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9 condition that he served him seven years longer. And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her 30 maid. And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

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And when the LORD saw that Leah [was] comparatively hated, and Rachel preferred before her, (by which she was punished for consenting with her father to the sin) that he opened 32 her womb but Rachel [was] barren. And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben, that is, See a son, or, Behold how God hath given me now a son in my affliction for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon 33 my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I [was] hated, he hath therefore given me this [son] also: and she called his name Simeon, that is, 34 hearing, because God heard her prayer. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me in more sincere and fervent affection, because I have borne him three sons: therefore was his 35 name called Levi, that is, joined. And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD openly, in a solemn manner : therefore she called his name Judah, that is, praise; and after this she left off bearing for a while; for she had other children afterward, as we shall see in the next chapter.

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REFLECTIONS.

HEN we have enjoyed communion with God, and have been favoured with his blessings, we may go on cheerfully. The design of his favours is to make us active in his service, that we may lift up our feet in the way to heaven. When he hath enlarged our heart, we should run in the way of his commandments; when he hath put spiritual strength into us, that strength should be employed in making advances heaven ward. When we, like Jacob, have devoted ourselves to God, and have reason to hope he hath accepted us, we may still, as the pious eunuch when he was baptised, Acts viii. 39. go on our way rejoicing; though difficulties and dangers are before us, we may lift up our feet, having God with us; being surrounded with angels; having his Spirit for our guide, and his promises for our cordial. We are to run with patience the racethat is set before us; and thus, by being strong in faith, we are to give glory to God.

2. We have in Jacob a good example of civility and a readiness to do good offices, and the happy consequences of it. Courteous civility even to strangers is commendable; it gains a man esteem and makes way for him. Had not Jacob spoken civilly

those shepherds, he might not have known his relations, or not have been so welcome to them. Jacob was a plain man, and yet he knew how to treat others in an obliging manner. On his tongue was the law of kindness; this made his abode in that country more agreeable, and kept up a good understanding between him and his brother shepherds. Probably he met with respect and kindness from them. So we should learn to be courteous, to serve one another in love, and to treat even strangers with civility and respect; knowing that it is agreeable to them, may be very useful to us, and is indeed fulfilling the law of Christ.

3. God sometimes shows his people their former sins in those afflictions that he causes to befal them. Jacob had craftily obtained his father's blessing, had beguiled and supplanted his broth er; and here he is beguiled and supplanted by Laban in a very tender instance. This probably brought his own sin to remembrance, and would make his disappointment more grievous. Such methods God is pleased sometimes to take, in order to lead men to repentance; with what measure they mete, it is measured to them again. There is much wisdom in this, as it humbles them, renews their repentance for sin, which they had perhaps forgotten, and makes them more cautious and watchful for the time to come. Jacob could not but own, as Adonibezek afterward did, when he lost his thumbs and toes, that the Lord was righteous in so requiting him. It is well if, amidst the afflictions of life, we can appeal to God concerning our integrity, and have not former sins brought to our remembrance, to increase the trouble and double the grief. Innocence is a good support under disappoint

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4. Let us cherish the love of God, as that which will make his service most easy and delightful to us, v. 20. This is the great commanding passion that regulates and governs the rest; if this be rightly fixed, and rises high, apparently difficult things will be easy. Jacob regarded not the heat by day, nor the frost by night, nor so long servitude, to have an agreeable relative; and shall we think a few years too much to employ in the service of God, when attended with so much present pleasure, and the agreeable prospect of being completely happy for ever? We may rest assured, that when the service is over, and we rest from our labours, we shall not be, like Jacob, disappointed, and forced to begin again, but shall be put in the full possession of that which is the great object of our desire and pursuit. We do not, we shall not, serve God for nought. Let us cultivate love to him, and delight in him; that will make even difficulties pleasant, and teach us to glory in tribulation. If we had sincere love to God, we should never say, What a weariness is it to serve him? when will the sabbath be gone, and his service be over? It is in vain for men to pretend to love God, when their hearts are not with him, and when they do not take pleasure in his service. If

we love him, we shall call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, and honourable, and it will be honoured by us; nor shall we scruple to break through difficulties to serve and obey him. As he is the most worthy object of our love and desire, if our affections are suitably raised, we shall be glad of any method to show our love and respect. In like manner should we cherish a kind and benevolent affection to our fellow creatures, as the only foundation for kind and benevolent words and actions. If devotion and charity freeze at the heart, the life will be destitute of the fruits of them. Earnest longings after the enjoyment of God's favour and friendship, and the prospect of likeness to him in a better world, will make us steady and constant in his service. This will be the best remedy against the evils of life; none of these things will then move us, neither shall we count our lives dear unto us, so that we may finish our course with joy. If the love of God be shed abroad in our hearts, through the holy Spirit given unto us, we shall esteem the afflictions of the present life light, and not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. The Lord direct our hearts, therefore, into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for of Christ Jesus; for eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, those things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

CHAP. XXX.

