Montgomery - Luke

Chapter 1

1:1  Seeing that many have taken it in hand to draw up an account of those matters which have been fully established among us,

1:2  just as they reported them to us, who were from beginning eye- witnesses and ministers of the word,

1:3  it seemed good to me also accurately, from the very beginning, to write them to you in order, most excellent Theophilus,

1:4  so that you may know the certainty of the story which you have been taught by the word of mouth.

1:5  In the reign of Herod, King of Judea, there was a certain priest, named Zachariah, belonging to the class of Abijah. He had a wife named Elizabeth,

1:6  who was a descendant of Aaron. They were both righteous in the sight of the Lord, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the law, blameless.

1:7  Now they had no child, for Elizabeth was barren, and both were far advanced in years.

1:8  Now while Zachariah was acting as priest before God in the due course of his class, it fell to his lot, according to the custom of priesthood,

1:9  to enter into the sanctuary of the Lord and to burn incense.

1:10  And the whole multitude of the people were without, praying at the hour of incense.

1:11  Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

1:12  And as he saw him Zachariah was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

1:13  But the Angel said to him. "Do not be afraid, Zachariah, because your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.

1:14  "And he shall be to you a joy and an exultation, and many shall rejoice over his birth.

1:15  "For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, "He shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, "He shall be filled with the Holy Spirit from the hour of his birth,

1:16  "And shall win many of the sons of Israel to the Lord, their God.

1:17  "He shall go before Him in the wisdom and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, and so to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him."

1:18  "How shall I be sure of this?" said Zachariah to the Angel. "For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years."

1:19  "I am Gabriel," answered the angel, "who stand in the presence of God; and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring and to bring you this good news.

1:20  "And now you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day the day when this has taken place; because you did not believe my words - Words which will be fulfilled at their appointed time."

1:21  Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zachariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the sanctuary.

1:22  And when he came out he could not speak to them, and then they knew that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept making signs to them and remained dumb.

1:23  As soon as his term of priestly service was ended he went home;

1:24  and after those days Elizabeth, his wife, Conceived, and she hid herself five months, saying.

1:25  "This has the Lord done for me. He has now deigned to take the away my reproach among men."

1:26  Six months later the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee, called Nazareth,

1:27  to a maiden betrothed to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. Her name was Mary.

1:28  The angel went in and said to her. "Joy to you, highly favored one! "The Lord is with you."

1:29  Mary was greatly agitated at his word, and was revolving in her mind what this salutation could mean.

1:30  when the angel said to her. "Fear not Mary, for you have found grace with God.

1:31  "And behold, you shall conceive in your womb and bear a son; and you shall call his name Jesus.

1:32  "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High. "And the Lord God will give him the throne of his forefather David,

1:33  "and he shall reign over the House of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."

1:34  And Mary said to the angel. "How can this be? For I have no husband?"

1:35  "The Holy Spirit shall come upon you," said the angel, "and the power of the most High shall overshadow you, and therefore the holy offspring which is born, shall be called the son of God.

1:36  "And behold your kinswoman, Elizabeth, she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this was the sixth month with her that was called barren.

1:37  "For no word of God shall be void of power."

1:38  Then Mary said. "Behold I am Lord’s slave. Let it be to me as you have said." Then the angel departed from her.

1:39  Soon after this Mary set out and hastened unto the hill-country to a town in Judah;

1:40  and there she came into the house of Zachariah, and greeted Elizabeth.

1:41  And when Elizabeth heard her salutation, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Spirit,

1:42  and called out with a loud cry. "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is your unborn child!

1:43  "But why is this honor done me, that the mother of my Lord should come me?

1:44  "For behold when the sound of your salutation reached my ears, the babe leaped with joy within my womb.

1:45  "And blessed is she who believed that the Lord’s words spoken to her would be fulfilled."

1:46  And Mary said. "My soul doth magnify the Lord,

1:47  "My spirit exults in the God, who is my Saviour,

1:48  "For he has regarded the humiliation of his slave, And from this hour all ages will count me blessed.

1:49  "For he who is mighty has done great things for me; And holy is his name.

1:50  "His mercy is unto generations and generations on those who reverence him.

1:51  "He has showed strength with his arm. "He has scattered proud in the imagination of their hearts;

1:52  "he has put down princes from their thrones, and has exalted those of low degree.

1:53  "The hungry he has filled with good things, But the rich he has sent empty away.

1:54  "He has helped Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy,

1:55  "As he spoke to our forefathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever."

1:56  So Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and returned home.

1:57  Now when the time of Elizabeth’s delivery was come, she gave birth to a son;

1:58  and her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy toward her; and they rejoiced with her,

1:59  and came on the eighth day to circumcise the child. They were about to call him "Zachariah," after his father,

1:60  when his mother said, "No, he is to be called John."

1:61  Said they, "You have no relatives of that name!"

1:62  Then they asked his father by signs what he wished to call the child.

1:63  So he asked for a writing tablet and wrote down, "His name is John."

1:64  Every one was surprised, and at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.

1:65  And there came a great fear upon all in the neighborhood; and throughout the hill country of Judea all these sayings were much talked about.

1:66  All the story laid it up in their hearts, saying "What, then, will this child be?" For the Lord’s hands was with him.

1:67  And his father, Zachariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying.

1:68  "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, For he has visited and redeemed his people,

1:69  "And has raised up a mighty Deliverer for us In the house of his servant David,

1:70  "As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets Which have been since the world began

1:71  To deliver us from our enemies, and from the power Of all who hate us.

1:72  "He showed mercy to our forefathers, He remembered his holy covenant,

1:73  "The oath which he swore to Abraham, our forefather,

1:74  "That he we should be delivered out of the Hand of our enemies, And should serve him without fear,

1:75  "In holiness and righteousness before him All our days.

1:76  "And thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Most High, For thou shalt go before the Lord to prepare the way

1:77  "To give to his people a knowledge of salvation Through the remission of their sins,

1:78  "Through the heart of mercy of our God, Whereby the Dayspring from on high shall visit us,

1:79  "To give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, And to guide our feet into the paths of peace."

1:80  And the child grew, and became strong in the Spirit, and remained in the desert till the day of his showing to Israel.

Chapter 2

2:1  In those days Augustus Caesar issued an edict for a census of the whole inhabited world.

2:2  This was the first census, When Quirinius was governor of Syria.

2:3  And every one went to be registered, each to the town to which he belonged.

2:4  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city if Nazareth, into Judea, to David’s town of Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David.

2:5  He went to be registered along with Mary, who was espoused to him, and was pregnant.

2:6  But while they were there the days were fulfilled for her delivery.

2:7  And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

2:8  And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.

2:9  When suddenly an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round them; and they feared with a great fear. The angel said to them.

2:10  "Have no fear, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be for all the people.

2:11  "For unto you born this day in there is born in David’s town a Saviour, who is the Anointed Lord.

2:12  "And this is a sign to you; You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes lying in a manger."

2:13  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly army praising God and saying,

2:14  "Glory to God in the highest, And in earth peace among men who please him"

2:15  Now when the angels had left them, and gone away to heaven, the shepherds said to one to another, "Let us go now even to Bethlehem, and see this saying which has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us."

2:16  so they made haste, and came and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger.

2:17  When they had seen, they made known about the words which had been spoken to them concerning the child.

2:18  And all who heard it were astonished at the things which were told to them by the shepherds.

2:19  But Mary treasured up all those words, Often pondering on on them in her heart.

2:20  And the shepherds returned, glorifying God and praising him for all those things that they had seen and heard, even as it was told to them.

2:21  When eight days had passed, and the time had come to circumcise him, he was called Jesus, the name given him by the angel before his conception in the womb.

2:22  And when the days for purification according to the law of Moses had passed, they took him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord,

2:23  as it is written in the law of Moses, Every firstborn male shall be called holy to the Lord.

2:24  And they also offered a sacrifice as commanded in the Law of the Lord A pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.

2:25  Now there was in Jerusalem a man whose name was Simeon. He was righteous and devout, and was waiting for the consolation of Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him.

2:26  Now it has been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

2:27  And he came into the Temple, led by the Spirit. and when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law,

2:28  he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

2:29  "Now lettest thou thy slave depart, O Master; according to thy word in peace,

2:30  "Because my eyes had seen the salvation,

2:31  "Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples;

2:32  "A light for the unveiling of the Gentiles And the glory of thy people Israel."

2:33  And while his father and mother were marveling at the words that were spoken concerning him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother.

2:34  "Behold this child is set for the falling and rising up of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against.

2:35  Yea, and a sword shall pierce through your own soul also, that the thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed."

2:36  There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in age, having lived with her husband seven years, after her girlhood,

2:37  and then being a widow even for fourscore and four years. She departed not from the temple, but worshiped with the fasting and prayer, night and day.

2:38  She came up at that very hour, and gave thanks to God, and spoke of the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

2:39  As soon as all that the law required had been done, they returned to Galilee to their own town, Nazareth.

2:40  And the child grew and became strong, becoming full of wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

2:41  Now his parents were accustomed to go up to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover.

2:42  And when he was twelve years old they went up, as was customary, at the time of the feast

2:43  After spending the full number of days they started home, but the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem. Joseph and his mother did not know this,

2:44  but supposed that he was in the company, and went a days journey. Then they hunted for him among his kinsfolk and acquaintance;

2:45  and when they did not find him they returned to Jerusalem, making anxious inquiry for him.

2:46  On the third day they found him sitting in the Temple, among the Rabbis, both listening to them and asking questions.

2:47  All that heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

2:48  When they saw him they were astonished, and his mother said to him "Child, why have you treated us so? Behold your father and I have been looking for you in anguish."

2:49  He answered, "Why is it that you have been looking for me, did you not realize that I had to be in my Father’s house?"

2:50  But they did not understand the words that he spoke to them.

2:51  Then he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and he was always obedient to them. But his mother kept treasuring up all these incidents in her hearts.

2:52  And Jesus was ever advancing in wisdom and in status and in favor with God and man.

Chapter 3

3:1  Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip, tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias, tetrarch of Abilene;

3:2  during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zachariah, in the Desert.

3:3  And Johnwent into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

3:4  As it is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah. The voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare the way for God, make straight paths for him.

3:5  Every ravine shall be filled up, Every hill and mountain shall be laid low, The crooked shall be made straight, And the rough roads smooth;

3:6  And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

3:7  So Johnused to say to the crowd of those who were going out to be baptized by him. "You breed of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

3:8  Then bring forth fruit befitting your penitence, and do not begin to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father." I tell you that God is able to raise up sons to Abraham out of these stones.

3:9  And now truly the axe is already laid at the root of the trees. So every tree which is not bearing good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

3:10  And the crowd began to ask him questions. "What shall we do then?" they asked. In reply he said to them.

3:11  "If you have two shirts share with him who has none; and let him who has food do the same."

3:12  There came to him publicans also to be baptized, and they said to him, "Master, what must we do?"

3:13  And he said to them, "Exact no more than the sum allowed you."

3:14  The soldiers also repeatedly questioned him, saying, "And we, what shall we do?" "Do not intimidate any one," he replied, "nor lay false charges, and be content with your pay."

3:15  And while the people were in expectation, and all men were debating in their hearts about John,

3:16  whether perhaps he were the Christ, Johnanswered, saying to all of them. "I indeed am baptizing you in water, but One is coming after me, mightier than I, whose shoe-latchet I am not worthy to unloose. He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and in fire.

3:17  He has his fan in his hand to cleanse his threshing-floor thoroughly, and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, but the chaff will he burn with unquenchable fire."

3:18  With many other exhortations then Johndeclared the gospel to the people;

3:19  but Herod, the Tetrarch, when reproved by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked deeds that he had done,

3:20  added yet this above them all that he shut up Johnin prison.

3:21  Now after all the people had been baptized, and Jesus himself had been baptized and was praying,

3:22  heaven opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form like a dove, descended upon him. and a voice came out of heaven, saying. "Thou art my Son, dearly beloved; in thee is my delight."

