The past 40 years have seen a welter of English translations of the Bible. One appears to have been quite lost in this biblical multiplication: that of Ronald Knox which was so immensely popular from its publication in 1944 to the mid-1960s. My own reaction to it had been enthusiastic, yet maybe somewhat ambivalent: I found it very readable, very inspiring, and at times a bit debatable... In any case it descended into practical oblivion after Vatican II. It might - and perhaps should - have survived if Knox had not made the mistake, as I now see it, of sticking to the "thou" forms throughout. Some time back, seeing the very varied quality of the new versions, I began to wonder if Knox, in "you" form, might not be of interest and help to some people. So I began to while away odd moments by "you-ing" his New Testament (I have a good program for such a task). With "you" etc. throughout, many passages seemed to take on a new freshness and interest. Now, more than a year after its first appearance on my website, I find that the 'you' version has drawn more interest than I ever anticipated. One reader makes a comment worth transcribing. For him, the Ronald Knox translations, "somehow combine clarity with mystery: I mean they are easy enough to understand and they still have that majesty of language which constantly reminds the reader that these words concern much more than the everyday". It is an opinion that may have particular application to the pauline epistles. Regarding these I do recall some early critic who, while conceding that Msgr. Knox had certainly made St. Paul intelligible (he was at times barely so in the old Douai-Rheims version), still doubted whether Knox's version really makes Paul say what he actually wanted to say... I am not scripture scholar enough to resolve the question; but am sure that the same doubt can be made extensive to quite a few more recent versions. In consequence, the more the present spare-time activity progresses, the greater my impression that something old has in a small but important way become new again. If so, the endeavor is not totally useless. In any case, may "Ronnie" forgive me from his heavenly abode, if he does not approve of my efforts. But I would not like to see any of his masterly and inspiring prose being thrust aside because of a few pronouns or adjectives here and there.
A record of the ancestry from which Jesus Christ, the son of David, son of Abraham, was born. Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac of Jacob, Jacob of Juda and his brethren; Juda of Phares and Zara, by Thamar; Phares of Esron, Esron of Aram, Aram of Aminadab, Aminadab of Naasson, Naasson of Salmon; Salmon of Booz, by Rahab; Booz of Obed, by Ruth, Obed of Jesse; and Jesse was the father of king David. And king David was the father of Solomon, by her that had been the wife of Urias. Solomon was the father of Roboam, Roboam of Abias, Abias of Asa, Asa of Josaphat, Josaphat of Joram, Joram of Ozias, Ozias of Joatham, Joatham of Achaz, Achaz of Ezechias, Ezechias of Manasses, Manasses of Amon, Amon of Josias; and Josias was the father of Jechonias and his brethren, at the time of the removal to Babylon. And after the removal to Babylon, Jechonias was the father of Salathiel, Salathiel of Zorobabel, Zorobabel of Abiud, Abiud of Eliacim, Eliacim of Azor, Azor of Sadoc, Sadoc of Achim, Achim of Eliud, Eliud of Eleazar, Eleazar of Mathan, Mathan of Jacob, and Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary; it was of her that Jesus was born, who is called Christ. Thus there are fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the captivity in Babylon, and fourteen from the captivity in Babylon to Christ.
And this was the manner of Christ's birth. His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, but they had not yet come together, when she was found to be with child, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Whereupon her husband Joseph (for he was a right-minded man, and would not have her put to open shame) was for sending her away in secret. But hardly had this thought come to his mind, when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take your wife Mary to yourself, for it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child; and she will bear a son, whom you shall call Jesus, for he is to save his people from their sins. All this was so ordained to fulfil the word which the Lord spoke by his prophet: Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a son, and they shall call him Emmanuel (which means. God with us). And Joseph awoke from sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, taking his wife to himself; and he had not known her when she bore a son, her firstborn, to whom he gave the name Jesus.
Jesus was born at Bethlehem, in Juda, in the days of king Herod. And thereupon certain wise men came out of the east to Jerusalem, who asked, Where is he that has been born, the king of the Jews? We have seen his star out in the east, and we have come to worship him. King Herod was troubled when he heard it, and all Jerusalem with him; so that he assembled all the chief priests and learned men among the people, and enquired of them where it was that Christ would be born. And they told him, At Bethlehem in Juda; so it has been written by the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, of the land of Juda, are far from the least among the princes of Juda, for out of you will arise a leader who is to be the shepherd of my people Israel. Then, summoning the wise men in secret, Herod questioned them closely upon the time of the star's appearing. And he sent them on their way to Bethlehem, saying to them, Go and enquire carefully for the child, and when you have found him, bring me back word, so that I too may come and worship him. They obeyed the king, and went on their journey; and all at once the star which they had seen in the east was there going before them, till at last it stood still over the place where the child was. They, when they saw the star, were glad beyond measure; and so, going into the dwelling, they found the child there, with his mother Mary, and fell down to worship him; and, opening their store of treasures, they offered him gifts, of gold and frankincense and myrrh. Afterwards, because they had received a warning in a dream forbidding them to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by a different way. As soon as they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, and said, Rise up, take with you the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt; there remain, until I give you word. For Herod will soon be making search for the child, to destroy him. He rose up, therefore, while it was still night, and took the child and his mother with him, and withdrew into Egypt, where he remained until the death of Herod, in fulfilment of the word which the Lord spoke by his prophet, I called my son out of Egypt. Meanwhile, when he found that the wise men had played him false, Herod was angry beyond measure; he sent and made away with all the male children in Bethlehem and in all its neighbourhood, of two years old and less, reckoning the time by the careful enquiry which he had made of the wise men. It was then that the word spoken by the prophet Jeremy was fulfilled: A voice was heard in Rama, lamentation and great mourning; it was Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted because none is left. But as soon as Herod was dead, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in Egypt in a dream, and said: Rise up, take with you the child and mother, and return to the land of Israel for those who sought the child's life are dead. So he arose, and took the child and his mother with him, and came into the land of Israel. But, when he heard that Archelaus was king in Judaea in the place of his father Herod, he was afraid to return there; and so, receiving a warning in a dream, he withdrew into the region of Galilee; where he came to live in a town called Nazareth, in fulfilment of what was said by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea; Repent, he said, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It was of him that the prophet Isaias spoke, when he said, There is a voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, straighten out his paths. And he, John, wore a garment of camel's hair, and a leather girdle about his loins, and locusts and wild honey were his food. Thereupon Jerusalem and all Judaea, and all those who dwelt round Jordan, went out to see him, and he baptized them in the Jordan, while they confessed their sins. Many of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees came to his baptizing; and when he saw these, he asked them, Who was it that taught you, brood of vipers, to flee from the vengeance that draws near? Come, then, yield the acceptable fruit of repentance; do not presume to say in your hearts, We have Abraham for our father; I tell you, God has power to raise up children to Abraham out of these very stones. Already the axe has been put to the root of the trees, so that every tree which does not show good fruit will be hewn down and cast into the fire. As for me, I am baptizing you with water, for your repentance; but one is to come after me who is mightier than I, so that I am not worthy even to carry his shoes for him; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire. He holds his winnowing-fan ready, to sweep his threshingfloor clean, he will gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will consume with fire that can never be quenched.
Then Jesus came from Galilee and stood before John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have restrained him; It is I, he said, that ought to be baptized by you, and do you come to me instead? But Jesus answered, Let it be so for the present; it is well that we should thus fulfil all due observance. Then John gave way to him. So Jesus was baptized, and as he came straight up out of the water, suddenly heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and resting upon him. And with that, a voice came from heaven, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
And now Jesus was led by the Spirit away into the wilderness, to be tempted there by the devil. Forty day sand forty nights he spent fasting, and at the end of them was hungry. Then the tempter approached, and said to him, If you are the Son of God, bid these stones turn into loaves of bread. He answered, It is written, Man cannot live by bread only; there is life for him in all the words which proceed from the mouth of God. Next, the devil took him into the holy city, and there set him down on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down to earth; for it is written, He has given charge to his angels concerning you, and they will hold you up with their hands, lest you should chance to trip on a stone. Jesus said to him, But it is further written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the proof. Once more, the devil took him to the top of an exceedingly high mountain, from which he showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, and said, I will give you all these if you will fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Away with you, Satan; it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve none but him. Then the devil left him alone; and thereupon angels came and ministered to him.
After this, hearing of John's imprisonment, he withdrew into Galilee. And now, forsaking the city of Nazareth, he came and settled down in Capharnaum, which is by the sea-shore, in the country of Zabulon and Nephthalim, in fulfilment of what was said by the prophet Isaias: The land of Zabulon and Nephthalim, on the sea road, beyond Jordan, the Galilee of the Gentiles: The people that abode in darkness has seen a great light; for men abiding in a land where death overshadowed them, light has dawned. From that time onwards, Jesus began to preach; Repent, he said, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And as he walked by the sea of Galilee, Jesus saw two brethren, Simon, who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen); and he said to them, Come and follow me; I will make you into fishers of men. And they dropped their nets immediately, and followed him. Then he went further on, and saw two others that were brethren, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in the boat with their father Zebedee, repairing their nets, and he called them to him; whereupon they dropped the nets and left their father immediately, and followed him.
So Jesus went about the whole of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every kind of disease and infirmity among the people; so that his fame spread throughout the whole of Syria, and they brought to him all those who were in affliction, distressed with pain and sickness of every sort, the possessed, the lunatics, the palsied; and he healed them. And a great multitude followed him, from Galilee and Decapolis, Jerusalem and Judaea, and the country beyond Jordan.
Jesus, when he saw how great was their number, went up on to the mountainside; there he sat down, and his disciples came about him. And he began speaking to them; this was the teaching he gave. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are the patient; they shall inherit the land. Blessed are those who mourn; they shall be comforted. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for holiness; they shall have their fill. Blessed are the merciful; they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart; they shall see God. Blessed are the peace-makers; they shall be counted the children of God. Blessed are those who suffer persecution in the cause of right; the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are you, when men revile you, and persecute you, and speak all manner of evil against you falsely, because of me. Be glad and light-hearted, for a rich reward awaits you in heaven; so it was they persecuted the prophets who went before you. You are the salt of the earth; if salt loses its taste, what is there left to give taste to it? There is no more to be done with it, but throw it out of doors for men to tread it under foot. You are the light of the world; a city cannot be hidden if it is built on a mountain-top. A lamp is not lighted to be put away under a bushel measure; it is put on the lampstand, to give light to all the people of the house; and your light must shine so brightly before men that they can see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Do not think that I have come to set aside the law and the prophets; I have not come to set them aside, but to bring them to perfection. Believe me, heaven and earth must disappear sooner than one jot, one flourish disappear from the law; it must all be accomplished. Whoever, then, sets aside one of these commandments, though it were the least, and teaches men to do the like, will be of least account in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches others to keep them will be accounted in the kingdom of heaven as the greatest.
And I tell you that if your justice does not give fuller measure than the justice of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to the men of old. You shall do no murder; if a man commits murder, he must answer for it before the court of justice. But I tell you that any man who is angry with his brother must answer for it before the court of justice, and any man who says Raca to his brother must answer for it before the Council; and any man who says to his brother, You fool, must answer for it in hell fire. If you are bringing your gift, then, before the altar, and remember there that your brother has some ground of complaint against you, leave your gift lying there before the altar, and go home; be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back to offer your gift. If any man has a a claim against you, come to terms there and then, while you are walking in the road with him; or else it may be that the claimant will hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and so you will be cast into prison. Believe me, you shall not be set at liberty until you have paid the last farthing.
You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I tell you that he who casts his eyes on a woman so as to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye is the occasion of your falling into sin, pluck it out and cast it away from you; better to lose one part of your body than to have the whole cast into hell. And if your right hand is an occasion of falling, cut it off and cast it away from you; better to lose one of your limbs than to have your whole body cast into hell. It was said, too, Whoever will put away his wife must first give her a writ of separation. But I tell you that the man who puts away his wife (setting aside the matter of unfaithfulness) makes an adulteress of her, and whoever marries her after she has been put away, commits adultery.
Again, you have heard that it was said to the men of old, You shall not perjure yourself; you shall perform what you have sworn in the sight of the Lord. But I tell you that you should not bind yourselves by any oath at all: not by heaven, for heaven is God's throne; nor by earth, for earth is the footstool under his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. And you shall not swear by your own head, for you have no power to turn a single hair of it white or black. Let your word be Yes for Yes, and No for No; whatever goes beyond this, comes of evil. You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you that you should not offer resistance to injury; if a man strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other cheek also towards him; if he is ready to go to law with you over your coat, let him have it and your cloak with it; if he compels you to attend him on a mile's journey, go two miles with him of your own accord. Give to him who asks, and if a man would borrow from you, do not turn away.
You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I tell you, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who persecute and insult you, that so you may be true sons of your Father in heaven, who makes his sun rise on the evil and equally on the good, his rain fall on the just and equally on the unjust. If you love those who love you, what title have you to a reward? Will not the publicans do as much? If you greet none but your brethren, what are you doing more than others? Will not the very heathen do as much? But you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Be sure you do not perform your acts of piety before men, for them to watch; if you do that, you have no title to a reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues and in streets, to win the esteem of men. Believe me, they have their reward already. But when you give alms, you shall not so much as let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so secret is your almsgiving to be; and then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, you are not to be like hypocrites, who love to stand praying in synagogues or at street-corners, to be a mark for men's eyes; believe me, they have their reward already. But when you are praying, go into your inner room and shut the door upon yourself, and so pray to your Father in secret; and then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Moreover, when you are at prayer, do not use many phrases, like the heathens, who think to make themselves heard by their eloquence. You are not to be like them; your heavenly Father knows well what your needs are before you ask him. This, then, is to be your prayer, Our Father, who are in heaven, hallowed be your name; your kingdom come; your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Your heavenly Father will forgive you your transgressions, if you forgive your fellow-men theirs; if you do not forgive them, your heavenly Father will not forgive your transgressions either.
Again, when you fast, do not show it by gloomy looks, as the hypocrites do. They make their faces unsightly, so that men can see they are fasting; believe me, they have their reward already. But do you, at your times of fasting, anoint your head and wash your face, so that your fast may not be known to men, but to your Father who dwells in secret; and then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Do not lay up treasure for yourselves on earth, where there is moth and rust to consume it, where there are thieves to break in and steal it; lay up treasure for yourselves in heaven, where there is no moth or rust to consume it, no thieves to break in and steal. Where your treasure house is, there your heart is too. The eye is the light of the whole body, so that if your eye is clear, the whole of your body will be lit up; whereas if your eye is diseased, the whole of your body will be in darkness. And if the light which you have in you is itself darkness, what of your darkness? How deep will that be! A man cannot be the slave of two masters at once; either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will devote himself to the one and despise the other. You must serve God or money; you cannot serve both.
I say to you, then, do not fret over your life, how to support it with food and drink; over your body, how to keep it clothed. Is not life itself a greater gift than food, the body than clothing? See how the birds of the air never sow, or reap, or gather grain into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them; have you not an excellence beyond theirs? Can any one of you, for all his anxiety, add a cubit's growth to his height? And why should you be anxious over clothing? See how the wild lilies grow; they do not toil or spin; and yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If God, then, so clothes the grasses of the field, which to-day live and will feed the oven to-morrow, will he not be much more ready to clothe you, men of little faith? Do not fret, then, asking, What are we to eat? or What are we to drink? or How shall we find clothing? It is for the heathen to busy themselves over such things; you have a Father in heaven who knows that you need them all. Make it your first care to find the kingdom of God, and his approval, and all these things shall be yours without the asking. Do not fret, then, over tomorrow; leave to-morrow to fret over its own needs; for to-day, to-day's troubles are enough.
Do not judge others, or you yourselves will be judged. As you have judged, so you will be judged, by the same rule; award shall be made you as you have made award, in the same measure. How is it that you can see the speck of dust which is in your brother's eye, and are not aware of the beam which is in your own? By what right will you say to your brother, Wait, let me rid your eye of that speck, when there is a beam all the while in your own? You hypocrite, take the beam out of your own eye first, and so you shall have clear sight to rid your brother's of the speck. You must not give that which is holy to dogs. Do not cast your pearls before swine, or the swine may trample them under foot, and then turn on you and tear you to pieces.
Ask, and the gift will come; seek and you shall find; knock and the door shall be opened to you. Everyone that asks, will receive; that seeks, will find; that knocks, will have the door opened to him. If any one of yourselves is asked by his son for bread, will he give him a stone? If he is asked for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead? Why then, if you, evil as you are, know well enough how to give your children what is good for them, is not your Father in heaven much more ready to give wholesome gifts to those who ask him? Do to other men all that you would have them do to you; that is the law and the prophets.
Make your way in by the narrow gate. It is a broad gate and a wide road that leads on to perdition, and those who go in that way are many indeed; but how small is the gate, how narrow the road that leads on to life, and how few there are that find it! Be on your guard against false prophets, men who come to you in sheep's clothing, but are ravenous wolves within. You will know them by the fruit they yield. Can grapes be plucked from briers, or figs from thistles? So, indeed, any sound tree will bear good fruit, while any tree that is withered will bear fruit that is worthless; that worthless fruit should come from a sound tree, or good fruit from a withered tree, is impossible. Any tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire. I say therefore, it is by their fruit that you will know them. The kingdom of heaven will not give entrance to every man who calls me Master, Master; only to the man that does the will of my Father who is in heaven. There are many who will say to me, when that day comes, Master, Master, was it not in your name we prophesied? Was it not in your name that we performed many miracles? Whereupon I will tell them openly, You were never friends of mine; depart from me, you that traffic in wrong-doing.
Whoever, then, hears these commandments of mine and carries them out, is like a wise man who built his house upon rock; and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall; it was founded upon rock. But whoever hears these commandments of mine and does not carry them out is like a fool, who built his house upon sand; and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it.
Afterwards, when Jesus had finished these sayings, the multitudes found themselves amazed at his teaching. For he taught them, not like their scribes and Pharisees, but like one who had authority.
A great multitude followed him when he had come down from the mountain; and now, a leper came and knelt before him, and said, Lord, if it be your will, you have power to make me clean. Jesus held out his hand and touched him, and said, It is my will; be made clean. Whereupon his leprosy was immediately cleansed. Then Jesus said, Be sure you do not tell any man of it; rather go and show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses ordained, to make the truth known to them.
As he entered Capharnaum, a centurion came to him, asking for his aid; Lord, he said, I have a servant lying sick at my house, cruelly tormented with the palsy. Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him. But the centurion answered, Lord, I am not worthy to receive you under my roof; my servant will be healed if you will only speak a word of command. I too know what it is to obey authority; I have soldiers under me, and I say, Go, to one man, and he goes, or, Come, to another, and he comes, or, Do this, to my servant and he does it. When he heard that, Jesus said to his followers in amazement, Believe me, I have not found faith like this, even in Israel. And this I tell you, that there are many who will come from the east and from the west, and will take their places in the kingdom of God with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, while that kingdom's own sons are cast into the darkness without, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And to the centurion Jesus said, Go then; let it be done to you as your faith foretold. And at that hour his servant was healed.
And Jesus went into Peter's house, and found his wife's mother lying sick there with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her, so that she rose up and ministered to them. And when evening came, they brought to him many persons who were possessed; and he cast out the evil spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick, in fulfilment of the word spoken by Isaias the prophet, He took our infirmities upon himself, and bore our sicknesses.
And now, seeing how great were the multitudes about him, he gave the word for crossing to the other side. Whereupon one of the scribes came to him, and said, Master, I will follow you wherever you are going. But Jesus told him, Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air their resting places; the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. And another of his disciples said to him, Lord, give me leave to go home and bury my father before I come. But to him Jesus said, Do you follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead. So he took ship, and his disciples followed him. And suddenly a great storm arose on the sea, so that the waves rose high over the ship; but he lay asleep. And his disciples came and roused him, crying, Lord, save us, we are sinking. But Jesus said to them, Why are you faint-hearted, men of little faith? Then he rose up, and checked the winds, and the sea, and there was deep calm. So that all asked in amazement, What kind of man is this, who is obeyed even by the winds and the sea?
So he reached the other shore, in the country of the Gerasenes; and here he was met by two possessed creatures who came out of the rock tombs, so exceedingly fierce that none could pass along that road. And at once they cried aloud, Why do you meddle with us, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time? Some distance away, a great herd of swine was feeding; and the devils asked a favour of him; If you have a mind to cast us out, they said, send us into the herd of swine. He said to them, Away with you; and they came out and went into the herd of swine; and with that, all the herd rushed down the cliff into the sea, and perished in its waters. The swineherds fled to the city, and there told all that had happened and the story of those who had been possessed. And thereupon all the townspeople went out to meet Jesus; and when they found him, they entreated him to leave their country.
So he took ship across the sea, and came to his own city. And now they brought before him a man who was palsied and bed-ridden; whereupon Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the palsied man, Son, take courage, your sins are forgiven. And at this, some of the scribes said to themselves, He is talking blasphemously. Jesus read their minds, and said, Why do you cherish wicked thoughts in your hearts? Tell me, which command is more lightly given, to say to a man, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise up, and walk? And now, to convince you that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins while he is on earth (here he spoke to the palsied man), Rise up, take your bed with you, and go home. And he rose up, and went back to his house, so that the multitudes were filled with awe at seeing it, and praised God for giving such powers to men.
As he passed further on his way, Jesus saw a man called Matthew sitting at work in the customs-house, and said to him, Follow me; and Matthew rose from his place and followed him. And afterwards, when he was taking a meal in the house, many publicans and sinners were to be found at table with him and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this, and asked his disciples, How comes it that your master eats with publicans and sinners? Jesus heard it, and said, It is not those who are in health that have need of the physician, it is those who are sick. Go home and find out what the words mean, It is mercy that wins favour with me, not sacrifice. I have come to call sinners, not the just.
Then John's disciples came to him, and asked, How is it that your disciples do not fast, when we and the Pharisees fast so often? To them Jesus said, Can you expect the men of the bridegroom's company to go mourning, while the bridegroom is still with them? No, the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; then they will fast. Nobody uses a piece of new cloth to patch an old cloak; that would take away from the cloak all its pattern, and make the rent in it worse than before. Nor is new wine put into old wine-skins; if that is done, the skins burst, and there is the wine spilt and the skins spoiled. If the wine is new, it is put into fresh wine-skins, and so both are kept safe.
While he thus spoke to them, it chanced is that one of the rulers came and knelt before him, and said, Lord, my daughter is this moment dead; come now and lay your hand on her, and she will live. So Jesus rose up and went after him, and so did his disciples. And now a woman who for twelve years had been troubled with an issue of blood, came up behind him and touched the hem of his cloak; she said to herself, If I can even touch the hem of his cloak, I shall be healed. Jesus turned and caught sight of her; and he said, Have no fear, my daughter, your faith has brought you healing. And the woman recovered her health from that hour. So Jesus came into the ruler's house, where he found mourners playing the flute, and the multitude thronging noisily; and he said, Make room there; the child is not dead, she is asleep; and they laughed aloud at him. But when the multitude had been turned away, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she rose up. And the story of these doings spread abroad through all the country round.
As Jesus was passing further on his way, he was followed by two blind men, who cried aloud, Son of David, have pity on us. These blind men came to him when he had gone into his lodging, and Jesus said to them, Have you the faith to believe that I can do this? And they said to him, Yes, Lord. Thereupon, he touched their eyes, and said, Your faith shall not be disappointed. Then their eyes were opened; and Jesus laid a strict charge on them, telling them, Be sure nobody hears of this. But they had no sooner gone out than they talked of him in all the country round. And it chanced that, as they were going, a dumb man was brought to him, possessed with a devil. The devil was cast out, and the dumb man found speech; at which the multitudes were filled with amazement; Nothing like this, they said, was ever seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said, It is the prince of the devils that enables him to cast the devils out.
So Jesus went about all their cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every kind of disease and infirmity. Yet still, when he looked at the multitudes, he was moved with pity for them, seeing them harried and abject, like sheep that have no shepherd. Thereupon he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful enough, but the labourers are few; you must ask the Lord to whom the harvest belongs to send labourers out for the harvesting.
So he called his twelve disciples to him, and gave them authority to cast out unclean spirits, and to heal every kind of disease and infirmity. These are the names of the twelve apostles; first, Simon, also called Peter, then his brother Andrew, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the publican, James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot, the traitor.
These twelve Jesus sent out; but first gave them their instructions; Do not go, he said, into the walks of the Gentiles, or enter any city of Samaria; go rather to the lost sheep that belong to the house of Israel. And preach as you go, telling them, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils: give as you have received the gift, without payment. Do not provide gold or silver or copper to fill your purses, nor a wallet for the journey, no second coat, no spare shoes or staff; the labourer has a right to his maintenance. Whenever you enter a city or a village, find out who is worthy to be your host, and make your lodging there until you go away. When you enter this house, you are to wish it well; and so, if the house is worthy, your good wishes shall come down upon it; if unworthy, let them come back to you the way they went. And wherever they will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that city or that house; I promise you, it shall go less hard with the land of Sodom and Gomorrha at the day of judgement, than with that city.
Remember, I am sending you out to be like sheep among wolves; you must be wary, then, as serpents, and yet innocent as doves. Do not put your trust in men; they will hand you over to courts of judgement, and scourge you in their synagogues; yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, so that you can bear witness before them, and before the Gentiles. Only, when they hand you over thus, do not consider anxiously what you are to say or how you are to say it; words will be given you when the time comes; it is not you who speak, it is the Spirit of your Father that speaks in you. Brothers will be given up to execution by their brothers, and children by their fathers; children will rise up against their parents and will compass their deaths, and you will be hated by all men because you bear my name; that man will be saved, who endures to the last. Only, if they persecute you in one city, take refuge in another; I promise you, the Son of Man will come, before your task with the cities of Israel is ended.
A disciple is no better than his master, a servant than his lord; enough that the disciple should fare like his master, the servant like his lord. If they have cried Beelzebub at the master of the house, they will do it much more readily to the men of his household. Do not, then, be afraid of them. What is veiled will all be revealed, what is hidden will all be known; what I have said to you under cover of darkness, you are to utter in the light of day; what has been whispered in your ears, you are to proclaim on the house-tops. And there is no need to fear those who kill the body, but have no means of killing the soul; fear him more, who has the power to ruin body and soul in hell. Are not sparrows sold two for a penny? And yet it is impossible for one of them to fall to the ground without your heavenly Father's will. And as for you, he takes every hair of your head into his reckoning. Do not be afraid, then; you count for more than a host of sparrows. And now, whoever acknowledges me before men, I too will acknowledge him before my Father who is in heaven; and whoever disowns me before men, before my Father in heaven I too will disown him.
Do not imagine that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have come to bring a sword, not peace. I have come to set a man at variance with his father, and the daughter with her mother, and the daughter-in-law with her mother-in-law; a man's enemies will be the people of his own house. He is not worthy of me, that loves father or mother more; he is not worthy of me, that loves son or daughter more; he is not worthy of me, that does not take up his cross and follow me. He who secures his own life will lose it; it is the man who loses his life for my sake that will secure it. He who gives you welcome, gives me welcome too; and he who gives me welcome gives welcome to him that sent me. He who gives a prophet the welcome due to a prophet shall receive the reward given to prophets; and he who gives a just man the welcome due to a just man shall receive the reward given to just men. And if a man gives so much as a draught of cold water to one of the least of these here, because he is a disciple of mine, I promise you, he shall not miss his reward.
When Jesus had done giving instructions to his twelve disciples, he left the place where he was, to teach and preach in their cities. Now John had heard in his prison of Christ's doings, and he sent two of his disciples to him; Is it your coming that was foretold, he asked, or are we yet waiting for some other? Jesus answered them, Go and tell John what your own ears and eyes have witnessed; how the blind see, and the lame walk, how the lepers are made clean, and the deaf hear, how the dead are raised to life, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Blessed is the man who does not lose confidence in me.
As they went out, Jesus took occasion to speak of John to the multitudes; What was it, he asked, that you expected to see when you went out into the wilderness? Was it a reed trembling in the wind? No, not that; what was it you went out to see? Was it a man clad in silk? You must look in kings' palaces for men that go clad in silk. What was it, then, that you went out to see? A prophet? Yes, and something more, I tell you, than a prophet. This is the man of whom it was written, Behold, I am sending before you that angel of mine, who is to prepare the way for your coming. Believe me, God has raised up no greater son of woman than John the Baptist; and yet to be least in the kingdom of heaven is to be greater than he. Ever since John the Baptist's time, the kingdom of heaven has opened to force; and the forceful are even now making it their prize; whereas all the prophets and the law, before John's time, could only speak of things that were to come. And this I tell you, if you will make room for it in your minds, that he is that Elias whose coming was prophesied. Listen, you that have ears to hear with. As for this generation, to what shall I compare it? It reminds me of those children who call out to their companions as they sit in the market-place, and say, You would not dance when we piped to you, or beat the breast when we wept to you. When John came, he would neither eat nor drink, and they say of him that he is possessed. When the Son of Man came, he ate and drank with them, and of him they said, Here is a glutton; he loves wine; he is a friend of publicans and sinners. It is by her own children that wisdom is vindicated.
Thereupon he took occasion to reproach for their impenitence the cities in which he had done most of his miracles: Woe to you, Corozain, woe to you, Bethsaida: Tyre and Sidon would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago, if the miracles done in you had been done there instead. And I say this, that it shall go less hard with Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgement than with you. And you, Capharnaum, do you hope to be lifted up high as heaven? You shall fall low as hell. Sodom itself, if the miracles done in you had been done there, might have stood to this day. And I say this, that it shall go less hard with the country of Sodom at the day of judgement than with you. At that time Jesus said openly, Father, who are Lord of heaven and earth, I give you praise that you have hidden all this from the wise and the prudent, and revealed it to little children. Be it so, Father, since this finds favour in your sight. My Father has entrusted everything into my hands; none knows the Son truly except the Father, and none knows the Father truly except the Son, and those to whom it is the Son's good pleasure to reveal him.
Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened; I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon yourselves, and learn from me; I am gentle and humble of heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
At this time, Jesus was walking through the corn-fields on the sabbath day. And his disciples, who were hungry, fell to plucking the ears of corn and eating them. The Pharisees saw this, and said to him, Look, your disciples are doing a thing which it is not lawful to do on the sabbath. Whereupon he said to them, Have you never read of what David did, when he and his followers were hungry? How he went into the tabernacle, and ate the loaves set out there before God, although neither he nor his followers, nor anyone else except the priests had a right to eat them? Or again, have you not read in the law that the priests violate the sabbath rest in the temple, and none blames them? And I tell you there is one standing here who is greater than the temple. If you had found out what the words mean, It is mercy, not sacrifice, that wins favour with me, you would not have passed judgement on the guiltless. The Son of Man has even the sabbath at his disposal. So he went on his way, and afterwards came into their synagogue. And here there was a man who had one of his hands withered; and they asked Jesus whether it was lawful to do a work of healing on the sabbath, so that they might have a charge to bring against him. But he answered, Is there a man among you that has a sheep, who would not take hold of it and pull it out, if it should fall into a pit on the sabbath? And of what value is a sheep compared to a man? There is nothing unlawful, then, in doing a work of mercy on the sabbath day. And with that he said to the man. Stretch out your hand; and when he stretched it out, it was restored to him as sound as the other.
Thereupon the Pharisees left the synagogue, and plotted together to make away with him. Jesus was aware of this, and withdrew from the place; great multitudes followed him, and he healed all their diseases; but he laid a strict charge on them that they should not make him known. This he did to fulfil the word spoken by the prophet Isaias, Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen, my elect, with whom my soul is well pleased. I will lay my spirit upon him, and he shall proclaim Judgement among the Gentiles. He will not protest and cry out; none shall hear his voice in the streets. He will not snap the staff that is already crushed, or put out the wick that still smoulders, until the time comes when he crowns his judgement with victory. And the Gentiles will put their trust in his name.
Then they brought to him a man possessed, who was both blind and dumb; whom he cured, giving him both speech and sight. The multitudes were filled with amazement; Can this, they asked, be no other than the Son of David? But the Pharisees said, when they heard of it, It is only through the power of Beelzebub, the prince of the devils, that he casts the devils out. Whereupon Jesus, who knew what was in their thoughts, said to them, No kingdom can be at war with itself without being laid waste; no city or household that is at war with itself can stand firm. If it is Satan who casts Satan out, then Satan is at war with himself, and how is his kingdom to stand firm? Again, if it is through Beelzebub that I cast out devils, by what means do your own sons cast them out? It is for these, then, to pronounce judgement on you. But if, when I cast out devils, I do it through the Spirit of God, then it must be that the kingdom of God has already appeared among you. How is anyone to gain entrance into the house of a strong man and plunder his goods without first making the strong man his prisoner? Then he can plunder his house at will. He who is not with me, is against me; he who does not gather his store with me, scatters it abroad. And now I tell you this; there is pardon for all the other sins and blasphemies of men, but not for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. There is no one who blasphemes against the Son of Man but may find forgiveness; but for him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit there is no forgiveness, either in this world or in the world to come. Either tell us that the tree is sound and its fruit sound, or that the tree is withered and its fruit withered; the test of the tree is in its fruit. Brood of vipers, how could you speak to good effect, wicked as you are? It is from the heart's overflow that the mouth speaks; a good man utters good words from his store of goodness, the wicked man, from his store of wickedness, can utter nothing but what is evil. And I say this, that in the day of judgement men will be brought to account for every thoughtless word they have spoken. Your words will be matter to acquit, or matter to condemn you. Hereupon some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, Master, may we see a sign from you? He answered them, The generation that asks for a sign is a wicked and unfaithful generation; the only sign that will be given it is the sign of the prophet Jonas. Jonas was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea-beast, and the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineve will rise up with this generation at the day of judgement, and will leave it without excuse; for they did penance when Jonas preached to them, and behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south will rise up with this generation at the day of judgement, and will leave it without excuse; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
The unclean spirit, which has possessed a man and then goes out of him, walks about the desert looking for a resting place, and finds none; and it says, I will go back to my own dwelling, from which I came out. And it comes back, to find that dwelling empty, and swept out, and neatly set in order. Thereupon, it goes away, and brings in seven other spirits more wicked than itself to bear it company, and together they enter in and settle down there; so that the last state of that man is worse than the first. So it shall fare with this wicked generation.
While he was still speaking to the multitude, it chanced that his mother and his brethren were standing without, desiring speech with him. And someone told him, Here are your mother and your brethren standing without, looking for you. But he made answer to the man that brought him the news, Who is a mother, who are brethren, to me? Then he stretched out his hand towards his disciples, and said, Here are my mother and my brethren! If anyone does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.
That day, leaving the house, Jesus had sat down by the sea-shore, and great multitudes gathered about him, so that he went on board a ship and sat there instead, while the whole multitude remained standing on the beach. And he spoke to them long, in parables; Here, he began, is the sower gone out to sow. And as he sowed, there were grains that fell beside the path, so that all the birds came and ate them up. And others fell on rocky land, where the soil was shallow; they sprang up all at once, because they had not sunk deep in the ground; but as soon as the sun rose they were parched; they had taken no root, and so they withered away. Some fell among briers, so that the briers grew up, and smothered them. But others fell where the soil was good, and these yielded a harvest, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Listen, you that have ears to hear with.
And his disciples came to him, and said, Why do you speak to them in parables? Because, he answered, it is granted to you to understand the secrets of God's kingdom, but not to these others. If a man is rich, gifts will be made to him, and his riches will abound; if he is poor, even the little he has will be taken from him. And if I talk to them in parables, it is because, though they have eyes, they cannot see, and though they have ears, they cannot hear or understand. Indeed, in them the prophecy of Isaias is fulfilled, You will listen and listen, but for you there is no understanding; you will watch and watch, but for you there is no perceiving. The heart of this people has become dull, their ears are slow to listen, and they keep their eyes shut, so that they may never see with those eyes, or hear with those ears, or understand with that heart, and turn back to me, and win healing from me.
But blessed are your eyes, for they have sight; blessed are your ears, for they have hearing. And, believe me, there have been many prophets and just men who have longed to see what you see, and never saw it, to hear what you hear, and never heard it.
The parable of the sower, then, is for your hearing. Wherever a man hears the word by which the kingdom is preached, but does not grasp it, the evil one comes and carries off what was sown in his heart; his was the wayside sowing. The man who took in the seed in rocky ground is the man who hears the word and at once entertains it gladly; but there is no root in him, and he does not last long; no sooner does tribulation or persecution arise over the word, than his faith is shaken. And the man who took in the seed in the midst of briers is the man who hears the word, but allows the cares of this world and the false charms of riches to stifle it, so that it remains fruitless. Whereas the man who took in the seed in good soil is the man who both hears and grasps it; such men are fruitful, one grain yielding a hundredfold, one sixtyfold, one thirtyfold.
And he put before them another parable; Here is an image, he said, of the kingdom of heaven. There was a man who sowed his field with clean seed; but while all the world was asleep, an enemy of his came and scattered tares among the wheat, and was gone. So, when the blade had sprung up and come into ear, the tares, too, came to light; and the farmer's men went to him and said, Sir, was it not clean seed you sowed in your field? How comes it, then, that there are tares in it? He said, An enemy has done it. And his men asked him, Would you then have us go and gather them up? But he said, No; or perhaps while you are gathering the tares you will root up the wheat with them. Leave them to grow side by side till harvest, and when harvest-time comes I will give the word to the reapers, Gather up the tares first, and tie them in bundles to be burned, and store the wheat in my barn.
Then he put before them another parable. The kingdom of heaven, he said, is like a grain of mustard seed, that a man has taken and sowed in his ground; of all seeds, none is so little, but when it grows up it is greater than any garden herb; it grows into a tree, so that all the birds come and settle in its branches. And he told them still another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, that a woman has taken and buried away in three measures of meal, enough to leaven the whole batch. All this Jesus said to the multitude in parables, and would say it in parables only, so fulfilling the words which were spoken by the prophet, I will speak my mind in parables, I will give utterance to things which have been kept secret from the beginning of the world.
Then he sent the multitude away, and went back into the house. There his disciples came to him, and said, Explain to us the parable of the tares in the field. He answered, It is the Son of Man that sows the good seed. The field is the world, and the sons of the kingdom are the good seed; the sons of the wicked one are the tares. The enemy that sowed them is the devil, and the end of the world is the harvest; it is reaped by the angels. The tares were gathered together and burned in the fire, and so it will be when the world is brought to an end; the Son of Man will give charge to his angels, and they will gather up all that gives offence in his kingdom, all those who do wickedly in it, and will cast them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping, and gnashing of teeth. Then, at last, the just will shine out, clear as the sun, in their Father's kingdom. Listen, you that have ears to hear with.
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field; a man has found it and hidden it again, and now, for the joy it gives him, is going home to sell all that he has and buy that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is as if a trader were looking for rare pearls: and now he has found one pearl of great cost, and has sold all that he had and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea, and enclosed fish of every kind at once; when it was full, the fishermen drew it up, and sat down on the beach, where they stored all that was worth keeping in the buckets, and threw the useless kind away. So it will be when the world is brought to an end; the angels will go out and separate the wicked from the just, and will cast them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping, and gnashing of teeth. Have you grasped all this? Yes, Lord, they said to him. And he said to them, Every scholar, then, whose learning is of the kingdom of heaven must be like a rich man, who knows how to bring both new and old things out of his treasure house.
Afterwards, when he had finished these parables, Jesus journeyed on, and came to his own countryside, where he taught them in their synagogue; so that they said in astonishment, How did he come by this wisdom, and these strange powers? Is not this the carpenter's son, whose mother is called Mary, and his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And do not his sisters, all of them, live near us? How is it that all this has come to him? And they had no confidence in him. But Jesus told them, It is only in his own country, in his own home, that a prophet goes unhonoured. Nor did he do many miracles there, because of their unbelief.
At this time Herod, who ruled in that quarter, heard what was told of Jesus. And he said to his men, This is no other than John the Baptist, he has risen from the dead, and that is why these powers are active in him. For Herod himself had arrested John and put him in chains and thrown him into prison, for love of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because John told him, It is wrong for you to take her. And he would willingly have put him to death, but was prevented by fear of the multitude, who looked upon John as a prophet. Then, at the celebration of Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before them all, and Herod was so well pleased with her that he promised, on oath, to grant her whatever request she made. She had been prompted beforehand by her mother; Give me, she said, the head of John the Baptist; give it me here on a dish. And the king was stricken with remorse; but, out of respect for his oath and for those who sat with him at table, he granted her request, and so had John beheaded in his prison. His head was brought in on a dish, and given to the girl, and she carried it off to her mother. But his disciples gained access to the body, which they took away and buried, and came to tell the news to Jesus.
Jesus, when he had heard it, took ship from the place where he was, and withdrew into desert country, to be alone; but the multitudes from the towns heard of it, and followed him there by land. So, when he disembarked, he found a great multitude there, and he took pity on them, and healed those who were sick. And now it was evening, and his disciples came to him and said, This is a lonely place, and it is past the accustomed hour; give the multitudes leave to go into the villages and buy themselves food there. But Jesus told them, There is no need for them to go away; it is for you to give them food to eat. They answered, We have nothing with us, except five loaves and two fishes. Bring them to me here, he said; then he told the multitudes to sit down on the grass, and when the five loaves and the two fishes were brought to him he looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples; and the disciples gave them to the multitude. All ate and had enough, and when they picked up what was left of the broken pieces they filled twelve baskets with them; about five thousand men had eaten, not reckoning women and children.
As soon as this was done, he prevailed upon his disciples to take ship and cross to the other side before him, leaving him to send the multitudes home. When he had finished sending them home, he went up by himself on to the hill-side, to pray there; twilight had come, and he remained there alone. Meanwhile the ship was already half-way across the sea, hard put to it by the waves, for the wind was against them. And then, when the night had reached its fourth quarter, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea. When they saw him walking on the sea, the disciples were terrified; they said, It is an apparition, and cried out for fear. But all at once Jesus spoke to them; Take courage, he said, it is myself; do not be afraid. And Peter answered him, Lord, if it is yourself, bid me come to you over the water. He said, Come; and Peter let himself down out of the ship and walked over the water to reach Jesus. Then, seeing how strong the wind was, he lost courage and began to sink; whereupon he cried aloud, Lord, save me. And Jesus at once stretched out his hand and caught hold of him, saying to him, Why did you hesitate, man of little faith? So they went on board the ship, and thereupon the wind dropped. And the ship's crew came and said, falling at his feet, You are indeed the Son of God.
When they had crossed, they reached the country of Genesar; and the inhabitants of that place, recognizing him, sent into all the country round, and brought to him all those who were in affliction; and they entreated him that they might be allowed to touch even the hem of his garments. And everyone who touched him was restored to health.
After this, Jesus was approached by the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem, who asked: Why is it that your disciples violate the traditions of our ancestors? They do not wash their hands when they eat. He answered them, Why is it that you yourselves violate the commandment of God with your traditions? God has said, Honour your father and your mother; and again, He who curses his father or mother dies without hope of reprieve. Whereas you say, If a man says to his father or mother, The offering which I make to God is all the advantage you will have from me, then father or mother can get no service from him. So by these traditions of yours you have made God's law ineffectual. You hypocrites, it was a true prophecy Isaias made of you, when he said, This people does me honour with its lips, but its heart is far from me. Their worship of me is vain, for the doctrines they teach are the commandments of men.
Then he gathered the multitude about him, and said to them, Listen to this, and grasp what it means. It is not what goes into a man's mouth that makes him unclean; what makes a man unclean is what comes out of his mouth. Thereupon his disciples came and said to him, Do you know that the Pharisees, when they heard your saying, took it amiss? He answered, No plant but must be rooted up, if my heavenly Father has not planted it. Let them say what they will; they are blind men leading the blind, and when one blind man leads another, they will fall into the ditch together. Peter answered him, Explain this parable to us. What, he said, are you still without wits? Do you not observe that any uncleanness which finds its way into a man's mouth travels down into his belly, and so is cast into the sewer; whereas all that comes out of his mouth comes from the heart, and it is that which makes a man unclean? It is from the heart that his wicked designs come, his sins of murder, adultery, fornication, theft, perjury and blasphemy. It is these make a man unclean; he is not made unclean by eating without washing his hands.
