CHAP. I.

SINCE many have attempted to compose a narrative of facts, confirmed to us by the fullest evidence: ²exactly as they delivered them to us, who were eve witnesses from the first, and ministers of the word; ³it seemed right to me also, having obtained accurate knowledge of all things from above, to write to thee in regular order, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴to the intent that thou mayest clearly know the certainty of those matters, concerning which thou hast been instructed.

⁵There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abiah: and his wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elisabeth. ⁶And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. ⁷And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were far advanced in years. ⁸And it came to pass, as he discharged his priestly office in the order of his periodical ministration before God, ⁹according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to his lot to burn the incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. ¹⁰And all the multitude of people was praying without, at the time of the burning the incense. ¹¹And an angel of the Lord appeared to him standing on the right side of the altar of incense. ¹²And Zacharias was agitated greatly at the sight, and fear fell upon him. ¹³But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bring thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. ¹⁴And it shall give thee joy and exultation; and many shall rejoice at his birth: ¹⁵for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord; and he shall never drink wine, nor any intoxicating liquor; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. ¹⁶And many of the children of Israel shall he turn unto the Lord, their God. ¹⁷And he shall go forth before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to convert the hearts of fathers with their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to prepare a people ready for the Lord.

¹⁸And Zacharias said to the angel, By what shall I know this? for I am old, and my wife far advanced in her age. ¹⁹And the angel answering said to him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and I have been sent to speak to thee, and to proclaim these glad tidings to thee. ²⁰And behold, thou shalt be dumb, and unable to speak, until that day when these things shall come to pass, because thou hast not believed my words, which shall be fulfilled at their exact time.

²¹And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple. ²²And when he came out, he could not speak to them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he himself made signs to them, and continued deaf and dumb. ²³And it came to pass, when the days of his ministry were fulfilled, he went to his own house. ²⁴And after those days Elisabeth his wife conceived, and kept herself in retirement five months, saying, ²⁵Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days in which he looked upon me to take away my reproach among men.

²⁶Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, the name of which was Nazareth, ²⁷to a virgin of the house of David, betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph; and the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸And the angel coming in to her said, All hail! O thou highly favoured one! the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. ²⁹And when she saw him, she was greatly agitated at his address: and reasoned in herself what kind of salutation this could be. ³⁰And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God. ³¹And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS. ³²He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father; ³³and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. ³⁴And Mary said, How shall this be, seeing I know not man? ³⁵And the angel answering said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; wherefore also the Holy One that shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God. ³⁶And, behold, Elisabeth thy cousin, she also hath conceived in her old age: and this is the fifth month of pregnancy with her who was called barren. ³⁷For there is nothing impossible with God. ³⁸Then said Mary, Behold a servant of the Lord, be it to me according to thy declaration. And the angel departed from her.

³⁹Then Mary arose in those days, and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, ⁴⁰and entered into the house of Zachariah, and saluted Elisabeth. ⁴¹And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped for joy in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: ⁴²and she exclaimed with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. ⁴³And whence is this favour shewn me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴For, lo! as the voice of thy salutation reached my ears, the babe leaped for joy in my womb. ⁴⁵And blessed is she that hath believed; for there shall be a fulfilment of the things told her from the Lord.

⁴⁶And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, ⁴⁷and my spirit hath exulted in God my Saviour: ⁴⁸for he hath looked upon the lowly state of his maid-servant: for, lo! henceforth shall all generations pronounce me blessed. ⁴⁹For the Mighty One hath done great things for me; and holy is his name. ⁵⁰And his mercy is upon those who fear him, from generation to generation. ⁵¹He hath displayed strength from his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. ⁵²He hath cast down potentates from the throne, and hath exalted the lowly. ⁵³He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. ⁵⁴He hath succoured Israel his servant, that he might be mindful of mercy for ever; ⁵⁵as he had spoken to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed. ⁵⁶And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned unto her home.

⁵⁷Now Elisabeth’s time was up that she should be delivered; and she brought a son. ⁵⁸And her neighbours and her relations heard, that the Lord had magnified his mercy upon her; and they congratulated her. ⁵⁹And it came to pass, on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him after the name of his father, Zacharias. ⁶⁰And his mother spake and said, No; but he shall be called John. ⁶¹And they said to her, There is not one among thy relations, who is called by this name. ⁶²And they made signs to his father, what he would have him called. ⁶³And desiring a writing tablet, he wrote, saying, John is his name. And they were all surprised. ⁶⁴Instantly then his mouth was opened, and his tongue loosed, and he burst out in praises to God. ⁶⁵And great awe fell on all those who dwelt around them: and in all the mountainous country of Judea, all these circumstances were the subject of conversation. ⁶⁶And all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, Well! what a child will this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.

⁶⁷And Zacharias his father was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, ⁶⁸Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel; for he hath visited and wrought redemption for his people; ⁶⁹and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David: ⁷⁰as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been from the beginning: ⁷¹even preservation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; ⁷²to perform mercy towards our fathers, and to remember his own holy covenant: ⁷³the oath which he sware to Abraham our father, ⁷⁴to give us, that we, secure from fear, rescued from the hands of our enemies, should serve him, ⁷⁵in righteousness and holiness before him, all the days of our life. ⁷⁶And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High; for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; ⁷⁷to give the knowledge of salvation to his people, by the remission of their sins, ⁷⁸through the bowels of mercy of our God; with which he hath visited us, as the dawn of the morning from on high, ⁷⁹to illumine those who sat in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to direct our feet into the way of peace. ⁸⁰And the child grew, and became mighty in spirit, and was in the deserts until the days of his public exhibition to Israel.

[CHAP. II.]

NOW it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that the whole land should be registered. ²(And this first enrolment was made by Cyrenius, afterwards governor of Syria) ³And all went to be registered, every one to his own city. ⁴Then Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; because he was of the house and family of David; ⁵to be enregistered with Mary, the wife espoused to him, who was big with child. ⁶And it came to pass, while they were there, that her time was up, that she should be delivered. ⁷And she brought forth a son, her first-born, and wrapped him in swaddling-clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸And there were shepherds in that country abiding in the open air, and keeping guard over their flock by night. ⁹And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were exceedingly affrighted. ¹⁰And the angel said unto them, Be not affrighted: for, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be for all the people. ¹¹Because this day there is born for you a Saviour, which is Messiah, the Lord, in the city of David. ¹²And this shall be a sign for you; Ye shall find the babe in swaddling-clothes, lying in a manger. ¹³And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, ¹⁴Glory in the highest heavens to God! and upon earth, peace! towards men complacence. ¹⁵And it came to pass, as the angels went from them into heaven, the men, the shepherds, said also to each other, Let us now go to Bethlehem, and see this thing which hath happened, which the Lord hath made known to us. ¹⁶And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe, lying in the manger: ¹⁷and when they saw it, they made a public report of the declaration delivered to them respecting this child. ¹⁸And all who heard it, marvelled at the things told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹But Mary carefully preserved all these declarations, laying them together in her heart, in order to apprehend their meaning. ²⁰And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things which they had heard and seen, exactly as had been told them.

²¹And when eight days were fulfilled for circumcising the child, his name also was called JESUS, the name imposed by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

²²And when the days of her purification were accomplished according to the law of Moses, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; ²³as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male child, that openeth the womb, shall be called holy to the Lord; ²⁴and to offer a sacrifice, according to what is prescribed in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons.

²⁵And, behold, there was a man at Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. ²⁶And it had been divinely communicated to him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, till he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷And he came by the spirit into the temple; just as the parents were bringing in the child Jesus, that they might do according to what was the custom of the law concerning him; ²⁸and he took him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, ²⁹Now dismiss thy servant, Lord, according to thy word, in peace; ³⁰for my eyes have seen thy salvation, ³¹which thou hast prepared before the face of all people. ³²A light to give revelation to the Gentiles, and glory to thy people Israel.

³³And Joseph and his mother were amazed at the things spoken concerning him. ³⁴And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother, Behold, this child is appointed for the fall, and rising again of many in Israel; and for a marked object to be spoken against; ³⁵(so shall a dart pierce through thy own soul) that the reasonings of many hearts may be laid open,

³⁶And there was Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asser: she was far advanced in old age, having lived but seven years with a husband, from her virgin state: ³⁷though she was now a widow, of about eighty-four years, who departed not from the temple, attending the divine service, with fastings and prayers night and day: ³⁸and at the very same moment coming up, she also in turn confessed the Lord, and spake of him to all who were expecting redemption in Jerusalem.

³⁹And when they had finished all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, into their own city Nazareth. ⁴⁰And the child grew, and became endued with great powers of spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him.

⁴¹And his parents went annually to Jerusalem at the feast of the passover. ⁴²And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast. ⁴³And when they had concluded the days, as they were returning, the child Jesus remained at Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother knew it not: ⁴⁴but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day’s journey; and they sought him among their relations and acquaintances; ⁴⁵and not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem in search of him. ⁴⁶And it came to pass after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷And all who heard him, were in a transport of admiration, at his understanding and answers. ⁴⁸And when they saw him, they were struck with surprise; and his mother said to him, Son, why hast thou behaved to us in this manner? lo! thy father and I have been seeking thee in anguish of heart. ⁴⁹And he said unto them, Wherefore did ye seek me? did you not know, that I must be occupied with my Father’s affairs? ⁵⁰And they understood not the meaning of what he spake to them. ⁵¹And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was in subjection to them: though his mother preserved all these sayings in her heart. ⁵²And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men.

[CHAP. III.]

NOW in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene: ²when Annas and Caiaphas were high-priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness; ³and he came into all the country on the confines of Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; ⁴as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths strait: ⁵every valley shall be filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be levelled, and the crooked ways made strait, and the rough roads smooth: ⁶and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” ⁷He said, therefore, to the multitudes who came out to be baptised by him, Ye broods of vipers, who hath warned you to fly from the approaching wrath? ⁸Produce then fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say in yourselves, We have a father, even Abraham; for I say unto you, That God is able out of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. ⁹But now is the ax laid even to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that produceth not good fruit, is cut down and cast into the fire.

¹⁰And the multitudes asked him, saying, What then shall we do? ¹¹And he answering said to them, He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none; and he that hath provisions, let him do in like manner. ¹²Then came also the farmers of the taxes to be baptised, and they said unto him, Master, what shall we do? ¹³He said unto them, Exact nothing more than is appointed for you. ¹⁴And the military men also asked him, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Extort nothing by force; nor turn informers; and be content with your pay.

¹⁵Now when the people were in expectation, and many reasoned in their hearts respecting John, whether he were the Messiah, ¹⁶John addressed himself to them all, saying, I indeed baptise you with water; but one mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie: he shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire; ¹⁷whose winnowing fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor, and collect the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable. ¹⁸Thus in many and various discourses exhorting them, he preached the glad tidings of the gospel to the people.

¹⁹Now Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him, on account of Herodias his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the other wicked actions which he had done, ²⁰added this also to all the rest, and shut up John in prison.

²¹Now it came to pass, at the time when John was baptising all the people, that Jesus also was baptised, and as he prayed, the heaven was opened, ²²and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily form, like a dove, upon him, and a voice came from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased.

²³And Jesus himself was about thirty years of age when he began his ministry, being (as was supposed the son of Joseph) of Heli, ²⁴of Matthat, of Levi, of Melchi, of Janna, of Joseph, ²⁵of Mattathias, of Amos, of Naum, of Esli, of Nagge, ²⁶of Maath, of Mattathias, of Semei, of Joseph, of Juda, ²⁷of Joanna, of Rhesa, of Zerubbabel, of Salathiel, of Neri, ²⁸of Melchi, of Addi, of Cosam, of Elmodam, of Er, ²⁹of Jose, of Eliezer, of Jorim, of Matthat, of Levi, ³⁰of Simeon, of Judah, of Joseph, of Jonan, of Eliakim, ³¹of Melea, of Menan, of Mattatha, of Nathan, of David, ³²of Jesse, of Obed, of Booz, of Salmon, of Naasson, ³³of Aminadab, of Aram, of Esrom, of Phares, of Judah, ³⁴of Jacob, of Isaac, of Abraham, of Terah, of Nachor, ³⁵of Saruch, of Ragau, of Phalec, of Heber, of Sala, ³⁶of Cainan, of Arphaxad, of Sem, of Noe, of Lamech, ³⁷of Methusaleh, of Enoch, of Jared, of Maleleel, of Cainan, ³⁸of Enos, of Seth, of Adam, the son of God.

