# verses

text:
<n><i>The Good News According to Matthew</i><br/>The Birth, Parentage and Infancy</n> A genealogy of Jesus Christ, a descendant of David and Abraham.


text:
So the whole number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen; from David to the Exile to Babylon fourteen; and from the Exile to Babylon to the Christ fourteen.


text:
This is how Jesus Christ was born: His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but, before the marriage took place, she found herself to be pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit.


text:
Her husband, Joseph, was a religious man and, since he did not want to disgrace her publicly, he resolved to put an end to their engagement privately.


text:
He had been thinking this over, when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary for your wife, for her child has been conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.


text:
 ‘The virgin will conceive and will give birth to a son, and they will give him the name Immanuel’— a word which means ‘God is with us.’


text:
He made Mary his wife, but they did not sleep together until after the birth of her son; and to this son he gave the name Jesus.


text:
After the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem in Judea, in the reign of King Herod, some astrologers from the East arrived in Jerusalem, asking:


text:
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.”


text:
He called together all the chief priests and teachers of the law in the nation, and questioned them as to where the Christ was to be born.


text:
 ‘And you, Bethlehem in Judah’s land, are in no way least among the chief cities of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler — who will shepherd my people Israel.’”


text:
Then Herod secretly sent for the astrologers, and found out from them the date of the appearance of the star;


text:
and, sending them to Bethlehem, he said: “Go and make careful inquiries about the child, and, as soon as you have found him, bring me word so that I, too, can go and worship him.”


text:
The astrologers heard what the king had to say, and then continued their journey. The star which they had seen in the east led them on, until it reached, and stood over, the place where the child was.


text:
Entering the house, they saw the child with his mother, Mary, and fell at his feet and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure chests, and offered to the child presents of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.


text:
But afterwards, having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another road.


text:
 After they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, and said: “Get up, take the child and his mother, and seek refuge in Egypt; and stay there until I tell you to return, for Herod is about to search for the child, to put him to death.”


text:
and there he stayed until Herod’s death; in fulfilment of these words of the Lord in the prophet, where he says — ‘Out of Egypt I called my Son.’


text:
When Herod found out that the astrologers had tricked him, he flew into a rage. He sent and put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and the whole of that neighbourhood, who were two years old or under, guided by the date which he had learned from the astrologers.


text:
 ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and mourning loudly; Rachel, weeping for her children, refusing all comfort for they were dead.’


text:
“Get up, take the child and his mother, and go into the Land of Israel, for those who sought to take the child’s life are dead.”


text:
But, hearing that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Judea, he was afraid to go back there; and having been warned in a dream, he went into the part of the country called Galilee.


text:
There he settled in the town of Nazareth, in fulfilment of these words in the prophets — ‘He will be called a Nazarene.’


text:
<n>The Preparation</n> About that time John the Baptist first appeared, proclaiming in the wilderness of Judea:


text:
John was the one who was spoken of in the prophet Isaiah, where he says — ‘The voice of one crying aloud in the wilderness: “Make ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”’


text:
John’s clothes were made of camels’ hair, with a leather strap round his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.


text:
 But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to receive his baptism, he said to them: “You children of snakes! Who has prompted you to seek refuge from the coming judgment?


text:
and do not think that you can say among yourselves ‘Abraham is our ancestor,’ for I tell you that out of these stones God is able to raise descendants for Abraham!


text:
Already the axe is lying at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that fails to bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.


text:
I, indeed, baptize you with water to teach repentance; but he who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not fit even to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.


text:
His winnowing-fan is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor, and store his grain in the barn, but the chaff he will burn with a fire that cannot be put out.”


text:
But John tried to prevent him. “I need to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why have you come to me?”


text:
 <J>“This is the way it should be for now,”</J> Jesus answered, <J>“because we should do everything that God requires.”</J> So John agreed.


text:
 After the baptism of Jesus, and just as he came up from the water, the heavens opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending, like a dove, and alighting on him,


text:
and from the heavens there came a voice which said: “This is my dearly loved son, who brings me great joy.”


text:
The Tempter came to him, and said: “If you are God’s Son, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”


text:
But Jesus answered: <J>“Scripture says — ‘It is not on bread alone that a person is to live, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”</J>


text:
Then the devil took him to the Holy City, and, placing him on the parapet of the temple, said to him:


text:
“If you are God’s Son, throw yourself down, for scripture says — ‘He will give his angels commands about you, and on their hands they will lift you up, so you do not even strike your foot against a stone.’”


text:
The third time, the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain, and, showing him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour, said to him:


text:
Then Jesus said to him: <J>“Go away, Satan! For scripture says — ‘You must worship the Lord your God, and worship him only.’”</J>


text:
<n>The Work in Galilee</n> When Jesus heard that John had been committed to prison, he returned to Galilee.


text:
Afterwards, leaving Nazareth, he went and settled at Capernaum, which is by the side of the Sea, within the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali;


text:
 ‘The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the land of the Road by the Sea, and beyond the Jordan, with Galilee of the Gentiles —


text:
 The people who were living in darkness have seen a great light, and, for those who were living in the shadow-land of death, a light has dawned!’


text:
As Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers — Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew — casting a net into the Sea; for they were fishermen.


text:
Going further on, he saw two other men who were also brothers, James, Zebedee’s son, and his brother John, in their boat with their father, mending their nets. Jesus called them,


text:
 Jesus went all through Galilee, teaching in their Synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people;


text:
and his fame spread all through Syria. They brought to him all who were ill with any form of disease, or who were suffering pain — any who were either possessed by demons, or were lunatic, or paralysed; and he cured them.


text:
He was followed by large crowds from Galilee, the district of the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.


text:
On seeing the crowds of people, Jesus went up the hill; and, when he had taken his seat, his disciples came up to him;


text:
 <J>Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,</J> <J>for they will be satisfied.</J>


text:
 <J>Blessed are those who have been persecuted in the cause of righteousness,</J> <J>for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.</J>


text:
<J>Blessed are you when people insult you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil lies about you because of me.</J> 


text:
 <J>Be glad and rejoice, because your reward in heaven will be great; this is the way they persecuted the prophets who lived before you.</J>


text:
 <J>You are salt for the world. But if salt becomes tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown away, and trampled underfoot.</J> 


text:
 <J>People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lamp-stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.</J> 


text:
 <J>Let your light so shine before the eyes of others so that, seeing your good actions, they will praise your Father who is in heaven.</J>


text:
 <J>Do not think that I have come to do away with the law or the prophets; I have not come to do away with them, but to complete them.</J> 


text:
 <J>For I tell you, until the heavens and the earth disappear, not even the smallest letter, nor one stroke of a letter, will disappear from the law until all is done.</J> 


text:
 <J>Whoever, therefore, breaks one of these commandments, even the least of them, and teaches others to do so, will be the least esteemed in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps them, and teaches others to do so, will be esteemed great in the kingdom of heaven.</J> 


text:
 <J>Indeed I tell you that, unless you obey God's commands better than of the teachers of the law, and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.</J>


text:
 <J>You have heard that to our ancestors it was said — ‘You must not commit murder,’ and ‘Whoever commits murder will be brought to trial.’</J> 


text:
 <J>But I say to you that anyone who is angry at their brother or sister will be brought to trial; and whoever insults their brother or sister will be brought before the High Council, while whoever calls them a fool will be in danger of the fires of Gehenna.</J> 


text:
 <J>Therefore, when presenting your gift at the altar, if even there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,</J> 


text:
 <J>leave your gift there, before the altar, go and be reconciled to them, first, then come and present your gift.</J> 


text:
 <J>Be ready to make friends with your opponent, even when you meet them on your way to the court; otherwise they might hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the judicial officer, and you will be thrown into prison.</J> 


text:
<J>But I say to you that anyone who looks at a woman and desires her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.</J> 


text:
 <J>If your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away. It would be best for you to lose one part of your body, and not to have the whole of it thrown into Gehenna.</J> 


text:
 <J>And, if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It would be best for you to lose one part of your body, and not to have the whole of it go down to Gehenna.</J>


text:
<J>It was also said — ‘Let anyone who divorces his wife serve her with a notice of separation.’</J> 


text:
 <J>But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of some serious sexual sin, leads to her committing adultery; while anyone who marries her after her divorce is guilty of adultery.</J> 


text:
 <J>Again, you have heard that our ancestors were told — ‘Do not break your oaths, keep your vows to the Lord.’</J> 


text:
 <J>But I say to you that you must not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God’s throne,</J> 


text:
 <J>or by the earth, since that is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the Great King.</J> 


text:
 <J>Nor should you swear by your head, since you cannot make a single hair either white or black.</J> 


text:
 <J>But I say to you that you must not resist those who wrong you; but, if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to them also.</J> 


text:
 <J>so that you may become children of your Father who is in heaven; for he causes his sun to rise on bad and good alike, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.</J> 


text:
 <J>For, if you love only those who love you, what reward will you have? Even the tax-gatherers do this!</J> 


text:
 <J>And, if you only welcome your brothers and sisters, what are you doing more than others? Even the Gentiles do this!</J> 


text:
 <J>Take care not to perform your religious duties in public in order to be seen by others; if you do, your Father who is in heaven has no reward for you.</J> 


text:
 <J>Therefore, when you do acts of charity, do not have a trumpet blown in front of you, as hypocrites do in the Synagogues and in the streets so that people will praise them. There, I tell you, is their reward!</J> 


text:
 <J>But, when you do acts of charity, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,</J> 


text:
 <J>so that your charity may be secret; and your Father, who sees what is in secret, will reward you.</J>


text:
 <J>And, when you pray, you are not to behave as hypocrites do. They like to pray standing in the Synagogues and at the corners of the streets, so that people will see them. There, I tell you, is their reward!</J> 


text:
 <J>But, when one of you prays, let them go into their own room, shut the door, and pray to their Father who dwells in secret; and their Father, who sees what is secret, will reward them.</J> 


text:
 <J>When praying, do not repeat the same words over and over again, as is done by the Gentiles, who think that by using many words they will obtain a hearing.</J> 


text:
 <J>You, therefore, should pray like this —<J> ‘Our Father, who is in heaven,<J> may your name be held holy,</J>


text:
 <J>but, if you do not forgive others their offences, not even your Father will forgive your offences.</J>


text:
 <J>And, when you fast, do not put on gloomy looks, as hypocrites do who disfigure their faces so that they may be seen by people to be fasting. That, I tell you, is their reward!</J> 


text:
 <J>so that they may not be seen by people to be fasting, but by their Father who dwells in secret; and their Father, who sees what is secret, will reward them.</J>


text:
 <J>Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.</J> 


text:
 <J>But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.</J> 


text:
 <J>but, if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be darkened. And, if the inner light is darkness, how intense must that darkness be!</J> 


text:
 <J>No one can serve two masters, for either they will hate one and love the other, or else they will attach themselves to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.</J>


text:
 <J>This is why I say to you: Do not be anxious about your life — what you can get to eat or drink, or about your body — what you can get to wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?</J> 


text:
 <J>Look at the wild birds — they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and yet your heavenly Father feeds them! Are not you more precious than they?</J> 


text:
 <J>And why be anxious about clothing? Study the wild lilies, and how they grow. They neither toil nor spin;</J> 


text:
 <J>If God so clothes even the grass of the field, which is living today and tomorrow will be thrown into the oven, will not he much more clothe you, you of little faith?</J> 


text:
<J>Do not then ask anxiously ‘What can we get to eat?’ or ‘What can we get to drink?’ or ‘What can we get to wear?’</J> 


text:
 <J>All these are the things for which the nations are seeking, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.</J> 


text:
 <J>But first seek his kingdom and the righteousness that he requires, and then all these things will be added for you.</J> 


text:
 <J>Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own anxieties. Every day has trouble enough of its own.</J>


text:
 <J>For, just as you judge others, you will yourselves be judged, and the standard that you use will be used for you.</J> 


text:
 <J>Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your friend’s eye, while you pay no attention at all to the plank of wood in yours?</J> 


text:
 <J>How will you say to your friend ‘Let me take out the speck from your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own?</J> 


text:
 <J>Hypocrite! Take out the plank from your own eye first, and then you will see clearly how to take out the speck from your friend’s.</J>


text:
<J>Do not give what is sacred to dogs; they will turn and maul you. Do not throw your pearls before pigs; they will trample them underfoot.</J> 


text:
 <J>Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.</J> 


text:
 <J>For the person who asks receives, the person who searches finds, and to the door will be opened to the person who knocks.</J> 


text:
 <J>If you, then, wicked though you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask him!</J>


text:
<J>Do to others whatever you would wish them to do to you; for that is the teaching of both the law and the prophets.</J> 


text:
 <J>Go in by the small gate. Broad and spacious is the road who leads to destruction, and those that go in by it are many;</J> 


text:
 <J>for small is the gate, and narrow the road, who leads to life, and those that find it are few.</J>


text:
 <J>Beware of false teachers — people who come to you in the guise of sheep, but at heart they are ravenous wolves.</J> 


text:
 <J>By the fruit of their lives you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?</J> 


text:
 <J>Not everyone who says to me ‘Master! Master!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.</J> 


text:
 <J>On ‘that day’ many will say to me ‘Master, Master, was not it in your name that we taught, and in your name that we drove out demons, and in your name that we did many miracles?’</J> 


text:
 <J>And then I will say to them plainly ‘I never knew you. Go from my presence, you who live in sin.’</J>


text:
 <J>Everyone, therefore, who listens to this teaching of mine and acts on it may be compared to a prudent person, who built their house on the rock.</J> 


text:
 <J>The rain poured down, the rivers rose, the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, for its foundations were on the rock.</J> 


text:
 <J>Everyone who listens to this teaching of mine and does not act on it may be compared to a foolish person, who built their house on the sand.</J> 


text:
 <J>The rain poured down, the rivers rose, the winds blew and struck against that house, and it fell; and great was its downfall.”</J>


text:
He saw a leper who came up, and bowed to the ground before him, and said: “Master, if only you are willing, you are able to make me clean.”


text:
Stretching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying as he did so: <J>“I am willing; become clean.”</J> Instantly he was made clean from his leprosy;


text:
and then Jesus said to him: <J>“Be careful not to say a word to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift directed by Moses, as evidence of your cure.”</J> 


text:
“Sir,” he said, “my manservant is lying ill at my house with a stroke of paralysis, and is suffering terribly.”


text:
“Sir,” the captain went on, “I am unworthy to receive you under my roof; but only speak, and my manservant will be cured.


text:
For I myself am a man under the orders of others, with soldiers under me; and, if I say to one of them ‘Go,’ he goes, and to another ‘Come,’ he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this,’ he does it.”


text:
Jesus was surprised to hear this, and said to those who were following him: <J>“Never I tell you, in any Israelite have I met with such faith as this!</J> 


text:
 <J>Yes, and many will come in from East and West and take their places beside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven;</J> 


text:
 <J>while the heirs to the kingdom will be ‘banished into the darkness’ outside; there, there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.”</J> 


text:
Then Jesus said to the captain: <J>“Go now, and it will be according to your faith.”</J> And the man was cured that very hour.


text:
In the evening the people brought to Jesus many who were possessed by demons; and he drove out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were ill,


text:
in fulfilment of these words in the prophet Isaiah — ‘He took our infirmities on himself, and bore the burden of our diseases.’


text:
 <J>“Foxes have holes,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“and wild birds their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”</J> 


text:
Suddenly so great a storm came up on the Sea, that the waves broke right over the boat. But Jesus was asleep;


text:
 <J>“Why are you so timid?”</J> he said. <J>“You of little faith!”</J> Then Jesus rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and a great calm followed.


text:
The men were amazed, and exclaimed: “What kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!”


text:
 On getting to the other side — the country of the Gadarenes — Jesus met two men who were possessed by demons, coming out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one was able to pass that way.


text:
Suddenly they shrieked out: “What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before our time?”


text:
 <J>“Go,”</J> he said. The spirits came out, and entered the pigs; and the whole drove rushed down the steep slope into the Sea, and died in the water.


text:
At this the men who tended them ran away and went to the town, carrying the news of all that had occurred, and of what had happened to the possessed men.


text:
At the news the whole town went out to meet Jesus, and, when they saw him, they entreated him to go away from their neighbourhood.


text:
There some people brought to him a paralysed man on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man: <J>“Courage, child! Your sins are forgiven.”</J> 


text:
 <J>Which, I ask, is the easier? — to say ‘Your sins are forgiven’? Or to say ‘Get up, and walk’?</J> 


text:
 <J>But to show you that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”</J> — then he said to the paralysed man — <J>“Get up, take up your bed, and return to your home.”</J> 


text:
When the crowd saw this, they were awe-struck, and praised God for giving such power to human beings.


text:
 As Jesus went along, he saw a man, called Matthew, sitting in the tax office, and said to him: <J>“Follow me.”</J> Matthew got up and followed him.


text:
 And, later on, when he was having dinner in the house, a number of tax-gatherers and outcasts came in and took their places at the table with Jesus and his disciples.


text:
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples: “Why does your teacher eat in the company of tax-gatherers and outcasts?”


text:
On hearing this, Jesus said: <J>“It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill.</J> 


text:
 <J>Go and learn what this means — ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice’; for I did not come to call the religious, but the outcast.”</J> 


text:
Then John’s disciples came to Jesus, and asked: “Why do we and the Pharisees fast while your disciples do not?”


text:
Jesus answered: <J>“Can the groom’s friends mourn as long as the groom is with them? But the days will come, when the groom will be taken away from them, and they will fast then.</J> 


text:
 <J>Nobody ever puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for such a patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.</J> 


text:
 <J>Nor do people put new wine into old wine-skins; for, if they do, the skins burst, and the wine runs out, and the skins are lost; but they put new wine into fresh skins, and so both are preserved.”</J>


text:
 While Jesus was saying this, a President of a Synagogue came up and bowed to the ground before him. “My daughter,” he said, “Has just died; but come and place your hand on her, and she will be restored to life.”


text:
But meanwhile a woman, who had been suffering from haemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind and touched the tassel of his cloak.


text:
Turning and seeing her, Jesus said: <J>“Courage, daughter! Your faith has delivered you.”</J> And at that very moment she became well.


text:
When Jesus reached the President’s house, seeing the flute players, and a number of people all in confusion,


text:
but, when the people had been sent out, Jesus went in, and took the little girl’s hand, and she rose.


text:
 As Jesus was passing on from there, he was followed by two blind men, who kept calling out: “Take pity on us, Son of David!”


text:
When he had gone indoors, the blind men came up to him; and Jesus asked them: <J>“Do you believe that I am able to do this?”</J> “Yes, Master!” they answered.


text:
Then their eyes were opened. Jesus sternly cautioned them. <J>“See that no one knows of it,”</J> he said.


text:
Just as they were going out, some people brought up to Jesus a dumb man who was possessed by a demon;


text:
and, as soon as the demon had been driven out, the dumb man spoke. The people were astonished at this, and exclaimed: “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!”


text:
 Jesus went round all the towns and the villages, teaching in their Synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.


text:
But, when he saw the crowds, his heart was moved with compassion for them, because they were distressed and harassed, ‘like sheep without a shepherd’;


text:
Calling his twelve Disciples to him, Jesus gave them authority over foul spirits, so that they could drive them out, as well as the power of curing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.


text:
The names of the twelve apostles are these: First Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;


text:
Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-gather; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;


text:
 These twelve Jesus sent out as his messengers, after giving them these instructions — <J>“Do not go to the Gentiles, nor enter any Samaritan town,</J> 


text:
 <J>Cure the sick, raise the dead, make the lepers clean, drive out demons. You have received free of cost, give free of cost.</J> 


text:
 <J>not even with a bag for the journey, or a change of clothes, or sandals, or even a staff; for the worker is worth his food.</J> 


text:
 <J>Whatever town or village you visit, find out who is worthy in that place, and remain there until you leave.</J> 


text:
 <J>Then, if the house is worthy, let your blessing rest on it, but, if it is unworthy, let your blessing return on yourselves.</J> 


text:
 <J>If no one welcomes you, or listens to what you say, as you leave that house or that town, shake off its dust from your feet.</J> 


text:
 <J>I tell you, the doom of the land of Sodom and Gomorrah will be more bearable in the ‘day of judgment’ than the doom of that town.</J>


text:
 <J>Remember, I am sending you out as my messengers like sheep among wolves. So be as wise as snakes, and as blameless as doves.</J> 


text:
 <J>Be on your guard against others, for they will betray you to courts of law, and scourge you in their Synagogues;</J> 


text:
<J>and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake so that you may witness for me before them and the nations.</J> 


text:
 <J>Whenever they betray you, do not be anxious as to how you will speak or what you will say, for what you will say will be given you at the moment;</J> 


text:
 <J>Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; and children will turn against their parents, and cause them to be put to death;</J> 


text:
<J>and you will be hated by everyone because of me. Yet the person who endures to the end will be saved.</J> 


text:
 <J>But, when they persecute you in one town, escape to the next; for, I tell you, you will not have come to the end of the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.</J> 


text:
 <J>It is enough for a scholar to be treated like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!</J> 


text:
 <J>Do not, therefore, be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed which will not be revealed, nor anything hidden which will not become known.</J> 


text:
 <J>What I tell you in the dark, say again in the light; and what is whispered in your ear, proclaim on the housetops.</J> 


text:
 <J>Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; rather be afraid of him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.</J> 


text:
<J>Are not two sparrows sold for a one copper coin? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.</J> 


text:
 <J>Everyone, therefore, who will publicly acknowledge me, I, too, will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven;</J> 


text:
 <J>but, if anyone publicly disowns me, I, too, will disown him before my Father who is in heaven.</J>


text:
 <J>Do not imagine that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have come to bring, not peace, but the sword.</J> 


text:
 <J>For I have come to set — ‘a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.</J> 


text:
<J>Anyone who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.</J> 


text:
 <J>The person who has found their life will lose it, while the person who, for my sake, has lost their life will find it.</J>


text:
<J>Anyone who welcomes you is welcoming me; and anyone who welcomes me is welcoming him who sent me as his messenger.</J> 


text:
 <J>The person who welcomes a prophet, because they are a prophet, will receive a prophet’s reward; and anyone who welcomes a good person, because they are a good person, will receive a good person’s reward.</J> 


text:
 <J>And, if anyone gives but a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because they are a disciple, I tell you that they will assuredly not lose their reward.”</J>


text:
After Jesus had finished giving directions to his twelve Disciples, he left that place in order to teach and preach in their towns.


text:
 <J>the blind recover their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are made clean and the deaf hear, the dead, too, are raised to life, and the good news is told to the poor.</J> 


text:
 <J>“What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed waving in the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man richly dressed? Why, those who wear rich things are to be found in the courts of kings!</J> 


text:
 <J>What, then, did you go for? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet.</J> 


text:
 <J>This is the man of whom scripture says — ‘I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.’</J> 


text:
 <J>I tell you, no one born of a woman has yet appeared who is greater than John the Baptist; and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.</J> 


text:
 <J>From the time of John the Baptist to this very hour, the kingdom of heaven has been taken by force, and people using force have been seizing it.</J> 


text:
<J>But to what will I compare the present generation? It is like little children sitting in the market-places and calling out to their playmates —</J> 


text:
 <J>‘We have played the flute for you, but you have not danced; We have wailed, but you have not mourned.’</J> 


text:
 <J>and now that the Son of Man has come, eating and drinking, they are saying ‘Here is a glutton and a wine-drinker, a friend of tax-gatherers and outcasts!’ And yet wisdom is vindicated by her actions.”</J>


text:
 Then Jesus began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been done, because they had not repented:


text:
 <J>“Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For, if the miracles which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.</J> 


text:
 <J>Yet, I tell you, the doom of Tyre and Sidon will be more bearable in the ‘day of judgment’ than yours.</J> 


text:
 <J>And you, Capernaum! Will you ‘exalt yourself to heaven’? ‘You will go down to the place of death.’ For, if the miracles which have been done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing to this day.</J> 


text:
 <J>Yet, I tell you, the doom of Sodom will be more bearable in the ‘day of judgment’ than yours.”</J> 


text:
At that same time Jesus uttered the words: <J>“I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that, though you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, you have revealed them to the child-like!</J> 


text:
 <J>Everything has been committed to me by my Father; nor does anyone fully know the Son, except the Father, or fully know the Father, except the Son and those to whom the Son may choose to reveal him.</J> 


text:
 <J>Take my yoke on you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble, and ‘you will find rest for your souls’;</J> 


text:
About the same time Jesus walked through the cornfields one Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and began to pick some ears of wheat and eat them.


text:
But, when the Pharisees saw this, they said: “Look! Your disciples are doing what it is not allowable to do on a Sabbath!”


text:
 <J>“Have not you read,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“what David did, when he and his companions were hungry —</J> 


text:
 <J>how he went into the house of God, and how they ate the consecrated bread, through it was not allowable for him or his companions to eat it, but only for the priests?</J> 


text:
 <J>And have not you read in the law that, on the Sabbath, the priest in the Temple break the Sabbath and yet are not guilty?</J> 


text:
 <J>Had you learned the meaning of the words — ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned those who are not guilty.</J> 


text:
and there he saw a man with a withered hand. Some people asked Jesus whether it was allowable to work a cure on the Sabbath — so that they might have a charge to bring against him.


text:
But Jesus said to them: <J>“Which of you, if he had only one sheep, and that sheep fell into a pit on the Sabbath, would not lay hold of it and pull it out?</J> 


text:
<J>How much more precious a person is than a sheep! Therefore it is allowable to do good on the Sabbath.”</J> 


text:
Then he said to the man. <J>“Stretch out your hand.”</J> The man stretched it out; and it had become as sound as the other.


text:
 Jesus, however, became aware of it, and went away from that place. A number of people followed him, and he cured them all;


text:
‘Here is my chosen servant, who I love and who pleases me! I will breathe my spirit on him, and he will announce a time of judgment to the Gentiles.


text:
a bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not quench, until he has brought the judgment to a victorious issue,


text:
 Then some people brought to Jesus a possessed man, who was blind and dumb; and he cured him, so that the man who had been dumb both talked and saw.


text:
At this all the people were astounded. “Is it possible that this is the son of David?” they exclaimed.


text:
But the Pharisees heard of it and said: “He drives out demons only by the help of Beelzebul the chief of the demons.”


