Jacob's Prophecy concerning His Sons

491 And Jacob calleth unto his sons and saith, 'Be gathered together, and I declare to you that which doth happen with you in the latter end of the days. 2 'Be assembled, and hear, sons of Jacob, And hearken unto Israel your father. 3 Reuben! my first-born thou, My power, and beginning of my strength, The abundance of exaltation, And the abundance of strength; 4 Unstable as water, thou art not abundant; For thou hast gone up thy father's bed; Then thou hast polluted: My couch he went up!

5 Simeon and Levi 'are' brethren! Instruments of violence—their espousals! 6 Into their secret, come not, O my soul! Unto their assembly be not united, O mine honour; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will eradicated a prince. 7 Cursed 'is' their anger, for 'it is' fierce, And their wrath, for 'it is' sharp; I divide them in Jacob, And I scatter them in Israel.

8 Judah! thou—thy brethren praise thee! Thy hand 'is' on the neck of thine enemies, Sons of thy father bow themselves to thee. 9 A lion's whelp 'is' Judah, For prey, my son, thou hast gone up; He hath bent, he hath crouched as a lion, And as a lioness; who causeth him to arise? 10 The sceptre turneth not aside from Judah, And a lawgiver from between his feet, Till his Seed come; And his 'is' the obedience of peoples. 11 Binding to the vine his ass, And to the choice vine the colt of his ass, He hath washed in wine his clothing, And in the blood of grapes his covering; 12 Red 'are' eyes with wine, And white 'are' teeth with milk!

13 Zebulun at a haven of the seas doth dwell, And he 'is' for a haven of ships; And his side 'is' unto Zidon. 14 Issacher 'is' a strong ass, Crouching between the two folds; 15 And he seeth rest that 'it is' good, And the land that 'it is' pleasant, And he inclineth his shoulder to bear, And is to tribute a servant. 16 Dan doth judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel; 17 Dan is a serpent by the way, An adder by the path, Which is biting the horse's heels, And its rider falleth backward. 18 For Thy salvation I have waited, Jehovah! 19 Gad! a troop assaulteth him, But he assaulteth last. 20 Out of Asher his bread 'is' fat; And he giveth dainties of a king. 21 Naphtali 'is' a hind sent away, Who is giving beauteous young ones.

22 Joseph 'is' a fruitful son; A fruitful son by a fountain, Daughters step over the wall; 23 And embitter him—yea, they have striven, Yea, hate him do archers; 24 And his bow abideth in strength, And strengthened are the arms of his hands By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, Whence is a shepherd, a son of Israel. 25 By the God of thy father who helpeth thee, And the Mighty One who blesseth thee, Blessings of the heavens from above, Blessings of the deep lying under, Blessings of breasts and womb;— 26 Thy father's blessings have been mighty Above the blessings of my progenitors, Unto the limit of the heights age-during They are for the head of Joseph, And for the crown of the one Separate 'from' his brethren. 27 Benjamin! a wolf teareth; In the morning he eateth prey, And at evening he apportioneth spoil.'

The Death and Burial of Jacob

28 All these 'are' the twelve tribes of Israel, and this 'is' that which their father hath spoken unto them, and he blesseth them; each according to his blessing he hath blessed them. 29 And he commandeth them, and saith unto them, 'I am being gathered unto my people; bury me by my fathers, at the cave which 'is' in the field of Ephron the Hittite; 30 in the cave which 'is' in the field of Machpelah, which 'is' on the front of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place; 31 (there they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah); 32 the purchase of the field and of the cave which 'is' in it, 'is' from Sons of Heth.' 33 And Jacob finisheth commanding his sons, and gathereth up his feet unto the bed, and expireth, and is gathered unto his people.

501 And Joseph falleth on his father's face, and weepeth over him, and kisseth him; 2 and Joseph commandeth his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father, and the physicians embalm Israel; 3 and they fulfil for him forty days, for so they fulfil the days of the embalmed, and the Egyptians weep for him seventy days. 4 And the days of his weeping pass away, and Joseph speaketh unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, 'If, I pray you, I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, 5 My father caused me to swear, saying, Lo, I am dying; in my burying-place which I have prepared for myself in the land of Canaan, there dost thou bury me; and now, let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and return;' 6 and Pharaoh saith, 'Go up and bury thy father, as he caused thee to swear.'