After this, Jesus left those parts and withdrew into the neighbourhood of Tyre and Sidon. And here a woman, a Chanaanite by birth, who came from that country, cried aloud, Have pity on me, Lord, you son of David. My daughter is cruelly troubled by an evil spirit. He gave her no word in answer; but his disciples came to him and pleaded with him; Rid us of her, they said, she is following us with her cries. And he answered, My errand is only to the lost sheep that are of the house of Israel. Then the woman came up and said, falling at his feet, Lord, help me. He answered, It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. Ah yes, Lord, she said; the dogs feed on the crumbs that fall from their masters' table. And at that Jesus answered her, Woman, for this great faith of yours, let your will be granted. And from that hour her daughter was cured.
Then Jesus left that country, and passed along the sea of Galilee, and went up into the mountain and sat down there. Great multitudes came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the deaf, the crippled, and many besides, whom they laid at his feet; and he healed them: so that the multitudes were amazed to find the dumb speaking, the lame walking, and the blind recovering their sight; and they praised the God of Israel for it.
But now Jesus called his disciples, and said, I am moved with pity for the multitude; it is three days now since they have been in attendance on me, and they have nothing to eat. I must not send them away fasting, or perhaps they will grow faint on their journey. His disciples said to him, Where could we find loaves enough in a desert to feed such a multitude? And Jesus asked them, How many loaves have you? Seven, they said, and a few small fishes. Thereupon he bade the multitude sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves and the fishes with them, and when he had blessed and broken he gave these to his disciples, and his disciples to the multitude. And they all ate and had enough; and they took up what was left of the broken pieces, seven hampers full. Four thousand men had eaten, not reckoning women and children. And so, taking leave of the multitude, he went on board the ship, and crossed to the region of Magedan.
And the Pharisees and Sadducees came and put him to the test, asking him to show them a sign from heaven. But he answered them, When evening comes, you say, It is fair weather, the sky is red; or at sunrise, There will be a storm to-day, the sky is red and lowering. You know, then, how to read the face of heaven; can you not read the signs of appointed times? It is a wicked and unfaithful generation that asks for a sign; the only sign that will be given to it is the sign of the prophet Jonas. And so he went on his way and left them.
And they crossed the sea, and his disciples found that they had forgotten to take bread with them. So, when Jesus said to them, See that you have nothing to do with the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, they were anxious in their minds; We have brought no bread, they said. Jesus knew it, and said to them, Men of little faith, what is this anxiety in your minds, that you have brought no bread with you? Have you no wits even now, or have you forgotten the five thousand and their five loaves, and the number of baskets you filled? Or the four thousand and their seven loaves, and the number of hampers you filled then? How could you suppose that I was thinking of bread, when I said, Have nothing to do with the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees? Then they understood that his warning was against the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees, not against leavened bread.
Then Jesus came into the neighbourhood of Caesarea Philippi; and there he asked his disciples, What do men say of the Son of Man? Who do they think he is? Some say John the Baptist, they told him, others Elias, others again, Jeremy or one of the prophets. Jesus said to them, And what of you? Who do you say that I am? Then Simon Peter answered, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jona; it is not flesh and blood, it is my Father in heaven that has revealed this to you. And I tell you this is my turn, that you are Peter, and it is upon this rock that I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; and I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then he strictly forbade them to tell any man that he, Jesus, was the Christ.
From that time onwards Jesus began to make it known to his disciples that he must go up to Jerusalem, and there, with much ill usage from the chief priests and elders and scribes, must be put to death, and rise again on the third day. Whereupon Peter, drawing him to his side, began remonstrating with him; Never, Lord, he said; no such thing shall befall you. At which he turned round and said to Peter, Back, Satan; you are a stone in my path; for these thoughts of yours are man's, not God's. Jesus also said to his disciples, If any man has a mind to come my way, let him renounce self, and take up his cross, and follow me. The man who tries to save his life shall lose it; it is the man who loses his life for my sake that will secure it. How is a man the better for it, if he gains the whole world at the cost of losing his own soul? For a man's soul, what price can be high enough? The Son of Man will come hereafter in his Father's glory with his angels about him, and he will recompense everyone, then, according to his works. Believe me, there are those standing here who will not taste of death before they have seen the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
Six days afterwards Jesus took Peter and James and his brother John with him, and led them up on to a high mountain where they were alone. And he was transfigured in their presence, his face shining like the sun, and his garments becoming white as snow; and all at once they had sight of Moses and Elias conversing with him. Then Peter said aloud to Jesus, Lord, it is well that we should be here; if it pleases you, let us make three arbours in this place, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elias. Even before he had finished speaking, a shining cloud overshadowed them. And now, there was a voice which said to them out of the cloud. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; to him, then, listen. The disciples, when they heard it, fell on their faces, overcome with fear; but Jesus came near and roused them with his touch; Arise, he said, do not be afraid. And they lifted up their eyes, and saw no man there but Jesus only.
And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus warned them, Do not tell anybody of what you have seen, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead. And his disciples asked him, Tell us, why is it that the scribes say Elias must come before Christ? He answered, Elias must needs come and restore all things as they were; but I tell you this, that Elias has come already, and they did not recognize him, but misused him at their pleasure, just as the Son of Man is to suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that he had been speaking to them of John the Baptist.
When they reached the multitude, a man came up and knelt before him: Lord, he said, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic, and in great affliction; he will often throw himself into the fire, and often into water. I brought him here to your disciples, but they have not been able to cure him. Jesus answered, Ah, faithless and misguided generation, how long must I be with you, how long must I bear with you? Bring him here before me. And Jesus checked him with a word, and the devil came out of him; and from that hour the boy was cured. Afterwards, when they were alone, the disciples came to Jesus and asked. Why was it that we could not cast it out? Jesus said to them, Because you had no faith. I promise you, if you have faith, though it be but like a grain of mustard seed, you have only to say to this mountain, Remove from this place to that, and it will remove; nothing will be impossible to you. But there is no way of casting out such spirits as this except by prayer and fasting.
While they were still together in Galilee, Jesus told them, The Son of Man is to be given up into the hands of men. They will put him to death, and he will rise again on the third day. And they were overcome with sorrow.
And when they reached Capharnaum, the collectors of the Temple pence approached Peter, and asked, Does not your master pay the Temple pence? Yes, he said. Soon afterwards he came into the house, and Jesus forestalled him; Simon, he said, tell us what you think; on whom do earthly kings impose customs and taxes, on their own sons, or on strangers? On strangers, Peter told him; and Jesus said to him, Why then, the children go free. But we will not hurt their consciences, go down to the sea, and cast your hook; take out the first fish you draw up, and when you have opened its mouth you will find a silver coin there; with this make payment to them for me and for yourself.
The disciples came to Jesus at this time and said, Tell us, who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Whereupon Jesus called to his side a little child, to whom he gave a place in the midst of them, and said, Believe me, unless you become like little children again, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. He is greatest in the kingdom of heaven who will abase himself like this little child. He who gives welcome to such a child as this in my name, gives welcome to me. And if anyone hurts the conscience of one of these little ones, that believe in me, he had better have been drowned in the depths of the sea, with a mill-stone hung about his neck. Woe to the world, for the hurt done to consciences! It must needs be that such hurt should come, but woe to the man through whom it comes! If your hand or your foot is an occasion of falling to you, cut it off and cast it away from you; better for you to enter into life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet when you are cast into eternal fire. And if your eye is an occasion of falling to you, pluck it out and cast it away from you; better for you to enter into life with one eye, than to have two eyes when you are cast into the fires of hell. See to it that you do not treat one of these little ones with contempt; I tell you, they have angels of their own in heaven, that behold the face of my heavenly Father continually. The Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. Tell me this, if a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave those ninety-nine others on the mountain-side, and go out to look for the one that is straying? And if, by good fortune, he finds it, he rejoices more, believe me, over that one, than over the ninetynine which never strayed from him. So too it is not your heavenly Father's pleasure that one of these little ones should be lost.
If your brother does you wrong, go at once and tax him with it, as a private matter between you and him; and so, if he will listen to you, you have won your brother. If he will not listen to you, take with you one or two more, that the whole matter may be certified by the voice of two or three witnesses. If he will not listen to them, then speak of it to the church; and if he will not even listen to the church, then count him all one with the heathen and the publican. I promise you, all that you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and all that you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And moreover I tell you, that if two of you agree over any request that you make on earth, it will be granted them by my Father who is in heaven. Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them.
Then Peter came to him and asked, Lord, how often must I see my brother do me wrong, and still forgive him; as much as seven times? Jesus said to him, I tell you to forgive, not seven wrongs, but seventy times seven. Here is an image of the kingdom of heaven; there was a king who resolved to enter into a reckoning with his servants, and had scarcely begun the reckoning, when one was brought before him who was ten thousand talents in his debt. He had no means of making payment; whereupon his master gave orders that he should be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and so the debt should be paid. With that the servant fell at his feet and said, Have patience with me, and I will pay you in full. And his master, moved with pity for him, let the servant go and discharged him of his debt. So the servant went out, and met with a fellow-servant of his, who owed him a hundred pieces of silver; whereupon he caught hold of him and took him by the throat, and said, Pay me all you owe me. His fellow-servant went down on his knees in entreaty; Have patience with me, he said, and I will pay you in full. But the other refused; he went away and committed him to prison for such time as the debt was unpaid. The rest of the servants were full of indignation when they saw this done, and went in to tell their master what had happened. And so he was summoned by his master, who said to him, I remitted all that debt of yours, you wicked servant, at your entreaty; was it not your duty to have mercy on your fellow-servant, as I had mercy on you? And his master, in anger, gave him over to be tortured until the debt was paid. It is thus that my heavenly Father will deal with you, if brother does not forgive brother with all his heart.
Afterwards, when he had finished saying all this, Jesus removed from Galilee and came into that part of Judaea which lies beyond the Jordan. Great multitudes went with him, and he healed them there. Then the Pharisees came to him, and put him to the test by asking, Is it right for a man to put away his wife, for whatever cause? He answered, Have you never read, how he who created them, when they first came to be, created them male and female; and how he said, A man, therefore, will leave his father and mother and will cling to his wife, and the two will become one flesh? And so they are no longer two, they are one flesh; what God, then, has joined, let not man put asunder. Why then, they said, did Moses enjoin that a man might give his wife a writ of separation, and then he might put her away? He told them, It was to suit your hard hearts that Moses allowed you to put your wives away; it was not so at the beginning of things. And I tell you that he who puts away his wife, not for any unfaithfulness of hers, and so marries another, commits adultery; and he too commits adultery, who marries her after she has ben put away. At this, his disciples said to him, If the case stands so between man and wife, it is better not to marry at all. That conclusion, he said, cannot be taken in by everybody, but only by those who have the gift. There are some eunuchs, who were so born from the mother's womb, some were made so by men, and some have made themselves so for love of the kingdom of heaven; take this in, you whose hearts are large enough for it.
Then they brought children to him, so that he might lay his hands on them in prayer; and his disciples rebuked them for it. But Jesus said, Let the children be, do not keep them back from me; the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. And so he laid his hands on them, and went on his way.
And now a man came to him, and said, Master, who are so good, what good must I do to win eternal life? He said to him, Why do you come to me to ask of goodness? God is good, and he only. If you have a mind to enter into life, keep the commandments. Which commandments? he asked. Jesus said, You shall do no murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honour your father and your mother, and You shall love your neighbour as yourself. I have kept all these, the young man told him, ever since I grew up; where is it that I am still wanting? Jesus said to him, If you have a mind to be perfect, go home and sell all that belongs to you; give it to the poor, and so the treasure you have shall be in heaven; then come back and follow me. When he heard this, the young man went away sad at heart, for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, Believe me, a rich man will not enter God's kingdom easily. And once again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to pass through a needle's eye, than for a man to enter the kingdom of heaven when he is rich. At hearing this, the disciples were thrown into great bewilderment; Why then, they asked, who can be saved? Jesus fastened his eyes on them, and said to them, Such a thing is impossible to man's powers, but to God all things are possible.
Hereupon Peter took occasion to say, And what of us who have forsaken all, and followed you; what is left for us? Jesus said to them, I promise you, in the new birth, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory, you also shall sit there on twelve thrones, you who have followed me, and shall be judges over the twelve tribes of Israel. And every man that has forsaken home, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name's sake, shall receive his reward a hundredfold, and obtain everlasting life. But many will be first that were last, and last that were first.
Here is an image of the kingdom of heaven; a rich man went out at day-break to hire labourers for work in his vineyard; and when he sent them out into his vineyard he agreed with the labourers on a silver piece for the day's wages. About the third hour he came out again, and found others standing idle in the market-place; and to these also he said, Away with you to the vineyard like the others; you shall have whatever payment is fair. Away they went; and at noon, and once more at the ninth hour, he came out and did the like. Yet he found others standing there when he came out at the eleventh hour; How is it, he said to them, that you are standing here, and have done nothing all the day? They told him, It is because nobody has hired us; and he said, Away with you to the vineyard like the rest.
And now it was evening, and the owner of the vineyard said to his bailiff, Send for the workmen and pay them their wages, beginning with the last comers and going back to the first. And so the men who were hired about the eleventh hour came forward, and each was paid a silver piece. So that when the others came, who were hired first, they hoped to receive more. But they were paid a silver piece each, like their fellows. And they were indignant with the rich man over their pay. Here are these late-comers, they said, who have worked but one hour, and you have made no difference between them and us, who have borne the day's burden and the heat. But he answered one of them thus; My friend, I am not doing you a wrong; did we not agree on a silver piece for your wages? Take what is your due, and away with you; it is my pleasure to give as much to this latecomer as you. Am I not free to use my money as I will? Must you give me sour looks, because I am generous? So it is that they shall be first who were last, and they shall be last who were first. Many are called, but few are chosen.
And now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, and he took his twelve disciples aside on the way, and warned them. Now we are going up to Jerusalem; and there the Son of Man will be given up into the hands of the chief priests and scribes, who will condemn him to death. And these will give him up into the hands of the Gentiles, to be mocked and scourged and crucified; but on the third day he will rise again. Thereupon the mother of the sons of Zebedee brought them to him, falling on her knees to make a request of him. And when he asked her, What is your will? she said to him, Here are my two sons; grant that in your kingdom one may take his place on your right and the other on your left. But Jesus answered, You do not know what it is you ask. Have you strength to drink of the cup I am to drink of ? They said, We have. And he told them, You shall indeed drink of my cup; but a place on my right hand or my left is not mine to give; it is for those for whom my Father has destined it. The ten others were angry with the two brethren when they heard it; but Jesus called them to him, and said, You know that, among the Gentiles, those who bear rule lord it over them, and great men vaunt their power over them; with you it must be otherwise; whoever would be a great man among you, must be your servant, and whoever has a mind to be first among you must be your slave. So it is that the Son of Man did not come to have service done him; he came to serve others, and to give his life as a ransom for the lives of many.
When they were leaving Jericho, there was a great multitude that followed him. And there, by the road-side, sat two blind folk, who heard of Jesus' passing by, and cried aloud, Lord, son of David, have pity on us. The multitude rebuked them, bidding them be silent; but they cried out all the more, Son of David, Lord, have pity on us. Then Jesus stopped, and called them to him; What would you have me do for you? he asked, Lord, they said to him, we would have our eyes opened. And Jesus, moved with compassion, touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight, and followed after him.
When they were near Jerusalem, and had reached Bethphage, which is close to mount Olivet, Jesus sent two of his disciples on an errand; Go into the village that faces you, he told them, and the first thing you will find there will be a she-ass tethered, and a foal at her side; untie them and bring them to me. And if anyone speaks to you about it, tell him, The Lord has need of them, and he will let you have them without more ado. All this was so ordained, to fulfil the word spoken by the prophet: Tell the daughter of Sion, Behold, your king is coming to you, humbly, riding on an ass, on a colt whose mother has borne the yoke. The disciples went and did as Jesus told them; they brought the she-ass and its colt, and saddled them with their garments, and bade Jesus mount. Most of the multitude spread their garments along the way, while others strewed the way with branches cut down from the trees. And the multitudes that went before him and that followed after him cried aloud, Hosanna for the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in heaven above. When he reached Jerusalem, the whole city was in a stir; Who is this? they asked. And the multitude answered, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth, in Galilee.
Then Jesus went into the temple of God, and drove out from it all those who sold and bought there, and overthrew the tables of the bankers, and the chairs of the pigeon-sellers; It is written, he told them, My house shall be known for a house of prayer, and you have made it into a den of thieves. And there were blind and lame men who came up to him in the temple, and he healed them there. The chief priests and scribes saw the miracles which he did, and the boys that cried aloud in the temple, Hosanna for the son of David, and they were greatly angered at it. Do you hear what these are saying? they asked. Yes, Jesus said to them, but have you never read the words, You have made the lips of children, of infants at the breast, vocal with praise? So he left them, and went out of the city to Bethany, where he made his lodging.
As he was returning to the city at daybreak, he was hungry: and, seeing a figtree by the road-side, he went up to it, and found nothing but leaves on it. And he said to it, Let no fruit ever grow on you hereafter; whereupon the fig-tree withered away. His disciples were amazed when they saw it; How suddenly it has withered away! they said. Jesus answered them, I promise you, if you have faith, and do not hesitate, you will be able to do more than I have done over the fig-tree; if you say to this mountain, Remove, and be cast into the sea, it will come about. If you will only believe, every gift you ask for in your prayer will be granted.
Afterwards he came into the temple; and while he was teaching there, the chief priests and elders approached him, asking, What is the authority by which you do these things, and who gave you this authority? Jesus answered them, I too have a question to ask; if you can tell me the answer, I will tell you in return what is the authority by which I do these things. Whence did John's baptism come, from heaven or from men? Whereupon they cast about in their minds; If we tell him it was from heaven, they said, he will ask us, Then why did you not believe him? And if we say it was from men, we have reason to be afraid of the people; they all look upon John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus, We cannot tell. He, in his turn, said, And you will not learn from me what is the authority by which I do these things. But tell me what you think; there was a man who had two sons, and when he went up to the first, and said, Away with you, my son, and work in my vineyard to-day, he answered; Not I, but he relented afterwards and went. Then he went up to the other, and said the like to him; and his answer was, I will, sir; but he did not go. Which of the two carried out his father's will? The first, they said. And Jesus said to them, Believe me, the publicans and the harlots are further on the road to God's kingdom than you. John came among you following all due observance, but could win no belief from you; the publicans believed him, and the harlots, but even when you saw that, you would not relent, and believe him.
Listen to another parable. There was a rich man who planted a vineyard; he walled it in, and dug a wine-press and built a tower in it, and then let it out to some vine-dressers, while he went on his travels. When vintage-time drew near, he sent his own servants on an errand to the vinedressers, to claim its revenues. Whereupon the vine-dressers laid hands upon his servants; one they beat, one they killed outright, one they stoned. And he sent other servants on a second errand, more than he had sent at first, but they were used no better. After that, he sent his own son to them; They will have reverence, he said, for my son. But when the vine-dressers found his son coming to them, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and seize upon the inheritance. And they laid hands on him, thrust him out from the vineyard, and killed him. And now, what will the owner of the vineyard do to those vine-dressers when he returns? They said, He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will let out the vineyard to other vine-dressers, who will pay him his due when the season comes. And Jesus said to them, Have you never read those words in the scriptures, The very stone which the builders rejected has become the chief stone at the corner; this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and given to a people which yields the revenues that belong to it. As for the stone, when a man falls against it, he will break his bones; when it falls upon him, it will scatter him like chaff. The chief priests and the Pharisees saw clearly, when they heard his parables, that it was of themselves he was speaking, and would gladly have laid hands on him, but they were afraid of the people, who looked upon him as a prophet.
And Jesus once more spoke to them in parables. Here is an image, he said, of the kingdom of heaven; there was once a king, who held a marriage-feast for his son, and sent out his servants with a summons to all those whom he had invited to the wedding; but they would not come. Then he sent other servants with a fresh summons, bidding them tell those who had been invited, By this, I have prepared my feast, the oxen have been killed, and the fatlings, all is ready now; come to the wedding. But still they paid no heed, and went off on other errands, one to his farm in the country, and another to his trading; and the rest laid hands upon his servants, and insulted and killed them. The king fell into a rage when he heard of it, and sent out his troops to put those murderers to death, and burn their city. After this, he said to his servants, Here is the marriage-feast all ready, and those who had been invited have proved unworthy of it. You must go out to the street-corners, and invite all whom you find there to the wedding. And his servants went out into the streets, where they mustered all they could find, rogues and honest men together; and so the wedding had its full tale of guests. But when the king came in to look at the company, he saw a man there who had no wedding-garment on; My friend, he said, how did you come to be here without a wedding-garment? And he made no reply. Whereupon the king said to his servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him out into the darkness, where there shall be weeping, and gnashing of teeth. Many are called, but few are chosen.
After this the Pharisees withdrew, and plotted together, to make him betray himself in his talk. And they sent their own disciples to him, with those who were of Herod's party, and said, Master, we know well that you are sincere, and teach in all sincerity the way of God; that you hold no one in awe, making no distinction between man and man; tell us, then, is it right to pay tribute to Caesar, or not? Jesus saw their malice; Hypocrites, he said, why do you thus put me to the test? Show me the coinage in which the tribute is paid. So they brought him a silver piece, and he asked them, Whose is this likeness? Whose name is inscribed on it? Caesar's, they said; whereupon he answered. Why then, give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. And they went away and left him in peace, full of admiration at his words.
On that day, too, he was approached with a question by the Sadducees, men who say that there is no resurrection; Master, they said, Moses told us, If a man leaves no children when he dies, his brother shall marry the widow by right of kinship, and beget children in the dead brother's name. We had seven brothers once in our country, of whom the first died, a married man without issue, bequeathing his wife to the second. And the same befell the second brother, and then the third, and in the end all seven, the woman dying last of all. And now, when the dead rise again, which of the seven will be her husband, since she was wife to them all? Jesus answered them, You are wrong; you do not understand the scriptures, or what is the power of God. When the dead rise again, there is no marrying and giving in marriage; they are as the angels in heaven are. But now, in the matter of the resurrection, did you never read what God himself said: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? Yet it is of living men, not of dead men, that he is God. This the multitude heard, and were amazed by his teaching.
And now the Pharisees, hearing how he had put the Sadducees to silence, met together; and one of them, a lawyer, put a question to try him: Master, which commandment in the law is the greatest? Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and your whole soul and your whole mind. This is the greatest of the commandments, and the first. And the second, its like, is this. You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments, all the law and the prophets depend. Then, while the Pharisees were still gathered about him, Jesus asked them: What is your opinion concerning Christ? Whose son is he to be? They told him, David's. How is it then, said he, that David is moved by the Spirit to call him Master, when he says: The Lord said to my Master, Sit on my right hand while I make your enemies a footstool under your feet? David calls Christ his Master; how can he be also his son? None could find a word to say in answer to him, nor did anyone dare, after that day, to try him with further questions.
After this, Jesus addressed himself to the multitudes, and to his disciples; The scribes and Pharisees, he said, have established themselves in the place from which Moses used to teach; do what they tell you, then, continue to observe what they tell you, but do not imitate their actions, for they tell you one thing and do another. They fasten up packs too heavy to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders ; they themselves will not stir a finger to lift them. They act, always, so as to be a mark for men's eyes. Boldly written are the texts they carry, and deep is the hem of their garments; their heart is set on taking the chief places at table and the first seats in the synagogue, and having their hands kissed in the market-place, and being called Rabbi among their fellow men. You are not to claim the title of Rabbi; you have but one Master, and you are all brethren alike. Nor are you to call any man on earth your father; you have but one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called teachers; you have one teacher, Christ. Among you, the greatest of all is to be the servant of all; the man who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.
Woe upon you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites that shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in men's faces; you will neither enter yourselves, nor let others enter when they would. Woe upon you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites that swallow up the property of widows, under cover of your long prayers; your sentence will be all the heavier for that. Woe upon you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites that encompass sea and land to gain a single proselyte, and then make the proselyte twice as worthy of damnation as yourselves. Woe upon you, blind leaders, who say, If a man swears by the temple, it goes for nothing; if he swears by the gold in the temple, his oath stands. Blind fools, which is greater, the gold, or the temple that consecrates the gold? And again, If a man swears by the altar it goes for nothing; if he swears by the gift on the altar, his oath stands. Blind fools, which is greater, the gift, or the altar that consecrates the gift? The man who swears by the altar swears at the same time by all that is on it. The man who swears by the temple swears at the same time by him who has made it his dwelling-place. And the man who swears by heaven swears not only by God's throne, but by him who sits upon it.
Woe upon you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites that will award to God his tithe, though it be of mint or dill or cummin, and have forgotten the weightier commandments of the law, justice, mercy, and honour; you did ill to forget one duty while you performed the other; you blind leaders, that have a strainer for the gnat, and then swallow the camel! Woe upon you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites that scour the outward part of cup and dish, while all within is running with avarice and incontinence. Scour the inside of cup and dish first, you blind Pharisee, that so the outside, too, may become clean. Woe upon you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites that are like whitened sepulchres, fair in outward show, when they are full of dead men's bones and all manner of corruption within; you too seem exact over your duties, outwardly, to men's eyes, while there is nothing within but hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe upon you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites that build up the tombs of the prophets and engrave the monuments of the just; If we had lived in our fathers' times, you say, we would not have taken part in murdering the prophets. Why then, you bear witness of your own ancestry; it was your fathers who slaughtered the prophets; it is for you to complete your fathers' reckoning. Serpents that you are, brood of vipers, how should you escape from the award of hell? And now, behold, I am sending prophets and wise men and men of learning to preach to you; some of them you will put to death and crucify; some you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city; so that you will make yourselves answerable for all the blood of just men that is shed on the earth, from the blood of the just Abel to the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar. Believe me, this generation shall be held answerable for all of it. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, still murdering the prophets, and stoning the messengers that are sent to you, how often have I been ready to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings; and you did refuse it! Behold, your house is left to you, a house uninhabited. Believe me, you shall see nothing of me henceforward, until the time when you will be saying, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.
Then Jesus left the temple, and was going on his way, when his disciples came up to show him the view of the temple building. Do you see all this? he said to them. Believe me, there will not be a stone left on another in this place, it will all be thrown down. Afterwards, while he was sitting down on mount Olivet, the disciples came to him privately, and said, Tell us, when will this be? And what sign will be given of your coming, and of the world being brought to an end? Jesus answered them, Take care that you do not allow anyone to deceive you. Many will come making use of my name; they will say, I am Christ, and many will be deceived by it. And you will hear tell of wars, and rumours of war; see to it that you are not disturbed in mind; such things must happen, but the end will not come yet. Nation will rise in arms against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and there will be plagues and famines and earthquakes in this region or that; but all this is but the beginning of travail. In those days, men will give you up to persecution, and will put you to death; all the world will be hating you because you bear my name; whereupon many will lose heart, will betray and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise, and many will be deceived by them; and the charity of most men will grow cold, as they see wickedness abound everywhere; but that man will be saved who endures to the last. This gospel of the kingdom must first be preached all over the world, so that all nations may hear the truth; only after that will the end come. And now, when you see that which the prophet Daniel called the abomination of desolation, set up in the holy place (let him who reads this, recognize what it means), then those who are in Judaea must take refuge in the mountains; not going down to carry away anything from the house, if they are on the house-top; not going back to pick up a cloak, if they are in the fields. It will go hard with women who are with child, or have children at the breast, in those days; and you must pray that your flight may not be in the winter, or on the sabbath day, for there will be distress then such as has not been since the beginning of the world, and can never be again. There would have been no hope left for any human creature, if the number of those days had not been cut short; but those days will be cut short, for the sake of the elect. At such a time, if a man tells you, See, here is Christ, or, See, he is there, do not believe him. There will be false Christs and false prophets, who will rise up and show great signs and wonders, so that if it were possible, even the elect would be deceived. Mark well, I have given you warning of it. If they tell you, then, See, he is here, in the desert, do not stir abroad; if they tell you, See, he is there, in hidden places, do not believe them; when the Son of Man comes, it will be like the lightning that springs up from the east and flashes across to the west. It is where the body lies that the eagles will gather.
Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will refuse her light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will rock; and then the sign of the Son of Man will be seen in heaven; then it is that all the tribes of the land will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven, with great power and glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud blast of the trumpet, to gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The fig-tree will teach you a parable; when its branch grows supple, and begins to put out leaves, you know that summer is near; so you, when you see all this coming about, are to know that it is near, at your very doors. Believe me, this generation will not have passed, before all this is accomplished. Though heaven and earth should pass away, my words will stand.
But as for that day and that hour you speak of, they are known to none, not even to the angels in heaven; only the Father knows them. When the Son of Man comes, all will be as it was in the days of Noe; in those days before the flood, they went on eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the time when Noe entered the ark, and they were taken unawares, when the flood came and drowned them all; so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. One man taken, one left, as they work together in the fields; one woman taken, one left, as they grind together at the mill. You must be on the watch, then, since you do not know the hour of your Lord's coming. Be sure of this; if the master of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch, and not allowed his house to be broken open. And you too must stand ready; the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him.
Which of you, then, is a faithful and wise servant, one whom his master will entrust with the care of the household, to give them their food at the appointed time? Blessed is that servant who is found doing this when his lord comes; I promise you, he will give him charge of all his goods. But if that servant plays him false, and says in his heart, My lord is long in coming, and so falls to beating his fellowservants, to eating and drinking with the drunkards, then on some day when he expects nothing, at an hour when he is all unaware, his lord will come, and will cut him off, and assign him his portion with the hypocrites; where there will be weeping, and gnashing of teeth.
When that day comes, the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins, who went to bring the bridegroom and his bride home, taking their lamps with them. Five of these were foolish, and five were wise; the five foolish, when they took their lamps, did not provide themselves with oil, but those who were wise took oil in the vessels they carried, as well as the lamps. The bridegroom was long in coming, so that they all grew drowsy, and fell asleep. And at midnight the cry was raised, Behold, the bridegroom is on his way; go out to meet him. Thereupon all these virgins awoke, and fell to trimming their lamps; and now the foolish ones said to the wise, Share your oil with us, our lamps are burning low. But the wise ones answered, How if there is not enough for us and for you? Better that you should find your way to the merchants, and buy for yourselves. And so, while they were away buying it, the bridegroom came; those who stood ready escorted him to the wedding, and the door was shut. Afterwards those other virgins came, with the cry, Lord, Lord, open to us. And he answered, Believe me, I do not recognize you. Be on the watch, then; the day of it and the hour of it are unknown to you.
So it was with a man who went on his travels; he called his trusted servants to him and committed his money to their charge. He gave five talents to one, two to another, and one to another, according to their several abilities, and with that he set out on his journey. The man who had received five talents went and traded with them, until he had made a profit of five talents more; and in the same way he who had received two made a profit of two. Whereas he who had received but one went off and made a hole in the ground, and there hid his master's money. Long afterwards, the master of those servants came back, and entered into a reckoning with them. And so the man who had received five talents came forward and brought him five talents more; Lord, he said, it was five talents you gave me, see how I have made a profit of five talents besides. And his master said to him, Well done, my good and faithful servant; since you have been faithful over little things, I have great things to commit to your charge; come and share the joy of your Lord. Then came the man who had received two talents; Lord, he said, it was two talents you gave me; see how I have made a profit of two talents besides. And his master said to him, Well done, my good and faithful servant; since you have been faithful over little things, I have great things to commit to your charge; come and share the joy of your Lord. But when he who had received but one talent came forward in his turn, he said, Lord, knowing you for a hard man, that reaps where he did not sow, and gathers in from fields he never planted, I took fright, and so went off and hid your talent in the earth; see now, you have received what is yours. And his lord answered him, Base and slothful servant, you knew well that I reap where I did not sow, and gather in from fields I never planted; all the more was it your part to lodge my money with the bankers, so that I might have recovered it with interest when I came. Take the talent away from him, and give it to him who has ten talents already. Whenever a man is rich, gifts will be made to him, and his riches will abound; if he is poor, even what he accounts his own will be taken from him. And now, cast the unprofitable servant into the darkness without; where there shall be weeping, and gnashing of teeth.
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit down upon the throne of his glory, and all nations will be gathered in his presence, where he will divide men one from the other, as the shepherd divides the sheep from the goats; he will set the sheep on his right, and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those who are on his right hand, Come, you that have received a blessing from my Father, take possession of the kingdom which has been prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food, thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you brought me home, naked, and you clothed me, sick, and you cared for me, a prisoner, and you came to me. Whereupon the just will answer, Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry, and fed you, or thirsty, and gave you drink? When was it that we saw you a stranger, and brought you home, or naked, and clothed you? When was it that we saw you sick or in prison and came to you? And the King will answer them. Believe me, when you did it to one of the least of my brethren here, you did it to me. Then he will say to those who are on his left hand, in their turn, Go far from me, you that are accursed, into that eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you never gave me food, I was thirsty, and you never gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you did not bring me home, I was naked, and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison, and you did not care for me. Whereupon they, in their turn, will answer, Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to you? And he will answer them, Believe me, when you refused it to one of the least of my brethren here, you refused it to me. And these shall pass on to eternal punishment, and the just to eternal life.
Afterwards, when he had made an end of saying all this, Jesus told his disciples: You know that after two days the paschal feast is coming; it is then that the Son of Man must be given up to be crucified. At this very time, the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the court of the high priest, whose name was Caiphas; and there they plotted to bring Jesus into their power by cunning, and put him to death. Yet they still said, Not on the day of the feast, or perhaps there will be an uproar among the people. But then, while Jesus was in the house of Simon the leper, at Bethany, a woman came to him, with a pot of very precious ointment, and poured it over his head as he sat at table. The disciples were indignant when they saw it: What is the meaning of this waste? they asked. It would have been possible to sell this at a great price, and give alms to the poor. This Jesus knew, and said to them, Why do you vex the woman? She did well to treat me so. You have the poor among you always; I am not always among you. When she poured this ointment over my body, she did it to prepare me for my burial; and I promise you, in whatever part of the world this gospel is preached, the story of what she has done shall be told in its place, to preserve her memory. And at that, one of the twelve, Judas who was called Iscariot, went to the chief priests and asked them. What will you pay me for handing him over to you? Whereupon they laid down thirty pieces of silver. And he, from that time onwards, looked about for an opportunity to betray him.
On the first of the days of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, Where will you have us make ready for you to eat the paschal meal? And Jesus said, Go into the city, find such a man, and tell him, The Master says, My time is near; I and my disciples must keep the paschal feast at your house. The disciples did as Jesus bade them, and made all ready for the paschal meal there. When evening came, he sat down with his twelve disciples, and, while they were at table, he said, Believe me, one of you is to betray me. They were full of sorrow, and began to say, one after another, Lord, is it I? He answered, The man who has put his hand into the dish with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes on his way, as the scripture foretells of him; but woe upon that man by whom the Son of Man is to be betrayed; better for that man if he had never been born. Then Judas, he who was betraying him, said openly, Master, is it I? Jesus answered, Your own lips have said it.
And while they were still at table, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat, this is my body. Then he took a cup, and offered thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink, all of you, of this; for this is my blood, of the new testament, shed for many, to the remission of sins. And I tell you this, I shall not drink of this fruit of the vine again, until I drink it with you, new wine, in the kingdom of my Father. And so they sang a hymn, and went out to mount Olivet. After this, Jesus said to them, To-night you will all lose courage over me; for so it has been written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of his flock will be scattered. But I will go on before you into Galilee, when I have risen from the dead. Peter answered him, Though all else should lose courage over you, I will never lose mine. Jesus said to him, Believe me, this night, before the cock crows, you will thrice disown me. Peter said to him, I will never disown you, though I must lay down my life with you. And all the rest of his disciples said the like.
So Jesus came, and they with him, to a plot of land called Gethsemani; and he said to his disciples, Sit down here, while I go in there and pray. But he took Peter and the sons of Zebedee with him. And now he grew sorrowful and dismayed. My soul, he said, is ready to die with sorrow; do you abide here, and watch with me. When he had gone a little further, he fell upon his face in prayer, and said, My Father, if it is possible, let this chalice pass me by; only as your will is, not as mine is. Then he went back to his disciples, to find them asleep; and he said to Peter, Had you no strength, then, to watch with me even for an hour? Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing enough, but the flesh is weak. Then he went back again, and prayed a second time; and his prayer was, My Father, if this chalice may not pass me by, but I must drink it, then your will be done. And once more he found his disciples asleep when he came to them, so heavy their eyelids were; this time he went away without disturbing them, and made his third prayer, using the same words. After that he returned to his disciples, and said to them, Sleep and take your rest hereafter; as I speak, the time draws near when the Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise up, let us go on our way; already, he that is to betray me is close at hand.
And all at once, while he was speaking, Judas, who was one of the twelve, came near; with him was a great multitude carrying swords and clubs, who had been sent by the chief priests and the elders of the people. The traitor had appointed them a signal; It is none other, he told them, than the man whom I shall greet with a kiss; hold him fast. No sooner, then, had he come near to Jesus than he said, Hail, Master, and kissed him. Jesus said to him, My friend, on what errand have you come? Then they came forward and laid their hands on Jesus, and held him fast. And at that, one of those who were with Jesus lifted a hand to draw his sword, and smote one of the high priest's servants with it, cutting off his ear. Whereupon Jesus said to him, Put your sword back into its place; all those who take up the sword will perish by the sword. Do you doubt that if I call upon my Father, even now, he will send more than twelve legions of angels to my side? But how, were it so, should the scriptures be fulfilled, which have prophesied that all must be as it is? And Jesus said to the multitude at that hour, You have come out to my arrest with swords and clubs, as if I were a robber; and yet I used to sit teaching in the temple close to you, day after day, and you never laid hands on me. All this was so ordained, to fulfil what was written by the prophets. And now all his disciples abandoned him, and fled. And those who had arrested Jesus led him away into the presence of the high priest, Caiphas, where the scribes and the elders had assembled.
Yet Peter followed him at a long distance, as far as the high priest's palace; where he went in and sat among the servants, to see the end. The chief priests and elders and all the Council tried to find false testimony against Jesus, such as would compass his death. But they could find none, although many came forward falsely accusing him; until at last two false accusers came forward who declared, This man said, I have power to destroy the temple of God and raise it again in three days. Then the high priest stood up, and asked him, Have you no answer to make to the accusations these men bring against you? Jesus was silent; and the high priest said to him openly, I adjure you by the living God to tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God? Jesus answered, Your own lips have said it. And moreover I tell you this; you will see the Son of Man again, when he is seated at the right hand of God's power, and comes on the clouds of heaven. At this, the high priest tore his garments, and said, He has blasphemed; what further need have we of witnesses? Mark well, you have heard his blasphemy for yourselves. What is your finding? And they answered, The penalty is death. Then they fell to spitting upon his face and buffeting him and smiting him on the cheek, saying as they did so, Show yourself a prophet, Christ; tell us who it is that smote you.
Meanwhile, Peter sat in the court without; and there a maid-servant came up to him, and said, You too were with Jesus the Galilean. Whereupon he denied it before all the company; I do not know what you mean. And he went out into the porch, where a second maid-servant saw him, and said, to the bystanders, This man, too, was with Jesus the Nazarene. And he made denial again with an oath, I know nothing of the man. But those who stood there came up to Peter soon afterwards, and said, It is certain that you are one of them; even your speech betrays you. And with that he fell to calling down curses on himself and swearing, I know nothing of the man; and thereupon the cock crew. Then Peter remembered the word of Jesus, how he had said, Before the cock crows, you will thrice disown me; and he went out, and wept bitterly.
At day-break, all the chief priests and elders of the people laid their plans for putting Jesus to death, and they led him away in bonds, and gave him up to the governor, Pontius Pilate. And now Judas, his betrayer, was full of remorse at seeing him condemned, so that he brought back to the chief priests and elders their thirty pieces of silver; I have sinned, he told them, in betraying the blood of an innocent man. What is that to us? they said, It concerns you only. Whereupon he left them, throwing down the pieces of silver there in the temple, and went and hanged himself. The chief priests, thus recovering the money, said, It must not be put in the treasury, since it is the price of blood; and after consultation, they used it to buy the potter's field, as a burial place for strangers; it is upon that account that the field has been called Haceldama, the field of blood, to this day. And so the word was fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet Jeremy, when he said, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of one who was appraised, for men of the race of Israel appraised him, and bestowed them upon the potter's field, as the Lord had bidden me.
But Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked him, Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus told him, Your own lips have said it. And when the chief priests and elders brought their accusation against him, he made no answer. Then Pilate said to him, Do you not hear all the testimony they bring against you? But Jesus would not answer any of their charges, so that the governor was full of astonishment. At the festival, the governor used to grant to the multitude the liberty of any one prisoner they should choose; and there was one notable prisoner then in custody, whose name was Barabbas; so, when they gathered about him, Pilate asked them, Whom shall I release? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ? He knew well that they had only given him up out of malice; and even as he sat on the judgement-seat, his wife had sent him a message, Do not meddle with this innocent man; I dreamed to-day that I suffered much on his account. But the chief priests and elders had persuaded the multitude to ask for Barabbas and have Jesus put to death; and so, when the governor openly asked them, Which of the two would you have me release? they said, Barabbas. Pilate said to them, What am I to do, then, with Jesus, who is called Christ? They said, Let him be crucified. And when the governor said, Why, what wrong has he done? they cried louder than ever, Let him be crucified. And so, finding that his good offices went for nothing, and the uproar only became worse, Pilate sent for water and washed his hands in full sight of the multitude, saying as he did so, I have no part in the death of this innocent man; it concerns you only. And the whole people answered, His blood be upon us, and upon our children. And with that he released Barabbas as they asked; Jesus he scourged, and gave him up to be crucified.
After this, the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the palace, and gathered the whole of their company about him. First they stripped him, and arrayed him in a scarlet cloak; then they put on his head a crown which they had woven out of thorns, and a rod in his right hand, and mocked him by kneeling down before him, and saying, Hail, king of the Jews. And they spat upon him, and took the rod from him and beat him over the head with it. At last they had done with mockery; stripping him of the scarlet cloak, they put his own garments on him, and led him away to be crucified. As for his cross, they forced a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, whom they met on their way out, to carry it; and so they reached a place called Golgotha, that is, the place named after a skull. Here they offered him a draught of wine, mixed with gall, which he tasted, but would not drink, and then crucified him, dividing his garments among them by casting lots. The prophecy must be fulfilled, They divide my spoils among them, cast lots for my garments.
There, then, they sat, keeping guard over him. Over his head they set a written proclamation of his offence, This is Jesus, the king of the Jews, and with him they crucified two thieves, one on his right and one on his left. The passers-by blasphemed against him, tossing their heads; Come now, they said, you who would destroy the temple and build it up in three days, rescue yourself; come down from that cross, if you are the Son of God. The chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him in the same way, He saved others, they said, he cannot save himself. If he is the king of Israel, he has but to come down from the cross, here and now, and we will believe in him. He trusted in God; let God, if he favours him, succour him now; he told us, I am the Son of God. Even the thieves who were crucified with him uttered the same taunts.
From the sixth hour onwards there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour; and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lamma sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Hearing this, some of those who stood by said, He is calling upon Elias: and thereupon one of them ran to fetch a sponge, which he filled with vinegar and fixed upon a rod, and offered to let him drink; the rest said, Wait, let us see whether Elias is to come and save him. Then Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit. And all at once, the veil of the temple was torn this way and that from the top to the bottom, and the earth shook, and the rocks parted asunder; and the graves were opened, and many bodies arose out of them, bodies of holy men gone to their rest: who, after his rising again, left their graves and went into the holy city, where they were seen by many. So that the centurion and those who kept guard over Jesus with him, when they perceived the earthquake and all that befell, were overcome with fear; No doubt, they said, but this was the Son of God.
Many women stood watching from far off; they had followed Jesus from Galilee, to minister to him; among them were Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. And now it was evening, and a man came forward, by name Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea, who followed Jesus as a disciple like the rest; he it was who approached Pilate, and asked to have the body of Jesus; whereupon Pilate ordered that the body should be given up. Joseph took possession of the body, and wrapped it in a clean winding-sheet; then he buried it in a new grave, which he had fashioned for himself out of the rock, and left it there, rolling a great stone against the grave-door. But there were two who sat on there opposite the tomb, Mary Magdalen and the other Mary with her.