text:
Jesus, however, was aware of what was passing in their minds, and said to them: <J>“Any kingdom divided against itself becomes a desolation, and any town or household divided against itself will not last.</J> 


text:
 <J>So, if Satan drives Satan out, he must be divided against himself; and how, then, can his kingdom last?</J> 


text:
 <J>And, if it is by Beelzebul’s help that I drive out demons, by whose help is it that your own sons drive them out? Therefore they will themselves be your judges.</J> 


text:
 <J>But, if it is by the help of the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God must already be upon you.</J> 


text:
 <J>How, again, can anyone get into a strong man’s house and carry off his goods, without first securing him? Not until then will he plunder his house.</J> 


text:
 <J>Anyone who is not with me is against me, and the person who does not help me to gather is scattering.</J> 


text:
 <J>Therefore, I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and slander; but slander against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.</J> 


text:
 <J>Whoever speaks against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in the present age, or in the age to come.</J>


text:
 <J>You must assume either that both tree and fruit are good, or that both tree and fruit are worthless; since it is by its fruits that a tree is known.</J> 


text:
 <J>You children of snakes! How can you, evil as you are, say anything good? For what fills the heart will rise to the lips.</J> 


text:
 <J>A good person, from his good stores, produces good things; while an evil person, from his evil stores, produces evil things.</J> 


text:
 <J>I tell you that for every careless thing that people say, they must answer on the ‘day of judgment.’</J> 


text:
 <J>For it is by your words that you will be acquitted, and by your words that you will be condemned.”</J>


text:
 At this point, some teachers of the law and Pharisees spoke up. “Teacher,” they said, “we want to see some sign from you.”


text:
 <J>“It is a wicked and unfaithful generation,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“that is asking for a sign, and no sign will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.</J> 


text:
 <J>For, just as ‘Jonah was inside the sea-monster three days and three nights,’ so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.</J> 


text:
 <J>At the judgment, the people of Nineveh will stand up with this generation, and will condemn it, because they repented at Jonah’s proclamation; and here is more than a Jonah!</J> 


text:
 <J>At the judgment the Queen of the South will rise up with the present generation, and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and here is more than a Solomon!</J> 


text:
 <J>No sooner does a foul spirit leave a person, than it passes through places where there is no water, in search of rest, and does not find it.</J> 


text:
 <J>Then it says ‘I will go back to the home which I left’; but, on coming there, it finds it unoccupied, and swept, and put in order.</J> 


text:
 <J>Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in, and make their home there; and the last state of that man proves to be worse than the first. So, too, will it be with this wicked generation.”</J>


text:
 While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and brothers were standing outside, asking to speak to him.


text:
Then, stretching out his hands towards his disciples, he said: <J>“Here are my mother and my brothers!</J> 


text:
<J>For anyone who does the will of my Father who is in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”</J>


text:
such great crowds gathered round him, that he got into a boat, and sat in it, while all the people stood on the beach.


text:
Then he told them many truths in parables. <J>“The sower,”</J> he began, <J>“went out to sow; and,</J> 


text:
 <J>Some fell on rocky places, where it had not much soil, and, having no depth of soil, sprang up at once.</J> 


text:
 <J>Some, however, fell on good soil, and yielded a return, sometimes one hundred, sometimes sixty, sometimes thirty fold.</J> 


text:
 <J>“To you,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“the knowledge of the hidden truths of the kingdom of heaven has been imparted, but not to those.</J> 


text:
 <J>For, to all who have, more will be given, and they will have abundance; but, from all who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.</J> 


text:
 <J>That is why I speak to them in parables, because, though they have eyes, they do not see, and though they have ears, they do not hear or understand.</J> 


text:
 <J>In them is being fulfilled that prophecy of Isaiah which says — ‘You will hear with your ears without ever understanding, and, though you have eyes, you will see without ever perceiving,</J>


text:
 <J>for the mind of this nation has grown dense, and their ears are dull of hearing, their eyes also have they closed; Otherwise some day they might perceive with their eyes, and with their ears they might hear, and in their mind they might understand, and might turn — and I might heal them.’</J>


text:
 <J>for I tell you that many prophets and good people have longed for the sight of the things which you are seeing, yet never saw them, and to hear the things which you are hearing, yet never heard them.</J>


text:
 <J>When anyone hears the message of the kingdom without understanding it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in their mind. This is the person meant by the seed which was sown along the path.</J> 


text:
 <J>By the seed which was sown on rocky places is meant the person who hears the message, and at once accepts it joyfully;</J> 


text:
 <J>but, as they have no root, they stand for only a short time; and, when trouble or persecution arises because of the message, they fall away at once.</J> 


text:
 <J>By the seed which was sown among the brambles is meant the person who hears the message, but the cares of life and the glamour of wealth completely choke the message, so that it gives no return.</J> 


text:
 <J>But by the seed which was sown on the good ground is meant the person who hears the message and understands it, and really yields a return, sometimes one hundred, sometimes sixty, sometimes thirty fold.”</J>


text:
Another parable which Jesus told them was this — <J>“The kingdom of heaven is compared to a person who sowed good seed in their field.</J> 


text:
 <J>But, while everyone was asleep, their enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.</J> 


text:
 <J>So, when the blades of corn shot up, and came into ear, the weeds made their appearance also.</J> 


text:
 <J>The owner’s servants came to them, and said ‘Was not it good seed that you sowed in your field? Where, then, do the weeds in it come from?’</J> 


text:
 <J>‘An enemy has done this,’ was the owner’s answer. ‘Do you wish us, then,’ they asked,’ to go and gather them together?’</J> 


text:
 <J>‘No,’ said he, ‘because while you are pulling up the weeds you might uproot the wheat with them.</J> 


text:
 <J>Let both grow side by side until harvest; and then I will say to the reapers, Gather the weeds together first, and tie them in bundles for burning; but bring all the wheat into my barn.’”</J>


text:
 Another parable which he told them was this — <J>“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a person took and sowed in his field.</J> 


text:
 <J>This seed is smaller than all other seeds, but, when it has grown up, it is larger than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that ‘the wild birds come and roost in its branches.’”</J>


text:
 This was another parable which Jesus related — <J>“The kingdom of heaven is like some yeast which a woman took and covered up in three pecks of flour, until the whole had risen.”</J> 


text:
Of all this Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables; indeed to them he used never to speak at all except in parables,


text:
in fulfilment of these words in the prophet — ‘I will speak to them in parables; I will utter things kept secret since the foundation of the world.’


text:
 Then Jesus left the crowd, and went into the house. Presently his disciples came to him, and said: “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”


text:
 <J>The field is the world. By the good seed is meant the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the wicked,</J> 


text:
 <J>and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest time is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels.</J> 


text:
 <J>The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom all that hinders and those who live in sin,</J> 


text:
 <J>and ‘will throw them into the blazing furnace,’ where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.</J> 


text:
 <J>Then will the righteous shine, like the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. Let him who has ears hear.</J>


text:
 <J>The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a person found and hid again, and then, in their delight, went and sold everything that they had, and bought that field.</J>


text:
 <J>Or again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net which was cast into the sea, and caught fish of all kinds.</J> 


text:
 <J>When it was full, they hauled it up on the beach, and sat down and sorted the good fish into baskets, but threw the worthless ones away.</J> 


text:
 <J>So will it be at the close of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous,</J> 


text:
 <J>and ‘will throw them into the blazing furnace,’ where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.</J>


text:
Then he added: <J>“So every teacher of the law, who has received instruction about the kingdom of heaven, is like a householder who produces from his stores things both new and old.”</J>


text:
Going to his own part of the country, he taught the people in their Synagogue in such a manner that they were deeply impressed. “Where did he get this wisdom?” they said, “and the miracles?


text:
Is not he the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?


text:
These things proved a hindrance to their believing in him. But Jesus said: <J>“A prophet is not without honour, except in his own country and in his own house.”</J> 


text:
and said to his attendants: “This must be John the Baptist; he must be risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are active in him.”


text:
For Herod had arrested John, put him in chains, and shut him up in prison, to please Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother Philip.


text:
Yet, though Herod wanted to put him to death, he was afraid of the people, because they looked on John as a prophet.


text:
But, when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before his guests, and so pleased Herod,


text:
The king was distressed at this; yet, because of his oath and of the guests at his table, he ordered it to be given her.


text:
 When Jesus heard of it, he left privately in a boat to a lonely spot. The people, however, heard of his going, and followed him in crowds from the towns on foot.


text:
On getting out of the boat, Jesus saw a great crowd, and his heart was moved at the sight of them; and he cured all the sick among them.


text:
In the evening the disciples came up to him, and said: “This is a lonely spot, and the day is now far advanced; send the crowds away so that they can to the villages, and buy themselves food.”


text:
Jesus ordered the people to take their seats on the grass; and, taking the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and said the blessing, and, after he had broken the loaves, gave them to his disciples; and they gave them to the crowds.


text:
Everyone had sufficient to eat, and they picked up enough of the broken pieces that were left to fill twelve baskets.


text:
Immediately afterwards Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and cross over in advance of him, while he dismissed the crowds.


text:
After dismissing the crowds, he went up the hill by himself to pray; and, when evening fell, he was there alone.


text:
The boat was by this time some miles from shore, labouring in the waves, for the wind was against her.


text:
But, when they saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they exclaimed, and cried out in fear.


text:
Jesus said: <J>“Come.”</J> So Peter got down from the boat, and walked on the water, and went towards Jesus;


text:
but, when he felt the wind, he was frightened, and, beginning to sink, cried out: “Master! Save me!”


text:
Instantly Jesus stretched out his hand, and caught hold of him. <J>“You of little faith!”</J> he said, <J>“Why did you falter?”</J> 


text:
But the men in the boat threw themselves on their faces before him, and said: “You are indeed God’s Son.”


text:
But the people of that place, recognising Jesus, sent out to the whole country round, and brought to him all who were ill,


text:
begging him merely to let them touch the tassel of his cloak; and all who touched were made perfectly well.


text:
“How is it that your disciples break the traditions of our ancestors? For they do not wash their hands when they eat food.”


text:
His reply was: <J>“How is it that you on your side break God’s commandments out of respect for your own traditions?</J> 


text:
 <J>For God said — ‘Honour your father and mother,’ and ‘Let him who abuses his father or mother suffer death,’</J> 


text:
 <J>but you say ‘Whenever anyone says to his father or mother “Whatever of mine might have been of service to you is ‘Given to God,’”</J> 


text:
<J>he is in no way bound to honour his father.’ In this way you have nullified the words of God for the sake of your traditions.</J> 


text:
 <J>‘This is a people that honour me with their lips, While their hearts are far removed from me;</J> 


text:
 <J>It is not what enters a person’s mouth that ‘defiles’ them, but what comes out from their mouth — that does defile them!”</J> 


text:
His disciples came up to him, and said: “Do you know that the Pharisees were shocked on hearing what you said?”


text:
 <J>“Every plant,”</J> Jesus replied, <J>“that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.</J> 


text:
 <J>Let them be; they are but blind guides; and, if one blind person guides another, both of them will fall into a ditch.”</J> 


text:
 <J>“Do not you see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is afterwards expelled?</J> 


text:
 <J>But the things that come out from the mouth proceed from the heart, and it is these that defile a person;</J> 


text:
 <J>for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts — murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, perjury, slander.</J> 


text:
<J>These are the things that defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”</J>


text:
There, a Canaanite woman of that district came out and began calling to Jesus: “Take pity on me, Master, Son of David; my daughter is grievously possessed by a demon.”


text:
But Jesus did not answer her a word; and his disciples came up and begged him to send her away. “She keeps calling out after us,” they said.


text:
 <J>“It is not fair,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“to take the children’s food and throw it to dogs.”</J> 


text:
 <J>“Your faith is great,”</J> was his reply to the woman; <J>“it will be as you wish!”</J> And her daughter was cured that very hour.


text:
 On leaving that place, Jesus went to the shore of the Sea of Galilee; and then went up the hill, and sat down., you will do what not only what has been done to the fig tree, but, even if you should say to this hill ‘Be lifted up and hurled into the sea!’ it would be done.


text:
Great crowds of people came to him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, or dumb, and many others. They put them down at his feet, and he cured them;


text:
and the crowds were astonished, when they saw the dumb talking, the cripples made sound, the lame walking about, and the blind with their sight restored; and they praised the God of Israel.


text:
Afterwards Jesus called his disciples to him, and said: <J>“My heart is moved at the sight of all these people, for they have already been with me three days and they have nothing to eat; and I am unwilling to send them away hungry; they might faint on the way home.”</J> 


text:
“Where can we,” his disciples asked, “in a lonely place find enough bread for such a crowd as this?”


text:
Jesus took the seven loaves and the fish, and, after saying the thanksgiving, broke them, and gave them to the disciples; and the disciples gave them to the crowds.


text:
Then, after dismissing the crowds, Jesus got into the boat, and went to the neighbourhood of Magadan.


text:
Here the Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and, to test Jesus, requested him to show them some sign from the heavens.


text:
But Jesus answered: <J>“In the evening you say ‘It will be fine weather, for the sky is as red as fire.’</J> 


text:
 <J>But in the morning you say ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is as red as fire and threatening.’ You learn to read the sky; yet you are unable to read the signs of the times!</J> 


text:
 <J>A wicked and unfaithful generation is asking for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah.”</J> So he left them and went away.


text:
Presently Jesus said to them: “Take care and be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”


text:
On noticing this, Jesus said: <J>“Why are you talking among yourselves about your being short of bread, you of little faith?</J> 


text:
 <J>Do not you yet see, nor remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took away?</J> 


text:
<J>How is it that you do not see that I was not speaking about bread? Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”</J> 


text:
Then they understood that he had told them to be on their guard, not against the leaven of bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.


text:
 On coming into the neighbourhood of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples this question — <J>“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”</J> 


text:
“Some say John the Baptist,” they answered, “Others, however, say that he is Elijah, while others again say Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”


text:
 <J>“Blessed are you, Simon, Son of Jonah,”</J> Jesus replied. <J>“For no human being has revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.</J> 


text:
 <J>Yes, and I say to you, Your name is ‘Peter — a Rock, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of the place of death will not prevail over it.</J> 


text:
 <J>I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be held in heaven to be forbidden, and whatever you allow on earth will be held in heaven to be allowed.”</J> 


text:
 At that time Jesus Christ began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, and undergo much suffering at the hands of the councillors, and chief priests, and teachers of the law, and be put to death, and rise on the third day.


text:
But Peter took Jesus aside, and began to rebuke him. “Master,” he said, “please God that will never be your fate!”


text:
Jesus, however, turning to Peter, said: <J>“Out of my way, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you look at things, not as God does, but as person does.”</J> 


text:
Then Jesus said to his disciples: <J>“If anyone wishes to walk in my steps, let him renounce self, and take up his cross, and follow me.</J> 


text:
 <J>For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, and whoever, for my sake, loses his life will find it.</J> 


text:
 <J>What good will it do a person to gain the whole world, if he forfeits his life? Or what will a person give that is of equal value with his life?</J> 


text:
 <J>For the Son of Man is to come in his Father’s glory, with his angels, and then he ‘will give to everyone what his actions deserve.’</J> 


text:
 <J>I tell you, some of those who are standing here will not know death until they have seen the Son of Man coming into his kingdom.”</J>


text:
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter, and the brothers James and John, and led them up a high mountain alone.


text:
There his appearance was transformed before their eyes; his face shown like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.


text:
“Master,” exclaimed Peter, interposing, “it is good to be here; if you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”


text:
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and there was a voice from the cloud that said — “This is my dearly loved son, who brings me great joy; listen to him.”


text:
As they were going down the mountain side, Jesus gave them this warning — <J>“Do not speak of this vision to anyone, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”</J> 


text:
 <J>and I tell you that Elijah has already come, and people have not recognised him, but have treated him just as they pleased. In the same way, too, the Son of Man is destined to undergo suffering at people’s hands.”</J> 


text:
“Master, take pity on my son, for he is epileptic and suffers terribly; indeed, he often falls into the fire and into the water;


text:
 <J>“Faithless and perverse generation!”</J> Jesus exclaimed, <J>“how long must I be among you? How long must I have patience with you? Bring the boy here to me.”</J> 


text:
Afterwards the disciples came up to Jesus, and asked him privately: “Why was it that we could not drive it out?”


text:
 <J>“Because you have so little faith,”</J> he answered; <J>“for, I tell you, if your faith were only like a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain ‘Move from this place to that!’ and it would be moved; and nothing would be impossible to you.”</J>


text:
 While Jesus and his disciples were together in Galilee, he said to them: <J>“The Son of Man is destined to be betrayed into human hands,</J> 


text:
 <J>and they will put him to death, but on the third day he will rise.”</J> The disciples were greatly distressed.


text:
 After they had reached Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple-rate came up to Peter, and said: “Does not your Master pay the Temple-rate?”


text:
 “Yes,” answered Peter. But, on going into the house, before he could speak, Jesus said: <J>“What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings take taxes or tribute? From their sons, or from others?”</J> 


text:
 <J>Still, so we don't offend them, go and throw a line into the Sea; take the first fish that rises, open its mouth, and you will find in it a piece of money. Take that, and give it to the collectors for both of us.”</J>


text:
On the same occasion the disciples came to Jesus, and asked him: “Who is really the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”


text:
 <J>“I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven at all.</J> 


text:
 <J>Therefore, anyone who will humble themselves like this child — that person will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.</J> 


text:
 <J>And anyone who, for the sake of my name, welcomes even one little child like this, is welcoming me.</J> 


text:
 <J>But, if anyone puts temptation in the way of one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be best for them to be sunk in the depths of the sea with a great millstone hung round their neck.</J> 


text:
<J>Alas for the world because of such temptations! There cannot but be temptations but sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting!</J>


text:
 <J>If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off, and throw it away. It would be better for you to enter the life maimed or lame, than to have both hands, or both feet, and be thrown into the fire that never goes out.</J> 


text:
 <J>If your eye causes you to sin, take it out, and throw it away. It would be better for you to enter the life with only one eye, than to have both eyes and be thrown into the fires of Gehenna.</J> 


text:
 <J>Beware of despising one of these little ones, for in heaven, I tell you, their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.</J>


text:
 <J>What think you? If a person owns a hundred sheep, and one of them strays, will the person not leave the ninety-nine on the hills, and go and search for the one that is straying?</J> 


text:
 <J>And, if they succeed in finding it, I tell you that they rejoice more over that one sheep than over the ninety-nine which did not stray.</J> 


text:
 <J>So, too, it is the will of my Father who is in heaven that not one of these little ones should be lost.</J>


text:
 <J>If your brother or sister does wrong, go to them and convince them of their fault when you are both alone. If they listen to you, you have won them over.</J> 


text:
 <J>But, if they do not listen to you, take with you one or two others, so that ‘on the evidence of two or three witnesses, every word may be put beyond dispute.’</J> 


text:
 <J>If they refuse to listen to them, speak to the church; and, if they also refuse to listen to the church, treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax-gatherer.</J>


text:
 <J>I tell you, all that you forbid on earth will be held in heaven to be forbidden, and all that you allow on earth will be held in heaven to be allowed.</J> 


text:
 <J>Again, I tell you that, if but two of you on earth agree as to what they will pray for, whatever it be, it will be granted them by my Father who is in heaven.</J> 


text:
 Then Peter came up, and said to Jesus: “Master, how often am I to forgive someone who wrongs me? As many as seven times?”


text:
<J>Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.</J> 


text:
 <J>When he had begun to do so, one of them was brought to him who owed him ten thousand bags of gold;</J> 


text:
 <J>and, as he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold towards the payment of the debt, together with his wife, and his children, and everything that he had.</J> 


text:
 <J>The servant threw himself down on the ground before him and said ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’</J> 


text:
 <J>But, on going out, that same servant came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. Seizing him by the throat, he said ‘Pay what you owe me.’</J> 


text:
 <J>His fellow servant threw himself on the ground and begged for mercy. ‘Have patience with me,’ he said, ‘and I will pay you.’</J> 


text:
 <J>When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and went to their master and laid the whole matter before him.</J> 


text:
 <J>So the master sent for the servant, and said to him ‘You wicked servant! When you begged me for mercy, I forgave you the whole of that debt.</J> 


text:
 <J>Ought not you, also, to have shown mercy to your fellow servant, just as I showed mercy to you?’</J> 


text:
 <J>Then his master, in anger, handed him over to the jailers, until he should pay the whole of his debt.</J> 


text:
 <J>So, also, will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.”</J> 


text:
<n>The Journey to Jerusalem</n> At the conclusion of this teaching, Jesus withdrew from Galilee, and went into that district of Judea which is on the other side of the Jordan.


text:
Presently some Pharisees came up to him, and, to test him, said: “Has a man the right to divorce his wife for every cause?”


text:
 <J>“Have not you read,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’</J> 


text:
 <J>and said — ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother, and be united to his wife, and the man and his wife will become one’?</J> 


text:
 <J>So that they are no longer two, but one. What God himself, then, has yoked together people must not separate.”</J> 


text:
“Why, then,” they said, “did Moses direct that a man should ‘serve his wife with a notice of separation and divorce her’?”


text:
 <J>“Moses, owing to the hardness of your hearts,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“permitted you to divorce your wives, but that was not so at the beginning.</J> 


text:
 <J>But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of some serious sexual sin, and marries another woman, is guilty of adultery.”</J> 


text:
“If that,” said the disciples, “is the position of a man with regard to his wife, it is better not to marry.”


text:
 <J>“It is not everyone,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“who can accept this teaching, but only those who have been enabled to do so.</J> 


text:
 <J>Some men, it is true, have from birth been disabled for marriage, while others have been disabled by their fellow men, and others again have disabled themselves for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let him accept it who can.”</J>


text:
 Then some little children were brought to Jesus, for him to place his hands on them, and pray; but the disciples found fault with those who had brought them.


text:
Jesus, however, said: <J>“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for it is to the childlike that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”</J> 


text:
 <J>“Why ask me about goodness?”</J> answered Jesus. <J>“There is but One who is good. If you want to enter the life, keep the commandments.”</J> 


text:
“What commandments?” asked the man. <J>“These,”</J> answered Jesus: — <J>“‘You must not kill. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not say what is false about others.</J> 


text:
<J>Honour your father and your mother.’ And ‘You must love your neighbour as you love yourself.”</J> 


text:
 <J>“If you wish to be perfect,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“go and sell your property, and give to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven; then come and follow me.”</J> 


text:
At this, Jesus said to his disciples: <J>“I tell you that a rich person will find it hard to enter the kingdom of heaven!</J> 


text:
 <J>I say again, it is easier for a camel to get through a needle’s eye than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven!”</J> 


text:
But Jesus looked at them, and said: <J>“With people this is impossible, but with God everything is possible.”</J> Then Peter turned and said to Jesus:


text:
 <J>“I tell you,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“that at the new creation, ‘when the Son of Man takes his seat on his throne of glory,’ you who followed me will be seated on twelve thrones, as judges of the twelve tribes of Israel.</J> 


text:
 <J>Everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or land, for my sake, will receive many times as much, and will ‘gain eternal life.’</J> 


text:
<J>For the kingdom of heaven is like an employer who went out in the early morning to hire labourers for his vineyards.</J> 


text:
 <J>He agreed with the labourers to pay them the standard daily rate of two silver coins, and sent them into his vineyard.</J> 


text:
 <J>On going out again, about nine o’clock, he saw some others standing in the marketplace, doing nothing.</J> 


text:
 <J>When he went out about five, he found some others standing there, and said to them ‘Why have you been standing here all day long, doing nothing?’</J> 


text:
 <J>In the evening the owner of the vineyard said to his steward ‘Call the labourers, and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, and ending with the first.</J> 


text:
 <J>Now when those who had been hired about five o’clock went up, they received two silver coins each.</J> 


text:
 <J>So, when the first went up, they thought that they would receive more, but they also received two silver coins each;</J> 


text:
 <J>‘These last,’ they said, ‘have done only one hour’s work, and yet you have put them on the same footing with us, who have borne the brunt of the day’s work, and the heat.’</J> 


text:
 <J>‘My friend,’ was his reply to one of them, ‘I am not treating you unfairly. Did not you agree with me for two silver coins?</J> 


text:
<J>Have not I the right to do as I choose with what is mine? Are you envious because I am liberal?’</J> 


text:
 When Jesus was on the point of going up to Jerusalem, he gathered the twelve disciples round him by themselves, and said to them as they were on their way:


text:
 <J>“Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem; and there the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law, and they will condemn him to death,</J> 


text:
 <J>and give him up to the Gentiles for them to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify; and on the third day he will rise.”</J>


text:
 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to him with her sons, bowing to the ground, and begging a favour.


text:
 <J>“What is it that you want?”</J> he asked. “I want you to say,” she replied, “that in your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right, and the other on your left.”


text:
 <J>“You do not know what you are asking,”</J> was Jesus’ answer. <J>“Can you drink the cup that I am to drink?”</J> “Yes,” they exclaimed, “we can.”


text:
 <J>“You will indeed drink my cup,”</J> he said, <J>“but as to a seat at my right and at my left — that is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”</J> 


text:
Jesus, however, called the ten to him, and said: <J>“The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them as you know, and their high officials oppress them.</J> 


text:
 <J>No, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to take the first place among you, must be your slave;</J> 


text:
 <J>just as the Son of Man came, not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”</J>


text:
Two blind men who were sitting by the roadside, hearing that Jesus was passing, called out: “Take pity on us, Master, Son of David!”


text:
The crowd told them to be quiet; but the men only called out the louder: “Take pity on us, Master, Son of David!”


text:
So Jesus, moved with compassion, touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight, and followed him.


text:
<n>The Last Days</n> When they had almost reached Jerusalem, having come as far as Bethphage, on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent on two disciples.


text:
 <J>“Go to the village facing you,”</J> he said, <J>“and you will immediately find an ass tethered, with a foal by her side; untie her, and lead her here for me.</J> 


text:
 <J>And, if anyone says anything to you, you are to say this — ‘The Master wants them’; and he will send them at once.”</J> 


text:
‘Say to the people of Zion — “Your King is coming to you, gentle, and riding on an ass, and on the foal of a beast of burden.”’


text:
They led the ass and the foal back, and, when they had put their cloaks on them, he seated himself on them.


text:
The immense crowd of people spread their cloaks in the road, while some cut branches off the trees, and spread them on the road.


text:
The crowds that led the way, as well as those that followed behind, kept shouting: “God save the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! God save him from on high!”


text:
 Jesus went into the Temple Courts, and drove out all those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers, and the seats of the pigeon-dealers,


text:
and said to them: <J>“Scripture says ‘My house will be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”</J> 


text:
While he was still in the Temple Courts, some blind and some lame people came up to him, and he cured them.