3:23  And Jesus himself when he began to teach was about thirty years of age. He was the son (as it was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,

3:24  son of Matthat, son of Levi, son of Melchi,

3:25  son of Matthias, son of Nahum, son of Esli,

3:26  son of Mahath, son of Matthias, son of Semein, son of Joseph, son of Joda,

3:27  son of Johann, son of Resa, son of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, son of Neri,

3:28  son of Melchi, son of Addi, son of Cosam, son of Elmadam, son of Er,

3:29  son of Joshua, son of Eliezar, son of Jorim, son of Mathat, son of Levi,

3:30  son of Symeon, son of Judah, son of Joseph, son of Jonan, son of Eliakim,

3:31  son of Melea, son of Menna, son of Mattatha, son of Nathan, son of David,

3:32  son of Jesse, son of Obed, son of Boaz, son of Salmon, son of Nahshon,

3:33  son of Amminadab, son of Admin, son of Arni, son of Hezron, son of Perez, son of Judah,

3:34  son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of Terah, son of Nahor,

3:35  son of Serug, son of Reu, son of Peleg, son of Eber, son of Shelah,

3:36  son of Cainan, son of Arpachshad, son of Shem, son of Noah, son of Lamech,

3:37  son of Methuselah, son of Enoch, son of Jared, son of Mahalel, son of Kenan,

3:38  son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.

Chapter 4

4:1  Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, came back from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, all the time tempted by the devil.

4:2  He ate nothing during these days, and at the close of them he was hungry.

4:3  The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God tell this stone to become bread."

4:4  And Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written that not by bread alone shall man live."

4:5  And the devil led him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the inhabited earth in an instant of time, and the devil said to him.

4:6  "To you will I give all this authority and this glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

4:7  "If then you will worship me, it shall all be yours."

4:8  "It is written," answered Jesus, "Thou shalt worship the Lord, thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

4:9  Then he brought him to Jerusalem, and caused him to stand upon the Temple roof, and said to him. "If you really are the Son of God throw yourself down here;

4:10  for it is written, "He shall give his angels charge of thee, to guard thee safely;

4:11  "They will bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy food against a stone."

4:12  "It has been said," replied Jesus, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord, thy God."

4:13  So, after exhausting on him every kind of temptation, the devil left him for a time.

4:14  Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and his fame spread throughout all the surrounding country,

4:15  and he began to teach in their synagogues, and was glorified by all.

4:16  Then he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. and, as was his custom, he entered into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day, and stood up to read.

4:17  And there was handed him the roll of the prophet Isaiah; and unrolling it he found the place where it was written,

4:18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me Because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim release to the prisoners, And recovery of sight to the blind; To set at liberty those that are bruised,

4:19  To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

4:20  Then rolling up the papyrus, he gave it back to the attendant and sat down.

4:21  The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him, and he began to say to them, "Today is this scripture fulfilled in your hearing."

4:22  And they all spoke well of him, and marveled at the words of charm that fell from his lips. "Is not this the son of Joseph?" they asked.

4:23  Jesus answered. "Doubtless you will quote the proverb to me, "Physician, heal thyself! Do also here in your own country all that we hear that you have done in Capernaum."

4:24  "I tell you in solemn truth," he added, "that no prophet is acceptable in his own country.

4:25  In very truth I tell you there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were closed for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;

4:26  "yet Elijah was not sent to any one of them, but only to a widow in Zarephath in Sidon.

4:27  "And there were many lepers in Israel in the days of the prophet Elisha, yet none of them was cleansed but only Naaman the Syrian."

4:28  When they had heard these words, those in the synagogue were filled with fury;

4:29  they rose, hurried him outside the town, and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, intending to cast him down headlong.

4:30  But he, passing through the midst of them, took his departure.

4:31  Then he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and continued to teach the people on the Sabbath Days.

4:32  They were deeply impressed by his teaching because his speech was with authority.

4:33  And there was in the synagogue a man possessed by the spirit of a foul demon. He cried out, in a loud voice, saying.

4:34  "Ha! Jesus of Nazareth, what business have you with us? Are you come to destroy us? I know you who you are, you holy one of God!"

4:35  And Jesus rebuked him, saying. "Be quiet! Come out of him." And when the demon had thrown the man down before them, he came out of him without doing him any harm.

4:36  All were amazed, and began to ask one another, saying. "What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits and they come out."

4:37  And the talk about him spread into every locality in the surrounding country.

4:38  Now when he rose and left the synagogue, he entered into the house of Simon, where Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick of a great fever. And they kept entreating him for her.

4:39  And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her; and at once she arose and ministered unto them.

4:40  At sunset all they who had any sick with any sort of disease brought them to him; and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.

4:41  Demons also came out of many, screaming and saying, "You are the Son of God." But he rebuked them, and did not permit them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

4:42  And when it was daybreak he left the town, and went away to a solitary place; and the crowd kept seeking him. Coming at length upon him, they attempted to detain him so that he should not leave them.

4:43  But he said to them. "I must preach the gospel of the kingdom of God to the other towns also; for that is what I was sent to do."

4:44  So he continued to preach in the synagogues of Galilee.

Chapter 5

5:1  On one occasion when he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, the crowd pressed upon him to listen to the word of God.

5:2  But he saw two fishing-boats on the shore of the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.

5:3  He went on board one of the boats which belonged to Simon, and asked him to push out a little way from land. Then he sat down and continued to teach the crowd from the boat.

5:4  When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Push out into deep water, and let down your nets for a haul."

5:5  "Master," answered Simon, "although we toiled all night, we took nothing; but at your bidding I will let down the nets."

5:6  And when they had done this they enclosed a great multitude of fish; and their nets began to break.

5:7  So they motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.

5:8  When Simon Peter saw this he fell down at the knees of Jesus, exclaiming, "Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man!"

5:9  (For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the haul of fish which they had made;

5:10  and so were Simon’s partners, Jamesand John, sons of Zebedee.) But Jesus answered Simon. "Fear not; from this time on, you will be catching men."

5:11  So when they had brought their boats to land they left everything and followed him.

5:12  Another time when he was in one of their cities, there was a man there full of leprosy. And he, upon seeing Jesus, fell on his face and implored him. "Lord," he said, "if only you choose you can make me clean."

5:13  And he stretched out his hand and touching him, said. "I do choose; be made clean."

5:14  And instantly the leprosy left him. Jesus ordered him to tell no one, "But be off," he said, "show yourself to the priest, and make the offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a testimony to them."

5:15  But all the more the report about him continued to spread; and great crowds began to come together to hear him, and to be healed of their infirmities.

5:16  But Jesus himself habitually withdrew into solitary places, and there used to pray.

5:17  One day he was teaching, and near to him were seated Pharisees and teachers of the Law, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was with him to heal.

5:18  And behold there came men carrying a paralytic on a bed; and they tried to bring him and lay him before Jesus, but they could not because of the crowd.

5:19  So they went up on the roof, and let him down through the tiling, with his bed, into the crowd, before Jesus.

5:20  When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you!"

5:21  And the Scribes and Pharisees began to cavil. "Who is this?" they asked, "speaking blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

5:22  Conscious of their cavilings, Jesus answered, saying.

5:23  "What is this caviling in your hearts? Which is easier to say, "Your sins are forgiven," or to say, "Rise and walk?"

5:24  But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins (he said to the paralytic), "I bid you rise, take up your bed, and go to your house."

5:25  And instantly he arose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and went away to his house, glorifying God.

5:26  Astonishment fell upon them all, and they began to glorify God, and they were filled with awe, and they said, "We have seen strange things today."

5:27  After this he went forth and noticed a tax-gatherer, named Levi, sitting at the tax-office, and said to him, "Follow me."

5:28  He rose, left everything, and followed him.

5:29  Levi also made him a great reception at his house. There was a large party of tax-gatherers and others who were dining with them.

5:30  And the Pharisees and their scribes began complaining to his disciples, saying, "Why are you eating and drinking with tax- gatherers and sinners?"

5:31  Jesus answered them saying. "They who are well have no need of a physician, but they who are ill.

5:32  I am not come to call the righteous but sinners, to repentance."

5:33  Again they said unto him. "Why do the disciples of Johnfast frequently, and make supplications, as also do the disciples of the Pharisees, but your disciples are eating and drinking?"

5:34  "Can you make the bridal party fast," he asked, while the bridegroom is still with them?

5:35  "But there is coming a day when the Bridegroom will have been taken away from them; then at that time they will fast."

5:36  He also told them a parable. "No one," he said, "tears a piece from a new garment, and patches it upon an old one; otherwise he will tear the new garment, and the patch from the new will not mend the old.

5:37  "Nor does any one pour new wine into old wine-skins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins, and will itself be spilled, and the skins be destroyed

5:38  "But new wine must be put into fresh wine-skins

5:39  "And no man after drinking old wine, wishes for new; for he says, "The old is better.""

Chapter 6

6:1  It happened that on a Sabbath he was going through the wheat-fields. His disciples were picking the ears and eating the wheat, rubbing it out with their hands.

6:2  And some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what it is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?"

6:3  "Have you never read," answered Jesus, "what David did when he and his followers were hungry?

6:4  "How he entered into God’s house and took and ate the Presented Loaves, and gave some to his followers, loaves which none must eat but the priests?

6:5  "THE SON OF MAN," he told them, "IS LORD EVEN OVER THE SABBATH."

6:6  On another Sabbath he went into a synagogue and was teaching; and there was there a man whose right hand was withered.

6:7  Now the Scribes and Pharisees kept watching to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might be able to bring on accusations to him.

6:8  He was all along aware of their thoughts; and he said to the man with the withered hand, "Rise, and stand there in the midst."

6:9  So he rose and stood. Then Jesus said to them. "I ask you whether it is lawful on the Sabbath Day to do good or to do harm? To save a life or to destroy it?"

6:10  Then he looked round about on them in anger, and said to him, "Stretch out your hand!"

6:11  He did so; and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury, and they began to talk over together what they could do to Jesus.

6:12  It happened about that time that he went out into the mountain to pray. He continued all night in prayer to God.

6:13  And when day dawned he called his disciples, and from among them he selected twelve, whom also he called Apostles missionaries.

6:14  They were Simon, whom he had also called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John;

6:15  Philip and Bartholomew; Mathew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot;

6:16  Jude the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who was the traitor.

6:17  With these he came down till he reached a level place, where there was a great crowd of his disciples and a great many people from all Judea and Jerusalem and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. These came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases.

6:18  Those who were tormented by unclean spirits were healed also.

6:19  The whole crowd were trying to touch him, because power emanated from him and cured them all.

6:20  Then raising his eyes upon his disciples he began to say to them. "Blessed are you poor, For the kingdom of God is yours.

6:21  "Blessed are you who are hungry now, For you shall be filled. "Blessed are you who are wailing now, For you shall laugh.

6:22  "Blessed are you when men shall hate you, And excommunicate you and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil because of the Son of man.

6:23  "Rejoice in that day and exult, For your reward is great in heaven; For even so did their fathers to the prophets.

6:24  "But woe to you rich! For you already have received your consolation.

6:25  "Woe unto you who are full now! For you shall suffer hunger. "Woe to you who are laughing now! For you shall wail and weep.

6:26  "Woe to you when all men shall speak well of you! For even so did their fathers to the false prophets.

6:27  "But to you who are listening to me I say, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

6:28  Bless those who curse you, pray for those who calumniate you.

6:29  To him who gives you a blow on the jaw Turn the other jaw also; And from him who is robbing you of your cloak Withhold not your coat also.

6:30  Give to every one who asks you; And do not demand your goods back from him who is taking them away.

6:31  And as you would like men to do to you, So do you also to them.

6:32  "If you love those who love you what credit is it to you? Why even sinners love those who love them.

6:33  "And if you are kind to those who are kind to you, what credit is it to you? Even sinners do the same.

6:34  "And if you lend to those from whom you are hoping to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, so as to get as much back.

6:35  "But you must love even your enemies and be kind to them, And lend, despairing of no man. Then your reward will be great, And you will be the sons of the Most High; For he is kind even to the ungrateful and to the evil.

6:36  "Do you therefore be merciful, As your Father is merciful.

6:37  "Do not judge, and you shall not be judged; Do not condemn, and you shall not be condemned;

6:38  "Pardon, and you shall be pardoned; Give, and gifts shall be given to you; Full measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they shall pour into your bosom. For with what measure you measure, they will measure back to you."

6:39  He also told them a parable. "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?

6:40  "There is no disciple who is above his master; But every one when he is completely trained will be like his master.

6:41  "And why do you look at the splinter that is in your brother’s eye, but never consider the beam that is in your own eye?

6:42  "Or how can you say to your brother. "Brother, allow me to pull that splinter out of your eye," when you do not see the beam in your own eye? Hypocrite! Take out first the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the splinter from your brother’s eye.

6:43  "For there is not good tree which bears worthless fruit, nor again any worthless tree which bears good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit.

6:44  "You do not gather figs from thorns, and grapes are not plucked from a bramble-bush.

6:45  "The good man out of the good treasure-house of his heart brings forth good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure-house of his heart brings forth evil; for the mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart.

