The children with whom God hath favoured thy servant.' 6 And the maid-servants draw nigh, they and their children, and bow themselves; 7 and Leah also draweth nigh, and her children, and they bow themselves; and afterwards Joseph hath drawn nigh with Rachel, and they bow themselves. 8 And he saith, 'What to thee 'is' all this camp which I have met?' and he saith, 'To find grace in the eyes of my lord.' 9 And Esau saith, 'I have abundance, my brother, let it be to thyself that which thou hast.' 10 And Jacob saith, 'Nay, I pray thee, if, I pray thee, I have found grace in thine eyes, then thou hast received my present from my hand, because that I have seen thy face, as the seeing of the face of God, and thou art pleased with me; 11 receive, I pray thee, my blessing, which is brought to thee, because God hath favoured me, and because I have all 'things';' and he presseth on him, and he receiveth, 12 and saith, 'Let us journey and go on, and I go on before thee.' 13 And he saith unto him, 'My lord knoweth that the children 'are' tender, and the suckling flock and the herd 'are' with me; when they have beaten them one day, then hath all the flock died. 14 Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant, and I—I lead on gently, according to the foot of the work which 'is' before me, and to the foot of the children, until that I come unto my lord, to Seir.' 15 And Esau saith, 'Let me, I pray thee, place with thee some of the people who 'are' with me;' and he said, 'Why 'is' this? I find grace in the eyes of my lord.'
16 And turn back on that day doth Esau on his way to Seir; 17 and Jacob hath journeyed to Succoth, and buildeth to himself a house, and for his cattle hath made booths, therefore hath he called the name of the place Succoth. 18 And Jacob cometh in to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which 'is' in the land of Canaan, in his coming from Padan-Aram, and encampeth before the city, 19 and he buyeth the portion of the field where he hath stretched out his tent, from the hand of the sons of Hamor, father of Shechem, for a hundred kesitah; 20 and he setteth up there an altar, and proclaimeth at it God—the God of Israel.
341 And Dinah, daughter of Leah, whom she hath borne to Jacob, goeth out to look on the daughters of the land, 2 and Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, a prince of the land, seeth her, and taketh her, and lieth with her, and humbleth her; 3 and his soul cleaveth to Dinah, daughter of Jacob, and he loveth the young person, and speaketh unto the heart of the young person. 4 And Shechem speaketh unto Hamor his father, saying, 'Take for me this damsel for a wife.' 5 And Jacob hath heard that he hath defiled Dinah his daughter, and his sons were with his cattle in the field, and Jacob kept silent till their coming.
6 And Hamor, father of Shechem, goeth out unto Jacob to speak with him; 7 and the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard, and the men grieve themselves, and it 'is' very displeasing to them, for folly he hath done against Israel, to lie with the daughter of Jacob—and so it is not done. 8 And Hamor speaketh with them, saying, 'Shechem, my son, his soul hath cleaved to your daughter; give her, I pray you, to him for a wife, 9 and join ye in marriage with us; your daughters ye give to us, and our daughters ye take to yourselves, 10 and with us ye dwell, and the land is before you; dwell ye and trade 'in' it, and have possessions in it.' 11 And Shechem saith unto her father, and unto her brethren, 'Let me find grace in your eyes, and that which ye say unto me, I give; 12 multiply on me exceedingly dowry and gift, and I give as ye say unto me, and give to me the young person for a wife.' 13 And the sons of Jacob answer Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and they speak (because he defiled Dinah their sister), 14 and say unto them, 'We are not able to do this thing, to give our sister to one who hath a foreskin: for it 'is' a reproach to us. 15 'Only for this we consent to you; if ye be as we, to have every male of you circumcised, 16 then we have given our daughters to you, and your daughters we take to ourselves, and we have dwelt with you, and have become one people; 17 and if ye hearken not unto us to be circumcised, then we have taken our daughter, and have gone.'
18 And their words are good in the eyes of Hamor, and in the eyes of Shechem, Hamor's son; 19 and the young man delayed not to do the thing, for he had delight in Jacob's daughter, and he is honourable above all the house of his father. 20 And Hamor cometh—Shechem his son also—unto the gate of their city, and they speak unto the men of their city, saying, 21 'These men are peaceable with us; then let them dwell in the land, and trade 'in' it; and the land, lo, 'is' wide before them; their daughters let us take to ourselves for wives, and our daughters give to them. 22 'Only for this do the men consent to us, to dwell with us, to become one people, in every male of us being circumcised, as they are circumcised; 23 their cattle, and their substance, and all their beasts—are they not ours? only let us consent to them, and they dwell with us.' 24 And unto Hamor, and unto Shechem his son, hearken do all those going out of the gate of his city, and every male is circumcised, all those going out of the gate of his city.