Next day, the next after the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered in Pilate's presence, and said, Sir, we have recalled it to memory that this deceiver, while he yet lived, said, I am to rise again after three days. Give orders, then, that his tomb shall be securely guarded until the third day; or perhaps his disciples will come and steal him away. If they should then say to the people, He has risen from the dead, this last deceit will be more dangerous than the old. Pilate said to them, You have guards; away with you, make it secure as you best know how. And they went and made the tomb secure, putting a seal on the stone and setting a guard over it.
On the night after the sabbath, at the hour when dawn broke on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalen and the other Mary came near to contemplate the tomb. And suddenly there was a great trembling of the earth, because an angel of the Lord came to the place, descending from heaven, and rolled away the stone and sat over it; his face shone like lightning, and his garments were white as snow; so that the guards trembled for fear of him, and were like dead men. But the angel said openly to the women, You need not be afraid; I know well that you have come to look for Jesus of Nazareth, the man who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, as he told you. Come and see the place where the Lord was buried. You must go in haste, and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead; and now he is going on before you into Galilee, where you shall have sight of him. That is my message to you. Whereupon they left the tomb, in fear and in great rejoicing, and ran to tell the news to his disciples. And while they were on their way, all at once Jesus met them and said, All hail. With that, they came near to him, and clung to his feet, and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid; go and give word to my brethren to remove into Galilee; they shall see me there.
They had not finished their journey, when some of the guards reached the city, and told the chief priests of all that befell. These gathered with the elders to take counsel, and offered a rich bribe to the soldiers; Let this, they said, be your tale, His disciples came by night and stole him away, while we were asleep. If this should come to the ears of the governor, we will satisfy him, and see that no harm comes to you. The soldiers took the bribe, and did as they were instructed; and this is the tale which has gone abroad among the Jews, to this day.
And now the eleven disciples took their journey into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had bidden them meet him. When they saw him there, they fell down to worship; though some were still doubtful. But Jesus came near and spoke to them; All authority in heaven and on earth, he said, has been given to me; you, therefore, must go out, making disciples of all nations, and baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the commandments which I have given you. And behold I am with you all through the days that are coming, until the consummation of the world.
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in the prophecy of Isaias, Behold, I am sending before you that angel of mine who is to prepare your way for your coming; there is a voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, straighten out his paths. And so it was that John appeared in the wilderness baptizing, announcing a baptism whereby men repented, to have their sins forgiven. And all the country of Judaea and all those who dwelt in Jerusalem went out to see him, and he baptized them in the river Jordan, while they confessed their sins. John was clothed with a garment of camel's hair, and had a leather girdle about his loins, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And thus he preached, One is to come after me who is mightier than I, so that I am not worthy to bend down and untie the strap of his shoes. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
At this time, Jesus came from Nazareth, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And even as he came up out of the water he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit, like a dove, coming down and resting upon him. There was a voice, too, out of heaven, You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased. Thereupon, the Spirit sent him out into the desert: and in the desert he spent forty days and forty nights, tempted by the devil; there he lodged with the beasts, and there the angels ministered to him.
But when John had been put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God's kingdom: The appointed time has come, he said, and the kingdom of God is near at hand; repent, and believe the gospel. And as he passed along the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Simon's brother Andrew casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen); Jesus said to them, Come and follow me; I will make you into fishers of men. And they dropped their nets immediately, and followed him. Then he went a little further, and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; these too were in their boat, repairing their nets; all at once he called them, and they, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, turned aside after him. So they made their way to Capharnaum; here, as soon as the sabbath came, he went into the synagogue and taught; and they were amazed by his teaching, for he sat there teaching them like one who had authority, not like the scribes. And there, in the synagogue, was a man possessed by an unclean spirit, who cried aloud: Why do you meddle with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to make an end of us? I recognize you for what you are, the Holy One of God. Jesus spoke to him threateningly; Silence! he said; come out of him. Then the unclean spirit threw him into a convulsion, and cried with a loud voice, and so came out of him. All were full of astonishment; What can this be? they asked one another. What is this new teaching? See how he has authority to lay his commands even on the unclean spirits, and they obey him! And the story of his doings at once spread through the whole region of Galilee. As soon as they had left the synagogue, they came into Simon and Andrew's house; James and John were with them. The mother of Simon's wife was lying sick there, with a fever, and they made haste to tell him of her; whereupon he went close and took her by the hand, and lifted her up. And all at once the fever left her, and she began ministering to them. And when it was evening and the sun went down, they brought to him all those who were afflicted, and those who were possessed by devils; so that the whole city stood crowding there at the door. And he healed many that were afflicted with diseases of every sort, and cast out many devils; to the devils he would give no leave to speak, because they recognized him. Then, at very early dawn, he left them, and went away to a lonely place, and began praying there. Simon and his companions went in search of him: and when they found him, they told him, All men are looking for you. And he said to them, Let us go to the next country-towns, so that I can preach there too; it is for this I have come. So he continued to preach in their synagogues, all through Galilee, and cast the devils out.
Then a leper came up to him, asking for his aid; he knelt at his feet and said, If it be your will, you have power to make me clean. Jesus was moved with pity; he held out his hand and touched him, and said, It is my will; be made clean. And at the word, the leprosy all at once left him, and he was cleansed. And he spoke to him threateningly, and sent him away there and then: Be sure you do not speak of this at all, he said, to anyone; away with you, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift for your cleansing which Moses ordained, to make the truth known to them. But he, as soon as he had gone away, began to talk publicly and spread the story round; so that Jesus could no longer go into any of the cities openly, but dwelt in lonely places apart; and still from every side they came to him.
Then, after some days, he went into Capharnaum again. And as soon as word went round that he was in a house there, such a crowd gathered that there was no room left even in front of the door; and he preached the word to them. And now they came to bring a palsied man to him, four of them carrying him at once; and found they could not bring him close to, because of the multitude. So they stripped the tiles from the roof over the place where Jesus was, and made an opening; then they let down the bed on which the palsied man lay. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the palsied man, Son, your sins are forgiven. But there were some of the scribes sitting there, who reasoned in their mind, Why does he speak so? He is talking blasphemously. Who can forgive sins but God, and God only? Jesus knew at once, in his spirit, of these secret thoughts of theirs, and said to them, Why do you reason thus in your minds? Which command is more lightly given, to say to the palsied man, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise up, take your bed with you, and walk? And now, to convince you that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins while he is on earth (here he spoke to the palsied man); I tell you, rise up, take your bed with you, and go home. And he rose up at once, and took his bed, and went out in full sight of them; so that all were astonished and gave praise to God; they said, We never saw the like.
Then he went out by the sea again; and all the multitude came to him, and he taught them there. And as he passed further on, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at work in the customs-house, and said to him, Follow me; and he rose up and followed him. And afterwards, when he was taking a meal in his house, many publicans and sinners were at table with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many of these who followed him. Thereupon the scribes and Pharisees, seeing him eat with publicans and sinners in his company, asked his disciples, How comes it that your master eats and drinks with publicans and sinners? Jesus heard it, and said to them, It is not those who are in health that have need of the physician, it is those who are sick. I have come to call sinners, not the just.
John's disciples and the Pharisees used to fast at that time. And they came and said to him, How is it that your disciples do not fast, when John's disciples and the Pharisees fast? To them Jesus said, Can you expect the men of the bridegrom's company to go fasting, while the bridegroom is still with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot be expected to fast; but the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; then they will fast, when that day comes. Nobody sews on a piece of new cloth to patch an old cloak; if that is done, the new piecing takes away threads from the old cloth, and makes the rent in it worse. Nor does anybody put new wine into old wine-skins; if that is done, the wine bursts the skins, and there is the wine spilt and the skins spoiled. New wine must be put into fresh wine-skins.
It happened that he was walking through the corn-fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples fell to plucking the ears of corn as they went. And the Pharisees said to him, Look, why are they doing what it is not lawful to do on the sabbath? Whereupon he said to them, Have you never read of what David did, when he and his followers were hard put to it for hunger? How he went into the tabernacle, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the loaves set forth there before God, which only the priests may eat, and gave them, besides, to those who were with him? And he told them, The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. So that the Son of Man has even the sabbath at his disposal.
And once more he went into a synagogue; and there was a man there who had one of his hands withered; and they were watching him, to see whether he would do a work of healing on the sabbath, so that they might have a charge to bring against him. So he said to the man who had his hand withered, Rise up, and come forward. Then he said to them, Which is right, to do good on the sabbath day, or to do harm? To save life, or to make away with it? And they sat there in silence. And he looked round on them in anger, grieved at the hardness of their hearts, and said to the man, Stretch out your hand. He stretched it out, and his hand was restored to him.
Then the Pharisees went out, and at once began plotting with those who were of Herod's party to make away with him. But Jesus withdrew, with his disciples, towards the sea; and great crowds followed him from Galilee, and from Judaea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and those who lived about Tyre and Sidon, hearing of all that he did, came in great numbers to him. So he told his disciples to keep a boat ready at need because of the multitude, for fear they should press on him too close; for he did many works of healing, so that all those who were visited with suffering thrust themselves upon him, to touch him. The unclean spirits, too, whenever they saw him, used to fall at his feet and cry out, You are the Son of God; and he would give them a strict charge not to make him known.
Then he went up on to the mountainside, and called to him those whom it pleased him to call; so these came to him, and he appointed twelve to be his companions, and to go out preaching at his command, with power to cure diseases and to cast out devils. To Simon he gave the fresh name of Peter, to James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, he gave the fresh name of Boanerges, that is, Sons of thunder. The others were Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot, the traitor. And now they came into a house, and once more the multitude gathered so that they had no room even to sit and eat. When word came to those who were nearest him, they went out to restrain him; they said, He must be mad. And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, He is possessed by Beelzebub; it is through the prince of the devils that he casts the devils out. So he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables; How can it be Satan who casts Satan out? Why, if a kingdom is at war with itself, that kingdom cannot stand firm, and if a household is at war with itself, that household cannot stand firm; if Satan, then, has risen up in arms against Satan, he is at war with himself; he cannot stand firm; his end has come. No one can enter into a strong man's house and plunder his goods, without first making the strong man his prisoner; then he can plunder his house at will. Believe me, there is pardon for all the other sins of mankind and the blasphemies they utter; but if a man blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, there is no pardon for him in all eternity; he is guilty of a sin which is eternal. This was because they were saying, He has an unclean spirit.
Then his mother and his brethren came and sent a message to him, calling him to them, while they stood without. There was a multitude sitting round him when they told him, Here are your mother and your brethren without, looking for you. And he answered them, Who is a mother, who are brethren, to me? Then he looked about at those who were sitting around him, and said, Here are my mother and my brethren! If anyone does the will of God, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.
Then he began to teach by the sea-side again; and a great multitude gathered before him, so that he went into a boat, and sat there on the sea, while all the multitude was on the land, at the sea's edge. And he taught them for a long time, but in parables; Listen, his teaching began, here is the sower gone out to sow. And as he sowed, some grains chanced to fall beside the path, so that the birds came and ate them up. And others fell on rocky land, where the soil was shallow; these sprang up all at once, because they had not sunk deep in the ground: and when the sun rose they were parched; they had taken no root, and so they withered away. Some fell among briers, so that the briers grew up and smothered them, and they gave no crop. And others fell where the soil was good, and these sprouted and grew, and yielded a harvest; some of them thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some a hundredfold. Listen, he said, you that have ears to hear with.
When they could speak with him alone, the twelve who were with him asked the meaning of the parable. And he said to them, It is granted to you to understand the secret of God's kingdom; for those others, who stand without, all is parable: so they must watch and watch, yet never see, must listen and listen, yet never understand, nor ever turn back, and have their sins forgiven them. Then he said to them, You do not understand this parable? And are these the men who are to understand all parables? What the sower sows is the word. Those by the way-side are those who have the word sown in them, but no sooner have they heard it than Satan comes, and takes away this word that was sown in their hearts. In the same way, those who take in a the seed in rocky ground are those who entertain the word with joy as soon as they hear it, and yet have no root in themselves; they last for a time, but afterwards, when tribulation or persecution arises over the word, their faith is soon shaken. And there are others who take in the seed in the midst of briers; they are those who hear the word, but allow the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and their other appetites to smother the word, so that it remains fruitless. And those who take in the seed in good soil are those who hear the word and welcome it and yield a harvest, one grain thirtyfold, one sixtyfold, one a hundredfold.
And he said to them, Is a lamp brought in to be put under a bushel measure, or under a bed, not in the lamp-stand? What is hidden, is hidden only so that it may be revealed; what is kept secret, is kept secret only that it may come to light. Listen, all you that have ears to hear with. And he said to them, Look well what it is that you hear. The measure in which you give is the measure in which you will be repaid, and more will be given you besides. If a man is rich, gifts will be made to him; if he is poor, even the little he has will be taken away from him.
And he said to them, The kingdom of heaven is like this; it is as if a man should sow a crop in his land, and then go to sleep and wake again, night after night, day after day, while the crop sprouts and grows, without any knowledge of his. So, of its own accord, the ground yields increase, first the blade, then the ear, then the perfect grain in the ear; and when the fruit appears, then it is time for him to put in the sickle, because now the harvest is ripe.
And he said, What likeness can we find for the kingdom of God? To what image are we to compare it? To a grain of mustard seed; when this is sown in the earth, no seed on earth is so little; but, once sown, it shoots up and grows taller than any garden herb, putting out great branches, so that all the birds can come and settle under its shade. And he used many parables of this kind, such as they could listen to easily, in preaching the word to them; to them he spoke only in parables, and made all plain to his disciples when they were alone.
That day, when evening came on, he said to them, Let us go across to the other side. So they let the multitude go, and took him with them, just as he was, on the boat; there were other boats too with him. And a great storm of wind arose, and drove the waves into the boat, so that the boat could hold no more. Meanwhile, he was in the stern, asleep on the pillow there; and they roused him, crying, Master, are you unconcerned? We are sinking. So he rose up, and checked the wind, and said to the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind dropped, and there was deep calm. Then he said to them, Why are you faint-hearted? Have you still no faith? And they were overcome with awe; Why, who is this, they said to one another, who is obeyed even by the winds and the sea?
So they came to the further shore of the sea, in the country of the Gerasenes. And as soon as he had disembarked, a man possessed by an unclean spirit came out of the rock tombs to meet him. This man made his dwelling among the tombs, and nobody could keep him bound any longer, even with chains. He had been bound with fetters and chains often before, but had torn the chains apart and broken the fetters, and nobody had the strength to control him. Thus he spent all his time, night and day, among the tombs and the hills, crying aloud and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from far off, he ran up and fell at his feet, and cried with a loud voice, Why do you meddle with me, Jesus, Son of the most high God? I adjure you in God's name, do not torment me (for he was saying, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit). Then he asked him, What is your name? The spirit told him, My name is Legion; there are many of us, and it was full of entreaties that he would not send them away out of the country. There, at the foot of the mountain, was a great herd of swine feeding; and the devils entreated him, Send us into the swine, let us make our lodging there. With that, Jesus gave them leave; and the unclean spirits came out, and went into the swine; whereupon the herd rushed down at full speed into the sea, some two thousand in number, and the sea drowned them. The swineherds fled, and told their news in the city and in the country-side; so that they came out to see what had befallen; and when they reached Jesus, they found the possessed man sitting there, clothed and restored to his wits, and they were overcome with fear. Then those who had seen it told them the story of the possessed man, and what had happened to the swine. Whereupon they began entreating him to leave their country. So he embarked on the boat; and as he did so the man who had been possessed was eager to go with him, but Jesus would not give him leave; Go home to your friends, he said, and tell them all that the Lord has done for you, and what great mercy he showed you. So he went back and began to spread word in Decapolis of what Jesus had done for him; and all wondered at it.
So Jesus went back by boat across the sea, and a great multitude gathered about him; and while he was still by the sea, one of the rulers of the synagogue came up, Jairus by name, and fell down at his feet when he saw him, pleading for his aid. My daughter, he said, is at the point of death; come and lay your hand on her, that so she may recover, and live. So he turned aside with him, and a great multitude followed him, and pressed close upon him. And now a woman who for twelve years had had an issue of blood, and had undergone much from many physicians, spending all she had on them, and no better for it, but rather grown worse, came up behind Jesus in the crowd (for she had been told of him), and touched his cloak; If I can even touch his cloak, she said to herself, I shall be healed. And immediately the source of the bleeding dried up, and she felt in her body that she had been cured of her affliction. Jesus thereupon, inwardly aware of the power that had proceeded from him, turned back towards the multitude and asked, Who touched my garments? His disciples said to him, Can you see the multitude pressing so close about you, and ask, Who touched me? But he looked round him to catch sight of the woman who had done this. And now the woman, trembling with fear, since she recognized what had befallen her, came and fell at his feet, and told him the whole truth. Whereupon Jesus said to her, My daughter, your faith has brought you recovery; go in peace, and be rid of your affliction.
While he was yet speaking, messengers came from the ruler's house to say, Your daughter is dead, why do you trouble the Master any longer? Jesus heard the word said, and told the ruler of the synagogue, No need to fear; you have only to believe. And now he would not let anyone follow him, except Peter and James and James' brother John; and so they came to the ruler's house, where he found a great stir, and much weeping and lamentation. And he went in and said to them, What is this stir, this weeping? The child is not dead, she is asleep. They laughed aloud at him; but he sent them all out, and, taking the child's father and mother and his own companions with him, went in to where the child lay. Then he took hold of the child's hand, and said to her, Talitha, cumi, which means, Maiden, I say to you, rise up. And the girl stood up immediately, and began to walk; she was twelve years old. And they were beside themselves with wonder. Then he laid a strict charge on them to let nobody hear of this, and ordered that she should be given something to eat.
Then he left the place, and withdrew to his own country-side, his disciples following him. Here, when the sabbath came, he began teaching in the synagogue, and many were astonished when they heard him; How did he come by all this? they asked. What is the meaning of this wisdom that has been given him, of all these wonderful works that are done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon? Do not his sisters live here near us? And they had no confidence in him. Then Jesus said to them, It is only in his own country, in his own home, and among his own kindred, that a prophet goes unhonoured. Nor could he do any wonderful works there, except that he laid his hands on a few who were sick, and cured them; he was astonished at their unbelief. And so he went on round about the villages preaching.
And now he called the twelve to him, and began sending them out, two and two, giving them authority over the unclean spirits. And he gave them instructions to take a staff for their journey and nothing more; no wallet, no bread, no money for their purses; to be shod with sandals, and not to wear a second coat. You are to lodge, he told them, in the house you first enter, until you leave the place. And wherever they give you no welcome and no hearing, shake off the dust from beneath your feet in witness against them. So they went out and preached, bidding men repent; they cast out many devils, and many who were sick they anointed with oil, and healed them.
Then, as his name grew better known, king Herod came to hear of it. It is John the Baptist, he said, risen from the dead, and that is why these powers are active in him. Others were saying, It is Elias, and others, It is a prophet like one of the old prophets; but when Herod was told it, he declared, He has risen from the dead, John the Baptist, whom I beheaded. Herod himself had sent and arrested John and put him in prison, in chains, for love of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married; because John had told Herod, It is wrong for you to take your brother's wife. Herodias was always plotting against him, and would willingly have murdered him, but could not, because Herod was afraid of John, recognizing him for an upright and holy man; so that he kept him carefully, and followed his advice in many things, and was glad to listen to him. And now came a fitting occasion, upon which Herod gave a birthday feast to his lords and officers, and to the chief men of Galilee. Herodias' own daughter came in and danced, and gave such pleasure to Herod and his guests that the king said to the girl, Ask me for whatever you will, and you shall have it; he even bound himself by an oath, I will grant whatever request you make, though it were a half of my kingdom. Thereupon she went out and said to her mother, What shall I ask for? And she answered, The head of John the Baptist. With that, she hastened into the king's presence and made her request; My will is, she said, that you should give me the head of John the Baptist, give it me now, on a dish. And the king was full of remorse, but out of respect to his oath and to those who sat with him at table, he would not disappoint her. So he sent one of his guard with orders that the head should be brought on a dish. This soldier cut off his head in the prison, and brought it on a dish, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. When John's disciples heard of it, they came and carried off his body; and laid it in a tomb.
And now the apostles came together again in the presence of Jesus, and told him of all they had done, and all the teaching they had given. And he said to them, Come away into a quiet place by yourselves, and rest a little. For there were many coming and going, and they scarcely had leisure even to eat. So they took ship, and went to a lonely place by themselves. But many saw them going, or came to know of it; gathering from all the cities, they hurried to the place by land, and were there before them. So, when he disembarked, Jesus saw a great multitude there, and took pity on them, since they were like sheep that have no shepherd, and began to give them long instruction. And when it was already late, his disciples came to him and said, This is a lonely place, and it is late already; give them leave to go to the farms and villages round about, and buy themselves food there; they have nothing to eat. But he answered them, It is for you to give them food to eat. Why then, they said to him, we must go and spend two hundred silver pieces buying bread to feed them. He asked, How many loaves have you? Go and see. When they had found out, they told him, Five, and two fishes. Then he told them all to sit down in companies on the green grass; and they took their places in rows, by hundreds and fifties. And he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave these to his disciples to set before them, dividing the fishes, too, among them all. All ate and had enough: and when they took up the broken pieces, and what was left of the fishes, they filled twelve baskets with them. The loaves had fed five thousand men.
As soon as this was done, he prevailed upon his disciples to take ship and cross to Bethsaida, on the other side, before him, leaving him to send the multitude home. And when he had taken leave of them, he went up on to the hill-side, to pray there. Twilight had already come, and the boat was half way across the sea, while he was on the shore alone. And when the night had reached its fourth quarter, seeing them hard put to it with rowing (for the wind was against them), he came to them, walking on the sea, and made as if to pass them by. When they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was an apparition, and cried aloud, for all had seen him, and were full of dismay. But now he spoke to them; Take courage, he said, it is myself; do not be afraid. So he came to them on board the boat, and thereupon the wind dropped. And they were astonished out of all measure; they had not grasped the lesson of the loaves, so dulled were their hearts.
When they had crossed, they came to shore at Genesareth and moored there. As soon as they had disembarked, he was recognized, and they ran off into all the country round, and began bringing the sick after him, beds and all, wherever they heard he was. And wherever he entered villages, or farmsteads, or towns, they used to lay the sick down in the open streets, and beg him to let them touch even the hem of his cloak; and all those who touched him recovered.
Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, gathered round him; and these found fault, because they saw that some of his disciples sat down to eat with their hands defiled, that is, unwashed. For the Pharisees, and indeed all the Jews, holding to the tradition of their ancestors, never eat without washing their hands again and again; they will not sit down to meat, coming from the market, without thorough cleansing; and there are many other customs which they hold to by tradition, purifying of cups and pitchers and pans and beds. So the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why do your disciples eat with defiled hands, instead of following the tradition of our ancestors? But he answered, You hypocrites, it was a true prophecy Isaias made of you, writing as he did, This people does me honour with its lips, but its heart is far from me; their worship of me is vain, for the doctrines they teach are the commandments of men. You leave God's commandment on one side, and hold to the tradition of man, the purifying of pitchers and cups, and many other like observances. And he told them, You have quite defeated God's commandment, to establish your own tradition instead. Moses said, Honour your father and your mother, and, He who curses father or mother dies without hope of reprieve. But you say, Let a man tell his father or his mother. All the money out of which you might get help from me is now Corban (that is, an offering to God), and then you will not let him do any more for father or mother. With this and many like observances, you are making God's law ineffectual through the tradition you have handed down. And he called the multitude to him, and said to them, Listen to me, all of you, and grasp this; Nothing that finds its way into a man from outside can make him unclean; what makes a man unclean is what comes out of a man. Listen, you that have ears to hear with.
When he had gone into the house, away from the multitude, his disciples asked him the meaning of the parable. And he said to them, Are you still so slow of wit? Do you not observe that all the uncleanness which goes into a man has no means of defiling him, because it travels, not into his heart, but into the belly, and so finds its way into the sewer? Thus he declared all meat to be clean, and told them that what defiles a man is that which comes out of him. For it is from within, from the hearts of men, that their wicked designs come, their sins of adultery, fornication, murder, theft, covetousness, malice, deceit, lasciviousness, envy, blasphemy, pride and folly. All these evils come from within, and it is these which make a man unclean.
After this, Jesus left those parts, and withdrew into the neighbourhood of Tyre and Sidon. There he went into a house, and did not wish anyone to know of it; but he could not go unrecognized, for a woman came to hear of it, whose daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, and she came in and fell at his feet. This woman was a Gentile, a Syrophenician by race, and she begged him to cast the devil out of her daughter. But he said to her, Let the children have their fill first; it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. She answered him, Ah, yes, Lord; the dogs eat of the crumbs the children leave, underneath the table. And he said to her, In reward for this word of yours, back home with you; the devil has left your daughter. And when she came back to her house, she found her daughter lying on the bed, and the devil gone.
Then he set out again from the region of Tyre, and came by way of Sidon to the sea of Galilee, right into the region of Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and dumb, with the prayer that he would lay his hand upon him. And he took him aside out of the multitude; he put his fingers into his ears, and spat, and touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven, and sighed; Ephpheta, he said, (that is, Be opened). Whereupon his ears were opened, and the bond which tied his tongue was loosed, and he talked plainly. And he laid a strict charge on them, not to speak of it to anyone; but the more he charged them, the more widely they published it, and were more than ever astonished; He has done well, they said, in all his doings; he has made the deaf hear, and the dumb speak.
Once more, at this time, the multitude had grown in numbers, and had nothing to eat. And he called his disciples to him, and said to them, I am moved with pity for the multitude; it is three days now since they have been in attendance on me, and they have nothing to eat. If I send them back to their homes fasting, they will grow faint on their journey; some of them have come from far off. His disciples answered him, How could anyone find bread to feed them, here in the desert? And he asked them, How many loaves have you? Seven, they said. And he gave word to the multitude to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, and when he had blessed and broken he gave these to his disciples to be set before them; so they set them before the multitude. And they had a few small fishes; these he blessed, and ordered that these, too, should be set before them; and they ate, and had enough. When they picked up what was left of the broken pieces, it filled seven hampers; about four thousand had eaten. And so he sent them home.
Thereupon he embarked, with his disciples, and went into the part round Dalmanutha. Here the Pharisees came out and entered upon a dispute with him; to put him to the test, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, Why does this generation ask for a sign? Believe me, this generation shall have no sign given it. And so he left them, and took ship again, and crossed to the further side.
They had forgotten to take bread with them, and had no more than one loaf in the boat; and when he warned them, Look well, and avoid the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod, they said anxiously to one another, We have brought no bread. Jesus knew it, and said, What is this anxiety, that you have brought no bread with you? Have you no sense, no wits, even now? Is your heart still dull? Have you eyes that cannot see, and ears that cannot hear; do you remember nothing? When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up? They told him, Twelve. And when I broke the seven loaves among the four thousand, how many hampers full of broken pieces did you take up then? And they told him, Seven. Then he said to them, How is it that you still do not understand?
So they came to Bethsaida. And they brought to him a blind man, whom they entreated him to touch. He took the blind man by the hand, and led him outside the village; then he spat into his eyes, and laid his hands on him, and asked him if he could see anything? He looked up and said, I can see men as if they were trees, but walking. Once more Jesus laid his hands upon his eyes, and he began to see right; and soon he recovered, so that he could see everything clearly. Then he sent him back to his house; Go home, he said, and if you should enter the village, do not tell anyone of it.
Then Jesus went with his disciples into the villages round Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, Who do men say that I am? They answered, John the Baptist, and others say Elias; others that you are like one of the prophets. Then he said to them, And what of you? Who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, You are the Christ. And he strictly charged them not to tell anyone about him. And now he began to make it known to them that the Son of Man must be much ill-used, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be put to death, and rise again after three days. This he told them openly; whereupon Peter, drawing him to his side, fell to reproaching him. But he turned about, and, seeing his disciples there, rebuked Peter; Back, Satan, he said, these thoughts of yours are man's, not God's. And he called his disciples to him, and the multitude with them, and said to them If any man has a mind to come my way, let him renounce self, and take up his cross, and follow me. The man who tries to save his life will lose it; it is the man who loses his life for my sake and for the gospel's sake, that will save it. How is a man the better for it, if he gains the whole world at the expense of losing his own soul? For a man's soul, what price can be high enough? If any one is ashamed of acknowledging me and my words before this unfaithful and wicked generation, the Son of Man, when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels, will be ashamed to acknowledge him. Believe me, there are those standing here who will not taste of death before they have seen the kingdom of God present in all its power.
Six days afterwards, Jesus took Peter and James and John with him, and led them up to a high mountain where they were alone by themselves; and he was transfigured in their presence. His garments became bright, dazzling white like snow, white as no fuller here on earth could have made them. And they had sight of Elias, with Moses; these two were conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said aloud to Jesus, Master, it is well that we should be here; let us make three arbours, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elias; he did not know what to say, for they were overcome with fear. And a cloud formed, overshadowing them; and from the cloud came a voice, which said, This is my beloved Son; to him, then, listen. Then, on a sudden, they looked round them, and saw no one any more, but Jesus only with them.
And as they were coming down from the mountain, he warned them not to tell anyone what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead; so they kept the matter to themselves, wondering what the words could mean, When he has risen from the dead. And they asked him, Tell us, why do the Pharisees and scribes say Elias must come before Christ? He answered them, Elias must needs come and restore all things as they were; and now, what is written of the Son of Man? That he must be much ill-used, and despised. Elias too, I tell you, has already come, and they have misused him at their pleasure, as the scriptures tell of him.
When he reached his disciples, he found a great multitude gathered around them, and some of the scribes disputing with them. The multitude, as soon as they saw him, were overcome with awe, and ran up to welcome him. He asked them, What is the dispute you are holding among you? And one of the multitude answered, Master, I have brought my son to you; he is possessed by a dumb spirit, and wherever it seizes on him, it tears him, and he foams at the mouth, and gnashes his teeth, and his strength is drained from him. And I bade your disciples cast it out, but they were powerless. And he answered them, Ah, faithless generation, how long must I be with you, how long must I bear with you? Bring him to me. So they brought the boy to him; and the evil spirit, as soon as it saw him, threw the boy into a convulsion, so that he fell on the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. And now Jesus asked the father, How long has this been happening to him? From childhood, he said; and often it has thrown him into the fire, and into water, to make an end of him. Come, have pity on us, and help us if you can. But Jesus said to him, If you can believe, to him who believes, everything is possible. Whereupon the father of the boy cried aloud, in tears, Lord, I do believe; succour my unbelief. And Jesus, seeing how the multitude was gathering round them, rebuked the unclean spirit; You dumb and deaf spirit, he said, it is I that command you; come out of him, and never enter into him again. With that, crying aloud and throwing him into a violent convulsion, it came out of him, and he lay there like a corpse, so that many declared, He is dead. But Jesus took hold of his hand, and raised him, and he stood up. When he had gone into a house, and they were alone, the disciples asked him, Why was it that we could not cast it out? And he told them, There is no way of casting out such spirits as this except by prayer and fasting.
Then they left those parts, and passed straight through Galilee, and he would not let anyone know of his passage; he spent the time teaching his disciples. The Son of Man, he said, is to be given up into the hands of men. They will put him to death, and he will rise again on the third day. But they could not understand his meaning, and were afraid to ask him. So they came to Capharnaum; and there, when they were in the house, he asked them, What was the dispute you were holding on the way? They said nothing, for they had been disputing among themselves which should be the greatest of them. Then he sat down, and called the twelve to him, and said, If anyone has a mind to be the greatest, he must be the last of all, and the servant of all. And he took a little child, and gave it a place in the midst of them; and he took it in his arms, and said to them: Whoever welcomes such a child as this in my name, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes, not me, but him that sent me. And John answered him, Master, we saw a man who does not follow in our company casting out devils in your name, and we forbade him to do it. But Jesus said, Forbid him no more; no one who does a miracle in my name will lightly speak evil of me. The man who is not against you is on your side. Why, if anyone gives you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you are Christ's, I promise you, he shall not miss his reward. And if anyone hurts the conscience of one of these little ones, that believe in me, he had better have been cast into the sea, with a millstone about his neck. If your hand is an occasion of falling to you, cut it off; better for you to enter into life maimed, than to have two hands when you go into hell, into unquenchable fire; the worm which eats them there never dies, the fire is never quenched. And if your foot is an occasion of falling to you, cut it off; better for you to enter into eternal life lame, than to have both feet when you are cast into the unquenchable fire of hell; the worm which eats them there never dies, the fire is never quenched. And if your eye is an occasion of falling, pluck it out; better for you to enter blind into the kingdom of God, than to have two eyes when you are cast into the fire of hell; the worm which eats them there never dies, the fire is never quenched. Fire will be every man's seasoning; every victim must be seasoned with salt. Salt is a good thing, but if the salt becomes tasteless, what will you use to season it with? You must have salt in yourselves, and keep peace among you.
Removing thence, he entered the territory of Judaea which lies beyond the Jordan. Multitudes gathered round him once more; and once more he began to teach them, as his custom was. Then the Pharisees came and put him to the test by asking him, whether it is right for a man to put away his wife. He answered them, What command did Moses give you? And they said, Moses left a man free to put his wife away, if he gave her a writ of separation. Jesus answered them, It was to suit your hard hearts that Moses wrote such a command as that; God, from the first days of creation, made them man and woman. A man, therefore, will leave his father and mother and will cling to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. Why then, since they are no longer two, but one flesh, what God has joined, let not man put asunder. And when they were in the house, his disciples asked him further about the same question. Whereupon he told them, If a man puts away his wife and marries another, he behaves adulterously towards her, and if a woman puts away her husband and marries another, she is an adulteress.
Then they brought children to him, asking him to touch them; and his disciples rebuked those who brought them. But Jesus was indignant at seeing this; Let the children come to me, he said, do not keep them back; the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you truthfully, the man who does not welcome the kingdom of God like a child, will never enter into it. And so he embraced them, laid his hands upon them, and blessed them.
Then he went out to continue his journey; and a man ran up and knelt down before him, asking him, Master, who are so good, what must I do to achieve eternal life? Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? None is good, except God only. You know the commandments, You shall not commit adultery, You shall do no murder, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, You shall not wrong any man, Honour your father and your mother. Master, he answered, I have kept all these ever since I grew up. Then Jesus fastened his eyes on him, and conceived a love for him; In one thing, he said, you are still wanting. Go home and sell all that belongs to you; give it to the poor, and so the treasure you have shall be in heaven, then come back and follow me. At this, his face fell, and he went away sorrowing, for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round, and said to his disciples, With what difficulty will those who have riches enter God's kingdom! The disciples were amazed at his words; but Jesus gave them a second answer, My children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter God's kingdom! It is easier for a camel to pass through a needle's eye, than for a man to enter the kingdom of God when he is rich. They were still more astonished; Why then, they said to themselves, who can be saved? Jesus fastened his eyes on them, and said, Such things are impossible to man's powers, but not to God's; to God, all things are possible.
Hereupon Peter took occasion to say, What of us, who have forsaken all, and followed you? Jesus answered, I promise you, everyone who has forsaken home, or brothers, or sisters, or mother, or children, or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, will receive, now in this world, a hundred times their worth, houses, sisters, brothers, mothers, children and lands, but with persecution; and in the world to come he will receive everlasting life. But many will be first that were last, and last that were first.
And now they were on the way going up to Jerusalem; and still Jesus led them on, while they were bewildered and followed him with faint hearts. Then once more he brought the twelve apostles to his side, and began to tell them what was to befall him: Now, we are going up to Jerusalem; and there the Son of Man will be given up into the hands of the chief priests and scribes, who will condemn him to death; and these will give him up into the hands of the Gentiles, who will mock him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and kill him; but on the third day he will rise again.
Thereupon James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said, Master, we would have you grant the request we are to make. And he asked them, What would you have me do for you? They said to him.,Grant that one of us may take his place on your right and the other on your left, when you are glorified. But Jesus said to them, You do not know what it is you ask. Have you strength to drink of the cup I am to drink of, to be baptized with the baptism I am to be baptized with? They said to him, We have. And Jesus told them, You shall indeed drink of the cup I am to drink of, and be baptized with the baptism I am to be baptized with; but a place on my right hand or my left is not mine to give you; it is for those for whom it has been destined.
The ten others grew indignant with James and John when they heard of it. But Jesus called them to him, and said to them, You know that, among the Gentiles, those who claim to bear rule lord it over them, and those who are great among them make the most of the power they have. With you it must be otherwise; whoever has a mind to be great among you, must be your servant, and whoever has a mind to be first among you, must be your slave. So it is that the Son of Man did not come to have service done him; he came to serve others, and to give his life as a ransom for the lives of many.
And now they reached Jericho. As he was leaving Jericho; with his disciples and with a great multitude, Bartimaeus, the blind man, Timaeus' son, was sitting there by the way-side, begging. And, hearing that this was Jesus of Nazareth, he fell to crying out, Jesus, son of David, have pity on me. Many of them rebuked him and told him to be silent, but he cried out all the more, Son of David, have pity on me. Jesus stopped, and bade them summon him; so they summoned the blind man; Take heart, they said, and rise up; he is summoning you. Whereupon he threw away his cloak and leapt to his feet, and so came to Jesus. Then Jesus answered him, What would you have me do for you? And the blind man said to him, Lord, give me back my sight. Jesus said to him, Away home with you; your faith has brought you recovery. And all at once he recovered his sight, and followed Jesus on his way.
When they were approaching Jerusalem, and Bethany, which is close to mount Olivet, he sent two of his disciples on an errand: Go into the village that faces you, he told them, and the first thing you will find there upon entering will be a colt tethered, one on which no man has ever ridden; untie it, and bring it to me. And if anyone asks you, Why are you doing that? tell him, the Lord has need of it, and he will let you have it without more ado. So they went, and found the colt tethered before a door at the entrance; and they untied it. Some of the bystanders asked them, What are you doing, untying the colt? And they answered them as Jesus had bidden, and were allowed to take it. So they brought the colt to Jesus, and saddled it with their garments, and he mounted it. Many of them spread their garments in the way, and others strewed the way with leaves they had cut down from the trees. And those who went before him and followed after him cried aloud, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; blessed is the kingdom of our father David which is coming to us; Hosanna in heaven above. So he came to Jerusalem, and went into the temple, where he surveyed all that was about him, and then, for the hour was already late, went out, with the twelve, to Bethany.
When they had left Bethany next day, he was hungry; and, observing a fig-tree some way off with its leaves out, he went up to see if he could find anything on it. But when he reached it, he found leaves and nothing else; it was not the right season for figs. And he said to it aloud, in the hearing of his disciples; Let no man ever eat fruit of yours hereafter. So they came to Jerusalem. And there Jesus went into the temple, and began driving out those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the bankers, and the chairs of the pigeon-sellers; nor would he allow anyone to carry his wares through the temple. And this was the admonition he gave them, Is it not written, My house shall be known among all the nations for a house of prayer? Whereas you have made it into a den of thieves. The chief priests and scribes heard of this, and looked for some means of making away with him; they were afraid of him, because all the multitude was so full of admiration at his teaching.
He left the city at evening, and next morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig-tree withered from its roots. Peter had not forgotten; Master, he said, look at the fig-tree which you did curse; it has withered away. And Jesus answered them, Have faith in God. I promise you, if anyone says to this mountain, Remove, and be cast into the sea, and has no hesitation in his heart, but is sure that what he says is to come about, his wish will be granted him. I tell you, then, when you ask for anything in prayer, you have only to believe that it is yours, and it will be granted you. When you stand praying, forgive whatever wrong any man has done you; so that your Father who is in heaven may forgive you your transgressions; if you do not forgive, your Father who is in heaven will not forgive your transgressions either.
So they came back to Jerusalem. And as he was walking about in the temple, the chief priests and scribes and elders came to him and asked him, What is the authority by which you do these things, and who gave you this authority to do them? Jesus answered them, I too have a question to ask; if you can tell me the answer, I will tell you in return what is the authority by which I do these things. Whence did John's baptism come, from heaven or from men? Whereupon they cast about in their minds; If we tell him it was from heaven, they said, he will ask us, Then why did you not believe him? And if we say it was from men, we have reason to be afraid of the people; for the people all looked upon John as a prophet indeed. And they answered Jesus, We cannot tell. Jesus answered them, And you will not learn from me what is the authority by which I do these things.
Then he began to speak to them in parables; There was a man who planted a vineyard, and put a wall round it, and dug a wine-press and built a tower in it, and then let it out to some vine-dressers, while he went on his travels. And when the season came, he sent one of his servants on an errand to the vine-dressers, to claim from the vine-dressers the revenue of his vineyard. Whereupon they took him and beat him, and sent him away emptyhanded. Then he sent another servant on a second errand to them, and him too they beat over the head and used him outrageously. He sent another, whom they killed; and many others, whom they beat or killed at their pleasure. He had still one messenger left, his own well-beloved son; him he sent to them last of all; They will have reverence, he said, for my son. But the vine-dressers said among themselves, This is the heir, come, let us kill him, and then his inheritance will be ours. So they took him and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. And now, what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, and make an end of those vine-dressers, and give his vineyard to others. Why, have you not read this passage in the scriptures, The very stone which the builders rejected has become the chief stone at the corner; this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
This parable, they saw, was aimed at themselves, and they would gladly have laid hands on him, but they were afraid of the multitude; so they went away and left him alone. Then they sent some of the Pharisees to him, with those who were of Herod's party, to make him betray himself in his talk. These came and said to him, Master, we know that you are sincere; that you hold no one in awe, making no distinction between man and man, but teach in all sincerity the way of God. Is it right that tribute should be paid to Caesar? Or should we refuse to pay it? But he saw their treachery, and said to them, Why do you thus put me to the test? Bring me a silver piece, and let me look at it. When they brought it, he asked them, Whose is this likeness? Whose name is inscribed on it? Caesar's, they said. Whereupon Jesus answered them, Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. And they were lost in admiration of him.
Then he was approached with a question by the Sadducees, men who say that there is no resurrection: Master, they said, Moses prescribed for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a widow behind him but no children, he, the brother, should marry the widow, and beget children in the dead brother's name. There were seven brethren; the first married a wife, and died childless; the second married her, and he too left no children, and so with the third; all seven married her, without having children, and the woman died last of all. And now, when the dead rise again, which of these will be her husband, since she was wife to all seven? Jesus answered them. Is not this where you are wrong, that you do not understand the scriptures, or what is the power of God? When the dead rise, there is no marrying or giving in marriage, they are as the angels in heaven are. But as for the dead rising again, have you never read in the book of Moses how God spoke to him at the burning bush, and said, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? Yet it is of living men, not of dead men, that he is the God; you are wrong, then, altogether.
One of the scribes heard their dispute, and, finding that he answered to the purpose, came up and asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? Jesus answered him, The first commandment of all is, Listen, Israel; there is no God but the Lord your God; and you shall love the Lord your God with the love of your whole heart, and your whole soul, and your whole mind, and your whole strength. This is the first commandment, and the second, its like, is this, You shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said to him.,Truly, Master, you have answered well; there is but one God, and no other beside him; and if a man loves God with all his heart and all his soul and all his understanding and all his strength, and his neighbour as himself, that is a greater thing than all burnt-offerings and sacrifices. Then Jesus, seeing how wisely he had answered, said to him, You are not far from the kingdom of God. And after this, no one dared to try him with further questions.
Then Jesus said openly, still teaching in the temple, What do the scribes mean by saying that Christ is to be the son of David? David himself was moved by the Holy Spirit to say, The Lord said to my Master, Sit on my right hand while I make your enemies a footstool under your feet. Thus David himself calls Christ his Master; how can he be also his son? And the multitude at large listened to him readily. This was part of the teaching he gave them, Beware of the scribes, who enjoy walking in long robes, and having their hands kissed in the market-place, and the first seats in the synagogues, and the chief places at feasts; who swallow up the property of widows, under cover of their long prayers; their sentence will be all the heavier for that.
As he was sitting opposite the treasury of the temple, Jesus watched the multitude throwing coins into the treasury, the many rich with their many offerings; and there was one poor widow, who came and put in two mites, which make a farthing. Thereupon he called his disciples to him, and said to them, Believe me, this poor widow has put in more than all those others who have put offerings into the treasury. The others all gave out of what they had to spare; she, with so little to give, put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.