text:
But, when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things that Jesus did, and the boys who were calling out in the Temple Courts “God save the Son of David!”, they were indignant,


text:
and said to him: “Do you hear what these boys are saying?”<J> “Yes,”</J> answered Jesus; <J>“but did you never read the words — ‘Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings you have called forth perfect praise’?”</J>


text:
and, noticing a solitary fig tree by the roadside, he went up to it, but found nothing on it but leaves. So he said to it: <J>“Never again will fruit be gathered off you.”</J> And suddenly the fruit tree withered up.


text:
When the disciples saw this, they exclaimed in astonishment: “How suddenly the fig tree withered up!”


text:
 <J>“I tell you,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“if you have faith, without ever a doubt, you will do what not only what has been done to the fig tree, but, even if you should say to this hill ‘Be lifted up and hurled into the sea!’ it would be done.</J> 


text:
 After Jesus had come into the Temple Courts, the chief priests and the councillors of the Nation came up to him as he was teaching, and said: “What authority have you to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”


text:
 <J>“I, too,”</J> said Jesus in reply, <J>“will ask you one question; if you will give me an answer to it, then I, also, will tell you what authority I have to act as I do.</J> 


text:
 <J>It is about John’s baptism. What was its origin? Divine or human?” But they began arguing among themselves: “If we say ‘divine,’ he will say to us ‘Why then did not you believe him?’</J> 


text:
So the answer they gave Jesus was — “We do not know.”<J> “Then I,”</J> he said, <J>“refuse to tell you what authority I have to do these things.</J> 


text:
<J>What do you think of this? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the elder and said ‘Go and work in the vineyard today my son.’</J> 


text:
 <J>Then the father went to the second son, and said the same. ‘I will not,’ he answered; but afterwards he was sorry and went.</J> 


text:
 <J>Which of the two sons did as his father wished?”</J> “The second,” they said. <J>“I tell you,”</J> added Jesus, <J>“that tax-gatherers and prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God before you.</J> 


text:
 <J>For when John came to you, walking in the path of righteousness, you did not believe him, but tax-gatherers and prostitutes did; and yet you, though you saw this, even then were not sorry, nor did you believe him.</J>


text:
 <J>Listen to another parable. A man, who was an employer, once planted a vineyard, put a fence round it, dug a winepress in it, built a tower, and then let it out to tenants and went abroad.</J> 


text:
 <J>When the time for the grape harvest drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to receive his share of the produce.</J> 


text:
 <J>A second time the owner sent some servants, a larger number than before, and the tenants treated them in the same way.</J> 


text:
 <J>But the tenants, on seeing his son, said to each other ‘Here is the heir! Come, let us kill him, and get his inheritance.’</J> 


text:
“Miserable wretches!” they exclaimed, “he will put them to a miserable death, and he will let out the vineyard to other tenants, who will pay him his share of the produce at the proper times.”


text:
Then Jesus added: <J>“Have you never read in the scriptures? — ‘The stone which the builders despised — Has now itself become the corner-stone; This corner-stone has come from the Lord, and is marvellous in our eyes.’</J> 


text:
 <J>That, I tell you, is why the kingdom of God will be taken from you, and given to a nation that does produce the fruit of the kingdom.</J> 


text:
 <J>Yes, and he who falls on this stone will be dashed to pieces, while anyone on whom it falls — it will scatter him as dust.”</J>


text:
 After listening to these parables, the chief priests and the Pharisees saw that it was about them that he was speaking;


text:
 <J>“The kingdom of heaven,” he said, “may be compared to a king who gave a banquet in honour of his son’s wedding.</J> 


text:
 <J>He sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the banquet, but they were unwilling to come.</J> 


text:
 <J>A second time he sent some servants, with orders to say to those who had been invited ‘I have prepared my breakfast, my cattle and fat beasts are killed and everything is ready; come to the banquet.’</J> 


text:
 <J>The king, in anger, sent his troops, put those murderers to death, and set their city on fire.</J> 


text:
 <J>Then he said to his servants ‘The banquet is prepared, but those who were invited were not worthy.</J> 


text:
 <J>The servants went out into the roads and collected all the people whom they found, whether bad or good; and the bridal-hall was filled with guests.</J> 


text:
 <J>But, when the king went in to see his guests, he noticed there a man who had not put on a wedding-robe.</J> 


text:
 <J>So he said to him ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding-robe?’ The man was speechless.</J> 


text:
 <J>Then the king said to the attendants ‘Tie him hand and foot, and ‘put him out into the darkness’ outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’</J> 


text:
Then the Pharisees went away and conferred together as to how they might lay a trap for Jesus in the course of conversation.


text:
They sent their disciples, with the Herodians, to say to him: “Teacher, we know that you are an honest person, and that you teach the way of God honestly, and are not afraid of anyone; for you pay no regard to a person’s position.


text:
“The Emperor’s,” they answered: on which he said to them: <J>“Then pay to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and to God what belongs to God.”</J> 


text:
 That same day some Sadducees came up to Jesus, maintaining that there is no resurrection. Their question was this: —


text:
“Teacher, Moses said — ‘should a man die without children, the man’s brother will become the husband of the widow, and raise a family for his brother.’


text:
Now we had living among us seven brothers; of whom the eldest married and died, and, as he had no family, left his wife for his brother.


text:
At the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be out of the seven, all of them having been married to her?”


text:
 <J>“Your mistake,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“is due to your ignorance of the scriptures, and of the power of God.</J> 


text:
 <J>For at the resurrection there is no marrying or being married, but all who rise are as angels in heaven.</J> 


text:
 <J>‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of dead people, but of living.”</J> 


text:
His answer was: <J>“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’</J> 


text:
 <J>The second, which is like it, is this — ‘You must love your neighbour as you love yourself.’</J> 


text:
 <J>“How is it, then,”</J> Jesus replied, <J>“that David, speaking under inspiration, calls him ‘lord,’ in the passage —</J> 


text:
 <J>‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies beneath your feet”’?</J> 


text:
 <J>While they make up heavy loads and pile them on other people’s shoulder’s they decline, themselves, to lift a finger to move them.</J> 


text:
 <J>All their actions are done to attract attention. They widen their phylacteries, and increase the size of their tassels,</J> 


text:
 <J>But do not allow yourselves to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and you yourselves are all brothers and sisters.</J> 


text:
 <J>And do not call anyone on the earth your ‘Father,’ for your have only one Father, the heavenly Father.</J> 


text:
 <J>Nor must you allow yourselves to be called ‘leaders,’ for you have only one leader, the Christ.</J> 


text:
 <J>But alas for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You turn the key of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you do not go in yourselves, nor yet allow those who try to go in to do so.</J> 


text:
 <J>Alas for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You destroy widow’s houses, even while pretending to make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.</J> 


text:
 <J>Alas for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You scour land and sea to make a single convert, and, when they are gained, you make them twice as deserving of Gehenna as you are yourselves.</J> 


text:
 <J>Alas for you, you blind guides! You say ‘if any answer by the Temple, their oath counts for nothing; but, if anyone swears by the gold of the Temple, their oath is binding them’!</J> 


text:
<J>Fools that you are and blind! Which is the more important? The gold? Or the Temple which has given sacredness to the gold?</J> 


text:
 <J>You say, too, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, their oath counts for nothing, but, if anyone swears by the offering placed on it, their oath is binding on them’!</J> 


text:
<J>Blind indeed! Which is the more important? The offering? Or the altar which gives sacredness to the offering?</J> 


text:
 <J>while a person, swearing by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.</J> 


text:
 <J>Alas for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You pay tithes on mint, fennel, and caraway seed, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law — justice, mercy, and good faith. These last you ought to have put into practice, without neglecting the first.</J> 


text:
 <J>Alas for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are filled with the results of greed and self-indulgence.</J> 


text:
 <J>You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish, so that the outside may become clean as well.</J> 


text:
 <J>Alas for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed look fair outside, while inside they are filled with dead people’s bones and all kinds of filth.</J> 


text:
 <J>It is the same with you. Outwardly, and to others, you have the look of religious people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and sin.</J> 


text:
 <J>Alas for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the monuments of religious people,</J> 


text:
 <J>and say ‘Had we been living in the days of our ancestors, we should have taken part in their murder of the prophets!</J> 


text:
<J>By doing this you are furnishing evidence against yourselves that you are true children of the people who murdered the prophets.</J> 


text:
 <J>That is why I send you prophets, wise people, and teachers of the law, some of whom you will crucify and kill, and some of whom you will scourge in your Synagogues, and persecute from town to town;</J> 


text:
 <J>in order the blood on your heads may fall every drop of innocent ‘blood split on earth,’ from the blood of innocent Abel down to that of Zechariah, Barachiah’s son, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar.</J> 


text:
 <J>Jerusalem! Jerusalem! She who slays the prophets and stones the messengers sent to her — Oh, how often have I wished to gather your children round me, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not come!</J> 


text:
 <J>For nevermore, I tell you, will you see me, until you say — ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”</J>


text:
Leaving the Temple Courts, Jesus was walking away, when his disciples came up to draw his attention to the Temple buildings.


text:
 <J>“Do you see all these things?”</J> was his answer. <J>“I tell you, not a single stone will be left here on another, which will not be thrown down,”</J> 


text:
so, while Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came up to him privately and said: “Tell us when this will be, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the close of the age.”


text:
 <J>You will hear of wars and rumours of wars; take care not to be alarmed, for such things must occur; but the end is not yet here.</J> 


text:
 <J>For ‘nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom,’ and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.</J> 


text:
 <J>When that time comes, they will give you up to persecution, and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.</J> 


text:
<J>This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world as a witness to all nations; and then will come the end.</J> 


text:
 <J>As soon, then, as you see ‘the Foul Desecration,’ mentioned by the prophet Daniel, standing in the Holy place,”</J> (the reader must consider what this means)


text:
 <J>for that will be ‘a time of great distress, the like of which has not occurred from the beginning of the world down to the present time’ — no, nor ever will again.</J> 


text:
 <J>Had not those days been limited, not a single soul would escape; but for the sake of ‘God’s people’ a limit will be put to them.</J> 


text:
 <J>At that time, if anyone should say to you ‘Look! Here is the Christ!’ or ‘Here he is!’, do not believe it;</J> 


text:
 <J>for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will display great signs and marvels, so that, were it possible, even God’s people would be led astray.</J> 


text:
 <J>Therefore, if people say to you ‘He is in the wilderness!’, do not go out there; or ‘He is in an inner room!’, do not believe it;</J> 


text:
 <J>for, just as lightning will start from the east and flash across to the west, so will it be with the coming of the Son of Man.</J> 


text:
 <J>Immediately after the distress of those days, ‘the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give her light, the stars will fall from the heavens,’ and ‘the forces of the heavens will be convulsed.’</J> 


text:
 <J>Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in the heavens; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn, when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the heavens,’ with power and great glory;</J> 


text:
 <J>and he will send his angels, with a great trumpet, and they will gather his people round him from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.</J>


text:
 <J>Learn the lesson taught by the fig tree. As soon as its branches are full of sap, and it is bursting into leaf, you know that summer is near.</J> 


text:
 <J>I tell you, even the present generation will not pass away, until all these things have taken place.</J> 


text:
 <J>But about that day and hour, no one knows — not even the angels of heaven, nor yet the Son — but only the Father himself.</J> 


text:
 <J>In those days before the flood they went on eating and drinking, marrying and being married, up to the very day on which Noah entered the ark,</J> 


text:
<J>taking not notice until the flood came and swept them one and all away; and so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.</J> 


text:
 <J>But this you do know, that, had the owner of the house known at what time of night the thief was coming, they would have been on the watch, and would not have allowed their house to be broken into.</J> 


text:
 <J>Therefore, you must also prepare, since it is just when you are least expecting him that the Son of Man will come.</J> 


text:
 <J>Who, then is that trustworthy, careful servant, who has been placed by their master over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?</J> 


text:
 <J>But, should the servant be a bad servant, and say to themselves ‘My master is a long time in coming,’</J> 


text:
 <J>that servant’s master will come on a day when they do not expect him, and at an hour of which they are unaware,</J> 


text:
 <J>and will flog the servant severely, and assign them their place among the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.</J>


text:
<J>Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom.</J> 


text:
 <J>But the prudent ones answered ‘No, There may not be enough for you and for us. Go instead to those who sell it, and buy for yourselves.’</J> 


text:
 <J>But while they were on their way to buy it, the groom came; and the bridesmaids who were ready went in with him to the banquet, and the door was shut.</J> 


text:
 <J>For it is as though a man, going on his travels, called his servants, and gave his property into their charge.</J> 


text:
 <J>He gave five bags of gold to one, two to another, and one bag to a third, in proportion to the ability of each. Then he set out on his travels.</J> 


text:
 <J>The servant who had received the five bags of gold went at once and traded with it, and made another five bags.</J> 


text:
 <J>But the servant who had received the one bag went and dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.</J> 


text:
 <J>The servant who had received the five bags of gold came up and brought five bags more. ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold; look, I have made another five bags!’</J> 


text:
 <J>‘Well done, good, trustworthy servant!’ said his master. ‘You have been trustworthy with a small sum; now I will place a large one in your hands; come and share your master’s joy!’</J> 


text:
 <J>Then the one who had received the two bags of gold came up and said ‘Sir, you entrusted me with two bags pounds; look, I have made another two!’</J> 


text:
 <J>The man who had received the single bag of gold came up, too, and said ‘Sir, I knew that you were a hard man; you reap where you have not sown, and gather up where you have not winnowed;</J> 


text:
 <J>and, in my fear, I went and hid your money in the ground; look, here is what belongs to you!’</J> 


text:
 <J>‘You lazy, worthless servant!’ was his master’s reply. ‘You knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather up where I have not winnowed?</J> 


text:
 <J>Then you ought to have placed my money in the hands of bankers, and I, on my return, should have received my money, with interest.</J> 


text:
 <J>‘Therefore,’ he continued, ‘take away from him the one bag of gold, and give it to the one who has the ten bags.</J> 


text:
 <J>For, to him who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but, as for him who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away from him.</J> 


text:
 <J>As for the useless servant, ‘put him out into the darkness’ outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’</J>


text:
 <J>When the Son of Man has come in his glory and all the angels with him, then he ‘will take his seat on his throne of glory’;</J> 


text:
 <J>and all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people — just as a shepherd separates sheep from goats —</J> 


text:
 <J>Then the king will say to those on his right ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, enter into possession of the kingdom prepared for you ever since the beginning of the world.</J> 


text:
 <J>For, when I was hungry, you gave me food; when I was thirsty, you gave me drink; when I was a stranger, you took me to your homes;</J> 


text:
 <J>when I was naked, you clothed me; when I fell ill, you visited me; and when I was in prison, you came to me.’</J> 


text:
 <J>Then the righteous will answer ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you? Or thirsty, and give you a drink?</J> 


text:
 <J>And the king will reply ‘I tell you, as often as you did it to one of these my brothers or sisters, however unimportant they seemed, you did it to me.’</J> 


text:
 <J>Then he will say to those on his left ‘Go from my presence, accursed, into the ‘permanent fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.’</J> 


text:
 <J>when I was a stranger, you did not take me to your homes; when I was naked, you did not clothe me; and, when I was ill and in prison, you did not visit me.’</J> 


text:
 <J>Then they, in their turn, will answer ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or ill, or in prison, and did not supply your wants?’</J> 


text:
 <J>And then he will reply ‘I tell you, as often as you failed to do it to one of these, however unimportant, you failed to do it to me.’</J> 


text:
 <J>And these last will go away ‘into lasting correction,’ but the righteous ‘into lasting life.’”</J>


text:
<J>“You know that in two days time the Festival of the Passover will be here; and that the Son of Man is to be given up to be crucified.”</J> 


text:
Then the chief priests and the councillors of the Nation met in the house of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,


text:
a woman came up to him with an alabaster jar of very costly perfume, and poured the perfume on his head as he sat at the table.


text:
 <J>“Why are you troubling the woman?”</J> Jesus said, when he noticed it. <J>“For this is a beautiful deed that she has done to me.</J> 


text:
 <J>I tell you, wherever, in the whole world, this good news is proclaimed, what this woman has done will be told in memory of her.”</J>


text:
and said “What are you willing to give me, if I betray Jesus to you?” The Priests ‘weighed him out thirty pieces of silver’ as payment.


text:
 On the first day of the Festival of the unleavened bread, the disciples came up to Jesus, and said: “Where do you wish us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”


text:
 <J>“Go into the city to a certain man,”</J> he answered, <J>“and say to him ‘The teacher says — My time is near. I will keep the Passover with my disciples at your house.’”</J> 


text:
 <J>“The one who dipped his bread beside me in the dish,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“is the one who will betray me.</J> 


text:
 <J>True, the Son of Man must go, as scripture says of him, yet alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is being betrayed! For that man ‘it would be better never to have been born!’”</J> 


text:
Judas, who was betraying him, turned to him and said: “Can it be I, Rabbi?”<J> “It is,”</J> answered Jesus.


text:
 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and, after saying the blessing, broke it and, as he gave it to his disciples, said: <J>“Take it and eat it; this is my body.”</J> 


text:
Then he took a cup, and, after saying the thanksgiving, gave it to them, with the words: <J>“Drink from it, all of you;</J> 


text:
 <J>I tell you that I will never, after this, drink of this juice of the grape, until that day when I will drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father.”</J>


text:
Then Jesus said to them: <J>“Even you will all fall away from me tonight. Scripture says — ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’</J> 


text:
 <J>“I tell you,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“that this very night, before the cock crows, you will disown me three times!”</J> 


text:
“Even if I must die with you,” Peter exclaimed, “I will never disown you!” All the disciples spoke in the same way.


text:
 Then Jesus came with them to a garden called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples: <J>“Sit down here while I go and pray over there.”</J> 


text:
Taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to show signs of sadness and deep distress of mind.


text:
Going on a little further, he threw himself on his face in prayer. <J>“My Father,”</J> he said, <J>“if it is possible, let me be spared this cup; only, not as I will, but as you will.”</J> 


text:
Then he came to his disciples, and found them asleep. <J>“What!”</J> he said to Peter, <J>“could none of you watch with me for one hour?</J> 


text:
 <J>Watch and pray so that you don't fall into temptation. True, the spirit is eager, but human nature is weak.”</J> 


text:
Again, a second time, he went away, and prayed. <J>“My Father,”</J> he said, <J>“if I cannot be spared this cup, but must drink it, your will be done!”</J> 


text:
Then he came to the disciples, and said: <J>“Sleep on now, and rest yourselves. Look - my time is close at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of wicked people.</J> 


text:
And, while he was still speaking, Judas, who was one of the Twelve, came in sight; and with him was a great crowd of people, with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and councillors of the nation.


text:
Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them. “The man whom I kiss,” he had said, “will be the one; arrest him.”


text:
on which Jesus said to him: <J>“Friend, do what you have come for.”</J> The men went up, seized Jesus, and arrested him.


text:
Suddenly one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and striking the high priest’s servant, cut off his ear.


text:
 <J>“Sheathe your sword,”</J> Jesus said, <J>“for all who draw the sword will be put to the sword.</J> 


text:
 <J>Do you think that I cannot ask my Father for help, when he would at once send to my aid more than twelve legions of angels?</J> 


text:
Jesus at the same time said to the crowds: <J>“Have you come out, as if after a robber, with swords and clubs, to take me? I have sat teaching day after day in the Temple Courts, and yet you did not arrest me.”</J> 


text:
The whole of this occurred in fulfilment of the Prophetic scriptures. Then the disciples all forsook him and fled.


text:
 Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the councillors had assembled.


text:
Meanwhile the chief priests and the whole of the High Council were trying to get such false evidence against Jesus, as would warrant putting him to death,


text:
but they did not find any, although many came forward with false evidence. Later on, however, two men came forward and said:


text:
Then the high priest stood up, and said to Jesus: “Have you no answer? What is this evidence which these men are giving against you?”


text:
But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him: “I order you, by the living God, to tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.”


text:
 <J>“It is true,”</J> Jesus answered; <J>“Moreover I tell you all that hereafter you will ‘see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the Almighty, and coming on the clouds of the heavens.’”</J> 


text:
Then the high priest tore his robes. “This is blasphemy!” he exclaimed. “Why do we want any more witnesses? You have just heard his blasphemy!


text:
Peter, meanwhile, was sitting outside in the courtyard; and a maidservant came up to him, and exclaimed: “Why, you were with Jesus the Galilean!”


text:
When he had gone out into the gateway, another maid saw him, and said to those who were there: “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth!”


text:
But soon afterwards those who were standing by came up and said to Peter: “You also are certainly one of them; why, even your way of speaking proves it!”


text:
Then Peter said: “I swear that I do not know the man! May God punish me if I am lying!” At that moment a cock crowed;


text:
and Peter remembered the words which Jesus had said — <J>‘Before a cock has crowed, you will disown me three times’;</J> and he went outside, and wept bitterly.


text:
At daybreak all the chief priests and the councillors of the nation consulted together against Jesus, to bring about his death.


text:
Then Judas, who betrayed him, seeing that Jesus was condemned, repented of what he had done, and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and councillors.


text:
“I did wrong in betraying a good man to his death,” he said. “What has that to do with us?” they replied. “You must see to that yourself.”


text:
The chief priests took the pieces of silver, but they said: “We must not put them into the Temple treasury, because they are blood-money.”


text:
So, after consultation, they bought with them the ‘Potter’s Field’ for a burial-ground for foreigners;


text:
Then it was that these words spoken by the prophet Jeremiah were fulfilled — ‘They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him who was valued, whom some of the people of Israel valued,


text:
Meanwhile Jesus was brought before the Roman Governor. “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked the Governor. <J>“It is true,”</J> answered Jesus.


text:
While charges were being brought against him by the chief priests and councillors, Jesus made no reply.


text:
Now, at the feast, the Governor was accustomed to grant the people the release of any one prisoner whom they might choose.


text:
So, when the people had collected, Pilate said to them: “Which do you wish me to release for you? Barabbas? Or Jesus who is called ‘Christ’?”


text:
While he was still on the Bench, his wife sent this message to him — “Do not have anything to do with that good man, for I have been very unhappy today in a dream because of him.”


text:
But the chief priests and the councillors persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas, and to kill Jesus.


text:
The Governor, however, said to them: “Which of these two do you wish me to release for you?” “Barabbas,” they answered.


text:
“What then,” Pilate asked, “should I do with Jesus who is called ‘Christ?’ “Let him be crucified,” they all replied.


text:
When Pilate saw that his efforts were unavailing, but that, on the contrary, a riot was beginning, he took some water, and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying as he did so: “I am not answerable for this bloodshed; you must see to it yourselves.”


text:
 After that, the Governor’s soldiers took Jesus with them into the Government house, and gathered the whole garrison round him.


text:
and having twisted some thorns into a crown, put it on his head, and a rod in his right hand, and then, going down on their knees before him, they mocked him. “Long life to you, king of the Jews!” they said.


text:
and, when they had left off mocking him, they took off the military cloak, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to be crucified.


text:
 As they were on their way out, they came upon a man from Cyrene of the name of Simon; and they compelled him to go with them to carry the cross.


text:
they gave him some wine to drink which had been mixed with gall; but after tasting it, Jesus refused to drink it.


text:
Above his head they fixed the accusation against him written out — ‘THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.’


text:
“You who ‘destroy the Temple and build one in three days,’ save yourself! If you are God’s Son, come down from the cross!”


text:
“He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the ‘king of Israel’! Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.


text:
About three Jesus called out loudly: <J>“Eloi, Eloi, lema sabacthani”</J> — that is to say, <J>‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’</J> 


text:
One of them immediately ran and took a sponge, and, filling it with common wine, put it on the end of a rod, and offered it to him to drink.


text:
Suddenly the Temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth shook, the rocks were torn asunder,


text:
and they, leaving their tombs, went, after the resurrection of Jesus, into the Holy City, and appeared to many people.


text:
The Roman captain, and the men with him who were watching Jesus, on seeing the earthquake and all that was happening, became greatly frightened and exclaimed: “This must indeed have been God’s Son!”


text:
There were many women there, watching from a distance, who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee and had been attending on him.


text:
Among them were Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.


text:
 When evening had fallen, there came a rich man belonging to Ramah, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus.


text:
and laid it in his newly made tomb which he had cut in the rock; and, before he left, he rolled a great stone against the entrance of the tomb.


text:
 The next day — that is, the day following the Preparation-day — the chief priests and Pharisees came in a body to Pilate, and said:


text:
“Sir, we remember that, during his lifetime, that impostor said <J>‘I will rise after three days.’</J> 


text:
So order the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may come and steal him, and then say to the people ‘He has risen from the dead,’ when the latest imposture will be worse than the first.”


text:
<n>The Risen Life</n> After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary had gone to look at the grave,


text:
when suddenly a great earthquake occurred. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and seated himself on it.


text:
But the angel, addressing the women, said; “You need not be afraid. I now that it is Jesus, who was crucified, for whom you are looking.


text:
and then go quickly and say to him disciples ‘He has risen from the dead, and is going before you into Galilee; there you will see him.’ Remember, I have told you.”


text:
Suddenly Jesus met them. <J>“Welcome!”</J> he said. The women went up to him, and clasped his feet, bowing to the ground before him. Then Jesus said to them:


text:
 <J>“Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers and sisters to set out for Galilee, and they will see me there.”</J> 


text:
While they were still on their way, some of the guard came into the city, and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.


text:
So they and the councillors met and, after holding a consultation, gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,


text:
“And should this matter come before the Governor,” they added, “we will satisfy him, and see that you have nothing to fear.”


text:
So the soldiers took the money, and did as they were instructed. This story spread widely; the people of Judea still tell it today.


text:
Then Jesus came up, and spoke to them , saying:<J> “All authority in heaven and on the earth has been given to me.</J> 


text:
 <J>Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the faith of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,</J> 


text:
 <J>and teaching them to lay to heart all the commands that I have given you; and, remember, I myself am with you every day until the close of the age.”</J> 


text:
<n><i>The Good News According to Mark</i><br/>The Preparation</n> The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ.


text:
It is said in the prophet Isaiah — ‘I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way.


text:
 The voice of one crying aloud in the wilderness: “Make ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”’


text:
And in fulfilment of this, John the Baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism on repentance, for the forgiveness of sins.


text:
The whole of Judea, as well as all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, went out to him; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.