[CHAP. IV.]

THEN Jesus full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the spirit into the wilderness, ²being tempted forty days by the devil; and did eat nothing during those days: and when they were ended, afterwards he was hungry. ³And the devil said to him, If thou art the Son of God, command this stone that it become a loaf. ⁴And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

⁵And the devil taking him up into an exceeding high mountain, displayed before him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time: ⁶and the devil said unto him, I will give thee all this authority, and the glory of these; for to me it is delivered, and to whomsoever I will, I give it. ⁷If therefore thou wilt worship before me, all shall be thine. ⁸And Jesus answering him, said, Get thee behind me, Satan, for it is written, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and to him alone shalt thou pay divine honour.”

⁹And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a wing of the temple, and said to him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thy self down from hence: ¹⁰for it is written, “He shall give his angels a charge over thee, to guard thee safely; ¹¹and that in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” ¹²And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” ¹³And when the devil had closed all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

¹⁴And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and a report went out into all the region round about concerning him. ¹⁵And he taught in their synagogues, being universally admired. ¹⁶And he came to Nazareth, where he was brought up; and he went, according to his usual custom, into the synagogue on the sabbath-day, and rose up to read. ¹⁷And there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah: and unrolling the volume, he found the passage where it is written, ¹⁸“The spirit of the Lord is upon me, for the work whereunto he hath anointed me; he hath sent me to preach glad tidings to the poor; to heal the contrite in heart; to proclaim liberty to the captives; and restore sight to the blind; to send forth the bruised free from bonds; ¹⁹to publish the acceptable year of the Lord.” ²⁰And rolling up the volume, he gave it to the attendant officer, and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were attentively fixed on him. ²¹And he began to say to them, To day this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. ²²And all concurred in their testimony to him, and marvelled at the gracious words which proceeded from his mouth. And they said, Is not this the son of Joseph? ²³And he said unto them, Ye will probably say to me this parable, Physician, heal thyself! the works which we have heard to have been performed by thee at Capernaum, do the like here in thy own country. ²⁴But he said, Verily, I say unto you, that no prophet is acceptable in his own country. ²⁵Now I tell you of a certainty, that there were many widows in the days of Elias, in Israel, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, so that a grievous famine was upon all the land. ²⁶And unto none of them was Elias sent, but unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, to a widow woman. ²⁷And many lepers were in Israel in the days of the prophet Elisha, and no one of them was cleansed, but Naaman the Syrian. ²⁸And they were all filled with rage in the synagogue, when they heard these observations: ²⁹and rising up, dragged him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill, on which their city was built, in order to cast him down headlong: ³⁰but he passing through the midst of them, went away.

³¹And he came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the sabbath. ³²And they were struck with astonishment at his teaching; for his discourse was with authority. ³³And there was in the synagogue a man, who had a spirit of an unclean devil, and he roared out with a great cry, ³⁴saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, Jesus the Nazarean? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. ³⁵And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Stop thy mouth, and come out of him. And the devil throwing him down into the midst, came out of him, doing him no injury. ³⁶And amazement seized on all present, and they spake one to another, saying, What a word is this? for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. ³⁷And the fame of him went forth into all the adjacent region.

³⁸Then rising up out of the synagogue, he came into the house of Simon: and Simon’s mother-in-law was seized with a violent fever, and they besought him on her behalf. ³⁹And standing over her, he charged the fever to depart; and it left her: and immediately she arose, and waited upon them.

⁴⁰So when the sun was set, all who had any indisposed with various diseases, brought them to him; and laying his hands severally on each of them, he cured them. ⁴¹And devils also went out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art the Messiah the Son of God. And rebuking them, he suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was the Messiah.

⁴²And as the day was coming on, he went forth and departed into a desert place: and the multitude sought him out, and came to him, and would have detained him that he should not leave them. ⁴³But he said unto them, I must preach the glad tidings of the kingdom of heaven in other cities also: for on this service am I sent. ⁴⁴And he continued preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

[CHAP. V.]

AND it came to pass, as the multitude were thronging upon him, in order to hear the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret: ²and he saw two vessels a-ground near the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and washing their nets. ³Then he went on board one of the vessels, which was Simon’s, and desired him to put off a little from the land: and sitting down, he taught the multitudes out of the vessel. ⁴And when he ceased speaking, he said to Simon, Go off into deep water, and shoot your nets for a draught. ⁵And Simon answering, said unto him, Sir, we have been toiling all night, and have taken nothing: but at thy command I will shoot the net. ⁶And having done so, they inclosed a prodigious multitude of fishes; and their net was broken. ⁷And they made signals to their partners in the other vessels, that they should come to their assistance. And they came, and filled both the vessels, so that they were ready to founder. ⁸Then Simon Peter seeing it, fell down on his knees before Jesus, saying, Go from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord! ⁹For amazement had seized on him, and on all who were with him, at the draught of fishes which they had taken: ¹⁰as also on James and John the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Fear not: henceforward thou shalt catch men. ¹¹And when they had brought their vessels on shore, they left all, and followed him.

¹²And it came to pass as he was just at one of the cities, behold, a man full of leprosy! and seeing Jesus, he fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. ¹³And he stretching out his hand touched him, saying, I will: be thou cleansed. And instantly the leprosy departed from him. ¹⁴And he commanded him to tell no man: but go shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy purification, as Moses enjoined, for a testimony unto them. ¹⁵Now the discourse concerning him more and more spread through the country: and vast multitudes came together to hear him, and to be cured by him of their disorders. ¹⁶But he himself was in the desert for retirement and prayer.

¹⁷And on a certain day it happened that he was teaching, and there were sitting Pharisees, and doctors of the law, who had come from every town of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord for healing them was exercised. ¹⁸And behold, men carried on a couch a man who was a paralytic; and sought to bring him into the house, and to place him before him. ¹⁹And not discovering by what means they could introduce him, because of the crowd, they went up to the roof, and through the tiling let him down with his little couch into the midst, before Jesus. ²⁰And seeing their faith, he saith to him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. ²¹And the scribes and Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this that speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone? ²²And Jesus knowing their reasoning, in reply said to them, Why do ye reason in your hearts? ²³for which is the easier? to say, Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise and walk? ²⁴But that ye may know that the Son of man hath authority upon earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the paralytic,) I say to thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thy house. ²⁵And instantly he rose up before them, took up that on which he had lain, and went away to his house, giving glory to God. ²⁶And an extacy of admiration seized upon them all, and they glorified God; and they were filled with awe, saying, We have seen wondrously strange things to-day.

²⁷And after these things he went out, and saw a farmer of the taxes, named Levi, sitting at the custom-house: and he said unto him, Follow me. ²⁸And leaving all behind, he rose, and followed him. ²⁹And Levi made him a great entertainment at his house and there was a great number of publicans and others, sitting at table with them. ³⁰And their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? ³¹And Jesus answering said unto them, They who are well, have no need of a physician: but they who have illness. ³²I came not to call righteous men, but sinners, to repentance.

³³Then said they unto him, Why do the disciples of John observe frequent fasts, and make prayers; but thine are eating and drinking? ³⁴And he said unto them, Can you make the children of the bridechamber fast, as long as the bridegroom is with them? ³⁵But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, then shall they fast in those days. ³⁶Then he spake a parable unto them, No man putteth a patch of new cloth on an old garment; but if otherwise, both the new makes a rent, and the patch from the new is not of a piece with the old. ³⁷And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; for if he doth, the new wine will burst the bottles, and it will itself be spilled, and the bottles be destroyed. ³⁸But new wine should be put into new bottles; then both are preserved. ³⁹And no man drinking old wine, immediately desires new: for he saith, The old is better.

[CHAP. VI.]

AND it came to pass on the sabbath after the second day of the passover, that he was passing through the cornfields; and the disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them out in their hands. ²Then said some of the Pharisees unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful on the sabbath-day? ³And Jesus answering said to them; Have ye never read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him? ⁴how he entered into the house of God, and took the loaves of shew-bread, and did eat, and gave also to those who were with him; which it was not lawful for any to eat, but the priests alone? ⁵And he said, The Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath-day.

⁶And it came to pass on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and a man was there, and his right hand was shrunk. ⁷Then the scribes and Pharisees watched him, if he would heal on the sabbath-day, that they might find an accusation against him. ⁸Now he knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, Rise, and stand in the midst. And he arose, and stood up. ⁹Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you a question; Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath-day, or to do evil? to preserve life or to destroy it? ¹⁰And looking round upon them all, he said to the man, Stretch out thine hand; and he did so: and his hand was restored sound as the other. ¹¹But they were filled with madness, and talked earnestly to each other what they could do to Jesus.

¹²Now it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night in an oratory of God. ¹³And when it was day, he called his disciples to him; and elected from them twelve, whom he named Apostles: ¹⁴Simon, whom he also called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, ¹⁵Matthew and Thomas, James son of Alpheus, and Simon called the Zealous, ¹⁶Jude the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who also was the traitor. ¹⁷And coming down with them, he stood on a level spot: and the crowd of his disciples, and a vast multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; ¹⁸and they who were disturbed with unclean spirits: and they were cured. ¹⁹And all the multitude strove to touch him, for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.

²⁰And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹Blessed are ye who hunger now, for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh. ²²Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from them, and shall revile you, and shall cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. ²³Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy; for, lo! your reward is great in heaven: for after the same manner did your fathers to the prophets. ²⁴But wo unto you who are rich! for ye have received your consolation. ²⁵Wo unto you who are full! for ye shall hunger. Wo unto you who laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. ²⁶Wo unto you, when men shall speak well of you! for just so did their fathers of the false prophets. ²⁷But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you; ²⁸bless those who curse you, and pray for those who wantonly insult you. ²⁹To him that smiteth thee on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who would take from thee thy cloak, withhold not thy coat also. ³⁰And give to every one that asketh thee; and from him who would take thy goods, demand them not again. ³¹And as ye would that men should do unto you, do ye also to them in like manner.

³²And if ye love them that love you, what thanks are due to you? for even sinners love those who love them. ³³And if ye do good to them who do good to you, what thanks have ye? do not even sinners the same thing? ³⁴And if ye lend to those, from whom ye hope to receive back again, what thanks are due to you? for sinners lend to sinners, that they may receive an equivalent. ³⁵But love your enemies, and do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return: and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Most High; for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the wicked. ³⁶Be ye therefore compassionate, as also your Father is compassionate. ³⁷And judge not, that ye be not judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: ³⁸give, and there shall be given unto you; good measure pressed down, and shook, and running over, shall they give into your lap. For with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured back to you again.

³⁹And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? will they not both fall into the pit? ⁴⁰The disciple is not above his teacher; but every one who is completely taught shall be as his master.

⁴¹But why beholdest thou the mote which is in thy brother’s eye, but observest not the beam which is in thine own eye? ⁴²Or how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, permit me to take off the mote which is on thine eye, not seeing thyself the beam in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite! cast out the beam which is in thine eye, and then shalt thou see distinctly to take off the mote which is in thy brother’s eye. ⁴³For there is no good tree which produceth fruit of a bad quality; neither doth a tree of a bad sort produce good fruit. ⁴⁴Every tree is known by its own peculiar fruit. For men do not gather figs from off thorns, nor do they gather from the bramble a bunch of grapes. ⁴⁵A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, produceth what is good; and a wicked man, from the evil treasure in his heart, produceth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. ⁴⁶And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? ⁴⁷Every one who cometh to me, and heareth my words, and puts them in practice, I will shew you to whom he is like: ⁴⁸he is like to a man, building a house, who digged, and sunk deep, and laid the foundation on a rock; and when there was a flood, the river rushed violently against that house, and was not of force to shake it, for it was founded on a rock. ⁴⁹But he that heareth, and doth not practice, is like a man who built his house on the earth without a foundation; against which the river rushed violently, and immediately it fell; and the crash of the fall of that house was great.