As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, Look, Master, what stones! What a fabric! Jesus answered him, Do you see all this huge fabric? There will not be a stone of it left on another; it will all be thrown down. So, when he was sitting down on mount Olivet, opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him, now that they were alone: Tell us, when will this be? And what sign will be given, when all this is soon to be accomplished? Take care, Jesus began in answer, that you do not allow anyone to deceive you. Many will come making use of my name; they will say, Here I am, and many will be deceived by it. When you hear tell of wars, and rumours of war, do not be disturbed in mind; such things must happen, but the end will not come yet. Nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, there will be earthquakes in this region or that, there will be famines: all this is but the beginning of travail. But you will have to think of yourselves; men will be giving you up to courts of justice, and scourging you in the synagogues, yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, so that you can bear witness to them; the gospel must be preached to all nations before the end. When they take you and hand you over thus, do not consider anxiously beforehand what you are to say; use what words are given you when the time comes; it is not you that speak, it is the Holy Spirit. Brother will be given up to death by brother, and the son by his father; children will rise up against their parents, and will compass their deaths; all the world will be hating you because you bear my name; but that man will be saved, who endures to the last.
And now, when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should never stand (let him who reads this, recognize what it means), then those who are in Judaea must take refuge in the mountains; not going down into the house, if they are on the house-top, or entering the house to carry anything away from it; not turning back, if they are in the fields, to pick up a cloak. It will go hard with women who are with child, or have children at the breast, in those days. And you must pray that your flight may not be in the winter; for those days will be days of distress, such as has not been since the beginning of creation till now, and can never be again. There would have been no hope left for any human creature, if the Lord had not cut those days short; but he has cut the days short for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen. At such a time, if a man tells you, See, here is Christ, or, See, he is there, do not believe him. There will be false Christs and false prophets who will rise up and show signs and wonders, so that, if it were possible, even the elect would be deceived. But you must be on your guard; hereby, I have given you warning of it all.
In those days, after this distress, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will refuse her light; and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in heaven will rock; and then they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds, with great power and glory. And then he will send out his angels, to gather his elect from the four winds, from earth's end to heaven's. The fig-tree will teach you a parable; when its branch grows supple, and begins to put out leaves, you know that summer is near; so you, when you see all this come about, are to know that it is near, at your very doors. Believe me, this generation will not have passed, before all this is accomplished. Though heaven and earth should pass away, my words will stand.
But as for that day and that hour you speak of, they are known to nobody, not even to the angels in heaven, not even to the Son; only the Father knows them. Look well to it; watch and pray; you do not know when the time is to come. It is as if a man going on his travels had left his house, entrusting authority to his servants, each of them to do his own work, and enjoining the door-keeper to watch. Be on the watch, then, since you do not know when the master of the house is coming, at twilight, or midnight, or cock-crow, or dawn; if not, he may come suddenly, and find you asleep. And what I say to you, I say to all, Watch.
It was now two days to the paschal feast and the time of unleavened bread; and the chief priests and scribes were trying to bring Jesus into their power by cunning, and put him to death; But not on the day of the feast, they said, or there may be an uproar among the people. And then, while he was in the house of Simon the leper, at Bethany, sitting at table, a woman came in with a pot of very precious spikenard ointment, which, first breaking the pot, she poured over his head. There were some present who were indignant when they saw it, and said among themselves, What did she mean by wasting the ointment so? This ointment might have been sold for three hundred pieces of silver, and alms might have been given to the poor. And they rebuked her angrily. But Jesus said, Let her alone; why should you vex her? She did well to treat me so. You have the poor among you always, so you you can do good to them when you will; I am not always among you. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand to prepare it for burial. I promise you, in whatever part of the world this gospel is preached, the story of what she has done shall be told in its place, to preserve her memory. Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests and offered to betray him into their hands. And they, listening to him eagerly, promised him money; whereupon he looked about for an opportunity to betray him.
On the first of the days of unleavened bread, when they killed the paschal victim, his disciples asked him, Where will you have us go and make ready for you to eat the paschal meal? And he sent two of his disciples on this errand, Go into the city, and there a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water; you are to follow him, and say to the owner of the house into which he enters, The master says, Where is my room, in which I am to eat the paschal meal with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; it is there that you are to make ready for us. So the disciples left him and went into the city, where they found all as he had told them, and so made ready for the paschal meal. When it was evening, he came there with the twelve. And as they sat at table and were eating, Jesus said, Believe me, one of you, one who is eating with me, is to betray me. They began to ask him sorrowfully, each in turn, Is it I?, and then another, Is it I? He told them, It is one of the twelve, the man who puts his hand into the dish with me. The Son of Man goes on his way, as the scripture foretells of him but woe upon that man by whom the Son of Man is to be betrayed; better for that man if he had never been born.
And while they were still at table, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, Take this; this is my body. Then he took a cup, and offered thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said, This is my blood of the new testament, shed for many. I tell you truthfully, I shall not drink of this fruit of the vine again, until the day when I drink it with you, new wine, in the kingdom of God. And so they sang a hymn, and went out to mount Olivet. And Jesus said to them. Tonight you will all lose courage over me; for so it has been written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. But I will go on before you into Galilee, when I have risen from the dead. Peter said to them, Though all else should lose courage over you, I will never lose mine. And Jesus said to him, Believe me, this night, before the second cock-crow, you will thrice disown me. But Peter insisted more than ever, I will not disown you, though I must lay down my life with you. And all of them said the like.
So they came to a plot of land called Gethsemani; and he said to his disciples, Sit down here, while I go and pray. But he took Peter and James and John with him. And now he grew dismayed and distressed: My soul, he said to them, is ready to die with sorrow; do you abide here, and keep watch. So he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass him by: Abba, Father, he said, all things are possible to you; take away this chalice from before me; only as your will is, not as mine is. Then he went back, and found them asleep; and he said to Peter, Simon, are you sleeping? Had you not strength to watch even for an hour? Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing enough, but the flesh is weak. Then he went away and prayed again, using the same words. And when he returned, once more he found them asleep, so heavy their eyelids were; and they did not know what answer to make to him. When he came the third time, he said to them, Sleep and take your rest hereafter. Enough; the time has come; behold, the Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise up, let us go on our way; already, he that is to betray me is close at hand.
And thereupon, while he was yet speaking, Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, came near; with him was a great multitude carrying swords and clubs, who had been sent by the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. The traitor had appointed them a signal; It is none other, he said, than the man whom I shall greet with a kiss; hold him fast, and take him away under guard. No sooner, then, had he come up than he went close to Jesus, saying, Hail, Master, and kissed him; and with that they laid their hands on him, and held him fast. And one of those who stood by drew his sword, and smote one of the high priest's servants with it, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to them aloud, You have come out to my arrest with swords and clubs, as if I were a robber; and yet I used to teach in the temple close to you, day after day, and you never laid hands on me. But the scriptures must be fulfilled. And now all his disciples abandoned him, and fled. There was a young man there following him, who was wearing only a linen shirt on his bare body; and he, when they laid hold of him, left the shirt in their hands, and ran away from them naked. So they took Jesus into the presence of the high priest, and all the chief priests and elders and scribes were assembled about him.
Yet Peter followed at a long distance, right into the high priest's palace, and there sat down with the servants by the fire, to warm himself. The high priest and all the council tried to find an accusation against Jesus, such as would compass his death, but they could find none; many accused him falsely, but their accusations did not agree. There were some who stood up and falsely accused him thus: We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made by men's hands, and in three days I will build another, with no hand of man to help me. But even so their accusations did not agree. Then the high priest stood up, and asked Jesus, Have you no answer to the accusations these men bring against you? He was still silent, still did not answer; and the high priest questioned him again, Are you the Christ, the Son of the blessed God? Jesus said to him, I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God's power, and coming with the clouds of heaven. At this, the high priest tore his garments, and said, What further need have we of witnesses? You have heard his blasphemy for yourselves; what is your finding? And they all pronounced against him a sentence of death. Then some of them fell to spitting upon him, and covering his face while they buffeted him and bade him prophesy; the servants, too, caught him blows on the cheek.
Meanwhile, Peter was in the court without, and one of the maid-servants of the high priest came by; she saw Peter warming himself, and said, looking closely at him, You too were with Jesus the Nazarene. Whereupon he denied it; I know nothing of it, I do not understand what you mean. Then he went out into the porch; and the cock crew. Again the maid looked at him, and said to the bystanders, This is one of them. And again he denied it. Then, a little while afterwards, the bystanders said to Peter, It is certain that you are one of them; why, you are a Galilean. And he fell to calling down curses on himself and swearing, I do not know the man you speak of. Then came the second cock-crow; and Peter remembered the word Jesus had said to him, Before the second cock-crow you will thrice deny me. And all at once he burst out weeping.
No sooner had day broken, than the chief priests made their plans, with the elders and scribes and the whole Council; they took Jesus away in bonds and gave him up to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, Are you the King of the Jews? He answered him, Your own lips have said it. And now the chief priests brought many accusations against him, and Pilate questioned him again, Do you make no answer? See what a weight of accusation they bring against you. But Jesus still would not answer him, so that Pilate was full of astonishment. At the festival, he used to grant them the liberty of any one prisoner they chose; and the man they called Barabbas was then in custody, with the rebels who had been guilty of murder during the rebellion. So, when the multitude came up towards him, and began to ask for the customary favour, Pilate answered them, Would you have me release the king of the Jews? He knew well that the chief priests had only given him up out of malice. But the chief priests incited the multitude to ask for the release of Barabbas instead. Once more Pilate answered them, What would you have me do, then, with the king of the Jews? And they made a fresh cry of, Crucify him. Why, Pilate said to them, what wrong has he done? But they cried all the more, Crucify him. And so Pilate, determined to humour the multitude, released Barabbas as they asked; Jesus he scourged, and gave him up to be crucified.
Then the soldiers led him away into the court of the palace, and gathered there the whole of their company. They arrayed him in a scarlet cloak, and put round his head a crown which they had woven out of thorns, and fell to greeting him with, Hail, king of the Jews. And they beat him over the head with a rod, and spat upon him, and bowed their knees in worship of him. At last they had done with mockery; stripping him of the scarlet cloak, they put his own garments on him, and led him away to be crucified. As for his cross, they forced a passer-by who was coming in from the country to carry it, one Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. And so they took him to a place called Golgotha, which means, The place of a skull. Here they offered him a draught of wine mixed with myrrh, which he would not take; and then crucified him, dividing his garments among them by casting lots, to decide which should fall to each.
It was the third hour when they crucified him. A proclamation of his offence was written up over him, The king of the Jews; and with him they crucified two thieves, one on the right and the other on his left, so fulfilling the words of scripture, And he was counted among the wrong-doers. The passers-by blasphemed against him, shaking their heads; Come now, they said, you who would destroy the temple and build it up in three days, come down from that cross, and rescue yourself. In the same way, the chief priests and scribes said mockingly to one another, He saved others, he cannot save himself. Let Christ, the king of Israel, come down from the cross, here and now, so that we can see it and believe in him. And the men who were crucified with him uttered taunts against him.
When the sixth hour came, there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour; and at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lamma sabachthani? which means. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Hearing this, some of those who stood by said, Why, he is calling upon Elias. And thereupon one of them ran off to fill a sponge with vinegar, and fixed it on a rod, and offered to let him drink; Wait, he said, Let us see whether Elias is to come and save him. Then Jesus gave a loud cry, and yielded up his spirit. And the veil of the temple was torn this way and that, from the top to the bottom. The centurion who stood in front of him, perceiving that he so yielded up his spirit with a cry, said, No doubt but this was the Son of God.
There were women there, who stood watching from far off; among them were Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joseph, and Salome. These used to follow him and minister to him when he was in Galilee, and there were many others who had come up with him to Jerusalem. And now it was already evening; and because it was the day of preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, a rich councillor, named Joseph of Arimathea, one of those who waited for God's kingdom, boldly went to Pilate, and asked to have the body of Jesus. Pilate, astonished that he should have died so soon, called the centurion to him, to ask if he was dead already, and when he heard the centurion's report, gave Joseph the body. Joseph took him down, and wrapped him in a winding-sheet which he had bought, and laid him in a tomb cut out of the rock, rolling a stone against the door of the tomb. Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of Joseph, saw where he had been laid.
And when the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome had bought spices, to come and anoint Jesus. So they came to the tomb very early on the day after the sabbath, at sunrise. And they began to question among themselves, Who is to roll the stone away for us from the door of the tomb? Then they looked up, and saw that the stone, great as it was, had been rolled away already. And they went into the tomb, and saw there, on the right, a young man seated, wearing a white robe; and they were dismayed. But he said to them.,No need to be dismayed; you have come to look for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified; he has risen again, he is not here. Here is the place where they laid him. Go and tell Peter and the rest of his disciples that he is going before you into Galilee. There you shall have sight of him, as he promised you. So they came out and ran away from the tomb, trembling and awe-struck, and said nothing to anyone, out of fear. But he had risen again, at dawn on the first day of the week, and showed himself first of all to Mary Magdalen, the woman out of whom he had cast seven devils. She went and gave the news to those who had been of his company, where they mourned and wept; and they, when they were told that he was alive and that she had seen him, could not believe it. After that, he appeared in the form of a stranger to two of them as they were walking together, going out into the country; these went back and gave the news to the rest, but they did not believe them either.
Then at last he appeared to all eleven of them as they sat at table, and reproached them with their unbelief and their obstinacy of heart, in giving no credit to those who had seen him after he had risen. And he said to them, Go out all over the world and preach the gospel to the whole of creation; he who believes and is baptized will be saved; he who refuses belief will be condemned. Where believers go, these signs shall go with them; they will cast out devils in my name, they will speak in tongues that are strange to them; they will take up serpents in their hands, and drink poisonous draughts without harm; they will lay their hands upon the sick and make them recover. And so the Lord Jesus, when he had finished speaking to them, was taken up to heaven, and is seated now at the right hand of God; and they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord aiding them, and attesting his word by the miracles that went with them.
Many have been at pains to set forth the history of what time has brought to fulfilment among us, following the tradition of those first eye-witnesses who gave themselves up to the service of the word. And I too, most noble Theophilus, have resolved to put the story in writing for you as it befell, having first traced it carefully from its beginnings, that you may understand the instruction you have already received, in all its certainty.
In the days when Herod was king of Judaea, there was a priest called Zachary, of Abia's turn of office, who had married a wife of Aaron's family, by name Elizabeth; they were both well approved in God's sight, following all the commandments and observances of the Lord without reproach. They had no child; Elizabeth was barren, and both were now well advanced in years. He, then, as it happened, was doing a priest's duty before God in the order of his turn of office; and had been chosen by lot, as was the custom among the priests, to go into the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense there, while the whole multitude of the people stood praying without, at the hour of sacrifice. Suddenly he saw an angel of the Lord, standing at the right of the altar where incense was burnt. Zachary was bewildered at the sight, and overcome with fear; but the angel said, Zachary, do not be afraid; your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth is to bear you a son, to whom you shall give the name of John. Joy and gladness shall be yours, and many hearts shall rejoice over his birth, for he is to be high in the Lord's favour; he is to drink neither wine nor strong drink; and from the time when he is yet a child in his mother's womb he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit. He shall bring back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, ushering in his advent in the spirit and power of an Elias. He shall unite the hearts of all, the fathers with the children, and teach the disobedient the wisdom that makes men just, preparing for the Lord a people fit to receive him. And Zachary said to the angel, By what sign am I to be assured of this? I am an old man now, and my wife is far advanced in age. The angel answered, My name is Gabriel, and my place is in God's presence; I have been sent to speak with you, and to bring you this good news. Behold, you shall be dumb, and have no power of speech, until the day when this is accomplished; and that, because you have not believed my promise, which shall in due time be fulfilled. And now all the people were waiting for Zachary, and wondering that he delayed in the temple so long; but he, when he came out, could speak no word to them; whereupon they made sure that he had seen some vision in the sanctuary. He could but stand there making signs to them, for he remained dumb.
And so, when the days of his ministry were at an end, he went back to his house. It was after those days that his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she dwelt retired; she said, It is the Lord who has done this for me, visiting me at his own time, to take away my reproach among men.
When the sixth month came. God sent the angel Gabriel to a city of Galilee called Nazareth, where a virgin dwelt, betrothed to a man of David's lineage; his name was Joseph, and the virgin's name was Mary. Into her presence the angel came, and said, Hail, you who are full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women. She was much perplexed at hearing him speak so, and cast about in her mind, what she was to make of such a greeting. Then the angel said to her, Mary, do not be afraid; you have found favour in the sight of God. And behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and shall bear a son, and shall call him Jesus. He shall be great, and men will know him for the Son of the most High; the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob eternally; his kingdom shall never have an end. But Mary said to the angel, How can that be, since I have no knowledge of man? And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most High will overshadow you. Thus this holy offspring of yours shall be known for the Son of God. See, moreover, how it fares with your cousin Elizabeth; she is old, yet she too has conceived a son; she who was reproached with barrenness is now in her sixth month, to prove that nothing can be impossible with God. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be unto me according to your word. And with that the angel left her.
In the days that followed, Mary rose up and went with all haste to a town ofJuda, in the hill country where Zachary dwelt; and there entering in she gave Elizabeth greeting. No sooner had Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, than the child leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Spirit; so that she cried out with a loud voice, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. How have I deserved to be thus visited by the mother of my Lord? Why, as soon as ever the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you for your believing; the message that was brought to you from the Lord shall have fulfilment.
And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord; my spirit has found joy in God, who is my Saviour, because he has looked graciously upon the lowliness of his handmaid. Behold, from this day forward all generations will count me blessed; because he who is mighty, he whose name is holy, has wrought for me his wonders. He has mercy upon those who fear him, from generation to generation; he has done valiantly with the strength of his arm, driving the proud astray in the conceit of their hearts; he has put down the mighty from their seat, and exalted the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty-handed. He has protected his servant Israel, keeping his merciful design in remembrance, according to the promise which he made to our forefathers, Abraham and his posterity for evermore.
Mary returned home when she had been with her about three months; meanwhile Elizabeth's time had come for her childbearing, and she bore a son. Her neighbours and her kinsfolk, hearing how wonderfully God had showed his mercy to her, came to rejoice with her; and now, when they assembled on the eighth day for the circumcision of the child, they were for calling him Zachary, because it was his father's name; but his mother answered, No, he is to be called John. And they said, There is none of your kindred that is called by this name, and began asking his father by signs, what name he would have him called by. So he asked for a tablet, and wrote on it the words, His name is John; and they were all astonished. Then, of a sudden, his lips and his tongue were unloosed, and he broke into speech, giving praise to God; so that fear came upon all their neighbourhood, and there was none of these happenings but was noised abroad throughout all the hill country ofJudaea. All those who heard it laid it to heart; Why then, they asked, what will this boy grow to be? And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.
Then his father Zachary was filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke in prophecy, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, he has visited his people, and wrought their redemption. He has raised up a sceptre of salvation for us among the posterity of his servant David, according to the promise which he made by the lips of holy men that have been his prophets from the beginning; salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all those who hate us. So he would carry out his merciful design towards our fathers, by remembering his holy covenant. He had sworn an oath to our father Abraham, that he would enable us to live without fear in his service, delivered from the hand of our enemies, passing all our days in holiness, and approved in his sight. And you, my child, will be known for a prophet of the most High, going before the Lord, to clear his way for him; you will make known to his people the salvation that is to release them from their sins. Such is the merciful kindness of our God, which has bidden him come to us, like a dawning from on high, to give light to those who live in darkness, in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
And as the child grew, his spirit achieved strength, and he dwelt in the wilderness until the day when he was made manifest to Israel.
It happened that a decree went out at this time from the emperor Augustus, enjoining that the whole world should be registered: this register was the first one made during the time when Cyrinus was governor of Syria. All must go and give in their names, each in his own city; and Joseph, being of David's clan and family, came up from the town of Nazareth, in Galilee, to David's city in Judaea, the city called Bethlehem, to give in his name there. With him was his espoused wife Mary, who was then in her pregnancy; and it was while they were still there that the time came for her delivery. She brought forth a son, her first-born, whom she wrapped in his swaddling-clothes, and laid in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. In the same country there were shepherds awake in the fields, keeping nightwatches over their flocks. And all at once an angel of the Lord came and stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone about them, so that they were overcome with fear. But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid; behold, I bring you good news of a great rejoicing for the whole people. This day, in the city of David, a Saviour has been born for you, the Lord Christ himself. This is the sign by which you are to know him; you will find a child still in swaddling-clothes, lying in a manger. Then, on a sudden, a multitude of the heavenly army appeared to them at the angel's side, giving praise to God, and saying, Glory to God in high heaven, and peace on earth to men that are God's friends.
When the angels had left them, and gone back into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Come, let us make our way to Bethlehem, and see for ourselves this happening which God has made known to us. And so they went with all haste, and found Mary and Joseph there, with the child lying in the manger. On seeing him, they discovered the truth of what had been told them about this child. All those who heard it were full of amazement at the story which the shepherds told them; but Mary treasured up all these sayings, and reflected on them in her heart. And the shepherds went home giving praise and glory to God, at seeing and hearing that all was as it had been told them.
When eight days had passed, and the boy must be circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name which the angel had given him before ever he was conceived in the womb. And when the time had come for purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present him before the Lord there. It is written in God's law, that whatever male offspring opens the womb is to be reckoned sacred to the Lord; and so they must offer in sacrifice for him, as God's law commanded, a pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons. At this time there was a man named Simeon living in Jerusalem, an upright man of careful observance, who waited patiently for comfort to be brought to Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him; and by the Holy Spirit it had been revealed to him that he was not to meet death, until he had seen that Christ whom the Lord had anointed. He now came, led by the Spirit, into the temple; and when the child Jesus was brought in by his parents, to perform the custom which the law enjoined concerning him, Simeon too was able to take him in his arms. And he said, blessing God: Ruler of all, now do you let your servant go in peace, according to your word; for my own eyes have seen that saving power of yours which you have prepared in the sight of all nations. This is the light which shall give revelation to the Gentiles, this is the glory of your people Israel. The father and mother of the child were still wondering over all that was said of him, when Simeon blessed them, and said to his mother Mary, Behold, this child is destined to bring about the fall of many and the rise of many in Israel; to be a sign which men will refuse to acknowledge; and so the thoughts of many hearts shall be made manifest; as for your own soul, it shall have a sword to pierce it. There was besides a prophetess named Anna, daughter to one Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser (a woman greatly advanced in age, since she had lived with a husband for seven years after her maidenhood, and had now been eightyfour years a widow) who abode continually in the temple night and day, serving God with fasting and prayer. She too, at that very hour, came near to give God thanks, and spoke of the child to all that patiently waited for the deliverance of Israel. And now, when all had been done that the law of the Lord required, they returned to Galilee, and to their own town of Nazareth.
And so the child grew and came to his strength, full of wisdom; and the grace of God rested upon him. Every year, his parents used to go up to Jerusalem at the paschal feast. And when he was twelve years old, after going up to Jerusalem, as the custom was at the time of the feast, and completing the days of its observance, they set about their return home. But the boy Jesus, unknown to his parents, continued his stay in Jerusalem. And they, thinking that he was among their travelling companions, had gone a whole day's journey before they made enquiry for him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances. When they could not find him, they made their way back to Jerusalem in search of him, and it was only after three days that they found him. He was sitting in the temple, in the midst of those who taught there, listening to them and asking them questions ; and all those who heard him were in amazement at his quick understanding and at the answers he gave. Seeing him there, they were full of wonder, and his mother said to him, My Son, why have you treated us so? Think, what anguish of mind your father and I have endured, searching for you. But he asked them, What reason had you to search for me? Could you not tell that I must needs be in the place which belongs to my Father? These words which he spoke to them were beyond their understanding; but he went down with them on their journey to Nazareth, and lived there in subjection to them, while his mother kept in her heart the memory of all this. And so Jesus advanced in wisdom with the years, and in favour both with God and with men.
It was in the fifteenth year of the emperor Tiberius' reign, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judaea, when Herod was prince in Galilee, his brother Philip in the Ituraean and Trachonitid region, and Lysanias in Abilina, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiphas, that the word of God came upon John, the son of Zachary, in the desert. And he went all over the country round Jordan, announcing a baptism whereby men repented, to have their sins forgiven: as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaias, There is a voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, straighten out his paths. Every valley is to be bridged, and every mountain and hill levelled, and the windings are to be cut straight, and the rough paths made into smooth roads, and all mankind is to see the saving power of God. He said to the multitudes who came out to be baptized by him, Who was it that taught you, brood of vipers, to flee from the vengeance that draws near? Come then, yield the acceptable fruit of repentance, do not think to say, We have Abraham for our father; I tell you, God has power to raise up children to Abraham out of these very stones. Already the axe has been put to the root of the trees, so that every tree which does not show good fruit will be hewn down and cast into the fire. And the multitudes asked him, What is it, then, we are to do? He answered them, The man who has two coats must share with the man who has none; and the man who has food to eat, must do the like. The publicans, too, came to be baptized; Master, they said to him, what are we to do? He told them, Do not go beyond the scale appointed you. Even the soldiers on guard asked him, What of us? What are we to do? He said to them, Do not use men roughly, do not lay false information against them; be content with your pay.
And now the people was full of expectation; all had the same surmise in their hearts, whether John might not be the Christ. But John gave them their answer by saying publicly, As for me, I am baptizing you with water; but one is yet to come who is mightier than I, so that I am not worthy to untie the strap of his shoes. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He holds his winnowing-fan ready, to purge his threshing-floor clean; he will gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will consume with fire that can never be quenched. With these and many other warnings he gave his message to the people: but when he rebuked prince Herod over his brother Philip's wife, and his shameful deeds, Herod, to crown all, shut John up in prison. It was while all the people were being baptized that Jesus was baptized too, and stood there praying. Suddenly heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit came down upon him in bodily form, like a dove, and a voice came from heaven, which said, You are my beloved Son, in you I am well pleased.
Jesus himself had now reached the age of about thirty. He was, by repute, the son of Joseph, son of Heli, son of Mathat, son of Levi, son of Melchi, son of Janne, son of Joseph, son of Matthathias, son of Amos, son of Nahum, son of Hesli, son of Nagge, son of Mahath, son of Matthathias, son of Semei, son of Joseph, son of Juda, son of Joanna, son of Resa, son of Zorobabel, son of Salathiel, son of Neri, son of Melchi, son of Addi, son of Cosan, son of Elmadan, son of Her, son of Jesu, son of Eliezer, son of Jorim, son of Mathat, son of Levi, son of Simeon, son of Juda, son of Joseph, son of Jona, son of Eliakim, son of Melea, son of Menna, son of Mathatha, son of Nathan, son of David, son of Jesse, son of Obed, son of Booz, son of Salmon, son of Naasson, son of Aminadab, son of Aram, son of Esron, son of Phares, son of Juda, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of Thare, son of Nachor, son of Sarug, son of Ragau, son of Phaleg, son of Heber, son of Sale, son of Cainan, son of Arphaxad, son of Sem, son of Noe, son of Lamech, son of Methusale, son of Henoch, son of Jared, son of Malaleel, son of Cainan, son of Henos, son of Seth, son of Adam, who was the son of God.
Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit, and by the Spirit he was led on into the wilderness, where he remained forty days, tempted by the devil. During those days he ate nothing, and when they were over, he was hungry. Then the devil said to him, If you are the Son of God, bid this stone turn into a loaf of bread. Jesus answered him, It is written, Man cannot live by bread only; there is life for him in all the words that come from God. And the devil led him up on to a high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time; I will give you command, the devil said to him, over all these, and the glory that belongs to them; they have been made over to me, and I may give them to whomsoever I please; come then, all shall be yours, if you will fall down before me and worship. Jesus answered him, It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God; to him only shall you do service. And he led him to Jerusalem, and there set him down on the pinnacle of the temple; If you are the Son of God, he said to him, cast yourself down from this to the earth; for it is written. He shall give his angels charge concerning you, to keep you safe, and they will hold you up with their hands, lest you should chance to trip on a stone. And Jesus answered him, We are told, You shall not put the Lord your God to the proof. So the devil, when he had finished tempting him every way, left him in peace until the time should come.
And Jesus came back to Galilee with the power of the Spirit upon him; word of him went round through all the neighbouring country, and he began to preach in their synagogues, so that his praise was on all men's lips. Then he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went into the synagogue there, as his custom was, on the sabbath day, and stood up to read. The book given to him was the book of the prophet Isaias; so he opened it, and found the place where the words ran: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; he has anointed me, and sent me out to preach the gospel to the poor, to restore the brokenhearted; to bid the prisoners go free, and the blind have sight; to set the oppressed at liberty, to proclaim a year when men may find acceptance with the Lord, a day of retribution.
Then he shut the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. All those who were in the synagogue fixed their eyes on him, and thus he began speaking to them, This scripture which I have read in your hearing is to-day fulfilled. All bore testimony to him, and were astonished at the gracious words which came from his mouth; Why, they said, is not this the son of Joseph? Then he said to them, No doubt you will tell me, as the proverb says, Physician, heal yourself; do here in your own country all that we have heard of your doing at Capharnaum. And he said, Believe me, no prophet finds acceptance in his own country. Why, you may be sure of this, there were many widows among the people of Israel in the days of Elias, when a great famine came over all the land, after the heavens had remained shut for three years and six months, but Elias was not sent to any of these. He was sent to a widow woman in Sarepta, which belongs to Sidon. And there were many lepers among the people of Israel in the days of the prophet Eliseus; but it was none of them, it was Naaman the Syrian, who was made clean. All those who were in the synagogue were full of indignation at hearing this; they rose up and thrust him out of the city, and took him up to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, to throw him over it. But he passed through the midst of them, and so went on his way.
Then he went down to Capharnaum, which is a city in Galilee, and began teaching them there on the sabbath; and they were amazed by his teaching, such was the authority with which he spoke. In the synagogue was a man who was possessed by an unclean spirit, that cried out with a loud voice: Nay, why do you meddle: with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to make an end of us? I recognize you for what you are, the Holy One of God. Jesus rebuked it; Silence! he said; come out of him. Then the unclean spirit threw him into a convulsion before them all, and went out of him without doing him any injury. Wonder fell upon them all, as they said to one another, What is this word of his? See how he has authority and power to lay his command on the unclean spirits, so that they come out! And the story of his doings spread into every part of the country-side. So he rose up and left the synagogue, and went into Simon's house. The mother of Simon's wife was in the grip of a violent fever, and they entreated his aid for her. He stood over her, and checked the fever, so that it left her, all at once she rose, and ministered to them. And when the sun was going down, all those who had friends afflicted with diseases of any kind brought them to him: and he laid his hands upon each one of them, and healed them. Many, too, had devils cast out of them, which cried aloud, You are the Son of God; but he rebuked them and would not have them speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. Then, when day came, he went out and retired to a desert place. The multitude, who had set out in search of him and caught him up, would have kept him there, and not let him leave them. But he told them, I must preach the gospel of God's kingdom to the other cities too; it is for this that I was sent. And so he went on preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.
It happened that he was standing by the lake of Genesareth, at a time when the multitude was pressing close about him to hear the word of God; and he saw two boats moored at the edge of the lake; the fishermen had gone ashore, and were washing their nets. And he went on board one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to stand off a little from the land; and so, sitting down, he began to teach the multitudes from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, Stand out into the deep water, and let down your nets for a catch. Simon answered him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and caught nothing; but at your word I will let down the net. And when they had done this, they took a great quantity of fish, so that the net was near breaking, and they must needs beckon to their partners who were in the other boat to come and help them. When these came, they filled both boats, so that they were ready to sink. At seeing this, Simon Peter fell down and caught Jesus by the knees; Leave me to myself, Lord, he said; I am a sinner. Such amazement had overcome both him and all his crew, at the catch of fish they had made; so it was, too, with James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners. But Jesus said to Simon, Do not be afraid; henceforth you shall be a fisher of men. So, when they had brought their boats to land, they left all and followed him.
Afterwards, while he was in one of the cities, he came upon a man who was far gone in leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell on his face in entreaty; Lord, he said, if it be your will, you have power to make me clean. And he stretched out his hand, and touched him, and said, It is my will; be made clean. Whereupon all at once his leprosy passed from him. And Jesus warned him not to tell anyone of it; Go and show yourself to the priest, he said, and bring an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, to make the truth known to them. But still the talk of him spread more and more, and great multitudes came together to listen to him, and be healed of their infirmities. And he would steal away from them into the desert and pray there.
It chanced one day that he was teaching, and that some Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting by, who had come from every village in Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was there, to grant healing. Just then, some men brought there on a bed one who was palsied, whom they tried to carry in and set down in Jesus' presence. But, finding no way of carrying him in, because of the multitude, they went up on to the house-top, and let him down between the tiles, bed and all, into the clear space in front of Jesus. And he, seeing their faith, said, Man, your sins are forgiven you. Whereupon the Pharisees and scribes fell to reasoning thus, Who can this be, that he talks so blasphemously? Who can forgive sins but God and God only? Jesus knew of these secret thoughts of theirs, and said to them openly, Why do you reason thus in your hearts? Which command is more lightly given, to say, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say,Rise up and walk? And now, to convince you that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins while he is on earth (here he spoke to the palsied man), I tell you, rise up, take your bed with you and go home. And he rose up at once in full sight of them, took up his bedding, and went home, giving praise to God. Astonishment came over them all, and they praised God, full of awe; We have seen strange things, they said, to-day.
Then he went out, and caught sight of a publican, called Levi, sitting at work in the customs house, and said to him, Follow me. And he rose up, and left all behind, and followed him. Then Levi made a great feast for him in his house, and there was a crowded company of publicans and others who were their fellow-guests. Whereupon the Pharisees and scribes complained to his disciples, How comes it that you eat and drink with publicans and sinners? But Jesus answered them, It is those who are sick, not those who are in health, that have need of the physician. I have not come to call the just; I have come to call sinners to repentance.
Then they said to him, How is it that your disciples eat and drink, when John's disciples are always fasting and praying, and the Pharisees' disciples too? And he said to them, Can you persuade the men of the bridegroom's company to fast, while the bridegroom is still with them? No, the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; then they will fast, when that day comes. And he told them this parable; Nobody uses a piece taken from a new cloak to patch an old one; if that is done, he will have torn the new cloak, and the piece taken from the new will not match the old. Nor does anybody put new wine into old wine-skins; if that is done, the new wine bursts the skins, and there is the wine spilt and the skins spoiled. If the wine is new, it must be put into fresh wine-skins, and so both are kept safe. Nobody who has been drinking old wine calls all at once for new; he will tell you, The old is better.
It happened that on the next sabbath but one he was walking through the corn-fields; and his disciples were plucking the ears of corn and eating them, rubbing them between their hands. And some of the Pharisees said to them, Why are you doing what it is not lawful to do on the sabbath? Whereupon Jesus answered them, Why, have you never read of what David did, when he and his followers were hungry? How he went into the tabernacle, and ate the loaves set forth there before God, and gave them to his followers, although it is not lawful for anyone except the priests to eat them ? And he told them, The Son of Man has even the sabbath at his disposal. And on another sabbath day it happened that he went into the synagogue to teach, when there was a man there who had his right hand withered. The scribes and Pharisees were watching him, to see whether he would restore health on the sabbath, so that they might have a charge to bring against him, He knew their secret thoughts, and said to the man who had his hand withered, Rise up, and come forward; whereupon he rose to his feet. Then Jesus said to them, I have a question to ask you; which is right, to do good on the sabbath day, or to do harm? To save life, or to make away with it? And he looked round on them all, and said to him, Stretch out your hand. And he did so, and his hand was restored to him. And they were overcome with fury, debating with one another what they could do to Jesus.
It was at this time that he went out on to the mountain-side, and passed the whole night offering prayer to God, and when day dawned, he called his disciples to him, choosing out twelve of them; these he called his apostles. Their names were, Simon, whom he also called Peter, brother Andrew, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who is called the Zealot, Jude the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, the man who turned traitor. With them he went down and stood on a level place; a multitude of his disciples was there, and a great gathering of the people from all Judaea, and Jerusalem, and the sea-coast of Tyre and Sidon. These had come there to listen to him, and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled by unclean spirits were also cured; so that all the multitude was eager to touch him, because power went out from him, and healed them.
Then he lifted up his eyes towards his disciples, and said; Blessed are you who are poor; the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are hungry now; you will have your fill. Blessed are you who weep now; you will laugh for joy. Blessed are you, when men hate you and cast you off and revile you, when they reject your name as something evil, for the Son of Man's sake. When that day comes, rejoice and exult over it; for behold, a rich reward awaits you in heaven; their fathers treated the prophets no better. But woe upon you who are rich; you have your comfort already. Woe upon you who are filled full; you shall be hungry. Woe upon you who laugh now; you shall mourn and weep. Woe upon you, when all men speak well of you; their fathers treated the false prophets no worse.
And now I say to you who are listening to me, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you, and pray for those who treat you insultingly. If a man strikes you on the cheek, offer him the other cheek too; if a man would take away your cloak, do not grudge him your coat along with it. Give to every man who asks, and if a man takes what is yours, do not ask him to restore it. As you would have men treat you, you are to treat them; no otherwise. Why, what credit is it to you, if you love those who love you? Even sinners love those who love them. What credit is it to you, if you do good to those who do good to you? Even sinners do as much. What credit is it to you, if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much in exchange. No, it is your enemies you must love, and do them good, and lend to them, without any hope of return; then your reward will be a rich one, and you will be true sons of the most High, generous like him towards the thankless and unjust.
Be merciful, then, as your Father is merciful. Judge nobody, and you will not be judged; condemn nobody, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and gifts will be yours; good measure, pressed down and shaken up and running over, will be poured into your lap; the measure you award to others is the measure that will be awarded to you.
And he told them this parable. Can one blind man lead another? Will not both fall into the ditch together?
A disciple is no better than his master; he will be fully perfect if he is as his master is.
How is it that you can see the speck of dust which is in your brother's eye, and are not aware of the beam which is in your own? By what right will you say to your brother, Brother, let me rid your eye of that speck, when you can not see the beam that is in your own? You hypocrite, take the beam out of your own eye first, and so you shall have clear sight to rid your brother's of the speck.
There is no sound tree that will yield withered fruit, no withered tree that will yield sound fruit. Each tree is known by its proper fruit; figs are not plucked from thorns, nor grapes gathered from brier bushes. A good man utters what is good from his heart's store of goodness; the wicked man, from his heart's store of wickedness, can utter nothing but what is evil; it is from the heart's overflow that the mouth speaks.
How is it that you call me. Master, Master, and will not do what I bid you? If anyone comes to me and listens to my commandments and carries them out, I will tell you what he is like; he is like a man that would build a house, who dug, dug deep, and laid his foundation on rock. Then a flood came, and the river broke upon that house, but could not stir it; it was founded upon rock. But the man who listens to what I say and does not carry it out is like a man who built his house in the earth without foundation; when the river broke upon it, it fell at once, and great was that house's ruin.
When he had said his say in the hearing of the people, he went to Capharnaum. There was a centurion that had a servant, very dear to him, who was then at the point of death; and he, when he was told about Jesus, sent some of the elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. And these, presenting themselves before Jesus, began to make earnest appeal to him; He deserves, they said, to have this done for him; he is a good friend to our race, and has built our synagogue for us at his own cost. So Jesus set out in their company, and when he was already near the house, the centurion sent some friends to him. Do not put yourself to any trouble. Lord, he said; I am not worthy to receive you under my roof. That is why I did not presume to come to you myself. My servant will be healed if you will only speak a word of command. I too know what it is to obey authority; I have soldiers under me, and I say, Go, to one man, and he goes, or, Come, to another, and he comes, or, Do this, to my servant, and he does it. When he heard that, Jesus turned in amazement to the multitude which followed him, and said, Believe me, I have not found faith like this, even in Israel. And the messengers, when they came back to the house, found the servant who had been sick fully recovered.
And now it happened that he was going into a city called Naim, attended by his disciples and by a great multitude of people. And just as he drew near the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out to his burial; the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a crowd of folk from the city went with her. When the Lord saw her, he had pity on her, and said, Do not weep. Then he went up and put his hand on the bier; and those who were carrying it stood still. And he said, Young man, I say to you, rise up. And the dead man sat up, and spoke; and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all overcome with awe, and said, praising God, A great prophet has risen up among us; God has visited his people. And this story of him was noised abroad throughout the whole ofJudaea and all the country round.
John was told of all this by his disciples. And he summoned two of his disciples, and sent them to Jesus to ask. Is it your coming that was foretold, or are we yet waiting for some other? So they presented themselves before him, and said, John the Baptist has sent us to ask. Is it your coming that was foretold, or are we yet waiting for some other? At the very time of their visit, Jesus rid many of their diseases and afflictions and of evil spirits, and gave many that were blind the gift of sight. Then he answered, Go and tell John what your own eyes and ears have witnessed; how the blind see, and the lame walk, and the lepers are made clean, and the deaf hear; how the dead are raised to life, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Blessed is he who does not lose confidence in me.
Then, when John's messengers had gone away, he took occasion to speak of John to the multitudes; What was it, he asked, that you expected to see when you went out into the wilderness? Was it a reed trembling in the wind? No, not that; what was it you went out to see? Was it a man clad in silk? You must look in kings' palaces for men that go proudly dressed, and live in luxury. What was it, then, that you went out to see? A prophet? Yes, and something more, I tell you, than a prophet. This is the man of whom it is written, Behold, I am sending before you that angel of mine who is to prepare the way for your coming. I tell you, there is no greater than John the Baptist among all the sons of women; and yet to be least in the kingdom of heaven is to be greater than he. It was the common folk who listened to him, and the publicans, that had given God his due, by receiving John's baptism, whereas the Pharisees and lawyers, by refusing it, had frustrated God's plan for them. And the Lord said, To what, then, shall I compare the men of this generation? What are they like? They put me in mind of those children who call out to their companions as they sit in the market-place and say. You would not dance when we piped to you, you would not mourn when we wept to you. When John came, he would neither eat nor drink, and you say. He is possessed. When the Son of Man came, he ate and drank with you, and of him you say, Here is a glutton; he loves wine; he is a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is vindicated by all her children. One of the Pharisees invited him to a meal; so he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at table. And there was then a sinful woman in the city, who, hearing that he was at table in the Pharisee's house, brought a pot of ointment with her, and took her place behind him at his feet, weeping; then she began washing his feet with her tears, and drying them with her hair, kissing his feet, and anointing them with the ointment. His host, the Pharisee, saw it, and thought to himself. If this man were a prophet, he would know who this woman is that is touching him, and what kind of woman, a sinner. But Jesus answered him thus, Simon, I have a word for your hearing. Tell it me. Master, he said. There was a creditor who had two debtors; one owed him five hundred pieces of silver, the other fifty; they had no means of paying him, and he gave them both their discharge. And now tell me, which of them loves him the more? I suppose, Simon answered, that it is the one who had the greater debt discharged. And he said, You have judged rightly. Then he turned towards the woman, and said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I came into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet; she has washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss of greeting; she has never ceased to kiss my feet since I entered; you did not pour oil on my head; she has anointed my feet, and with ointment. And so, I tell you, if great sins have been forgiven her, she has also greatly loved. He loves little, who has little forgiven him. Then he said to her. Your sins are forgiven. And his fellow guests thereupon thought to themselves. Who is this, that he even so forgives sins ? But he told the woman. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.
Then followed a time in which he went on journeying from one city or village to another, preaching and spreading the good news of God's kingdom. With him were the twelve apostles, and certain women, whom he had freed from evil spirits and from sicknesses, Mary who is called Magdalen, who had had seven devils cast out of her, and Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to him with the means they had. When a great multitude had gathered, and more came flocking to him out of the cities, he spoke to them in a parable. Here is the sower gone out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, there were some grains that fell beside the path, so that they were trodden under foot, and the birds flew down and ate them. And others fell on the rocks, where they withered as soon as they were up, because they had no moisture. And some fell among briers, and the briers grew up with them and smothered them. But others fell where the soil was good, and when these grew up they yielded a hundredfold. So saying, he cried aloud. Listen, you that have ears to hear with.
Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. And he told them. It is granted to you to understand the secret of God's kingdom; the rest must learn of it by parables, so that they can watch without seeing, and listen without understanding. The parable means this; the seed is God's word. Those by the way-side hear the word, and then the devil comes and takes it away from their hearts, so that they cannot find faith and be saved. Those on the rock, are those who entertain the word with joy as soon as they hear it, and yet have no roots; they last for a while, but in time of temptation they fall away. And the grain that fell among the briers stands for those who hear it, and then, going on their way, are stifled by the cares, the riches, and the pleasures of life, and never reach maturity. And the grain that fell in good soil stands for those who hear the word, and hold by it with a noble and generous heart, and endure, and yield a harvest.