text:
 John wore clothes made of camels’ hair, with a leather strap round his waist, and lived on locusts and wild honey;


text:
and he proclaimed — “There is coming after me one more powerful than I, and I am not fit even to stoop down and unfasten his sandals.


text:
Just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens split open, and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him,


text:
and he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and among the wild beasts, while the angels helped him.


text:
<n>The Work in Galilee</n> After John had been committed to prison, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God —


text:
 As Jesus was going along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net in the Sea, for they were fishermen.


text:
 Going on a little further, he saw James, Zebedee’s son, and his brother John, who also were in their boat mending the nets.


text:
Jesus called them at once, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the crew, and went after him.


text:
The people were amazed at his teaching, for he taught them like one who had authority, and not like the teachers of the law.


text:
Now there was in their Synagogue at the time a man under the power of a foul spirit, who called out:


text:
“What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!”


text:
They were all so amazed that they kept asking: “What is this? Strange teaching indeed! He gives his commands with authority even to the foul spirits, and they obey him!”


text:
 As soon as they had come out from the Synagogue, they went, with James and John, into the house of Simon and Andrew.


text:
Jesus went up to her and, grasping her hand, raised her up; the fever left her, and she began to take care of them.


text:
Jesus cured many who were ill with various diseases, and drove out many demons, and would not permit them to speak, because they knew him to be the Christ.


text:
 In the morning, long before daylight, Jesus rose and went out, and, going to a lonely spot, there began to pray.


text:
But Jesus said to them: <J>“Let us go somewhere else, into the country towns nearby so that I can make my proclamation in them also; for that was why I came.”</J> 


text:
And he went about making his proclamation in their Synagogues all through Galilee, and driving out the demons.


text:
 One day a leper came to Jesus and, falling on his knees, begged him for help. “If only you are willing,” he said, “you are able to make me clean.”


text:
Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying as he did so: <J>“I am willing; become clean.”</J> 


text:
 <J>“Be careful not to say anything to anyone; but go and show yourself to the priest, and make the offerings for your cleansing directed by Moses, as evidence of your cure.”</J> 


text:
The man, however, went away, and began to speak about it publicly, and to spread the story so widely, that Jesus could no longer go openly into a town, but stayed outside in lonely places; and people came to him from every direction.


text:
and so many people collected together, that after a while there was no room for them even round the door; and he began to tell them his message.


text:
Being, however, unable to get him near to Jesus, owing to the crowd, they removed the roofing above Jesus; and, when they had made an opening, they let down the mat on which the paralysed man was lying.


text:
Jesus, at once intuitively aware that they were debating with themselves in this way, said to them: <J>“Why are you debating in your minds about this?</J> 


text:
 <J>Which is easier? — to say to the paralysed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’? Or to say ‘Get up, and take up your mat, and walk’?</J> 


text:
<J>But so you may know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins on earth”</J> — here he said to the paralysed man —


text:
The man got up, and immediately took up his mat, and went out before them all; at which they were amazed, and, as they praised God, they said: “We have never seen anything like this!”


text:
As he went along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting in the tax office, and said to him: <J>“Follow me.”</J> Levi got up and followed him.


text:
 Later on he was in his house having dinner, and a number of tax-gatherers and outcasts took their places at the table with Jesus and his disciples; for many of them were following him.


text:
When the teachers of the law belonging to the party of the Pharisees saw that he was eating in the company of such people, they said to his disciples: “He is eating in the company of tax-gatherers and outcasts!”


text:
Hearing this, Jesus said: <J>“It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill. I did not come to call the religious, but the outcast.”</J>


text:
 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, and people came and asked Jesus: “Why is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, while yours do not?”


text:
Jesus answered: <J>“Can the groom’s friends fast, while the groom is with them? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast.</J> 


text:
 <J>But the days will come, when the groom will be taken away from them, and they will fast then — when that day comes.</J>


text:
 <J>“No one ever sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; if they do, the patch tears away from it — the new from the old — and a worse tear is made.</J> 


text:
 <J>And no one ever puts new wine into old wine-skins; if they do, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are lost. But new wine is put into fresh skins.”</J>


text:
 One Sabbath, as Jesus was walking through the cornfields, his disciples began to pick the ears of wheat as they went along.


text:
 <J>“Have you never read,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and his companions —</J> 


text:
 <J>How he went into the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which only the priests are allowed to eat, and gave some to his comrades as well?”</J>


text:
And they watched Jesus closely, to see if he would cure the man on the Sabbath, so that they might have a charge to bring against him.


text:
and to the people he said: <J>“Is it allowable to do good at the Sabbath — or harm? To save a life, or destroy it?”</J> 


text:
As they remained silent, Jesus looked round at them in anger, grieving at the hardness of their hearts, and said to the man: <J>“Stretch out your hand.”</J> The man stretched it out; and his hand had become sound.


text:
Immediately on leaving the Synagogue, the Pharisees and the Herodians united in laying a plot against Jesus, to put him to death.


text:
Then Jesus went away with his disciples to the Sea, followed by a great number of people from Galilee.


text:
A great number, hearing of all that he was doing, came to him from Judea, from Jerusalem, from Edom, from beyond the Jordan, and from the country round Tyre and Sidon.


text:
For he had cured many of them, and so people kept crowding around him, so all who were sick might touch him.


text:
The foul spirits, too, whenever they caught sight of him, flung themselves down before him, and screamed out: “You are the Son of God”!


text:
He appointed twelve — whom he also named ‘apostles’ — so that they might be with him, and that he might send them out as his messengers, to preach,


text:
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John (to whom he gave the name of Boanerges, which means the Thunderers),


text:
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot,


text:
 Jesus went into a house; and again a crowd collected, so that they were not even able to eat their food.


text:
When his relations heard of it, they went to take charge of him, for they said that he was out of his mind.


text:
 The teachers of the law, who had come down from Jerusalem, said: “He has Beelzebul in him! He he drives the demons out by the help of their chief.”


text:
 <J>So, if Satan is in revolt against himself and is divided, he cannot last — his end has come!</J>


text:
 <J>“No man who has got into a strong man’s house can carry off his goods, without first securing him; and not until then will he plunder his house.</J> 


text:
 <J>I tell you that people will be forgiven everything — their sins, and all the slanders that they utter;</J> 


text:
<J>but whoever slanders the Holy Spirit remains unforgiven to the end; he has to answer for an enduring sin.”</J> 


text:
There was a crowd sitting round Jesus, and some of them said to him: “Look, your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you.”


text:
Then he looked around on the people sitting in a circle round him, and said: <J>“Here are my mother and my brothers!</J> 


text:
Jesus again began to teach by the Sea; and, as an immense crowd was gathering round him, he got into a boat, and sat in it on the Sea, while all the people were on the shore at the water’s edge.


text:
 <J>and presently, as he was sowing, some of the seed fell along the path; and the birds came, and ate it up.</J> 


text:
 <J>Some fell on rocky ground, where it had not much soil, and, having no depth of soil, sprang up at once;</J> 


text:
 <J>Some of the seed fell among brambles; but the brambles shot up and completely choked it, and it yielded no return.</J> 


text:
 <J>Some fell into good soil, and, shooting up and growing, yielded a return, amounting to thirty, sixty, and even a hundred fold.”</J> 


text:
and he said: <J>“To you the hidden truth of the kingdom of God has been imparted; but to those who are outside it all teaching takes the form of parables so that —</J> 


text:
 <J>‘Though they have eyes, they may see without perceiving; and though they have ears, they may hear without understanding; otherwise some day they might turn and be forgiven.’</J>


text:
<J>“You do not know the meaning of this parable?”</J> he went on; <J>“Then how will you understand all the other parables?</J> 


text:
 <J>The people meant by the seed that falls along the path are these — where the message is sown, but, as soon as they have heard it, Satan immediately comes and carries away the message that has been sown in them.</J> 


text:
 <J>So, too, those meant by the seed sown on the rocky places are the people who, when they have heard the message, at once accept it joyfully;</J> 


text:
 <J>but, as they have no root, they stand only for a short time; and so, when trouble or persecution arises because of the message, they fall away at once.</J> 


text:
 <J>Those meant by the seed sown among the brambles are different; they are the people who hear the message,</J> 


text:
 <J>but the cares of life, and the glamour of wealth, and cravings for many other things come in and completely choke the message, so that it gives no return.</J> 


text:
 <J>But the people meant by the seed sown on the good ground are those who hear the message, and welcome it, and yield a return, thirty, sixty, and even a hundred fold.”</J>


text:
 Jesus said to them: <J>“Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under the couch, instead of being put on the lamp-stand?</J> 


text:
<J>There is nothing hidden that will not come to light and nothing is concealed that will not be brought into the open.</J> 


text:
 <J>Take care what you listen to,”</J> said Jesus. <J>“The standard you use will be used for you, and more will be added for you.</J> 


text:
 <J>For, to those who have, more will be given; while, from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”</J>


text:
 Jesus also said: <J>“This is what the kingdom of God is like — like a man who has scattered seed on the ground,</J> 


text:
 <J>and then sleeps by night and rises by day, while the seed is shooting up and growing — he knows not how.</J> 


text:
 <J>The ground bears the crop of itself — first the blade, then the ear, and then the full grain in the ear;</J> 


text:
 <J>but, as soon as the crop is ready, immediately he ‘puts in the sickle because harvest has come’.”</J>


text:
 <J>By what can we illustrate it? Perhaps by the growth of a mustard seed. This seed, when sown in the ground, though it is smaller than all other seeds,</J> 


text:
 <J>yet, when sown, shoots up, and becomes larger than any other herb, and puts out great branches, so that even ‘the wild birds can roost in its shelter.’”</J>


text:
 With many such parables Jesus used to speak to the people of his message, as far as they were able to receive it;


text:
and to them he never used to speak except in parables; but in private to his own disciples he explained everything.


text:
So, leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them, just as he was, in the boat; and there were other boats with him.


text:
A violent squall came on, and the waves kept dashing into the boat, so that the boat was actually filling.


text:
Jesus was in the stern asleep on the cushion; and the disciples roused him and cried: “Teacher! Is it nothing to you that we are lost?”


text:
Jesus rose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea: <J>“Hush! Be still!”</J> Then the wind dropped, and a great calm followed.


text:
But they were struck with great awe, and said to one another: “Who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey him?”


text:
and, as soon as Jesus had got out of the boat, he met a man coming out of the tombs, who was under the power of a foul spirit,


text:
for, though he had many times been left secured with fetters and chains, he had snapped the chains and broken the fetters to pieces, and no one could master him.


text:
Night and day alike, he was continually shrieking in the tombs and among the hills, and cutting himself with stones.


text:
shrieking out in a loud voice: “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? For God’s sake do not torment me!”


text:
And he asked him: <J>“What is your name?”</J> “My name,” he said, “is Legion, for there are many of us;”


text:
Jesus gave them leave. They came out, and entered into the pigs; and the drove — about two thousand in number — rushed down the steep slope into the Sea and were drowned in the Sea.


text:
 Then the men who tended them ran away, and carried the news to the town, and to the country round; and the people went to see what had happened.


text:
When they came to Jesus, they found the possessed man sitting there, clothed and in his right mind — the man who had had the ‘Legion’ in him — and they were awe-struck.


text:
Then those who had seen it related to them all that had happened to the possessed man, as well as about the pigs;


text:
But Jesus refused. <J>“Go back to your home, to your own people,”</J> he said, <J>“and tell them of all that the Lord has done for you, and how he took pity on you.”</J> 


text:
So the man went, and began to proclaim in the district of the Ten Towns all that Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.


text:
 By the time Jesus had recrossed in the boat to the opposite shore, a great number of people had gathered to meet him, and were standing by the Sea.


text:
One of the Presidents of the Synagogue, whose name was Jaeirus, came and, as soon as he saw Jesus, threw himself at his feet with repeated entreaties.


text:
“My little daughter,” he said, “is at the point of death; I beg you to come and place your hands on her so that her life may be spared.”


text:
and undergone much at the hands of many doctors, (spending all she had without obtaining any relief, but, on the contrary, growing worse),


text:
Jesus at once became aware of the power that had gone out from him, and, turning round in the crowd, he said: <J>“Who touched my clothes?”</J>


text:
 “You see the people pressing round you,” exclaimed his disciples, “and yet you say <J>‘Who touched me?’”</J> 


text:
Then the woman, in fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and threw herself down before him, and told him the whole truth.


text:
 <J>“Daughter,”</J> he said, <J>“your faith has delivered you. Go, and peace be with you; be free from your complaint.”</J>


text:
 Before he had finished speaking, some people from the house of the President of the Synagogue came and said: “Your daughter is dead! Why should you trouble the teacher further?”


text:
But Jesus, overhearing what they were saying, said to the President of the Synagogue: <J>“Do not be afraid; only have faith.”</J> 


text:
Presently they reached the President’s house, where Jesus saw a scene of confusion — people weeping and wailing incessantly.


text:
<J>“Why this confusion and weeping?”</J> he said on entering. <J>“The little child is not dead; she is asleep.”</J> 


text:
They began to laugh at him; but he sent them all out, and then, with the child’s father and mother and his companions, went into the room where she was lying.


text:
Taking her hand, Jesus said to her: <J>“Taleitha, koum!”</J> — which means <J>‘little girl, I am speaking to you — Rise!’</J> 


text:
The little girl stood up at once, and began to walk about; for she was twelve years old. And, as soon as they saw it, they were overwhelmed with amazement;


text:
but Jesus repeatedly cautioned them not to let anyone know of it, and told them to give her something to eat.


text:
When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the Synagogue; and the people, as they listened, were deeply impressed. “Where did he get this?” they said, “and what is this wisdom that has been given him? And these miracles which he is doing?


text:
Is not he the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? And are not his sisters, too, living here among us?” This proved a hindrance to their believing in him;


text:
on which Jesus said: <J>“A prophet is not without honour, except in his own country, and among his own relations, and in his own home.”</J> 


text:
And he could not work any miracle there, beyond placing his hands on a few infirm persons, and curing them;


text:
and he wondered at the want of faith shown by the people. Jesus went round the villages, one after another, teaching.


text:
He called the Twelve to him, and began to send them out as his messengers, two and two, and gave them authority over foul spirits.


text:
He instructed them to take nothing but a staff for the journey — not even bread, or a bag, or coins in their purse;


text:
 <J>“Whenever you go to stay at a house,”</J> he said, <J>“remain there until you leave that place;</J> 


text:
 <J>and if a place does not welcome you, or listen to you, as you go out of it shake off the dust that is on the soles of your feet, as a protest against them.”</J> 


text:
 Now King Herod heard of Jesus; for his name had become well known. People were saying — “John the Baptizer must have risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are active in him.”


text:
 For Herod himself had sent and arrested John, and put him in prison, in chains, to please Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because Herod had married her.


text:
because Herod stood in fear of John, knowing him to be an upright and holy man, and protected him. He had listened to John, but still remained much perplexed, and yet he found pleasure in listening to him.


text:
 A suitable opportunity, however, occurred when Herod, on his birthday, gave a dinner to his high officials, and his generals, and the foremost men in Galilee.


text:
When his daughter — that is, the daughter of Herodias — came in and danced, she delighted Herod and those who were dining with him. “Ask me for whatever you like,” the king said to the girl, “and I will give it to you”;


text:
The girl went out, and said to her mother “What must I ask for?” “The head of John the Baptizer,’ answered her mother.


text:
So she went in as quickly as possible to the king, and made her request. “I want you,” she said, “to give me at once, on a dish, the head of John the Baptist.”


text:
The king was much distressed; yet, because of his oath and of the guests at his table, he did not like to refuse her.


text:
He immediately dispatched one of his bodyguard, with orders to bring John’s head. The man went and beheaded John in the prison,


text:
 When the apostles came back to Jesus, they told him all that they had done and all that they had taught.


text:
 <J>“Come by yourselves privately to some lonely spot,”</J> he said, <J>“and rest for a while”</J> — for there were so many people coming and going that they had not time even to eat.


text:
Many people saw them going, and recognised them, and from all the towns they flocked together to the place on foot, and got there before them.


text:
On getting out of the boat, Jesus saw a great crowd, and his heart was moved at the sight of them, because they were ‘like sheep without a shepherd’; and he began to teach them many things.


text:
When it grew late, his disciples came up to him, and said: “This is a lonely spot, and it is already late.


text:
Send the people away, so that they may go to the farms and villages around and buy themselves something to eat.”


text:
But Jesus answered: <J>“It is for you to give them something to eat.”</J> “Are we to go and spend almost a year's wages on bread,” they asked, “to give them to eat?”


text:
 <J>“How many loaves have you?”</J> he asked; <J>“Go, and see.”</J> When they had found out, they told him: “Five, and two fishes.”


text:
Taking the five loaves and the two fishes, Jesus looked up to heaven, and said the blessing; he broke the loaves into pieces, and gave them to his disciples for them to serve out to the people, and he divided the two fishes also among them all.


text:
 Immediately afterwards Jesus made his disciples get into the boat, and cross over in advance, in the direction of Bethsaida, while he himself was dismissing the crowd.


text:
Seeing them labouring at the oars — for the wind was against them — about three hours after midnight Jesus came towards them, walking on the water, intending to join them.


text:
for all of them saw him, and were terrified. But Jesus at once spoke to them. <J>“Courage!”</J> he said, <J>“it is I; do not be afraid!”</J> 


text:
hurried over the whole country-side, and began to carry about on mats those who were ill, wherever they heard he was.


text:
So wherever he went — to villages, or towns, or farms — they would lay their sick in the market-places, begging him to let them touch only the tassel of his cloak; and all who touched were made well.


text:
One day the Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered round Jesus.


text:
They had noticed that some of his disciples ate their food with their hands ‘defiled,’ by which they meant unwashed.


text:
(For the Pharisees, and indeed all strict Jews, will not eat without first scrupulously washing their hands, holding in this to the traditions of their ancestors.


text:
When they come from market, they will not eat without first sprinkling themselves; and there are many other customs which they have inherited and hold to, such as the ceremonial washing of cups, and jugs, and copper pans).


text:
So the Pharisees and the teachers of the law asked Jesus this question — “How is it that your disciples do not follow the traditions of our ancestors, but eat their food with defiled hands?”


text:
His answer was: <J>“It was well said by Isaiah when he prophesied about you hypocrites in the words — ‘This is a people who honour me with their lips, while their hearts are far removed from me;</J> 


text:
 <J>Wisely do you set aside God’s commandments,”</J> he exclaimed, <J>“to keep your own traditions!</J> 


text:
 <J>For while Moses said ‘Honour your father and your mother,’ and ‘Let anyone who abuses their father or mother suffer death,’</J> 


text:
<J>you say ‘If a person says to their father or mother “Whatever of mine might have been of service to you is Korban”’</J> (which means ‘Given to God’) —


text:
 <J>In this way you nullify the words of God by your traditions, which you hand down; and you do many similar things.”</J>


text:
 Then Jesus called the people to him again, and said: <J>“Listen to me, all of you, and mark my words.</J> 


text:
 <J>There is nothing external to a person, which by going into them can ‘defile’ them; but the things that come out from a person are the things that defile them.”</J>


text:
 When Jesus went indoors, away from the crowd, his disciples began questioning him about this saying.


text:
 <J>“What, do even you understand so little?”</J> exclaimed Jesus. <J>“Do not you see that there is nothing external to a person, which by going into a person, can ‘defile’ them,</J> 


text:
 <J>because it does not pass into his heart, but into his stomach, and is afterwards got rid of? — in saying this Jesus pronounced all food ‘clean.’</J> 


text:
 <J>for it is from within, out of the hearts of people, that there come evil thoughts — sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,</J> 


text:
 On leaving that place, Jesus went to the district of Tyre and Sidon. He went into a house, and did not wish anyone to know it, but could not escape notice.


text:
For a woman, whose little daughter had a foul spirit in her, heard of him immediately, and came and threw herself at his feet —


text:
the woman was a foreigner, from Syrian Phoenicia — and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.


text:
 <J>“Let the children be satisfied first,”</J> answered Jesus. <J>“For it is not fair to take the children’s food, and throw it to dogs.”</J>


text:
 <J>“For saying that,”</J> he answered, <J>“you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.”</J> 


text:
 On returning from the district of Tyre, Jesus went, by way of Sidon, to the Sea of Galilee, across the district of the Ten Towns.


text:
Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and almost dumb, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.


text:
Jesus took him aside from the crowd quietly, put his fingers into the man’s ears, and touched his tongue with saliva.


text:
Then, looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to the man: <J>“Ephphatha!”</J> which means <J>‘Be opened.’</J> 


text:
Jesus insisted on their not telling anyone; but the more he insisted, the more perseveringly they made it known,


text:
and a profound impression was made on the people. “He has done everything well!” they exclaimed. “He makes even the deaf hear and the dumb speak!”


text:
About that time, when there was again a great crowd of people who had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him, and said:


text:
 <J>“My heart is moved at the sight of all these people, for they have already been with me three days and they have nothing to eat;</J> 


text:
 <J>and if I send them away to their homes hungry, they will break down on the way; and some of them have come a long distance.”</J>


text:
 “Where will it be possible,” his disciples answered, “to get sufficient bread for these people in this lonely place?”


text:
Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, and, after saying the thanksgiving, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to serve out; and they served them out to the crowd.


text:
They had also a few small fish; and, after he had said the blessing, he told the disciples to serve out these as well.


text:
The people had sufficient to eat, and they picked up seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left.


text:
Immediately afterwards, getting into the boat with his disciples, Jesus went to the district of Dalmanutha.


text:
 Here the Pharisees came out, and began to argue with Jesus, asking him for some sign from the heavens, to test him.


text:
Sighing deeply, Jesus said: <J>“Why does this generation ask for a sign? I tell you, no sign will be given it.”</J> 


text:
 Now the disciples had forgotten to take any bread with them, one loaf being all that they had in the boat.


text:
So Jesus gave them this warning. <J>“Take care,”</J> he said, <J>“beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”</J> 


text:
and, noticing this, Jesus said to them: <J>“Why are you talking about your being short of bread? Do not you yet see or understand? Are your minds still so slow or comprehension?</J> 


text:
 <J>“Though you have eyes, do you not see? And though you have ears, do you not hear?’ Do not you remember,</J> 


text:
 <J>when I broke up the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets of broken pieces you picked up?”</J> “Twelve,” they said.


text:
 <J>“And when the seven for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of broken pieces did you pick up?”</J> “Seven,” they said.


text:
 They came to Bethsaida. There some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and begged him to touch him.


text:
Taking the blind man’s hand, Jesus led him to the outskirts of the village, and, when he had put saliva on the man’s eyes, he placed his hands on him, and asked him: <J>“Do you see anything?”</J> 


text:
The man looked up, and said: “I see the people, for, as they walk about, they look to me like trees.”


text:
Then Jesus again placed his hands on the man’s eyes; and the man saw clearly, his sight was restored, and he saw everything with perfect distinctness.


text:
Afterwards Jesus and his disciples went into the villages round Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples this question — <J>“Who do people say that I am?”</J>


text:
 <J>“But you,”</J> he asked, <J>“who do you say that I am?”</J> To this Peter replied: “You are the Christ.”


text:
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo much suffering, and that he must be rejected by the councillors, and the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and be put to death, and rise again after three days.


text:
Jesus, however, turning round and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter. <J>“Out of my sight, Satan!”</J> he exclaimed. <J>“For you look at things, not as God does, but as people do.”</J>


text:
 Calling the people and his disciples to him, Jesus said: <J>“If anyone wishes to walk in my steps, let them renounce self, take up their cross, and follow me.</J> 


text:
 <J>For whoever wishes to save their life will lose it, and whoever, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, will lose their life will save it.</J> 


text:
 <J>Whoever is ashamed of me and of my teaching, in this unfaithful and wicked generation, of them will the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”</J>


text:
 <J>“I tell you,”</J> he added, <J>“that some of those who are standing here will not know death until they have seen the kingdom of God come in power.”</J>


text:
 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain alone by themselves. There his appearance was transformed before their eyes,


text:
“Rabbi,” said Peter, interposing, “it is good to be here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”


text:
Then a cloud came down and enveloped them; and from the cloud there came a voice — “This is my dearly loved son; listen to him.”


text:
 As they were going down the mountainside, Jesus cautioned them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, until after the Son of Man should have risen again from the dead.


text:
 <J>“Elijah does indeed come first,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“and re-establish everything; and does not scripture speak, with regard to the Son of Man, of his undergoing much suffering and being utterly despised?</J> 


text:
 <J>But I tell you that Elijah has come, and people have treated him just as they pleased, as scripture says of him.”</J>


text:
 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a great crowd round them, and some teachers of the law arguing with them.


text:
“Teacher,” answered a man in the crowd, “I brought my son to see you, as he has a dumb spirit in him;


text:
and, wherever it seizes him, it dashes him down; he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth, and he is pining away. I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they failed.”


text:
<J>“Faithless generation!”</J> exclaimed Jesus. <J>“How long must I be with you? How long must I have patience with you? Bring the boy to me.”</J> 


text:
They brought him to Jesus; but no sooner did the boy see him than the spirit threw him into convulsions; and he fell on the ground, and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.


text:
“From his childhood,” he answered; “and it has often thrown him into fire and into water to put an end to his life; but, if you can possibly do anything, take pity on us, and help us!”


text:
But, when Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly collecting, he rebuked the foul spirit: <J>“Deaf and dumb spirit, it is I who command you. Come out from him and never enter him again.”</J> 


text:
With a loud cry the spirit threw the boy into repeated convulsions, and then came out from him. The boy looked like a corpse, so that most of them said that he was dead.


text:
Leaving that place, Jesus and his disciples went on their way through Galilee; but he did not wish anyone to know it,


text:
for he was instructing his disciples, and telling them — <J>“The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of his fellow men, and they will put him to death, but, when he has been put to death, he will rise again after three days.”</J> 


text:
 They came to Capernaum. When Jesus had gone into the house, he asked them: <J>“What were you discussing on the way?”</J> 


text:
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said: <J>“If anyone wishes to be first, he must be last of all, and servant of all.”</J> 


text:
Then Jesus took a little child, and placed it in the middle of them. Folding it in his arms, he said to them:


text:
 <J>“Anyone who, for the sake of my name, welcomes even a little child like this is welcoming me, and anyone who welcomes me is welcoming not me, but him who sent me as his messenger.”</J>


text:
 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons by using your name, and we tried to prevent him, because he did not follow us.”