Gives an account of the increase of Jacob's family and substance.

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ND when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give 2 me children, or else I die with grief and vexation. And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel his beloved wife, and he made a very grave and pious reply, and said, [Am] I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? It is his prerogative to give children. But so desirous 3 was Rachel to have children of her own, And so impatient, that she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, or lap, that I may also have children by her, that may be brought up and nursed by me as my 4 own. And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife, or as a concubine and Jacob, overcome by her constant importunity, complied, and went in unto her.

5 6 And Bilhah conceived and bare Jacob a son. And Rachel said, God hath judged me, given sentence on my side against Leah, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son therefore called she his name Dan, that is judging. 7 And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a VOL. I.

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8 second son. And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed; I and my sister have striven for children, and I have gotten my wish at length beyond my sister's expectation: and she called his name Naphtali, that is, my wrestling.

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When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpaḥ to her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. And Zilpah Leah's 11 maid bare Jacob a son. And Leah said, A troop cometh, I shall have more children still: and she called his name Gad, 12 that is, a troop, or company. And Zilpah Leah's maid bare 13 Jacob a second son. And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed and she called his name Asher, that is, happy.

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And Reuben, Leah's eldest son, went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, probably lilies of a beautiful colour, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's 15 mandrakes. And she said unto her, [Is it] a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? that is, drawn his affection from me, so that he estrangeth himself from my bed through thy means, and wouldst thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night 16 for thy son's mandrakes. And Jacob came out of the field

in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.* 17 And God hearkened unto Leah, to her earnest prayers, and 18 she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son. And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband and she called his name Issachar, that is, 19 an hire, or wages. And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob 20 the sixth son. And Leah said, God hath endued me [with]

a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun, 21 that is, dwelling. And afterward she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah, that is, judgment, as if she had now got the better of Rachel.

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And God would not suffer Leah to triumph, therefore remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her and opened her 23 womb. And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God 24 hath taken away my reproach, that is, my barrenness: And she called his name Joseph, that is, adding; and said, the LORD shall add to me another son.

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And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, and

The reason of this contention between Jacob's wives for his company, was the earnest desire they had to fulfil the promise made to Abraham, that his seed should be as the stars of heaven for multitude, and that in one seed of his, that is, the Messiah, all the nations of the earth should be blessed. It would have been below the dignity of such a sacred history as this to relate such things if there had not been something of great consideration in them and that it was on a religious account, seems plain from 9. 17.

the second seven years' service was fulfilled, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own 26 place, and to my country. Give [me] my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go for thou 27 knowest my service which I have done thee. And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, [tarry for] I have learned by experience that the 28 LORD hath blessed me for thy sake. And he said, Appoint 29 me thy wages, and I will give [it.] And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle 30 was with me. For [it was] little which thou hadst before I [came,] and it is [now] increased unto a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming and now when 31 shall I provide for mine own house also? And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing, no certain wages, or stinted hire, but only what God's providence shall allot me; if thou wilt do this thing 32 for me, I will again feed [and] keep thy flock: I will pass through all thy flock today, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats all these shall be removed and sent to a distance; and from this time all [of such] colours or marks as I have described, that shall 33 be born of the white dams under my care, shall be my hire. So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, my just dealing shall be made evident by the very colour of the cattle, and when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that [is] not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be accounted stolen with me. 34 And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word; knowing that cattle naturally bring forth young ones 35 like themselves. And he, that is, Laban, removed that day the he goats that were ring streaked, had rings of different colours round their legs or bodies, and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, [and] every one that had [some] white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, 36 and gave [them] into the hand of his sons. And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.

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And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hasel and chesnut tree; and pilled white streaks in them, and 38 made the white appear which [was] in the rods. And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that 39 they should conceive when they came to drink. And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle 40 ring streaked, speckled, and spotted.* And Jacob did sepan • Though the strength of imagination in time of conception may be very great, yet there was a special providence in this, as a recompense for his sore labour.

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