[CHAP. VII.]

NOW after he had finished all these sayings in the ears of the people, he entered into Capernaum. ²And the servant of a certain centurion, who was very valuable to him, being seized with an illness, was ready to die. ³But when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, entreating him that he would come and preserve the life of his servant. ⁴And when they came to Jesus, they entreated him importunately, saying, He is a worthy man on whom thou wilt confer this favour: ⁵for he loveth our nation, and hath himself built us a synagogue. ⁶Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion dispatched towards him friends, saying to him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not deserving that thou shouldest enter beneath my roof. ⁷Therefore neither did I think myself worthy to come unto thee, but speak in a word, and my servant will be cured. ⁸For I also am a man under authority, and have under my command soldiers; and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come hither, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. ⁹Then Jesus, on hearing these things, respected him highly, and turning to the multitude which was following him, he said, I tell you, I have not found such faith, even in Israel. ¹⁰And they who were sent, on their return to the house, found the servant who was sick in perfect health.

¹¹And it came to pass the next day, that he went into a city called Nain; and a considerable number of his disciples went with him, and a vast multitude. ¹²And as he drew near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was carrying out, an only son to his mother, and she a widow; and a great concourse of the city was with her. ¹³And when Jesus saw her, he was moved with compassion for her, and said unto her, Weep not. ¹⁴And approaching, he touched the bier: and the bearers stood still; and he said, Young man, I say to thee, Arise. ¹⁵And the dead man sat up, and began to speak: and he delivered him to his mother. ¹⁶And fear fell on all, and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us, and that God hath looked down with mercy on his people. ¹⁷And this account respecting him went abroad through all Judea, and all the region adjacent.

¹⁸And his disciples informed John of all these things. ¹⁹And John calling two certain persons of his disciples, sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that cometh, or are we to expect another? ²⁰Then the men came to him, saying, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that cometh, or are we to expect another? ²¹And in that very hour he cured many of diseases and acute complaints, and evil spirits; and to many blind persons he gave sight. ²²And Jesus addressing them, said, Go, tell John what things ye have seen and heard: that the blind recover sight, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached unto them. ²³And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended at me.

²⁴Now when John’s messengers were departed, he began to speak to the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? ²⁵But what went ye out to see? A man clothed in delicate garments? Behold, they who indulge in soft raiment, and delicate food, are in king’s palaces. ²⁶But what went ye out to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee. ²⁸For I tell you, of those born from woman, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of heaven, is greater than he. ²⁹And all the people when they heard it, and the publicans, glorified God, being baptised with the baptism of John. ³⁰But the Pharisees and teachers of the law rejected the counsel of God towards themselves, not being baptised by him.

³¹And the Lord said, To what then shall I compare the men of this generation? and to what are they like? ³²They are like to children sitting in the markets, and calling to each other, and saying, We have played the flute to you, and ye have not danced; we have raised the cry of mourning, and ye have not wept. ³³For John the Baptist came neither eating bread, nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. ³⁴The Son of man is come eating and drinking, and ye say, A gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! ³⁵though wisdom hath been justified by her children.

³⁶Then one of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to table. ³⁷And, behold, a certain woman in the city, who was a notorious offender, when she knew that Jesus was sitting at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster vessel of odoriferous balm, ³⁸and standing at his feet behind him, began to water his feet with her tears, and to wipe them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the perfumed balm. ³⁹And when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said within himself, If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what kind of a woman this is that toucheth him; for she is a notorious sinner. ⁴⁰And Jesus addressing himself to him said, Simon, I have somewhat to say to thee. And he said, Master, speak freely.

⁴¹A certain creditor had two debtors, the one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴²But having nothing to pay, he forgave them both. Tell me, which of these, then, will love him most? ⁴³And Simon answering said, I suppose, he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast judged rightly. ⁴⁴So turning to the woman, he said to Simon, Thou seest this woman? I came into thine house, even water for my feet thou gavest not; but she hath washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. ⁴⁵One kiss hast thou not given me, but she from the time she hath come in, hath not ceased tenderly to kiss my feet. ⁴⁶My head with oil thou hast not anointed; but she hath anointed my feet with odoriferous balm. ⁴⁷For which cause, I tell thee, her many sins are forgiven, for she hath loved much: but to whom a little is forgiven, he loveth little. ⁴⁸And he said to her, Thy sins are forgiven. ⁴⁹And they who sat at table with him began to say in themselves, Who is this, who even forgives sins? ⁵⁰But he said unto the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

[CHAP. VIII.]

AND it came to pass afterwards, that he went through every city and village, preaching and publishing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, and the twelve with him. ²And certain women who had been cured of evil spirits and sicknesses, Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven devils had gone out. ³And Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s lieutenant-governor, and Susanna, and many others, who ministred to his support out of their possessions.

⁴Now when a vast multitude was collected, even those who came to him out of every city, he spake by a parable. ⁵A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell by the road side, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it up. ⁶And other seed fell on a rock, and vegetating, withered because it had no moisture. ⁷And other seed fell amidst thorns, and the thorns springing up with it, choked it. ⁸And some fell on good ground, and shooting up, produced fruit an hundred fold. So saying, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

⁹Then his disciples asked him, saying. What might this parable mean? ¹⁰And he said, To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but to the rest in parables: that seeing they may not perceive, and hearing may not comprehend. ¹¹Now this is the parable: The seed is the word of God. ¹²They by the road side, are such as hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh the word from their heart, that they should not be saved in believing. ¹³And they on the rock, are such as when they have heard, with joy embrace the word; and these have not root, who for a time believe, and in a season of trial apostasize. ¹⁴And that which fell among thorns, are they having heard, and going away, are choked by the cares, and wealth, and pleasures of life, and bring forth no perfect fruit. ¹⁵But that on the good ground are they who having heard the word, retain it in a heart excellent and good, and bring forth fruit with patience.

¹⁶No man lighting a lamp hides it with a cover, or putteth it under a bed, but on a stand, that they who are coming in, may see the light. ¹⁷For there is nothing hid which shall not be made manifest, nor concealed, which shall not be known and brought to light. ¹⁸Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, even what he seemeth to have shall be taken away from.

¹⁹Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come near him because of the crowd. ²⁰And it was told him, saying, Thy mother and thy brethren are standing without, desirous of seeing thee. ²¹Then he answered and said to them, My mother and my brethren are they, who hear the word of God, and practise it.

²²And it came to pass on one of the days, that he went himself into a ship, and his disciples, and said unto them, Let us pass over to the farther side of the lake. And they set fail. ²³And while they were on the passage, he went to sleep: and a hurricane of wind rushed down on the lake; and they were filled with water, and imminent danger. ²⁴Then they came and awoke him, saying, Master, Master, we are perishing. Then arising, he issued his command to the wind, and the billows of water, and they subsided, and there was a calm. ²⁵And he said to them, Where is your faith? And they feared and were astonished, saying one to another, Well! what a man is this! that he commands even the winds and the sea, and they obey him.

²⁶And they sailed over unto the region of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷And as he landed, there met him a certain man from the city, who had devils for a long while, and kept no clothes on him, and never abode in a house, but in the tombs. ²⁸But when he saw Jesus, roaring out, he fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God Most High? I pray thee, torment me not. ²⁹For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man; for many times it had seized on him; and though under a guard, and bound with chains and fetters; yet bursting the bonds, he was driven by the devil into the desert places. ³⁰Then Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? and he said, Legion: for many devils were entered into him. ³¹And he besought him that he would not order them to go into the abyss. ³²Now a herd of many swine was there feeding on the mountain; and they besought him that he would permit them to enter into them. And he permitted them. ³³Then the devils going out of the man, entered into the swine; and the herd rushed down a precipice into the lake, and was suffocated. ³⁴But when those who fed them saw what was done they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country places. ³⁵And they came out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus, and found the man sitting, from whom the devils were gone out, clothed, and in his sound mind, at the feet of Jesus; and they were afraid. ³⁶Then they also who had seen how the demoniac was recovered, told them. ³⁷And the whole multitude of the country around the Gadarenes, entreated him to depart from them; for they were seized with great terror: and he embarked on the vessel, and returned. ³⁸And the man out of whom the devils had gone, besought him to be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹Return to thy house, and declare what things God hath done for thee. And he went away, and published through the whole city what things Jesus had done for him.

⁴⁰And it came to pass, when Jesus returned, the people welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. ⁴¹And, behold, there came a man whose name was Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and falling at the feet of Jesus, he entreated him to come to his house; ⁴²for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying: and as he was going, the multitude thronged him. ⁴³And a woman, who had a flux of blood, for twelve years, who had spent all her substance on physicians, and could not get a cure from any; ⁴⁴coming behind him, touched the fringe of his garment; and instantly the flux of her blood stopped. ⁴⁵And Jesus said, Who touched me? And when all denied, Peter, and those who were with him, said, Master, the multitudes throng and press thee, and sayest thou, Who hath touched me? ⁴⁶Then said Jesus, Some person hath touched me, for I know that miraculous power is gone out from me. ⁴⁷Then the woman seeing she was not hid, came trembling, and falling down before him, declared to him before all the people, for what cause she had touched him; and how she was cured instantaneously. ⁴⁸Then he said unto her, Be of good cheer, daughter, thy faith hath made thee well; go in peace.

⁴⁹And while he was yet speaking, a person came to the ruler of the synagogue, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead, give the master no further trouble. ⁵⁰Then Jesus hearing it, addressed him, saying, Fear not, only believe, and she shall be saved. ⁵¹And entering into the house, he suffered no person to come in, but Peter, and James, and John, and the father and mother of the child. ⁵²Now all were weeping and lamenting her: and he said, Weep not, she is not dead, but asleep. ⁵³And they derided him, for they knew that she was dead. ⁵⁴And he put them all without, and taking her by the hand, cried, saying, Maid, arise! ⁵⁵And her spirit returned, and she immediately arose; and he commanded to give her something to eat. ⁵⁶And her parents were struck with amazement. But he enjoined them to tell no man what was done.

[CHAP. IX.]

THEN calling his twelve disciples, he gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. ²And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. ³And he said to them, Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs, nor satchel, nor bread, nor money, nor have two coats each. ⁴And into whatsoever house ye enter, there abide, and thence go out. ⁵And whosoever shall not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the dust from your feet, for a testimony against them. ⁶And they went forth, and passed through the villages, preaching the gospel, and performing cures everywhere.

⁷Then Herod the tetrarch heard of all things that were done by him; and he was in much distraction of mind, because it was said by some, that John was risen from the dead: ⁸and of some that Elias had appeared; and of others, that one of the ancient prophets was risen again. ⁹And Herod said, John I beheaded; but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he sought to see him.

¹⁰And when the apostles returned, they told him what they had done. And taking them, he withdrew privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. ¹¹But when the multitudes knew it, they followed him and receiving them, he spake to them concerning the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of a cure. ¹²Now the day began to decline: and the twelve coming to him, said, Dismiss the multitude, that going away into the villages and farms round about, they may lodge and find provision; for here we are in a desert place. ¹³Then he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more than five loaves, and two fishes; unless we go somewhere and buy provisions for all this multitude: ¹⁴for there were about five thousand men. Then said he to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties each in companies. ¹⁵And they did so: and they made them all sit down. ¹⁶And taking the five loaves, and the two fishes, looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. ¹⁷And they did all eat, and were filled; and there were taken up of the fragments which were more than enough for them, twelve baskets.

¹⁸And it came to pass, as he had been praying in retirement, his disciples were with him, and he asked them, Who do the multitudes say that I am? ¹⁹And they answering said, John the Baptist; but some Elias; and others, that one of the old prophets is risen again. ²⁰And he said to them, But who do ye say that I am? Then Peter answering said, The Messiah of God. ²¹And strictly charging them, he commanded, that they should tell no man this: ²²saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and chief priests, and scribes, and be put to death, and on the third day rise again.