25 And it cometh to pass, on the third day, in their being pained, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, take each his sword, and come in against the city confidently, and slay every male; 26 and Hamor, and Shechem his son, they have slain by the mouth of the sword, and they take Dinah out of Shechem's house, and go out. 27 Jacob's sons have come in upon the wounded, and they spoil the city, because they had defiled their sister; 28 their flock and their herd, and their asses, and that which 'is' in the city, and that which 'is' in the field, have they taken; 29 and all their wealth, and all their infants, and their wives they have taken captive, and they spoil also all that 'is' in the house. 30 And Jacob saith unto Simeon and unto Levi, 'Ye have troubled me, by causing me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanite, and among the Perizzite: and I 'am' few in number, and they have been gathered against me, and have smitten me, and I have been destroyed, I and my house.' 31 And they say, 'As a harlot doth he make our sister?'
351 And God saith unto Jacob, 'Rise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar to God, who appeared unto thee in thy fleeing from the face of Esau thy brother.' 2 And Jacob saith unto his household, and unto all who 'are' with him, 'Turn aside the gods of the stranger which 'are' in your midst, and cleanse yourselves, and change your garments; 3 and we rise, and go up to Bethel, and I make there an altar to God, who is answering me in the day of my distress, and is with me in the way that I have gone.' 4 And they give unto Jacob all the gods of the stranger that 'are' in their hand, and the rings that 'are' in their ears, and Jacob hideth them under the oak which 'is' by Shechem; 5 and they journey, and the terror of God is on the cities which 'are' round about them, and they have not pursued after the sons of Jacob.
6 And Jacob cometh in to Luz which 'is' in the land of Canaan (it 'is' Bethel), he and all the people who 'are' with him, 7 and he buildeth there an altar, and proclaimeth at the place the God of Bethel: for there had God been revealed unto him, in his fleeing from the face of his brother. 8 And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, dieth, and she is buried at the lower part of Bethel, under the oak, and he calleth its name 'Oak of weeping.' 9 And God appeareth unto Jacob again, in his coming from Padan-Aram, and blesseth him; 10 and God saith to him, 'Thy name 'is' Jacob: thy name is no more called Jacob, but Israel is thy name;' and He calleth his name Israel. 11 And God saith to him, 'I 'am' God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply, a nation and an assembly of nations is from thee, and kings from thy loins go out; 12 and the land which I have given to Abraham and to Isaac—to thee I give it, yea to thy seed after thee I give the land.' 13 And God goeth up from him, in the place where He hath spoken with him. 14 And Jacob setteth up a standing pillar in the place where He hath spoken with him, a standing pillar of stone, and he poureth on it an oblation, and he poureth on it oil; 15 and Jacob calleth the name of the place where God spake with him Bethel.
16 And they journey from Bethel, and there is yet a kibrath of land before entering Ephratha, and Rachel beareth, and is sharply pained in her bearing; 17 and it cometh to pass, in her being sharply pained in her bearing, that the midwife saith to her, 'Fear not, for this also 'is' a son for thee.' 18 And it cometh to pass in the going out of her soul (for she died), that she calleth his name Ben-Oni; and his father called him Benjamin; 19 and Rachel dieth, and is buried in the way to Ephratha, which 'is' Bethlehem, 20 and Jacob setteth up a standing pillar over her grave; which 'is' the standing pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.
21 And Israel journeyeth, and stretcheth out his tent beyond the tower of Edar;
22 and it cometh to pass in Israel's dwelling in that land, that Reuben goeth, and lieth with Bilhah his father's concubine; and Israel heareth. 23 And the sons of Jacob are twelve. Sons of Leah: Jacob's first-born Reuben, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun. 24 Sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 25 And sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid-servant: Dan and Naphtali. 26 And sons of Zilpah, Leah's maid-servant: Gad and Asher. These 'are' sons of Jacob, who have been born to him in Padan-Aram.
27 And Jacob cometh unto Isaac his father, at Mamre, the city of Arba (which 'is' Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac have sojourned. 28 And the days of Isaac are a hundred and eighty years, 29 and Isaac expireth, and dieth, and is gathered unto his people, aged and satisfied with days; and bury him do Esau and Jacob his sons.
101 And having called to him his twelve disciples, he gave to them power over unclean spirits, so as to be casting them out, and to be healing every sickness, and every malady. 2 And of the twelve apostles the names are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax-gatherer; James of Alpheus, and Lebbeus who was surnamed Thaddeus; 4 Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who did also deliver him up.
5 These twelve did Jesus send forth, having given command to them, saying, 'To the way of the nations go not away, and into a city of the Samaritans go not in, 6 and be going rather unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 'And, going on, proclaim saying that, the reign of the heavens hath come nigh; 8 infirm ones be healing, lepers be cleansing, dead be raising, demons be casting out—freely ye did receive, freely give. 9 'Provide not gold, nor silver, nor brass in your girdles, 10 nor scrip for the way, nor two coats, nor sandals, nor staff—for the workman is worthy of his nourishment. 11 'And into whatever city or village ye may enter, inquire ye who in it is worthy, and there abide, till ye may go forth. 12 And coming to the house salute it, 13 and if indeed the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it; and if it be not worthy, let your peace turn back to you. 14 'And whoever may not receive you nor hear your words, coming forth from that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet, 15 verily I say to you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.