6:46  "And why are you calling me Lord, Lord, and not doing what I tell you?

6:47  "I will show whom the man that comes to me, and listens to my works, and does them, is like.

6:48  "He is like a man who is building a house who digged and went deep and laid a foundation upon rock. And, when a flood came, the torrent dashed against that house, but could not move, because it had been founded upon rock.

6:49  "But he who listens but does not do, is like a man who built a house upon the soil, without foundations, against which the torrent burst, and at once it fell in, and the ruin of that house was great."

Chapter 7

7:1  After he had ended all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he went to Capernaum.

7:2  Here the slave of a certain Roman captain, a man dear to his master, was ill, and at the point of death.

7:3  So when the captain heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to ask him to come and save his slave.

7:4  And they, when they reached Jesus, asked him earnestly to do this. "He deserves that you should do this," they said,

7:5  "for he loves our nation, and himself has built a synagogue for us."

7:6  So Jesus started to go with them, but while he was not far from the house, the captain sent friends to him with a message. "Lord do not trouble yourself, for I am not fit that you should come under my roof,

7:7  "and so I did not think myself worthy to come to you; but speak the word, and let my man be cured.

7:8  "For I also am a man obedient to authority, and have soldiers under me. And I say to one ‘come,’ and he comes, and to my slave ‘do this or that,’ and he does it."

7:9  But when Jesus heard this he was astonished and he turned and said to the crowd that was following him, "I tell you that not even in Israel have I found faith like that."

7:10  And those who had been sent, on returning to the house, found the slave well.

7:11  Soon afterward he went to a city called Nain, accompanied by his disciples, and a great crowd of people.

7:12  Now when he drew near the gate of the city, behold, they were there carrying out one who was dead, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.

7:13  A great crowd accompanied her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep."

7:14  And he came near and touched the bier; the bearer stopped and he said, "Young man, I bid you to rise."

7:15  And he who was dead sat up and began to speak; and he gave him to his mother.

7:16  And awe took hold on them all, and they began to glorify God saying. "A great prophet has risen among us;" and, "God has visited his people."

7:17  And the report of what Jesus had done went forth throughout Judea and the surrounding regions.

7:18  John’s disciples brought him word of all these things

7:19  and, calling a certain two disciples to him, he sent them to Jesus, to say, "Are you ‘the coming one,’ or if we are to expect another?"

7:20  So the men came to Jesus and said, "Johnthe Baptist has sent us to ask you if you are the coming one, or if we are to expect another."

7:21  At that moment Jesus was healing many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and to many that were blind he was freely giving their sight.

7:22  So he answered them. "Go your way, tell Johnwhat you have seen and heard. How the blind are seeing, the lame are walking, the lepers are being cleansed, the deaf are hearing, the dead are being raised, and the poor are hearing the proclamations of glad tidings.

7:23  "And blessed is he who finds no cause of stumbling in me."

7:24  When John’s messengers were gone he began to speak to the crowds about John, saying, "What went out you out to the desert to behold? A reed shaken by the wind?

7:25  "But what you went out to behold? A man clothed in soft robes? Behold, men who are gorgeously dressed and live in luxury are in kings’ palaces.

7:26  "But what went you to see? A prophet?

7:27  "Yes, I tell you and more than a prophet. This is he who it is written. "Behold I send a messenger before thy face, Who shall prepare thy way before thee.

7:28  "I tell you that among all that are born of women not one is greater than John; yet he that is little in the kingdom of God is greater than he."

7:29  On hearing this all the people and the tax-gatherers acknowledged the justice of God by being baptized with the baptism of John;

7:30  but the Pharisees and lawyers who had refused his baptism, frustrated God’s purpose for themselves.

7:31  "To what then shall I compare the men of this generation?

7:32  "To What are they like, they are like children sitting in the market- place and calling to one another. "‘We have piped to you,’ they say, ‘and you have not danced; we have wailed, and you did not cry.’

7:33  "For Johnthe Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’

7:34  "The son of man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!’

7:35  "Nevertheless, wisdom is justified by all her children."

7:36  One of the Pharisees kept urging him to dine, so he entered the house and reclined at table.

7:37  Now there was a woman who was in the city, a sinner and when she knew that that Jesus was reclining at meat in the Pharisees house, she brought an alabaster vase of perfume,

7:38  and standing behind, at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and to wipe them with her hair, while she tenderly kissed his feet, and poured the perfume over them.

7:39  When he noticed this the Pharisee, who had invited him, said to himself, "If this man were really a prophet he would have perceived who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, and would know that she is a sinner."

7:40  Jesus then spoke to him. "Simon, I have a word to say to you." "Rabbi, say on," he replied.

7:41  "There were once to men," said Jesus, "in debt to one money- lender. One owed him fifty pounds; the other five.

7:42  "When they had nothing pay he forgave them with such charm. "Tell me, then, which of these will love him most?"

7:43  "I take it," said Simon, "the one he forgave the most."

7:44  "You have rightly judged." answered Jesus, and turning to the woman, he said to Simon. "Do you see this woman? When I came into your house you gave me no water for my feet; but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

7:45  "You gave me no kiss; but she, since she came in, has never ceased tenderly kissing my feet;

7:46  "you never anointed my head with oil; but she has anointed my feet with my feet with perfume.

7:47  "This is why I tell you that her sins, many as they are, are forgiven, for her love is great; but he who is forgiven little, loves but little.

7:48  "Your sins are forgiven," he said to her.

7:49  Then the other guest began to say among themselves, "Who is this even to forgive sins?"

7:50  But he said to the woman. "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

Chapter 8

8:1  It happened shortly afterwards that he began to go from town to town and village to village, preaching and telling the good news of the kingdom of God.

8:2  The twelve were with him, and certain women whom he had delivered from evil spirits and various diseases. Mary of Magdala, out of whom seven demons have been driven,

8:3  and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many other women, who used to minister to him out of their substance.

8:4  As a great crowd was gathering, and men of town after town kept restoring to him, he spoke a parable to them.

8:5  "A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed some fell by the wayside, and was trodden under foot, and the wild birds ate it up.

8:6  "Some other seed dropped on the rock, as soon as it grew it withered away, because it had no moisture.

8:7  "Another part fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it.

8:8  "But some fell on good soil, and grew up, and brought forth fruit, a hundredfold." When he said this, he called out, "Whoever has ears to hear with, let him listen."

8:9  Then his disciples began to interrupt him, saying, "What does this parable mean?"

8:10  He answered. "To you it is given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God; But all others are taught in parables so that seeing they shall not see, and hearing they shall not hear.

8:11  "This is the meaning of the parable. The seed is the word of God.

8:12  "Those by the wayside are people who hear, but then comes the devil and carries off the word from their heart, so that they may not believe and not be saved.

8:13  "Those on the rock are people who, upon hearing, receive the word with joy; but they have no root. For a time indeed they all believe, but in time of temptation they fall away.

8:14  "And that which fell upon thorns is those who have heard, but as they go on their way of word is choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of life; so they bring no fruit of perfection.

8:15  "And that in the good soil is those who have listened to the message and, in an honest and good heart, hold fast, and bring forth fruit with patience.

8:16  "When he lights a lamp no one covers it with a vase or hides it under a bed; he puts it on a lamp-stand so whoever may behold the light.

8:17  "For is nothing hidden that shall not be disclosed; there is nothing secret which shall not be made known and come to the light.

8:18  "Take heed, then, how you listen. for he who has, to him shall it be given, but from him who has not, shall be taken away even what he has."

8:19  There came to him his mother and his brothers, and they could not reach him because of the crowd.

8:20  But some one told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you."

8:21  "My mother and brothers," he answered, "are those who listen to the word of God and obey it."

8:22  Now it happened that one of these days he got into a boat, And him his disciples, and he said to them, "Let us cross to the other side of the lake."

8:23  So they set sail. While they were sailing he fell asleep. And there fell on the lake a squall of wind, so that the boat began to fill, and they to be in deadly peril.

8:24  Then they came to him and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we are lost!" Then he awoke, and rebuked the winds and the raging of the sea. They ceased, and there was a calm.

8:25  "Where is your faith?" he asked them, In their terror they were filled with amazement, and said to one another, "Who is this who commands even the winds and the sea, and they obey him?"

8:26  Then they put in at the country of Gadarenes, which is across from Galilee.

8:27  When he landed here he was met by a certain townsman who was possessed by demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes and nor lived in any house, but in tombs.

8:28  When he saw Jesus he cried out, and fell down before him, and in a loud voice exclaimed. "What have we to do with you, Jesus, you son of God Most High? I implore you to torment me not!"

8:29  For Jesus was already commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For many times it had seized him and held him, and they again and again kept him under guard, and put him in chains and fetters. But he would break his bonds asunder, as he was driven by the demon in to the desert.

8:30  So Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" And he answered, "Legion" (for many demons had entered into him).

8:31  So they besought Jesus not to command them to go away into the abyss.

8:32  Now there was a great herd of swine feeding on the hillside, and the demons begged him to give them leave to enter them. He gave them leave.

8:33  The demons came out of the man, and entered into the swine; the herd rushed violently down over the cliff into the lake.

8:34  And those who saw what had happened fled and reported it in the town and the villages.

8:35  Then the people came out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man out of whom the demons had gone sitting clothed and in his right mind, at the feet of Jesus. And they were terrified.

8:36  Then those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been saved.

8:37  And the whole populace of Gadarenes and the surrounding territory besought Jesus to go away from them; for they were terror-stricken. So he entered a boat and returned.

8:38  But the man out of whom the demons had gone kept begging him that he might be with him. But Jesus sent him away saying,

8:39  "Return to your home, and tell them all that God has done for you." So he went away and throughout the whole city he published how much Jesus had done for him.

8:40  And as Jesus returned the crowd welcomed him;

8:41  for they were all waiting for him. Just then there came a man named Jarius, and he was ruler in the synagogue. He fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged him to come into his house;

8:42  for he had only one daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay dying. But as he went the crowds continued to press in on him.

8:43  And a woman who for twelve years had had a hemorrhage, and had spent on doctors all that she had, but none had cured her,

8:44  came close behind him, and touched the hem of his garment; and instantly the hemorrhage ceased.

8:45  "Who is that touched me?" said Jesus and when everybody denied it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds are hemming you in and pressing upon you."

8:46  But Jesus said. "Some one did touch me; for I perceived that the power was proceeding out of me."

8:47  Then the woman, who saw that she had not escaped notice, came trembling, and falling down before him, stated before the people for what reason she had touched him, and how she had been instantly healed.

8:48  "Daughter," he said "your faith has made you well, go on into peace."

8:49  As he was speaking some one came from the house of the synagogue, saying. "Your daughter is dead! Do not trouble the Master."

8:50  But Jesus heard and answered. "Have no fear. Only believe, and she shall be restored."

8:51  So he came to the house, and would not permit anyone to go in with him except Peter and Johnand James, and the father and Mother of the little girl.

8:52  The people were weeping and bewailing her, but he said. "Stop your wailing; for she is not dead, but asleep."

8:53  They began to laugh him to scorn, because they knew well that she was dead.

8:54  But he took her by the hand and called to her, "Little daughter, rise!"

8:55  And her spirit returned and instantly she stood up.

8:56  He bade them to get her some food. Her parents were amazed; but he forbade them to tell any one what had been done.

Chapter 9

9:1  Then he called the Twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to heal;

9:2  and sent them out to preach the kingdom of God, and heal the sick.

9:3  And he said to them. "Take nothing for your journey, neither staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money, and do not have two tunics.

9:4  "Into whatever house you enter, there stay, and thence depart.

9:5  "If any one will not receive you, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave this town, as a testimony against them."

9:6  So they went forth, and walked from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

9:7  Now Herod, the Tetrarch, heard of all that was happening; and he was perplexed because of its being said by someone that Johnwas risen from the dead;

9:8  and by some that Elijah had appeared; and by others that one of the ancient prophets was risen again.

9:9  So Herod said, "I beheaded John, but who is this of whom I am hearing such reports," And he kept seeking to see him.

9:10  On their return the apostles told him what they had done. and he took them and withdrew in private to a town called Bethsaida.

9:11  But when the crowd learned this they followed him. He received them kindly and spoke to them concerning the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed restored to good health.

9:12  But now the day began to decline, and the twelve came to him and said. "Send away the crowd so that they may go into the villages and surrounding the country to lodge and buy provisions; for here we are on a solitary place."

9:13  "Do you yourselves give them food," he answered. "We have nothing," they replied "Except five loaves, and a couple fish, unless you mean for us to go and buy provisions for all the crowd."