²³And he said unto them, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. ²⁴For whosoever would preserve his life shall lose it; but whosoever would lose his life for my sake, shall preserve it. ²⁵For what advantage hath a man in gaining all the would, if he destroy himself, or be punished with the loss of life? ²⁶For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in his own glory, and his father’s, and of the holy angels. ²⁷And I tell you of a certainty, there are some of those who stand here, who shall not taste death, till they see the kingdom of God.

²⁸And it was about eight days after these discourses, that taking Peter, and John, and James, he went up into a mountain to pray. ²⁹And it came to pass, as he was at prayer, that the appearance of his countenance was altered, and his raiment white and refulgent. ³⁰And, lo! two men conversed with him, who were Moses and Elias: ³¹who appeared in glory, and mentioned his departure, which he was ready to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³²But Peter and they who were with him were weighed down with sleep: but when they awoke, they beheld his glory, and the two men who were standing with them. ³³And it came to pass, as they were departing from him, Peter said unto Jesus, it is well that we are here, and we will make three tents, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias; not knowing what he said. ³⁴And as he was thus speaking, a cloud came and overshadowed them: and they were afraid as they were entering into the cloud. ³⁵And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son; hear him. ³⁶And when the voice ceased, Jesus was found alone. And they held their peace, and told no man in those days a word of the things which they had seen.

³⁷And it came to pass, on the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a great multitude met him. ³⁸And, behold, a man from among the multitude cried out aloud, saying, Master, I pray thee, look upon my son; for he is my only begotten. ³⁹And, behold! a spirit taketh him, and suddenly he crieth out, and convulseth him, with foaming; and bruising him, with difficulty retires from him. ⁴⁰And I besought thy disciples that they would cast him out, and they could not. ⁴¹Then Jesus answering, said, O faithless and perverse generation! how long shall I be with you, how long shall I bear with you? bring hither thy son. ⁴²And while he was yet approaching the devil threw him down, and violently convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and cured the child; and restored him to his father. ⁴³And they were all struck with amazement at the mighty power of God. And while they were all wondering at the things which Jesus did, he said to his disciples, ⁴⁴Keep ye these sayings in your ears; for the Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men. ⁴⁵And they understood not that declaration, and it was hid from them, that they should not comprehend its meaning: and they were afraid to ask him concerning that saying.

⁴⁶Then a dispute sprang up among them, which of them should be the greatest. ⁴⁷But Jesus knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a little boy, and set him by his side, ⁴⁸and said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this little child in my name, receiveth me; and whosoever receiveth me, receiveth Him that sent me: for he who is the least among you all, he shall be great.

⁴⁹Then John addressing him said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbad him, because he followed not with us. ⁵⁰And Jesus said to him, Forbid him not; for he that is not against us, is for us.

⁵¹And it came to pass, as the days hastened to their period when he should be received up to glory, that he resolutely set his face to go to Jerusalem; ⁵²and sent messengers before his face; and they advancing entered into a Samaritan village, to make preparation for him. ⁵³And they would not admit him, because his face was directed to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴And when the disciples James and John saw it, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and destroy them, just as Elias did? ⁵⁵And turning to them, he reproved them, and said, Ye know not what spirit ye are of: ⁵⁶for the Son of man came not to destroy men’s lives, but to preserve them. And he proceeded to another village.

⁵⁷And it came to pass, as they were walking on the road, a certain person said to him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. ⁵⁸And Jesus Said to him, The foxes have holts, and the birds of the air, nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

⁵⁹And he said to another, Follow me. And he said, Lord, permit me first to return home, and put my father in his grave. ⁶⁰And Jesus said unto him, Leave the dead to bury their own dead, but go thou, preach the kingdom of God.

⁶¹Then said another, I will follow thee, Lord, but give me leave first to bid adieu to those at my house. ⁶²But Jesus said unto him, No man laying his hand on the plough, and looking to the things left behind, is fit for the kingdom of God.

[CHAP. X.]

THEN after these things the Lord appointed other seventy persons also, and sent them, two and two before his face, into every city and place, whither he himself designed to go. ²He said therefore unto them, The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the labourers few: pray ye therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he would send out labourers into his harvest. ³Go forth! behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. ⁴Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor sandals: and stay to salute no man on the road. ⁵And into whatever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. ⁶And if the Son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it; but if not, it shall return back to you again. ⁷And in the same family abide, eating and drinking such as they have: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not about from house to house. ⁸And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they welcome you, eat whatever is set before you: ⁹and heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. ¹⁰And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go out into the streets of it, and say, ¹¹Even the dust of your city, which sticks to us, we shake off against you: nevertheless this know, that the kingdom of God is come near to you. ¹²Now I tell you, that it shall be more tolerable for Sodom in that day, than for that city. ¹³Wo to thee Chorazin! wo to thee Bethsaida! for if the miracles which have been done in thee, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, long ago sitting in sackcloth and ashes, would they have repented. ¹⁴But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. ¹⁵And thou Capernaum, which hast been lifted up to heaven, shalt be cast down to hell. ¹⁶He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth Him that sent me.

¹⁷Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject to us through thy name. ¹⁸And he said unto them, I beheld Satan falling as lightning from heaven. ¹⁹Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shalt in any wise hurt you. ²⁰Nevertheless, in this rejoice not, that the spirits are made subject to you; but rejoice rather, that your names are inscribed in the heavens.

²¹In the same hour Jesus exulted in spirit, and said, I ascribe glory to thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and intelligent, and hast revealed them to babes: be it so, O Father! since such is thy good pleasure. ²²All things are given up to me by my Father: and no man knoweth who is the Son, but the Father; and who is the Father, but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son is pleased to reveal him. ²³Then turning to the disciples, he said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things which ye see: ²⁴for I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see the things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear the things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

²⁵And, behold, a certain doctor of the law arose, to make trial of him, saying, Master, by doing what shall I inherit eternal life? ²⁶And he said unto him, What is written in the law? How readest thou? ²⁷And he answering said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might, and with all thy understanding, and thy neighbour as thyself.” ²⁸And he said unto him, Thou hast answered rightly: this do, and thou shalt live. ²⁹Then he, desirous to make himself appear a righteous person, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? ³⁰Then Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who, when they had both stripped him, and covered him with wounds, got off, leaving him half dead. ³¹And it so fell out, that a certain priest went down that way, and seeing him, he kept the opposite side of the road. ³²And a Levite also, in the same way, being near the place, came, and seeing him, kept the opposite side of the road. ³³But a certain Samaritan travelling, came by him, and seeing him, was moved with compassion, ³⁴and coming up to him, bound up his wounds, after pouring on them oil and wine; then setting him on his own beast, he led him to an inn, and took particular care of him. ³⁵And on the morrow, as he was departing, he took out of his purse two denarii, and gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, Take great care of him; and whatever farther expence may be incurred, when I return, I will repay thee. ³⁶Which then of these three do you suppose to be the neighbour of him who fell into the robbers’ hands? ³⁷And he said, He that shewed mercy towards him. Then said Jesus to him, Go, and do thou exactly the same.

³⁸And it came to pass, as they were travelling, that he entered into a certain village; and a woman, named Martha, received him into her house. ³⁹And she had a sister called Mary, who sitting down also at the feet of Jesus, hearkened to his discourse. ⁴⁰But Martha was hurrying about to provide a large entertainment, and coming up to him, she said, Lord, is it no concern to thee, that my sister hath left me to make the whole provision by myself? bid her therefore to assist me. ⁴¹But Jesus answering said to her, Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and disturbing thyself about many things. ⁴²But of one thing there is need: and Mary hath made her election of that good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.

[CHAP. XI.]

AND it came to pass, as he was in a certain place praying, when he had done, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples. ²And he said unto them, When ye pray say, Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name: thy kingdom come: thy will be done as in heaven so upon earth. ³Give us our necessary food, day by day: ⁴and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one who is indebted to us. And bring us not into temptation; but deliver us from the wicked one.

⁵And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and he shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶for a friend of mine is come to me off a journey, and I have nothing to set before him. ⁷And he from within answering, shall say, Give me no farther trouble: my door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed; I am unable to rise and give thee. ⁸I tell you, though even he would not rise and give him because he is his friend; yet because of his importunity, roused up, he will give him as many as he needeth. ⁹And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. ¹⁰For every one who asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. ¹¹For what father of you, if his son ask a loaf, will he give him a stone? or if a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? ¹²or if he ask also an egg, will he give him a scorpion? ¹³If ye then, evil as ye are, know how to give good gifts to your children; how much more shall your Father, who is in heaven, give his Holy Spirit to those who ask him?

¹⁴And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb person spake, and the people marvelled. ¹⁵But some of them said, He casteth out devils by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. ¹⁶But others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. ¹⁷But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house against a house, falleth. ¹⁸And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom be established? because ye say, that I cast out devils by Beelzebub. ¹⁹But if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. ²⁰But if with the finger of God I cast out devils, then, verily the kingdom of God is come unto you. ²¹When a strong man, in complete armour, guards his palace, his goods are in peace. ²²But when a stronger person than he coming, vanquisheth him, he takes away his suit of armour in which he confided, and distributes the spoils. ²³He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad.

²⁴When the unclean spirit goeth out of a man, he passes through places destitute of water, seeking repose; and not finding it, saith, I will go back to my habitation from whence I came out: ²⁵and coming, he findeth it swept and furnished. ²⁶Then goeth he, and taketh seven other spirits, more wicked than himself; and they entering in, take up their abode there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

²⁷And it came to pass as he was speaking these words, a certain woman from among the multitude lift up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the breasts which thou hast sucked. ²⁸But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and observe it.

²⁹Then the multitudes thronging around him, he began to say, This is a wicked generation: it seeketh a sign, and no sign shall be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet. ³⁰For as Jonas was a sign to the Ninevites, so shall the Son of man also be to this generation. ³¹The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment against the men of this generation, and shall condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. ³²The men of Nineveh shall rise up in judgment against this generation, and shall condemn it, for they repented on the preaching of Jonah, and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here.

³³But no man lighting a lamp putteth it in a concealed place, or under a bushel, but on a stand, that they who are coming in, may see the light. ³⁴The lamp of the body is the eye: when therefore thine eye is clear, thy whole body will be luminous, but if it be vitiated, thy whole body will be darkened. ³⁵Let it be thy aim then, that the light which is in thee do not become darkness. ³⁶If then thy whole body be illuminated, not having any dark part, it will be wholly luminous, as a lamp by its brightness diffuseth light.

³⁷Now as he was speaking, a certain Pharisee invited him to dine with him; and going in with him, he sat down. ³⁸But the Pharisee seeing it, marvelled, that he had not washed before dinner. ³⁹Then said the Lord unto him, Now ye Pharisees make the outside of the cup and of the dish clean, but your inward parts are full of extortion and wickedness. ⁴⁰Ye senseless men! did not he who made that which is without, make also that which is within? ⁴¹But give what is within them for alms; and, lo! all will be pure unto you. ⁴²But wo to you, Pharisees, because ye tithe mint, and rue, and every herb, and pass by judgment and the love of God. These ought ye to have done, and not to have omitted the other. ⁴³Wo unto you, Pharisees, for ye love the first seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the places of public concourse. ⁴⁴Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves concealed, which men, while walking over them, see not.

⁴⁵Then one of the doctors of the law addressing him, said, Master, thus speaking, thou reproachest us also. ⁴⁶And he said, Wo also to you, teachers of the law! for ye load men with burdens hardly bearable, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. ⁴⁷Wo unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. ⁴⁸Ye do indeed bear witness to, and with pleasure concur in your fathers’ deeds; for they truly killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. ⁴⁹Therefore also the wisdom of God hath said, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall kill, and shall persecute: ⁵⁰that the blood of all the prophets, which hath been shed since the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation: ⁵¹from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who was slain between the altar and the temple: verily I tell you, It shall be required of this generation. ⁵²Wo unto you, teachers of the law! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge; ye yourselves enter not in, and those who were entering ye have hindered.