text:
 <J>“None of you must prevent the man,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“for no one will use my name in working a miracle, and yet find it easy to speak evil of me.</J> 


text:
 <J>If anyone gives you a cup of water because you belong to Christ, I tell you, he will assuredly not lose his reward.</J>


text:
 <J>‘And, if anyone puts temptation in the way of one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be far better for him if he had been thrown into the sea with a great millstone round his neck.</J> 


text:
 <J>If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It would be better for you to enter the life maimed, than to have both your hands and go into Gehenna, into the fire that cannot be put out.</J> 


text:
 <J>If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It would be better for you to enter the life lame, than to have both your feet and be thrown into Gehenna.</J> 


text:
 <J>If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It would be better for you to enter the kingdom of God with only one eye, than to have both eyes and be thrown into Gehenna,</J> 


text:
 <J>‘Salt is good, but, if the salt should lose its saltiness, what will you use to season it?</J><J> ‘You must have salt in yourselves, and live at peace with one another.”</J> 


text:
<n>The Journey to Jerusalem</n> On leaving that place, Jesus went into the district of Judea on the other side of the Jordan. Crowds gathered about him again; and again, as usual, he began teaching them.


text:
Presently some Pharisees came up and, to test him, asked: “Has a husband the right to divorce his wife?”


text:
“Moses,” they said, “permitted a man to ‘draw up in writing a notice of separation and divorce his wife.’”


text:
 <J>“It was owing to the hardness of your hearts,”</J> said Jesus, <J>“that Moses gave you this direction;</J> 


text:
and he said: <J>“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman is guilty of adultery against his wife;</J> 


text:
 Some of the people were bringing little children to Jesus, for him to touch them; but the disciples found fault with those who had brought them.


text:
When, however, Jesus saw this, he was indignant. <J>“Let the little children come to me,”</J> he said, <J>“do not hinder them; for it is to the childlike that the kingdom of God belongs.</J> 


text:
 <J>I tell you, unless a person receives the kingdom of God like a child, they will not enter it at all.”</J> 


text:
 As Jesus was resuming his journey, a man came running up to him, and threw himself on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to gain eternal life?”


text:
<J>You know the commandments — ‘Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not say what is false about others. Do not cheat. Honour your father and your mother.’”</J>


text:
Jesus looked at the man, and his heart went out to him, and he said: <J>“There is still one thing wanting in you; go and sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and you will heave wealth in heaven; then come and follow me.”</J> 


text:
But the man’s face clouded at these words, and he went away distressed, for he had great possessions.


text:
 Then Jesus looked round, and said to his disciples: <J>“How hard it will be for people of wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”</J> 


text:
The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again: <J>“My children, how hard a thing it is to enter the kingdom of God!</J> 


text:
 <J>It is easier for a camel to get through a needle’s eye, than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”</J>


text:
Jesus looked at them, and answered: <J>“With people it is impossible, but not with God; for everything is possible with God.”</J>


text:
 <J>“I tell you,”</J> said Jesus, <J>“there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or land, for my sake and for the good news,</J> 


text:
 <J>who will not receive a hundred times as much, even now in the present — houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and land — though not without persecutions, and, in the age that is coming, eternal life.</J> 


text:
One day, when they were on their way, going up to Jerusalem, Jesus was walking in front of the apostles, who were filled with misgivings; while those who were following behind were alarmed. Gathering the Twelve round him once more, Jesus began to tell them what was about to happen to him.


text:
 <J>“Listen!”</J> he said. <J>“We are going up to Jerusalem; and there the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and they will condemn him to death, and they will give him up to the Gentiles,</J> 


text:
 <J>who will mock him, spit on him, and scourge him, and put him to death; and after three days he will rise again.”</J>


text:
 James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, went to Jesus, and said: “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”


text:
“Grant us this,” they answered, “to sit, one on your right, and the other on your left, when you come in glory.”


text:
 <J>“You do not know what you are asking,”</J> Jesus said to them. <J>“Can you drink the cup that I am to drink? Or receive the baptism that I am to receive?”</J>


text:
 “Yes,” they answered, “we can.”<J> “You will indeed drink the cup that I am to drink,”</J> Jesus said, <J>“and receive the baptism that I am to receive,</J> 


text:
 <J>but as to a seat at my right or at my left — that is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”</J>


text:
But Jesus called the ten to him, and said: <J>“Those who are regarded as ruling among the Gentiles lord it over them, as you know, and their great men oppress them.</J> 


text:
 <J>But among you it is not so. No, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,</J> 


text:
 <J>for even the Son of Man came, not be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”</J>


text:
 They came to Jericho. When Jesus was going out of the town with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside.


text:
Hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to call out: “Jesus, Son of David, take pity on me.”


text:
Many of the people kept telling him to be quiet; but the man continued to call out all the louder: “Son of David, take pity on me.”


text:
Then Jesus stopped. <J>“Call him,”</J> he said. So they called the blind man. “Courage!” they exclaimed. “Get up; he is calling you.”


text:
 <J>“What do you want me to do for you?”</J> said Jesus, addressing him. “Rabboni,” the blind man answered, “I want to recover my sight.”


text:
 <J>“You may go,”</J> Jesus said; <J>“your faith has delivered you.”</J> Immediately he recovered his sight, and began to follow Jesus along the road.


text:
<n>The Last Days</n> When they had almost reached Jerusalem, as far as Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent on two of his disciples.


text:
 <J>“Go to the village facing you,”</J> he said; <J>“and, as soon as you get there, you will find a foal tethered, which no one has ever ridden; untie it, and bring it.</J> 


text:
 <J>And, if anyone says to you ‘Why are you doing that?’, say ‘The Master wants it, and will be sure to send it back here at once.’”</J> 


text:
Then they brought the foal to Jesus, and, when they had laid their cloaks on it, he seated himself on it.


text:
Many of the people spread their cloaks on the road, while some strewed boughs which they had cut from the fields;


text:
and those who led the way, as well as those who followed, kept shouting: “‘God save him! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’


text:
 Jesus entered Jerusalem, and went into the Temple Courts; and, after looking round at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.


text:
and, noticing a fig-tree at a distance in leaf, he went to it to see if by any chance he could find something on it; but, on coming up to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.


text:
So, addressing the tree, he exclaimed: <J>“May no one ever again eat of your fruit!”</J> And his disciples heard what he said.


text:
 They came to Jerusalem. Jesus went into the Temple Courts, and began to drive out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers, and the seats of the pigeon-dealers,


text:
Then he began to teach. <J>“Does not scripture say,”</J> he asked, <J>“‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.’”</J> 


text:
Now the chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began to look for some way of putting Jesus to death; for they were afraid of him, since all the people were greatly impressed by his teaching.


text:
 As they passed by early in the morning, they noticed that the fig-tree was withered up from the roots.


text:
Then Peter recalled what had occurred. “Look, Rabbi,” he exclaimed, “the fig-tree which you doomed is withered up!”


text:
 <J>“I tell you that if anyone should say to this hill ‘Be lifted up and hurled into the sea!’, without ever a doubt in his mind, but in the faith that what he says will be done, he would find that it would be.</J> 


text:
 <J>And therefore I say to you ‘Have faith that whatever you ask for in prayer is already granted you, and you will find that it will be.’</J>


text:
 <J>‘And, whenever you stand up to pray, forgive any grievance that you have against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven also may forgive you your offences.”</J>


text:
They came to Jerusalem again. While Jesus was walking about in the Temple Courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the councillors came up to him.


text:
 <J>“I will put one question to you,”</J> said Jesus. <J>“Answer me that, and then I will tell you what authority I have to act as I do.</J> 


text:
Yet can we say ‘human’?” — They were afraid of the people, for everyone regarded John as undoubtedly a prophet.


text:
So their answer to Jesus was — “We do not know.”<J> “Then I,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“refuse to tell you what authority I have to do these things.”</J>


text:
Jesus began to speak to them in parables: <J>“A man once planted a vineyard, put a fence round it, dug a wine-press, built a tower, and then let it out to tenants and went abroad.</J> 


text:
 <J>At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants, to receive from them a share of the produce of the grape harvest;</J> 


text:
 <J>A second time the owner sent a servant to them; this man, too, the tenants struck on the head, and insulted.</J> 


text:
 <J>He sent another, but him they killed; and so with many others — some they beat and some they killed.</J> 


text:
 <J>He had still one son, who was very dear to him; and him he sent to them last of all. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.</J> 


text:
 <J>But those tenants said to one another ‘Here is the heir! Come, let us kill him, and his inheritance will be ours.’</J> 


text:
 <J>What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and put the tenants to death, and he will let the vineyard to others.</J>


text:
<J>‘Have you never read this passage of scripture? — ‘The stone which the builders despised has now itself become the corner-stone;</J> 


text:
 After this his enemies were eager to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd; for they saw that it was at them that he had aimed the parable. So they let him alone, and went away.


text:
Afterwards they sent to Jesus some of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to set a trap for him in the course of conversation.


text:
These men came to him and said: “Teacher, we know that you are an honest man, and are not afraid of anyone, for you pay no regard to a person’s position, but teach the way of God honestly; are we right in paying taxes to the Emperor, or not?


text:
Should we pay, or should we not pay?” Knowing their hypocrisy, Jesus said to them: <J>“Why are you testing me? Bring me a coin to look at.”</J> 


text:
And, when they had brought it, he asked: <J>“Whose head and title are these?”</J> “The Emperor’s,” they said;


text:
and Jesus replied: <J>“Pay to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and to God what belongs to God.”</J> And they wondered at him.


text:
Next came some Sadducees — the men who maintain that there is no resurrection. Their question was this —


text:
“Teacher, in our scriptures Moses decreed that, should a man’s brother die, leaving a widow but no child, the man should take the widow as his wife, and raise up a family for his brother.


text:
 <J>“Is not the reason of your mistake,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“your ignorance of the scriptures and of the power of God?</J> 


text:
 <J>When people rise from the dead, there is no marrying or being married; but they are as angels in heaven.</J>


text:
 <J>“As to the dead, and the fact that they rise, have you never read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the Bush, how God spoke to him saying — ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?</J> 


text:
 Then came up one of the teachers of the law who had heard their discussions. Knowing that Jesus had answered them wisely, he asked him this question: “What is the first of all the commandments?”


text:
 <J>and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’</J> 


text:
<J>The second is this — ‘You must love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”</J>


text:
 “Wisely answered, teacher!” exclaimed the teacher of the law. “It is true, as you say, that ‘there is one God,’ and that ‘there is no other besides him’;


text:
and to ‘love him with all one’s heart, and with all one’s understanding, and with all one’s strength,’ and to ‘love one’s neighbour as one loves oneself’ is far beyond all ‘burnt offerings and sacrifices.’”


text:
Seeing that he had answered with discernment, Jesus said to him: <J>“You are not far from the kingdom of God.”</J> After that no one ventured to question him further.


text:
 While Jesus was teaching in the Temple Courts, he asked: <J>“How is it that the teachers of the law say that the Christ is to be David’s son?</J> 


text:
 <J>David said himself, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit — ‘The Lord said to my lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies beneath your feet.’”</J> 


text:
 <J>David himself calls him ‘lord,’ how comes it, then, that he is to be his son?”</J> The mass of the people listened to Jesus with delight.


text:
In the course of his teaching, Jesus said: <J>“See that you are on your guard against the teachers of the law, who delight to walk about in long robes, and to be greeted in the streets with respect,</J> 


text:
 <J>They are the men who rob widows of their homes, and make a pretence of saying long prayers. Their sentence will be all the heavier.”</J>


text:
 Then Jesus sat down opposite the chests for the Temple offerings, and watched how the people put money into them. Many rich people were putting in large sums;


text:
Then, calling his disciples to him, Jesus said: <J>“I tell you that this poor widow has put in more than all the others who were putting money into the chests;</J> 


text:
 <J>for everyone else put in something from what he had to spare, while she, in her need, put in all she had — everything that she had to live on.”</J>


text:
As Jesus was walking out of the Temple Courts, one of his disciples said to him: “Teacher, look what fine stones and buildings these are!”


text:
 <J>“Do you see these great buildings?”</J> asked Jesus. <J>“Not a single stone will be left here on another, which will not be thrown down.”</J>


text:
 When Jesus had sat down on the Mount of Olives, facing the Temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew questioned him privately:


text:
 <J>“And, when you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; such things must occur; but the end is not yet.</J> 


text:
 <J>For ‘nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom’; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This will be but the beginning of the birth-pangs.</J>


text:
 <J>“See to yourselves! They will betray you to courts of law; and you will be taken to Synagogues and beaten; and you will be brought up before governors and kings for my sake, so that you can bear witness before them.</J> 


text:
 <J>Whenever they betray you and hand you over for trial, do not be anxious beforehand as to what you will say, but say whatever is given you at the moment; for it will not be you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.</J> 


text:
<J>and you will be hated by everyone because of me. Yet the person who endures to the end will be saved.</J>


text:
 <J>“As soon, however, as you see ‘the Foul Desecration’ standing where he ought not”</J> (the reader must consider what this means) <J>“then those of you who are in Judea must take refuge in the mountains;</J> 


text:
 <J>and a person on the house-top must not go down, or go in to get anything out of their house:</J> 


text:
 <J>For those days will be a time of distress, the like of which has not occurred from the beginning of God’s creation until now — and never will again.</J> 


text:
 <J>And, had not the Lord put a limit to those days, not a single soul would escape; but, for the sake of God’s own chosen people, he did limit them.</J>


text:
 <J>“And at that time if anyone should say to you ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ ‘Look, there he is!’, do not believe it;</J> 


text:
 <J>for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and display signs and marvels, to lead astray, were it possible, even God’s people.</J> 


text:
 <J>“In those days, after that time of distress, ‘the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give her light,</J> 


text:
 <J>the stars will be falling from the heavens,’ and ‘the forces that are in the heavens will be convulsed.’</J> 


text:
 <J>and then he will send the angels, and gather his people from the four winds, from one end of the world to the other.</J>


text:
 <J>“Learn the lesson taught by the fig-tree. As soon as its branches are full of sap, and it is bursting into leaf, you know that summer is near.</J> 


text:
 <J>I tell you that even the present generation will not pass away, until all these things have taken place.</J> 


text:
 <J>“But about ‘that day,’ or ‘the hour,’ no one knows — not even the angels in heaven, nor yet the Son — but only the Father.</J>


text:
 <J>It is like a man going on a journey, who leaves his home, puts his servants in charge — each having their special duty — and orders the porter to watch.</J> 


text:
 <J>Therefore watch, for you cannot be sure when the Master of the house is coming — whether in the evening, at midnight, at daybreak, or in the morning —</J> 


text:
It was now two days before the Festival of the Passover and the unleavened bread. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for an opportunity to arrest Jesus by stealth, and to put him to death;


text:
 When Jesus was still at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, while he was sitting at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of choice spikenard perfume of great value. She broke the jar, and poured the perfume on his head.


text:
Some of those who were present said to one another indignantly: “Why has the perfume been wasted like this?


text:
 <J>“Leave her alone,”</J> said Jesus, as they began to find fault with her, <J>“why are you troubling her? This is a beautiful deed that she has done for me.</J> 


text:
 <J>You always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you will not always have me.</J> 


text:
 <J>And I tell you, wherever, in the whole world, the good news is proclaimed, what this woman has done will be told in memory of her.”</J>


text:
They were glad to hear what he said, and promised to pay him. So he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.


text:
On the first day of the Festival of the unleavened bread, when it was customary to kill the Passover lambs, his disciples said to Jesus: “Where do you wish us to go and make preparations for your eating the Passover?”


text:
Jesus sent forward two of his disciples and said to them: <J>“Go into the city, and there a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you; follow him;</J> 


text:
 <J>and, wherever he goes in, say to the owner of the house ‘The teacher says — Where is my room where I am to eat the Passover with my disciples?’</J> 


text:
 <J>He will himself show you a large upstairs room, set out ready; and there make preparations for us.”</J> 


text:
So the disciples set out and went into the city, and found everything just as Jesus had told them; and they prepared the Passover.


text:
and when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said: <J>“I tell you that one of you is going to betray me — one who is eating with me.”</J> 


text:
 <J>“It is one of you Twelve,”</J> said Jesus, <J>“the one who is dipping his bread beside me into the dish.</J> 


text:
 <J>True, the Son of Man must go, as scripture says of him, yet alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is being betrayed! For that man ‘it would be better never to have been born!’”</J>


text:
 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and, after saying the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said: <J>“Take it; this is my body.”</J> 


text:
Then he took a cup, and, after saying the thanksgiving, gave it to them, and they all drank from it.


text:
 <J>I tell you that I will never again drink of the juice of the grape, until that day when I will drink it new in the kingdom of God.”</J>


text:
presently Jesus said to them: <J>“All of you will fall away; for scripture says — ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’</J> 


text:
 <J>“I tell you,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“that you yourself today — yes, this very night — before the cock crows twice, will disown me three times.”</J> 


text:
But Peter vehemently protested: “Even if I must die with you, I will never disown you!” And they all said the same.


text:
Presently they came to a garden known as Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples <J>“Sit down here while I pray.”</J> 


text:
He took with him Peter, James, and John; and began to show signs of great dismay and deep distress of mind.


text:
Going on a little further, he threw himself on the ground, and began to pray that, if it were possible, he might be spared that hour.


text:
 <J>“Abba, Father,”</J> he said, <J>“all things are possible to you; take away this cup from me; yet, not what I will, but what you will.”</J>


text:
 Then he came and found the three apostles asleep. <J>“Simon,”</J> he said to Peter, <J>“are you asleep? Could not you watch for one hour?</J> 


text:
 <J>Watch and pray,” he said to them all, “so that you may not fall into temptation. True, the spirit is eager, but human nature is weak.”</J> 


text:
and coming back again he found them asleep, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to say to him.


text:
 A third time he came, and said to them: <J>“Sleep on now, and rest yourselves. Enough! My time has come. Look: the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of wicked people.</J> 


text:
 And just then, while he was still speaking, Judas, who was one of the Twelve, came up; and with him a crowd of people, with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the councillors.


text:
Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them. “The man whom I kiss,” he had said, “will be the one; arrest him and take him away safely.”


text:
 One of those who were standing by drew his sword, and struck at the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear.


text:
But Jesus spoke up, and said to the men: <J>“Have you come out, as if after a robber, with swords and clubs, to take me?</J> 


text:
 <J>I have been among you day after day in the Temple Courts teaching, and yet you did not arrest me; but this is in fulfilment of the scriptures.”</J> 


text:
Then they took Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests, the councillors, and the teachers of the law assembled.


text:
Peter, who had followed Jesus at a distance into the courtyard of the high priest, was sitting there among the police officers, warming himself at the blaze of the fire.


text:
 Meanwhile the chief priest and the whole of the High Council were trying to get such evidence against Jesus as would warrant his being put to death, but they could not find any;


text:
“We ourselves heard him say ‘I will destroy this Temple made with hands, and in three days build another made without hands.’”


text:
 Then the high priest stood forward, and questioned Jesus. “Have you no answer to make?” he asked. “What is this evidence which these men are giving against you?”


text:
But Jesus remained silent, and made no answer. A second time the high priest questioned him. “Are you,” he asked, “the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”


text:
 <J>“I am,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“and you will all see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the Almighty; and ‘coming in the clouds of heaven’.”</J> 


text:
“You heard his blasphemy? What is your verdict?” They all condemned him, declaring that he deserved death.


text:
 Some of those present began to spit at him, and to blindfold his eyes, and strike him, saying, as they did so, “Now play the prophet!” and even the police officers received him with blows.


text:
and, seeing Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him, and exclaimed: “Why, you were with Jesus, the Nazarene!”


text:
But Peter denied it. “I do not know or understand what you mean,” he replied. Then he went out into the porch;


text:
and there the maidservant, on seeing him, began to say again to the bystanders: “This is one of them!”


text:
But Peter again denied it. Soon afterwards the bystanders again said to him: “You certainly are one of them; why you are a Galilean!”


text:
But he said to them: “I swear that I do not know the man you are talking about! May God punish me if I am lying!”


text:
At that moment, for the second time, a cock crowed; and Peter remembered the words that Jesus had said to him — <J>‘Before a cock has crowed twice, you will disown me three times’;</J> and, as he thought of it, he began to weep.


text:
As soon as it was daylight, the chief priests, after holding a consultation with the councillors and teachers of the law — that is to say, the whole High Council — put Jesus in chains, and took him away, and gave him up to Pilate.


text:
So Pilate questioned Jesus again. “Have you no reply to make?” he asked. “Listen, how many charges they are bringing against you.”


text:
 Now, at the feast, Pilate used to grant the people the release of any one prisoner whom they might ask for.


text:
Pilate, however, spoke to them again: “What should I do then with the man whom you call the ‘king of the Jews’?”


text:
 “Why, what harm has he done?” Pilate kept saying to them. But they shouted furiously: “Crucify him!”


text:
And Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them, and, after scourging Jesus, gave him up to be crucified.


text:
The soldiers then took Jesus away into the courtyard — that is the Government house — and they called the whole garrison together.


text:
And they kept striking him on the head with a rod, spitting at him, and bowing to the ground before him — going down on their knees;


text:
and, when they had left off mocking him, they took off the purple robe, and put his own clothes on him.


text:
They led Jesus out to crucify him; and they compelled a passer-by, Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to go with them to carry his cross.


text:
They brought Jesus to the place which was known as Golgotha — a name which means ‘place of a Skull.’


text:
Then they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots for them, to settle what each should take.


text:
 The passers-by railed at him, shaking their heads, as they said: “Ah! You who would destroy the Temple and build one in three days,


text:
“He saved others, but he cannot save himself! Let the Christ, the ‘king of Israel,’ come down from the cross now so that we can see it and believe.” Even the men who had been crucified with Jesus insulted him.


text:
And, at three, Jesus called out loudly: <J>‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani?’”</J> which means <J>‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’</J> 


text:
And a man ran, and, soaking a sponge in common wine, put it on the end of a rod, and offered it to him to drink, saying as he did so: “Wait and let us see if Elijah is coming to take him down.”


text:
The Roman officer, who was standing facing Jesus, on seeing the way in which he expired, exclaimed: “This man must indeed have been ‘God’s Son’!”


text:
There were some women also watching from a distance, among them being Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James the Little and of Joseph, and Salome —


text:
all of whom used to accompany Jesus when he was in Galilee, and attend on him — besides many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.


text:
Joseph from Ramah, a Councillor of good position, who was himself living in expectation of the kingdom of God, came and ventured to go in to see Pilate, and to ask for the body of Jesus.


text:
But Pilate was surprised to hear that he had already died. So he sent for the officer, and asked if he were already dead;


text:
Joseph, having bought a linen sheet, took Jesus down, and wound the sheet round him, and laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of the rock; and then rolled a stone up against the entrance of the tomb.


text:
<n>The Risen Life Announced</n> When the Sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought some spices, so that they might go and anoint the body of Jesus.


text:
They were saying to one another: “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”


text:
Going into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on their right, in a white robe, and they were dismayed; But he said to them:


text:
“Do not be dismayed; you are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified; he has risen, he is not here! Look! Here is the place where they laid him.


text:
But go, and say to his disciples and to Peter ‘He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.’”


text:
They went out, and fled from the tomb, for they were trembling and bewildered; and they did not say a word to anyone, for they were frightened;


text:
<n>A late appendix</n> <TS2><i>(Inserted in some manuscripts from an ancient source)</i><Ts2>after his rising again, early on the first day of the week, Jesus appeared first of all to Mary of Magdala, from whom he had driven out seven demons.


text:
Afterwards, altered in appearance, he made himself known to two of them, as they were walking, on their way into the country.


text:
Later on, he made himself known to the Eleven themselves as they were at a meal, and reproached them with their want of faith and their stubbornness, because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen from the dead.


text:
<J>He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who refuses to believe will be condemned.</J> 


text:
<J>Moreover these signs will attend those who believe. In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak with ‘tongues’;</J> 


text:
 <J>they will take up snakes in their hands; and, if they drink any poison, it will not hurt them; they will place their hands on sick people and they will recover.”</J> 


text:
So the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat at the right hand of God.


text:
But they set out, and made the proclamation everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the message by the signs which attended it.<n>Another appendix</n> But all that had been revealed to them they reported briefly to Peter and his companions. Afterwards Jesus himself sent them out, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.


text:
<n><i>The Good News According to Luke</i><br/>Dedication</n> To his Excellency, Theophilus. Many attempts have been already made to draw up an because of those events which have reached their conclusion among us,


text:
just as they were reported to us by those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses, and afterwards became bearers of the message.


text:
And, therefore, I also, since I have investigated all these events with great care from their very beginning, have resolved to write a connected history of them for you,


text:
in order that you may be able to satisfy yourself of the accuracy of the story which you have heard from the lips of others.


text:
<n>Birth, Parentage, Infancy and Boyhood</n> In the reign of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the division called after Abijah. His wife, whose name was Elizabeth, was also a descendant of Aaron.


text:
They were both righteous people, who lived blameless lives, guiding their steps by all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.


text:
it fell to him by lot, in accordance with the practice among the priests, to go into the Temple of the Lord and burn incense;


text:
But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, whom you will call by the name John.


text:
For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; he will not drink any wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the very hour of his birth,


text:
He will go before him in the spirit and with the power of Elijah, ‘to reconcile fathers to their children’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, and so make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”


text:
“How can I be sure of this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.”


text:
 “I am Gabriel,” the angel answered, “who stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.


text:
And now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day when this takes place, because you did not believe what I said, though my words will be fulfilled in due course.”


text:
 Meanwhile the people were watching for Zechariah, wondering at his remaining so long in the Temple.


text:
When he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision there. But Zechariah kept making signs to them, and remained dumb.


text:
“The Lord has done this for me,” she said, “he has shown me kindness and taken away the public disgrace of childlessness under which I have been living.”


text:
Gabriel came into her presence and greeted her, saying: “You have been shown great favour - the Lord is with you..”


text:
 Mary was much disturbed at his words, and was wondering to herself what such a greeting could mean,


text:
The child will be great and will be called ‘Son of the Most High,’ and the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David,


text:
 “The Holy Spirit will descend on you,” answered the angel, “and the Power of the Most High will overshadow you; and therefore the child will be called ‘holy,’ and ‘Son of God.’


text:
And Elizabeth, your cousin, is herself also expecting a son in her old age; and it is now the sixth month with her, though she is called barren;


text:
 “I am the servant of the Lord,” exclaimed Mary; “let it be with me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.


text:
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child moved within her, and Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Spirit,


text:
Happy indeed is she who believed that the promise which she received from the Lord would be fulfilled.”