16 'Lo, I do send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves, be ye therefore wise as the serpents, and simple as the doves. 17 And, take ye heed of men, for they will give you up to sanhedrims, and in their synagogues they will scourge you, 18 and before governors and kings ye shall be brought for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations. 19 'And whenever they may deliver you up, be not anxious how or what ye may speak, for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak; 20 for ye are not the speakers, but the Spirit of your Father that is speaking in you.
(Read Matthew 10:1-4)
The word "apostle" signifies messenger; they were Christ's messengers, sent forth to proclaim his kingdom. Christ gave them power to heal all manner of sickness. In the grace of the gospel there is a slave for every sore, a remedy for every malady. There is no spiritual disease, but there is power in Christ for the cure of it. There names are recorded, and it is their honour; yet they had more reason to rejoice that their names were written in heaven, while the high and mighty names of the great ones of the earth are buried in the dust.
(Read Matthew 10:5-15)
The Gentiles must not have the gospel brought them, till the Jews have refused it. This restraint on the apostles was only in their first mission. Wherever they went they must proclaim, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. They preached, to establish the faith; the kingdom, to animate the hope; of heaven, to inspire the love of heavenly things, and the contempt of earthly; which is at hand, that men may prepare for it without delay. Christ gave power to work miracles for the confirming of their doctrine. This is not necessary now that the kingdom of God is come. It showed that the intent of the doctrine they preached, was to heal sick souls, and to raise those that were dead in sin. In proclaiming the gospel of free grace for the healing and saving of men's souls, we must above all avoid the appearance of the spirit of an hireling. They are directed what to do in strange towns and cities. The servant of Christ is the ambassador of peace to whatever place he is sent. His message is even to the vilest sinners, yet it behoves him to find out the best persons in every place. It becomes us to pray heartily for all, and to conduct ourselves courteously to all. They are directed how to act as to those that refused them. The whole counsel of God must be declared, and those who will not attend to the gracious message, must be shown that their state is dangerous. This should be seriously laid to heart by all that hear the gospel, lest their privileges only serve to increase their condemnation.
(Read Matthew 10:16-42)
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them what they should suffer, and from whom. Thus Christ has dealt fairly and faithfully with us, in telling us the worst we can meet with in his service; and he would have us deal so with ourselves, in sitting down and counting the cost. Persecutors are worse than beasts, in that they prey upon those of their own kind. The strongest bonds of love and duty, have often been broken through from enmity against Christ. Sufferings from friends and relations are very grievous; nothing cuts more. It appears plainly, that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution; and we must expect to enter into the kingdom of God through many tribulations. With these predictions of trouble, are counsels and comforts for a time of trial. The disciples of Christ are hated and persecuted as serpents, and their ruin is sought, and they need the serpent's wisdom. Be ye harmless as doves. Not only, do nobody any hurt, but bear nobody any ill-will. Prudent care there must be, but not an anxious, perplexing thought; let this care be cast upon God. The disciples of Christ must think more how to do well, than how to speak well. In case of great peril, the disciples of Christ may go out of the way of danger, though they must not go out of the way of duty. No sinful, unlawful means may be used to escape; for then it is not a door of God's opening. The fear of man brings a snare, a perplexing snare, that disturbs our peace; an entangling snare, by which we are drawn into sin; and, therefore, it must be striven and prayed against. Tribulation, distress, and persecution cannot take away God's love to them, or theirs to him. Fear Him, who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. They must deliver their message publicly, for all are deeply concerned in the doctrine of the gospel. The whole counsel of God must be made known, Acts 20:27. Christ shows them why they should be of good cheer. Their sufferings witnessed against those who oppose his gospel. When God calls us to speak for him, we may depend on him to teach us what to say. A believing prospect of the end of our troubles, will be of great use to support us under them. They may be borne to the end, because the sufferers shall be borne up under them. The strength shall be according to the day. And it is great encouragement to those who are doing Christ's work, that it is a work which shall certainly be done. See how the care of Providence extends to all creatures, even to the sparrows. This should silence all the fears of God's people; Ye are of more value than many sparrows. And the very hairs of your head are all numbered. This denotes the account God takes and keeps of his people. It is our duty, not only to believe in Christ, but to profess that faith, in suffering for him, when we are called to it, as well as in serving him. That denial of Christ only is here meant which is persisted in, and that confession only can have the blessed recompence here promised, which is the real and constant language of faith and love. Religion is worth every thing; all who believe the truth of it, will come up to the price, and make every thing else yield to it. Christ will lead us through sufferings, to glory with him. Those are best prepared for the life to come, that sit most loose to this present life. Though the kindness done to Christ's disciples be ever so small, yet if there be occasion for it, and ability to do no more, it shall be accepted. Christ does not say that they deserve a reward; for we cannot merit any thing from the hand of God; but they shall receive a reward from the free gift of God. Let us boldly confess Christ, and show love to him in all things.