⁵³And as he was saying these things unto them, the scribes and Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to extort answers from him respecting many things; ⁵⁴laying snares for him, and seeking to catch hold of something from his mouth, that they might accuse him.

[CHAP. XII.]

MEANTIME myriads of people collecting, so that they trod on one another, he began to speak to his disciples, Take heed principally of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ²For there is nothing concealed, that shall not be laid open; nor hid, which shall not be known. ³Wherefore whatsoever things ye have spoken in darkness, they shall be reported in the light; and what ye have whispered into the ear in the closets, shall be proclaimed on the house-tops. ⁴But I say to you my friends, Be not afraid of those who may kill the body, but after that, have nothing farther which they can do. ⁵But I will point out to you, whom ye should fear: Fear him, who, after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him! ⁶Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, yet not one of them is forgotten before God? ⁷But even the hairs of your head are all numbered: fear not then, ye are of more value than many sparrows. ⁸But I tell you, Every one who shall confess me before men, him will the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: ⁹but he that disowns me before men, shall be disowned before the angels of God. ¹⁰And every one who shall utter a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but for him who hath blasphemed against the Holy Ghost, there shall be no forgiveness.

¹¹And when they shall bring you before the synagogues, and magistrates, and the ruling powers, be under no anxiety how or what defence ye shall make, or what ye shall say: ¹²for the Holy Ghost will teach you at that very hour what ye ought to say.

¹³Then spake one of the multitude to him, Master, order my brother to divide the inheritance with me. ¹⁴But he said to him, Man, who made me a judge and a divider among you? ¹⁵Then said he to them, Beware, and be on your guard against covetousness; for a man’s life doth not depend on the abundance of his possessions. ¹⁶And he spake a parable unto them, saying,

The estate of a certain rich man bore plentifully: ¹⁷and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do? for I have not room where I may house my crops. ¹⁸And he said, I will do this; I will take down my barns, and build them larger, and collect there all my crops, and my good things! ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast a multitude of good things in store for many years, be at ease, eat, drink, and be merry! ²⁰But God said to him, Thou fool! this night shall they demand thy life from thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be? ²¹Just such is every one who heapeth up treasure for self, and is not rich towards God.

²²Then said he to his disciples, For this reason I tell you, Be under no anxiety about your life, what ye shall eat, nor for your body, how ye shall be clothed. ²³The life is more than food, and the body than raiment. ²⁴Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have neither storehouse nor barn; yet God feedeth them: how much are ye more excellent than the birds? ²⁵Which of you, with all his anxiety, can add one moment to his life? ²⁶If therefore ye are unable to do the least thing, why are ye anxious about the others? ²⁷Observe the lillies how they grow up, they toil not, nor spin; but I tell you, that Solomon in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. ²⁸If God then so clothe the grass in the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is thrown into the furnace; how much more you, O ye of little faith? ²⁹So then be not ye inquisitive what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor be agitated with restless anxiety. ³⁰For after all these things are the nations of the world seeking; and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. ³¹But seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be given you over.

³²Fear not, little flock! for your Father takes delight in giving you the kingdom. ³³Sell all your possessions, and give in charity; make yourselves purses that wax not old, a treasure never failing in the heavens, where no thief approaches, nor doth the moth destroy. ³⁴For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

³⁵Let your loins be firmly girded round, and your lamps burning: ³⁶and ye like men, expecting their master, when he shall return from the marriage; that when he comes and knocks, they may instantly open the door for him. ³⁷Blessed are those servants, whom the Master, when he cometh, shall find watchful: verily I say unto you, that he will gird up himself, and make them sit down at table, and come and wait upon them. ³⁸And if he come in the second watch, or in the third watch, and find them so watchful, blessed are those servants. ³⁹Now this be assured of, that if the master of the family had known at what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through. ⁴⁰Therefore be ye also ready, for at an hour that ye think not of, the Son of man cometh.

⁴¹Then said Peter unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable to us, or also for all? ⁴²And the Lord said, Who indeed is a faithful steward, and prudent, whom the lord will place over his household, to give them their proportion of provision at the proper season? ⁴³Blessed is that servant, whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so employed. ⁴⁴Verily I say unto you, that he will place him over all his property. ⁴⁵But if that servant say in his heart, My master will be a long while ere he comes; and shall begin to beat the men and maid-servants, and to eat and to drink, and to get drunk; ⁴⁶the master of that servant will come in a day when he doth not expect him, and at an hour which he knoweth not, and shall cut him asunder, and give him his portion with the unfaithful. ⁴⁷And that servant, who knew his master’s will, and made no preparation for him, nor did according to his pleasure, shall be beaten with many stripes. ⁴⁸But he that knew it not, yet did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For of every one to whom much is given, much shall be required from him: and to whom men commit much, they will of him demand abundantly more.

⁴⁹I am come to cast fire on the earth, and what is my wish? that it may be now kindled. ⁵⁰But I have a baptism to be baptised with; and how am I distressed in spirit till it is finished! ⁵¹Think ye that I came to bring peace upon earth? No, I tell you; but rather division: ⁵²for henceforth five shall be in one house, divided, three against two, and two against three. ⁵³The father shall take part against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the step-mother against her daughter-in-law, and the son’s wife against her mother-in-law.

⁵⁴Then said he to the multitudes, When ye see a cloud rising from the west, ye say immediately, There cometh a shower; and it is so. ⁵⁵And when the south wind gently blows, ye say, It will be sultry hot; and so it is. ⁵⁶Ye hypocrites! ye know how to discern by experience from the appearance of the earth and of the sky; but how is it that ye do not discern this particular time? ⁵⁷And why even of yourselves do ye not decide what is just? ⁵⁸For as thou art going with thy prosecutor to the magistrate, on the way endeavour to make up the matter with him; lest he drag thee before the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. ⁵⁹I tell thee, thou mayest in no wise come out from thence, until thou hast paid the very last mite.

[CHAP. XIII.]

NOW there were some present at that time who informed him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. ²And Jesus in reply said to them, Think ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? ³I tell you, No: for except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. ⁴Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them, think ye that they were debtors to divine justice above all the men who dwell at Jerusalem? ⁵I tell you, No: but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

⁶Then he spake this parable: A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard; and he came, expecting fruit on it, and found none. ⁷Then said he to the vine-dresser, Lo! for three years have I come, expecting fruit on this fig-tree, and find none: cut it down; why doth it render the ground thus useless? ⁸He answering said to him, Sir, let it e’en remain this year, until that I dig around it, and spread some manure: ⁹perhaps it may then produce fruit: but if it does not, afterwards thou shalt cut it down.

¹⁰And he was teaching in one of the synagogues, on the sabbath. ¹¹And, behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and unable to raise herself at all up. ¹²But when Jesus saw her, he called out aloud, and said to her, Woman, thou art delivered from thine infirmity. ¹³And he laid his hands upon her: and instantly she became erect, and glorified God. ¹⁴Then the ruler of the synagogue, indignant, that on the sabbath Jesus had performed the cure, addressing himself to the multitude, said, There are six days in which work is to be done: on these therefore come and be cured, and not on the sabbath-day. ¹⁵Then the Lord answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not every one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the manger, and lead him to water? ¹⁶And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, to be loosed from this bond on the sabbath-day? ¹⁷And when he had made this speech, all his opposers were covered with shame: and all the multitude rejoiced in all the glorious things which were done by him. ¹⁸Then said he, To what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I compare it? ¹⁹It is like a grain of mustard, which a man took and put into his garden; and it grew, and became a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged on its branches.

²⁰And again he said, To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? ²¹It is like leaven, which a woman taking, covered up in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

²²And he passed through the cities and villages, teaching, and making his way towards Jerusalem. ²³And a person said to him, Lord, are the saved few? And he said unto them, ²⁴Exert all your powers to enter through the strait gate: for many, I tell you, will seek to enter, but will not be able. ²⁵When the master of the family shall have arisen, and shut the door, and ye shall begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Master, master, open it for us! and he answering will tell you, I know you not whence ye are: ²⁶then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. ²⁷And he will say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. ²⁸There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom, and yourselves cast out. ²⁹And they shall come from the east, and west, and from north, and south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. ³⁰And, behold, there are last who shall be first, and there are first who shall be last.

³¹The same day came certain Pharisees, saying to him, Depart, and begone from hence: for Herod will kill thee. ³²And he said to them, Go tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and perform cures today and to-morrow, and on the third day I shall be perfected. ³³But I must go on to-day and to-morrow, and the day following: for it is impossible that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

³⁴O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! thou that killest the prophets, and stonest those who are sent unto thee; how often would I have collected thy children unto me, just as a hen gathereth her brood under her wings, and ye would not! ³⁵Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: verily I say unto you, That ye shall see me no more, till the day come when ye shall say, Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord.

[CHAP. XIV.]

AND it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the principal Pharisees, to eat bread on the sabbath, that they were watchfully observant of him. ²And, behold, there was a certain man who had a dropsy, before him. ³And Jesus addressing himself to the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, spake, saying, Is it lawful to perform cures on the sabbath? ⁴And they said nothing. And he took him, and healed him, and sent him away; ⁵and addressing them, said, Whose ass or ox is fallen into a pit, and doth he not immediately pull him out on the sabbath-day? ⁶And they were unable to answer him in opposition to these things.

⁷Then he spake to those who were invited, a parable, when he observed how they chose the principal seats; saying unto them, ⁸When thou art invited of any person to a marriage entertainment, recline not on the principal couch; lest a more honourable personage than thyself be invited by him; ⁹and he that invited thee and him, coming say to thee, Yield this person the place; and so thou shalt begin with shame to go down to the lowest place. ¹⁰But when thou art invited, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he who invited thee comes, he may say to thee, Friend, go up higher; then shalt thou have respect in the presence of those who are seated with thee. ¹¹For every one who exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

¹²Then said he also to the person who had invited him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, invite not thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy relations, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also invite thee again, and a recompence be made to thee. ¹³But when thou makest an entertainment, invite the poor, the maimed, the halt, the blind: ¹⁴and thou shalt be blessed; because they cannot recompense thee: for a recompence shall be made thee at the resurrection of the just.

¹⁵Then one of those who sat at table hearing these things, said to him, Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. ¹⁶And he said unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and invited many: ¹⁷and sent his servants at supper-time to say to the invited, Come; for all things are now ready. ¹⁸And they all began with one voice to frame excuses. The first said to him, I have bought a field, and I must of necessity go and survey it: I pray thee hold me excused. ¹⁹And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and am going to make a trial of them: I pray thee accept my excuse. ²⁰And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. ²¹And that servant returning, informed his master of these things. Then the master of the family, being highly incensed, said to his servant, Go out instantly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. ²²And the servant said, Sir, it is done as thou orderedst, and yet there is room. ²³And the master said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and urge them to come in, that my house may be filled. ²⁴For I say unto you, That not one man of those who were invited shall taste of my supper.

²⁵And great multitudes followed him about: and he turned, and spoke to them, ²⁶If any man cometh after me, and hateth not father, and mother, and wife and children, and brothers, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, he cannot be my disciple. ²⁸For what man of you designing to erect a tower, doth not first sitting down calculate the expence, if he have sufficient to complete the work? ²⁹lest haply, after having laid the foundation, and being unable to finish it, all who look upon it begin to ridicule him, ³⁰saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. ³¹Or what king, going forth to encounter another king in battle, doth not sit down first, and consult if he is able with ten thousand men to meet him who is coming against him with twenty thousand? ³²and if he be not, whilst he is still at a distance, he sendeth an embassy, and desires terms of peace. ³³So then, every one of you who will not part with all his possessions, cannot be my disciple.

³⁴Salt is good: but if the salt become insipid, by what shall it be seasoned? ³⁵It is neither fit for the land, nor for manure; but they cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

[CHAP. XV.]