text:
and her neighbours and relations, hearing of the great goodness of the Lord to her, came to share her joy.


text:
A week later they met to circumcise the child, and were about to call him ‘Zechariah’ after his father,


text:
All their neighbours were awe-struck at this; and throughout the hill-country of Judea the whole story was much talked about;


text:
and all who heard it kept it in mind, asking one another — “What can this child be destined to become?” For the Power of the Lord was with him.


text:
 And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, For you will go before the Lord to make ready his way,


text:
 to give light to those who live in darkness and the shadow of death, And guide our feet into the way of peace.”


text:
The child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the Wilds until the time came for his appearance before Israel.


text:
About that time an edict was issued by the Emperor Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole Empire.


text:
Among others Joseph went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem, the town of David, in Judea — because he belonged to the family and house of David —


text:
and she gave birth to her first child, a son. And because there was no room for them in the inn, she swathed him round and laid him in a manger.


text:
when an angel of the Lord suddenly stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were seized with fear.


text:
“Have no fear,” the angel said. “For I bring you good news of a great joy in store for all the nation.


text:
 Then suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly Host, praising God, and singing —


text:
Now, when the angels had left them and gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another: “Let us go at once to Bethlehem, and see this thing that has happened, of which the Lord has told us.”


text:
And the shepherds went back, giving glory and praise to God for all that they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.


text:
Eight days after the birth of the child, when it was time to circumcise him, he received the name Jesus — the name given him by the angel before his conception.


text:
When the period of purification of mother and child, required by the law of Moses, came to an end, his parents took the child up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord,


text:
And also to offer the sacrifice required by the law of the Lord — ‘a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.’


text:
 There was at that time in Jerusalem a man named Simeon, a righteous and devout man, who lived in constant expectation of the Consolation of Israel, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.


text:
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not die until he had seen the Lord’s Christ.


text:
Moved by the Spirit, Simeon came into the Temple Courts, and, when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law,


text:
Simeon gave them his blessing, and said to Mary, the child’s mother: “This child is appointed to be the cause of the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign much spoken against —


text:
 There was also a Prophetess named Hannah, a daughter of Phanuel and of the tribe of Asher. She was far advanced in years, having lived with her husband for seven years after marriage,


text:
and then a widow, until she had reached the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple Courts, but, fasting and praying, worshiped God night and day.


text:
At that moment she came up, and began publicly to thank God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the deliverance of Jerusalem.


text:
 When the child’s parents had done everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.


text:
and had finished their visit; but, when they started to return, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, without their knowing it.


text:
Thinking that he was with their fellow travellers, they went one day’s journey before searching for him among their relations and acquaintances;


text:
It was not until the third day that they found him in the Temple Courts, sitting among the teachers, now listening to them, now asking them questions.


text:
 His parents were amazed when they saw him, and his mother said to him: “My child, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”


text:
<J>“What made you search for me?”</J> he answered. <J>“Did not you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”</J> 


text:
However he went down with them to Nazareth, and submitted himself to their control; and his mother treasured all that was said in her heart.


text:
<n>The Preparation</n> In the fifteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was Governor of Judea, Herod Ruler of Galilee, his brother Philip Ruler of the territory comprising Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias Ruler of Abilene,


text:
and when Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, a command from God came to John, the son of Zechariah, while he was in the wilderness.


text:
And John went through the whole district of the Jordan, proclaiming baptism on repentance, for the forgiveness of sins.


text:
This was in fulfilment of what is said in the writings of the prophet Isaiah — ‘The voice of one crying aloud in the wilderness: “Make ready the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight.


text:
 Every chasm will be filled, Every mountain and hill will be levelled, The winding ways will be straightened, The rough roads made smooth, 


text:
And John said to the crowds that went to be baptized by him: “You children of snakes! Who has prompted you to seek refuge from the coming judgment?


text:
Let your lives, then, prove your repentance; and do not begin to say among yourselves ‘Abraham is our ancestor,’ for I tell you that out of these stones God is able to raise descendants for Abraham!


text:
Already, indeed, the axe is lying at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that fails to bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”


text:
“Let anyone who has two coats,” answered John, “share with the person who has none; and anyone who has food do the same.”


text:
And when some soldiers on active service asked “And we — what are we to do?” he said: “Never use violence, or exact anything by false accusation; and be content with your pay.”


text:
 Then, while the people were in suspense, and were all debating with themselves whether John could be the Christ,


text:
John, addressing them all, said: “I, indeed, baptize you with water; but there is coming one more powerful than I, and I am not fit even to unfasten his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.


text:
His winnowing-fan is in his hand so that he may clear his threshing-floor, and store the grain in his barn, but the chaff he will burn with a fire that cannot be put out.”


text:
But Prince Herod, being rebuked by John respecting Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother, and for all the evil things that he had done,


text:
Now after the baptism of all the people, and when Jesus had been baptized and was still praying, the heavens opened,


text:
and the Holy Spirit descended, in a visible form, like a dove, on him, and from the heavens came a voice — “You are my dearly loved son; you bring me great joy.”


text:
 When beginning his work, Jesus was about thirty years old. He was regarded as the son of Joseph, whose ancestors were — Eli,


text:
On returning from the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was led by the power of the Spirit through the wilderness for forty days, tempted by the devil.


text:
And Jesus answered him: <J>“Scripture says — ‘It is not on bread alone that a person is to live.’”</J>


text:
 And the devil led Jesus up, and showing him in a single moment all the kingdoms of the earth, said to him:


text:
“I will give you all this power, and the splendour of them; for it has been given into my hands and I give it to whom I wish.


text:
And Jesus answered him: <J>“Scripture says — ‘You should worship the Lord your God, and worship him only.’”</J>


text:
 The devil next led him into Jerusalem, and, placing him on the parapet of the Temple, said: “If you are God’s Son throw yourself down from here,


text:
<n>The Work in Galilee</n> Moved by the power of the Spirit, Jesus returned to Galilee. Reports about him spread through all that neighbourhood;


text:
Coming to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, Jesus, as was his custom, went on the Sabbath into the Synagogue, and stood up to read the scriptures.


text:
He was given the book of the prophet Isaiah; and Jesus opened the book and found the place where it says — 


text:
 <J>‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, For he has consecrated me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim release to captives and restoration of sight to the blind, To set the oppressed at liberty,</J> 


text:
Then, closing the book and returning it to the attendant, he sat down. The eyes of all in the Synagogue were fixed on him,


text:
 All who were present spoke well of him, and were astonished at the beautiful words that fell from his lips. “Is not he Joseph’s son?” they asked.


text:
 <J>“Doubtless,”</J> said Jesus, <J>“you will remind me of the saying — ‘Doctor, cure yourself;’ and you will say ‘Do here in your own country all that we have heard that has been done at Capernaum.’</J> 


text:
 <J>There were, doubtless, many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, when the heavens were closed for three years and six months, and a severe famine prevailed throughout the country;</J> 


text:
 <J>and yet it was not to one of them that Elijah was sent, but to a widow at Zarephath in Sidonia.</J> 


text:
 <J>And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, yet it was not one of them who was made clean, but Naaman the Syrian.”</J> 


text:
Starting up, they drove Jesus out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town stood, intending to hurl him down.


text:
“Stop! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!”


text:
But Jesus rebuked the demon. <J>“Be silent! Come out from him,”</J> he said. The demon flung the man down in the middle of the people, and then came out from him, without causing him further harm.


text:
And they were all lost in amazement, and kept saying to one another: “What words are these? For he gives his commands to the foul spirits with a marvellous authority, and they come out.”


text:
 On leaving the Synagogue, Jesus went into Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a severe attack of fever, and they asked Jesus to cure her.


text:
Bending over her, he rebuked the fever; the fever left her, and she immediately got up and began to take care of them.


text:
At sunset, all who had friends suffering from various diseases took them to Jesus; and he placed his hands on everyone of them and cured them.


text:
And even demons came out from many people, screaming ‘You are the Son of God.’ Jesus rebuked them, and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.


text:
 At daybreak, Jesus went out and walked to a lonely spot. But crowds of people began to look for him; and they came to where he was and tried to detain him and prevent his leaving them.


text:
Jesus, however, said to them: <J>“I must take the good news of the kingdom of God to the other town also, for that was why I was sent.”</J> 


text:
Once, when the people were pressing round Jesus as they listened to God’s message, he happened to be standing by the shore of the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats close to the shore.


text:
So, getting into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, Jesus asked him to push off a little way from the shore, and then sat down and taught the people from the boat.


text:
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon: <J>“Push off into deep water, and throw out your nets for a haul.”</J>


text:
 “We have been hard at work all night, Sir,” answered Simon, “and have not caught anything, but, at your bidding, I will throw out the nets.”


text:
So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; and they came and filled both the boats so full of fish that they were almost sinking.


text:
When Simon Peter saw this, he threw himself down at Jesus’ knees, exclaiming: “Master, leave me, for I am a sinful man!”


text:
and so, too, were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s partners. <J>“Do not be afraid,”</J> Jesus said to Simon; <J>“from today you will catch people.”</J> 


text:
On one occasion Jesus was staying in a town, when he saw a man who was covered with leprosy. When the leper saw Jesus, he threw himself on his face and implored his help: “Master, if only you are willing, you are able to make me clean.”


text:
Stretching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying as he did so: <J>“I am willing; become clean.”</J> Instantly the leprosy left the man;


text:
and then Jesus impressed on him that he was not to say a word to anyone, <J>“but,”</J> he added, <J>“set out and show yourself to the priest, and make the offerings for your cleansing, in the manner directed by Moses, as evidence of your cure.”</J> 


text:
However, the story about Jesus spread all the more, and great crowds came together to listen to him, and to be cured of their illnesses;


text:
 On one of those days, when Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and Doctors of the law were sitting near by. (They had come from all the villages in Galilee and Judea, and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was on Jesus, so that he could work cures.)


text:
And there some men brought on a bed a man who was paralysed. They tried to get him in and lay him before Jesus;


text:
but, finding no way of getting him in owing to the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him through the tiles, with his pallet, into the middle of the people and in front of Jesus.


text:
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees began debating about this. “Who is this man who speaks so blasphemously?” they asked. “Who can forgive sins except God?”


text:
 When Jesus became aware of the way in which they were debating, he turned to them and exclaimed: <J>“What are you debating with yourselves?</J> 


text:
 <J>Which is the easier? — to say ‘Your sins have been forgiven you’? Or to say ‘Get up, and walk’?</J> 


text:
 <J>But so that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”</J> — he spoke to the paralysed man — <J>“To you I say, Get up, and take up your pallet, and go to your home.”</J> 


text:
Instantly the man stood up before their eyes, took up what he had been lying on, and went to his home, praising God.


text:
The people, one and all, were lost in amazement, and praised God; and in great awe they said: “We have seen marvellous things today!”


text:
After this, Jesus went out; and he noticed a tax-gatherer, named Levi, sitting in the tax office, and said to him: <J>“Follow me.”</J> 


text:
And Levi gave a great entertainment at his house, in honour of Jesus; and a large number of tax-gatherers and others were having dinner with them.


text:
The Pharisees and the teachers of the law belonging to their party complained of this to the disciples of Jesus.”


text:
In answer Jesus said: <J>“It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are ill.</J> 


text:
 “John’s disciples,” they said to Jesus, “Often fast and say prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, while yours are eating and drinking!”


text:
But Jesus answered them: <J>“Can you make the groom’s friends fast while the groom is with them?</J> 


text:
 <J>But the days will come — a time when the groom will be taken away from them; and they will fast then, when those days come.”</J> 


text:
Then, as an illustration, Jesus said to them: <J>“No one ever tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old one; for, if they do, they will not only tear the new garment, but the piece from the new one will not match the old.</J> 


text:
 <J>And no one puts new wine into old wine-skins; for, if they do, the new wine will burst the skins, and the wine itself will run out, and the skins be lost.</J> 


text:
One Sabbath Jesus was walking through cornfields, and his disciples were picking the ears of wheat, and rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.


text:
Jesus’ answer was: <J>“Have not you read even of what David did, when he was hungry, he and his companions —</J> 


text:
 <J>That he went into the house of God, and took the consecrated bread and ate it, and gave some to his companions, though only the priests are allowed to eat it?”</J> 


text:
On another Sabbath Jesus went into the Synagogue and taught; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.


text:
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely, to see if he would work cures on the Sabbath, so that they might find a charge to bring against him.


text:
Jesus, however, knew what was in the their minds, and said to the man whose hand was withered: <J>“Stand up and come out into the middle.”</J> The man stood up;


text:
and Jesus said to them: <J>“I ask you, is it allowable to do good on the Sabbath — or harm? To save a life, or let it perish?”</J> 


text:
Then, looking round at them all, he said to the man: <J>“Stretch out your hand.”</J> The man did so; and his hand had become sound.


text:
But the teachers of the law and the Pharisees were goaded to madness, and consulted together what they could do to Jesus.


text:
 Now about that time, Jesus went out, up the hill, to pray, and spent the whole night in prayer to God.


text:
They were Simon (whom Jesus also named Peter), and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,


text:
Afterwards Jesus came down the hill with them and took his stand on a level place. With him were a large crowd of his disciples, and great numbers of people from the whole of Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast district of Tyre and Sidon,


text:
who had come to hear him and to be restored to health. Those, too, who were troubled with foul spirits were cured;


text:
and everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him, because a power went out from him which restored them all.


text:
 Then, raising his eyes and looking at his disciples, Jesus said:<J> “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.</J>


text:
 <J>Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.</J>


text:
 <J>Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they expel you from among them, and insult you, and reject your name as an evil thing — because of the Son of Man.</J>


text:
 <J>Then indeed you may be glad and dance for joy, for be sure that your reward in heaven will be great; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.</J> 


text:
 <J>Alas for you who are sated now, for you will hunger. Alas for you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.</J>


text:
<J>Alas for you when everyone speaks well of you; for this is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.</J>


text:
 <J>When someone gives one of you a blow on the cheek, offer the other cheek as well; and, when anyone takes away your cloak, do not keep back your coat either.</J> 


text:
 <J>Give to everyone who asks of you; and, when anyone takes away what is yours, do not demand its return.</J> 


text:
 <J>If you love only those who love you, what thanks will be due to you? Why, even the outcast love those who love them!</J> 


text:
 <J>For, if you show kindness only to those who show kindness to you, what thanks will be due to you? Even the outcast do that!</J> 


text:
 <J>If you lend only to those from whom you expect to get something, what thanks will be due to you? Even the outcast lend to the outcast in the hope of getting as much in return!</J> 


text:
 <J>But love your enemies, and show them kindness, and lend to them, never despairing. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the thankless and the bad.</J>


text:
 <J>Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.</J> 


text:
 <J>Give, and others will give to you. A generous measure, pressed and shaken down, and running over, will they pour into your lap; For The standard you use will be the standard used for you.”</J>


text:
<J>Then, speaking in parables, Jesus said: “Can one blind person guide another? Will they not both fall into a ditch?</J> 


text:
<J>A scholar is not above their teacher; yet every finished scholar will be like their teacher.</J> 


text:
 <J>And why do you look at the speck of sawdust in someone’s eye, while you pay no attention at all to the plank of wood in your own?</J> 


text:
 <J>How can you say to your friend ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ while you yourself do not see the plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take out the plank from your own eye first, and then you will see clearly how to take out the speck in your friend’s.</J> 


text:
 <J>There is no such thing as a good tree bearing worthless fruit, or, on the other hand, a worthless tree bearing good fruit.</J> 


text:
 <J>For every tree is known by its own fruit. People do not gather figs off thorn bushes, nor pick a bunch of grapes off a bramble.</J> 


text:
 <J>A good person, from the good stores of their heart, brings out what is good; while a bad person, from their bad stores, brings out what is bad. For what fills someone’s heart will rise to their lips.</J> 


text:
<J>Everyone who comes to me and listens to my teaching and acts on it — I will show you to whom they may be compared.</J> 


text:
 <J>They may be compared to a person building a house, who dug, and went deep, and laid the foundation on the rock. Then, when a flood came, the river swept down on that house, but had no power to shake it, because it had been built well.</J> 


text:
 <J>But those who have listened and not acted on what they have heard may be compared to a person who built a house on the ground without any foundation. The river swept down on it, and the house immediately collapsed; and great was the crash that followed.”</J>


text:
When Jesus had brought to a conclusion all that he had then had to say to the people, he entered Capernaum.


text:
 A captain in the Roman army had a slave whom he valued, and who was seriously ill — almost at the point of death.


text:
And, hearing about Jesus, he sent some Jewish councillors to him, with the request that he would come and save his slave’s life.


text:
When they found Jesus, they earnestly implored him to do so. “He deserves the favour from you,” they said,


text:
So Jesus went with them. But, when he was no great distance from the house, the captain sent some friends with the message — “Do not trouble yourself, Sir; for I am unworthy to receive you under my roof.


text:
That was why I did not even venture to come to you myself; but speak, and let my manservant be cured.


text:
For I myself am a man under the orders of others, with soldiers under me; and if I say to one of them ‘Go,’ he goes, and to another ‘Come,’ he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this,’ he does it.”


text:
Jesus was surprised to hear these words from him; and, turning to the crowd which was following him, he said: <J>“I tell you, nowhere in Israel have I met with such faith as this!”</J> 


text:
Just as he approached the gate of the town, there was a dead man being carried out for burial — an only son, and his mother was a widow. A large number of the people of the town were with her.


text:
When he saw her, the Master was moved with compassion for her, and he said to her: <J>“Do not weep.”</J> 


text:
Then he went up and touched the bier, and the bearers stopped; and Jesus said: <J>“Young man, I am speaking to you — Rise!”</J> 


text:
Everyone was awe-struck and began praising God. “A great prophet has arisen among us,” they said; “and God has visited his people.”


text:
So he summoned two of them, and sent them to the Master to ask — “Are you ‘the coming one,’ or are we to look for some one else?”


text:
 When these men found Jesus, they said: “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask — ‘Are you ‘the coming one,’ or are we to look for somebody else?’”


text:
At that very time Jesus had cured many people of diseases, afflictions, and wicked spirits, and had given many blind people their sight.


text:
So his answer to the question was: <J>“Go and report to John what you have witnessed and heard — the blind recover their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are made clean, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the good news is told to the poor.</J> 


text:
 When John’s messengers had left, Jesus, speaking to the crowds, began to say with reference to John:


text:
 <J>“What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed waving in the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in rich clothing? Why, those who are accustomed to fine clothes and luxury live in royal palaces.</J> 


text:
 <J>This is the man of whom scripture says — ‘I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.’</J>


text:
<J>There is, I tell you, no one born of a woman who is greater than John; and yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”</J>


text:
 (All the people, when they heard this, and even the tax-gatherers, having accepted John’s baptism, acknowledged the justice of God.


text:
But the Pharisees and the students of the law, having rejected John’s baptism, frustrated God’s purpose in regard to them.)


text:
 <J>“To what then,”</J> Jesus continued, <J>“should I compare the people of the present generation? What are they like?</J> 


text:
 <J>They are like some little children who are sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another — ‘We have played the flute for you, but you have not danced; We have wailed, but you have not wept!’</J> 


text:
 <J>For now that John the Baptist has come, not eating bread or drinking wine, you are saying ‘He has a demon in him’;</J> 


text:
 <J>and now that the Son of Man has come, eating and drinking, you are saying ‘Here is a glutton and a wine-drinker, a friend of tax-gatherers and outcasts.’</J> 


text:
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to dine with him, so Jesus went to his house and took his place at the table.


text:
Just then a woman, who was an outcast in the town, having heard that Jesus was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of perfume,


text:
and placed herself behind Jesus, near his feet, weeping. Then she began to make his feet wet with her tears, and she dried them with the hair of her head, repeatedly kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfume.


text:
 When the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this, he said to himself: “Had this man been ‘The prophet,’ he would have known who, and what sort of woman, this is who is touching him, and that she is an outcast.”


text:
But, addressing him, Jesus said: <J>“Simon, I have something to say to you.”</J> “Pray do so, teacher,” Simon answered; and Jesus began:


text:
 <J>“There were two people who were in debt to a moneylender; one owed five hundred silver coins, and the other fifty.</J> 


text:
 <J>As they were unable to pay, he forgave them both. Which of them, do you think, will love him the more?”</J>


text:
 “I suppose,” answered Simon, “it will be the man to whom he forgave the greater debt.”<J> “You are right,”</J> said Jesus,


text:
and then, turning to the woman, he said to Simon: <J>“Do you see this woman? I came into your house — you gave me no water for my feet, but she has made my feet wet with her tears and dried them with her hair.</J> 


text:
 <J>You did not give me one kiss, but she, from the moment I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet.</J> 


text:
 <J>And for this, I tell you, her sins, many as they are, have been pardoned, because she has loved greatly; but one who has little pardoned him, loves but little.”</J> 


text:
Shortly afterwards, Jesus went on a journey through the towns and villages, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. With him went the Twelve,


text:
as well as some women who had been cured of wicked spirits and of infirmities. They were Mary, known as Mary of Magdala (from whom seven demons had been expelled),


text:
and Joanna (the wife of Herod’s steward, Chuza), and Susannah, and many others — all of whom provided for Jesus and his apostles out of their own resources.


text:
 Once, when a great crowd was collecting, and, when the people of town after town were flocking to Jesus, he spoke to them in the form of a parable:


text:
 <J>“The sower went out to sow his seed; and, as he was sowing, some of the seed fell along the path and was trodden on; and the wild birds ate it up.</J> 


text:
 <J>Other seed fell on rock, and, as soon as it began to grow, having no moisture, withered away.</J> 


text:
 <J>Other seed fell in the middle of brambles, but the brambles grew up with it and choked it entirely.</J> 


text:
 <J>Other seed fell into rich soil, and grew, and gave a hundredfold return.”</J> After saying this, Jesus cried aloud: <J>“Let those who have ears to hear with hear.”</J>


text:
 <J>“To you,”</J> he said, <J>“the knowledge of the hidden truths of the kingdom of God has been imparted, but to others in parables only, so that ‘though they have eyes they may not see, and though they have ears, they may not understand.’</J> 


text:
 <J>By the seed which fell along the path are meant those who hear the message; but then comes the devil and carries away the message from their minds, to prevent their believing it and being saved.</J> 


text:
 <J>By the seed which fell on the rock are meant those who, as soon as they hear the message, welcome it joyfully; but they have no root, and believe it only for a time, and, when the time of temptation comes, they draw back.</J> 


text:
 <J>By that which fell among the brambles are meant those who hear the message, but who, as they go on their way, are completely choked by this world’s cares and wealth and pleasures, and bring nothing to perfection.</J> 


text:
 <J>But by that in the good ground are meant those who, having heard the message, keep it in the good, rich soil of their hearts, and patiently yield a return.</J>


text:
 <J>No one sets light to a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or puts it underneath a couch, but they put it on a lamp-stand, so that anyone who comes in may see the light.</J> 


text:
 <J>Nothing is hidden which will not be brought into the light of day, not ever kept hidden which will not some day become known and come into the light of day.</J> 


text:
 <J>Take care, then, how you listen. For, to all those who have, more will be given; while, from all those who have nothing, even what they seem to have will be taken away.”</J>


text:
Presently Jesus’ mother and brothers came where he was, but they were not able to join him because of the crowd.


text:
So word was brought to him — ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.’


text:
His reply, spoken to them all, was: <J>“My mother and my brothers are those who listen to God’s teaching and do what it says.”</J>


text:
 One day about that time, Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and said to them: <J>“Let us go across the lake.”</J> 


text:
So they put off. While they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep. A squall swept down on the lake, and their boat was filling and they were in danger.


text:
So the disciples came and roused him. “Sir, Sir,” they cried, “we are lost!” Jesus rose and rebuked the wind and the rushing waves, and they fell, and a calm followed.


text:
 <J>“Where is your faith?”</J> he exclaimed. But in great awe and amazement they said to one another: “Who can this be, who commands even the winds and the waves, and they obey him?”


text:
and, on getting ashore, Jesus met a man, who had demons in him, coming out of the town. For a long time this man had worn no clothing, and he had not lived in a house, but in the tombs.


text:
Catching sight of Jesus, he shrieked out and threw himself down before him, and in a loud voice exclaimed: “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you not to torment me.”


text:
For Jesus was commanding the foul spirit to come out from the man. On many occasions it had seized him, and, even when secured with chains and fetters, and watched, he would break through anything that bound him, and be driven by the demon into the Wilds.


text:
 <J>“What is your name?”</J> Jesus asked. “Legion,” he answered (for many demons had taken possession of him);


text:
There was a drove of many pigs close by feeding on the hill-side; and the demons begged Jesus to give them leave to enter into them. Jesus gave them leave.


text:
They came out from the man and took possession of the pigs; and the drove rushed down the steep slope into the lake and were drowned.


text:
When the men who tended them saw what had happened, they ran away, and carried the news to the town, and to the country round.


text:
The people went out to see what had happened, and, when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting, clothed and in his right mind, at Jesus’ feet; and they were awe-struck.


text:
Then all the people in the neighbourhood of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, for they were terrified. Jesus got into a boat and returned.


text:
The man from whom the demons had gone out begged Jesus to let him be with him; but Jesus sent him away.


text:
 <J>“Go back to your home,”</J> he said, <J>“and relate the story of all that God has done for you.” So the man went through the whole town and proclaimed, as he went, all that Jesus had done for him.</J>


text:
And a man named Jaeirus, who was a President of the Synagogue, came to Jesus, and threw himself at Jesus’ feet, with entreaties that he would come to his house,


text:
because his only daughter, who was about twelve years old, was dying. As Jesus was going, the people were pressing closely round him.


text:
 <J>“Who touched me?”</J> Jesus asked; and, while everyone was denying having done so, Peter exclaimed: “Why, Sir, the people are crowding round you and pressing against you!”


text:
Then the woman, when she saw that she was discovered, came forward trembling, and threw herself down before him; and, in the presence of all the people, she told him her reason for touching him, and that she had been cured instantly.


text:
 Before he had finished speaking, some one came from the house of the President of the Synagogue and said: “Your daughter is dead! Do not trouble the teacher further.”


text:
But Jesus, hearing this, spoke to the President: <J>“Do not be afraid; only have faith, and she will yet be delivered.”</J> 


text:
When he reached the house, he did not allow anyone to go in with him, except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother.


text:
And everyone was weeping and mourning for her.<J> “Do not weep,”</J> Jesus said, <J>“she is not dead; she is asleep.”</J> 


text:
The child’s spirit returned to her, and she instantly stood up; and Jesus ordered them to give her something to eat.