Nobody lights a lamp, to hide it away in a jar or under a bed; it is put on a lampstand, so that all who come into the house can see its light. What is covered up will all be revealed; what is hidden will all be made known, and come to light. Look well, then, how you listen. If a man is rich, gifts will be made to him; if he is poor, he will lose even what he thinks his own.
And his mother and brethren came to visit him, but could not reach him because of the multitude. So word was given him, Your mother and your brethren are standing without, asking to see you. But he answered them, My mother and my brethren are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.
A day came when he and his disciples embarked on a boat; Let us cross to the other side of the lake, he said to them; and they began their voyage. While they were sailing, he fell asleep. And now a storm of wind came down upon the lake, and they began to ship water perilously. So they came and roused him, crying, Master, master, we are sinking. And he rose up, and checked both wind and wave, and there was calm. Then he said to them, Where is your faith? And they were full of awe and astonishment, saying to one another. Why, who is this, who gives his command to wind and water, and is obeyed?
So they came to land in the country of the Gerasenes, which is on the coast opposite Galilee; and as he went ashore, he was met by a possessed man who for a long time had gone naked, and lived homeless among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him, and cried with a loud voice, Why do you meddle with me, Jesus, Son of the most High God? I pray you, do not torment me. (For he was bidding the unclean spirit come out of the man.) Often, at times when it had seized upon him, the man had been bound, under guard, with chains and fetters, but still he would break his bonds, and the devil would drive him out into the wilderness. Then Jesus asked him, What is your name? And he said, Legion; for there were many devils that had entered into him. And they entreated him not to bid them go back to the abyss. There was a great herd of swine feeding on the mountain-side, and the devils besought his leave to go into these instead; this leave he granted them. So the devils left the man and entered into the swine; whereupon the herd rushed down the cliff into the lake, and were drowned. The herdsmen fled when they saw it happen, and spread the news of it in the city and about the country-side; so that they came out to see what had happened for themselves. When they reached Jesus, they found the man from whom the devils had been driven out sitting there, clothed and restored to his wits, at Jesus' feet; and they were terrified. Those who had witnessed it told them how the possessed man had been delivered. Then all the common folk of the country round Gerasa asked Jesus to leave them, such fear had gripped them; and he embarked on the boat and returned. The man from whom the devils had been driven out asked leave to accompany him; but Jesus sent him away, Go back home, he said, and make known all God's dealings with you. So he went back, and published all over the city the news of the great things Jesus had done for him.
When Jesus returned, he found the multitude there to greet him; they had all been awaiting him. And now a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus' feet, imploring him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years old, who was dying. It happened that, as he went, the multitude pressed about him closely. And a woman who for twelve years had had an issue of blood, and had spent all her money on doctors without finding one who could cure her, came up behind and touched the hem of his cloak; and suddenly her issue of blood was stanched. Then Jesus said, Who touched me? All disclaimed it; Master, said Peter and his companions, the multitudes are hemming you in and crowding upon you, and can you ask, Who touched me? But Jesus said, Somebody touched me; I can tell that power has gone out from me. And the woman, finding that there was no concealment, came forward trembling and fell at his feet, and so told him before all the people of her reason for touching him, and of her sudden cure. And he said to her, My daughter, your faith has brought you recovery; go in peace.
While he was yet speaking, a messenger came to the ruler of the synagogue, to say, Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Master. Jesus heard it, and said to him openly, Do not be afraid; you have only to believe, and she will recover. When he reached the house, he would not let anyone come in with him, except Peter and James and John, and the child's father and mother. All were weeping and bewailing her; There is no need to weep, he told them; she is not dead, she is asleep. And they laughed aloud at him, well knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand, and called aloud, Rise, up maiden; and she rose up there and then with life restored to her. He ordered that she should be given something to eat, and warned her parents, who were beside themselves with wonder, to let no one hear of what had befallen.
And he called the twelve apostles to him, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases, sending them out to proclaim the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. He told them, Take nothing with you to use on your journey, staff or wallet or bread or money; you are not to have more than one coat apiece. You are to lodge in the house you first enter, and not change your abode. And wherever they deny you a welcome, as you leave the city, shake off the dust from your feet, in witness against them. So they set out and passed through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing the sick wherever they went.
And Herod, who was prince in that quarter, heard of all his doings, and did not know what to think, some telling him that John had risen from the dead, and some that Elias had appeared, and some that one of the old prophets had returned to life. John, said Herod, I beheaded; who can this be, of whom I hear such reports? And he was eager to see him.
And now the apostles came back and told Jesus of all they had done. And he retired, taking them with him, to a desert place in the Bethsaida country, where they could be alone. But the multitudes heard of it, and followed him; so he gave them welcome, and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and cured those who were in need of healing. And now the day began to wear on; and the twelve came and said to him. Give the multitudes leave to go to the villages and farms round about, so that they can find lodging and food; we are in desert country here. But he told them. It is for you to give them food to eat. We have no more, they said, than five loaves and two fishes, unless you would have us go ourselves and buy food for all this assembly. About five thousand men were gathered there. So he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by companies of fifty; and they did this, bidding all of them sit down. Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looked up to heaven, and blessed them, and broke, and gave them to his disciples, to set before the multitude. All ate and had their fill, and when what they left over was picked up, it filled twelve baskets.
There was a time when he had gone apart to pray, and his disciples were with him; and he asked them, Who do the multitude say that I am? They answered, John the Baptist; others say Elias; others, that one of the old prophets has returned to life. Then he said to them, But who do you say that I am? And Peter answered, You are the Christ whom God has anointed. And he laid a strict charge upon them, bidding them tell no one of it; The Son of Man, he said, is to be much ill-used, and rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be put to death, and rise again on the third day. And he said to all alike, If any man has a mind to come my way, let him renounce self, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. He who tries to save his life will lose it; it is the man who loses his life for my sake, that will save it. How is a man the better for gaining the whole world, if he loses himself, if he pays the forfeit of himself? If anyone is ashamed of acknowledging me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed to acknowledge him, when he comes in his glory, with his Father and the holy angels to glorify him. Believe me, there are those standing here who will not taste of death before they have seen the kingdom of God.
It was about a week after all this was said, that he took Peter and John and James with him, and went up on to the mountain-side to pray. And even as he prayed, the fashion of his face was altered, and his garments became white and dazzling; and two men appeared conversing with him, Moses and Elias, seen now in glory; and they spoke of the death which he was to achieve at Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Peter and his companions were sunk in sleep; and they awoke to see him in his glory, and the two men standing with him. And, just as these were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is well that we should be here; let us make three arbours in this place, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. But he spoke at random: and even as he said it, a cloud formed, overshadowing them; they saw those others disappear into the cloud, and were terrified. And a voice came from the cloud, This is my beloved Son; to him, then, listen. And as the voice sounded, Jesus was discovered alone. They kept silence, and at the time said nothing of what they had seen to anybody.
It was on the next day that they came down from the mountain, and were met by a great multitude; and now, from the midst of this multitude, a man cried out, I entreat you, Master, look with favour upon my son; he is my only child. There are times when a spirit seizes upon him, making him cry out suddenly, and throws him into a convulsion, foaming at the mouth; then it goes away, but only with a pang which lacerates him. And I entreated your disciples to cast it out, but they could not. Jesus answered, Ah, faithless and misguided generation, how long must I be with you, how long must I bear with you? Bring your son here. And even as the boy was on his way, the devil threw him down in a convulsion. But Jesus checked the unclean spirit, and cured the boy, and gave him back to his father; so that all were amazed at this great evidence of God's power. And while men were yet wondering at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, Remember this well, The Son of Man is soon to be betrayed into the hands of men. But they could not understand what he said; it was hidden from them, so that they could not perceive the meaning of it; and they were afraid to ask him about this saying of his.
And a question arose among them, which of them was the greatest. Jesus, who saw what was occupying their thoughts, took hold of a little child and gave it a place beside him, and said to them, He who welcomes this child in my name, welcomes me; and he who welcomes me welcomes him that sent me. He who is least in all your company is the greatest. And John answered, Master, we saw a man who does not follow in our company casting out devils in your name, and we forbade him to do it. But Jesus said, Forbid him no more; the man who is not against you is on your side.
And now the time was drawing near for his taking away from the earth, and he turned his eyes steadfastly towards the way that led to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers before him, who came into a Samaritan village, to make all in readiness. But the Samaritans refused to receive him, because his journey was in the direction of Jerusalem. When they found this, two of his disciples, James and John, asked him, Lord, would you have us bid fire come down from heaven, and consume them? But he turned and rebuked them, You do not understand, he said, what spirit it is you share. The Son of Man has come to save men's lives, not to destroy them. And so they passed on to another village.
As they went on their journey, a man said to him, I will follow you wherever you are going. But Jesus told him, Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air their resting-places; the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. To another he said, Follow me, and he answered. Lord, give me leave to go home and bury my father first. But Jesus said to him, Leave the dead to bury their dead; it is for you to go out and proclaim God's kingdom. And there was yet another who said, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me take leave of my friends. To him Jesus said, No one who looks behind him, when he has once put his hand to the plough, is fitted for the kingdom of God.
After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others, and sent them before him, two and two, into all the cities and villages he himself was to visit. The harvest, he told them, is plentiful enough, but the labourers are few; you must ask the Lord to whom the harvest belongs to send labourers out for the harvesting. Go then, and remember, I am sending you out to be like lambs among wolves. You are not to carry purse, or wallet, or shoes; you are to give no one greeting on your way. When you enter a house, say first of all, Peace be to this house; and if those who dwell there are men of good will, your good wishes shall come down upon it; if not, they will come back to you the way they went. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they have to give you; the labourer has a right to his maintenance; do not move from one house to another. When you enter a city, and they make you welcome, be content to eat the fare they offer you: and heal those who are sick there; and tell them.,The kingdom of God is close upon you. But if you enter a city where they will not make you welcome, go out into their streets, and say, We brush off in your faces the very dust from your city that has clung to our feet; and be sure of this, the kingdom of God is close at hand. I tell you, it shall go less hard with Sodom at the day of judgement, than with that city. Woe to you, Corozain, woe to you, Bethsaida! Tyre and Sidon would have repented long ago, humbling themselves with sackcloth and ashes, if the miracles done in you had been done there instead. And indeed, it shall go less hard with Tyre and Sidon at the judgement, than with you. And you, Capharnaum, do you hope to be lifted up high as heaven? You shall be brought low as hell. He who listens to you, listens to me; he who despises you, despises me; and he who despises me, despises him that sent me.
And the seventy-two disciples, came back full of rejoicing; Lord, they said, even the devils are made subject to us through your name. He said to them, I watched, while Satan was cast down like a lightning-flash from heaven. Behold, I have given you the right to trample on snakes and scorpions, and all the power of the enemy, and take no hurt from it. But you, instead of rejoicing that the devils are made subject to you, should be rejoicing that your names are enrolled in heaven. At this time, Jesus was filled with gladness by the Holy Spirit, and said, O Father, who are Lord of heaven and earth, I give you praise that you have hidden all this from the wise and the prudent, and revealed it to little children. Be it so, Lord, since this finds favour in your sight. My Father has entrusted everything into my hands; none knows what the Son is, except the Father, and none knows what the Father is, except the Son, and those to whom it is the Son's good pleasure to reveal him. Then, turning to his own disciples, he said, Blessed are the eyes that see what you see; I tell you, there have been many prophets and kings who have longed to see what you see, and never saw it, to hear what you hear, and never heard it.
It happened once that a lawyer rose up, trying to put him to the test; Master, he said, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus asked him, What is it that is written in the law? What is your reading of it? And he answered, You shall love the Lord your God with the love of your whole heart, and your whole soul, and your whole strength, and your whole mind; and your neighbour as yourself. You have answered right, he told him; do this, and you shall find life. But he, to prove himself blameless, asked, And who is my neighbour? Jesus gave him his answer; A man who was on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho fell in with robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and went off leaving him half dead. And a priest, who chanced to be going down by the same road, saw him there and passed by on the other side. And a Levite who came there saw him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, who was on his travels, saw him and took pity at the sight; he went up to him and bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine into them, and so mounted him upon his own beast and brought him to an inn, where he took care of him. And next day he took out two silver pieces, which he gave to the inn-keeper, and said, Take care of him, and on my way home I will give you whatever else is owing to you for your pains. Which of these, do you think, proved himself a neighbour to the man who had fallen in with robbers? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then Jesus said, Go your way, and do you likewise.
In one of the villages he entered during his journey, a woman called Martha entertained him in her house. She had a sister called Mary; and Mary took her place at the Lord's feet, and listened to his words. Martha was distracted by waiting on many needs; so she came to his side, and asked, Lord, are you content that my sister should leave me to do the serving alone? Come, bid her help me. Jesus answered her, Martha, Martha, how many cares and troubles you have! But only one thing is necessary; and Mary has chosen for herself the best part of all, that which shall never be taken away from her.
Once, when he had found a place to pray in, one of his disciples said to him, after his prayer was over, Lord, teach us how to pray, as John did for his disciples. And he told them, When you pray, you are to say. Father, hallowed be your name; your kingdom come; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our sins; we too forgive all those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation.
Let us suppose that one of you has a friend, to whom he goes at dead of night, and asks him, Lend me three loaves of bread, neighbour; a friend of mine has turned in to me after a journey, and I have nothing to offer him. And suppose the other answers, from within doors, Do not put me to such trouble; the door is locked, my children and I are in bed; I cannot bestir myself to grant your request. I tell you, even if he will not bestir himself to grant it out of friendship, shameless asking will make him rise and give his friend all that he needs. And I say the same to you; ask, and the gift will come, seek, and you shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened to you. Everyone that asks, will receive, that seeks, will find, that knocks, will have the door opened to him. Among yourselves, if a father is asked by his son for bread, will he give him a stone? Or for a fish, will he give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he is asked for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? Why then, if you, evil as you are, know well enough how to give your children what is good for them, is not your Father much more ready to give, from heaven, his gracious Spirit to those who ask him?
He had just cast out a devil, which was dumb; and no sooner had the devil gone out than the dumb man found speech. The multitudes were filled with amazement; but some of them said, It is through Beelzebub, the prince of the devils, that he casts the devils out, while others, to put him to the test, would have him show a sign out of heaven. But he could read their thoughts, and said to them, No kingdom can be at war with itself without being brought to desolation, one house falling upon another. And how do you suppose that Satan's kingdom can stand firm if he is at war with himself, that you should accuse me of casting out devils through Beelzebub? Again, if it is through Beelzebub that I cast out devils, by what means do your own sons cast them out? It is for these, then, to pronounce judgement on you. But if, when I cast out devils, I do it through God's power, then it must be that the kingdom of God has suddenly appeared among you. When a strong man, fully armed, mounts guard over his own palace, his goods are left in peace; but when a man comes who is stronger still, he will take away all the armour that bred such confidence, and divide among others the spoils of victory. He who is not with me, is against me; he who does not gather his store with me, scatters it abroad. The unclean spirit which has possessed a man, and then goes out of him, walks about the desert looking for a resting-place, and finds none; and it says, I will go back to my own dwelling, from which I came out. And it comes back, to find that dwelling swept out, and neatly set in order. Thereupon, it goes away and brings in seven other spirits more wicked than itself to bear it company, and together they enter in and settle down there; till the last state of that man is worse than the first. When he spoke thus, a woman in the multitude said to him aloud, Blessed is the womb that bore you, the breast which you have sucked. And he answered, Shall we not say, Blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it?
The multitudes gathered round him, and he began speaking to them thus; This is a wicked generation; it asks for a sign, and the only sign that will be given to it is the sign of the prophet Jonas. Jonas was the sign given to the men of Nineve; the sign given to this generation will be the Son of Man. The queen of the south will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgement, and will leave them without excuse; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineve will rise up with this generation at the judgement, and will leave it without excuse; for they did penance when Jonas preached to them, and behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
Nobody lights a lamp, and then puts it away in a cellar or under a bushel measure; it is put on the lamp-stand, so that its light may be seen by all who come in. Your body has the eye for its lamp; and if your eye is clear, the whole of your body will be lit up; when it is diseased, the whole of your body will be in darkness. Take good care then, that this principle of light which is in you is light, not darkness; then, if your whole body is in the light, with no part of it in darkness, it will all be lit up as if by a bright lamp enlightening you.
At the time when he said this, one of the Pharisees invited him to his house for the mid-day meal; so he went in and sat down at table; the Pharisee meanwhile was inwardly surmising, why he had not washed before his meal. And the Lord said to him, You Pharisees are content to cleanse the outward part of cup and dish, while all within is running with avarice and wickedness. Fools, did not he who made the outward part make the inward too? Nay, you should give alms out of the store you have, and at once all that is yours becomes clean.
Woe upon you, you Pharisees, that will award God his tithe, though it be of mint or rue or whatever herb you will, and leave on one side justice and the love of God; you do ill to forget one duty while you perform the other. Woe upon you, you Pharisees, for loving the first seats in the synagogues, and to have your hands kissed in the market-place; woe upon you, that are like hidden tombs which men walk over without knowing it.
And here one of the lawyers answered him; Master, he said, in speaking thus you are bringing us too into contempt. And he said, Woe upon you too, you lawyers, for loading men with packs too heavy to be borne, packs that you yourselves will not touch with one finger. Woe upon you, for building up the tombs of the prophets, the same prophets who were murdered by your fathers; sure witness that you approve what your fathers did, since you build tombs for the men they murdered. Whereupon the wisdom of God warns you, I will send my prophets and my apostles to them, and there will be some they will kill and persecute; so they will be answerable for all the blood of prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias, who was killed between the altar and the temple; yes, I tell you, this generation will be held answerable for it. Woe upon you, you lawyers, for taking away with you the key of knowledge; you have neither entered yourselves, nor let others enter when they would.
As he said all this to them, the scribes and Pharisees resolved to hunt him down mercilessly and to browbeat him with a multitude of questions. Thus they lay in wait for him, hoping to catch some word from his lips which would give them ground of accusation against him.
And now great multitudes had gathered round him, so that they trod one another down; and he addressed himself first to his disciples; Have nothing to do with the leaven of the Pharisees, he said, it is all hypocrisy. What is veiled will all be revealed, what is hidden will all be known; what you have said in darkness, will be repeated in the light of day, what you have whispered in secret chambers, will be proclaimed on the house-tops. And I say this to you who are my friends. Do not be afraid of those who can kill the body, and after that can do no more. I will tell you who it is you must fear; fear him who has power not only to kill but to cast a man into hell; him you must fear indeed. Are not sparrows sold five for two pence? And yet not one of them is forgotten in God's sight. As for you, he takes every hair of your head into his reckoning; do not be afraid, then; you count for more than a host of sparrows. And I tell you this; whoever acknowledges me before men, will be acknowledged by the Son of Man in the presence of God's angels; he who disowns me before men, will be disowned before God's angels. There is no one who speaks a word against the Son of Man but may find forgiveness; there will be no forgiveness for the man who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit. When they bring you to trial before synagogues, and magistrates, and officers, do not consider anxiously what you are to say, what defence to make or how to make it; the Holy Spirit will instruct you when the time comes, what words to use.
One of the multitude said to him, Master, bid my brother give me a share of our inheritance. And he answered, Why, man, who has appointed me a judge to make awards between you? Then he said to them, Look well and keep yourselves clear of all covetousness. A man's life does not consist in having more possessions than he needs. And he told them a parable, There was a rich man whose lands yielded a heavy crop: and he debated in his mind, What am I to do, with no room to store my crops in? Then he said, This is what I will do; I will pull down my barns, and build greater ones, and there I shall be able to store all my harvest and all the goods that are mine; and then I will say to my soul, Come, soul, you have goods in plenty laid up for many years to come; take your rest now, eat, drink, and make merry. And God said, You fool, this night you must render up your soul; and who will be master now of all you have laid by? Thus it is with the man who lays up treasure for himself, and has no credit with God.
Then he said to his disciples, I say to you, then, do not fret over your life, how to support it with food, over your body, how to keep it clothed. Life is a greater gift than food, the body than clothing; see how the ravens never sow or reap, have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them; have you not an excellence far beyond theirs? Can any of you, for all your fretting, add a cubit's growth to his height? And if you are powerless to do so small a thing, why do you fret about your other needs? See how the lilies grow; they do not toil, or spin, and yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If God, then, so clothes the grasses which live to-day in the fields and will feed the oven to-morrow, will he not be much more ready to clothe you, men of little faith? You should not be asking, then, what you are to eat or drink, and living in suspense of mind; it is for the heathen world to busy itself over such things; your Father knows well that you need them. No, make it your first care to find the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be yours without the asking.
Do not be afraid, you, my little flock. Your Father has determined to give you his kingdom. Sell what you have, and give alms, so providing yourselves with a purse that time cannot wear holes in, an inexhaustible treasure laid up in heaven, where no thief comes near, no moth consumes. Where your treasure-house is, there your heart is too. Your loins must be girt, and your lamps burning, and you yourselves like men awaiting their master's return from a wedding feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and knocks at the door. Blessed are those servants, whom their master will find watching when he comes; I promise you, he will gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and minister to them. Whether he comes in the second quarter of the night or in the third, blessed are those servants if he finds them alert. Be sure of this; if the master of the house had known at what time the thief was coming, he would have kept watch, and not allowed his house to be broken open. You too, then, must stand ready; the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him.
Hereupon Peter said to him, Lord, do you address this parable to us, or to all men? And the Lord answered, Who, then, is a faithful and wise steward, one whom his master will entrust with the care of the household, to give them their allowance of food at the appointed time? Blessed is that servant who is found doing this when his lord comes; I promise you, he will give him charge of all his goods. But if that servant says in his heart, My lord is long in coming, and falls to beating the men and the maids, eating and drinking himself drunk; then on some day when he expects nothing, at an hour when he is all unaware, his lord will come, and will cut him off, and assign him his portion with the unfaithful. Yet it is the servant who knew his Lord's will, and did not make ready for him, or do his will, that will have many strokes of the lash; he who did not know of it, yet earned a beating, will have only a few. Much will be asked of the man to whom much has been given; more will be expected of him, because he was entrusted with more.
It is fire that I have come to spread over the earth, and what better wish can I have than that it should be kindled? There is a baptism I must needs be baptized with, and how impatient am I for its accomplishment! Do you think that I have come to bring peace on the earth? No, believe me, I have come to bring dissension. Henceforward five in the same house will be found at variance, three against two and two against three; the father will be at variance with his son, and the son with his father, the mother against her daughter, and the daughter against her mother, the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
And he said to the multitudes, When you find a cloud rising out of the west, you say at once, There is rain coming, and so it does; when you find the south-west wind blowing, you say. It will be hot, and so it is. Poor fools, you know well enough how to interpret the face of land and sky; can you not interpret the times you live in? Does not your own experience teach you to make the right decision? If one has a claim against you, and you are going with him to the magistrate, then do your utmost, while you are still on the road, to be quit of his claim; or it may be he will drag you into the presence of the judge, and the judge will hand you over to his officer, and the officer will cast you into prison. Be sure of this, you will find no discharge from it until you have paid the last farthing.
At this very time there were some present that told him the story of those Galileans, whose blood Pilate had shed in the midst of their sacrifices. And Jesus said in answer, Do you suppose, because this befell them, that these men were worse sinners than all else in Galilee? I tell you it is not so; you will all perish as they did, if you do not repent. What of those eighteen men on whom the tower fell in Siloe, and killed them; do you suppose that there was a heavier account against them, than against any others who then dwelt at Jerusalem? I tell you it was not so; you will all perish as they did, if you do not repent.
And this was a parable he told them; There was a man that had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard, but when he came and looked for fruit on it, he could find none; whereupon he said to his vine-dresser. See now, I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig-tree for three years, and cannot find any. Cut it down; why should it be a useless charge upon the land? But he answered thus. Sir, let it stand this year too, so that I may have time to dig and put dung round it; perhaps it will bear fruit; if not, it will be time to cut it down then.
There was a sabbath day on which he was preaching in one of their synagogues. Here there was a woman who for eighteen years had suffered under some influence that disabled her; she was bent down, and could not lift her head straight. Jesus saw her and called her to him; Woman, he said, you are rid of your infirmity. Then he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was raised upright, and gave praise to God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus should heal them on the sabbath day, turned and said to the multitude, You have six days on which work is allowed; you should come and be healed on those days, not on the sabbath. And the Lord gave him this answer, What, you hypocrites, is there any one of you that will not untie his ox or his ass from the stall and take them down to water, when it is the sabbath? And here is this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had kept bound these eighteen years past; was it wrong that she should be delivered on the sabbath day from bonds like these? All his adversaries were put to shame by this saying of his, and the whole multitude rejoiced over the marvellous works he did.
He said, What is there that bears a likeness to the kingdom of heaven; what comparison shall I find for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, that a man has taken and planted in his garden, where it has thriven and grown into a great tree, and all the birds have come and settled in its branches. And again, he said, What comparison shall I find for the kingdom of heaven? It is like leaven, that a woman has taken and buried away in three measures of meal, enough to leaven the whole batch.
And so he went through the cities and villages teaching, and making his journey towards Jerusalem. There was a man that said to him, Lord, is it only a few that are to be saved? Whereupon he said to them: Fight your way in at the narrow door; I tell you, there are many who will try and will not be able to enter. When the master of the house has gone in and has shut the door, you will fall to beating on the door as you stand without, and saying, Lord, open to us. But this will be his answer, I know nothing of you, nor whence you come. Thereupon you will fall to protesting, We have eaten and drunk in your presence; you have taught in our streets. But he will say, I tell you, I know nothing of you, nor whence you come; depart from me, you that traffic in iniquity. Weeping shall be there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets within God's kingdom, while you yourselves are cast out. Others will come from the east and the west, the north and the south, to take their ease in the kingdom of God. And indeed, there are some who are last, and shall then be first, some who are first, and shall then be last.
It was on that day that some of the Pharisees came to him and said, Go elsewhere, and leave this place; Herod has a mind to kill you. And he said to them, Go and tell that fox. Behold, to-day and to-morrow I am to continue casting out devils, and doing works of healing; it is on the third day that I am to reach my consummation. But to-day and to-morrow and the next day I must go on my journeys; there is no room for a prophet to meet his death, except at Jerusalem. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, still murdering the prophets and stoning the messengers that are sent to you, how often have I been ready to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you refused it! Behold, your house is left to you, a house uninhabited. I tell you, you shall see nothing of me until the time comes, when you will be saying, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.
There was a sabbath day on which he was asked to take a meal with one of the chief Pharisees, and as he went into the house, they were watching him. Here his eye was met by the sight of a man who had the dropsy. Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees openly, Is healing allowed on the sabbath day? Then, as they did not answer, he took the man by the hand, and sent him away healed. And he turned on them, and said, Is there any one of you who will not pull out his ass or his ox immediately, if it falls into a pit on the sabbath? To this they could make no answer. He also had a parable for the guests who were invited, as he observed how they chose the chief places for themselves; he said to them: When any man invites you to a wedding, do not sit down in the chief place; he may have invited some guest whose rank is greater than yours. If so, his host and yours will come and say to you, Make room for this man; and so you will find yourself taking, with a blush, the lowest place of all. Rather, when you are summoned, go straight to the lowest place and sit down there; so, when he who invited you comes in, he will say, My friend, go higher than this; and then honour shall be yours before all that sit down in your company. Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. He said, moreover, to his host, When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your neighbours to come, or your brethren, or your kindred, or your friends who are rich; it may be they will send you invitations in return, and so you will be recompensed for your pains. Rather, when you give hospitality, invite poor men to come, the cripples, the lame, the blind: so you shall win a blessing, for these cannot make you any return; your reward will come when the just rise again.
Hearing this, one of his fellow-guests said to him, Blessed is the man who shall feast in the kingdom of God. He answered him thus, There was a man that gave a great supper, and sent out many invitations. And when the time came for his supper, he sent one of his own servants telling the invited guests to come, for all was now ready. And all of them, with one accord, began making excuses. I have bought a farm, the first said to him, and I must needs go and look over it; I pray you, count me excused. And another said, I have bought five pair of oxen, and I am on my way to make trial of them; I pray you, count me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and so I am unable to come. The servant came back and told his master all this, whereupon the host fell into a rage, and said to his servant. Quick, go out into the streets and lanes of the city; bring in the poor, the cripples, the blind and the lame. And when the servant told him, Sir, all has been done according to your command, but there is room left still, the master said to the servant, Go out into the highways and the hedge-rows, and give them no choice but to come in, that so my house may be filled. I tell you, none of those who were first invited shall taste of my supper.
Great multitudes bore him company on his way; to these he turned, and said: If any man comes to me, without hating his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yes, and his own life too, he can be no disciple of mine. A man cannot be my disciple unless he takes up his own cross, and follows after me. Consider, if one of you has a mind to build a tower, does he not first sit down and count the cost that must be paid, if he is to have enough to finish it? Is he to lay the foundation, and then find himself unable to complete the work, so that all who see it will fall to mocking him and saying, Here is a man who began to build, and could not finish his building? Or if a king is setting out to join battle with another king, does he not first sit down and deliberate, whether with his army of ten thousand he can meet the onset of one who has twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still at a distance, he despatches envoys to ask for conditions of peace. And so it is with you; none of you can be my disciple if he does not take leave of all that he possesses. Salt is a good thing; but if the salt itself becomes tasteless, what is there left to give taste to it? It is of no use either to the soil or to the dung-heap; it will be thrown away altogether. Listen, you that have ears to hear with.
When they found all the publicans and sinners coming to listen to him, the Pharisees and scribes were indignant; Here is a man, they said, that entertains sinners, and eats with them. Whereupon he told them this parable: If any of you owns a hundred sheep, and has lost one of them, does he not leave the other ninetynine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders, rejoicing, and so goes home, and calls his friends and his neighbours together; Rejoice with me, he says to them, I have found my sheep that was lost. So it is, I tell you, in heaven; there will be more rejoicing over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine souls that are justified, and have no need of repentance. Or if some woman has ten silver pieces by her, and has lost one of them, does she not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she does find it, she calls her friends and her neighbours together; Rejoice with me, she says, I have found the silver piece which I lost. So it is, I tell you, with the angels of God; there is joy among them over one sinner that repents. Then he said, There was a certain man who had two sons. And the younger of these said to his father, Father, give me that portion of the estate which falls to me. So he divided his property between them. Not many days afterwards, the younger son put together all that he had, and went on his travels to a far country, where he wasted his fortune in riotous living. Then, when all was spent, a great famine arose in that country, and he found himself in want; whereupon he went and attached himself to a citizen of that country, who put him on his farm, to feed swine. He would have been glad to fill his belly with husks, such as the swine used to eat; but none was ready to give them to him. Then he came to himself, and said, How many hired servants there are in my father's house, who have more bread than they can eat, and here am I perishing with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you; I am not worthy, now, to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants. And he arose, and went on his way to his father. But, while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and took pity on him; running up, he threw his arms round his neck and kissed him. And when the son said, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am not worthy, now, to be called your son, the father gave orders to his servants, Bring out the best robe, and clothe him in it; put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. Then bring out the calf that has been fattened, and kill it; let us eat, and make merry; for my son here was dead, and has come to life again, was lost, and is found. And so they began their merry-making. The elder son, meanwhile, was away on the farm; and on his way home, as he drew near the house, he heard music and dancing; whereupon he called one of the servants and asked what all this meant. He told him, Your brother has come back, and your father has killed the fattened calf, glad to have him restored safe and sound. At this he fell into a rage, and would not go in. When his father came out and tried to win him over, he answered his father thus, Think how many years I have lived as your servant, never transgressing your commands, and you have never made me a present of a kid, to make merry with my friends; and now, when this son of yours has come home, one that has swallowed up his patrimony in the company of harlots, you have killed the fattened calf in his honour. He said to him, My son, you are always at my side, and everything thing that I have is already yours; but for this merrymaking and rejoicing there was good reason; your brother here was dead, and has come to life again; was lost, and is found.
And he said to his disciples, There was a rich man that had a steward, and a report came to him that this steward had wasted his goods. Whereupon he sent for him, and said to him, What is this that I hear of you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can not be my steward any longer. At this, the steward said to himself, What am I to do, now that my master is taking my stewardship away from me? I have no strength to dig; I would be ashamed to beg for alms. I see what I must do, so as to be welcomed into men's houses when I am dismissed from my stewardship. Then he summoned his master's debtors one by one; and he said to the first, How much is it that you owe my master? A hundred firkins of oil, he said; and he told him. Here is your bill; quick, sit down and write it as fifty. Then he said to a second, And you, how much do you owe? A hundred quarters of wheat, he said; and he told him, Here is your bill, write it as eighty. And this knavish steward was commended by his master for his prudence in what he had done; for indeed, the children of this world are more prudent after their own fashion than the children of the light. And my counsel to you is, make use of your base wealth to win yourselves friends, who, when you leave it behind, will welcome you into eternal habitations. He who is trustworthy over a little sum is trustworthy over a greater; he who plays false over a little sum, plays false over a greater; if you, then, could not be trusted to use the base riches you had, who will put the true riches in your keeping? Who will give you property of your own, if you could not be trusted with what was only lent you?
No servant can be in the employment of two masters at once; either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will devote himself to the one and despise the other. You must serve God or money; you cannot serve both.
The Pharisees, who were fond of riches, heard all this, and poured scorn on him. And he said to them, You are always courting the approval of men, but God sees your hearts; what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in God's sight. The law and the prophets lasted until John's time; since that time, it is the kingdom of heaven that has its preachers, and all who will, press their way into it. And yet it is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for one line of the law to perish. Every man who puts away his wife and marries another is an adulterer, and he too is an adulterer, that marries a woman who has been put away.
There was a rich man once, that was clothed in purple and lawn, and feasted sumptuously every day. And there was a beggar, called Lazarus, who lay at his gate, covered with sores, wishing that he could be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table, but none was ready to give them to him; the very dogs came and licked his sores. Time went on; the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom; the rich man died too, and found his grave in hell. And there, in his suffering, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he said, with a loud cry, Father Abraham, take pity on me; send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, My son, remember that you received your good fortune in your life-time, and Lazarus, no less, his ill fortune; now he is in comfort, you in torment. And, besides all this, there is a great gulf fixed between us and you, so that there is no passing from our side of it to you, no crossing over to us from yours. Whereupon he said, Then, father, I pray you send him to my own father's house; for I have five brethren; let him give these a warning, so that they may not come, in their turn, into this place of suffering. Abraham said to him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to these. They will not do that, father Abraham, said he; but if a messenger comes to them from the dead, they will repent. But he answered him, If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will be unbelieving still, though one should rise from the dead.
And he said to his disciples, It is impossible that hurt should never be done to men's consciences; but woe betide the man who is the cause of it. Better for him to have had a mill-stone tied about his neck, and to be cast into the sea, than to have hurt the conscience of one of these little ones. Keep good watch over yourselves. As for your brother, if he is in fault, tax him with it, and if he is sorry for it, forgive him; nay, if he does you wrong seven times in the day, and seven times in the day comes back to you and says, I am sorry, you shall forgive him.
The apostles said to the Lord, Give us more faith. And the Lord said, If you had faith, though it were like a grain of mustard seed, you might say to this mulberry tree, Uproot yourself and plant yourself in the sea, and it would obey you.
If any one of you had a servant following the plough, or herding the sheep, would he say to him, when he came back from the farm, Go and fall to at once? Would he not say to him, Prepare my supper, and then gird yourself and wait upon me while I eat and drink; you shall eat and drink yourself afterwards? Does he hold himself bound in gratitude to such a servant, for obeying his commands? I do not think it of him; and you, in the same way, when you have done all that was commanded you, are to say, We are servants, and worthless; it was our duty to do what we have done.
A time came when he was on his way to Jerusalem, and was passing between Samaria and Galilee; and as he was going into a village, ten men that were lepers came towards him; they stood far off, crying aloud, Jesus, Master, have pity on us. He met them with the words, Go and show yourselves to the priests; and thereupon, as they went, they were made clean. One of them, finding that he was cured, came back, praising God aloud, and threw himself at Jesus' feet with his face to the ground, to thank him, and this was a Samaritan. Jesus answered, Were not all ten made clean ? And the other nine, where are they? Not one has come back to give God the praise, except this stranger. And he said to him, Arise and go on your way, your faith has brought you recovery.
Upon being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God was to come, he answered, The kingdom of God comes unwatched by men's eyes; there will be no saying, See, it is here, or See, it is there; the kingdom of God is here, within you. And to his own disciples he said, The time will come when you will long to enjoy, but for a day, the Son of Man's presence, and it will not be granted you. Men will be saying to you, See, he is here, or See, he is there; do not turn aside and follow them; the Son of Man, when his time comes, will be like the lightning which lightens from one border of heaven to the other. But before that, he must undergo many sufferings, and be rejected by this generation. In the days when the Son of Man comes, all will be as it was in the days of Noe; they ate, they drank, they married and were given in marriage, until the day when Noe went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. So it was, too, in the days of Lot; they ate, they drank, they bought and sold, they planted and built; but on the day when Lot went out of Sodom, a rain of fire and brimstone came from heaven and destroyed them all. And so it will be, in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. In that day, if a man is on the house-top and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them with him; and if a man is in the fields, he too must beware of turning back. Remember Lot's wife. The man who tries to save his own life will lose it; it is the man who loses it that will keep it safe. I tell you, on that night, where two men are sleeping in one bed, one will be taken and the other left; one woman taken, one left, as they grind together at the mill, one man taken, one left, as they work together in the fields. Then they answered him, Where, Lord, And he told them, It is where the body lies that the eagles will gather.
And he told them a parable, showing them that they ought to pray continually, and never be discouraged. There was a city once, he said, in which lived a judge who had no fear of God, no regard for man; and there was a widow in this city who used to come before him and say. Give me redress against one who wrongs me. For a time he refused; but then he said to himself, Fear of God I have none, nor regard for man, but this widow wearies me; I will give her redress, or she will wear me down at last with her visits. Listen, the Lord said, to the words of the unjust judge, and tell me, will not God give redress to his elect, when they are crying out to him, day and night? Will he not be impatient with their wrongs? I tell you, he will give them redress with all speed. But ah, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith left on the earth?
There were some who had confidence in themselves, thinking they had won acceptance with God, and despised the rest of the world; to them he addressed this other parable: Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, the other a publican. The Pharisee stood upright, and made this prayer in his heart, I thank you, God, that I am not like the rest of men, who steal and cheat and commit adultery, or like this publican here; for myself, I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican stood far off; he would not even lift up his eyes towards heaven; he only beat his breast, and said, God, be merciful to me; I am a sinner. I tell you, this man went back home higher in God's favour than the other; everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and the man who humbles himself shall be exalted.
Then they brought little children to him, asking him to touch them. The disciples saw them and rebuked them for it: but Jesus called the children to him, and said, Let them be, do not keep them back from me, the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Believe me, the man who does not accept the kingdom of God like a little child, will never enter into it. And one of the rulers asked him, Master, who are so good, what must I do to win eternal life? Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? None is good, except God only. You know the commandments, You shall do no murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honour your father and your mother. I have kept all these, he said, ever since I grew up. When he heard that, Jesus said, In one thing you are still wanting; sell all that belongs to you, and give to the poor; so the treasure you have shall be in heaven; then come back and follow me. The answer filled him with sadness, for he was very rich; and Jesus, seeing his mournful look, said, With what difficulty will those who have riches enter God's kingdom! It is easier for a camel to pass through a needle's eye, than for a man to enter the kingdom of God when he is rich. But when he was asked by those who were listening to him.,Why then, who can be saved? he told them, What is impossible to man's powers is possible to God.
Hereupon Peter said, And what of us? we have forsaken all that was ours, and followed you. Jesus said to them, I promise you, everyone who has forsaken home, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, will receive, in this present world, many times their worth, and in the world to come, everlasting life.
Then he took the twelve apostles aside, and warned them, Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and all that has been written by the prophets about the Son of Man is to be accomplished. He will be given up to the Gentiles, and mocked, and beaten, and spat upon; they will scourge him, and then they will kill him; but on the third day he will rise again. They could make nothing of all this; his meaning was hidden from them, so that they could not understand what he said.
When he came near Jericho, there was a blind man sitting there by the way-side begging. And he, hearing a multitude passing by, asked what it meant; so they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth was going past. Whereupon he cried out, Jesus, son of David, have pity on me. Those who were in front rebuked him, and told him to be silent, but he cried out all the more; Son of David, have pity on me. Then Jesus stopped, and gave orders that the man should be brought to him; and when he came close, he asked him, What would you have me do for you? Lord, he said, give me back my sight. Jesus said to him, Receive your sight; your faith has brought you recovery. And at once the man recovered his sight, and followed him, glorifying God; all the people, too, gave praise to God at seeing it.
He had entered Jericho, and was passing through it; and here a rich man named Zacchaeus, the chief publican, was trying to distinguish which was Jesus, but could not do so because of the multitude, being a man of small stature. So he ran on in front, and climbed up into a sycamore tree, to catch sight of him, since he must needs pass that way. Jesus, when he reached the place, looked up and saw him; Zacchaeus, he said, make haste and come down; I am to lodge to-day at your house. And he came down with all haste, and gladly made him welcome. When they saw it, all took it amiss; He has gone in to lodge, they said, with one who is a sinner. But Zacchaeus stood upright and said to the Lord, Here and now, Lord, I give half of what I have to the poor; and if I have wronged anyone in any way, I make restitution of it fourfold. Jesus turned to him and said, To-day, salvation has been brought to this house; he too is a son of Abraham. That is what the Son of Man has come for, to search out and to save what was lost.
While they stood listening, he went on and told them a parable; this was because he had now nearly reached Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. He told them, then, There was a man of noble birth, who went away to a distant country, to have the royal title bestowed on him, and so return. And he summoned ten of his servants, to whom he gave ten pounds, and said to them, Trade with this while I am away. But his fellow citizens hated him, and sent ambassadors after him to say, We will not have this man for our king. Afterwards, when he came back as king, he sent for the servants to whom he had entrusted the money, to find out how much each of them had gained by his use of it. The first came before him and said, Lord, your pound has made ten pounds. And he said to him, Well done, my true servant: since you have been faithful over a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities. The second came and said, Lord, your pound has made five pounds, and to him he said, You too shall have authority, over five cities. Then another came and said, Lord, here is your pound; I have kept it laid up in a handkerchief. I was afraid of you, knowing how exacting a man you are; you claim what you never ventured, reap what you never sowed. Then he said to him. You false servant, I take your judgement from your own lips. You knew that I was an exacting man, claiming what I never ventured and reaping what I never sowed; then why did you not put my money into the bank, so that I might have recovered it with interest when I came? Then he gave orders to those who stood by, Take the pound away from him, and give it to the man who has ten pounds. (They said to him. Lord, he has ten pounds already.) Nay, but I tell you, if ever a man is rich, gifts will be made to him, and his riches will abound; if he is poor, even the little he has will be taken from him. But as for those enemies of mine, who refused to have me for their king, bring them here and kill them in my presence. And when he had spoken thus, he went on his way, going up to Jerusalem.
After this, when he was approaching Bethphage and Bethany, close to the mountain which is called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples on an errand; Go into the village that faces you, he told them, and as you enter it you will find a colt tethered there, one on which no man has yet ridden; untie it and bring it here. And if anybody asks you, Why are you untying it? this must be your answer, The Lord has need of it. So the two he had appointed went on their way, and found the colt standing there, just as he had told them. As they were untying it, its owners asked them, Why are you untying the colt? And they said, Because the Lord has need of it. So they brought the colt to Jesus, and spread out their garments on it, and bade Jesus mount. As he went, they strewed the road with their garments; and when he drew near the descent of mount Olivet, the whole company of his disciples began rejoicing and praising God for all the miracles they had seen. Blessed is the king, they said, who comes in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven, glory above. Some of the Pharisees who were among the multitude said to him, Master, rebuke your disciples; but he answered, I tell you, if they should keep silence, the stones will cry out instead.
And as he drew near, and caught sight of the city, he wept over it, and said: Ah, if you too could understand, above all in this day that is granted you, the ways that can bring you peace! As it is, they are hidden from your sight. The days will come upon you when your enemies will fence you round about, and encircle you, and press you hard on every side, and bring down in ruin both you and your children that are in you, not leaving one stone of you upon another; and all because you did not recognize the time of my visiting you. Then he went into the temple, and began driving out those who sold and bought there; It is written, he told them, My house is a house of prayer; and you have made it into a den of thieves. And he taught in the temple daily. The chief priests and scribes and the leading men among the people were eager to make away with him, but they could not find any means to do it, because all the people hung upon his words.