THEN drew nigh unto him all the tax-farmers and the sinners to hear him. ²And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man entertains sinners, and eateth with them. ³Then spake he unto them this parable, saying, ⁴What man is there of you, possessing an hundred sheep, though he lose but one of them, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? ⁵and when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶And coming home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Congratulate me; for I have found that sheep of mine which was lost. ⁷I tell you, that just so will there be joy in heaven over one repentant sinner, more than over ninety-nine righteous persons, who hold not their need of repentance. ⁸Or what woman having ten pieces of silver coin, if she lose one of them, doth she not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and make diligent search until she find it? ⁹And having found it, she calleth her female friends and neighbours together, saying, Congratulate me; for I have found the silver piece I had lost. ¹⁰Even so, I tell you, there is joy among the angels of God, over one repentant sinner.

¹¹Then he said, A certain man had two sons: ¹²and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of substance which falls to my share. And he divided with them his fortune. ¹³And not many days after, the younger son, collecting his all, travelled into a far distant country, and there dissipated his substance in a life of debauchery. ¹⁴But when he had spent all, there came a terrible famine in that region; and he began to know want. ¹⁵And he went and connected himself with one of the citizens of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. ¹⁶And he eagerly longed to fill his belly with the charob berries which the swine did eat: and no person gave him a morsel. ¹⁷Then coming to himself, he said, How many hirelings of my father abound with loaves of bread, and I am pining away with famine! ¹⁸I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, ¹⁹and I am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hirelings. ²⁰And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet at a considerable distance, his father discovered him, and was moved with compassion, and running, fell on his neck, and kissed him again and again. ²¹Then said the son unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. ²²But the father said to his servants, Bring out the best robe, and clothe him; and put a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet: ²³and bring hither the stall-fed steer, and kill it; and let us eat, and be joyous. ²⁴For this my son was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. And they began to be joyous. ²⁵Now his elder brother had been in the field: and when coming home he drew near the house, he heard a concert of music, and the chorus. ²⁶And calling one of the servants, he inquired what these things meant. ²⁷And he said, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed for him the stall-fed steer, because he hath received him in health. ²⁸Then he was in great wrath, and would not enter the doors: therefore his father came out, and entreated him. ²⁹But he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years I am serving thee, and never have transgressed thy command: yet to me thou hast never once given a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: ³⁰but no sooner is this son of thine come, who hath devoured thy substance with whores, than thou hast killed for him the stall-fed steer. ³¹And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all my possessions are thine. ³²But it was right that we should rejoice, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

[CHAP. XVI.]

THEN said he also to his disciples, There was a certain rich man, who had a steward; and he received an information against him, as having dissipated his treasures. ²And calling him, he said to him, What is this report I hear of thee? give up the account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer in that office. ³Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? because my master is taking away the stewardship from me: to dig, I have not the strength; to beg, I am ashamed. ⁴I know what I will do, that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may entertain me at their houses. ⁵So calling upon every one of his master’s debtors, he said to the first, How much owest thou to my master? ⁶And he said, A hundred baths of oil. And he said, Take thy account, and sit down directly, and write fifty. ⁷Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred core of wheat. And he saith to him, Take thy account, and write fourscore. ⁸And the master praised the unjust steward, because he had acted providently: for the children of this world are more provident among their own generation of men, than the children of light. ⁹And I say unto you, Make yourselves friends with the unrighteous mammon that when ye fail, they may receive you into the eternal mansions.

¹⁰He that is faithful in the least thing, is faithful also in much: and he who is unjust in the least, is unjust also in much. ¹¹If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust you with the true? ¹²and if ye have not been faithful in that which belongs to another, who will give up to you that which is your own? ¹³No domestic can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or he will cleave to the one, and neglect the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

¹⁴Then the Pharisees also, who were dear lovers of money, heard all these things, and they sneered at him. ¹⁵And he said unto them, Ye are they who affect to be righteous persons before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men, is an abomination in the sight of God. ¹⁶The law and the prophets were until John: since that the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. ¹⁷But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tittle of the law to fail. ¹⁸Every one who putteth away his wife and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and every one who marrieth a woman divorced from her husband, committeth adultery.

¹⁹Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, making splendid entertainments every day: ²⁰and there was a certain pauper, named Lazarus, who was laid at his gate covered with ulcers, ²¹and importunately desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: yea even the dogs came and licked his ulcers. ²²Now it came to pass that the poor man died, and was carried up by angels into the bosom of Abraham. Then the rich man also died, and was buried: ²³and in hell, lifting up his eyes, being in torments, he seeth Abraham at a vast distance, and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴And crying out, he said, Father Abraham, have compassion on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented with this flame. ²⁵But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou hast received thy good things during thy life, and Lazarus, in like manner, what was afflictive: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. ²⁶And besides all these considerations, between us and you there is a vast chasm fixed: so that they who might be willing to pass from hence to you, cannot; neither can they pass through to us, from thence. ²⁷And he said, I entreat thee then, father, that thou wouldest send him to my paternal mansion: ²⁸for I have five brothers: that he may testify to them, that they also come not into this place of torment. ²⁹Abraham saith to him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hearken to them. ³⁰But he said, Ah no, father Abraham! but if one came to them from the dead, they will repent. ³¹Then he said to him, If they hearken not to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.

[CHAP. XVII.]

THEN he said to his disciples, It is impossible that offences should not come; but wo to him through whom they come! ²It would be advantageous for him, if a milstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea, rather than offend one of these little ones. ³Take heed to yourselves: if thy brother sin against thee, reprove him; and if he repent, forgive him. ⁴And if seven times in the day he sin against thee, and seven times in the day return to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

⁵And the disciples said unto the Lord, increase our faith. ⁶And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard, ye might say to that sycamore-tree, Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea; and it would obey you.

⁷But which of you, having a servant plowing or keeping sheep, when he cometh from the field, will say immediately, Come, sit down at table? ⁸And will he not rather say, Prepare for me to sup, and gird thyself, and wait upon me, till I eat and drink; and after that, thou shalt eat and drink thyself? ⁹Doth he hold it as a favour from that servant, that he did the things which were ordered him? I think not. ¹⁰So also ye, when ye have done all things commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: for we have but done what was our duty to do.

¹¹And it came to pass, as he was going towards Jerusalem, he passed also through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. ¹²And as he was entering a certain village, ten leprous men met him, who stood at a distance: ¹³and they lift up their voice, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! ¹⁴And looking towards them, he said, Go, shew yourselves to the priests. And it came to pass, that as they were on the road, they were made clean. ¹⁵Then one of them, seeing that he was cured, returned, and with a loud voice gave glory to God, ¹⁶and fell prostrate at his feet giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Then Jesus spake and said, were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? ¹⁸There are none found returning to give glory to God, but this alien. ¹⁹And he said to him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath saved thee.

²⁰And being asked by one of the Pharisees, When cometh the kingdom of God? he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: ²¹neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. ²²Then said he to the disciples, The days will come when ye shall eagerly desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and shall not see it. ²³And they will say to you, Lo here! and lo there! go not after them, nor follow them. ²⁴For as the lightning flashing from one quarter under heaven, shineth to another quarter under heaven; so shall the Son of man also be at his day. ²⁵But he must first suffer many things, and be rejected by this generation. ²⁶And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it also be in the days of the coming of the Son of man. ²⁷They did eat, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the deluge came, and destroyed them all.

²⁸Even so, likewise, it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; ²⁹but the day Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. ³⁰Just so will it be in the day when the Son of man shall be revealed. ³¹In that day, let not the man who is upon the roof, and his goods in the house, go down to carry them away: and he that is in the field, in like manner, let him not return for any things behind him. ³²Remember Lot’s wife. ³³Whosoever seeketh to preserve his life shall lose it; and whosoever would lose it, shall preserve it. ³⁴I tell you, in that night two shall be in the same bed; the one shall be seized, and the other dismissed. Two women shall be grinding together: the one shall be seized, and the other dismissed. ³⁵Two shall be in the field; the one shall be seized, and the other dismissed. ³⁶TEXT OMITTED ³⁷And they answering, said to him, Where, Lord? And he said, Wherever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

[CHAP. XVIII.]

THEN he spake also to them a parable, to shew that we ought to pray always, and not faint; ²saying, There was a certain judge in a particular city, having no fear of God, nor respect for man: ³and there was a certain widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, Do me justice against my adversary. ⁴And he would not for a long while: but after this he said, Though I fear not God, nor respect man; ⁵yet because this woman is so troublesome to me, I will do her justice, lest by her perpetual coming she stun me with her importunity, ⁶Then said the Lord, Hear what the unjust judge saith. ⁷And shall not God execute vengeance for his own elect, who cry out to him day and night, though he bear long with them? ⁸Yes, I tell you, that he will avenge them quickly. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, ah! shall he find faith on the earth?

⁹Then he spake also this parable to certain persons, who had confidence in themselves, that they were righteous, and despised others: ¹⁰Two men went up to the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, the other a tax-farmer. ¹¹The Pharisee, standing by himself, made this prayer: God, I thank thee, that I am not as the rest of mankind, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or as this tax-gatherer. ¹²I keep a fast twice a week, I pay the tenth of all things I possess. ¹³And the tax-gatherer standing at a distance, would not even so much as lift his eyes heaven-ward, but smote on his breast, saying, May God accept the atonement for me a sinner! ¹⁴I say to you, Went this man down to his house justified, or the other? for every one who exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

¹⁵Then they brought him infants also, that he should touch them: but the disciples, when they saw it, rebuked them. ¹⁶But Jesus calling them to him, said, Permit little children to come to me, and hinder them not for of such is the kingdom of God. ¹⁷Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

¹⁸And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, by doing what shall I inherit eternal life? ¹⁹Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good, but one, even God.

²⁰Thou knowest the commandments, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. ²¹Then he said, All these things have I observed from my youth. ²²Then Jesus hearing this, said to him, Yet one thing thou lackest: sell all whatsoever thou hast, and distribute to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. ²³But he, on hearing these things, was exceeding sorrowful: for he was very rich. ²⁴Then Jesus, observing that he was very sorrowful, said, How difficultly shall they who have riches, enter into the kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. ²⁶And those who heard it said, Who then can be saved? ²⁷And he said, The things impossible with men, are possible with God. ²⁸Then said Peter, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee. ²⁹And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that there is no man who hath left family, or parents, or brothers, or wife, or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, ³⁰who shall not receive back manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.

³¹Then taking aside the twelve, he said to them, Lo, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things written by the prophets concerning the Son of man will be fulfilled. ³²For he shall be delivered up to the Gentiles, and they shall insult him, and treat him with indignity, and spit upon him: ³³and after scourging, shall slay him: and the third day he shall rise again. ³⁴And they understood none of these things: and the saying was concealed from them, and they knew not the things which were spoken.

³⁵And it came to pass, as he drew nigh to Jerusalem, a certain blind man sat by the road-side begging: ³⁶and hearing the multitude passing by, he inquired what was the cause. ³⁷And they told him, that Jesus the Nazarean is going by. ³⁸And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me! ³⁹And they who were going before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Son of David, have mercy on me! ⁴⁰Then Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be brought to him: and when he was come near, he asked him, ⁴¹saying, What wist thou that I should do for thee? Then he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. ⁴²And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. ⁴³And instantly he received sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

[CHAP. XIX.]