text:
Her parents were amazed, but Jesus impressed on them that they were not to tell anyone what had happened.


text:
Jesus called the Twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all demons, as well as to cure diseases.


text:
 <J>“Do not,”</J> he said to them, <J>“take anything for your journey; not even a staff, or a bag, or bread, or any silver, or a change of clothes with you.</J> 


text:
 <J>If people do not welcome you, as you leave that town, shake even the dust off your feet, as a protest against them.”</J> 


text:
Then they set out and went from village to village, telling the good news and curing people everywhere.


text:
 Prince Herod heard of all that was happening, and was perplexed, because it was said by some that John must be risen from the dead.


text:
But Herod himself said: “John I beheaded; but who is this of whom I hear such things?” And he endeavoured to see him.


text:
 When the apostles returned, they related to Jesus all that they had done. Then Jesus went privately to a town called Bethsaida, taking the apostles with him.


text:
But the people recognised him and followed him in crowds; and Jesus welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, while he cured those who were in need of help.


text:
The day was drawing to a close, when the twelve came up to him, and said: “Send the crowd away, so that they may make their way to the villages and farms round about, and find themselves lodgings and provisions, for we are in a lonely spot here.”


text:
But Jesus said: <J>“It is for you to give them something to eat.”</J> “We have not more than five loaves and two fishes,” they answered; “unless indeed we are to go and buy food for all these people.”


text:
(For the men among them were about five thousand.) <J>“Get them seated in companies,”</J> was his reply, <J>“about fifty in each.”</J> 


text:
Taking the five loaves and the two fishes, Jesus looked up to heaven and said the blessing over them. Then he broke them in pieces, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people.


text:
Everyone had sufficient to eat, and what was left of the broken pieces was picked up — twelve baskets.


text:
 Afterwards, when Jesus was alone, praying, his disciples joined him, and he asked them this question — <J>“Who do the people say that I am?”</J>


text:
 “John the Baptist,” was their answer; “others, however, say that you are Elijah, while others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”


text:
 <J>“But you,”</J> he went on, <J>“who do you say that I am?”</J> And to this Peter answered: “The Christ of God.”


text:
he told them that the Son of Man must undergo much suffering, and be rejected by the councillors, and chief priests, and teachers of the law, and be put to death, and rise on the third day.


text:
And to all present he said: <J>“If any one wishes to walk in my steps, let them renounce self, and take up their cross daily, and follow me.</J> 


text:
 <J>For whoever wishes to save their life will lose it, and whoever, for my sake, loses his life — that person will save it.</J> 


text:
 <J>What good does it do someone if, when they has gained the whole world, they has lost or forfeited themselves?</J> 


text:
 <J>Whoever is ashamed of me and of my teaching, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them, when he comes in his glory and the glory of the father and of the holy angels.</J> 


text:
 <J>Indeed, I tell you, some who are standing before me will not know death, until they have seen the kingdom of God.”</J>


text:
About eight days after speaking these words, Jesus went up the mountain to pray, taking with him Peter, John, and James.


text:
As he was praying, the aspect of his face was changed, and his clothing became of a glittering whiteness.


text:
who appeared in a glorified state, and spoke of his departure, which was destined to take place at Jerusalem.


text:
Peter and his companions had been overpowered by sleep but, suddenly becoming wide awake, they saw Jesus glorified and the two men who were standing beside him.


text:
 And, as Moses and Elijah were passing away from Jesus, Peter exclaimed: “Sir, it is good to be here; let us make three tents, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what he was saying;


text:
and, while he was speaking, a cloud came down and enveloped them; and they were afraid, as they passed into the cloud;


text:
And, as the voice ceased, Jesus was found alone. The apostles kept silence, and told no one about any of the things that they had seen.


text:
And just then a man in the crowd shouted out: “Teacher, I entreat you to look at my son, for he is my only child;


text:
all at once a spirit will seize him, suddenly shriek out, and throw him into convulsions until he foams, and will leave him only when he is utterly exhausted.


text:
<J>“Faithless and perverse generation!”</J> Jesus exclaimed; <J>“how long must I be with you and have patience with you? Lead your son here.”</J> 


text:
While the boy was coming up to Jesus, the demon dashed him down and threw him into convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the foul spirit, and cured the boy, and gave him back to his father.


text:
And all present were struck with awe at the majesty of God.In the midst of the general astonishment at all that Jesus was doing, he said to his disciples:


text:
<J>“Listen carefully to my words. For the Son of Man is destined to be betrayed into the hands of his fellow men.”</J> 


text:
But the disciples did not understand the meaning of this; it had been concealed from them so that they did not see it, and they were afraid to question him as to what he meant.


text:
and Jesus, knowing of the discussion that was occupying their thoughts, took hold of a little child, and placed it beside him,


text:
and then said to them: <J>“Anyone who, for the sake of my name, welcomes even this little child is welcoming me; and anyone who welcomes me is welcoming him who sent me as his messenger. For whoever is least among you all — that person is great.”</J>


text:
 John said: “Sir, we saw a man driving out demons by using your name, and we tried to prevent him, because he does not follow you with us.”


text:
 <J>“None of you must prevent him,”</J> Jesus said to John; <J>“whoever’s not against you is for you.”</J> 


text:
<n>The Journey to Jerusalem</n> As the days before his being taken up to heaven were growing few, Jesus set his face resolutely in the direction of Jerusalem; and he sent on messengers in advance.


text:
When James and John saw this, they said: “Master, do you wish us to call for fire to come down from the heavens and consume them?”


text:
 <J>“Foxes have holes,”</J> he replied, <J>“and wild birds their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”</J> 


text:
But Jesus said: <J>“Leave the dead to bury their dead; but go yourself and carry far and wide the news of the kingdom of God.”</J>


text:
But Jesus answered: <J>“No one who looks back, after putting their hand to the plough, is fitted for the kingdom of God.”</J>


text:
After this, the Master appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them on as his messengers, two and two, in advance, to every town and place that he was himself intending to visit.


text:
 <J>“The harvest,”</J> he said, <J>“is abundant, but the labourers are few. Therefore pray to the owner of the harvest to send labourers to gather in his harvest.</J> 


text:
 <J>Do not take a purse with you, or a bag, or sandals; and do not stop to greet anyone on your journey.</J> 


text:
 <J>Then, if anyone there is deserving of a blessing, your blessing will rest on him; but if not, it will come back on yourselves.</J> 


text:
 <J>Remain at that same house, and eat and drink whatever they offer you; for the worker is worth their wages. Do not keep changing from one house to another.</J> 


text:
 <J>But, whatever town you go to visit, if the people do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say</J> 


text:
 <J>‘We wipe off the dust of your town which has clung to Our feet; still, be assured that the kingdom of God is close at Hand.’</J> 


text:
<J>I tell you that the doom of Sodom will be more bearable on ‘that day’ than the doom of that town.</J> 


text:
 <J>Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For, if the Miracles which have been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have sat in sackcloth and ashes and repented long ago.</J> 


text:
 <J>And you, Capernaum! Will you ‘exalt yourself to heaven’? ‘You will go down to the place of death.’</J> 


text:
 <J>Anyone who listens to you is listening to me, and anyone who rejects you is rejecting me; while the person who rejects me is rejecting him who sent me as his messenger.”</J>


text:
 When the seventy-two returned, they exclaimed joyfully: “Master, even the demons submit to us when we use your name.”


text:
 <J>Remember, I have given you the power to ‘trample on snakes and scorpions,’ and to meet all the strength of the Enemy. Nothing will ever harm you in any way.</J> 


text:
 <J>Yet do not rejoice in the fact that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names have been enrolled in heaven.”</J>


text:
 At that same time, moved to exultation by the Holy Spirit, Jesus said:<J> “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that, though you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, you have revealed them to the childlike! Yes, Father, I thank you that this has seemed good to you.</J>


text:
 <J>Everything has been committed to me by my Father; nor does anyone know who the Son is, except the Father, or who the Father is, except the Son and those to whom the Son may choose to reveal him.”</J>


text:
Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said to them alone: <J>“Blessed are the eyes that see what you are seeing;</J> 


text:
 <J>for, I tell you, many prophets and kings wished for the sight of the things which you are seeing, yet never heard them.”</J>


text:
Just then a Student of the law came forward to test Jesus further. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do if I am to ‘gain eternal life’?”


text:
His reply was — “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as you love yourself.’”


text:
 To which Jesus replied: <J>“A man was once going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him of everything, and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.</J> 


text:
 <J>As it chanced, a priest was going down by that road. He saw the man, but passed by on the opposite side.</J> 


text:
 <J>A Levite, too, did the same; he came up to the spot, but, when he saw the man, passed by on the opposite side.</J> 


text:
 <J>But a Samaritan, traveling that way, came upon the man, and, when he saw him, he was moved with compassion.</J> 


text:
 <J>He went to him and bound up his wounds, dressing them with oil and wine, and then put him on his own mule, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.</J> 


text:
 <J>The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he said, ‘and whatever more you may spend I will myself repay you on my way back.’</J> 


text:
 <J>Now which, do you think, of these three men,” asked Jesus, “proved himself a neighbour to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?”</J>


text:
 “The one that took pity on him,” was the answer; on which Jesus said: <J>“Go and do the same yourself.”</J>


text:
As they continued their journey, Jesus came to a village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him to her house.


text:
She had a sister called Mary, who seated herself at the Master’s feet, and listened to his teaching;


text:
but Martha was distracted by the many preparations that she was making. So she went up to Jesus and said: “Master, do you approve of my sister’s leaving me to make preparations alone? Tell her to help me.”


text:
 <J>“Martha, Martha,”</J> replied the Master, <J>“you are anxious and trouble yourself about many things;</J> 


text:
 <J>but only a few are necessary, or rather one. Mary has chosen the good part, and it will not be taken away from her.”</J>


text:
One day Jesus was at a certain place praying, and, when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him: “Master, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”


text:
 <J>“When you pray,”</J> Jesus answered, <J>“say — ‘Father, May your name be held holy, your kingdom come.</J>


text:
 <J>and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who wrongs us; and take us not into temptation.’”</J>


text:
Jesus also said to them: <J>“Suppose that one of you who has a friend were to go to him in the middle of the night and say ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,</J> 


text:
 <J>for a friend of mine has arrived at my house after a journey, and I have nothing to offer him;’</J> 


text:
 <J>And suppose that the other should answer from inside ‘Do not trouble me; the door is already fastened, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything’;</J> 


text:
 <J>I tell you that, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is a friend, yet because of his persistence he will rouse himself and give him what he wants.</J>


text:
 <J>And so I say to you — Ask, and your prayer will be granted: search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.</J> 


text:
 <J>For the person who asks receives, everyone who searches finds, and to the person who knocks the door will be opened.</J> 


text:
 <J>If you, then, naturally wicked though you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”</J>


text:
Once Jesus was driving out a dumb demon, and, when the demon had gone out, the dumb man spoke. The people were amazed at this;


text:
Jesus himself, however, was aware of what they were thinking, and said to them: <J>“Any kingdom wholly divided against itself becomes a desolation; and a divided house falls.</J> 


text:
 <J>So, too, if Satan is wholly divided against himself, how can his kingdom last? Yet you say that I drive out demons by the help of Beelzebul.</J> 


text:
 <J>But, if it is by Beelzebul’s help that I drive out demons, by whose help is it that your own sons drive them out? Therefore they will themselves be your judges.</J> 


text:
 <J>But, if it is by the hand of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God must already be upon you.</J> 


text:
 <J>When a strong man is keeping guard, fully armed, over his own mansion, his property is in safety;</J> 


text:
 <J>but, when one still stronger has attacked and overpowered him, he takes away all the weapons on which the other had relied, and divides his spoil.</J> 


text:
 <J>Whoever who is not with me is against me, and the person who does not help me to gather is scattering.</J> 


text:
 <J>No sooner does a foul spirit leave someone, than it passes through places where there is no water, in search of rest; and finding none, it says ‘I will go back to the home which I left’;</J> 


text:
 <J>Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in, and make their home there; and the last state of that person proves to be worse than the first.”</J> 


text:
As Jesus was saying this, a woman in the crowd, raising her voice, exclaimed: “Happy was the mother who bore you and nursed you!”


text:
As the crowds increased, Jesus began to speak: <J>“This generation is a wicked generation. It is asking a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah.</J> 


text:
 <J>For, as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.</J> 


text:
 <J>At the judgment the Queen of the South will rise up with the people of this generation, and will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and here is more than a Solomon!</J> 


text:
 <J>At the judgment the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation, and will condemn it, because they repented at Jonah’s proclamation; and here is more than a Jonah!</J> 


text:
 <J>No one sets light to a lamp, and then puts it in the cellar or under a basket, but he puts it on the lamp-stand, so that anyone who comes in may see the light.</J> 


text:
 <J>The lamp of the body is your eye. When your eye is unclouded, your whole body, also, is lit up; but, as soon as your eye is diseased, your body, also, is darkened.</J> 


text:
 <J>If, then, your whole body is lit up, and no corner of it darkened, the whole will be lit up, just as when a lamp gives you light by its brilliance.”</J>


text:
As Jesus finished speaking, a Pharisee asked him to breakfast with him, and Jesus went in and took his place at the table.


text:
The Pharisee noticed, to his astonishment, that Jesus omitted the ceremonial washing before breakfast.


text:
But the Master said to him: <J>“You Pharisees do, it is true, clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside you yourselves are filled with greed and wickedness.</J> 


text:
 <J>But alas for you Pharisees! You pay tithes on mint, rue, and herbs of all kinds, and pass over justice and love to God. These last you ought to have put into practice without neglecting the first.</J> 


text:
 <J>Alas for you Pharisees! You delight to have the front seat in the Synagogues, and to be greeted in the markets with respect.</J> 


text:
 Here one of the students of the law interrupted him by saying: “Teacher, when you say this, you are insulting us also.”


text:
But Jesus went on: <J>“Alas for you, too, you students of the law! You load people with loads that are too heavy to carry, but do not, yourselves, touch them with one of your fingers.</J> 


text:
 <J>You are actually witnesses to your ancestors’ acts and show your approval of them, because, while they killed the prophets, you build tombs for them.</J> 


text:
 <J>some of whom they will persecute and kill, in order that the ‘blood’ of all the prophets ‘that has been spilt’ since the creation of the world may be exacted from this generation —</J> 


text:
 <J>From the blood of Abel down to the blood of Zechariah, who was slain between the altar and the house of God.” Yes, I tell you, it will be exacted from this generation.</J> 


text:
<J>Alas for you students of the law! You have taken away the key of the door of knowledge. You have not gone in yourselves and you have hindered those who try to go in.”</J>


text:
 When Jesus left the house, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees began to press him hard and question him closely on many subjects,


text:
Meanwhile the people had gathered in thousands, so that they trod on one another, when Jesus, addressing himself to his disciples, began by saying to them: <J>“Be on your guard against the leaven — that is, the hypocrisy — of the Pharisees.</J> 


text:
 <J>There is nothing, however covered up, which will not be uncovered, nor anything kept secret which will not become known.</J> 


text:
 <J>So all that you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear, within closed doors, will be proclaimed on the housetops.</J> 


text:
 <J>To you who are my friends I say, Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but after that can do no more.</J> 


text:
 <J>I will show you of whom you should be afraid. Be afraid of him who, after killing you, has the power to fling you into Gehenna. Yes, I say, be afraid of him.</J> 


text:
<J>Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? Yet not one of them has escaped God’s notice.</J> 


text:
 <J>No, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.</J> 


text:
 <J>Everyone, I tell you, who publicly acknowledges me, the Son of Man, also, will acknowledge before God’s angels;</J> 


text:
 <J>Everyone who will say anything against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but for the person who slanders the Holy Spirit there will be no forgiveness.</J> 


text:
 <J>Whenever they take you before the Synagogue Courts or the magistrates or other authorities, do not be anxious as to how you will defend yourselves, or what your defence will be, or what you will say;</J> 


text:
And then he added: <J>“Take care to keep yourselves free from every form of covetousness; for even in the height of their prosperity a person’s true life does not depend on what they have.”</J>


text:
 <J>This is what I will do,’ he said; ‘I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them;</J> 


text:
 <J>and I will say to myself, Now you have plenty of good things put by for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.’</J> 


text:
<J>But God said to the man ‘Fool! This very night your life is being demanded; and as for all you have prepared — who will have it?’</J> 


text:
 And Jesus said to his disciples: <J>“That is why I say to you, Do not be anxious about the life here — what you can get to eat; nor yet about your body — what you can get to wear.</J> 


text:
<J>Think of the ravens — they neither sow nor reap; they have neither storehouse nor barn; and yet God feeds them! And how much more precious are you than birds!</J> 


text:
 <J>Think of the lilies, and how they grow. They neither toil nor spin; yet, I tell you, even Solomon in all his splendour was not robed like one of these.</J> 


text:
 <J>If, even in the field, God so clothes the grass which is living today and tomorrow will be thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, you of little faith!</J> 


text:
<J>And you — do not be always seeking what you can get to eat or what you can get to drink; and do not waver.</J> 


text:
 <J>These are the things for which all the nations of the world are seeking, and your Father knows that you need them.</J> 


text:
 <J>So do not be afraid, my little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.</J>


text:
 <J>Sell what belongs to you, and give in charity. Make yourselves purses that will not wear out — an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, or moth works ruin.</J> 


text:
 <J>and be like servants who are waiting for their Master’s return from his wedding, so that, when he comes and knocks, they may open the door for him at once.</J> 


text:
 <J>Happy are those servants whom, on his return, the Master will find watching. I tell you that he will make himself ready, and have them take their places at the table, and will come and serve them.</J> 


text:
 <J>Whether it is late at night, or in the early morning that he comes, if he finds all as it should be, then happy are they.</J> 


text:
 <J>This you do know, that, had the owner of the house known at what time the thief was coming, he would have been on the watch, and would not have let his house be broken into.</J> 


text:
 <J>“Who, then,”</J> replied the Master, <J>“is that trustworthy steward, the careful man, who will be placed by his master over his establishment, to give them their rations at the proper time?</J> 


text:
 <J>But should that servant say to himself ‘My master is a long time coming,’ and begin to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk,</J> 


text:
 <J>that servant’s master will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour of which he is unaware, and will flog him severely and assign him his place among the untrustworthy.</J> 


text:
<J>The servant who knows his master’s wishes and yet does not prepare and act accordingly will receive many lashes;</J> 


text:
 <J>while one who does not know his master’s wishes, but acts so as to deserve a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone to whom much has been given much will be expected, and from the man to whom much has been entrusted the more will be demanded.</J> 


text:
 <J>For from this time, if there are five people in a house, they will be divided, three against two, and two against three.</J>


text:
 <J>‘Father will be opposed to son and son to father, mother to daughter and daughter to mother, mother-in-law to her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law to her mother-in-law.’”</J>


text:
And to the people Jesus said: <J>“When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once ‘There is a storm coming,’ and come it does.</J> 


text:
 <J>And when you see that the wind is in the south, you say ‘It will be burning hot,’ and so it proves.</J> 


text:
 <J>Hypocrites! You know how to judge of the earth and the sky; how is it, then, that you cannot judge of this time?</J> 


text:
 <J>When, for instance, you are going with your opponent before a magistrate, on your way to the court do your best to be quit of him; otherwise he might drag you before the judge, then the judge will hand you over to the bailiff of the court, and the bailiff throw you into prison.</J> 


text:
Just at that time some people had come to tell Jesus about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.


text:
 <J>“Do you suppose,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“that, because these Galileans have suffered in this way, they were worse sinners than any other Galileans?</J> 


text:
 <J>Or those eighteen men at Siloam on whom the tower fell, killing them all, do you suppose that they were worse offenders than any other inhabitants of Jerusalem?</J> 


text:
 And Jesus told them this parable — <J>“A man, who had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, came to look for fruit on it, but could not find any.</J> 


text:
 <J>So he said to his gardener ‘Three years now I have come to look for fruit on this fig tree, without finding any! Cut it down. Why should it rob the soil?’</J> 


text:
 <J>‘Leave it this one year more, Sir,’ the man answered, ‘until I have dug round it and manured it.</J> 


text:
and he saw before him a woman who for eighteen years had suffered from weakness owing to her having an evil spirit in her. She was bent double, and was wholly unable to raise herself.


text:
When Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said: <J>“Woman, you are released from your weakness.”</J> 


text:
But the President of the Synagogue, indignant that Jesus had worked the cure on the Sabbath, intervened and said to the people: “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come to be cured on one of those, and not on the Sabbath.”


text:
 <J>“You hypocrites!”</J> the Master answered him. <J>“Does not everyone of you let your ox or your ass loose from its manger, and take it out to drink, on the Sabbath?</J> 


text:
 <J>But this woman, a daughter of Abraham, who has been kept in bondage by Satan for now eighteen years, ought not she to have been released from her bondage on the Sabbath?”</J> 


text:
As he said this, his opponents all felt ashamed; but all the people rejoiced to see all the wonderful things that he was doing.


text:
 <J>It is like a mustard seed which a man took and put in his garden. The seed grew and became a tree, and ‘the wild birds roosted in its branches.’”</J> 


text:
 <J>It is like some yeast which a woman took and covered in three pecks of flour, until the whole had risen.”</J>


text:
 <J>“Strive to go in by the small door. Many, I tell you, will seek to go in, but they will not be able,</J> 


text:
 <J>when once the master of the house has got up and shut the door, while you begin to say, as you stand outside and knock, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ His answer will be — ‘I do not know where you come from.’</J> 


text:
 <J>Then you will begin to say ‘We have eaten and drunk in your presence, and you have taught in our streets,’ and his reply will be —</J> 


text:
 <J>‘I do not know where you come from. Leave my presence, all you who are living in wickedness.’</J> 


text:
 <J>There, there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, while you yourselves are being driven outside.</J> 


text:
 <J>People will come from East and West, and from North and South, and take their places at the banquet in the kingdom of God.</J> 


text:
 <J>there are some who are last now who will then be first, and some who are first now who will then be last!”</J>


text:
 Just then some Pharisees came up to Jesus and said: “Go away and leave this place, for Herod wants to kill you.”


text:
But Jesus answered: <J>“Go and say to that fox ‘Look you, I am driving out demons and will be completing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will have done.’</J> 


text:
 <J>But today and tomorrow and the day after I must go on my way, because it cannot be that a prophet should meet his end outside Jerusalem.</J> 


text:
 <J>Jerusalem! Jerusalem! You who slays the prophets and stones the messengers sent to you — Oh, how often have I wished to gather your children round me, as a hen takes her brood under her wings, and you would not come!</J> 


text:
 <J>Verily your house is left to you desolate! And never, I tell you, will you see me, until you say — ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”</J>


text:
On one occasion, as Jesus was going, on a Sabbath into the house of one of the leading Pharisees to dine, they were watching him closely.


text:
 <J>“Is it allowable,”</J> said Jesus, addressing the students of the law and the Pharisees, <J>“to work a cure on the Sabbath, or is it not?”</J> 


text:
And he said to them: <J>“Which of you, finding that your son or your ox has fallen into a well, will not immediately pull them out on the Sabbath day?”</J> 


text:
 Observing that the guests were choosing the best places for themselves, Jesus told them this parable —


text:
 <J>“When you are invited by anyone to a wedding banquet, do not seat yourself in the best place. Someone of higher rank might have been invited by your host;</J> 


text:
 <J>and the host who invited you both will come and say to you ‘Make room for this person,’ and then you will begin in confusion to take the lowest place.</J> 


text:
 <J>No, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place, so that, when the host who has invited you comes, he may say to you ‘Friend, come higher up’; and then you will be honoured in the eyes of all your fellow guests.</J> 


text:
 <J>For everyone who exalts themselves will be humbled, and everyone who humbles themselves will be exalted.”</J>


text:
 Then Jesus went on to say to the man who had invited him: <J>“When you give a breakfast or a dinner, do not ask your friends, or your brothers or sisters, or your relations, or rich neighbours, because they might invite you in return, and so you should be repaid.</J> 


text:
 <J>and then you will be happy indeed, since they cannot reward you; for you will be rewarded at the resurrection of the good.”</J>


text:
One of the guests heard what he said and exclaimed: “Happy will be the person who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”


text:
 <J>and sent his servant, when it was time for the dinner, to say to those who had been invited ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’</J> 


text:
<J>They all with one accord began to ask to be excused. The first said to the servant ‘I have bought a field and am obliged to go and look at it. I must ask you to consider me excused.’</J> 


text:
 <J>The next said ‘I have bought five pairs of bullocks, and I am on my way to try them. I must ask you to consider me excused’;</J> 


text:
 <J>On his return the servant told his master all these answers. Then in anger the owner of the house said to his servant ‘Go out at once into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in here the poor, and the crippled, and the blind, and the lame.’</J> 


text:
 <J>Presently the servant said ‘Sir, your order has been carried out, and still there is room.’</J> 


text:
 <J>‘Go out,’ the master said, ‘into the roads and hedgerows, and make people come in, so that my house may be filled;</J> 


text:
 <J>“If any one comes to me and does not hate their father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yes and even their life, he can be no disciple of mine.</J> 


text:
 <J>Why, which of you, when you want to build a tower, does not first sit down and reckon the cost, to see if you have enough to complete it? —</J> 


text:
 <J>Otherwise, if you have laid the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will laugh at you,</J> 


text:
 <J>Or what king, when he is setting out to fight another king, does not first sit down and consider if with ten thousand men he is able to meet one who is coming against him with twenty thousand?</J> 


text:
 <J>And if he cannot, then, while the other is still at a distance, he sends envoys and asks for terms of peace.</J> 


text:
<J>And so with everyone of you who does not bid farewell to all you have — you cannot be a disciple of mine.</J> 


text:
 <J>Yes, salt is good; but, if the salt itself should lose its strength, what will be used to season it?</J> 


text:
<J>It is not fit either for the land or for the manure heap. People throw it away. Let those who have ears to hear with hear!”</J>


text:
but the Pharisees and the teachers of the law found fault. “This man always welcomes outcasts, and takes meals with them!” they complained.