One day, as he taught the people and preached to them in the temple, the chief priests and scribes, with the elders, came up and said to him, Tell us, What is the authority by which you do these things, and who gave you this authority? Jesus answered them, I too have a question to ask; you must tell me this, Whence did John's baptism come, from heaven or from men? Whereupon they cast about in their minds; If we tell him it was from heaven, they said, he will ask, Then why did you not believe him? And if we say it was from men, all the people will be ready to stone us; they will have it that John was a prophet. So they answered that they could not tell whence it came. Jesus said to them, And you will not learn from me what is the authority by which I do these things.
And now he took occasion to tell the people this parable; There was a man who planted a vineyard, and let it out to some vine-dressers, while he went away to spend a long time abroad. And when the season came, he sent one of his servants on an errand to the vine-dressers, bidding them pay him his share of the vineyard's revenues. Whereupon the vine-dressers beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Then he sent another servant; and him too they sent away empty-handed, beating him first, and insulting him. Then he sent a third; and they drove him away wounded, like the others. So the owner of the vineyard said, What am I to do? I will send my well-beloved son, perhaps they will have reverence for him. But the vine-dressers, on seeing him, debated thus among themselves; This is the heir, let us kill him, so that his inheritance may pass into our hands. And they thrust him out of the vineyard and killed him. And now, what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and make an end of those vine-dressers, and give his vineyard to others. God forbid, they said, when they heard that. But he fastened his eyes on them, and said, Why then, what is the meaning of those words which have been written, The very stone which the builders rejected has become the chief stone at the corner? If ever a man falls against that stone, he will break his bones; if it falls upon him, it will grind him to powder. At this, the chief priests and scribes would gladly have laid hands on him there and then, but they were afraid of the people. They saw clearly that this parable of his was aimed at them. And so, watching for their opportunity, they sent agents of their own, who pretended to be men of honest purpose, to fasten on his words; then they would hand him over to the supreme authority of the governor. These put a question to him; Master, they said, we know that you are direct in your talk and your teaching; you make no distinction between man and man, but teach the way of God in all sincerity. Is it right that we should pay tribute to Caesar, or not? And he, aware of their malice, said to them, Why do you thus put me to the test? Show me a silver piece. Whose likeness, whose name does it bear inscribed on it? When they answered, Caesar's, he told them, Why then, give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. And they said no more; they were full of admiration at his answer, finding no means of discrediting his words in the eyes of the people.
Then he was approached with a question by some of the Sadducees, men who deny the resurrection; Master, they said, Moses prescribed for us, If a man has a married brother who dies without issue, the surviving brother must marry the widow, and beget children in the dead brother's name. There were seven brethren, the first of whom married a wife, and died without issue. So the next took her, and also died without issue, then the third, and so with all the seven; they left no children when they died, and the woman herself died last of all. And now, when the dead rise again, which of these will be her husband, since she was wife to all seven? Jesus told them, The children of this world marry and are given in marriage; but those who are found worthy to attain that other world, and resurrection from the dead, take neither wife nor husband; mortal no longer, they will be as the angels in heaven are, children of God, now that the resurrection has given them birth. But as for the dead rising again, Moses himself has told you of it in the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. It is of living men, not of dead men, that he is the God; for him, all men are alive. At this, some of the scribes answered, Master, you have spoken well; no one dared to try him with further questions.
Then he said to them, What do they mean by saying that Christ is the son of David? Why, David himself says in the book of Psalms, The Lord said to my Master, sit on my right hand while I make your enemies a footstool under your feet. Thus David calls Christ his Master; how can he also be his son? And he said to his disciples, in the hearing of all the people: Beware of the scribes, who enjoy walking in long robes, and love to have their hands kissed in the market-place, and to take the first seats in the synagogues, and the chief places at feasts; who swallow up the property of widows, under cover of their long prayers; their sentence will be all the heavier for that.
And he looked up, and saw the rich folk putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw one poor widow, who put in two mites. Thereupon he said, Believe me, this poor widow has put in more than all the others. The others all made an offering to God out of what they had to spare; she, with so little to give, put in her whole livelihood.
There were some who spoke to him of the temple, of the noble masonry and the offerings which adorned it; to these he said, The days will come when, of all this fabric you contemplate, not one stone will be left on another; it will all be thrown down. And they asked him, Master, when will this be? What sign will be given, when it is soon to be accomplished? Take care, he said, that you do not allow anyone to deceive you. Many will come making use of my name; they will say, Here I am, the time is close at hand; do not turn aside after them. And when you hear of wars and revolts, do not be alarmed by it; such things must happen first, but the end will not come all at once. Then he told them, Nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes in this region or that, and plagues and famines; and sights of terror and great portents from heaven. Before all this, men will be laying hands on you and persecuting you; they will give you up to the synagogues, and to prison, and drag you into the presence of kings and governors on my account; that will be your opportunity for making the truth known. Resolve, then, not to prepare your manner of answering beforehand; I will give you such eloquence and such wisdom as all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand, or to confute. You will be given up by parents and brethren and kinsmen and friends, and some of you will be put to death; all the world will be hating you because you bear my name; and yet no hair of your head shall perish. It is by endurance that you will secure possession of your souls.
But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, be sure that the time has come when she will be laid waste. Then those who are in Judaea must take refuge in the mountains, those who are in the city itself withdrawing from it, and those who are in the country-side not making their way into it; these will be days of vengeance, bringing fulfilment of all that has been written. It will go hard with women who are with child, or have children at the breast, in those days; it will be a time of bitter distress over all the land, and retribution against his people. They will be put to the sword, and led away into captivity all over the world; and Jerusalem will be trodden under the feet of the Gentiles, until the time granted to the Gentile nations has run out. The sun and the moon and the stars will give portents, and on earth the nations will be in distress, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and of its waves; men's hearts will be dried up with fear, as they await the troubles that are overtaking the whole world; the very powers of heaven will rock. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, with his full power and majesty.
When all this begins, look up, and lift up your heads; it means that the time draws near for your deliverance. And he told them a parable; Look at the fig-tree, or any of the trees; when they put out their fruit, you know by your own experience that summer is near. Just so, when you see this happen, be sure that the kingdom of God is close at hand. Believe me, this generation will not have passed, before all this is accomplished. Though heaven and earth should pass away, my words will stand. Only look well to yourselves; do not let your hearts grow dull with revelry and drunkenness and the affairs of this life, so that that day overtakes you unawares; it will come like the springing of a trap on all those who dwell upon the face of the earth. Keep watch, then, praying at all times, so that you may be found worthy to come safe through all that lies before you, and stand erect to meet the presence of the Son of Man.
Each day he went on teaching in the temple, and at night he lodged on the mountain which is called Olivet; and all the people waited for him at early morning in the temple, to listen to him.
And now the feast of unleavened bread, the paschal feast, as it is called, was drawing near. The chief priests and scribes were still at a loss for some means of making away with him, frightened as they were of the people. But now Satan found his way into the heart of Judas, who was also called Iscariot, one of the twelve, and he went off and conferred with the chief priests and magistrates about the means to betray Jesus. These gladly consented to pay him a sum of money; so he promised to do it, and looked about for an opportunity to hand him over without any commotion.
Then the day of unleavened bread came; on this day, the paschal victim must be killed; and Jesus sent Peter and John on an errand; Go and make ready for us, he said, to eat the paschal meal. When they asked him, Where would you have us make ready? he said to them, Just as you are entering the city, you will be met by a man carrying a jar of water; follow him into the house to which he is going; and there you will say to the owner of the house, The master sends word, Where is the room in which I am to eat the paschal meal with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room, furnished; it is there that you are to make ready. So they went, and found all as he had told them, and so made ready for the paschal meal. And when the time came, he sat down with his twelve disciples.
And he said to them, I have longed and longed to share this paschal meal with you before my passion; I tell you, I shall not eat it again, till it finds its fulfilment in the kingdom of God. And he took a cup, and blessed it, and said, Take this and share it among you; I tell you, I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine again, till the kingdom of God has come. Then he took bread, and blessed and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, given for you; do this for a commemoration of me. And so with the cup, when supper was ended, This cup, he said, is the new testament, in my blood which is to be shed for you. And now, the hand of my betrayer rests on this table, at my side. The Son of Man goes on his way, for so it has been ordained; but woe upon that man by whom he is to be betrayed. Thereupon they fell to surmising among themselves, which of them it was that would do this.
And there was rivalry between them over the question, which of them was to be accounted the greatest. But he told them, The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who bear rule over them win the name of benefactors. With you it is not to be so; no difference is to be made, among you, between the greatest and the youngest of all, between him who commands and him who serves. Tell me, which is greater, the man who sits at table, or the man who serves him? Surely the man who sits at table; yet I am here among you as your servant. You are the men who have kept to my side in my hours of trial: and, as my Father has allotted a kingdom to me, so I allot to you a place to eat and drink at my table in my kingdom; you shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has claimed power over you all, so that he can sift you like wheat: but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; when, after a while, you have come back to me, it is for you to be the support of your brethren. Lord, said he, I am ready to bear you company, though it were to prison or to death. But he answered, I tell you, Peter, by cock-crow this morning you will thrice have denied knowledge of me. Then he said to them, Did you go in want of anything, when I sent you out without purse, or wallet, or shoes? They told him, Nothing; and he said, But now it is time for a man to take his purse with him, if he has one, and his wallet too; and to sell his cloak and buy a sword, if he has none. Believe me, one word has been written that has yet to find its fulfilment in me, And he was counted among the malefactors. Sure enough, all that has been written of me must be fulfilled. See, Lord, they told him, here are two swords. And he said to them, That is enough.
And now he went out, as his custom was, to mount Olivet, his disciples following him. When he reached the place, he said to them, Pray that you may not enter into temptation. Then he parted from them, going a stone's throw off, and knelt down to pray; Father, he said, if it pleases you, take away this chalice from before me; only as your will is, not as mine is. And he had sight of an angel from heaven, encouraging him. And now he was in an agony, and prayed still more earnestly; his sweat fell to the ground like thick drops of blood. When he rose from his prayer, he went back to his disciples, and found that they were sleeping, overwrought with sorrow. How can you sleep? he asked. Rise up and pray, so that you may not enter into temptation.
Even as he spoke, a multitude came near; their guide was the man called Judas, one of the twelve, who came close to Jesus, to kiss him. Jesus said to him, Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss? Then those who were about him; seeing what would come of it, asked, Lord, shall we strike out with our swords? And one of them struck a servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. Jesus answered, Let them have their way in this. And he touched his ear, and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests and temple officers and elders who had come to find him, Have you come out with swords and clubs, as if I were a robber? I was close to you in the temple, day after day, and you never laid hands on me. But your time has come now, and darkness has its will.
So they apprehended him, and led him away to the house of the high priest; and Peter followed at a long distance. They had lit a fire in the midst of the court, and were sitting round it; and there Peter sat among them. One of the maid-servants, as she saw him sitting there in the firelight, looked closely at him and said, This is one of those who were with him. And he disowned him; Woman, he said, I have no knowledge of him. After a short while, another of the company said, when he caught sight of him, You too are one of them; and Peter said, Man, I am not. Then there was an interval of about an hour, before another man insisted, It is the truth that this fellow was in his company; why, he is a Galilean. Man, said Peter, I do not understand what you mean; and all at once, while the words were on his lips, the cock crew. And the Lord turned, and looked at Peter; and Peter remembered what the Lord had said to him, Before cock-crow, you will thrice disown me. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.
The men who held Jesus prisoner beat him and mocked him; they blindfolded him and struck him on the face, and then questioned him, Come, prophesy; tell us who it is that smote you. And they used many other blasphemous words against him. When day came, all the elders of the people, chief priests and scribes, brought him before their council. If you are the Christ, they said, tell us. Why, he said, if I tell you, you will never believe me: and if I ask you questions, I know you will not answer them, nor acquit me. I will only tell you that a time is coming when the Son of Man will be seated in power at God's right hand. And they all said, You are, then, the Son of God? He told them, Your lips have said that I am. And they said, What further need have we of witnesses? We have heard the words from his own mouth.
Then the whole assembly of them rose up and brought him before Pilate, and there fell to accusing him; We have discovered, they said, that this man is subverting the loyalty of our people, forbids the payment of tribute to Caesar, and calls himself Christ the king. And Pilate asked him, Are you the king of the Jews? He answered him, Your own lips have said it. Pilate said to the chief priests and the multitudes, I cannot discover any fault in this man. But they insisted, He rouses sedition among the people; he has gone round the whole of Judaea preaching, beginning in Galilee and ending here. Pilate, on the mention of Galilee, asked whether the man was a Galilean; and learning that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, remitted his cause to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at this time. Herod was overjoyed at seeing Jesus; for a long time he had been eager to have sight of him, because he had heard so much of him, and now he hoped to witness some miracle of his. He asked him many questions, but could get no answer from him, although the chief priests and scribes stood there, loudly accusing him. So Herod and his attendants made a jest of him, arraying him in festal attire out of mockery, and sent him back to Pilate. That day Herod and Pilate, who had hitherto been at enmity with one another, became friends.
And now Pilate summoned the chief priests, and the rulers, and the people, and said to them, You have brought this man before me as one who seduces the people from their allegiance; I examined him in your presence, and could find no substance in any of the charges you bring against him; nor could Herod, when I referred you to him. It is plain that he has done nothing which deserves death. I will scourge him, and then he shall go free. At the festival, he was obliged to grant them the liberty of one prisoner; but the whole concourse raised the cry, Away with this man, we must have Barabbas released. (Barabbas was a man who had been thrown into prison for raising a revolt in the city, and for murder.) Once more Pilate spoke to them, offering to set Jesus at liberty; but they continued to answer with shouts of, Crucify him, crucify him. Then for the third time he said to them, Why, what wrong has he done? I can find no fault in him that deserves death; I will scourge him, and then he shall go free. But they, with loud cries, insisted on their demand that he should be crucified; and their voices carried the day; Pilate gave his assent that their request should be granted, releasing the man of their choice who had been imprisoned for revolt and murder, while he handed Jesus over to their will.
As they led him off, they caught hold of a man called Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and loaded him with the cross, so that he should carry it after Jesus. Jesus was followed by a great multitude of the people, and also of women, who beat their breasts and mourned over him; but he turned to them, and said, It is not for me that you should weep, daughters of Jerusalem; you should weep for yourselves and your children. Behold, a time is coming when men will say, It is well for the barren, for the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never suckled them. It is then that they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills.,Cover us. If it goes so hard with the tree that is still green, what will become of the tree that is already dried up? Two others, who were criminals, were led off with him to be put to death. And when they reached the place which is named after a skull, they crucified him there; and also the two criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. Jesus meanwhile was saying, Father, forgive them; they do not know what it is they are doing. And they divided his garments among themselves by lot.
The people stood by, watching; and the rulers joined them in pouring scorn on him; He saved others, they said; if he is the Christ, God's chosen, let him save himself. The soldiers, too, mocked him, when they came and offered him vinegar, by saying, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. (A proclamation had been written up over him in Greek, Latin and Hebrew, This is the king of the Jews.) And one of the two thieves who hung there fell to blaspheming against him; Save yourself, he said, and us too, if you are the Christ. But the other rebuked him; What, he said, have you no fear of God, when you are undergoing the same sentence? And we justly enough; we receive no more than the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing amiss. Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, I promise you, this day you shall be with me in Paradise.
It was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in the midst: and Jesus said, crying with a loud voice, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit; and yielded up his spirit as he said it. And the centurion, when he saw what befell, gave glory to God; This, he said, was indeed a just man. And the whole multitude of those who stood there watching it, when they saw the issue, went home beating their breasts.
All his acquaintances, with the women who had followed him from Galilee, watched while this happened, standing at a distance. And now a man called Joseph came forward, one of the councillors, a good and upright man, who had not taken part with the council and its doings; he was from Arimathea, a Jewish city, and was one of those who waited for the kingdom of God. He it was who approached Pilate, and asked to have the body of Jesus. This he took, and wrapped it in a winding-sheet, and laid it in a tomb fashioned out of the rock, in which no man had ever been buried. It was the day of preparation; the next day was the sabbath. And the women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and saw the tomb, and how his body was buried; so they went back, and prepared spices and ointments, and while it was the sabbath they kept still, as the law commanded.
And at very early dawn on the first day of the week they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared: and found the stone already rolled away from the door of the tomb. They went into it, and could not find the body of the Lord Jesus. They were still puzzling over this, when two men came and stood by them, in shining garments. These said to them, as they bowed their faces to the earth in fear, Why are you seeking one who is alive, here among the dead? He is not here, he has risen again; remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, The Son of Man is to be given up into the hands of sinners, and to be crucified, and to rise again the third day. Then they remembered what he had said, and returned from the tomb bringing news of all this to the eleven apostles and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalen, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, who told the apostles this; but to their minds the story seemed madness, and they could not believe it. Only Peter rose up and ran to the tomb, where he looked in, and saw the graveclothes lying by themselves, and went away full of surmise over what had befallen.
It was on the same day that two of them were walking to a village called Emmaus, sixty furlongs away from Jerusalem, discussing all that had happened. They were still conversing and debating together, when Jesus himself drew near, and began to walk beside them; but their eyes were held fast, so that they could not recognize him. And he said to them, What talk is this you exchange between you as you go along, sad-faced? And one of them, who was called Cleophas, answered him, What, are you the only pilgrim in Jerusalem who has not heard of what has happened there in the last few days? What happenings? he asked; and they said, About Jesus of Nazareth, a prophet whose words and acts had power with God, and with all the people; how the chief priests, and our rulers, handed him over to be sentenced to death, and so crucified him. For ourselves, we had hoped that it was he who was to deliver Israel; but now, to crown it all, to-day is the third day since it befell. Some women, indeed, who belonged to our company, alarmed us; they had been at the tomb early in the morning and could not find his body; whereupon they came back and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found that all was as the women had said, but of him they saw nothing.
Then he said to them, Too slow of wit, too dull of heart, to believe all those sayings of the prophets! Was it not to be expected that the Christ should undergo these sufferings, and enter so into his glory? Then, going back to Moses and the whole line of the prophets, he began to interpret the words used of himself by all the scriptures. And now they were drawing near the village to which they were walking, and he made as if to go on further; but they pressed him, Stay with us, they said; it is towards evening, and it is far on in the day. So he went in to stay with them. And then, when he sat down at table with them, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and offered it to them; whereupon their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and with that, he disappeared from their sight. And they said to one another, Were not our hearts burning within us when he spoke to us on the road, and when he made the scriptures plain to us? Rising up there and then, they went back to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven apostles and their companions gathered together, now saying, The Lord has indeed risen, and has appeared to Simon. And they told the story of their encounter in the road, and how they recognized him when he broke bread.
While they were speaking of this, he himself stood in the midst of them, and said, Peace be upon you; it is myself, do not be afraid. They cowered down, full of terror, thinking that they were seeing an apparition. What, he said to them, are you dismayed? Whence come these surmises in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, to be assured that it is myself; touch me, and look; a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see that I have. And as he spoke thus, he showed them his hands and his feet. Then, while they were still doubtful, and bewildered with joy, he asked them, Have you anything here to eat? So they put before him a piece of roast fish, and a honeycomb; and he took these and ate in their presence and shared his meal with them. This is what I told you, he said, while I still walked in your company; how all that was written of me in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, must be fulfilled. Then he enlightened their minds, to make them understand the scriptures; So it was written, he told them, and so it was fitting that Christ should suffer, and should rise again from the dead on the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Of this, you are the witnesses. And behold, I am sending down upon you the gift which was promised by my Father; you must wait in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.
When he had led them out as far as Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them; and even as he blessed them he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. So they bowed down to worship him, and went back full of joy to Jerusalem, where they spent their time continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.
At the beginning of time the Word already was; and God had the Word abiding with him, and the Word was God. He abode, at the beginning of time, with God. It was through him that all things came into being, and without him came nothing that has come to be. In him there was life, and that life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness, a darkness which was not able to master it.
A man appeared, sent from God, whose name was John. He came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, so that through him all men might learn to believe. He was not the Light; he was sent to bear witness to the light. There is one who enlightens every soul born into the world; he was the true Light. He, through whom the world was made, was in the world, and the world treated him as a stranger. He came to what was his own, and they who were his own gave him no welcome. But all those who did welcome him, he empowered to become the children of God, all those who believe in his name; their birth came, not from human stock, not from nature's will or man's, but from God. And the Word was made flesh, and came to dwell among us; and we had sight of his glory, glory such as belongs to the Father's only-begotten Son, full of grace and truth. We have John's witness to him; I told you, cried John, there was one coming after me who takes rank before me; he was when I was not. We have all received something out of his abundance, grace answering to grace. Through Moses the law was given to us; through Jesus Christ grace came to us, and truth. No man has ever seen God; but now his only-begotten Son, who abides in the bosom of the Father, has himself become our interpreter.
This, then, was the testimony which John bore, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem, to ask him, Who are you? He admitted the truth, without concealment, admitted that he was not the Christ. What then, they asked him, are you Elias? Not Elias, he said. Are you the prophet? And he answered, No. So they said, Tell us who you are, that we may give an answer to those who sent us; what account do you give of yourself? And he told them, I am what the prophet Isaias spoke of, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Straighten out the way of the Lord. The Pharisees (for they were Pharisees who had come on this errand) asked him, Why do you baptize, then, if you yourself are not the Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet? John answered them, I am baptizing you with water; but there is one standing in your midst of whom you know nothing; he it is, who, though he comes after me, takes rank before me. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his shoes. All this happened in Bethany that is beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Next day, John saw Jesus coming towards him; and he said, Look, this is the Lamb of God; look, this is he who takes away the sin of the world. It is of him that I said, One is coming after me who takes rank before me; he was when I was not. I myself did not know who he was, although the very reason why I have come, with my baptism of water, is to make him known to Israel. John also bore witness thus, I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and resting upon him. Till then, I did not know him; but then I remembered what I had been told by the God who sent me to baptize with water. He told me, The man who will baptize with the Holy Spirit is the man on whom you will see the Spirit come down and rest. Now I have seen him, and have borne my witness that this is the Son of God.
The next day after this, John was standing there again, with two of his disciples; and, watching Jesus as he walked by, he said, Look, this is the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard him say it, and they followed Jesus. Turning, and seeing them follow him, Jesus asked, What would you have of me? Rabbi, they said (a word which means Master), where do you live? He said to them, Come and see; so they went and saw where he lived, and they stayed with him all the rest of the day, from about the tenth hour onwards. One of the two who had heard what John said, and followed him, was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. He, first of all, found his own brother Simon, and told him, We have discovered the Messias (which means, the Christ), and brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him closely, and said, You are Simon the son of Jona; you shall be called Cephas (which means the same as Peter). He was to remove into Galilee next day; and now he found Philip; to him Jesus said, Follow me. This Philip came from Bethsaida, a fellow-townsman of Andrew and Peter.
And Philip found Nathanael, and told him, We have discovered who it was Moses wrote of in his law, and the prophets too; it is Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth. When Nathanael asked him, Can anything that is good come from Nazareth? Philip said, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, and said of him, Here comes one who belongs to the true Israel; there is no falsehood in him. How do you know me? Nathanael asked; and Jesus answered him, I saw you when you were under the fig-tree, before Philip called you. Then Nathanael answered him, You, Master, are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel. Jesus answered, What, believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig-tree? You shall see greater things than that. And he said to him Believe me when I tell you this; you will see heaven opening, and the angels of God going up and coming down upon the Son of Man.
Two days afterwards, there was a wedding-feast at Cana, in Galilee; and Jesus' mother was there. Jesus himself, and his disciples, had also been invited to the wedding. Here the supply of wine failed; whereupon Jesus' mother said to him, They have no wine left. Jesus answered her, Nay, woman, why do you trouble me with that? My time has not come yet. And his mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you. There were six water-pots standing there, as the Jewish custom of ceremonial washing demanded; they were of stone, and held two or three firkins apiece. And when Jesus said, Fill the water-pots with water, they filled these up to the brim. Then he said to them, Now draw, and give a draught to the master of the feast. So they gave it to him; and the master of the feast tasted this water, which had now been turned into wine. He did not know whence it came; only the servants who had drawn the water knew that. The master of the feast, then, called to the bridegroom, and said to him, It is ever the good wine that men set out first, and the worse kind only when all have drunk deep; you have kept the good wine till now. So, in Cana of Galilee, Jesus began his miracles, and made known the glory that was his, so that his disciples learned to believe in him.
After this he went down to Capharnaum with his mother, his brethren, and his disciples, not staying there many days.
And now the paschal feast which the Jews keep was drawing near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And in the temple there he found the merchants selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the moneychangers sitting at their trade. So he made a kind of whip out of cords, and drove them all, with their sheep and oxen, out of the temple, spilling the bankers' coins and overthrowing their tables, and he said to the pigeon-sellers, Take these away, do not turn my Father's house into a place of barter. And his disciples remembered how it is written, I am consumed with jealousy for the honour of your house. Then the Jews answered him, What sign can you show us as your warrant for doing this? Jesus answered them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again. At which the Jews said, This temple took forty-six years to build, will you raise it up in three days? But the temple he was speaking of was his own body; and when he had risen from the dead his disciples remembered his saying this, and learned to believe in the scriptures, and in the words Jesus had spoken.
At this paschal season, while he was in Jerusalem for the feast, there were many who came to believe in his name, upon seeing the miracles which he did. But Jesus would not give them his confidence; he had knowledge of them all, and did not need assurances about any man, because he could read men's hearts.
There was a man called Nicodemus, a Pharisee, and one of the rulers of the Jews, who came to see Jesus by night; Master, he said to him, we know that you have come from God to teach us; no one, unless God were with him, could do the miracles which you do. Jesus answered him, Believe me when I tell you this; a man cannot see the kingdom of God without being born anew. Why, Nicodemus asked him, how is it possible that a man should be born when he is already old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and so come to birth? Jesus answered, Believe me, no man can enter into the kingdom of God unless birth comes to him from water, and from the Holy Spirit. What is born by natural birth is a thing of nature, what is born by spiritual birth is a thing of spirit. Do not be surprised, then, at my telling you, You must be born anew. The wind breathes where it will, and you can hear the sound of it, but know nothing of the way it came or the way it goes; so it is, when a man is born by the breath of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered him, How can such things come to be? What, answered Jesus, can such things be strange to you, who are one of the teachers of Israel? Believe me, we speak of what is known to us, and testify of what our eyes have seen, and still you will not accept our testimony. You cannot trust me when I tell you of what passes on earth; how will you be able to trust me when I tell you of what passes in heaven? No man has ever gone up into heaven; but there is one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man, who dwells in heaven. And this Son of Man must be lifted up, as the serpent was lifted up by Moses in the wilderness; so that those who believe in him may not perish, but have eternal life.
God so loved the world, that he gave up his only-begotten Son, so that those who believe in him may not perish, but have eternal life. When God sent his Son into the world, it was not to reject the world, but so that the world might find salvation through him. For the man who believes in him, there is no rejection; the man who does not believe is already rejected; he has not found faith in the name of God's only-begotten Son. Rejection lies in this, that when the light came into the world men preferred darkness to light; preferred it, because their doings were evil. Anyone who acts shamefully hates the light, will not come into the light, for fear that his doings will be found out. Whereas the man whose life is true comes to the light, so that his deeds may be seen for what they are, deeds done in God.
After this, Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judaea, and there he remained with them, baptizing. John was still baptizing, too, in Aenon, near Salim, where there was abundance of water; men went to him there to be baptized. (It was only later that John was thrown into prison.) John's disciples had had a dispute with the Jews, about purification, and now they came to John, and told him, Master, there was one with you on the other side of Jordan, to whom you did then bear testimony. We find that he is baptizing now, and all are flocking to him. John answered, A man must be content to receive the gift which is given him from heaven, and nothing more. You yourselves are my witnesses that I told you, I am not the Christ; I have been sent to go before him. The bride is for the bridegroom; but the bridegroom's friend, who stands by and listens to him, rejoices too, rejoices at hearing the bridegroom's voice; and this joy is mine now in full measure. He must become more and more, I must become less and less.
He who comes from above is above all men's reach; the man who belongs to earth talks the language of earth, but one who comes from heaven must needs be beyond the reach of all; he bears witness of things he has seen and heard, and nobody accepts his witness. The man who does accept his witness has declared, once for all, that God cannot lie, since the words spoken by him whom God has sent are God's own words; so boundless is the gift God makes of his Spirit. The Father loves his Son, and so has given everything into his hands; and he who believes in the Son possesses eternal life, whereas he who refuses to believe in the Son will never see life; God's displeasure hangs over him continually.
And now it became known to Jesus that the Pharisees had been told, Jesus is making more disciples and baptizing a greater number than John; although it was his disciples who baptized, not Jesus himself. So he left Judaea, and once more withdrew into Galilee. And he was obliged to go by way of Samaria. Thus he came to a Samaritan city called Sichar, close by the plot of ground which Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and there was a well there called Jacob's well. There, then, Jesus sat down, tired after his journey, by the well; it was about noon. And when a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, Give me some to drink. (His disciples were away in the city at this time, buying food.) Whereupon the Samaritan woman said to him, How is it that you, who are a Jew, do ask me, a Samaritan, to give you drink? (The Jews, you must know, have no dealings with the Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, If you knew what it is God gives, and who this is that is saying to you, Give me drink, it would have been for you to ask him instead, and he would have given you living water. Sir, the woman said to him, you have no bucket, and the well is deep; how then can you provide living water? Are you a greater man than our father Jacob? It was he who gave us this well; he himself and his sons and his cattle have drunk out of it. Jesus answered her, Anyone who drinks such water as this will be thirsty again afterwards, the man who drinks the water I give him will not know thirst any more. The water I give him will be a spring of water within him, that flows continually to bring him everlasting life. Then, Sir, said the woman, give me water such as that, so that I may never be thirsty and have to come here for water again.
At this, Jesus said to her, Go home, fetch your husband, and come back here. I have no husband, answered the woman; and Jesus told her, True enough, you have no husband. You have had five husbands, but the man who is with you now is no husband of yours; you have told the truth over this. The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Well, it was our fathers' way to worship on this mountain, although you tell us that the place where men ought to worship is in Jerusalem. Believe me, woman, Jesus said to her, the time is coming when you will not go to this mountain, nor yet to Jerusalem, to worship the Father. You worship you cannot tell what, we worship knowing what it is we worship; salvation, after all, is to come from the Jews; but the time is coming, nay, has already come, when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; such men as these the Father claims for his worshippers. God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Yes, said the woman, I know that Messias (that is, the Christ) is to come; and when he comes, he will tell us everything. Jesus said to her, I, who speak to you, am the Christ.
With that, his disciples came up, and were surprised to find him talking to a woman; but none of them asked, What do you mean? or Why are you talking to her? And so the woman put down her water-pot, and went back to the city, to tell the folk there, Come and have sight of a man who has told me all the story of my life; can this be the Christ? So they left the city, and came out to find him. Meanwhile, his disciples were urging him, Master, take some food. But he told them, I have food to eat of which you know nothing. Whereupon his disciples said to one another, Can somebody have brought him food? But Jesus said to them, My meat is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish the task he gave me. Is it not a saying of yours, It is four whole months before harvest comes? Why, lift up your eyes, I tell you, and look at the fields, they are white with the promise of harvest already. The wages paid to him who reaps this harvest, the crop he gathers in, is eternal life, in which sower and reaper are to rejoice together. And here the proverb fits, which is true enough, One man sows, and another reaps. The harvest I have sent you out to reap is one on which you bestowed no labour; others have laboured, and it is their labours you have inherited. Many of the Samaritans from that city came to believe in him through the woman's testimony, He told me all the story of my life. And when they came out to him, the Samaritans urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days there. Many more of them came to believe through his preaching; It is not through your report, they told the woman, that we believe now; we have heard him for ourselves, and we recognize that he is indeed the Saviour of the world.
Then, after two days, he passed on and returned to Galilee. Jesus himself bore witness that it is in his own country a prophet goes unhonoured. And now, when he came back into Galilee, the Galileans too made him welcome, because they had seen what he did in Jerusalem at the time of the feast; they had gone up to the feast like himself. And so he came once more to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And a nobleman, whose son was lying sick at Capharnaum, hearing that Jesus had come from Judaea to Galilee, went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was at the point of death. Jesus said to him, You must see signs and miracles happen, or you will not believe. Sir, the nobleman said to him, come down before my child dies. Go back home, Jesus told him; your son is to live. And the man began his journey home, putting his trust in the words Jesus had spoken to him; and while he was still on his way down, his servants met him with the message that his son was still alive. So he asked what time it had been when he felt easier; and they told him, He recovered from his fever yesterday, at the seventh hour. The father recognized that it had happened at the very time when Jesus said to him, Your son is to live; and he and all his household found faith. Thus for the second time Jesus did a miracle upon his return from Judaea to Galilee.
After this came a Jewish feast, for which Jesus went up to Jerusalem. There is a pool in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate, called in Hebrew Bethsaida, with five porches, under which a multitude of diseased folk used to lie, the blind, the lame, the disabled, waiting for a disturbance of the water. From time to time, an angel of the Lord came down upon the pool, and the water was stirred up; and the first man who stepped into the pool after the stirring of the water, recovered from whatever infirmity it was that oppressed him. There was one man there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had waited a long time; Have you a mind, he asked, to recover your strength? Sir, said the cripple, I have no one to let me down into the pool when the water is stirred; and while I am on my way, somebody else steps down before me. Jesus said to him, Rise up, take up your bed, and walk. And all at once the man recovered his strength, and took up his bed, and walked. That day it was the sabbath: and the Jews said to the man who had been cured, It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed. He answered them, The man who gave me back my strength told me himself. Take up your bed, and walk. So they asked him, Who is this man who told you. Take up your bed, and walk? The cripple who had been healed did not know who it was; Jesus had drawn aside from so crowded a place. But afterwards when Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, Behold, you have recovered your strength; do not sin any more, for fear that worse should befall you, the man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had restored his strength.
The Jews took occasion to rouse ill-will against Jesus for doing such things on the sabbath. And Jesus answered them, My Father has never ceased working, and I too must be at work. This made the Jews more determined than ever to make away with him, that he not only broke the sabbath, but spoke of God as his own Father, thereby treating himself as equal to God. And Jesus answered them thus: Believe me when I tell you this. The Son cannot do anything at his own pleasure, he can only do what he sees his Father doing; what the Father does is what the Son does in his turn. The Father loves the Son, and discloses to him all that he himself does. And he has greater doings yet to disclose to him, for your astonishment; just as the Father bids the dead rise up and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whomsoever he will. So it is with judgement; the Father, instead of passing judgement on any man himself, has left all judgement to the Son, so that all may reverence the Son just as they reverence the Father; to deny reverence to the Son is to deny reverence to the Father who has sent him.
Believe me when I tell you this, the man who listens to my words, and puts his trust in him who sent me, enjoys eternal life; he does not meet with rejection, he has passed over already from death to life. Believe me, the time is coming, nay, has already come, when the dead will listen to the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen to it will live. As the Father has within him the gift of life, so he has granted to the Son that he too should have within him the gift of life, and has also granted him power to execute judgement, since he is the Son of Man. Do not be surprised at that; the time is coming, when all those who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out of them; those whose actions have been good, rising to new life, and those whose doings have been evil, rising to meet their sentence. I cannot do anything on my own authority; I decide as I am bidden to decide, and my decision is never unjust, because I am consulting the will of him who sent me, not my own. If I testify in my own behalf, that testimony of mine is worth nothing; there is another who testifies to me, and I know well that the testimony he bears me is worthy of trust. You yourselves sent a message to John, and he testified to the truth. (Not that I depend on human testimony; it is for your own welfare that I say this.) He, after all, was the lamp lit to show you the way, and there was a time when you were willing enough to sun yourselves in his light. But the testimony I have is greater than John's; the actions which my Father has enabled me to achieve, those very actions which I perform, bear me witness that it is the Father who has sent me. Nay, the Father who sent me has himself borne witness to me. You have always been deaf to his voice, blind to the vision of him, and his word is not continually present in your hearts; that is why you will not trust one whom he has sent. You pore over the scriptures, thinking to find eternal life in them (and indeed, it is of these I speak as bearing witness to me): but you will not come to me, to find life. I do not mean that I look for honour from men, but that I can see you have no love of God in your hearts.
I have come in my Father's name, and you give me no welcome, although you will welcome some other, if he comes in his own name. How should you learn to believe, you who are content to receive honour from one another, and are not ambitious for the honour which comes from him, who alone is God? Do not suppose that it will be for me to accuse you before my Father; your accusation will come from Moses, the very man in whom you put your trust. If you believed Moses, you would believe me; it was of me that he wrote. But if you give no credence to his writings, how should you give credence to my words?
After this, Jesus retired across the sea of Galilee, or Tiberias, and there was a great multitude following him; they had seen the miracles he performed over the sick. So Jesus went up on to the hill-side, and there sat down with his disciples. It was nearly the time of the Jews' great feast, the paschal feast. And now, lifting up his eyes and seeing that a great multitude had gathered round him, Jesus said to Philip, Whence are we to buy bread for these folk to eat? In saying this, he was putting him to the test; he himself knew well enough what he meant to do. Philip answered him, Two hundred silver pieces would not buy enough bread for them, even to give each a little. One of his disciples (it was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother) said to him, There is a boy here, who has five barley loaves and two fishes; but what is that among so many? Then Jesus said, Make the men sit down. There was no lack of grass where they were; so the men sat down, about five thousand in number. And Jesus took the loaves, and gave thanks, and distributed them to the company, and a share of the fishes too, as much as they had a mind for. Then, when they had all had enough, he told his disciples, Gather up the broken pieces that are left over, so that nothing may be wasted. And when they gathered them up, they filled twelve baskets with the broken pieces left over by those who had eaten. When they saw the miracle Jesus had done, these men began to say, Beyond doubt, this is the prophet who is to come into the world.
Knowing, then, that they meant to come and carry him off, so as to make a king of him, Jesus once again withdrew on to the hill-side all alone. His disciples, when evening came on, went down to the lake, and there, embarking on the boat, they began to cross the water to Capharnaum. Darkness had fallen, and Jesus had not yet come back to them. Meanwhile there was a strong wind blowing, and the sea was beginning to grow rough. And now they had rowed some twenty-five or thirty furlongs, when they saw Jesus walking on the sea, and already drawing near to the boat. They were terrified: but he said to them, It is myself; do not be afraid. Then they took him on board willingly enough; and all at once their boat reached the land they were making for.
Next morning, the multitude was still waiting on the opposite shore. They had seen that there was only one boat there, and that Jesus did not embark with his disciples on this boat, but left his disciples to go back alone. But now, since other boats from Tiberias had put in near the place where they ate the loaves when the Lord gave thanks over them, the multitude, finding neither Jesus nor his disciples there, embarked on these boats in their turn, and went back to Capharnaum to look for Jesus. And when they found that he had crossed the lake, they asked him, Master, when did you make your way here? Jesus answered them, Believe me, if you are looking for me now, it is not because of the miracles you have seen; it is because you were fed with the loaves, and had your fill. You should not work to earn food which perishes in the using. Work to earn food which affords, continually, eternal life, such food as the Son of Man will give you; God, the Father, has authorized him. What shall we do, then, they asked him, so as to work in God's service? Jesus answered them, This is the service God asks of you, to believe in the Man whom he has sent.
So they said to him, Why then, what miracle can you do? We must see it before we trust you; what can you effect? Our fathers had manna to eat in the desert; as the scripture says. He gave them bread out of heaven to eat. Jesus said to them, Believe me when I tell you this; the bread that comes from heaven is not what Moses gave you. The real bread from heaven is given only by the Father. God's gift of bread comes down from heaven and gives life to the whole world. Then, Lord, they said, give us this bread all the while. But Jesus told them, It is I who am the bread of life; he who comes to me will never be hungry, he who has faith in me will never know thirst. (But you, as I have told you, though you have seen me, do not believe in me.) All that the Father has entrusted to me will come to me, and him who comes to me I will never cast out. It is the will of him who sent me, not my own will, that I have come down from heaven to do; and he who sent me would have me keep without loss, and raise up at the last day, all he has entrusted to me. Yes, this is the will of him who sent me, that all those who believe in the Son when they see him should enjoy eternal life; I am to raise them up at the last day.
The Jews were by now complaining of his saying, I am myself the bread which has come down from heaven. Is not this Jesus, they said, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother are well known to us? What does he mean by saying, I have come down from heaven? Jesus answered them, Do not whisper thus to one another. Nobody can come to me without being attracted towards me by the Father who sent me, so that I can raise him up at the last day. It is written in the book of the prophets, And they shall all have the Lord for their teacher; everyone who listens to the Father and learns, comes to me. (Not that anyone has seen the Father, except him who comes from God; he alone has seen the Father.) Believe me when I tell you this; the man who has faith in me enjoys eternal life. It is I who am the bread of life. Your fathers, who ate manna in the desert, died none the less; the bread which comes down from heaven is such that he who eats of it never dies. I myself am the living bread that has come down from heaven. If any one eats of this bread, he shall live for ever. And now, what is this bread which I am to give? It is my flesh, given for the life of the world. Then the Jews fell to disputing with one another, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Whereupon Jesus said to them, Believe me when I tell you this; you can have no life in yourselves, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood. The man who eats my flesh and drinks my blood enjoys eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. My flesh is real food, my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, lives continually in me, and I in him. As I live because of the Father, the living Father who has sent me, so he who eats me will live, in his turn, because of me. Such is the bread which has come down from heaven; it is not as it was with your fathers, who ate manna and died none the less; the man who eats this bread will live eternally.
He said all this while he was teaching in the synagogue, at Capharnaum. And there were many of his disciples who said, when they heard it, This is strange talk, who can be expected to listen to it? But Jesus, inwardly aware that his disciples were complaining over it, said to them, Does this try your faith? What will you make of it, if you see the Son of Man ascending to the place where he was before? Only the spirit gives life; the flesh is of no avail; and the words I have been speaking to you are spirit, and life. But there are some, even among you, who do not believe. Jesus knew from the first which were those who did not believe, and which of them was to betray him. And he went on to say, That is what I meant when I told you that nobody can come to me unless he has received the gift from my Father. After this, many of his disciples went back to their old ways, and walked no more in his company. Whereupon Jesus said to the twelve, Would you, too, go away? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom should we go? Your words are the words of eternal life; we have learned to believe, and are assured that you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus answered them, Have I not chosen all twelve of you? And one of you is a devil. He was speaking of Judas son of Simon, the Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, and was to betray him.
After this, Jesus went about in Galilee; he would not go about in Judaea, because the Jews had designs on his life. And now one of the Jewish feasts, the feast of Tabernacles, was drawing near. And his brethren said to him, This is no place for you; go to Judaea, so that your disciples also may see your doings. Nobody is content to act in secret, if he wishes to make himself known at large; if you must needs act thus, show yourself before the world. For even his brethren were without faith in him. Whereupon Jesus said to them, My opportunity has not come yet. Your opportunity is always ready to hand; the world cannot be expected to hate you, but it does hate me, because I denounce it for its evil doings. It is for you to go up for the feast; I am not going up for the feast, because for me the time is not ripe yet. And, saying so much to them, he stayed behind in Galilee.
But afterwards, when his brethren had gone up for the feast, he too went up, not publicly, but as if he would keep himself hidden. The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and asked, Where can he be? Among the crowd, there was much whispering about him; some said, He is a good man; No, said others, he leads the multitude astray. But, for fear of the Jews, nobody dared to speak of him openly. And it was not till the feast was half over that Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach there. The Jews were astonished; How does this man know how to read? they asked; he has never studied. Jesus answered, The learning which I impart is not my own, it comes from him who sent me. Anyone who is prepared to do his will, can tell for himself whether such learning comes from God, or whether I am delivering a message of my own. The man who delivers a message of his own seeks to win credit for himself; when a man seeks to win credit for one who sent him, he tells the truth, there is no dishonesty in him. Moses, for example; was it not Moses that gave you the law? And yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you design to kill me? The multitude answered, You are possessed; who has a design to kill you? Jesus answered them, There is one action of mine which has astounded you all. Listen to this; because Moses prescribed circumcision for you (not that it comes from Moses, it comes from the patriarchs), you are ready to circumcise a man on the sabbath day; and if a man receives circumcision on the sabbath, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, have you any right to be indignant with me, for restoring a man's whole strength to him on the sabbath? Be honest in your judgements, instead of judging by appearances.