AND entering into Jericho, he passed through. ²And there was a person whose name was Zaccheus, and he was a principal farmer of the taxes, and the man was rich. ³And he was desirous to have a sight of Jesus, what sort of person he was; and he could not, because of the crowd, for he was short of stature. ⁴So running before, he climbed up a sycamore-tree, in order to get a sight of him: for he was about to pass that way. ⁵And when he was come to the spot, Jesus looking up, saw him, and said to him, Zaccheus, come down speedily; for to-day I must abide at thy house. ⁶And he hastened to come down, and entertained him gladly. ⁷And when they all saw it, they murmured, saying, That he is gone to lodge with a man, a notorious sinner. ⁸Then Zaccheus standing up, said unto the Lord, Behold, the half of my goods, Lord, I give unto the poor; and if I have got any thing from any man, by laying false informations, I am ready to restore fourfold. ⁹Then said Jesus unto him, To-day is salvation come to this house, because that he also is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

¹¹And as they were hearkening to these things, he proceeded on, and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and they supposed that immediately the kingdom of God would openly appear. ¹²He said therefore, A certain man of noble family went into a distant region, to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. ¹³And calling his ten servants, he gave them ten manehs^[15], and said unto them, Employ yourselves in traffic, till I come back. ¹⁴But his citizens hated him, and sent an embassy after him, saying, We will not have this man to rule over us. ¹⁵And it came to pass, at his return, after receiving the kingdom, that he ordered the servants to be called, to whom he had given the money, that he might know what every one had gained by his traffic. ¹⁶Then came the first, and said, Sir, thy maneh has gained ten manehs. ¹⁷And he said unto him, Well done, good servant: because thou hast been faithful in the least matter, hold thou dominion over ten cities. ¹⁸And the second came, saying, Lord, thy maneh hath gained five manehs. ¹⁹Then said he also to this man, Be thou also over five cities. ²⁰And another came, saying, Master, there is thy maneh, which I have kept wrapt up in a napkin: ²¹for I was afraid of thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up where thou hadst laid nothing down, and reapest where thou didst not sow. ²²And he said to him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I am an austere man, taking up what I laid not down, and reaping what I did not sow; ²³why then gavest thou not my money to the bank, so when I came I might have required it with interest? ²⁴And he said to those who stood by, Take from him the maneh, and give it to him who hath the ten manehs. ²⁵(And they say unto him, Sir, he hath ten manehs.) ²⁶For I say unto you, That to every one who hath, shall more be given; but from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away from him. ²⁷But as for these enemies of mine, who would not that I should reign over them, bring them hither, and slay them before me.

²⁸And having thus spoken, he proceeded forward, going up to Jerusalem. ²⁹And it came to pass, as he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, to the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, ³⁰saying, Go into the opposite village; in which, as ye are at the entrance, ye will find a foal tied, on which no man hath ever yet sat: loose, and bring him. ³¹And if any man ask you, Why ye loose it? thus shall ye say to him, That the Lord hath need of him. ³²Then they who were sent, going, found it just as he had described to them. ³³And as they were untying the foal, the owners of it said to them, Why loose ye the foal? ³⁴And they said, The Lord hath need of him. ³⁵And they brought him to Jesus: and throwing their cloaks on the foal, they set Jesus thereon. ³⁶And as he went, they spread under him their garments on the road. ³⁷And when he was now approaching, at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples rejoicing began to praise God with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen; ³⁸saying, Blessed is the King, who cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.

³⁹And some of the Pharisees from the crowd said unto him, Master, reprove thy disciples. ⁴⁰And he replying said to them. I tell you that, should these be silent, the very stones would cry out.

⁴¹And as he drew near, beholding the city, he wept over it, ⁴²saying, Oh that thou hadst known, even in this thy day, the things that are for thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. ⁴³For the days will come upon thee, when thy enemies shall cast up a trench around thee, and encircle thee about, and straiten thee on every side, ⁴⁴and will dash thee on the ground, and thy children within thee; and will not leave in thee one stone upon another: because thou knewest not the season of thy visitation.

⁴⁵And entering into the temple, he began to cast out those who sold and bought in the temple; ⁴⁶saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer^[16]: but ye have made it a den of robbers.

⁴⁷And he continued daily teaching in the temple. Then the chief priests and the scribes sought to destroy him, with the heads of the people, ⁴⁸but did not discover how they could do any thing: for all the people attentively hung on his lips.

[CHAP. XX.]

AND it came to pass, on one of those days, as he was teaching the people in the temple, and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and scribes with the elders came upon him, ²and spake to him, saying, Tell us by what authority thou doest these things or who is he that giveth thee this authority? ³Then he answering said to them, I also will ask you one question; and resolve me: ⁴The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? ⁵And they reasoned among themselves, saying, If we reply, From heaven; he will say, Wherefore then did ye not believe him? ⁶But if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they are persuaded that John was a prophet. ⁷And they answered, We know not from whence. ⁸And Jesus said to them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

⁹Then he began to speak to the people this parable: A certain man planted a vineyard, and delivered it to husbandmen, and went abroad for a long while. ¹⁰And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that they might give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat, and sent him away empty. ¹¹And he again sent another servant: and him also they beat, and treating him with indignity, sent him away empty. ¹²And he sent yet a third: and him they also wounded, and cast out. ¹³Then said the master of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: probably when they see him, they will shew him respect. ¹⁴But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be our own. ¹⁵So casting him out of the vineyard, they slew him. What then will the master of the vineyard do with these men? ¹⁶He will come and destroy these husbandmen, and give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said God forbid. ¹⁷Then he looked on them, and said, What is this then which is written^[17], The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? ¹⁸Every one who falleth upon this stone shall be broken to pieces; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. ¹⁹And the chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on him at that time; and were afraid of the people: for they knew that he had spoken this parable against them.

²⁰And watching him, they sent men they had suborned, who pretended that they were righteous persons, in order to lay hold of some word of his, that they might deliver him to the power and authority of the governor. ²¹And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou speakest and teachest rightly, and respectest no man’s person, but teachest the way of God in truth: ²²Is it lawful for us to pay tribute to Cæsar, or not? ²³Then he, aware of their crafty design, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? ²⁴Shew me a denarius. Whose image and inscription hath it? And they answering said, Cæsar’s. ²⁵Then said he to them, Pay therefore to Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s, and to God the things which are God’s. ²⁶And they were unable to lay hold of a single expression of his before the people: and marvelling at his answer, they were silenced.

²⁷Then certain of the Sadducees, who contend that there is no resurrection, asked him, ²⁸saying, Master, Moses wrote for us^[18], If a man’s brother die, having a wife, and he die childless, that his brother should take the wife, and raise up seed for his brother. ²⁹Now there were seven brothers: and the first taking a wife, died childless. ³⁰And the second taking the wife, he also died childless. ³¹Then the third took her; and also all the seven in like manner: and left no children, and died. ³²And last of all died also the woman. ³³In the resurrection therefore whose wife of them shall she be? for the seven had her to wife. ³⁴And Jesus in reply said to them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: ³⁵but they who are counted worthy to attain to that world, and the resurrection of the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: ³⁶neither can they die any more: for they are like the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. ³⁷Now that the dead are raised, even Moses intimated at the bush^[19], when he called the Lord, “the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” ³⁸Now God is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live with him. ³⁹Then some of the scribes addressing him said, Master, admirably hast thou spoken! ⁴⁰And after that they durst not put another question to him.

⁴¹Then he spake to them: How say they that the Messiah is the son of David? ⁴²Yet David himself, in the book of Psalms, saith, “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit down at my right hand, ⁴³until I put thine enemies for a footstool of thy feet^[20].” ⁴⁴David then calleth him Lord, and how then is he his son?

⁴⁵And whilst all the people were hearkening, he said to his disciples, ⁴⁶Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk about in trailing robes, and love salutations in the public places, and the principal seats in the synagogues, and the most honourable couch at suppers; ⁴⁷who devour the houses of widows, and for a pretext make long prayers: these shall receive a more abundant punishment.

[CHAP. XXI.]

AND as he looked up, he saw some casting their gifts into the treasury who were rich. ²And he observed also a certain widow, miserably poor, put in there two mites. ³And he said, Of a truth I tell you that this poor widow hath put in more than all they: ⁴for all they have of their superfluity cast into the oblations for God: but she out of her indigence hath cast in all the substance which she possessed.

⁵And some of them talking of the temple, how adorned it was with the beautiful stone-work and the dedicated offerings, he said, ⁶As for these things which ye are gazing upon, the days will come, in which one stone will not be left upon another, that shall not be utterly thrown down. ⁷And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what is the sign, when these things are ready to come to pass? ⁸Then he said, Take heed that ye be not deluded: for many will come in my name, saying, I am he; and the period approaches: go not therefore after them. ⁹But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the conclusion is not immediately. ¹⁰Then saith he unto them, Nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: ¹¹and great earthquakes shall be in different places, and famines, and pestilences; and in the heaven shall be frightful appearances, and mighty signs. ¹²But before all these things, they will lay hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and to prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. ¹³And it shall afford you an opportunity to bear your testimony. ¹⁴Therefore rest satisfied in your hearts, not to premeditate what apology to make: ¹⁵for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall be utterly unable to contradict or resist. ¹⁶But ye shall be betrayed even by parents, and brethren, and relations, and friends; and some of you they shall put to death. ¹⁷And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. ¹⁸Though a hair of your head shall in nowise perish. ¹⁹In your patience possess ye your souls. ²⁰But when ye see Jerusalem, encircled with armies, then know that the desolation of it approaches. ²¹Then let those who are in Judea fly unto the mountains; and let those who are in the midst of her get far away: and they who are in the countries, let them not enter into her. ²²For these are the days of vengeance, when all things which are written shall be fulfilled. ²³But wo to those who are big with child, and have infants at their breasts, in those days! for there shall be great distress on the earth, and wrath upon this people. ²⁴And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden under foot of the Gentiles, until the times appointed for the Gentiles shall come to their period. ²⁵And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; ²⁶men terrified to death with fear, and expectation of the calamities coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. ²⁷And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory. ²⁸And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

²⁹And he spake a parable unto them, Behold the fig-tree, and all the trees, ³⁰when they now put forth, as soon as ye see it ye know in yourselves that the summer is now near: ³¹so ye also, when ye see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is at hand. ³²Verily I say unto you, That this generation shall in nowise pass away, until all these things come to pass. ³³Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall never pass away. ³⁴But take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts should be overloaded with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the anxious cares of life, and that day should come upon you unawares. ³⁵For as a snare shall it come upon all that are settled on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶Watch therefore, praying at every proper opportunity, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things which are ready to come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

³⁷And during the day he continued teaching in the temple; but at night he went out, and lodged in the mountain called the mount of Olives. ³⁸And all the people came to him early in the morning at the temple, to hear him.

[CHAP. XXII.]

AND the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover, was at hand. ²And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might destroy him; for they were afraid of the people. ³Then entered Satan into Judas called Iscariot, though he was of the number of the twelve. ⁴And he went and conversed with the chief priests and the captains, by what means he could betray him unto them. ⁵And they were glad, and agreed with him to give him a sum of money. ⁶And he gave them his promise, and sought the favourable opportunity to betray him to them, in the absence of the multitude.

⁷Then came the day of unleavened bread, on which the passover must be killed. ⁸And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go, prepare for us the passover, that we may eat it. ⁹And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare it? ¹⁰And he said unto them, Lo! as you are at the entrance of the city, there will a man meet you, carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house whither he is going. ¹¹And say to the master of that family, The teacher saith to thee, Where is the dining-room, in which I can eat the passover with my disciples? ¹²And he will shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. ¹³And they going away, found it just as he had told them: and they made ready the passover. ¹⁴And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. ¹⁵And he said unto them, With earnest desire have I longed to eat this passover with you before I suffer: ¹⁶for I tell you, that I will no more ever eat of it, until it shall be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. ¹⁷And taking the cup, after having given thanks, he said, Take this, and divide among yourselves: ¹⁸for I say unto you, that I shall no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God come. ¹⁹And taking a loaf, he gave thanks, and brake, and gave it to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: do this in remembrance of me. ²⁰And the cup in like manner, after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. ²¹But lo! the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me at the table. ²²And the Son of man indeed goeth, as is decreed: but wo to that man by whom he is betrayed! ²³And they began to question among themselves, who it could possibly be of them who should do this thing.

²⁴Now it came to pass, that there was also a contention among them, even which of them should be accounted to be the greatest. ²⁵And he said to them, The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and they who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. ²⁶But ye shall not act thus: but the superior among you, let him be as the junior; and he that presideth, as he that serveth. ²⁷For which is the greater, he that sitteth at table, or he that waits? is not he that sitteth at table? but I am in the midst of you as he that serveth. ²⁸Ye are they who have continued with me during my trials. ²⁹And I appoint you, as my Father hath appointed me, a kingdom; ³⁰that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and be seated on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

³¹And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, lo! Satan hath earnestly sought you, that he might sift you as wheat: ³²but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith may not fail: and when thou art returned, stablish thy brethren. ³³Then he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, to prison, and to death! ³⁴And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before thou shalt thrice deny having known me.