9:14  (For there were about five thousand men.) "Make them sit down in table-companies, of about fifty each," he said to his disciples.

9:15  This they did, and made them all sit down.

9:16  Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up in heaven, he blessed them, broke them in pieces, and began to giving to his disciples to apportion among the crowd.

9:17  So they ate and were filled, all of them. And there was picked up that which remained over to them, of broken pieces, twelve basketfuls.

9:18  Now it happened that while he was praying by himself, the disciples were with him, and he asked them a question. "Who do the crowd think I am?"

9:19  "Johnthe Baptist," they answered, "But others say Elijah, and others that one of the ancient prophets is risen again."

9:20  Then he said to them, "But who do you say I am? Then Peter answered saying, "The Christ of God.’

9:21  Then he strictly forbade them to tell this to any one;

9:22  and he said, "The Son of man must suffer much, and be restricted by the elders and high priests and scribes and be put to death, and on the third day be raised again."

9:23  And he said to all. "If any man wills to follow me, Let him renounce self and take up his cross daily and follow me.

9:24  "For whoever wills to save his life shall lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake shall save it.

9:25  "For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose or forfeit himself?

9:26  "For whoever is ashamed of me and of my teachings, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when he comes in his own and in his Father’s glory, and in that of the holy angels.

9:27  "But I tell you truly there are some of those standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."

9:28  About eight days after this it happened that Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and went up on the mountain to pray.

9:29  And as he was praying the appearances of his countenance became different, and his clothing became white and dazzling.

9:30  And suddenly there were two men talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah.

9:31  These appeared in glory and talked about his departure which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

9:32  Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep; but when they were fully awake they saw his glory, and the two men were standing beside him.

9:33  And when they were preparing to depart from him Peter said to Jesus. "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" - not knowing what he was saying.

9:34  And while he was saying this, there came a cloud and began to overshadow them; and they were awestruck as they entered into the cloud.

9:35  And a voice came out of the cloud, saying. "This is my Son, my chosen one; listen to him."

9:36  When the voice ceased Jesus was found alone. And they held their peace, and told no one at that time about what they had seen.

9:37  It happened the next day, when they were come down from the mountain, that a large crowd came to meet him;

9:38  and a man called out of the crowd saying. "Teacher, I beg you to look upon my son; for he is my only boy,

9:39  "and behold a spirit seizes hold of him, and rudely he shouts out, It convulses him till he foams; indeed it will hardly leave off bruising him sorely.

9:40  "I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."

9:41  "O faithless and perverse generation," said Jesus, "how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son to me."

9:42  But while he was yet coming the demon dashed him down, and cruelly convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and cured the boy, and gave him back to his father.

9:43  And they were all awestruck at the mighty power of God. But while everyone was marveling at what he was doing, he said to his disciples.

9:44  "Let these words sink into your ears; for the son of man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."

9:45  But they did not understand this saying; it was hidden from them so that they perceived it not, and they were sore afraid to ask him about his saying.

9:46  Now there arose a dispute among them as to which one of them was the greatest.

9:47  And Jesus who knew the dispute that was in their hearts, took a young child, and placed him by his side;

9:48  then he said to them. "Whoever shall receive this little child in my name receives me; and whoever shall receive me receives him that sent me. For it is the lowliest among you all who is great."

9:49  "Master," said John, "we saw a man who was casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us."

9:50  But Jesus said, "Forbid him not, for he who is not against you is for you."

9:51  When now when the time drew near for him to be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,

9:52  and sent messengers before him. These went and entered into a Samaritan village to make ready for him.

9:53  But they did not receive him because his face was set to go to Jerusalem.

9:54  And when his disciples, Jamesand John, saw this they said, "Lord, are you willing for us to bid fire come down from heaven and destroy them?" As Elijah did.

9:55  But he turned and rebuked them and said,

9:56  "You know not what kind of spirit you share, for the Son of man came not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them." And they went to another village.

9:57  As they were going on their way, a man came to him and said, "I will follow wherever you go."

9:58  "The foxes have their holes," Jesus answered, "and the wild birds have their nest, but the Son of man has not where to lay his head."

9:59  To another he said, "Follow me!" But he replied, "Permit me first to go and bury my father."

9:60  "Leave the dead to bury their own dead," said Jesus to him, "go you and announce, far and wide the kingdom of God."

9:61  And another man also said to him. "I will follow you, Lord; but first permit me to bid farewell to those who are in my house."

9:62  But Jesus answered him, "No man who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

Chapter 10

10:1  After this the appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two before his face, into every city and place into which he himself intended to go.

10:2  And he thus addressed them. "The harvest is abundant, but the harvesters are few. do you therefore pray the lord of the harvest to send forth harvesters into his harvest.

10:3  "Go your way; behold, I am sending you forth like lambs among wolves.

10:4  "Carry no purse, no bag, no shoes; and do not salute any one on your journey.

10:5  "Into whatever you first enter, say, ‘Peace be to this house!’

10:6  "And if there be any son of peace there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not it shall return to you.

10:7  "Stay in that same house, eating and drinking what they give. for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Do not go from house to house.

10:8  "And whatever town you come to, and they receive you, eat whatever they put before you.

10:9  "Heal the sick in that town and tell them, The kingdom of God draws near to you.

10:10  "But whatever town you enter, and they do not receive you, Go out into the streets and cry,

10:11  "‘The very dust of your town which clings to your feet we wipe off as protest; but know this, that the kingdom of God is drawing near to you.’

10:12  "For I tell you that it will be mare tolerable for Sodom in that day than for that town.

10:13  "Woe unto you, Chorazin! Woe unto you, Bethsaida! For had the mighty been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

10:14  "However, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you.

10:15  "And you Capernaum, shall you be exalted to heaven? No! you shall be brought down to Hades!

10:16  "He who listens to you listens to me. and he who rejects you, rejects me; he who rejects me, rejects him who sent me."

10:17  Then the Seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord even the demons are subject to us in your name."

10:18  And he said to them. "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a lightning flash.

10:19  "Behold, I give you the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and to trample on all the power of the enemy. In no case shall anything do you harm.

10:20  "Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in Heaven."

10:21  In the same hour he thrilled with joy in the Holy Ghost. "I praise thee, Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth," he said "for hiding these things from the wise and prudent, and for revealing them to babes. Yea, Father, for so it was well pleasing in thy sight!

10:22  "All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father; and who the Father is except the Son, and he the Son wishes to reveal him."

10:23  And turning to his disciples he said privately. "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!

10:24  "For I tell you that many prophets and kings have longed to see what you see, and have seen it; and to hear what you hear, and have heard it not.’

10:25  Then a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him. "Master," he said "what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

10:26  And he said to him. "What is written in the Law? What do you read there?"

10:27  "You must love the Lord your God," he answered, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."

10:28  "You have answered right," said Jesus "do that and you shall live."

10:29  But he, determined to justify himself, said to Jesus, "But who is my neighbor?" Jesus answered.

10:30  "A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell among bandits who both stripped him and beat him, and went off leaving him half dead.

10:31  "Now a certain priest chanced to be going down that way, but on seeing him he passed on the other side.

10:32  "In like manner also a Levite who came to the spot, came and looked at him, and passed on the other side.

10:33  "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him was moved with compassion.

10:34  "He went to him bound up his wounds, pouring on them oil and wine. He set him on his own beast, and took him to an inn, and took care of him.

10:35  "The next day he took two silver pieces and gave them to the landlord and said, "‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend I will repay it to you on my way back.’

10:36  "Which then of these three seems to you to have behaved like a neighbor to the man who fell among bandits?"

10:37  He replied, "The one who showed mercy on him." "Go, then," said Jesus, "and do likewise."

10:38  It happened as they went on their way that he entered into a certain village were a woman named Martha received him into her house.

10:39  She had a sister named Mary, who after seating herself at the Lord’s feet was listening to his teaching.

10:40  But Martha meanwhile was growing distracted about much serving. She came up to him and said. "Lord do you not care that my sister has left me alone to do the serving? Come tell her to take hold of her end of the work along with me."

10:41  "Martha, Martha," said Jesus, "you are anxious and worried about many things,

10:42  "only one thing is really necessary. Mary, moreover, has chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her."

Chapter 11

11:1  It happened he was praying in a certain place, and when he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, "Master, teach us how to pray, just as Johntaught his disciples."

11:2  So he said to them. "When you pray, say, "Father, hallowed be thy name; May thy kingdom come,

11:3  "Give us day by day our bread for the coming day;

11:4  "Forgive us our sins; for we also forgive everyone who has offended us; "And bring us not into temptation."

11:5  He also said to them. "Suppose you have a friend and you go to him, ‘My friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

11:6  "for a friend of mine is come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.’

11:7  "and he from indoors shall answer. ‘Do not pester me. The door is now closed, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give to you.’

11:8  "I tell you that, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunate persistence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

11:9  "So I say to you. "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you.

11:10  "For he that asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks the door shall be opened.

11:11  "What father is there among you who, if his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish will give him instead a serpent?

11:12  "Or if he asks for an egg, will offer him a scorpion?

11:13  "If you give good gifts to your children, how much more shall the Father who is in heaven give the Holy spirit to those that ask him!"

11:14  Once he was casting out a dumb demon, and when the demon was gone out, the dumb man spoke, and the people wondered.

11:15  But some of them said, "It is by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that he cast out demons."

11:16  Others, tempting him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven.

11:17  He knew their intentions and said to them. "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste and house falls upon house.

11:18  "And if Satan also is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand?

11:19  "Do you say that I am casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub? If I then am casting out demons by Beelzebub, by whom are your sons casting them out? They therefore shall be your judges.

11:20  "But if it is by the finger of God that I am casting out demons, then the kingdom of God is come upon you.

11:21  "When the strong man fully aroused keeps guard over his homestead, his property is undisturbed;

11:22  "but when the stronger man attacks him, he takes away from the strong armor in which he was trusting and divides up the spoil.

11:23  "He who is not for me is against me, and he who is not gathering with me is scattering.

11:24  "Whenever a foul spirit is gone out of a man, it roams through waterless places, in search of rest; but when it can find none, it says, ‘I will go back to the house which I have left.’

11:25  When it comes and finds the house completely swept and garnished.

11:26  "Then it goes off and fetches seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first."

11:27  It happened while he was saying this, that a certain woman out of the crowd shouted to him, saying, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breast that you have sucked."

11:28  "No, rather," he answered, "blessed are those who listen to the word of God, and keep it."

11:29  When the crowd were beginning to throng about him he proceeded to say. "This is an evil generation! It seeks a sign, and there shall be no sign be given to it except the sign of Jonah;

11:30  "for as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so shall the Son of man be to this generation.

11:31  "The queen of the South shall rise up in Judgement with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them; because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and lo, one greater than Solomon is here!

11:32  "The men of the Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with his generation and shall condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and lo! one greater than Jonah is here!

11:33  "When one lights a lamp he does not put it in a cellar nor under the bushel, but on a lamp-stand that those who enter may see the light.

11:34  "The lamp of the body is your eye; when your eye is single then your whole body is full of light; but when it is evil your whole body is full of darkness.

11:35  "Look carefully! Perhaps that very light of yours is darkness.

11:36  "If, however, your whole body is full of light, without having any part dark, it will be wholly radiant with light, as when the lamp illumines you with its bright rays."

11:37  When he had finished speaking a Pharisee asked him to dine with him; so he went in with him and reclined.

11:38  And the Pharisee noticed, to his amazement, that he did not wash his hands before eating,

11:39  but the Lord said to him. "You Pharisee do cleanse the outside of your cup or plate, but your secret heart is full of extortion and wickedness.

11:40  "Foolish men! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?

11:41  "Better cleanse what is within, and nothing will be unclean for you.

11:42  "But woe unto you Pharisee! for you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and disregard justice and the love of God; but these you ought to have done, and not leave the other undone.

11:43  "Woe unto you Pharisee! for you delight in the best seats in the synagogue, and in the salutation in the market-places.

11:44  "Woe unto you! for you are like the tombs which are hidden, and men walk over them unsuspecting."

11:45  Hereupon one of the lawyers exclaimed, "But teacher, in saying such things you are also reproaching us also."

11:46  "Woe unto you lawyers also!" said Jesus, "for you load men with irksome burdens, and you yourselves will not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

11:47  "Woe to you! for you are building the tombs of the prophets whom you ancestors killed.

11:48  "So you are witnesses, and you consent to the actions of your ancestors. for they killed them, and you build their tombs.