At this, some of those who belonged to Jerusalem began to ask, Is not this the man they design to put to death? Yet here he is, speaking publicly, and they have nothing to say to him. Can the rulers have made up their minds in earnest, that this is the Christ? But then, we know this man's origins; when Christ appears, no one is to know whence he comes. Whereupon Jesus cried aloud as he taught in the temple, You know me, and you know whence I come; but I have not come on my own errand, I was sent by one who has a right to send; and him you do not know. I know him, because I come from him; it was he who sent me. And now they were ready to seize him; but none of them laid hands on him; his time had not yet come. And indeed, among the multitude there were many who learned to believe in him; they said, Can the Christ be expected to do more miracles at his coming than this man has done? The Pharisees were told of these whispers about him among the multitude; and both chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. Then Jesus said, For a little while I am still with you, and then I am to go back to him who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not be able to find me; you cannot reach the place where I am. Whereupon the Jews said among themselves, Where can he mean to journey, that we should not be able to find him? Will he go to the Jews who are scattered about the Gentile world, and teach the Gentiles? What can it mean, this saying of his. You will look for me, but you will not be able to find me; you cannot reach the place where I am?
On the last and greatest day of the feast Jesus stood there and cried aloud, If any man is thirsty, let him come to me, and drink; yes, if a man believes in me, as the scripture says, Fountains of living water shall flow from his bosom. He was speaking here of the Spirit, which was to be received by those who learned to believe in him; the Spirit which had not yet been given to men, because Jesus had not yet been raised to glory. Some of the multitude, on hearing these words, said, Beyond doubt, this is the prophet. Others said, This is the Christ; and others again, Is the Christ, then, to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture told us that Christ is to come from the family of David, and from the village of Bethlehem, where David lived? Thus there was a division of opinion about him among the multitude; some of them would have seized him by violence, but no one laid hands on him.
Meanwhile the officers had gone back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, Why have you not brought him here? The officers answered, Nobody has ever spoken as this man speaks. And the Pharisees answered, Have you, too, let yourselves be deceived? Have any of the rulers come to believe in him yet, or of the Pharisees? As for these common folk who have no knowledge of the law, a curse is on them. Here Nicodemus, the same man who came to Jesus by night, who was one of their number, asked, Is it the way of our law to judge a man without giving him a hearing first, and finding out what he is about? They answered him, Are you, too, from Galilee? Look in the scriptures; you will find that Galilee does not breed prophets. And they went back, each to his own home.
Jesus meanwhile went to the mount of Olives. And at early morning he appeared again in the temple; all the common folk came to him, and he sat down there and began to teach them. And now the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman who had been found committing adultery, and made her stand there in full view; Master, they said, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Moses, in his law, prescribed that such persons should be stoned to death; what of you? What is your sentence? They said this to put him to the test, hoping to find a charge to bring against him. But Jesus bent down, and began writing on the ground with his finger. When he found that they continued to question him, he looked up and said to them, Whichever of you is free from sin shall cast the first stone at her. Then he bent down again, and went on writing on the ground. And they began to go out one by one, beginning with the eldest, till Jesus was left alone with the woman, still standing in full view. Then Jesus looked up, and asked her, Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you? No one, Lord, she said. And Jesus said to her, I will not condemn you either. Go, and do not sin again henceforward.
And now once more Jesus spoke to them, I am the light of the world, he said, He who follows me can never walk in darkness ; he will possess the light which is life. Whereupon the Pharisees told him, You are testifying on your own behalf, your testimony is worth nothing. Jesus answered them, My testimony is trustworthy, even when I testify on my own behalf; I know whence I have come, and where I am going; you do not know whence I have come, you do not know where I am going. You set yourselves up to judge, after your earthly fashion; I do not set myself up to judge anybody. And what if I should judge? My judgement is judgement indeed; it is not I alone, my Father who sent me is with me. Just so it is prescribed in your law, The testimony of two men is trustworthy; well, one is myself, testifying in my own behalf, and my Father who sent me testifies in my behalf too. Hereupon they said to him, Where is this Father of yours? And Jesus answered, You have no knowledge, either of me or of my Father; had you knowledge of me, you would have knowledge of my Father as well. All this Jesus said at the Treasury, while he was teaching in the temple; and no one seized him, because his time had not yet come. And he said to them again, I am going away, and you will look for me, but you will have to die with your sins upon you; where I am going is where you cannot come. At this, the Jews began to ask, Will he kill himself? Is that what he means by, Where I am going is where you cannot come? But he went on to say, You belong to earth, I to heaven; you to this world, I to another. That is why I have been telling you that you will die with your sins upon you; you will die with your sins upon you unless you come to believe that it is myself you look for. Who are you, then? they asked. Jesus said to them, What, that I should be speaking to you at all? There is much I could say of you, many judgements I could pass on you; but what I tell the world is only what I have learned from him who sent me, because he cannot deceive. And they could not understand that he was calling God his Father. Then Jesus said to them, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, you will recognize that it is myself you look for, and that I do not do anything on my own authority, but speak as my Father has instructed me to speak. And he who sent me is with me; he has not left me all alone, since what I do is always what pleases him. While he spoke thus, many of the Jews learned to believe in him.
And now Jesus said to those among the Jews who believed in him, If you continue faithful to my word, you are my disciples in earnest; so you will come to know the truth, and the truth will set you free. They answered him, We are of Abraham's breed, nobody ever enslaved us yet; what do you mean by saying, You shall become free? And Jesus answered them, Believe me when I tell you this; everyone who acts sinfully is the slave of sin, and the slave cannot make his home in the house for ever. To make his home in the house for ever, is for the Son. Why then, if it is the Son who makes you free men, you will have freedom in earnest. Yes, I know you are of Abraham's breed; yet you design to kill me, because my word does not find any place in you. My words are what I have learned in the house of my Father, and your actions, it seems, are what you have learned in the school of your father. Our father? they answered him; Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, If you are Abraham's true children, it is for you to follow Abraham's example; as it is, you are designing to kill me, who tell you the truth as I have heard it from God; this was not Abraham's way. No, it is your father's example you follow. And now they said to him, We are no bastard children; God, and he only, is the Father we recognize. Jesus told them, If you were children of God, you would welcome me gladly; it was from God I took my origin, from him I have come. I did not come on my own errand, it was he who sent me. Why is it that you cannot understand the language I talk? It is because you have no ear for the message I bring. You belong to your father, that is, the devil, and are eager to gratify the appetites which are your father's. He, from the first, was a murderer; and as for truth, he has never taken his stand upon that; there is no truth in him. When he utters falsehood, he is only uttering what is natural to him; he is all false, and it was he who gave falsehood its birth. And if you do not believe me, it is precisely because I am speaking the truth. Can any of you convict me of sin? If not, why is it that you do not believe me when I tell you the truth? The man who belongs to God listens to God's words; it is because you do not belong to God that you will not listen to me.
Hereupon the Jews answered him, We are right, surely, in saying that you are a Samaritan, and are possessed? I am not possessed, Jesus answered; it is because I reverence my Father that you have no reverence for me. Not that I am looking to my own reputation; there is another who will look to it, and be the judge.
Believe me when I tell you this; if a man is true to my word, to all eternity he will never see death. And the Jews said to him, Now we are certain that you are possessed. What of Abraham and the prophets? They are dead; and you say that a man will never taste death to all eternity, if he is true to your word. Are you greater than our father Abraham? He is dead, and the prophets are dead. What do you claim to be? If I should speak in my own honour, Jesus answered, such honour goes for nothing. Honour must come to me from my Father, from him whom you claim as your God; although you cannot recognize him. But I have knowledge of him; if I should say I have not, I should be what you are, a liar. Yes, I have knowledge of him, and I am true to his word. As for your father Abraham, his heart was proud to see the day of my coming; he saw, and rejoiced to see it. Then the Jews asked him, Have you seen Abraham, you, who are not yet fifty years old? And Jesus said to them, Believe me, before ever Abraham came to be, I am. Whereupon they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.
And Jesus saw, as he passed on his way, a man who had been blind from his birth. Whereupon his disciples asked him, Master, was this man guilty of sin, or was it his parents, that he should have been born blind? Neither he nor his parents were guilty, Jesus answered; it was so that God's action might declare itself in him. While daylight lasts, I must work in the service of him who sent me; the night is coming, when there is no working any more. As long as I am in the world, I am the world's light. With that, he spat on the ground, and made clay with the spittle; then he spread the clay on the man's eyes, and said to him, Away with you, and wash in the pool of Siloe (a word which means, Sent out). So he went and washed there, and came back with his sight restored. And now the neighbours, and those who had been accustomed to see him begging, began to say, Is not this the man who used to sit here and beg? Some said, This is the man; and others, No, but he looks like him. And he told them, Yes, I am the man. How is it, then, they asked him, that your eyes have been opened? He answered, A man called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes with it, and said to me, Away with you to the pool of Siloe and wash there. So I went there, and washed, and recovered my sight. Where is he? they asked; and he said, I cannot tell.
And they brought him before the Pharisees, this man who had once been blind. It was a sabbath day, you must know, when Jesus made clay and opened his eyes. And so the Pharisees in their turn asked him how he had recovered his sight. Why, he said, he put clay on my eyes; and then I washed, and now I can see. Whereupon some of the Pharisees said, This man can be no messenger from God; he does not observe the sabbath. Others asked, How can a man do miracles like this, and be a sinner? Thus there was a division of opinion among them. And now they questioned the blind man again, What account do you give of him, that he should thus have opened your eyes? Why, he said, he must be a prophet. The Jews must send for the parents of the man who had recovered his sight, before they would believe his story that he had been blind, and that he had had his sight restored to him. And they questioned them, Is this your son, who, you say, was born blind? How comes it, then, that he is now able to see? His parents answered them, We can tell you that this is our son, and that he was blind when he was born; we cannot tell how he is able to see now; we have no means of knowing who opened his eyes for him. Ask the man himself; he is of age; let him tell you his own story. It was fear of the Jews that made his parents talk in this way; the Jews had by now come to an agreement that anyone who acknowledged Jesus as the Christ should be forbidden the synagogue; that was why his parents said, He is of age, ask him himself.
So once more they summoned the man who had been blind. Give God the praise, they said; this man, to our knowledge, is a sinner. Sinner or not, said the other, I cannot tell; all I know is that once I was blind, and now I can see. Then they asked him over again, What was it he did to you? By what means did he open your eyes? And he answered them, I have told you already, and you would not listen to me. Why must you hear it over again? Would you too become his disciples? Upon this, they covered him with abuse; Keep his discipleship for yourself, we are disciples of Moses. We know for certain that God spoke to Moses; we know nothing of this man, or whence he comes. Why, the man answered, here is matter for astonishment; here is a man that comes you cannot tell whence, and he has opened my eyes. And yet we know for certain that God does not answer the prayers of sinners, it is only when a man is devout and does his will, that his prayer is answered. That a man should open the eyes of one born blind is something unheard of since the world began. No, if this man did not come from God, he would have no powers at all. What, they answered, are we to have lessons from you, all steeped in sin from your birth? And they cast him out from their presence.
When Jesus heard that they had so cast him out, he went to find him, and asked him, Do you believe in the Son of God? Tell me who he is, Lord, he answered, so that I can believe in him. He is one whom you have seen, Jesus told him, It is he who is speaking to you. Then he said, I do believe, Lord, and fell down to worship him. Hereupon Jesus said, I have come into this world so that a sentence may fall upon it, that those who are blind should see, and those who see should become blind. Some of the Pharisees heard this, such as were in his company, and they asked him, Are we blind too? If you were blind, Jesus told them, you would not be guilty. It is because you protest, We can see clearly, that you cannot be rid of your guilt.
Believe me when I tell you this; the man who climbs into the sheep-fold by some other way, instead of entering by the door, comes to steal and to plunder: it is the shepherd, who tends the sheep, that comes in by the door. At his coming the keeper of the door throws it open, and the sheep are attentive to his voice; and so he calls by name the sheep which belong to him, and leads them out with him. When he has brought out all the sheep which belong to him, he walks in front of them, and the sheep follow him, recognizing his voice. If a stranger comes, they run away from him instead of following him; they cannot recognize the voice of a stranger. This was a parable which Jesus told them; and they could not understand what he meant to say to them. So Jesus spoke to them again; Believe me, he said, it is I who am the door of the sheep-fold. Those others who have found their way in are all thieves and robbers; to these, the sheep paid no attention. I am the door; a man will find salvation if he makes his way in through me; he will come and go at will, and find pasture. The thief only comes to steal, to slaughter, to destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep, whereas the hireling, who is no shepherd, and does not claim the sheep as his own, abandons the sheep and takes to flight as soon as he sees the wolf coming, and so the wolf harries the sheep and scatters them. The hireling, then, takes to flight because he is only a hireling, because he has no concern over the sheep. I am the good shepherd; my sheep are known to me and know me; just as I am known to my Father, and know him. And for these sheep I am laying down my life. I have other sheep too, which do not belong to this fold; I must bring them in too; they will listen to my voice; so there will be one fold, and one shepherd. This my Father loves in me, that I am laying down my life, to take it up again afterwards. Nobody can rob me of it; I lay it down of my own accord. I am free to lay it down, free to take it up again; that is the charge which my Father has given me.
These words of his led to a fresh division of opinion among the Jews. Many of them said, He must be possessed; he is a madman; why do you listen to him? While others said, This is not the language of a man who is possessed by a devil. Has a devil power to open blind men's eyes? And now the Dedication feast was taking place at Jerusalem, and it was winter; and Jesus was walking about in the temple, in Solomon's porch. So the Jews gathered round him, and said to him, How long will you go on keeping us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us openly. Jesus answered them, I have told you, but you will not believe me. All that I do in my Father's name bears me testimony, and still you will not believe me; that is because you are no sheep of mine. My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them everlasting life, so that to all eternity they can never be lost; no one can tear them away from my hand. This trust which my Father has committed to me is more precious than all else; no one can tear them away from the hand of my Father. My Father and I are one.
At this, the Jews once again took up stones, to stone him with. Jesus answered them, My Father has enabled me to do many deeds of mercy in your presence; for which of these are you stoning me? It is not for any deed of mercy we are stoning you, answered the Jews; it is for blasphemy; it is because you, who are a man, pretend to be God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I have said, You are gods? He gave the title of gods to those who had God's message sent to them; and we know that the words of scripture have binding force. Why then, what of him whom God has sanctified and sent into the world? Will you call me a blasphemer, because I have told you I am the Son of God? If you find that I do not act like the son of my Father, then put no trust in me; but if I do, then let my actions convince you where I cannot; so you will recognize and learn to believe that the Father is in me, and I in him. Thereupon once again they had a mind to seize him; but he escaped from their hands, and went back to the other side of Jordan, to the place where John was when he first baptized. There he waited, while many came out to see him. John, they said, never did a miracle, but all John told us about this man has proved true. And many found faith in him there.
There was a man called Lazarus, of Bethany, who had fallen sick. Bethany was the name of the village where Mary lived, with her sister Martha; and this Mary, whose brother Lazarus had now fallen sick, was the woman who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. The sisters sent a message to him, to say, Lord, he whom you love lies here sick. And Jesus said, on hearing it, The end of this sickness is not death; it is meant for God's honour, to bring honour to the Son of God. Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. At the time, then, after hearing the news, he waited for two days in the place where he was; and then, after that interval, he said to his disciples, Let us go back into Judaea. Master, his disciples said to him, the Jews were but now threatening to stone you; are you for Judaea again? Jesus answered, Are there not just twelve hours of daylight? A man can walk in the day-time without stumbling, with this world's light to see by; he only stumbles if he walks by night, because then the light cannot reach him. So much he said, and then he told them, Our friend Lazarus is at rest now; I am going there to awake him. But, Lord, the disciples said to him, if he is rested, his life will be saved. Jesus had been telling them of his death; but they supposed he meant the rest which comes with sleep. So now Jesus told them openly, Lazarus is dead. And for your sakes, I am glad I was not there; it will help you to believe. But come, let us make our way to him. Thereupon Thomas, who is also called Didymus, said to his fellow-disciples, Let us go too, and be killed along with him.
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been four days in the grave. Since Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs away, many of the Jews had gone out there to comfort Martha and Mary over the loss of their brother. Martha, when she heard that Jesus had come, went out to meet him, while Mary sat on in the house. Lord, said Martha to Jesus, if you had been here, my brother would not have died; and I know well that even now God will grant whatever you will ask of him. Your brother, Jesus said to her, will rise again. Martha said to him, I know well enough that he will rise again at the resurrection, when the last day comes. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and life; he who believes in me, though he is dead, will live on, and whoever has life, and has faith in me, to all eternity cannot die. Do you believe this? Yes, Lord, she told him, I have learned to believe that you are the Christ; you are the Son of the living God; it is for your coming the world has waited. And with that she went back and called her sister Mary aside; The Master is here, she said, and bids you come. She rose up at once on hearing it, and went to him. (Jesus had not yet reached the village; he was still at the place where Martha had gone out to meet him.) And so the Jews who were in the house with Mary, comforting her, when they saw how quickly she rose up and went out, followed her; She has gone to the grave, they said, to weep there.
So Mary reached the place where Jesus was; and when she saw him, she fell at his feet; Lord, she said, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And Jesus, when he saw her in tears, and the tears of the Jews who accompanied her, sighed deeply, and distressed himself over it; Where have you buried him? he asked. Lord, they said to him, come and see. Then Jesus wept. See, said the Jews, how he loved him; and some of them asked, Could not he, who opened the blind man's eyes, have prevented this man's death? So Jesus, once more sighing to himself, came to the tomb; it was a cave, and a stone had been put over the mouth of it. Take away the stone, Jesus told them. And Martha, the dead man's sister, said to him, Lord, the air is foul by now; he has been four days dead. Why, Jesus said to her, have I not told you that if you have faith, you will see God glorified? So they took the stone away; and Jesus lifted his eyes to heaven. Father, he said, I thank you for hearing my prayer. For myself, I know that you hear me at all times, but I say this for the sake of the multitude which is standing round, that they may learn to believe it is you who have sent me. And with that he cried in a loud voice, Come out, Lazarus, to my side. Whereupon the dead man came out, his feet and hands tied with linen strips, and his face muffled in a veil. Loose him, said Jesus, and let him go free.
Many of these Jews who had visited Martha and Mary, and seen what Jesus did, learned to believe in him, but some went off to the Pharisees, and reported to them all Jesus had done. So the chief priests and Pharisees summoned a council; What are we about? they said. This man is performing many miracles, and if we leave him to his own devices, he will find credit everywhere. Then the Romans will come, and make an end of our city and our race. And one of them, Caiphas, who held the high priesthood in that year, said to them, You have no perception at all; you do not reflect that it is best for us if one man is put to death for the sake of the people, to save a whole nation from destruction. It was not of his own impulse that he said this; holding the high priesthood as he did in that year, he was able to prophesy that Jesus was to die for the sake of the nation; and not only for that nation's sake, but so as to bring together into one all God's children, scattered far and wide. From that day forward, then, they plotted his death; and Jesus no longer went about openly among the Jews, but retired to a city called Ephrem, in the country which borders on the desert, and waited there with his disciples. The paschal feast which the Jews keep was now close at hand, and there were many from the country who went up to Jerusalem to purify themselves before paschal time began; so they looked out for Jesus, and said to one another as they stood there in the temple, What is your way of it? Will he come up to the feast? And the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where he was should report it to them, so that they could arrest him.
Six days before the paschal feast, Jesus went to Bethany. Bethany was the home of Lazarus, the dead man whom Jesus raised to life. And a feast was made for him there, at which Martha was waiting at table, while Lazarus was one of his fellow-guests. And now Mary brought in a pound of pure spikenard ointment, which was very precious, and poured it over Jesus' feet, wiping his feet with her hair; the whole house was scented with the ointment. One of his disciples, the same Judas Iscariot who was to betray him, said when he saw it, Why should not this ointment have been sold? It would have fetched three hundred silver pieces, and alms might have been given to the poor. He said this, not from any concern for the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse, and took what was put into it. And Jesus said, Let her alone; enough that she should keep it for the day when my body is prepared for burial. You have the poor among you always; I am not always among you.
A great number of the Jews heard that he was there and went out there, not only on account of Jesus, but so as to have sight of Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead; and the chief priests made a plot against Lazarus' life too, because so many of the Jews, on his account, were beginning to go off and find faith in Jesus. Next day, a great multitude of those who had come up for the feast, hearing that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, took palm branches with them and went out to meet him, crying aloud, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, blessed is the king of Israel. And Jesus took an ass's foal, and mounted on it; so it is written, Do not be afraid, daughter of Sion; behold, your king is coming to you, riding on an ass's colt. The disciples did not understand all this at the time: only after Jesus had attained his glory did they remember what they had done, and how it fulfilled the words written of him. There were many who had been with him, when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him to life, and these too bore witness of him. Indeed, that was why the multitude went out to meet him, because they had heard of his performing this miracle. And the Pharisees said to one another, Do you see how vain are our efforts? Look, the whole world has turned aside to follow him.
And there were certain Gentiles, among those that had come up to worship at the feast, who approached Philip, the man from Bethsaida in Galilee, and made a request of him; Sir, they said, we desire to see Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew, and together Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them thus, The time has come now for the Son of Man to achieve his glory. Believe me when I tell you this; a grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die, or else it remains nothing more than a grain of wheat; but if it dies, then it yields rich fruit. He who loves his life will lose it; he who is an enemy to his own life in this world will keep it, so as to live eternally. If anyone is to be my servant, he must follow my way; so shall my servant too be where I am. If anyone serves me, my Father will do him honour.
And now my soul is distressed. What am I to say? I will say, Father, save me from undergoing this hour of trial; and yet, I have only reached this hour of trial that I might undergo it. Father, make your name known. And at this, a voice came from heaven, I have made it known, and will yet make it known. Thereupon the multitude which stood listening declared that it had thundered; but some of them said, An angel has spoken to him. Jesus answered, It was for your sake, not for mine, that this utterance was made. Sentence is now being passed on this world; now is the time when the prince of this world is to be cast out. Yes, if only I am lifted up from the earth, I will attract all men to myself. (In saying this, he prophesied the death he was to die.)
The multitude answered him, We have been told, out of the law, that Christ is to remain undisturbed for ever; what do you mean by saying that the Son of Man must be lifted up? What Son of Man is this? And Jesus said to them, The light is among you still, but only for a short time. Finish your journey while you still have the light, for fear darkness should overtake you; he who journeys in darkness cannot tell which way he is going. While you still have the light, have faith in the light, that so you may become children of the light. So much Jesus told them, and then went away, and was lost to their view.
Such great miracles he did in their presence, and still they did not believe in him; this was in fulfilment of the words spoken by the prophet Isaias, Lord, is there anyone who has believed our message, to whom the power of God has been made known? So it was that they could not believe; and indeed, Isaias has said elsewhere: He has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, so that they could not see with those eyes, and understand with that heart, and turn back to me, and win healing from me. Isaias said this, as one who had seen his glory; it was of him that he spoke. There were, for all that, many of the rulers who had learned to believe in him; but they would not profess it because of the Pharisees, afraid of being forbidden the synagogue. They valued their credit with men higher than their credit with God.
And Jesus cried out, If a man believes in me, it is in him who sent me, not in me, that he believes; to see me is to see him who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that all those who believe in me may continue no longer in darkness. If a man hears my words, and does not keep true to them, I do not pass sentence on him; I have come to save the world, not to pass sentence on the world. The man who makes me of no account, and does not accept my words, has a judge appointed to try him; it is the message I have uttered that will be his judge at the last day. And this, because it is not on my own authority that I have spoken; it was my Father, who sent me, that commanded me what words I was to say, what message I was to utter. And I know well that what he commands is eternal life; everything then, which I utter, I utter as my Father has bidden me.
Before the paschal feast began, Jesus already knew that the time had come for his passage from this world to the Father. He still loved those who were his own, whom he was leaving in the world, and he would give them the uttermost proof of his love. Supper was over, and the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, son of Simon, the Iscariot, to betray him. Jesus knew well that the Father had left everything in his hands; knew it was from God that he came, and to God that he went. And now, rising from supper, he laid his garments aside, took a towel, and put it about him; and then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the feet of his disciples, wiping them with the towel that girded him. So, when he came to Simon Peter, Peter asked him, Lord, is it for you to wash my feet? Jesus answered him, It is not for you to know, now, what I am doing; but you will understand it afterwards. Peter said to him, I will never let you wash my feet; and Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, it means you have no companionship with me. Then, Lord, said Peter, wash my hands and my head too, not only my feet. But Jesus told him, A man who has bathed does not need to do more than wash the stains from his feet; he is clean all over. And you are clean now; only, not all of you. He knew who his betrayer was; that is why he said, You are not all clean.
Then, when he had finished washing their feet and put on his garments, he sat down again, and said to them, Do you understand what it is I have done to you? You hail me as the Master, and the Lord; and you are right, it is what I am. Why then, if I have washed your feet, I who am the Master and the Lord, you in your turn ought to wash each other's feet; I have been setting you an example, which will teach you in your turn to do what I have done for you. Believe me, no slave can be greater than his master, no apostle greater than he by whom he was sent. Now that you know this, blessed are you if you perform it. I am not thinking of all of you is when I say this, I know who are the men I have chosen; well, it remains for the passage in scripture to be fulfilled, The man who shared my bread has lifted his heel to trip me up. I am telling you this now, before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe it was written of me.
Believe me when I tell you this; the man who welcomes one whom I send, welcomes me; and the man who welcomes me, welcomes him who sent me.
After saying so much, Jesus bore witness to the distress he felt in his heart. Believe me, he said, believe me, one of you is to betray me. And the disciples looked at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. Jesus had one disciple, whom he loved, who was now sitting with his head against Jesus' breast; to him, therefore, Simon Peter made a sign, and asked him, Who is it he means? And he, leaning his head back upon Jesus' breast, asked him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, It is the man to whom I give this piece of bread which I am dipping in the dish. Then he dipped the bread, and gave it to Judas the son of Simon, the Iscariot. The morsel once given, Satan entered into him; and Jesus said to him, Be quick on your errand. None of those who sat there could understand the drift of what he said; some of them thought, since Judas kept the common purse, that Jesus was saying to him, Go and buy what we need for the feast, or bidding him give some alms to the poor. He, as soon as he received the morsel, had gone out; and now it was night.
When he had gone out, Jesus said, Now the Son of Man has achieved his glory, and in his glory God is exalted. Since, in his glory, God is exalted, it is for God to exalt him in his own glory, and exalt him without delay. It is only for a short time that I am with you, my children. You will look for me, and now I have to tell you what I once told the Jews, you cannot reach the place where I am. I have a new commandment to give you, that you are to love one another; that your love for one another is to be like the love I have borne you. The mark by which all men will know you for my disciples will be the love you bear one another. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him, I am going where you can not follow me now, but shall follow me afterwards. Lord, Peter said to him, why cannot I follow you now? I am ready to lay down my life for your sake. You are ready, answered Jesus, to lay down your life for my sake? Believe me, by cock-crow you will thrice disown me.
Do not let your heart be distressed; as you have faith in God, have faith in me. There are many dwelling-places in my Father's house; otherwise, should I have said to you, I am going away to prepare a home for you? And though I do go away, to prepare you a home, I am coming back; and then I will take you to myself so that you too may be where I am. And now you know where it is I am going; and you know the way there. Thomas said to him, But, Lord, we do not know where you are going; how are we to know the way there? Jesus said to him, I am the way; I am truth and life; nobody can come to the Father, except through me. If you had learned to recognize me, you would have learned to recognize my Father too. From now onwards you are to recognize him; you have seen him. At this, Philip said to him, Lord, let us see the Father; that is all we ask. What, Philip, Jesus said to him, here am I, who have been all this while in your company; have you not learned to recognize me yet? Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father; what do you mean by saying, Let us see the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you are not my own words; and the Father, who dwells continually in me, achieves in me his own acts of power. If you cannot trust my word, when I tell you that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, let these powerful acts themselves be my warrant. Believe me when I tell you this; the man who has learned to believe in me will be able to do what I do; nay, he will be able to do greater things yet. It is to my Father I am going: and whatever request you make of the Father in my name, I will grant, so that through the Son the Father may be glorified; every request you make of me in my own name, I myself will grant it to you.
If you have any love for me, you must keep the commandments which I give you; and then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another to befriend you, one who is to dwell continually with you for ever. It is the truth-giving Spirit, for whom the world can find no room, because it cannot see him, cannot recognize him. But you are to recognize him; he will be continually at your side, nay, he will be in you. I will not leave you friendless; I am coming to you. It is only a little while now, before the world is to see me no more; but you can see me, because I live on, and you too will have life. When that day comes, you will learn for yourselves that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. The man who loves me is the man who keeps the commandments he has from me; and he who loves me will win my Father's love, and I too will love him, and will reveal myself to him. Here Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him, Lord, how comes it that you will only reveal yourself to us, and not to the world? Jesus answered him, If a man has any love for me, he will be true to my word; and then he will win my Father's love, and we will both come to him, and make our continual abode with him; whereas the man who has no love for me, lets my sayings pass him by. And this word, which you have been hearing from me, comes not from me, but from my Father who sent me.
So much converse I have held with you, still at your side. He who is to befriend you, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send on my account, will in his turn make everything plain, and recall to your minds everything I have said to you.
Peace is my bequest to you, and the peace which I will give you is mine to give; I do not give peace as the world gives it. Do not let your heart be distressed, or play the coward. You have heard me say that I am going away and coming back to you. If you really loved me, you would be glad to hear that I am on my way to my Father; my Father has greater power than I. I have told you of this before it happens, so that when it happens you may learn to believe. I have no longer much time for converse with you; one is coming, who has power over the world, but no hold over me. No, but the world must be convinced that I love the Father, and act only as the Father has commanded me to act. Rise up, we must be going on our way.
I am the true vine, and it is my Father who tends it. The branch that yields no fruit in me, he cuts away; the branch that does yield fruit, he trims clean, so that it may yield more fruit. You, through the message I have preached to you, are clean already; you have only to live on in me, and I will live on in you. The branch that does not live on in the vine can yield no fruit of itself; no more can you, if you do not live on in me. I am the vine, you are its branches; if a man lives on in me, and I in him, then he will yield abundant fruit; separated from me, you have no power to do anything. If a man does not live on in me, he can only be like the branch that is cast off and withers away; such a branch is picked up and thrown into the fire, to burn there. As long as you live on in me, and my words live on in you, you will be able to make what request you will, and have it granted. My Father's name has been glorified, if you yield abundant fruit, and prove yourselves my disciples. I have bestowed my love upon you, just as my Father has bestowed his love upon me; live on, then, in my love. You will live on in my love, if you keep my commandments, just as it is by keeping my Father's commandments that I live on in his love.
All this I have told you, so that my joy may be yours, and the measure of your joy may be filled up. This is my commandment, that you should love one another, as I have loved you. This is the greatest love a man can show, that he should lay down his life for his friends; and you, if you do all that I command you, are my friends. I do not speak of you any more as my servants; a servant is one who does not understand what his master is about, whereas I have made known to you all that my Father has told me; and so I have called you my friends. It was not you that chose me, it was I that chose you. The task I have appointed you is to go out and bear fruit, fruit which will endure; so that every request you make of the Father in my name may be granted you. These are the directions I give you, that you should love one another.
If the world hates you, be sure that it hated me before it learned to hate you. If you belonged to the world, the world would know you for its own and love you; it is because you do not belong to the world, because I have singled you out from the midst of the world, that the world hates you. Do not forget what I said to you, No servant can be greater than his master. They will persecute you just as they have persecuted me; they will pay the same attention to your words as to mine. And they will treat you thus because you bear my name; they have no knowledge of him who sent me. If I had not come and given them my message, they would not have been in fault; as it is, their fault can find no excuse. To hate me is to hate my Father too. If I had not done what no one else ever did in their midst they would not have been in fault; as it is, they have hated, with open eyes, both me and my Father. And all this, in fulfilment of the saying which is written in their law.,They hated me without cause. Well, when the truth-giving Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, has come to befriend you, he whom I will send to you from the Father's side, he will bear witness of what I was; and you too are to be my witnesses, you who from the first have been in my company.
I have told you this, so that your faith may not be taken unawares. They will forbid you the synagogue; nay, the time is coming when anyone who puts you to death will claim that he is performing an act of worship to God; such things they will do to you, because they have no knowledge of the Father, or of me. And I have told you this, so that when the time comes for it to happen, you may remember that I told you of it. If I did not tell you of it from the first, it was because I was to be still in your company. Now, I am going back to him who sent me. None of you is asking me, Where is it you are going? so full are your hearts with sorrow at my telling you this. And yet I can say truly that it is better for you I should go away; he who is to befriend you will not come to you unless I do go, but if only I make my way there, I will send him to you. He will come, and it will be for him to prove the world wrong, about sin, and about rightness of heart, and about judging. About sin; they have not found belief in me. About rightness of heart; I am going back to my Father, and you are not to see me any more. About judging; he who rules this world has had sentence passed on him already. I have still much to say to you, but it is beyond your reach as yet. It will be for him, the truth-giving Spirit, when he comes, to guide you into all truth. He will not utter a message of his own; he will utter the message that has been given to him; and he will make plain to you what is still to come. And he will bring honour to me, because it is from me that he will derive what he makes plain to you. I say that he will derive from me what he makes plain to you, because all that belongs to the Father belongs to me.
After a little while, you will see me no longer; and again after a little while you will have sight of me, because I am going back to the Father. Upon this, some of his disciples said to one another, What does this mean, that he is saying to us, After a little while, you will see me no longer, and again after a little while you will have sight of me? And then, Because I am going back to my Father? What is this little while he speaks of?, they asked. We cannot understand what he means by it. Jesus, knowing that they were eager to question him, said to them, You are wondering among yourselves over what I have been saying, After a little while you will see me no longer, and again after a little while you will have sight of me. Believe me when I tell you this, you will weep and lament while the world rejoices; you will be distressed, but your distress shall be turned into joy. A woman in childbirth feels distress, because now her time has come; but when she has borne her child, she does not remember the distress any longer, so glad is she that a man has been born into the world. So it is with you, you are distressed now; but one day I will see you again, and then your hearts will be glad; and your gladness will be one which nobody can take away from you. When that day comes, you will not need to ask anything of me. Believe me, you have only to make any request of the Father in my name, and he will grant it to you. Until now, you have not been making any requests in my name; make them, and they will be granted, to bring you gladness in full measure.
I have been telling you this in parables; now comes the hour when I will talk to you in parables no longer; but tell you openly about the Father. At the time I speak of, you will make your requests in my name; and there is no need for me to tell you that I will ask the Father to grant them to you, because the Father himself is your friend, since you have become my friends, and have learned to believe that I came from God. It was from the Father I came out, when I entered the world, and now I am leaving the world, and going on my way to the Father. Hereupon his disciples said to him, Why, now you are speaking openly enough; this is no parable you are uttering. Now we can be sure that you know all things, not needing to wait till you are asked; this gives us faith that you were sent by God. You have faith now? Jesus answered, Behold, the time is coming, nay, has already come, when you are to be scattered, each of you taking his own path, and to leave me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have said this to you, so that in me you may find peace. In the world, you will only find tribulation; but take courage, I have overcome the world.
Thus Jesus spoke to them, and then, lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, Father, the time has come; give glory now to your Son, that your Son may give the glory to you. You have put him in authority over all mankind, to bring eternal life to all those you have entrusted to him. Eternal life is knowing you, who are the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have exalted your glory on earth, by achieving the task which you gave me to do; now, Father, do you exalt me at your own side, in that glory which I had with you before the world began. I have made your name known to the men whom you have entrusted to me, chosen out of the world. They belonged to you, and have become mine through your gift, and they have kept true to your word. Now they have learned to recognize all the gifts you gave me as coming from you; I have given them the message which you gave to me, and they, receiving it, recognized it for truth that I came from you, and found faith to believe that it was you who sent me. It is for these I pray; I am not praying for the world, but for those whom you have entrusted to me; they belong to you; as all I have is yours, and all you have is mine; and in them my glory is achieved.
I am remaining in the world no longer, but they remain in the world, while I am on my way to you. Holy Father, keep them true to your name, your gift to me, that they may be one, as we are one.' As long as I was with them, it was for me to keep them true to your name, your gift to me; and I have watched over them, so that only one has been lost, he whom perdition claims for its own, in fulfilment of the scripture. But now I am coming to you; and while I am still in the world I am telling them this, so that my joy may be theirs, and reach its full measure in them. I have given them your message, and the world has nothing but hatred for them, because they do not belong to the world, as I, too, do not belong to the world. I am not asking that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them clear of what is evil. They do not belong to the world, as I, too, do not belong to the world; keep them holy, then, through the truth; it is your word that is truth. You have sent me into the world on your errand, and I have sent them into the world on my errand; and I dedicate myself for their sakes, that they too may be dedicated through the truth.
It is not only for them that I pray; I pray for those who are to find faith in me through their word; that they may all be one; that they too may be one in us, as you Father, are in me, and I in you; so that the world may come to believe that it is you who have sent me. And I have given them the privilege which you gave to me, that they should all be one, as we are one; that while you are in me, I may be in them, and so they may be perfectly made one. So let the world know that it is you who have sent me, and that you have bestowed your love upon them, as you have bestowed it upon me. This, Father, is my desire, that all those whom you have entrusted to me may be with me where I am, so as to see my glory, your gift made to me, in that love which you bestowed upon me before the foundation of the world. Father, you are just; the world has never acknowledged you, but I have acknowledged you, and these men have acknowledged that you sent me. I have revealed, and will reveal, your name to them; so that the love you have bestowed upon me may dwell in them, and I, too, may dwell in them.
All this Jesus said, and now, with his disciples, he went out across the Cedron valley. Here there was a garden, into which he and his disciples went. Judas, his betrayer, knew the place well; Jesus and his disciples had often forgathered in it. There, then, Judas came, accompanied by the guard, and officers sent by the chief priests and Pharisees, with lanterns and torches and weapons. So Jesus, knowing well what was to befall him, went out to meet them; Who is it, he asked, you are looking for? Jesus of Nazareth, they answered; and he told them, I am Jesus of Nazareth. And there was Judas, his betrayer, standing in their company. When he said to them, I am Jesus of Nazareth, they all shrank back, and fell to the ground. So, once more, Jesus asked them, Who is it you are looking for? and when they said, Jesus of Nazareth, he answered, I have told you already that I am Jesus. If I am the man you are looking for, let these others go free. Thus he would make good the words he had spoken to them, I have not lost any of those whom you have entrusted to me. Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear; Malchus was the name of the servant. Whereupon Jesus said to Peter, Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink that cup which my Father himself has appointed for me?
And now the guard, with their captain, and the Jewish officers arrested Jesus and pinioned him. They led him off, in the first instance, to Annas, father-in-law of Caiphas, who held the high priesthood in that year. (It was this Caiphas who had given it as his advice to the Jews, that it was best to put one man to death for the sake of the people.) Simon Peter followed Jesus, with another disciple; this disciple was acquainted with the high priest, and went into the high priest's court with Jesus, while Peter stood at the door without. Afterwards the other disciple, who was the high priest's acquaintance, went out and spoke to the door-keeper, and so brought Peter in. This maid-servant who kept the door asked Peter, Are you another of this man's disciples? and he said, Not I. It was cold, and the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, and stood there warming themselves, there Peter stood too, warming himself with the rest.
And now the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples, and about his teaching. Jesus answered, I have spoken openly before the world; my teaching has been given in the synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews forgather, nothing that I have said was said in secret. Why do you question me? Ask those who listened to me what my words were; they know well enough what I said. When he spoke thus, one of the officers, who was standing by, struck Jesus on the cheek; Is this, he said, how you make answer to the high priest? If there was harm in what I said, Jesus answered, tell us what was harmful in it; if not, why do you strike me? Annas, you must know, had sent him on, still bound, to the high priest Caiphas.
Meanwhile Simon Peter stood there, and warmed himself. So they asked him, Are you, too, one of his disciples? And he denied it; Not I, he said. Why, said one of the high priest's servants, a kinsman of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, did I not see you with him in the garden? Whereupon Peter denied again; and immediately the cock crew.
And now they led Jesus away from the house of Caiphas to the governor's palace. It was morning, and they would not enter the palace themselves; there was the paschal meal to be eaten, and they must not incur defilement. And so Pilate went to meet them without; What charge, he asked, do you bring against this man? They answered, We would not have given him up to you, if he had not been a malefactor. Take him yourselves, Pilate said to them, and judge him according to your own law. Whereupon the Jews said to him, We have no power to put any man to death. (This was in fulfilment of the words Jesus had spoken when he prophesied what death he was to die.) So Pilate went back into the palace, and summoned Jesus; Are you the king of the Jews? he asked. Do you say this of your own accord, Jesus answered, or is it what others have told you of me? And Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? It is your own nation, and its chief priests, who have given you up to me. What offence have you committed? My kingdom, said Jesus, does not belong to this world. If my kingdom were one which belonged to this world, my servants would be fighting, to prevent my falling into the hands of the Jews; but no, my kingdom does not take its origin here. You are a king, then? Pilate asked. And Jesus answered, It is your own lips that have called me a king. What I was born for, what I came into the world for, is to bear witness of the truth. Whoever belongs to the truth, listens to my voice. Pilate said to him, What is truth? And with that he went back to the Jews again, and told them, I can find no fault in him. You have a custom of demanding that I should release one prisoner at paschal time; would you have me release the king of the Jews? Whereupon they all made a fresh outcry; Barabbas, they said, not this man. Barabbas was a robber.
Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers put on his head a crown which they had woven out of thorns, and dressed him in a scarlet cloak; they would come up to him and say, Hail, king of the Jews, and then strike him on the face. And now Pilate went out again, and said, See, I am bringing him out to you, to show that I cannot find any fault in him. Then, as Jesus came out, still wearing the crown of thorns and the scarlet cloak, he said to them. See, here is the man. When the chief priests and their officers saw him, they cried out. Crucify him, crucify him. Take him yourselves, said Pilate, and crucify him; I cannot find any fault in him. The Jews answered. We have our own law, and by our law he ought to die, for pretending to be the Son of God. When Pilate heard this said, he was more afraid than ever; going back into the palace, he asked Jesus, Whence have you come? but Jesus gave him no answer. What, said Pilate, have you no word for me? Do you not know that I have power to crucify you, and power to release you? Jesus answered, You would not have any power over me at all, if it had not been given you from above. That is why the man who gave me up to you is more guilty yet. After this, Pilate was for releasing him, but the Jews went on crying out, You are no friend of Caesar, if you release him; the man who pretends to be a king is Caesar's rival. When Pilate heard them speak thus, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgement seat, in a place which is called Lithostrotos; its Hebrew name is Gabbatha. It was now about the sixth hour, on the eve of the paschal feast. See, he said to the Jews, here is your king. But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. What, Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king? We have no king, the chief priests answered, except Caesar. Thereupon he gave Jesus up into their hands, to be crucified: and they, once he was in their hands, led him away.
So Jesus went out, carrying his own cross, to the place named after a skull; its Hebrew name is Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side with Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote out a proclamation, which he put on the cross; it ran, Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. This proclamation was read by many of the Jews, since the place where Jesus was crucified was close to the city; it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. And the Jewish chief priests said to Pilate, You should not write, The king of the Jews; you should write, This man said, I am the king of the Jews. Pilate's answer was, What I have written, I have written. The soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took up his garments, which they divided into four shares, one share for each soldier. They took up his cloak, too, which was without seam, woven from the top throughout; so they said to one another, Better not to tear it; let us cast lots to decide whose it shall be. This was in fulfilment of the passage in scripture which says, They divide my spoils among them; cast lots for my clothing. So it was, then, that the soldiers occupied themselves; and meanwhile his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen, had taken their stand beside the cross of Jesus. And Jesus, seeing his mother there, and the disciple, too, whom he loved, standing by, said to his mother, Woman, this is your son. Then he said to the disciple, This is your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his own keeping.