³⁵And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, or scrip, or sandals, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing. ³⁶Then said he to them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him also take a scrip: and he that hath none, let him sell his cloak, and buy a sword. ³⁷For I tell you, that what hath already been written must be fulfilled in me, namely, “He was numbered with the transgressors^[21]:” for the things also concerning me draw to their period. ³⁸Then they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords, and he said to them, It is enough.

³⁹And going out, he went, according to his custom, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. ⁴⁰And when he came to the spot, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. ⁴¹And he withdrew from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeling down, he prayed, ⁴²saying, Father, if thou wilt, remove this cup from me! nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done. ⁴³And an angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. ⁴⁴And being in an agony, he prayed with greater intenseness: and his sweat was as clots of blood falling on the ground. ⁴⁵And when he rose up from prayer, on coming to his disciples, he found them sleeping from sorrow. ⁴⁶And he said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise up, and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.

⁴⁷And while he was yet speaking, behold a multitude, and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and approached Jesus to kiss him. ⁴⁸Then said Jesus unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? ⁴⁹Then when they who were about him saw what was ready to happen, they said unto him, Lord, shall we strike with the sword? ⁵⁰And one of them struck at a servant of the high-priest, and cut off his right ear. ⁵¹Then Jesus, addressing them, said, Permit me thus far: and touching his ear, he healed him. ⁵²Then said Jesus to the chief priests and captains of the temple, and to the elders who were come forth against him, Are ye come out as against a robber, with swords and staves? ⁵³When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched out no hands upon me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.

⁵⁴Then seizing upon him, they led him away, and brought him into the palace of the high-priest. But Peter followed at a distance. ⁵⁵And as they had lighted a fire in the middle of the hall, and had seated themselves in a company, Peter sat down in the midst of them. ⁵⁶But a certain maid-servant who sat at the fire, eyeing him, and looking at him stedfastly, said, This man was also with him. ⁵⁷But he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not. ⁵⁸And after a little while another seeing him, said, Surely thou art one of them. Then said Peter, Man, I am not. ⁵⁹And at about an hour’s distance, another person strongly asserted, saying, Of a certainty this fellow was also with him: for he too is a Galilean. ⁶⁰And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And instantly, while he was yet speaking, the cock crew. ⁶¹And the Lord, turning round, looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, That before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. ⁶²And Peter going without, wept bitterly.

⁶³And the men who held Jesus insulted him, beating him with rods; ⁶⁴and blindfolding him, smote him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is he that struck thee? ⁶⁵And many other things, blaspheming, spake they against him.

⁶⁶And when the day broke, the elders of the people and the chief priests and scribes assembled, and brought him into their sanhedrim, saying, ⁶⁷If thou art the Messiah, tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe: ⁶⁸and if I shall ask you any question, ye will neither answer me, nor let me go free. ⁶⁹Hereafter shall the Son of man sit at the right hand of the power of God. ⁷⁰Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Yourselves say that I am. ⁷¹Then they said, What further need have we of witness? for we have heard it from his own mouth.

[CHAP. XXIII.]

AND the whole multitude of them rising up, led him to Pilate, ²and began to accuse him, saying, We have found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to pay tribute to Cæsar; pretending that he himself is the King Messiah. ³Then Pilate interrogated him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said to him, Thou sayest so. ⁴Then said Pilate unto the chief priests and the multitudes, I find nothing culpable in this man. ⁵But they were urgent, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching through all Judea, beginning from Galilee even to this place. ⁶When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilean? ⁷And when he knew that he came out of Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was himself at Jerusalem in those days.

⁸Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was vastly delighted: for he had been long desirous to see him, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to see some miracle wrought by him. ⁹And he put a variety of questions to him; but he made him no reply. ¹⁰And the chief priests and the scribes stood up vehemently accusing him. ¹¹Then Herod with his guards treated him with contempt, and in derision clothed him in a splendid robe, and sent him back to Pilate. ¹²And Pilate and Herod the same day became friends together: for they had previously been at enmity with each other.

¹³Then Pilate, convoking the chief priests and the rulers and the people, ¹⁴said unto them, Ye have brought this man to me, as one who perverteth the people: and lo! on examining him before you, I have found nothing culpable in this man, respecting the charges ye bring against him: ¹⁵nor Herod neither: for I referred you to him; and, lo, nothing is done to this man, as if he deserved death. ¹⁶I will therefore, after scourging, discharge him. ¹⁷(Now he held it necessary to release one to them at the feast.) ¹⁸Then the whole multitude set up a cry, saying, Away with this fellow, and release unto us Barabbas! ¹⁹(who for a certain sedition raised in the city, and for murder, had been cast into prison.) ²⁰Again therefore Pilate called out to them, desirous to see Jesus at liberty. ²¹But they clamoured the more, saying, Crucify, crucify him. ²²Then the third time he said to them, What evil hath this man done? I have found nothing deserving death in him: I will therefore, after scourging, discharge him. ²³But they were instant with the most clamorous vociferations, soliciting that he might be crucified. And their clamours, and those of the chief priests, bore him down. ²⁴Then Pilate decreed that their petition should be granted.

²⁵Then released he to them him who for sedition and murder had been cast into prison; but he gave up Jesus to their will. ²⁶And as they led him out, laying hold on one Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, they laid on him the cross, to carry after Jesus. ²⁷And a great multitude of the people and of women followed him, who also beat their breasts and lamented him bitterly. ²⁸But Jesus turning to them, said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but for yourselves, and for your children. ²⁹For, behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs which have not borne, and the breasts which never suckled. ³⁰Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us! and to the hills, Cover us! ³¹For if they do all these things with the green wood, what will be done with the dry?

³²Now there were two other persons, malefactors, led out with him to be executed. ³³And when they came to a place called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, the one on the right hand, and the other on the left. ³⁴And Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. Then dividing his garments, they cast the lot.

³⁵And the people stood looking on. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if this fellow is the Messiah, the elect of God. ³⁶And the soldiers also insulted him, coming and offering him vinegar, ³⁷and saying, if thou art the King of the Jews, save thyself. ³⁸And there was an inscription written over him in Greek, Roman, and Hebrew characters, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

³⁹Then one of the suspended malefactors blasphemed him, saying, If thou art the Messiah, save thyself and us. ⁴⁰But the other addressing him, rebuked him, saying, Hast thou no fear of God, when thou art under the same condemnation? ⁴¹And we indeed justly, for we receive deserved punishment for the crimes we have committed: but this man hath done nothing amiss. ⁴²And he said to Jesus, Remember me, Lord, when thou comest in thy kingdom. ⁴³And Jesus said to him. Verily I say unto thee, To-day thou shalt be with me in paradise.

⁴⁴And it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. ⁴⁵And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. ⁴⁶And Jesus crying with a loud voice, said, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit: and having said this, he expired. ⁴⁷And the centurion observing what had come to pass, glorified God, saying, Verily this man was a righteous person.

⁴⁸And all the multitudes who had come together for this spectacle, when they saw the things which were done, beating their breasts, returned. ⁴⁹And all his acquaintance stood afar off, and the women which followed him from Galilee, beholding these things.

⁵⁰And lo! a man named Joseph, being a member of the council, a good man, and a just; ⁵¹(who had not given his assent to their determination and deed;) being of Arimathea, a city of the Jews: who himself also expected the coming of the kingdom of God. ⁵²He went in to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. ⁵³And taking it down from the cross, he wrapped it in linen cloth, and laid it in a sepulchre hewn out of a rock, where none had ever yet lain. ⁵⁴And that was the preparation-day, and the sabbath’s twilight^[22] was approaching.

⁵⁵Then the women also, his attendants, who had followed him out of Galilee, observed the sepulchre, and how his corpse was laid out. ⁵⁶And returning, they made preparation of aromatics and unguents; and they rested the sabbath-day, according to the commandment.

[CHAP. XXIV.]

NOW on the first day of the week, at the earliest dawn of day, they came to the sepulchre, bringing the aromatics which they had prepared, and certain others with them. ²And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. ³And on entering, found not the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴And it came to pass, as they were in the greatest perplexity concerning this matter, then behold, two men stood by them in refulgent garments: ⁵and when they were exceedingly terrified, and inclined their face to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? ⁶he is not here; he is risen: remember how he spoke to you, while he was yet in Galilee, ⁷saying, That the Son of man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. ⁸And they remembered his declarations, ⁹and returning from the sepulchre, told all these things to the eleven, and to the rest. ¹⁰Now there were Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and the other women who were with them, that told these things to the apostles. ¹¹And their declarations seemed in their view as a mere fancy, and they gave them no credence. ¹²Then Peter rising up, ran off to the sepulchre, and leaning forward saw the linen clothes laid separately, and went away wondering in himself what was become of him.

¹³And behold, two of them were going the same day to a village, distant about sixty furlongs from Jerusalem, called Emmaus. ¹⁴And they were conversing with each other, concerning all those things which had happened. ¹⁵And it came to pass, as they were conversing together, and talking the matter over, even Jesus himself drew near, and walked on with them. ¹⁶But their eyes were under a restraint, that they might not discover him. ¹⁷And he said unto them, What are these discourses that ye interchange among you, as ye are walking, and bear such a face of dejection? ¹⁸Then one of them, named Cleopas, answering said, Art thou the only sojourner at Jerusalem, who hath not known the singular events of those days? ¹⁹And he said to them, Of what sort? and they said to him, Those which relate to Jesus the Nazarean, who was a man, a prophet, mighty in word and deed before God and all the people: ²⁰and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to a sentence of death, and crucified him. ²¹But we had entertained hopes that this was the person who should have redeemed Israel: and ah! besides all these things, to-day concludes that third day since these things were done. ²²And indeed, certain women belonging to us exceedingly amazed us who were very early at the sepulchre; ²³and not finding his body, came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, who told them that he was alive. ²⁴And some of those who were with us went to the sepulchre, and found every thing just as the women had said: but him they did not see. ²⁵And he said unto them, O ye void of understanding, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶Ought not the Messiah to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory? ²⁷And beginning from Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them in all the scriptures, the things relating to himself. ²⁸And they drew nigh to the village, whither they were going: and he was proceeding on, as if going farther. ²⁹And they warmly pressed him, saying, Stay with us: for the evening draws on, and the day declines. And he went in to stay with them. ³⁰And it came to pass, when he was sitting down at table with them, taking up a loaf, he blessed it, and breaking, distributed it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he became invisible to them. ³²And they said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us, as he talked with us on the road, and as he distinctly opened to us the scriptures? ³³And rising up the same hour, they returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them crowded together, ³⁴saying, The Lord is risen assuredly, and hath appeared to Simon. ³⁵Then these recounted what had passed on the road, and how he was known to them by the breaking of the bread.

³⁶While they were relating these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you! ³⁷But terrified and affrighted, they thought they saw a spirit. ³⁸And he said to them, Why are ye under such agitation of mind? and why do reasonings arise in your hearts? ³⁹look upon my hands and my feet, that it is my very self: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. ⁴⁰And thus speaking, he exposed to them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹But when they still could not credit it for joy, and marvelled, he said unto them, Have ye here any thing eatable? ⁴²Then they gave him a part of a broiled fish, and a piece of honey-comb. ⁴³And receiving it, he did eat in their presence. ⁴⁴And said unto them, These are the sayings which I spake unto you, when I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me. ⁴⁵Then opened he thoroughly their understanding, that they should understand the scriptures, ⁴⁶and said to them, That thus it is written, and thus must the Messiah suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day ⁴⁷and that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in his name unto all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸And ye are the witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹And, behold, I send unto you the promise of my Father: but sit ye down in the city of Jerusalem, until ye shall be endued with power from on high. ⁵⁰And he led them without the city as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. ⁵¹And it came to pass, as he pronounced the benediction upon them, he was parted from them, and taken up into heaven. ⁵²And they, after paying him their adorations, returned to Jerusalem with vast joy: ⁵³and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.

[THE GOSPEL]

ACCORDING TO

JOHN.