11:49  "For this reason also said the Wisdom of God. ‘I will send them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and some they will persecute;

11:50  "so that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required from this generation,

11:51  "from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the alter and the sanctuary; yes; I tell you, it shall be required of this generation!

11:52  "Woe to you lawyers, for you have taken away the key of knowledge!’ You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who are trying to enter."

11:53  After he had gone away, the Scribes and the Pharisee began to set themselves vehemently against him, and to cross-question him upon many points,

11:54  laying in wait for him, in order to catch a word from his lips.

Chapter 12

12:1  Meanwhile when myriads of the multitudes were thronging around him so that they trod one upon another, he began to say to his disciples, first of all. "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisee, which is hypocrisy.

12:2  "There is nothing hidden which shall not be revealed; nothing concealed that shall not be known.

12:3  "So that what you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light; and what you have whispered in the inner chambers shall be proclaimed from the housetops.

12:4  "But I say to you who are my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do.

12:5  "I will warn you whom you ought to fear. Fear him who, after he was after he has killed, has power to throw you into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

12:6  "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings? Yet not one of them is forgotten in the sight of God!

12:7  "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not! You are of more value than many sparrow!

12:8  "And I tell you that whoever confesses me before men, the Son of man will confess him before the angels of God;

12:9  "and whoever disowns me before men, shall be disowned before the angels of God.

12:10  "If any one shall speak a word against the Son of man it shall be forgiven him; but he who is blasphemes against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven.

12:11  "And when they are bringing you before the synagogues and the rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what you shall answer; or what you shall say;

12:12  "for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that hour what you ought to say."

12:13  Then one of the crowd said to him, "Master, tell my brother to give me my share of our inheritance."

12:14  "Man," said he, "who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?"

12:15  And to the people he said, "Take heed and guard yourselves from all covetousness, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses."

12:16  Then he spoke to them in a parable. "The ground of a certain rich man bore heavy crops.

12:17  "So he debated with himself saying, ‘What shall I do? for I have no place in which to store my crops.’

12:18  "And he said to himself. ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns and build larger ones in which I will store all my wheat and my goods.

12:19  "‘And I will say to my soul, "‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years! Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.’

12:20  "But God said to him. ‘Foolish man! This very night your soul is wanted! And these things you have prepared, whose shall they be?

12:21  "So is he that lays up treasures for himself and is not rich toward God."

12:22  Then he said to his disciples. "For this is the reason I say to you. Be not anxious for your life, what you shall eat; nor yet your body what shall you wear.

12:23  "For the life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes.

12:24  "Consider the ravens; they neither sow nor reap; they have no storehouse nor barn. And yet God feeds them. How much more are you worth than the birds?

12:25  "And which of you by taking anxious thought can add a cubit to his height?

12:26  "If then you cannot do even that which is least, why are you anxious concerning the rest?

12:27  "Consider the lilies how they grow! They toil not, neither do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

12:28  "Now if God so clothe the grass in the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

12:29  "So do not be asking what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, and be not of doubtful mind.

12:30  "For all these things the nations of the world are seeking; but your Father knows that you have need of these things.

12:31  "But seek his kingdom, and these things shall be added to you.

12:32  "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

12:33  "Sell what you have and give alms. Provide yourselves with purses which do not grow old, a treasure inexhaustible in the heavens, where no thief draws near, nor does moth destroy.

12:34  "For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.

12:35  "Let your loins be girded about and your lamps burning;

12:36  "and be yourselves like men who are looking for the Lord, on his return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they may at once open the door for him.

12:37  "Happy are those slaves whom their master shall find watching when he comes. I tell you truly that will gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and come and serve them.

12:38  "And whether it be in the second watch, or in the third, that he comes, and so finds them, happy are those slaves.

12:39  "However, you know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not have allowed his house to be broken into.

12:40  "Do you also be ready, for in an hour that you think not the Son of man is coming."

12:41  "Master," said Peter, "are you speaking this parable to us or to all alike?"

12:42  The Lord answered. "Who then is that faithful steward, the wise man whom his Lord will put in charge of the rations in due time?

12:43  "Blessed is that slave whom his master on his coming shall find so doing.

12:44  "Of a truth I tell you that he will put him in charge of his possessions.

12:45  "But if that slave should say to himself, ‘My master delays his coming,’ and should begin to beat the men and the maids, and to eat and drink and to get drunk,

12:46  "that slave’s master will arrive on a day when he is not expecting him, and at an hour when he knows not, and will surely scourge him, and appoint him his portion with the unfaithful.

12:47  "The slave who knew his Lord’s will, and made not ready, nor did according to his will, will be beaten with many lashes,

12:48  "but he who did not know, but did things worthy of a beating, will receive few lashes. To whom much has been given, from him much will be required, and to whom much is entrusted, of him they will ask the more.

12:49  "I came to build a fire upon the earth; what is my desire?

12:50  "Would it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it is accomplished!

12:51  "Do you think that I am come to make peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather dissension.

12:52  "From this time there will be five in one house divided, three against two and two against three;

12:53  "father against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against her mother; mother-in-law against her daughter- in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

12:54  Then he said to the crowd also. "When you see a cloud rising in the west you at once say, ‘There is going to be a shower,’ and it comes to pass.

12:55  "And when you feel the south winds blowing you say, ‘There will be a hot wind,’ and it comes to pass.

12:56  "Hypocrites! you know how to read the face of the earth and of the sky; but how is it that you do not know how to read the signs of the present time?

12:57  "And why do you not, even yourselves, judge what is right?

12:58  "For as you go before the magistrate with your opponent do your utmost to get quit of him, lest he drag you before the judge, and the judge delivers you over to the officer, and the officer cast you into prison.

12:59  "You shall by no means come out of there until you have paid the very last farthing."

Chapter 13

13:1  Now there were some present at that very season who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifies.

13:2  "Do you suppose," he answered them, "that those Galileans were worse sinners than the rest of the Galileans because they have suffered thus?

13:3  "I tell you no; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

13:4  "Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you suppose that they were worse offenders than the rest of those who lived in Jerusalem?

13:5  "I tell you no; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did."

13:6  Then he gave them this parable. "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came to look for fruit on it, but found none.

13:7  So he said to the gardener. "‘See, for years I have come looking for fruit on this tree, and found none. Cut it down. Why should it actually cumber the ground?’

13:8  "But the gardener answered him. ‘Lord, let it alone this year also, till I have dug around it, and fertilized it.

13:9  "If after that it bears fruit, well and good; but if not you shall cut it down.’"

13:10  Once he was teaching in one of the synagogues, on the Sabbath,

13:11  a woman was present who had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years. she was bent double, and could not lift herself up at all.

13:12  Jesus noticed her and called to him and said, "Woman, you are free from your weakness."

13:13  Then he placed his hand on her, and she instantly stood upright and began to give glory to God.

13:14  But the ruler of the synagogue was indignant at Jesus for healing her on the Sabbath, and said to the crowd. "There are six days of the week on which men ought to work. Therefore come during those, and get cured, but not on the Sabbath Day."

13:15  But the Lord answered him. "Hypocrites!" he said, "does not each one of you loose his ox or his ass from the stall on the Sabbath Day, and lead it to water,

13:16  "and this woman, who is the daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound these eighteen years, ought she not have been loosened from bondage, though the day be the Sabbath?"

13:17  As he said this, all adversaries were put to shame; and all the crowd rejoiced for the glorious things that he continually did.

13:18  This led him to say. "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?

13:19  "It is like a grain of mustardseed, which a man took and cast into his own garden. It grew and became a tree, and the wild birds nested in its branches."

13:20  And again he said. "To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?

13:21  "It is like leaven which a took and hid in three measures of flour until the whole was leavened."

13:22  So he went on his way through cities and villages,

13:23  teaching as he journeyed toward Jerusalem. And a man came behind him and said, "Lord are there but few that are saved?"

13:24  "Struggle to enter in by the narrow door," he answered, "for I tell you that many will try to enter and not be able,

13:25  "when once the master of the house is risen up and has shut the door. You will begin to stand outside, and to knock at the door, crying, "‘Lord, open to us.’ "‘I do not know were you came from,’ he will reply.

13:26  "Then you will begin saying, ‘But we have eaten and drunk in your presence, and you have taught in our streets.’

13:27  "But he will answer. "‘I tell you I do not know were you came from;

13:28  "‘depart from me, all of you, you evil-doers.’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves cast out.

13:29  "And people shall come from the Orient and from the Occident, from the north and from the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.

13:30  "And lo, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last."

13:31  That very day there came some Pharisees to him, saying, "Get out of here and go away, for Herod wishes to kill you."

13:32  "Go, tell that fox," he answered, "‘Lo, today and tomorrow I am continuing to cast out demons and perform cures, and on the third day I finish my course.’

13:33  "Yet I must continue my journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it would never do for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem!

13:34  "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not!

13:35  "Behold! Your house is left to you, desolate! I tell you that you shall never see me again until you say, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord,"

Chapter 14

14:1  It happened on the Sabbath Day when he went into the house of a certain ruler among Pharisees to take a meal, that they were watching him.

14:2  And lo! there was in front of him a man who had dropsy.

14:3  So Jesus questioned the lawyers and the Pharisees, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath Day or not?"

14:4  They kept silent. Then Jesus took him and healed him and let him go.

14:5  And to them he said, "Which of you when an ox or ass has fallen into a well, will at once pull him out on the Sabbath Day?"

14:6  They could not answer this.

14:7  He told a parable to the guests when he noticed how they began choosing the best seats. He said to them.

14:8  "When you are invited by any one to a marriage-feast, do not sit down in the best seat, lest a guest more distinguished than yourself has been invited, and your host come to you and say,

14:9  "‘Give place to this man,’ and then with mortification you proceed to take the lowest place.

14:10  "But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when your host arrives he may say to you, ‘My friend, come up higher.’ Then you will be honored before the other guest.

14:11  "For every one who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted."

14:12  Also to his host who had invited him, he continued, saying. "When you are making a dinner-party or a supper, do not invite your friends, or your brothers, or your relatives, or your rich neighbors, lest it chance that they invite you in return, and a recompense be made by you.

14:13  "But when you make a reception, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.

14:14  "Then you will be blessed, because they have no means to repay you, but you shall be paid in the Resurrection of the Just."

14:15  One of his fellow guest who was listening to him, said to him, "Blessed are those who eat bread in the kingdom of God."

14:16  Jesus answered. "A certain man was making a great feast to which he invited many guests.

14:17  "At dinnertime he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’

14:18  "And they all, without exception, proceeded to excuse themselves. The first told him. ‘I have bought a field, and must needs go and see it. Pray have me excused.’

14:19  "The second said. ‘I have bought five yolk of oxen and am on my way to try them. I pray that you will have me excused.’

14:20  "‘I have taken a wife,’ said the another, ‘and for that reason I am unable to come.’

14:21  "So the slave came and presented all these answers to his master. Then the master of the house was indignant, and said to his slave. ‘Go out, quickly, into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in hither the poor, the maimed, the blind, the lame.’

14:22  "And the slave said, ‘My master, your orders have been carried out, but yet there is room.’

14:23  "Said the master to his slave. ‘Go out into the roads and the hedges, and make them come in, so that my house may be filled.

14:24  "‘For I tell you that not one of those invited guests shall taste my supper.’"

14:25  Great crowds were along with him, and he turned to them and said.

14:26  "If any one comes to me and does not hate father and his mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yes, and his own very life also, he cannot be a disciple of mine.

14:27  "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me, cannot be a disciple of mine.

14:28  "Which of you who is desirous of building a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, to see if he has the means to complete it?

14:29  "Lest it happen that after he has laid the foundations and is unable to complete it, all who see it shall begin to jeer at him saying,

14:30  "‘This fellow began to build and could not finish.’

14:31  "Or what king as he goes forth to join battle with another king in war does not sit down first and deliberate whether he can meet with ten thousand men the one who is advancing against him with twenty thousand?

14:32  "If he cannot, while the other king is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy to ask conditions of peace.

14:33  "Just so any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

14:34  "Salt is good, but if even the salt have lost its flavor, with what shall it be seasoned?

14:35  "It is fit neither for the land nor the dung-hill; men cast it out. He who has ears to hear let him listen to this!"

Chapter 15

15:1  Now all the tax-gatherers and sinners continued to draw near him, and to listen to him.

15:2  And the Pharisees and Scribes began to complain, saying, "He is welcoming sinners and eating with them!"

15:3  And he told them a parable.

15:4  "Which one of you men, if he has a hundred sheep, and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety and nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?

15:5  "And after he has found it, he lays it on his shoulder, rejoicing.