7 And Joseph goeth up to bury his father, and go up with him do all the servants of Pharaoh, elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 and all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and the house of his father; only their infants, and their flock, and their herd, have they left in the land of Goshen; 9 and there go up with him both chariot and horsemen, and the camp is very great. 10 And they come unto the threshing-floor of Atad, which 'is' beyond the Jordan, and they lament there, a lamentation great and very grievous; and he maketh for his father a mourning seven days, 11 and the inhabitant of the land, the Canaanite, see the mourning in the threshing-floor of Atad, and say, 'A grievous mourning 'is' this to the Egyptians;' therefore hath 'one' called its name 'The mourning of the Egyptians,' which 'is' beyond the Jordan. 12 And his sons do to him so as he commanded them, 13 and his sons bear him away to the land of Canaan, and bury him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a burying-place, from Ephron the Hittite, on the front of Mamre. 14 And Joseph turneth back to Egypt, he and his brethren, and all who are going up with him to bury his father, after his burying his father.

The Death of Joseph

15 And the brethren of Joseph see that their father is dead, and say, 'Peradventure Joseph doth hate us, and doth certainly return to us all the evil which we did with him.' 16 And they give a charge for Joseph, saying, 'Thy father commanded before his death, saying, 17 Thus ye do say to Joseph, I pray thee, bear, I pray thee, with the transgression of thy brethren, and their sin, for they have done thee evil; and now, bear, we pray thee, with the transgression of the servants of the God of thy father;' and Joseph weepeth in their speaking unto him. 18 And his brethren also go and fall before him, and say, 'Lo, we 'are' to thee for servants.' 19 And Joseph saith unto them, 'Fear not, for 'am' I in the place of God? 20 As for you, ye devised against me evil—God devised it for good, in order to do as 'at' this day, to keep alive a numerous people; 21 and now, fear not: I do nourish you and your infants;' and he comforteth them, and speaketh unto their heart.

22 And Joseph dwelleth in Egypt, he and the house of his father, and Joseph liveth a hundred and ten years, 23 and Joseph looketh on Ephraim's sons of the third 'generation'; sons also of Machir, son of Manasseh, have been born on the knees of Joseph. 24 And Joseph saith unto his brethren, 'I am dying, and God doth certainly inspect you, and hath caused you to go up from this land, unto the land which He hath sworn to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.' 25 And Joseph causeth the sons of Israel to swear, saying, 'God doth certainly inspect you, and ye have brought up my bones from this 'place'.' 26 And Joseph dieth, a son of an hundred and ten years, and they embalm him, and he is put into a coffin in Egypt.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

31 Another simile he set before them, saying: 'The reign of the heavens is like to a grain of mustard, which a man having taken, did sow in his field, 32 which less, indeed, is than all the seeds, but when it may be grown, is greatest of the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven do come and rest in its branches.'

The Parable of the Leaven

33 Another simile spake he to them: 'The reign of the heavens is like to leaven, which a woman having taken, hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.'

Jesus' Use of Parables

34 All these things spake Jesus in similes to the multitudes, and without a simile he was not speaking to them, 35 that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through the prophet, saying, 'I will open in similes my mouth, I will utter things having been hidden from the foundation of the world.'

Jesus Explains the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares

36 Then having let away the multitudes, Jesus came to the house, and his disciples came near to him, saying, 'Explain to us the simile of the darnel of the field.' 37 And he answering said to them, 'He who is sowing the good seed is the Son of Man, 38 and the field is the world, and the good seed, these are the sons of the reign, and the darnel are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is a full end of the age, and the reapers are messengers. 40 'As, then, the darnel is gathered up, and is burned with fire, so shall it be in the full end of this age, 41 the Son of Man shall send forth his messengers, and they shall gather up out of his kingdom all the stumbling-blocks, and those doing the unlawlessness, 42 and shall cast them to the furnace of the fire; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth. 43 'Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the reign of their Father. He who is having ears to hear—let him hear.