And now Jesus knew well that all was achieved which the scripture demanded for its accomplishment; and he said, I am thirsty. There was a jar there full of vinegar; so they filled a sponge with the vinegar and put it on a stick of hyssop, and brought it close to his mouth. Jesus drank the vinegar, and said, It is achieved. Then he bowed his head, and yielded up his spirit.
The Jews would not let the bodies remain crucified on the sabbath, because that sabbath day was a solemn one; and since it was now the eve, they asked Pilate that they might have their legs broken, and be taken away. And so the soldiers came and broke the legs both of the one and of the other that were crucified with him; but when they came to Jesus, and found him already dead, they did not break his legs, but one of the soldiers opened his side with a spear; and immediately blood and water flowed out. He who saw it has borne his witness; and his witness is worthy of trust. He tells what he knows to be the truth, that you, like him, may learn to believe. This was so ordained to fulfil what is written, You shall not break a single bone of his. And again, another passage in scripture says, They will look upon the man whom they have pierced.
After this Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but in secret, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him leave; so he came and took Jesus' body away; and with him was Nicodemus, the same who made his first visit to Jesus by night; he brought with him a mixture of myrrh and aloes, of about a hundred pounds' weight. They took Jesus' body, then, and wrapped it in winding-cloths with the spices; that is how the Jews prepare a body for burial. In the same quarter where he was crucified there was a garden, with a new tomb in it, one in which no man had ever yet been buried. Here, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus, because of the Jewish feast on the morrow.
Early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalen went to the tomb, and found the stone moved away from the tomb door. So she came running to Simon Peter, and that other disciple, whom Jesus loved; They have carried the Lord away from the tomb, she said to them, and we cannot tell where they have taken him. Upon this, Peter and the other disciple both set out, and made their way to the tomb; they began running side by side, but the other disciple outran Peter, and reached the tomb first. He looked in and saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Simon Peter, coming up after him, went into the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there, and also the veil which had been put over Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths, but still wrapped round and round in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and saw this, and learned to believe. They had not yet mastered what was written of him, that he was to rise from the dead. The disciples went back home; but Mary stood without before the tomb, weeping. And she bent down, still weeping, and looked into the tomb; and saw two angels clothed in white sitting there, one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. They said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? Because they have carried away my Lord, she said, and I cannot tell where they have taken him. Saying this, she turned round, and saw Jesus standing there, without knowing that it was Jesus. Woman, Jesus said to her, why are you weeping? For whom are you searching? She supposed that it must be the gardener, and said to him, If it is you, Sir, that have carried him off, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, Mary. And she turned and said to him, Rabboni (which is the Hebrew for Master). Then Jesus said, Do not cling to me thus; I have not yet gone up to my Father's side. Return to my brethren, and tell them this; I am going up to him who is my Father and your Father, who is my God and your God.
So Mary Magdalen brought news to the disciples, of how she had seen the Lord, and he had spoken thus to her. And now it was evening on the same day, the first day of the week; for fear of the Jews, the disciples had locked the doors of the room in which they had assembled; and Jesus came, and stood there in their midst; Peace be upon you, he said. And with that, he showed them his hands and his side. Thus the disciples saw the Lord, and were glad. Once more Jesus said to them, Peace be upon you; I came upon an errand from my Father, and now I am sending you out in my turn. With that, he breathed on them, and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit; when you forgive men's sins, they are forgiven, when you hold them bound, they are held bound.
There was one of the twelve, Thomas, who is also called Didymus, who was not with them when Jesus came. And when the other disciples told him, We have seen the Lord, he said to them, Until I have seen the mark of the nails on his hands, until I have put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, you will never make me believe. So, eight days afterwards, once more the disciples were within, and Thomas was with them; and the doors were locked. Jesus came and stood there in their midst; Peace be upon you, he said. Then he said to Thomas, Let me have your finger; see, here are my hands. Let me have your hand; put it into my side. Cease your doubting, and believe. Thomas answered, You are my Lord and my God. And Jesus said to him, You have learned to believe, Thomas, because you have seen me. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have learned to believe.
There are many other miracles Jesus did in the presence of his disciples, which are not written down in this book; so much has been written down, that you may learn to believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so believing find life through his name.
Jesus appeared to his disciples again afterwards, at the sea of Tiberias, and this is how he appeared to them. Simon Peter was there, and with him were Thomas, who is also called Didymus, and Nathanael, from Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two more of his disciples. Simon Peter told them, I am going out fishing; and they went out and embarked on the boat, and all that night they caught nothing. But when morning came, there was Jesus standing on the shore; only the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Have you caught anything, friends, Jesus asked them, to season your bread with? And when they answered No, he said to them, Cast to the right of the boat, and you will have a catch. So they cast the net, and found before long they had no strength to haul it in, such a shoal of fish was in it. Whereupon the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord. And Simon Peter, hearing him say that it was the Lord, girded up the fisherman's coat, which was all he wore, and sprang into the sea. The other disciples followed in the boat (they were not far from land, only some hundred yards away), dragging their catch in the net behind them. So they went ashore, and found a charcoal fire made there, with fish and bread cooking on it. Bring some of the fish you have just caught, Jesus said to them: and Simon Peter, going on board, hauled in the net to land. It was loaded with great fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and with all that number the net had not broken. When Jesus said to them, Come and break your fast, none of the disciples ventured to ask him, Who are you? knowing well that it was the Lord. So Jesus came up and took bread, which he gave to them, and fish as well. Thus Jesus appeared to his disciples a third time after his rising from the dead.
And when they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you care for me more than these others? Yes, Lord, he told them, you know well that I love you. And he said to him, Feed my lambs. And again, a second time, he asked him, Simon, son of John, do you care for me? Yes, Lord, he told him, you know well that I love you. He said to him, Tend my shearlings. Then he asked him a third question, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was deeply moved when he was asked a third time, Do you love me? and said to him, Lord, you know all things; you can tell that I love you. Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep. Believe me when I tell you this, as a young man, you would gird yourself and walk where you had the will to go, but when you have grown old, you will stretch out your hands, and another shall gird you, and carry you where you go, not of your own will. So much he told him, prophesying the death by which he was to glorify God; and with that he said to him. Follow me. Peter turned, and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following him; the same who leaned back on his breast at supper, and asked, Who is it that is to betray you? Seeing him, Peter asked Jesus, And what of this man, Lord? Jesus said to him, If it is my will that he should wait till I come, what is it to you? Do you follow me. That was why the story went round among the brethren that this disciple was not to die. But Jesus did not say, He is not to die; he said, If it is my will that he should wait till I come, what is it to you? It is the same disciple that bears witness of all this and has written the story of it; and we know well that his witness is truthful. There is much else besides that Jesus did; if all of it were put in writing, I do not think the world itself would contain the books which would have to be written.
The first book which I wrote, Theophilus, was concerned with all that Jesus set out to do and teach, until the day came when he was taken up into heaven. He then laid a charge, by the power of the Holy Spirit, on the apostles whom he had chosen. He had shewn them by many proofs that he was still alive, after his passion; throughout the course of forty days he had been appearing to them, and telling them about the kingdom of God; and now he gave them orders, as he shared a meal with them, not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the fulfilment of the Father's promise. You have heard it, he said, from my own lips; John's baptism, I told you, was with water, but there is a baptism with the Holy Spirit which you are to receive, not many days from this.
And his companions asked him, Lord, do you mean to restore the dominion to Israel here and now? But he told them, It is not for you to know the times and seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. Enough for you, that the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and you will receive strength from him; you are to be my witnesses in Jerusalem and throughout Judaea, in Samaria, yes, and to the ends of the earth. When he had said this, they saw him lifted up, and a cloud caught him away from their sight. And as they strained their eyes towards heaven, to watch his journey, all at once two men in white garments were standing at their side. Men of Galilee, they said, why do you stand here looking heavenwards? He who has been taken from you into heaven, this same Jesus, will come back in the same fashion, just as you have watched him going into heaven. Then, from the mountain which is called Olivet, they went back to Jerusalem; the distance from Jerusalem is not great, a sabbath day's journey. Coming in, they went up into the upper room where they dwelt, Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the brother of James. All these, with one mind, gave themselves up to prayer, together with Mary the mother of Jesus, and the rest of the women and his brethren.
At this time, Peter stood up and spoke before all the brethren; a company of about a hundred and twenty were gatthered there. Brethren, he said, there is a prophecy in scripture that must needs be fulfilled; that which the Holy Spirit made, by the lips of David, about Judas, who shewed the way to the men that arrested Jesus. Judas was counted among our number, and had been given a share in this ministry of ours. (With the price of his treachery, this man came into possession of a field; and afterwards, when he fell from a height, and his belly burst open, so that he was disembowelled, all Jerusalem heard of it, and the field came to be called, in their language, Haceldama, that is, the Field of Blood.) Well, in the book of Psalms the words are written, Let their camping place be deserted, and let no man be found to dwell in it. And again, Let another take over his office. There are men who have walked in our company all through the time when the Lord Jesus came and went among us, from the time when John used to baptize to the day when he, Jesus, was taken from us. One of these ought to be added to our number as a witness of his resurrection. So they named two of them, Joseph called Barsabas, who had been given the fresh name of Justus, and Matthias. And they offered this prayer, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, shew us which of these two you have chosen to take his place in this work of apostleship, from which Judas has fallen away, and gone to the place which belonged to him. They gave them lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he took rank with the eleven apostles.
When the day of Pentecost came round, while they were all gathered together in unity of purpose, all at once a sound came from heaven like that of a strong wind blowing, and filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then appeared to them what seemed to be tongues of fire, which parted and came to rest on each of them; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in strange languages, as the Spirit gave utterance to each. Among those who were dwelling in Jerusalem at this time were devout Jews from every country under heaven; so, when the noise of this went abroad, the crowd which gathered was in bewilderment; each man severally heard them speak in his own language. And they were all beside themselves with astonishment; Are they not all Galileans speaking? they asked. How is it that each of us hears them talking his own native tongue? There are Parthians among us, and Medes, and Elamites; our homes are in Mesopotamia, or Judaea, or Cappadocia; in Pontus or Asia, Phrygia or Pamphylia, Egypt or the parts of Libya round Cyrene; some of us it are visitors from Rome, some of us are Jews and others proselytes; there are Cretans among us too, and Arabians; and each has been hearing them tell of God's wonders in his own language. So they were all beside themselves with perplexity, and asked one another, What can this mean? There were others who said, mockingly, They have had their fill of new wine.
But Peter, with the eleven apostles at his side, stood there and raised his voice to speak to them; Men of Judaea, he said, and all you who are dwelling in Jerusalem, I must tell you this; listen to what I have to say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose; it is only the third hour of the day. This is what was foretold by the prophet Joel: In the last times, God says, I will pour out my spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and daughters will be prophets. Your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; and I will pour out my spirit in those days upon my servants and hand-maids, so that they will prophesy. I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath, blood and fire and whirling smoke; the sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the day of the Lord comes, great and glorious. And then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Men of Israel, listen to this. Jesus of Nazareth was a man duly accredited to you from God; such were the miracles and wonders and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves well know. This man you have put to death; by God's fixed design and foreknowledge, he was betrayed to you, and you, through the hands of sinful men, have cruelly murdered him. But God raised him up again, releasing him from the pangs of death; it was impossible that death should have the mastery over him. It is in his person that David says, Always I can keep the Lord within sight; always he is at my right hand, to make me stand firm. So here is gladness in my heart, and rejoicing on my lips; my body, too, shall rest in confidence that you will not leave my soul in the place of death, or allow your faithful servant to see corruption. You have shewn me the way of life; you will make me full of gladness in your presence. My brethren, I can say this to you about the patriarch David without fear of contradiction, that he did die, and was buried, and his tomb is among us to this day. But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised him on oath that he would set the sons of his body upon his throne; it was of the Christ he said, foreseeing his resurrection, that he was not left in the place of death, and that his body did not see corruption. God, then, has raised up this man, Jesus, from the dead; we are all witnesses of it. And now, exalted at God's right hand, he has claimed from his Father his promise to bestow the Holy Spirit; and he has poured out that Spirit, as you can see and hear for yourselves. David never went up to heaven, and yet David has told us, The Lord said to my Master, Sit on my right hand, while I make your enemies a footstool under your feet. Let it be known, then, beyond doubt, to all the house of Israel, that God has made him Master and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.
When they heard this, their consciences were stung; and they asked Peter and his fellow apostles, Brethren, what must we do? Repent, Peter said to them, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, to have your sins forgiven; then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you and for your children, and for all those, however far away, whom the Lord our God calls to himself. And he used many more words besides, urgently appealing to them; Save yourselves, he said, from this false-minded generation. So all those who had taken his words to heart were baptized, and about three thousand souls were won for the Lord that day. These occupied themselves continually with the apostles' teaching, their fellowship in the breaking of bread, and the fixed times of prayer, and every soul was struck with awe, so many were the wonders and signs performed by the apostles in Jerusalem. All the faithful held together, and shared all they had, selling their possessions and their means of livelihood, so as to distribute to all, as each had need. They persevered with one accord, day by day, in the temple worship, and, as they broke bread in this house or that, took their share of food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God, and winning favour with all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship others that were to be saved.
Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, which is an hour of prayer, when a man was carried by who had been lame from birth. Every day he was put down at what is called the Beautiful Gate of the temple, so that he could beg alms from the temple visitors. And he asked Peter and John, as he saw them on their way into the temple, if he might have alms from them. Peter fastened his eyes on him, as John did too, and said, Turn towards us; and he looked at them attentively, hoping that something would be given him. Then Peter said to him, Silver and gold are not mine to give, I give you what I can. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. So, taking him by his right hand, he lifted him up; and with that, strength came to his feet and ankles; he sprang up, and began walking, and went into the temple with them, walking, and leaping, and giving praise to God. All the people, as they saw him walking and praising God, recognized him for the man who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and were full of wonder and bewilderment at what had befallen him. And he would not let go of Peter and John, so that all the crowd gathered about them in what is called Solomon's Porch, beside themselves with wonder.
Peter, when he saw it, addressed himself to the people; Men of Israel, he said, why does this astonish you? Why do you fasten your eyes on us, as if we had enabled him to walk through some power or virtue of our own? It is the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, who has thus brought honour to his Son Jesus. You gave him up, and disowned him in the presence of Pilate, when Pilate's voice was for setting him free. You disowned the holy, the just, and asked for the pardon of a murderer, while you killed the author of life. But God has raised him up again from the dead, and we are here to bear witness of it. Here is a man you all know by sight, who has put his faith in that name, and that name has brought him strength; it is the faith which comes through Jesus that has restored him to full health in the sight of you all. Come then, brethren, I know that you, like your rulers, acted in ignorance; but God has fulfilled in this way what was foretold by all the prophets about the sufferings of his Christ. Repent, then, and turn back to him, to have your sins effaced, against the day when the Lord sees fit to refresh our hearts. Then he will send out Jesus Christ, who has now been made known to you, but must have his dwelling-place in heaven until the time when all is restored anew, the time which God has spoken of by his holy prophets from the beginning. Thus, Moses said, The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like myself, from among your own brethren; to him, to every word of his, you must listen. It is ordained that everyone who will not listen to the voice of that prophet shall be lost to his people. And all the prophets who spoke to you, from Samuel onwards, have foretold those days. You are the heirs of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, when he said to Abraham, Every race on earth shall receive a blessing through your posterity. It is to you first of all that God has sent his Son, whom he raised up from the dead to bring you a blessing, to turn away every one of you from his sins.
Before they had finished speaking to the crowd, they were interrupted by the chief priests, the temple superintendent, and the Sadducees. These, indignant at their teaching the multitude and proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, laid hands on them, and put them in prison (for it was already evening) until the next day. (Meanwhile, many of those who had listened to their preaching had joined the believers, so that their numbers had now risen to five thousand men.) On the next day, there was a gathering of the rulers and elders and scribes in Jerusalem; the high priest Annas was there, and Caiphas, and John, and Alexander, and all those who belonged to the high-priestly family. And they had Peter and John brought into their presence, and asked them, By what power, in whose name, have such men as you done this? Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, and said to them, Rulers of the people, elders of Israel, listen to me. If it is over kindness done to a cripple, and the means by which he has been restored, that we are called in question, here is news for you and for the whole people of Israel. You crucified Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, and God raised him from the dead; it is through his name that this man stands before you restored. He is that stone, rejected by you, the builders, that has become the chief stone at the corner. Salvation is not to be found elsewhere; this alone of all the names under heaven has been appointed to men as the one by which we must needs be saved.
Seeing the boldness of Peter and John, and discovering that they were simple men, without learning, they were astonished, and recognized them now as having been in Jesus' company. They could find no answer to make, with the man who had been healed standing there beside them; so they ordered them out of the council-chamber, and conferred together. What are we to do with these men? they asked. It is commonly known among all the people of Jerusalem that a notable miracle has been done by their means, and we are powerless to deny it. But the news must not spread any further; we must deter them by threats from preaching to anybody in this man's name again. So they called them in, and warned them not to utter a word or give any teaching in the name of Jesus. At this, Peter and John answered them, Judge for yourselves whether it would be right for us, in the sight of God, to listen to your voice instead of God's. It is impossible for us to refrain from speaking of what we have seen and heard. And they, after threatening them further, let them go; they could find no means of punishing them, because all the people were exclaiming at the astonishing circumstances of what had befallen; the man in whom this miracle of healing had taken place was more than forty years old.
Now that they were set free, they went back to their company, and told them all the chief priests and elders had said. And they, when they heard it, uttered prayer to God with one accord; Ruler of all, you are the maker of heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them. You have said through your Holy Spirit, by the lips of your servant David, our father, What means this turmoil among the nations; why do the peoples cherish vain dreams? See how the kings of the earth stand in array, how its rulers make common cause, against the Lord and his Christ. True, enough, in this city of ours, Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel to aid them, made common cause against your holy servant Jesus, so accomplishing all that your power and wisdom had decreed. Look down upon their threats, Lord, now as of old; enable your servants to preach your word confidently, by stretching out your hand to heal; and let signs and miracles be performed in the name of Jesus, your holy Son. When they had finished praying, the place in which they had gathered rocked to and fro, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to preach the word of God with confidence.
There was one heart and soul in all the company of believers; none of them called any of his possessions his own, everything was shared in common. Great was the power with which the apostles testified to the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and great was the grace that rested on them all. None of them was destitute; all those who owned farms or houses used to sell them, and bring the price of what they had sold to lay it at the apostles' feet, so that each could have what share of it he needed. There was a Levite called Joseph, a Cypriot by birth, to whom the apostles gave the fresh name of Barnabas, which means, the man of encouragement; he had an estate, which he sold, and brought the purchase-money to lay it at the apostles' feet.
But there was a man called Ananias who, with his wife Sapphira, sold an estate, and kept back some of the money, with his wife's knowledge, only bringing a part of it to lay at the feet of the apostles. Whereupon Peter said, Ananias, how is it that Satan has taken possession of your heart, bidding you defraud the Holy Spirit by keeping back some of the money that was paid you for the land? Unsold, the property was yours; after the sale, the money was at your disposal; what has put it into your heart so to act? It is God, not man, you have defrauded. At these words, Ananias fell down and died; and a great fear came upon all those who heard it. So the young men rose and took him up, and carried him out to burial. It was about three hours later that his wife came in, knowing nothing of what had happened; and Peter said to her, Tell me, woman, was it for so much that you sold the estate? Yes, she said, for so much. Then Peter said to her, What is this conspiracy between you, to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Even now I hear at the door the footsteps of those who have been burying your husband; they will carry you out too. And all at once she fell at his feet and died; so that when the young men came in they found her a corpse, and carried her out to bury her with her husband. Great fear came upon the church and upon all who heard the story. And there were many signs and miracles done by the apostles before the people. They used to gather with one accord in Solomon's porch. No one else dared to join them, although the people held them in high honour, and the number of those who believed in the Lord, both men and women, still increased; they even used to bring sick folk into the streets, and lay them down there on beds and pallets, in the hope that even the shadow of Peter, as he passed by, might fall upon one of them here and there, and so they would be healed of their infirmities. From neighbouring cities, too, the common people flocked to Jerusalem, bringing with them the sick and those who were troubled by unclean spirits; and all of them were cured.
This roused the high priest and those who thought with him, that is, the party of the Sadducees. Full of indignation, they arrested the apostles and shut them up in the common gaol. But, in the night, an angel of the Lord came and opened the prison doors, and led them out; Go, he said, and take your stand in the temple, preach fully to the people the message of true life. So, at his word, they went into the temple at dawn, and began preaching. Meanwhile the high priest and his followers met, and summoned the Council, with all the elders of the Jewish people; and they sent to the prison-house to have them brought in. When they came to look in the prison, the officers could not find them there; so they went back and reported, We found the prison-house locked up with all due care, and the guards at their posts before the door; but when we opened it there was no one to be found within. At hearing this, the temple superintendent and the chief priests were at a loss to know what had become of them; until an eyewitness told them, The men you put in prison are standing in the temple, teaching the people there. So the superintendent and his officers went and fetched them, using no violence, because they were afraid of being stoned by the people; and they brought them in and bade them stand before the Council, where the high priest questioned them. We warned you in set terms, he said, not to preach in this man's name, and you have filled all Jerusalem with your preaching; you are determined to lay this man's death at our door. Peter and the other apostles answered, God has more right to be obeyed than men. It was the God of our fathers that raised up Jesus, the man you hung on a gibbet to die. It is God that has raised him up to his own right hand, as the prince and Saviour who is to bring Israel repentance, and remission of sins. Of this, we are witnesses; we and the Holy Spirit God gives to all those who obey him,
On hearing this they were cut to the quick, and designed to kill them. But now one of the Pharisees in the Council, a lawyer named Gamaliel, who was held in esteem by all the people, rose and bade them send the apostles out for a little; then he said to them, Men of Israel, think well what you mean to do with these men. There was Theodas, who appeared in days gone by and claimed to be someone of importance, and was supported by about four hundred men; he was killed, and all his followers were dispersed, and came to nothing. And after him Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the registration; he persuaded the people to rebel under his leadership, but he too perished, and all his followers were scattered. And my advice is still the same; have nothing to do with these men, let them be. If this is man's design or man's undertaking, it will be overthrown; if it is God's, you will have no power to overthrow it. You would not willingly be found fighting against God. And they fell in with his opinion; so they sent for the apostles and, after scourging them, let them go with a warning that they were not on any account to preach in the name of Jesus. And they left the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer indignity for the sake of Jesus' name. And every day, both in the temple and from house to house, their teaching and their preaching was continually of Jesus Christ.
At this time, as the number of the disciples increased, complaints were brought against those who spoke Hebrew by those who spoke Greek; their widows, they said, were neglected in the daily administration of relief. So the twelve called together the general body of the disciples, and said, It is too much that we should have to forgo preaching God's word, and bestow our care upon tables. Come then, brethren, you must find among you seven men who are well spoken of, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, for us to put in charge of this business, while we devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of preaching. This advice found favour with all the assembly; and they chose Stephen, a man who was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, who was a proselyte from Antioch. These they presented to the apostles, who laid their hands on them with prayer.
By now the word of God was gaining influence, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem was greatly increasing; many of the priests had given their allegiance to the faith. And Stephen, full of grace and power, performed great miracles and signs among the people. There were those who came forward to debate with him, some of the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it is called), and of the Cyreneans and Alexandrians, and of those who came from Cilicia and Asia; but they were no match for Stephen's wisdom, and for the Spirit which then gave utterance. Thereupon they employed agents to say they had heard him speaking blasphemously of Moses, and of God. Having thus roused the feelings of the people, and of the elders and scribes, they set upon him and carried him off, and so brought him before the Council. There they put forward false witnesses, who declared, This man is never tired of uttering insults against the holy place, and the law. We have heard him say that the Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place, and will alter the traditions which Moses handed down to us. And all those who sat there in the Council fastened their eyes on him, and saw his face looking like the face of an angel.
Then the high priest asked, Are these charges true? And he answered, Brethren and fathers, listen to me. When the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, it was while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he took up his dwelling in Charan. Leave your country, he said, and your kindred, and come to the land to which I direct you. So it was that he left the country of the Chaldaeans, and lived in Charan; it was only after his father's death that he was bidden to remove thence into this land where you now dwell. There, God gave him no inheritance, not so much as a foot's space; he only promised the possession of it to him and to his posterity after him, although at this time he had no child. And this is what God told him, that his descendants would live as strangers in a foreign land, where they would be enslaved and ill-used for four hundred years. But I will pass judgement, the Lord said, on the nation which enslaves them; and at last they will escape, and settle down to worship me here. Then he made a covenant with Abraham, the covenant that ordained circumcision. So it was that he became the father of Isaac, whom he circumcised seven days afterwards, and Isaac of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
The patriarchs, out of jealousy, sold Joseph as a slave, to be taken to Egypt. In Egypt, God was with him; he rescued him from all his afflictions, and won him favour and a name for wisdom with Pharao, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all the royal household. And now a famine came upon all Egypt and Chanaan, cruelly afflicting them, till our fathers could procure no food. So Jacob, hearing that there was corn in Egypt, sent out our fathers on their first journey; and on their second journey Joseph made himself known to them, and Pharao learned about Joseph's kindred. Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob, and for his family, seventyfive souls in all; and Jacob went down into Egypt, where he and our fathers died. They were removed afterwards to Sichem; and it was in the grave which Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hemor, the man of Sichem, that they were buried.
And when the time drew near for the fulfilment of the promise which God had made to Abraham, the people had increased and multiplied in Egypt. And now a new king arose in Egypt, one who knew nothing of Joseph; this king dealt treacherously with our race, using them so ill that they exposed their children, instead of rearing them. It was at this time that Moses was born, and, finding favour with God, was brought up in his father's house for three months; then, when he had been exposed, he was rescued by Pharao's daughter, who adopted him as her son. Thus Moses was well trained in all the learning of the Egyptians; he was vigorous, too, in speech and in act. And now, when he had reached forty years of age, it came into his mind to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. When he saw one of them being unjustly used, he came to the rescue and avenged the man who was wronged, by killing the Egyptian. He expected them to understand, but they could not understand, that he was the means by which God was to bring them deliverance. Next day, he came in sight when two of them were quarrelling, and tried to restore peace between them. Sirs, he said, you are brethren; why do you inflict injury on one another? Whereupon the man who was doing his neighbour a wrong thrust him aside, asking, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? are you ready to kill me, as you did kill the Egyptian yesterday? And at that Moses fled, and lived as an exile in the land of Madian; it was there that two sons were born to him.
Forty years later, a vision came to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai; a bush had caught fire; and an angel was standing among the flames. Moses saw it, and was astonished at the sight; and as he drew near to look, the voice of the Lord came to him, I am the God of your fathers, of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. And Moses did not dare to look close; fear made him tremble. Then the Lord said to him, Take the shoes off your feet; the place on which you stand is holy ground. The affliction of my people in Egypt is before my eyes continually; I have heard their lamenting, and have come down to deliver them. Come now, I have an errand for you in Egypt. It was this same Moses, the man whom they had disowned, and asked him, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? that God sent to be their ruler and their deliverer, helped by the angel whom he saw there at the bush. He it was who led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt, and at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness, over a space of forty years. It was this Moses who said to the children of Israel, The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like myself, from among your own brethren; to him you must listen. He it was who took part with the angel that spoke to him on mount Sinai, and with our fathers, at the meeting in the desert. There he received words of life to hand on to us; and yet our fathers would not give him obedience. They disowned him; they turned their thoughts towards Egypt, and said to Aaron, Make us gods, to lead our march; as for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, there is no saying what has become of him. So they fashioned a calf at this time, making offerings to an idol, and keeping holiday over the works of their own hands. Whereupon God turned away from them, and gave them over to the worship of all the host of heaven; so it is written in the book of the prophets, Is it true that you brought me victims and sacrifices, you sons of Israel, for forty years in the wilderness? You carried about the tent of Moloch, and the star of your god Rempham, and worshipped them, images of your own fashioning. And now I will send you into exile on the further side of Babylon.
In the wilderness, our fathers had the tabernacle with them, to remind them of God's covenant; he who spoke to Moses bade him fashion it after the model which had been shewn him. And when God dispossessed the Gentiles, to make room for our fathers' coming, our fathers under Josue brought this tabernacle, as an heirloom, into the land which they conquered. So it was until the time of David. David, who had won favour in God's sight, longed to devise a resting-place for the God of Israel, but in the end it was Solomon that built the house for him. Yet we are not to think that the most High dwells in temples made by men's hands; the prophet says: Heaven is my throne, and earth is the footstool under my feet. What home will you build for me, says the Lord, what place can be my resting-place? Was it not my hands that made all this?
Stiff-necked race, your heart and ears still uncircumcised, you are for ever resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did. There was not one of the prophets they did not persecute; it was death to foretell the coming of that just man, whom you in these times have betrayed and murdered; you, who received the law dictated by angels, and did not keep it.
At hearing this, they were cut to the heart, and began to gnash their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, fastened his eyes on heaven, and saw there the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand; I see heaven opening, he said, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Then they cried aloud, and put their fingers into their ears; with one accord they fell upon him, thrust him out of the city, and stoned him. And the witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. Thus they stoned Stephen; he, meanwhile, was praying; Lord Jesus, he said, receive my spirit; and then, kneeling down, he cried aloud, Lord, do not count this sin against them. And with that, he fell asleep in the Lord.
Saul was one of those who gave their voices for his murder.
The church in Jerusalem was much persecuted at this time, and all except the apostles were scattered about over the country-side of Judaea and Samaria. Stephen was buried by devout men, who mourned greatly over him. Saul, meanwhile, was making havoc of the church; he made his way into house after house, carrying men and women off and committing them to prison.
Those who had been driven away spread the gospel as they went from place to place; and Philip, who had gone down to one of the cities of Samaria, preached Christ there. The multitude listened with general accord to what Philip said, as their own eyes and ears witnessed the miracles he did. There were many possessed by unclean spirits, and these came out, crying aloud; many, too, were healed of the palsy, and of lameness, and there was great rejoicing in that city. And there was a man called Simon, who had been in the city before Philip came there, misleading the people of Samaria with sorcery, and pretending to have great powers, so that high and low hung upon his words; This, they said, is an angel called the great angel of God. Long misled by his sorceries, they continued to pay attention to him, until Philip came and preached to them about God's kingdom. Then they found faith and were baptized, men and women alike, in the name of Jesus Christ; and Simon, who had found faith and been baptized with the rest, kept close to Philip's side; he was astonished by the great miracles and signs he saw happening.
And now the apostles at Jerusalem, hearing that Samaria had received the word of God, sent Peter and John to visit them. So these two came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit, who had not, as yet, come down on any of them; they had received nothing so far except baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then the apostles began to lay their hands on them, so that the Holy Spirit was given them, and Simon, seeing that the Holy Spirit was granted through the imposition of the apostles' hands, offered them money; Let me too, he said, have such powers that when I lay my hands on anyone he will receive the Holy Spirit. Whereupon Peter said to him, Take your wealth with you to perdition, you who have told yourself that God's free gift can be bought with money. There is no share, no part for you in these doings; your heart is not true in the sight of God. Repent of this baseness of yours, and pray to God, in the hope of finding pardon for the thought which your heart has conceived. I see plainly that a bitter poison has taken hold of you; you are the bondsman of iniquity. And Simon answered, Pray for me to the Lord, that none of this harm you have spoken of may fall upon me.
So, when they had borne their full witness and preached the word of the Lord, they began their journey back to Jerusalem, carrying the gospel into many Samaritan villages. Meanwhile, Philip was commanded by an angel of the Lord, Rise up, and go south to meet the road which leads from Jerusalem to Gaza, out in the desert. So he rose up and went; and found there an Ethiopian. This man was a eunuch, a courtier of Candace, queen of Ethiopia, and had charge of all her wealth; he had been up to worship at Jerusalem, and was now on his way home, driving along in his chariot and reading the prophet Isaias. The Spirit said to Philip, Go up to that chariot and keep close by it. And Philip, as he ran up, heard him reading the prophet Isaias, and asked, can you understand what you are reading? How could I, said he, without someone to guide me? And he entreated Philip to come up and sit beside him. The passage of scripture which he was reading was this; He was led away like a sheep to be slaughtered; like a lamb that is dumb before its shearer, he would not open his mouth. He was brought low, and all his rights taken away; who shall tell the story of his age? His life is being cut off from the earth. And the eunuch turned to Philip, and said, Tell me, about whom does the prophet say this? Himself, or some other man? Then Philip began speaking, and preached to him about Jesus, taking this passage as his theme. As they went on their way, they came to a piece of water, and the eunuch said, See, there is water here; why may I not be baptized? Philip said, If you do believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. So he had the chariot stopped, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him there. But when they came up from the water, Philip was carried off by the spirit of the Lord, and the eunuch did not see him any longer; he went on his way rejoicing. As for Philip, he was next heard of at Azotus; and from there he went preaching all round the villages, until he reached Caesarea.
Saul, with every breath he drew, still threatened the disciples of the Lord with massacre; and now he went to the high priest and asked him for letters of commendation to the synagogues at Damascus, so that he could arrest all those he found there, men and women, who belonged to the way, and bring them back to Jerusalem. Then, on his journey, when he was nearly at Damascus, a light from heaven shone suddenly about him. He fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Who are you, Lord? he asked. And he said, I am Jesus, whom Saul persecutes. This is a thankless task of yours, kicking against the goad. And he, dazed and trembling, asked, Lord, what will you have me do? Then the Lord said to him, Rise up, and go into the city, and there you shall be told what your work is. His companions stood in bewilderment, hearing the voice speak, but not seeing anyone. When he rose from the ground he could see nothing, although his eyes were open, and they had to lead him by the hand, to take him into Damascus. Here for three days he remained without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
There was, in Damascus, a disciple named Ananias; to him the Lord called in a vision, Ananias. Here I am, Lord, he answered. And the Lord said to him. Rise up and go to the road called Straight Street; and enquire at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus, named Saul. Even now he is at his prayers: and he has had a vision of a man called Ananias coming in and laying hands on him, to cure him of blindness. At this, Ananias answered, Lord, many have told me about this man, and all the hurt he has done to your saints at Jerusalem; and he has come here with authority from the chief priests to imprison all those who call upon your name. But the Lord said to him, Go on your errand; this is a man I have chosen to be the instrument for bringing my name before the heathen and their rulers, and before the people of Israel too. I have yet to tell him, how much suffering he will have to undergo for my name's sake. So Ananias set out; and as soon as he came into the house he laid his hands upon him, and said, Brother Saul, I have been sent by that Lord Jesus who appeared to you on your way as you came here; you are to recover your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And with that, a kind of film fell away from his eyes, and his sight was recovered. He rose up, and was baptized; and now, when he had taken food, his strength returned to him. For some days he lived with the disciples at Damascus, and from the first, in the synagogues, he preached that Jesus was the Son of God. All those who heard it were amazed; Why, they said, is not this the man who brought ruin on all those who invoked this name, when he was in Jerusalem; the man who came here for the very purpose of arresting such people and presenting them to the chief priests? But Saul was inspired with ever greater strength, and silenced the Jews who lived at Damascus by shewing them clearly that this was the Christ.
So many days passed, and then the Jews plotted against his life. Saul was aware of the plot; and, since they kept watch over the gates, day and night, to make an end of him, the disciples contrived to let him down by night along the face of the wall, lowering him to the ground in a hamper. So he reached Jerusalem, where he tried to attach himself to the disciples; but they could not believe he was a true disciple, and all avoided his company. Whereupon Barnabas took him by the hand and brought him in to the apostles, telling them how, on his journey, he had seen the Lord and had speech with him, and how at Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. So he came and went in their company at Jerusalem, and spoke boldly in the name of the Lord. He preached, besides to the Jews who talked Greek, and disputed with them, till they set about trying to take his life. As soon as they heard of this, the brethren took him down to Caesarea, and put him on his way to Tarsus.
Meanwhile, all through Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, the church enjoyed peace and became firmly established, guided by the fear of God and filled with encouragement by the Holy Spirit. And now Peter, as he visited the saints everywhere, came down to see those who dwelt at Lydda. There he found a man called Aeneas, who had not left his bed for eight years, being palsied. And Peter said to him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ sends you healing; rise up, and make your bed; whereupon he rose up at once. All those who dwelt at Lydda and Saron came to see him, and their hearts turned to the Lord. And there was a disciple at Joppa called Tabitha, which means the same as Dorcas, a gazelle. She abounded in acts of charity and in almsdeeds; and it so happened that at this time she fell sick, and died, and they washed the body and laid it in an upper room. Since Lydda was close to Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to find him; Come to us, they urged him, without delay. So Peter rose and went with them; and when he came there they took him into the upper room, where all the widows stood round him in tears, shewing him the coats and cloaks which Dorcas used to make while she was among them. Peter sent them all out, and went on his knees to pray; then, turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, rise up; and she opened her eyes and looked at Peter, and sat up on the bed. So he gave her his hand, and raised her to her feet; and then, calling in the saints and the widows, he shewed her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many learned to believe in the Lord. He stayed in Joppa a number of days after this, lodging with a tanner whose name was Simon.
There was, at Caesarea, a centurion named Cornelius, belonging to what is called the Italian cohort, a pious man who worshipped the true God, like all his household, gave alms freely to the people, and prayed to God continually. He, about the ninth hour of the day, had a vision, in which he clearly saw an angel of God come in and address him by his name. What is it, Lord? he asked, gazing at him in terror. And he answered, your prayers and alms-deeds are recorded on high in God's sight. And now he would have you send men to Joppa, to bring here one Simon, who is sumamed Peter; he lodges with a tanner, called Simon, whose house is close to the sea; you will learn from him what you have to do. So the angel visitor left him, and thereupon he summoned two of his servants, and one of the soldiers who were in attendance on him, a man of piety; he told them all that had passed, and sent them on their way to Joppa.
Next day, while these were on their journey and were drawing near the city, Peter went up to the house-top about noon, to pray there. He was hungry, and waiting for a meal; and while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opening, and a bundle, like a great sheet, let down by its four corners on to the earth; in it were all kinds of four-footed beasts, and things that creep on the earth, and all the birds of heaven. And a voice came to him, Rise up, Peter, lay about you and eat. It cannot be, Lord, answered Peter; never in my life have I eaten anything profane, anything unclean. Then the voice came to him a second time, It is not for you to call anything profane, which God has made clean. Three times this happened, and then the bundle was drawn up again into heaven. Peter was still puzzling in his mind over the meaning of his vision, when Cornelius' messengers, who had now found their way to Simon's house, were seen standing at the gate; where they called out and asked if Simon, who was also called Peter, lodged there. To Peter, as he was turning over the vision in his mind, the Spirit said, Here are three men asking for you; rise and go down, and accompany them without misgiving; it is I who have sent them. So Peter went down to the men; Here I am, he said, the man you are looking for; what is your errand? The centurion Cornelius, they said, a man who worships the true God and keeps his law, as all the Jewish people will testify, has received a revelation from one of the holy angels; he was to have you brought to his house, and listen to what you would say. Thereupon Peter bade them come in, and made them welcome; and next day he set out with them, accompanied by some of the brethren from Joppa.
The day after that, they reached Caesarea, where Cornelius was awaiting them; he had gathered his kinsmen and his closest friends about him. And as soon as Peter had entered, he was met by Cornelius, who fell at his feet and did reverence to him; but Peter raised him; Stand up, he said, I am a man like yourself. So he went in, still conversing with him, and found a great company assembled. You know well enough, he told them, that a Jew is contaminated if he consorts with one of another race, or visits him; but God has been shewing me that we ought not to speak of any man as profane or unclean; and so, when I was sent for, I came without demur. Tell me then, why you have sent for me. And Cornelius said, Three days ago, at this very time, I was making my afternoon prayer in my house, when suddenly I saw a man standing before me, in white clothes, who said to me, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, your almsdeeds have won remembrance in God's sight. you are to send to Joppa, and summon thence that Simon who is also called Peter; he is lodging with a tanner called Simon, close to the sea. I lost no time, therefore, in sending for you, and you have done me a favour in coming. Now you see us assembled in your presence, ready to listen to whatever charge the Lord has given you. Thereupon Peter began speaking; I see clearly enough, he said, that God makes no distinction between man and man; he welcomes anybody, whatever his race, who fears him and does what piety demands. God has sent his word to the sons of Israel, giving them news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You have heard the story, a story which ran through the whole of Judaea, though it began in Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed; about Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, so that he went about doing good, and curing all those who were under the devil's tyranny, with God at his side. We are witnesses of all he did in the country of the Jews, and in Jerusalem. And they killed him, hanging him on a gibbet; but on the third day God raised him up again, and granted the clear sight of him, not to the people at large, but to us, the witnesses whom God had appointed beforehand; we ate and drank in his company after his rising from the dead. And he gave us a commission to preach to the people, and to bear witness that he, and none other, has been chosen by God to judge the living and the dead. All the prophets bear him this testimony, that everyone who has faith in him is to find remission of sins through his name.
Before Peter had finished speaking to them thus, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who were listening to his message. The faithful who had come over with Peter, holding to the tradition of circumcision as they did, were astonished to find that the free gift of the Holy Spirit could be lavished upon the Gentiles, whom they heard speaking with tongues, and proclaiming the greatness of God. Then Peter said openly, Who will grudge us the water for baptizing these men, that have received the Holy Spirit just as we did? And he gave orders that they should be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And after this, they asked him to stay on some days with them.
And now the apostles and brethren in Judaea were told how the word of God had been given to the Gentiles. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those who held to the tradition of circumcision found fault with him; Why did you pay a visit, they asked, to men who are uncircumcised, and eat with them? Whereupon Peter told them the story point by point from the beginning; I was in the city of Joppa, he said, at my prayers, when I fell into a trance and saw a vision. A bundle, like a great sheet, came down from heaven, lowered by the four corners, till it reached me. I looked closely to find out what it was, and there I saw four-footed creatures of earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and the birds that fly in heaven. And I heard a voice saying to me, Rise up, Peter, lay about you and eat. So I answered, It cannot be, Lord; nothing profane or unclean has ever crossed my lips. And a second utterance came from heaven in answer. It is not for you to call anything profane, which God has made clean. Three times this happened, and then all was drawn up again into heaven. And at that very moment three men appeared at the door of the house where I was, with a message to me from Caesarea. The Spirit bade me accompany them without misgiving; so these six brethren came with me, and together we entered the man's home. There he told us how he had had a vision of an angel in his house; this angel stood before him, and said, Send to Joppa, and bid Simon, who is also called Peter, come to you. He will have such a message for you as will bring salvation to you and to all your household. And then, when I had set about speaking to them, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as it was with us at the beginning. Then I was reminded of what the Lord said to us, John's baptism was with water, but there is a baptism with the Holy Spirit which you are to receive. And now, if God has made them the same free gift, which he made to us when faith in the Lord Jesus had gone before it, who was I, what power had I, to stay God's hand? At these words, they were content, and gave glory to God; Why then, they said, it seems God has granted life-giving repentance of heart to the Gentiles too.
Meanwhile, those who had been dispersed owing to the persecution that was raised over Stephen had travelled as far away as Phoenice and Cyprus and Antioch, without preaching the word to anyone except the Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they found their way to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks as well, preaching the Lord Jesus to them. And the Lord's power went with them, so that a great number learned to believe, and turned to the Lord. The story of this came to the ears of the Church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas on a mission to Antioch. When he came there and saw what grace God was bestowing on them, he was full of joy, and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with steady purpose of heart, like the good man he was, full of the Holy Spirit, full of faith; a great multitude was thus won over to the Lord. He went on to Tarsus, to look for Saul, and when he found him, brought him back to Antioch. For a whole year after this they were made welcome in the Church there, teaching a great multitude. And Antioch was the first place in which the disciples were called Christians.
At this time, some prophets from Jerusalem visited Antioch; and one of these, Agabus by name, stood up and prophesied through the Spirit that a great famine was to come upon the whole world, as it did in the reign of the emperor Claudius. Thereupon it was decided that each of the disciples should contribute according to his means, to send relief to the brethren who lived in Judaea. And so they did; and in sending it to the presbyters they entrusted it to the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
It was at this same time that Herod exerted his authority to persecute some of those who belonged to the Church. James, the brother of John, he beheaded, and then, finding that this was acceptable to the Jews, he went further, and laid hands on Peter too. It was the time of unleavened bread; and he imprisoned Peter, after arresting him, with a guard of four soldiers, relieved four times a day; when paschal-time was over, he would bring him out in the presence of th