15:6  "When he gets home he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying, "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’

15:7  "I say to you that even so there shall be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, more than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance.

15:8  "Or, again, suppose a woman has ten coins. If she loses one, does she not light a lamp and sweep the house, and search anxiously until she finds it?

15:9  "And when she has found it, she calls together her woman friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.’

15:10  "Even so I tell you there is joy in the presence of the angels for God over one sinner who repents."

15:11  And he said. "There was a man who had two sons.

15:12  "The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of your property which is coming to me.’ So he divided his means among them.

15:13  "Not many days after that the younger son gathered everything together and took his journey into a distant country; and there he wasted his money on living unsavingly.

15:14  "After he had spent everything there came a terrible famine in the land, and he began to be in want.

15:15  "So he went and hired to one of the citizens of that land, who sent him out into the fields to feed swine.

15:16  "And he was longing to be filled with the husks which the swine were eating, but no one gave him any.

15:17  "When he came to himself he said. "‘How many of my father’s hired men have bread enough and to spare, while I am perishing of hunger!

15:18  "‘I will rise and go to my father, and say to him. "Father, I have sinned against Heaven and in your sight,

15:19  "‘"I am no more worthy to be called your son; only make me like one of your hired men."‘

15:20  "So he arose and went to his father; but while he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.

15:21  "The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight and am no more worthy to be called your son.’

15:22  "‘Fetch the best robe, quick,’ said the father to his slaves, ‘and put it on him, and give him a ring on his finger, and shoes on his feet.

15:23  "‘Bring that fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry,

15:24  "‘for this son of mine was dead and is alive again - he was lost and is found.’

15:25  "So they began to make merry. But his elder son was in the field, and as he drew near to the house he heard music and dancing,

15:26  "and he summoned one of the slaves, and began to inquire of him what all this meant.

15:27  "‘Your brother is come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has him safe and sound.’

15:28  "But he was angry and would not go in; so his father came out, and attempted to plead with him; but he said to his father.

15:29  "‘All these years I have been slaving for you and never disobeyed a command of yours. Yet you never gave me even a kid so that I might make merry with my friends.

15:30  "‘But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with harlots, you have killed him the fatted calf.’

15:31  "‘My dear son,’ answered his father, ‘you are always with me and all that is mine is yours.

15:32  "‘But it was fitting that we should make merry and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and is alive; he was lost and is found.’"

Chapter 16

16:1  To his disciples he said. "There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and this steward was accused to him of wasting his property.

16:2  "He called to him to him and said. "‘What is this that I hear about you? Render an account of your stewardship; for you can no longer be steward.’

16:3  "Now the steward said to himself. ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking away my stewardship? I am not strong enough to dig, to beg I am ashamed.

16:4  "‘I know what I will do, so that when I am put out of my stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’

16:5  "So he called to him each of his master’s debtors and said to the first, ‘How much money do you owe my master?’

16:6  "‘A hundred measures of oil,’ he answered. "He said to him, ‘Take your bill and sit down quickly and write fifty."

16:7  "To a second he said, ‘How much do you owe?’ "The man answered, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ "‘Here is you bill,’ he said, ‘change it to eighty measures.’

16:8  "And the master praised the unjust steward because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this world are in relation to their own generation wiser than the sons of the light.

16:9  "And to you I say, Use mammon, dishonest as it is, to make yourselves friends, so that when it shall fail they will welcome you to the eternal tabernacles.

16:10  "The man who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much, and he who is unjust in a very little, is unjust also as much.

16:11  "If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will trust to you the true riches?

16:12  "And if you are not faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?

16:13  "No one can be a household servants to two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will cling to the one and despise the other. You cannot be the slave of God and of Mammon."

16:14  Now the Pharisees who loved money listened to all this and they jeered at him.

16:15  He said to them. "You are those that justify themselves in the eyes of men; but God knows you hearts; for that which is lofty in the eyes of men is abomination in the eyes of God.

16:16  "The Law and the Prophet lasted until John; since then the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached, and any one presses in.

16:17  "Yet it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away then for one title of the law to fail.

16:18  "Every man who divorces his wife and marries some one else, commits adultery; and he who marries one who is put away by her husband commits adultery.

16:19  "Now there was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and made merry every day in splendor.

16:20  "And a certain beggar named Lazarus was thrown at his door.

16:21  "He was full of sores, and longingly desired to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes! even the dogs came and licked his sores.

16:22  "But in the course of time the beggar died; and he was carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom.

16:23  "The rich man also died, and was buried. And as he was tormented in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.

16:24  "And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham have mercy on me; and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’

16:25  "‘Remember my son.’ said Abraham, ‘that you had in your lifetime all your good things, and in the same way Lazarus his evil things; but now here he is comforted, and you are in anguish.

16:26  "But besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who want to cross from here to you cannot, nor can those who would cross from you to us.’

16:27  "‘I beg you then, father,’ he said, ‘send him to my fathers house. For I have five brothers.

16:28  "‘Let him earnestly warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.’

16:29  "But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets, let them listen to them.’

16:30  "‘Nay, Father Abraham,’ he said ‘but if some one went to them from the dead they would repent.’

16:31  "‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,’ said Father Abraham, ‘neither will they be persuaded if one should rise from the dead.’"

Chapter 17

17:1  Jesus said to his disciples. "It is not possible but that occasions of stumbling should occur, but woe to him through whom they come!

17:2  "It were well for him if a millstone were tied about his neck, and he were hurled into the sea, rather than he should cause one of these little ones to stumble.

17:3  "Be on you guard! "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents forgive him.

17:4  "And if he sins against you seven times a day, and seven times a day turns to you saying ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him."

17:5  The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"

17:6  "If your faith," answered Jesus, "were like a grain of mustard-seed, you would say to this tree, ‘Tear yourself up and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

17:7  "But who of you who has a slave plowing or keeping sheep, will say to him, when he is come in from the field, ‘Come at once, sit down to dinner,’

17:8  "and will not rather tell him, ‘Get ready something for me to eat, and gird yourself to wait on me until I have eaten and drunken. Then you shall eat and drink.’

17:9  "Does he think the slave because he did the things that were commanded?

17:10  "Even so, you also, after you have done all the things that are commanded you, should say, ‘We are but slaves, we have only done what it was our duty to do.’"

17:11  Now it happened that as he went his way to Jerusalem, he passed between Samaria and Galilee.

17:12  And as he was going certain village ten lepers met him.

17:13  They stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, take pity on us."

17:14  Perceiving this he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priest." And as they went they were made clean.

17:15  Now one of them, as he saw that he was cured, came back, glorifying God in a loud voice,

17:16  and he fell on his face at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan.

17:17  "Were there not ten cleansed?" asked Jesus, "but where are the nine?

17:18  "Are there none found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner?"

17:19  And he said unto him, "Rise and go, your faith has healed you."

17:20  The Pharisees asked him when the kingdom of God was coming. He answered. "The kingdom of God does not come so that you can catch sight of it,

17:21  "nor will they say, ‘Look here it is!’ or ‘See there!’ - for the kingdom of God is now in your midst."

17:22  Then he said turning to his disciples. "The days will come when you shall long to see one of the days of the Son of man, you shall not see it.

17:23  "And they shall say to you, ‘Lo there! Lo there!’ But do not go away or follow them.

17:24  "For as the lightning when it lightens out of the one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so shall the Son of man be in his day.

17:25  "But first he must suffer many things, and be rejected buy his generation.

17:26  "And this was in the time of Noah, so will it be in the time of the Son of man.

17:27  "Men were eating and drinking; they were marrying and being married, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

17:28  "The same was true in the time of Lot; they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building;

17:29  "but on the day that Lot left Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.

17:30  "In the same manner it shall be in the day that the Son of man shall be revealed.

17:31  "On that day, if a man is on the housetop and his goods inside, let him not go down to take them away; nor should a man in the field turn back.

17:32  "Remember Lot’s wife!

17:33  "Whoever seeks to keep his life shall lose it; but whoever loses it shall preserve it.

17:34  "I tell you that in one night there shall be two men in one bed; one shall be taken and the other left.

17:35  "There shall be two women grinding together; the one shall be taken and the other left."

17:36  (wanting in the most ancient manuscripts)

17:37  "Where, Master?" they asked him. "Where the dead body is," he answered, "there will the vultures be gathered together."

Chapter 18

18:1  He also taught them by a parable how they ought always to pray and never to lose heart.

18:2  "There was a certain town," he said, "a judge who had neither reverence for God, nor respect for man.

18:3  "In that same town there was a widow who came again and again before him, saying, "‘Do for me the justice of my adversary.’

18:4  "For a while he would not, but afterwards he said to himself, ‘Though I have neither reverence for God nor regard for man,

18:5  "‘yet because this woman annoys me I will give her justice, lest by her continual coming she wear me out.’

18:6  "Listen" said the Lord, "to what this unjust judge says.

18:7  "And will not God see justice done to his elect who are crying unto him day and night, even if he seems to delay helping them?

18:8  "I tell you that he will quickly see justice done to his elect! Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith upon the earth?"

18:9  Moreover he spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves because they were righteous, and looked down upon the rest.

18:10  "Two men are going up to the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, the other a tax-gatherer.

18:11  "The Pharisee stood apart and thus began to pray by himself. "‘O God, I thank thee that I am not like the rest of men, extortioners, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax gatherer;

18:12  "‘I fast twice a week, I pay tithes of all my possessions.’

18:13  "But the tax-gatherer, standing far back, would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but kept beating his breast and saying, "‘O God be merciful to me, the sinner!’

18:14  "I tell you that this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself shall be humbled; but he who humbles himself shall be exalted."

18:15  And they kept bringing their babies for him to touch them; but when his disciples saw it they began to rebuke them.

18:16  But Jesus called for the babies. "Let the little children come to me," he said, "do not hinder them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

18:17  "I tell you in solemn truth that whoever will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child, he will never get into it."

18:18  A ruler put this question to him. "Good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

18:19  "Why are you calling me ‘good’?"said Jesus to him; "no one is good but God.

18:20  "You know the commandments. "Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother."

18:21  "All of these," he replied, "I have kept from my youth up."

18:22  And receiving this reply, Jesus said to him. "One thing you are still lacking. Sell all that you have and give it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me."

18:23  But when he heard these words he became deeply grieved, for he was exceedingly rich.

18:24  Jesus looked at him and said. "How hard it is for those who have money to enter into the kingdom of God!

18:25  Why, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."

18:26  "Who then can be saved?" exclaimed his hearers.

18:27  "Things that are impossible with men," he answered them, "are possible with God."

18:28  Then Peter said, "Look! we have left our homes and followed you."

18:29  And he said to them, "In Solemn truth I tell you that there is no one who, for the sake of the kingdom of God, has left houses, or wife, or brother, or parents, or children,

18:30  "who shall not certainly receive many times as much in this time, and in the age to come eternal."

18:31  Then he took the twelve aside and told them. "See, we are on our way to Jerusalem, and all prophets regarding the son of Man will be fulfilled.

18:32  "He will be betrayed to the Gentiles, and be mocked, and shamefully treated, and spit upon;

18:33  "and they will scourge and kill him; and the third day he will rise again."

18:34  But they understood none of these sayings. His words were a mystery to them, and they did not know what he meant.

18:35  As Jesus drew near to Jericho, there was a blind man who sat by the wayside begging.

18:36  He heard the crowd passing and asked what the matter was.

18:37  They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."

18:38  Then he shouted out, saying, "Jesus, son of David, take pity on me!"

18:39  Those who went ahead began to reprove him and to tell him to be still; but he kept clamorously shouting all the more, "Son of David, take pity on me!"

18:40  So Jesus stopped and ordered him to be brought to him. When he was come near to him he asked him

18:41  "What do you want me to do for you?" "Lord," he answered, "that I might see again."

18:42  "Receive your sight," said Jesus, "your faith has saved you."

18:43  Instantly he regained his sight and followed Jesus, giving glory to God; and all the people who saw it gave praise to God.

Chapter 19

19:1  So he entered Jericho and was passing through the town.

19:2  There was a man there, called Zaccheus, who was a chief of the tax- gatherers, and was wealthy.

19:3  And he kept trying to see what sort of a man Jesus was; but he could not see because he was short.

19:4  So he ran on before him and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him; for he was about to pass that way.

19:5  As soon as Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Come down quickly, Zaccheus, for today I must stay at your house."

19:6  He made haste to climb down, and receive him joyfully.

19:7  When they all saw it, they began to complain, saying "He has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner."