The Hidden Treasure

44 'Again, the reign of the heavens is like to treasure hid in the field, which a man having found did hide, and from his joy goeth, and all, as much as he hath, he selleth, and buyeth that field.

The Pearl of Great Price

45 'Again, the reign of the heavens is like to a man, a merchant, seeking goodly pearls, 46 who having found one pearl of great price, having gone away, hath sold all, as much as he had, and bought it.

The Net

47 'Again, the reign of the heavens is like to a net that was cast into the sea, and did gather together of every kind, 48 which, when it was filled, having drawn up again upon the beach, and having sat down, they gathered the good into vessels, and the bad they did cast out, 49 so shall it be in the full end of the age, the messengers shall come forth and separate the evil out of the midst of the righteous, 50 and shall cast them to the furnace of the fire, there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.'

Treasures New and Old

51 Jesus saith to them, 'Did ye understand all these?' They say to him, 'Yes, sir.' 52 And he said to them, 'Because of this every scribe having been discipled in regard to the reign of the heavens, is like to a man, a householder, who doth bring forth out of his treasure things new and old.'

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

53 And it came to pass, when Jesus finished these similes, he removed thence, 54 and having come to his own country, he was teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and were saying, 'Whence to this one this wisdom and the mighty works? 55 is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? 56 and his sisters—are they not all with us? whence, then, to this one all these?' 57 and they were stumbled at him. And Jesus said to them, 'A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, and in his own house:' 58 and he did not there many mighty works, because of their unbelief.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Matthew 13:31-58

Commentary on Matthew 13:31-35

(Read Matthew 13:31-35)

The scope of the parable of the seed sown, is to show that the beginnings of the gospel would be small, but its latter end would greatly increase; in this way the work of grace in the heart, the kingdom of God within us, would be carried on. In the soul where grace truly is, it will grow really; though perhaps at first not to be discerned, it will at last come to great strength and usefulness. The preaching of the gospel works like leaven in the hearts of those who receive it. The leaven works certainly, so does the word, yet gradually. It works silently, and without being seen, Romans 6:13. From these parables we are taught to expect a gradual progress; therefore let us inquire, Are we growing in grace? and in holy principles and habits?

Commentary on Matthew 13:36-52

(Read Matthew 13:36-52)

Here are four parables. 1. That of the treasure hid in the field. Many slight the gospel, because they look only upon the surface of the field. But all who search the Scriptures, so as in them to find Christ and eternal life, John 5:39, will discover such treasure in this field as makes it unspeakably valuable; they make it their own upon any terms. Though nothing can be given as a price for this salvation, yet much must be given up for the sake of it. 2. All the children of men are busy; one would be rich, another would be honourable, another would be learned; but most are deceived, and take up with counterfeits for pearls. Jesus Christ is a Pearl of great price; in having him, we have enough to make us happy here and for ever. A man may buy gold too dear, but not this Pearl of great price. When the convinced sinner sees Christ as the gracious Saviour, all things else become worthless to his thoughts. 3. The world is a vast sea, and men, in their natural state, are like the fishes. Preaching the gospel is casting a net into this sea, to catch something out of it, for His glory who has the sovereignty of this sea. Hypocrites and true Christians shall be parted: miserable is the condition of those that shall then be cast away. 4. A skilful, faithful minister of the gospel, is a scribe, well versed in the things of the gospel, and able to teach them. Christ compares him to a good householder, who brings forth fruits of last year's growth and this year's gathering, abundance and variety, to entertain his friends. Old experiences and new observations, all have their use. Our place is at Christ's feet, and we must daily learn old lessons over again, and new ones also.

Commentary on Matthew 13:53-58

(Read Matthew 13:53-58)

Christ repeats his offer to those who have repulsed them. They upbraid him, Is not this the carpenter's son? Yes, it is true he was reputed to be so; and no disgrace to be the son of an honest tradesman; they should have respected him the more because he was one of themselves, but therefore they despised him. He did not many mighty works there, because of their unbelief. Unbelief is the great hinderance to Christ's favours. Let us keep faithful to him as the Saviour who has made our peace with God.