19:8  But Zaccheus stood up and said to the Lord, "I give half my property to the poor, Lord, and if I have defrauded any man of anything I am restoring it to him fourfold."

19:9  "Today is salvation come to this house," said Jesus "since Zaccheus here is a son of Abraham.

19:10  "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save the lost."

19:11  As they were listening to his words he added this parable, because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the kingdom of God was immediately to appear.

19:12  So he said. "A certain nobleman went abroad to receive for himself royal power and to return.

19:13  "And he summoned ten slaves of his, and gave them ten pounds, and said to them, "‘Trade with these until I come.’

19:14  "But this fellow citizens hated him, and sent a deputation after him to say, ‘We do not wish this man to become our king.’

19:15  "And upon his return after he had secured the royal power, he ordered the slaves to whom he had given the money to be called in, so that he might know what they had gained by trading.

19:16  "And the first came before him, saying, ‘Master, your pound has made ten pounds.’

19:17  "And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’

19:18  "And the second came and said, ‘Master, your pound has made five pounds.’

19:19  "Then he said to him also, ‘You shall be over five cities.’

19:20  "And the next came to him and said, ‘Here master is your pound which I was keeping safe in a napkin.

19:21  "‘For I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take what you did not sow.’

19:22  "He said to him, "‘By your own words I will Judge you, you wicked slave. You knew, did you, that I was a hard man taking up what I did not lay down, reaping what I did not sow.

19:23  "‘Then why did you not put my money into the bank, so that at my coming I might I might have gotten it back with interest?’

19:24  "Then to those who stood by, he said, ‘Take the pounds from him and give it to him who has ten pounds.’

19:25  "‘Master,’ they said to him, ‘he already has ten pounds.’

19:26  "‘I tell you that to every one who has it shall be given; and from him who has not shall be taken away even what he has.

19:27  "‘Howbeit these enemies of mine who were not willing for me to become their King, bring them here, and slay them in my presence.’"

19:28  When he had so spoken he went on before, going up to Jerusalem.

19:29  When he was come near Bethphage and Bethany at the mount called The Olive Orchard,

19:30  he sent two of his disciples saying. "Go into the village in the front, and on entering it you will find an ass’s colt tied, on which no one has ever ridden.

19:31  "Untie it and bring it here. And if any one asks you, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ Simply say, ‘The Master needs it.’"

19:32  Then those who were sent out and found it as he had told them.

19:33  For as they were untying the colt, the owners said to them, "Why are you untying the colt?"

19:34  They answered, "The Master needs it."

19:35  So they led it to Jesus, and, after throwing their outer garments on the colt, they placed Jesus on it.

19:36  So he rode on, while they kept throwing their garments in the way.

19:37  And when now he was coming near Jerusalem, and descending the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice, and to praise God with a loud voice for the almighty works they had seen.

19:38  They cried, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in Heaven and glory in the Highest"

19:39  And some of the Pharisees said to them out of the crowd, "Teacher reprove your disciples!"

19:40  "I tell you," he answered, "that if these should hold their peace, the very stones would cry out."

19:41  And when he came into view of the city, as he approached it he broke into loud weeping,

19:42  exclaiming. "Oh that at this time you knew, yes, even you, on what your peace depends! But now it is hidden from your eyes.

19:43  "The time will come for you when your enemies will throw ramparts around you, and encompass you, and shut you in on every side, and raze you to the ground,

19:44  "you and your children within you. And they will not leave in you one stone upon the another. Because you knew not the time of your visitation."

19:45  Then Jesus went into the Temple and began to drive out dealers,

19:46  saying, "It is written, "The house of God shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers."

19:47  Day after day he continued to teach in the Temple. The high priests and scribes tried to have him put to death, so did the rulers of the people.

19:48  But they could not find how to do it, for the people all hung upon him, listening to him.

Chapter 20

20:1  On one of the days while he was teaching the people in the Temple and preaching the gospel, there came up the priest and the Scribes with the elders.

20:2  They spoke to him saying. "Tell us by what authority you are doing these things? Who is it that gave you this authority?"

20:3  "I will also ask you a question," he replied.

20:4  "Was John’s baptism from heaven or from man?"

20:5  So they reasoned among themselves. "If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Why did you not believe in him?’

20:6  "And if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us, for they were persuaded that Johnwas a prophet."

20:7  So they answered that they did not know whence it was.

20:8  "Nor will I tell you," Jesus answered, "by whose authority I do these things."

20:9  Then he began to tell the people this parable. "There was a man who planted a vineyard, and let it out to vine-dressers, and went to another country for a long time.

20:10  "At harvest-time he sent a slave to the vine-dressers, to ask them to give him a share of the crop; but the vine-dresser beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

20:11  "Then he sent another slave; and him also they flogged and handled shamefully and sent him away empty-handed.

20:12  "Then he sent yet a third, and him to they wounded and threw him out.

20:13  "Then the master of the vineyard said. "‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved Son; it may be that they will reverence him.’

20:14  "But when the vine-dressers saw him, they reasoned together, saying. ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours.’

20:15  "So they turned him out of the vineyard and killed him. "What will the master of the vineyard do to them?

20:16  "He will come and destroy those vine-dressers, and will give the vineyard to others."

20:17  He looked at them and said. "Then what does this scripture mean. "The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner?

20:18  "Every one who falls on that stone will be broken in pieces; but whoever it falls upon will be scattered as dust."

20:19  At this the Scribes and the high priests were seeking to arrest him; only they were afraid of the people. For they perceived that he had referred to them in this parable.

20:20  So they watched him, and sent spies who pretended to be honest men, in order to seize on his speech, and to deliver him up to authority and jurisdiction of the governor.

20:21  So they put a question to him saying. "Rabbi, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not regard any man’s person, but teach the way of God honestly.

20:22  "Is it lawful for us to pay tribute to Caesar or not?"

20:23  But he perceived their knavery and answered.

20:24  "Show me a shilling. Whose image and superscription does it bear?" "Caesar’s," they replied.

20:25  "Then give to Caesar what belongs to him," he said, "to God give what is God’s."

20:26  So they could not lay hold of his sayings before the people; and marveling at his answer, they held their peace.

20:27  Next came some of the Sadducees who deny that there is resurrection, and they asked him.

20:28  "Teacher, Moses wrote a law for us that if a man’s brother should die, but leave no children, his brother should take up his wife and raise up his children for his brother.

20:29  "Now there were seven brothers. the first took a wife and died childless,

20:30  "and the second and third took her,

20:31  "and likewise all the seven, but left no children when they died.

20:32  "Last of all the woman died too.

20:33  "In the resurrection whose wife shall she be? For they all seven had her as wife."

20:34  "People in this world marry and are given in marriage," said Jesus,

20:35  "but those who are counted worthy to reach that world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage.

20:36  "For indeed they cannot die any more; they are equal to the angels, and through being sons of the resurrection are sons of God.

20:37  "But that the dead are raised, even Moses clearly implied in the passage about the Bush, when he calls the Lord. "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.

20:38  "Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for to him all are alive.’

20:39  Then some of the Scribes said, "Teacher, that was nobly said,"

20:40  for they no longer dared to ask him any questions.

20:41  "How is it," he asked them, "that they say that Christ is David’s son?

20:42  "for David himself say’s in the book of the Psalms, "The Lord said to my Lord. Sit at my right hand,

20:43  Until I make thy enemies the footstool at thy feet.

20:44  "David therefore himself calls him ‘Lord,’ and how can he be his son?"

20:45  Then, in the hearing of all the people, he said to his disciples.

20:46  "Beware of the Scribes who like to walk about in long robes, and dote on salutations in the marketplaces, and on securing the front seats in the synagogues and the best places at banquets;

20:47  "but they devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. These shall receive severer condemnation."

Chapter 21

21:1  And he looked up and saw people casting their offerings into the treasury, and they were rich.

21:2  And he saw a certain poor widow casting in two mites

21:3  And he said. "Of truth I tell you that this poor widow has put in more than than they all;

21:4  "for these men have all contributed to the offering out of their surplus, but she, out of her want, contributed all she had to live on."

21:5  And to some who were about the Temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones votive offerings, he said,

21:6  "As for what you are looking at, the time is coming when not one stone will be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

21:7  "Teacher, when will this be?" they asked him, "and what shall be the sign that these things are about to happen?"

21:8  "Take heed," he answered, "that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time is close at hand.’ Do not go and follow them.

21:9  "And when you shall hear of wars and tumults, do not be frightened; for these things must happen first, but the end does not come immediately."

21:10  Then he said to them. "Nation shall rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom.

21:11  "and there shall be great earthquakes, and, in many places, famines and pestilences; and there shall be terror and great portents from heaven.

21:12  "But before all these things happen, they will apprehend you and persecute you and deliver you to the synagogues and to prisons, and bring you before kings and governors for the sake of my name.

21:13  "It shall turn out for a testimony to you.

21:14  "So settle it in your hearts not to prepare a defense beforehand,

21:15  "for I will give you utterance and a wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to answer or withstand.

21:16  "You will be betrayed even by parents or brothers and kinsfolk, and friends.

21:17  "Some of you they will put to death. And you shall be hated by all men for the sake of my name.

21:18  "And not a hair on your head shall perish.

21:19  "In your patience you shall purchase your souls.

21:20  "But when you see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand.

21:21  "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let those who are in the country enter not in.

21:22  "For these are the days of vengeance and of fulfilment of all that is written.

21:23  "Woe to women with child and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For sore anguish will come upon the land, and wrath upon all his people.

21:24  "They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive among the Gentiles, and Jerusalem shall be trampled under foot by the Gentiles, until the appointed times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

21:25  "And there will be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars; and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roar of the sea and the billows;

21:26  "men lifeless through fear, and foreboding of that which is about to come upon the habitable earth. For the powers of the heavens shall be shaken,

21:27  "and then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory.

21:28  "But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, lift your heads! for your redemption is drawing near."

21:29  And he told them a parable.

21:30  "Look at the fig tree and all the trees! When they put out their leaves you can see for yourselves that summer is coming.

21:31  "So whenever you see all these things comings to pass, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

21:32  "In solemn truth I tell you that this generation shall not pass away until all this happens.

21:33  "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words shall never pass away.

21:34  "But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be surcharged with self-indulgence and drunkenness and worldly cares, and that day catches you suddenly like a trap.

21:35  "For it will come upon all the dwellers on the face of the earth.

21:36  "So be on your guard at all times, praying that you may be worthy to escape these things that shall come to pass, and to take your stand in the presence of the Son of man."

21:37  And each day he was habitually in the Temple teaching, and at night he used to go out and lodge on the mount called the Olives Orchards.

21:38  And all the people used to come him early in the morning in the Temple, to listen to him.

Chapter 22

22:1  Now the festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was drawing near.

22:2  The high priest and the Scribes continually sought means to put him to death.

22:3  Satan however, entered into Judas (the man called Iscariot), who was one of the twelve.

22:4  And he went out and conferred with the chief priests and commanders

22:5  They were delighted, and agreed to give him money.

22:6  He consented to this, and looked for an opportunity to betray him, when the people were not present.

22:7  Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the paschal lamb must be sacrificed.

22:8  So Jesus went to Peter and Johnsaying, "Go and prepare for us the Passover, that we may eat it."

22:9  "Where shall we get it ready?" they asked.

22:10  He answered. "No sooner will you have entered the city than you will meet a man carrying a water-jug. Follow him into the house were he is going.

22:11  "And to the good man of the house say, ‘The teacher asks you, "Where is the room in which I can eat the Passover with my disciples?"‘

22:12  "Then he will show you a large upper room furnished. There make your preparations."

22:13  So they went and found everything as he had told them, they prepared the Passover.

22:14  And when the hour was come he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him,

22:15  and he said to them. "With desire have I longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

22:16  For I tell you that I certainly will not eat again until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God."

22:17  Then he had received a cup and given thanks, he said,

22:18  "Take this, and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God is come."

22:19  And he took a loaf, and after giving thanks, he broke it and gave it to them saying. "This is my body, which is given for you; this do in remembrance of me.’

22:20  He gave them a cup in like manner, after supper saying. "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, poured out for your sake.

22:21  "But behold, the hand of my betrayer is at the table with me!

22:22  "The Son of man indeed goes on his way, as it has been determined; but woe to that man by who he is betrayed."

22:23  And they began to question among themselves which of them it could be who was going to do such a thing.

22:24  And there arose also a dispute among them as to which of them could be considered the greatest,

22:25  and he said to them. "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who have who have authority over them are called Benefactors.

22:26  "But you shall not be so. But he who is greater among you let him become like the younger; and he who is leader like him who serves.

22:27  "For which is greater, he who sits at table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at table? But I am in your midst as one who serves.

22:28  "You, however, are those who have stood by me in my trials.

22:29  "And I promise you a kingdom, even as my Father has promised me a kingdom;

22:30  "so that you shall eat and drink in my kingdom, and you shall sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

22:31  "Simon, Simon," said the Lord, "behold, Satan has asked to have you all that he might sift you like wheat.

22:32  "But I made supplication for you that your own faith may not fail. And you, when you have turned again, must strengthen your brothers."

22:33  "Lord," Simon said to him, "I am ready to go with you, both to prison and to death."

22:34  "I tell you, Peter," he answered. "the cock will not crow this day until you will three times deny that you know me."

22:35  Moreover, he said to them, "When I sent you out without purse or wallet or sandals, did you lack anything?" They answered him, "We lacked nothing.’

22:36  Then he said to them. "But now let him who has a purse take it, and he who has a wallet, let him the do the same. And he who has no sword, let him sell his cloak and buy one.

22:37  "For I say to you that this word of Scripture must find it’s fulfilment in me. "And he was numbered among the transgressors, For that which concerns me has its accomplishment."

22:38  "Master" they said, "here are two swords!" "That is enough," he answered.

22:39  Then he went out, and began to go to the Mount of Olives, as was his wont; and his disciples followed him.

22:40  But he arrived at the place he said to them, "Pray that you enter not into temptation."

22:41  But he himself withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, kneeling down he prayed repeatedly, saying.

22:42  "Father, if thou art willing, take away this cup from me; but thy will, not mine, be done!"

22:43  (And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.

22:44  (And being in agony he kept praying more earnestly; and his sweat became as if it were great drops of blood falling down upon the ground.)

22:45  When he arose from his prayers, and came to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow,

22:46  and said to them. "Why are you asleep? Get up, and pray that you enter not into temptation."

22:47  While he was still speaking there came a crowd, and he who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He came near to Jesus in order to kiss him,

22:48  but Jesus said to him, "Judas, you are betraying the Son of man with a kiss?"

22:49  Those who were around him, when they saw what was about to happen, said to him, "Lord, shall we strike with our swords?"

22:50  Then one of them did strike a blow at the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear.

22:51  "Permit me to do this at least," said Jesus, as he touched his ear and healed him.

22:52  Then Jesus said to the corps of priests and captains of the temple and elders who had come out to arrest him. "Have ye come for me with swords and clubs to arrest me like a robber?

22:53  "When daily I was with you in the temple you did not stretch out your hands to take me; but this is your hour and the power of darkness."

22:54  So they seized him and led him away, and took him to the house of the high priest; while Peter was following him a long way off.

22:55  And when they had lighted a fire in the center of the court, and had sat down together, Peter was taking his seat among them.

22:56  But a certain maid servant saw him taking his seat near the fire and, with a sharp glance at him, she said, "This fellow was with him, too!"

22:57  But he denied it, saying, "Woman, I know nothing about him."

22:58  A little later a man saw him, and said, "You too are one of them" But Peter declared, "Man, I am not."

22:59  But an hour afterwards another man kept insisting, saying. "Really, this fellow was with him. Why, he is a Galilean."

22:60  "Man," said Peter, "I do not know what you mean." And immediately, while he was still speaking, the cock crew.

22:61  Then the Lord turned and looked at Peter, and Peter recollected the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, "This very day, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times."

22:62  And Peter went outside and wept with bitter crying.

22:63  Meanwhile the men who were holding Jesus in custody kept mocking and striking him.

22:64  They would blindfold him and ask him. "Prophesy! Tell who struck you!"

22:65  And they said many other insulting things against him.

22:66  When it became the day the elders if the people met with the high priests and the Scribes and had brought before the Sanhedrin, saying.

22:67  "Are you the Christ? Tell us!" "If I tell you," he answered, "you will not believe;

22:68  "And if I ask you, you will not answer.

22:69  "But from henceforth the Son of man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God."

22:70  Then they all said, "Are you then the Son of God."

22:71  "What need we of further evidence? for we ourselves have heard it from his own lips."

Chapter 23

23:1  Then the whole company rose up and brought him to Pilate,

23:2  and began to accuse him. "We have found this fellow perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and proclaiming that he is the Messiah and King."

23:3  Then Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" And he answered him saying, "Certainly I am."

23:4  And Pilate said to the chief priest and the crowd, "I find no harm in this man."

23:5  But they repeatedly insisted, "He is stirring up the people throughout all Judea with his teaching which started from Galilee."

23:6  When Pilate heard the word "Galilee" he asked if the man were a Galilean,

23:7  and when he learned that he belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction he sent him to Herod, who himself happened to be in Jerusalem during those days.

23:8  Now when Herod saw Jesus he was exceedingly glad. He had long been wanting to see him, because he had heard so much about him, and was hoping to see some miracles performed by him.

23:9  So he had been asking him many questions, but Jesus made no answers.

23:10  Meanwhile the high priests and Scribes were standing around, and continually making accusations to him against him.

23:11  Then Herod and his soldiers set him at naught, and mocked him, and throwing about him a gorgeous robe, sent him back to Pilate.

23:12  Herod and Pilate became friends again from that very day; for before they had been at enmity between themselves.

23:13  So Pilate called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people,

23:14  and said to them. "You brought before me this man as one who incited the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence, and I find no fault in this man regarding the charges that you brought against him.

23:15  Neither does Herod; for he sent him back to us. You see that he has done nothing worthy of death.

23:16  I will therefore, after flogging him, release him."

23:17  "Now he had to release to them at the feast one prisoner."

23:18  Then the whole crowd shouted out, "Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas."

23:19  (This was a man who had been thrown in prison on account of a riot which had occurred in the city, and for murder.)

23:20  Then Pilate spoke to them again, because he wished to release Jesus;

23:21  but they continued to shout out and say, "Crucify! Crucify him!"

23:22  For the third time he appealed to them. "But what crime has he committed? I have found in him nothing that deserves death. I will therefore flog him, and let him go."

23:23  But they kept shouting the more insistently, demanding that he should be crucified, and their shouts won the day.

23:24  So Pilate gave sentence what they wished should be done.

23:25  He released the man who had been put in prison for riot and murder, the man whom they asked for; but Jesus he handed over to their will.

23:26  And when they led him away they took hold of Simon, a Cyrenean, who was coming in from the country, and laid the cross on him to carry it behind Jesus.

23:27  He was also followed by a great crowd of people, and of women too, who were beating their breast and lamenting him.

23:28  But Jesus turned to and said. "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me;

23:29  "but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they shall say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have never bore children, and the breasts that never suckled.’

23:30  "Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’

23:31  "For if this is what they do in the green tree, what will they do in the dry?"

23:32  And there were led out with him to be executed, two criminals also.

23:33  When they came to the place called "The Skull," there they crucified him and the criminals also, one upon his right hand, and one upon his left.

23:34  Jesus kept saying, "Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided his garments among them, casting lots for them,

23:35  and the people stood looking on. Even the rulers repeatedly taunted him, saying, "He saved others, let him save himself, if this fellow is indeed the Christ of God, His Chosen One!"

23:36  Even the soldiers made sport of him by coming up and offering him sour wine,

23:37  saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself."

23:38  For there was an inscription over his head, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

23:39  And one of the criminals who had been hung there kept reviling him, saying. "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us."

23:40  But the other, answering, reproved him, saying. "Have you no fear of God even? When you are suffering the same punishment as he?

23:41  "We indeed justly, for we are receiving due retribution for what we have done. But he has done no wrong."

23:42  Then he added, "Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom."

23:43  "In solemn truth I tell you," said Jesus, "that this day you shall be with me in Paradise."

23:44  It was now about the sixth hour, and a darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.

23:45  And the sun was darkened, and the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two in the Temple.

23:46  Then with a loud cry, Jesus said, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit!" And after uttering these words, he yielded up his spirit.

23:47  When the army captain saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, "This man was really innocent!"

23:48  And all the crowds who had assembled to see this spectacle, after witnessing what had been done, were returning beating upon their breast.

23:49  But all his acquaintances and the women who had been his followers continued to stand at a distance, looking on.

23:50  Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good man and a righteous,

23:51  he who came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and who was on the watch for the kingdom of God. He had not concurred in the designs and deed of the council.

23:52  This man went to Pilate, and begged for the body of Jesus.

23:53  Then taking it down, he wrapped it in linen, and placed it in a tomb hewn in the rock, where no man has ever been laid.

23:54  And it was the day of preparation and the Sabbath was near at hand.

23:55  Then the women who had accompanied him out of Galilee followed after, and noted the tomb, and how his body was placed.

23:56  Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes.

Chapter 24

24:1  On the Sabbath Day they rested in obedience to the commandment, but in the deep dawn of the first day of the week they took the spices which they had prepared, and came to the tomb.

24:2  And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,

24:3  and on entering they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

24:4  While they were still perplexed over this, it happened that the two men stood near them in dazzling raiment.

24:5  They were terrified, and bowed down their faces to the ground, but the men said to them. "Why are you seeking him who lives among the dead?

24:6  "He is not here; he is risen. Do you remember how he told you when he was still in Galilee

24:7  that the Son of man had to be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, and to be crucified, and to rise on the third day?"

24:8  Then they recollected his words,

24:9  and turning away from the tomb they told all this to the eleven, and to all the rest.

24:10  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary, the mother of James, and the rest of the women who were telling all this to the apostles.

24:11  But the whole story seemed to them but an idle tale; and they disbelieved the women.

24:12  Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb, but when he stooped and looked in he saw the linen wrappings by themselves, and he departed to his home, wondering at that which was come to pass.

24:13  On that same day two of his disciples were walking to Emmaus, a village about seven miles from Jerusalem.

24:14  They were talking together about all these events,

24:15  and as they talked and discussed matter, Jesus himself drew near and began walking beside them.

24:16  But their eyes continued to be held that they should not recognize him even for an instant,

24:17  And he said to them, "What words are these that you are exchanging one with another, as you walk along?"

24:18  They stood still, looking sad. And one of them named Cleopas, answered him, "Do you sojourn alone in Jerusalem, that you do not know what things have been happening there these days?"

24:19  "What kind of things?" he answered. And they said. "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people;

24:20  "and how our high priest and ruler delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him.

24:21  "But we were hoping that it was he who should redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this is the third day since these things happened.

24:22  "Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They went to his tomb at daybreak,

24:23  "and found that his body was not there; then they came and told us that besides they had seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.

24:24  "Thereupon some of our own party to the tomb, and found it even so as the women had said, but him they did not see."

24:25  "O foolish men," said Jesus, "slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

24:26  "Behooved it not the Christ to suffer thus, and then to enter into his glory?"

24:27  And beginning with Moses and the Prophets, he interpreted all the passages concerning himself.

24:28  When they drew near to the village to which they are were going, he appeared to be going farther.

24:29  But they urged him to stay with them, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is now far spent."

24:30  So he went in to stay with them. But as he sat down with them, and took bread, and had blessed and broken it, and was handing it to them,

24:31  their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished out of their sight.

24:32  "Were not our hearts burning within us," they said to each other, "while we were talking with him on the way, and he was opening to us the scriptures?"

24:33  So they rose and returned to Jerusalem that very hour, and found the Eleven and the others all met together,

24:34  saying, "The Lord is really risen, and has appeared to Simon!"

24:35  Then they began to tell what happened on the road, and he was known to them when he broke the bread.

24:36  While they were yet speaking he stood among them and said, "Peace be to you!"

24:37  They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost.

24:38  And he said to them. "Why are you disturbed? And why do questions rise in your hearts?

24:39  "Look at my hands and my feet. It is I! Feel me and see; for a ghost has not flesh and blood as I have."

24:40  Then he showed them his hands and feet.

24:41  But while they still did not believe it for joy, and were filled with wonder, he asked them, "Have you anything here to eat?"

24:42  So they gave him a piece of broiled fish,

24:43  and he took it and ate it in their presence.

24:44  Then he said to them, "These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, how all things must be fulfilled which are written in the Law of Moses, and the prophets, and the Psalms concerning me."

24:45  Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

24:46  and he said. "Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead, the third day;

24:47  "and that repentance unto remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

24:48  "You must bear testimony to this.

24:49  "And I will send forth the promise of my Father upon you. But tarry in Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high."

24:50  And he led them out until they were over against Bethany; and he lifted up his hands and blessed them.

24:51  And it happened that while he was blessing them, that he parted from them and was carried into heaven.

24:52  And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,

24:53  and were continually in the temple, blessing God.