text:
 <J>“Who among you who has a hundred sheep, and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine out in the open country, and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?</J> 


text:
 <J>and, on reaching home, he calls his friends and his neighbours together, and says ‘Come and rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.’</J> 


text:
 <J>So, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one outcast who repents, than over ninety-nine religious people, who have no need to repent.</J> 


text:
 <J>Or again, what woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?</J> 


text:
 <J>And, when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbours together, and says ‘Come and rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I lost.’</J> 


text:
 <J>So, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of God’s angels over one outcast who repents.”</J>


text:
 <J>and the younger of them said to his father ‘Father, give me my share of the inheritance.’ So the father divided the property between them.</J> 


text:
 <J>A few days later the younger son got together all that he had, and went away into a distant land; and there he squandered his inheritance by leading a dissolute life.</J> 


text:
 <J>After he has spent all that he had, there was a severe famine through all that country, and he began to be in actual want.</J> 


text:
 <J>So he went and engaged himself to one of the people of that country, who sent him into his fields to tend pigs.</J> 


text:
<J>He even longed to satisfy his hunger with the bean-pods on which the pigs were feeding; and no one gave him anything.</J> 


text:
 <J>But, when he came to himself, he said ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more bread than they can eat, while here am I starving to death!</J> 


text:
 <J>I will get up and go to my father, and say to him “Father, I sinned against heaven and against you;</J> 


text:
 <J>And he got up and went to his father. But, while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was deeply moved; he ran and threw his arms round his neck and kissed him.</J> 


text:
 <J>‘Father,’ the son said, ‘I sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer fit to be called your son; make me one of your hired servants.’</J> 


text:
<J>But the father turned to his servants and said ‘Be quick and fetch a robe — the very best — and put it on him; give him a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet;</J> 


text:
 <J>for here is my son who was dead, and is alive again, was lost, and is found.’ So they began making merry.</J> 


text:
 <J>Meanwhile the elder son was out in the fields; but, on coming home, when he got near the house, he heard music and dancing,</J> 


text:
 <J>‘Your brother has come back,’ the servant told him, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has him back safe and sound.’</J> 


text:
 <J>This made him angry, and he would not go in. But his father came out and begged him to do so.</J> 


text:
 <J>‘No,’ he said to his father, ‘look at all the years I have been serving you, without ever once disobeying you, and yet you have never given me even a young goat, so that I might have a merrymaking with my friends.</J> 


text:
 <J>But, no sooner has this son of yours come, who has eaten up your property in the company of prostitutes, than you have killed the fattened calf for him.’</J> 


text:
 <J>‘Child,’ the father answered, ‘you are always with me, and everything that I have is yours.</J> 


text:
 <J>We could but make merry and rejoice, for here is your brother who was dead, and is alive; who was lost, and is found.’”</J>


text:
Jesus said to his disciples: <J>“There was a rich man who had a steward; and this steward was maliciously accused to him of wasting his estate.</J> 


text:
 <J>So the master called him and said ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give in your accounts, for you cannot act as steward any longer.’</J> 


text:
 <J>‘What am I to do,’ the steward asked himself, ‘now that my master is taking the steward’s place away from me? I have not strength to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.</J> 


text:
 <J>I know what I will do, so that, as soon as I am turned out of my stewardship, people may welcome me into their homes.’</J> 


text:
<J>One by one he called up his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master?’ he asked of the first.</J> 


text:
 <J>‘Four hundred and forty gallons of oil,’ answered the man. ‘Here is your agreement,’ he said; ‘sit down at once and make it two hundred and twenty.’</J> 


text:
 <J>And you, the steward said to the next, ‘how much do you owe?’ ‘Seventy quarters of wheat,’ he replied. ‘Here is your agreement,’ the steward said; ‘make it fifty-six.’</J> 


text:
<J>His master complimented this dishonest steward on the shrewdness of his action. And indeed men of the world are shrewder in dealing with their fellow men than those who have the light.</J> 


text:
 <J>And I say to you ‘Win friends for yourselves with your dishonest money,’ so that, when it comes to an end, there may be a welcome for you into the Eternal Home.</J> 


text:
<J>The person who is trustworthy in the smallest matter is trustworthy in a great one also; and the person who is dishonest in the smallest matter is dishonest in a great one also.</J> 


text:
 <J>So, if you have proved untrustworthy with the ‘dishonest money,’ who will trust you with the true?</J> 


text:
 <J>And, if you have proved untrustworthy with what does not belong to us, who will give you what is really our own?</J> 


text:
 <J>No servant can serve two masters, for, either they will hate one and love the other, or else they will attach themselves to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”</J>


text:
 All this was said within hearing of the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, and they began to sneer at Jesus.


text:
 <J>“You,”</J> said Jesus, <J>“are the ones who justify themselves before the world, but God can read your hearts; and what is highly esteemed among people may be an abomination in the sight of God.</J> 


text:
 <J>The law and the prophets sufficed until the time of John. Since then the good news of the kingdom of God has been told, and everybody has been forcing their way into it.</J> 


text:
<J>It would be easier for the heavens and the earth to disappear than for one stroke of a letter in the law to be lost.</J> 


text:
 <J>Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman is an adulterer, and the man who marries a divorced woman is an adulterer.</J> 


text:
 <J>There was once a rich man, who dressed in purple robes and fine linen, and feasted every day in great splendour.</J> 


text:
<J>and who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.</J> 


text:
 <J>After a time the beggar died, and was taken by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.</J> 


text:
 <J>In the place of death he looked up in his torment, and saw Abraham at a distance and Lazarus at his side.</J> 


text:
 <J>So he called out ‘Pity me, Father Abraham, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering agony in this flame.’</J> 


text:
 <J>‘Child,’ answered Abraham, ‘remember that you in your lifetime received what you thought desirable, just as Lazarus received what was not desirable; but now he has his consolation here, while you are suffering agony.</J> 


text:
 <J>And not only that, but between you and us there lies a great chasm, so that those who wish to pass from here to you cannot, nor can they cross from there to us.’</J> 


text:
 <J>For I have five brothers to warn them, so that they may not come to this place of torture also.’</J> 


text:
 <J>‘They have the writings of Moses and the prophets,’ replied Abraham; ‘let them listen to them.’</J> 


text:
 <J>‘But, Father Abraham,’ he urged, ‘if some one from the dead were to go to them, they would repent.’</J> 


text:
 <J>‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets,’ answered Abraham, ‘they will not be persuaded, even if some one were to rise from the dead.’”</J>


text:
Jesus said to his disciples: <J>“It is inevitable that there should be temptations but sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting!</J> 


text:
 <J>It would be good for them if they had been flung into the sea with a millstone round their neck, rather than that they should prove a trap even one of these little ones.</J> 


text:
 <J>Be on your guard! If your brother or sister does wrong, rebuke them; but if they repent, forgive them.</J> 


text:
 <J>Even if they wrong you seven times a day, but turns to you every time and says ‘I am sorry,’ you must forgive them.”</J>


text:
but the Master said: <J>“If your faith were only like a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.</J> 


text:
 <J>Which of you, if he had a servant ploughing, or tending the sheep, would say to him, when he came in from the fields, ‘Come at once and take your place at the table,’</J> 


text:
 <J>Instead of saying ‘Prepare my dinner, and then make yourself ready and serve me while I am eating and drinking, and after that you will eat and drink yourself’?</J> 


text:
 <J>And so with you — when you have done all that you have been told, still say ‘We are but useless servants; we have done no more than we ought to have done.’”</J>


text:
When Jesus saw them, he said: <J>“Go and show yourselves to the priest.”</J> And, as they were on their way, they were made clean.


text:
and threw himself on his face at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done; and this man was a Samaritan.


text:
Being once asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was to come, Jesus answered: <J>“The kingdom of God does not come in a way that can be seen,</J> 


text:
 <J>nor will people say ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’; for the kingdom of God is within you!</J> 


text:
 <J>The day will come,”</J> he said to his disciples, <J>“when you will long to see but one of the days of the Son of Man, and will not see it.</J> 


text:
 <J>For, just as lightning will lighten and flare from one side of the heavens to the other, so will it be with the Son of Man.</J> 


text:
 <J>But first he must undergo much suffering, and he must be rejected by the present generation.</J> 


text:
 <J>They were eating and drinking and marrying and being married, up to the very day on which Noah entered the ark, and then the flood came and destroyed them all.</J> 


text:
 <J>So, too, in the days of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building;</J> 


text:
 <J>but, on the very day on which Lot came out of Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from the skies and destroyed them all.</J> 


text:
 <J>On that day, if a person is on their house-top and their goods in the house, they must not go down to get them; nor again must one who is on the farm turn back.</J> 


text:
<J>Whoever is eager to get the most out of their life will lose it; but whoever will lose it will preserve it.</J> 


text:
 <J>On that night, I tell you, of two people on the same bed, one will be taken and the other left;</J> 


text:
 “Where will it be, Master?” asked the disciples. <J>“Where there is a body,”</J> said Jesus, <J>“‘there will the vultures flock.’”</J>


text:
 <J>“There was,”</J> he said, <J>“in a certain town a judge, who had no fear of God nor regard for people.</J> 


text:
 <J>In the same town there was a widow who went to him again and again, and said ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’</J> 


text:
 <J>For a time the judge refused, but afterwards he said to himself ‘Although I am without fear of God or regard for people,</J> 


text:
 <J>yet, as this widow is so troublesome, I will grant her justice, to stop her from plaguing me with her endless visits.’”</J> 


text:
 <J>And God — will not he see that his own people, who cry to him night and day, have justice done them — though he holds his hand?</J> 


text:
 <J>He will, I tell you, give them justice soon enough! Yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”</J>


text:
Another time, speaking to people who were satisfied that they were religious, and who regarded everyone else with scorn, Jesus told this parable —


text:
<J>“Two men went up into the Temple Courts to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax-gatherer.</J> 


text:
 <J>The Pharisee stood forward and began praying to himself in this way — ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men — thieves, rogues, adulterers — or even like this tax-gatherer.</J> 


text:
 <J>Meanwhile the tax-gatherer stood at a distance, not venturing even ‘to raise his eyes to heaven’; but he kept striking his breast and saying ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’</J> 


text:
 <J>This man, I tell you, went home pardoned, rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, while everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.”</J>


text:
Some of the people were bringing even their babies to Jesus, for him to touch them; but, when the disciples saw it, they began to find fault with those who had brought them.


text:
Jesus, however, called the little children to him. <J>“Let the little children come to me,”</J> he said, <J>“and do not hinder them; for it is to the childlike that the kingdom of God belongs.</J> 


text:
 <J>I tell you, unless a man receives the kingdom of God like a child, he will not enter it at all.”</J>


text:
And one of the Presidents asked Jesus this question — “Good teacher, what must I do if I am to gain eternal life?”


text:
 <J>You know the commandments — ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not say what is false about others, Honour your father and your mother.’”</J>


text:
Hearing this, Jesus said to him: <J>“There is one thing still lacking in you; sell everything that you have, and distribute to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven; then come and follow me.”</J> 


text:
Seeing this, Jesus said to his disciples: <J>“How hard it is for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!</J> 


text:
 <J>It is easier, indeed, for a camel to get through a needle’s eye than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God!”</J>


text:
 <J>“I tell you,”</J> he answered, <J>“that there is no one who has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God,</J> 


text:
 <J>who will not receive many times as much in the present, and in the age that is coming eternal life.”</J>


text:
Gathering the Twelve round him, Jesus said to them: <J>“Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem; and there everything that is written in the prophets will be done to the Son of Man.</J> 


text:
 <J>they will scourge him, and then put him to death; and on the third day he will rise again.”</J> 


text:
The apostles did not comprehend any of this; his meaning was unintelligible to them, and they did not understand what he was saying.


text:
Those who were in front kept telling him to be quiet, but he continued to call out the louder: “Son of David, take pity on me!”


text:
Then Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. And, when he had come close up to him, Jesus asked him:


text:
Instantly he recovered his sight, and began to follow Jesus, praising God. And all the people, on seeing it, gave glory to God.


text:
There was a man there, known by the name of Zacchaeus, who was a commissioner of taxes and a rich man.


text:
So he ran on ahead and climbed into a mulberry tree, to see Jesus, for he knew that he must pass that way.


text:
When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him: <J>“Zacchaeus, be quick and come down, for I must stop at your house today.”</J> 


text:
But Zacchaeus stood forward and said to the Master: “Listen, Master! I will give half my property to the poor, and, if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give him back four times as much.”


text:
 <J>“salvation has come to this house today,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“for even this man is a son of Abraham.</J> 


text:
 As the people were listening to this, Jesus went on to tell them a parable. He did so because he was near Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God was going to be proclaimed at once.


text:
He said: <J>“A nobleman once went to a distant country to receive his appointment to a kingdom and then return.</J> 


text:
 <J>He called ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds of silver each, and told them to trade with them during his absence.</J> 


text:
<J>But his subjects hated him and sent envoys after him to say ‘We will not have this man as our king.’</J> 


text:
 <J>On his return, after having been appointed king, he directed that the servants to whom he had given his money should be summoned, so that he might learn what amount of trade they had done.</J> 


text:
 <J>‘Well done, good servant!’ exclaimed the master. ‘As you have proved trustworthy in a very small matter, I appoint you governor over ten towns.’</J> 


text:
 <J>Another servant also came and said ‘Sir, here are your ten pounds; I have kept them put away in a handkerchief.</J> 


text:
 <J>For I was afraid of you, because you are a stern man. You take what you have not planted, and reap what you have not sown.’</J> 


text:
 <J>The master answered ‘Out of your own mouth I judge you, you worthless servant. You knew that I am a stern man, that I take what I have not planted, and reap what I have not sown?</J> 


text:
 <J>Then why did not you put my money into a bank? And I, on my return, could have claimed it with interest.</J> 


text:
 <J>Take away from him the ten pounds,’ he said to those standing by, ‘and give them to the one who has the hundred.’</J> 


text:
 <J>‘I tell you,’ he answered, ‘that, to him who has, more will be given, but, from him who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.</J> 


text:
 <J>But as for my enemies, these men who would not have me as their king, bring them here and put them to death in my presence.’”</J>


text:
<n>The Last Days</n> It was when Jesus had almost reached Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, that he sent on two of the disciples.


text:
 <J>“Go to the village facing us,”</J> he said, <J>“and, when you get there, you will find a foal tethered, which no one has yet ridden; untie it and lead it here.</J> 


text:
 <J>And, if anybody asks you ‘Why are you untying it?,’ you are to say this — ‘The Master wants it.’”</J> 


text:
When he had almost reached the place where the road led down the Mount of Olives, everyone of the many disciples began in their joy to praise God loudly for all the miracles that they had seen:


text:
 “Blessed is He who comes — Our king — in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, And glory on high.”


text:
 <J>“If only you had known, while yet there was time — even you — the things that make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your sight.</J> 


text:
 <J>For a time is coming when your enemies will surround you with earthworks, and encircle you, and hem you in on all sides;</J> 


text:
 <J>they will trample you down and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone on another, because you did not know ‘the time of your visitation.’”</J>


text:
saying as he did so: <J>“Scripture says — ‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”</J>


text:
Jesus continued to teach each day in the Temple Courts; but the chief priests and teachers of the law were eager to take his life, and so also were the leaders of the people.


text:
On one of these days, when Jesus was teaching the people in the Temple Courts and telling the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, joined by the councillors, confronted him,


text:
and addressing him, said: “Tell us what authority you have to do these things. Who is it who has given you this authority?”


text:
But, if we say ‘human,’ the people will all stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”


text:
 But Jesus began to tell the people this parable — <J>“A man once planted a vineyard, and then let it out to tenants, and went abroad for a long while.</J> 


text:
 <J>At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they could give him a share of the produce of the vineyard. The tenants, however, beat him and sent him away empty-handed.</J> 


text:
 <J>The owner afterwards sent another servant; but the tenants beat and insulted this man too, and sent him away empty-handed.</J> 


text:
 <J>‘What should I do?’ said the owner of the vineyard. ‘I will send my son, who is very dear to me. Perhaps they will respect him.’</J> 


text:
 <J>But, on seeing him, the tenants consulted with one another. ‘Here is the heir!’ they said. ‘Let us kill him, and then the inheritance will become ours.’</J> 


text:
<J>So they threw him outside the vineyard and killed him. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?</J> 


text:
 <J>He will come and put those tenants to death, and will let the vineyard to others.”</J> “heaven forbid!” they exclaimed when they heard it.


text:
But Jesus looked at them and said: <J>“What then is the meaning of this passage? — ‘The stone which the builders despised has now itself become the corner-stone.’</J>


text:
<J>Everyone who falls on that stone will be dashed to pieces, while anyone on whom it falls — it will scatter him as dust.”</J>


text:
 After this the teachers of the law and the chief priest were eager to lay hands on Jesus then and there, but they were afraid of the people; for they saw that it was at them that he had aimed this parable.


text:
Having watched their opportunity, they afterwards sent some spies, who pretended to be good men, to catch Jesus in the course of conversation, and so enable them to give him up to the Governor’s jurisdiction and authority.


text:
These spies asked Jesus a question. They said: “Teacher, we know that you are right in what you say and teach, and that you do not take any account of a person’s position, but teach the way of God honestly;


text:
 “The Emperor’s,” they said; and Jesus replied: <J>“Well then, pay to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and to God what belongs to God.”</J> 


text:
They could not lay hold of this answer before the people; and, in their wonder at his reply, they held their tongues.


text:
Presently there came up some Sadducees, who maintain that there is no resurrection. Their question was this —


text:
“Teacher, Moses laid down for us in his writings that —‘Should a man’s married brother die, and should he be childless, the man should take the widow as his wife, and raise up a family for his brother.’<CM>


text:
About the woman, then — at the resurrection, whose wife is she to be, all seven brothers having had her as their wife?”


text:
 <J>but, for those who are thought worthy to attain to that other world and the resurrection from the dead, there is no marrying or being married,</J> 


text:
 <J>nor indeed can they die again, for they are like angels and, having shared in the resurrection, they are God’s children.</J> 


text:
 <J>As to the fact that the dead rise, even Moses indicated that, in the passage about the Bush, when he calls the Lord — ‘The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’</J>


text:
 <J>For David, in the book of Psalms, says himself — ‘The Lord said to my lord: “Sit at my right hand,</J>


text:
 <J>“Be on your guard against the teachers of the law, who delight to walk about in long robes, and like to be greeted in the streets with respect, and to have the best seats in the Synagogues, and places of honour at dinner.</J> 


text:
 <J>These are the men who rob widows of their houses, and make a pretence of saying long prayers. Their sentence will be all the heavier.”</J>


text:
 <J>for everyone else here put in something from what he had to spare, while she, in her need, has put in all she had to live on.”</J>


text:
When some of them spoke about the Temple being decorated with beautiful stones and offerings, Jesus said:


text:
 <J>“As for these things that you are looking at, a time is coming when not one stone will be left on another here, which will not be thrown down.”</J> 


text:
So the disciples questioned Jesus: “But, teacher, when will this be? And what sign will there be when this is near?”


text:
 And Jesus said: <J>“See that you are not led astray; for many will take my name, and come saying ‘I am He,’ and ‘The time is close at hand.’ Do not follow them.</J> 


text:
 <J>And, when you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified, for these things must occur first; but the end will not be at once.”</J> 


text:
 <J>And there will be great earthquakes, and plagues and famines in various places, and there will be terrible appearances and signs in the heavens.</J> 


text:
 <J>Before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you, and they will betray you to Synagogues and put you in prison, when you will be brought before kings and governors for the sake of my name.</J> 


text:
 <J>for I will myself give you words, and a wisdom which all your opponents together will be unable to resist or defy.</J> 


text:
 <J>You will be betrayed even by your parents and brothers and sisters and sisters and relations and friends, and they will cause some of you to be put to death,</J> 


text:
 <J>As soon, however, as you see Jerusalem surrounded by armed camps, then you may know that the hour of her desecration is at hand.</J> 


text:
 <J>Then those of you who are in Judea must take refuge in the mountains, those who are in Jerusalem must leave at once, and those who are in the country places must not go into it.</J> 


text:
 <J>Alas for pregnant women, and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great suffering in the land, and anger against this people.</J> 


text:
 <J>They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be taken prisoners to every land, and ‘Jerusalem will be under the heel of the Gentiles,’ until their day is over — as it will be.</J> 


text:
 <J>There will be signs, too, in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth despair among the nations, in their dismay at the roar of the sea and the surge.</J> 


text:
<J>People’s hearts will fail them through dread of what is coming upon the world; for ‘the forces of the heavens will be convulsed.’</J> 


text:
 <J>And, when these things begin to occur, look upwards and lift your heads, for your deliverance will be at hand.”</J>


text:
 <J>As soon as they shoot, you know, as you look at them, without being told, that summer is near.</J> 


text:
 <J>And so may you, as soon as you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.</J> 


text:
 <J>Be on your guard or your minds will become dulled by debauches or drunkenness or the anxieties of life, and 'that day' will close on you suddenly like a trap.</J> 


text:
 <J>Be on the watch at all times, and pray that you may have strength to escape all that is destined to happen, and to stand in the presence of the Son of Man.”</J>


text:
During the days, Jesus continued to teach in the Temple Courts, but he went out and spent the nights on the hill called the ‘Mount of Olives.’


text:
And all the people would get up early in the morning and come to listen to him in the Temple Courts.


text:
The chief priest and the teachers of the law were looking for an opportunity of destroying Jesus, for they were afraid of the people.


text:
and he went and discussed with the chief priests and officers in charge at the Temple the best way of betraying Jesus to them.


text:
So Judas assented, and looked for an opportunity to betray Jesus to them, in the absence of a crowd.


text:
 When the day of the Festival of the unleavened bread came, on which the Passover lambs had to be killed,


text:
Jesus sent forward Peter and John, saying to them: <J>“Go and make preparations for our eating the Passover.”</J>


text:
 <J>“Listen,”</J> he answered, <J>“when you have got into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you; follow him into whatever house he enters;</J> 


text:
<J>and you will say to the owner of the house ‘The teacher says to you — Where is the room where I am to eat the Passover with my disciples?’</J> 


text:
 So Peter and John went on, and found everything just as Jesus had told them, and they prepared the Passover.


text:
 <J>“I have most earnestly wished,”</J> he said, <J>“to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.</J> 


text:
 <J>For I tell you that I will not eat it again, until it has had its fulfilment in the kingdom of God.”</J> 


text:
 <J>“Take this and share it among you. For I tell you that I will not, after today, drink of the juice of the grape, until the kingdom of God has come.”</J> 


text:
Then Jesus took some bread, and, after saying the thanksgiving, broke it and gave to them, with the words: <J>“This is my body.</J> 


text:
 <J>True, the Son of Man is passing, by the way ordained for him, yet alas for that man by whom he is being betrayed!”</J> 


text:
Jesus, however, said: <J>“The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their oppressors are styled ‘Benefactors.’</J> 


text:
 <J>But with you it must not be so. No, let the greatest among you become like the youngest, and him who leads like him who serves.</J> 


text:
<J>Which is the greater — the master at the table or his servant? Is not it the master at the table? Yet I myself am among you as one who serves.</J> 


text:
 <J>so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and be seated on twelve thrones as judges of the twelve tribes of Israel.</J> 


text:
 <J>but I prayed for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. And you, when you have returned to me, are to strengthen the others.”</J>


text:
 <J>“I tell you, Peter,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“the cock will not crow today until you have disowned all knowledge of me three times.”</J> 


text:
Then he said to them all: <J>“When I sent you out as my messengers, without either purse, or bag, or sandals, were you in need of anything?”</J> “No; nothing,” they answered.


text:
 <J>“Now, however,”</J> he said, <J>“he who has a purse must take it and his bag as well; and he who has not must sell his cloak and buy a sword.</J> 


text:
 <J>For, I tell you, that passage of scripture must be fulfilled in me, which says — ‘He was counted among the godless’; indeed all that refers to me is finding its fulfilment.”</J>


text:
And, when he reached the spot, he said to them: <J>“Pray that you may not fall into temptation.”</J> 


text:
 <J>“Father,”</J> he said, <J>“if it is your pleasure, spare me this cup; only, not my will but your be done.”</J> 


text:
And, as his anguish became intense, he prayed still more earnestly, while his sweat was like great drops of blood falling on the ground.


text:
<J>“Why are you asleep?”</J> he asked them. <J>“Rise and pray so that you don't fall into temptation.”</J> 


text:
While he was still speaking, a crowd appeared in sight, led by the man called Judas, who was one of the Twelve. Judas approached Jesus, to kiss him;


text:
But when those who were round Jesus saw what was going to happen, they exclaimed: “Master, should we use our swords?”


text:
Then, turning to the chief priests and officers in charge at the Temple and councillors, who had come for him, he said: <J>“Have you come out, as if after a robber, with swords and clubs?</J> 


text:
 <J>When I was with you day after day in the Temple Courts, you did not lay hands on me; but now your time has come, and the power of darkness.”</J>


text:
Those who had taken Jesus prisoner took him away into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance.


text:
But, when they had lit a fire in the centre of the courtyard and had all sat down there, Peter seated himself in the middle of them.


text:
Presently a maidservant saw him sitting near the blaze of the fire. Fixing her eyes on him, she said: “Why, this man was one of his companions!”


text:
A little while afterwards some one else — a man — saw him and said: “Why, you are one of them!” “No,” Peter said, “I am not.”


text:
About an hour later another man declared positively: “This man also was certainly with him. Why, he is a Galilean!”


text:
But Peter said: “I do not know what you are speaking about.” Instantly, while he was still speaking, a cock crowed.


text:
And the Master turned and looked at Peter; and Peter remembered the words that the Master had said to him — <J>“Before a cock has crowed today, you will disown me three times”;</J> 


text:
They blindfolded him and then questioned him. “Now play the prophet,” they said; “who was it that struck you?”


text:
At daybreak the National Council met — both the chief priests and the teachers of the law — and took Jesus before their High Council.


text:
“If you are the Christ,” they said, “tell us so.”<J> “If I tell you,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“you will not believe me;</J> 


text:
 “Are you, then, the Son of God?” they all asked. <J>“It is true,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“I am.”</J> 


text:
At this they exclaimed: “Why do we want any more evidence? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips!”


text:
And they began to accuse him: “This is a man whom we found misleading our people, preventing them from paying taxes to the Emperor, and giving out that he himself is ‘Christ, a king.’”


text:
But Pilate, turning to the chief priests and the people, said: “I do not see anything to find fault with in this man.”


text:
But they insisted: “He is stirring up the people by his teaching all through Judea; he began with Galilee and has now come here.”


text:
and, having satisfied himself that Jesus came under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who also was at Jerusalem at the time.


text:
When Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly pleased, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, having heard a great deal about him; and he was hoping to see some sign given by him.


text:
And Herod, with his soldiers, treated Jesus with scorn; he mocked him by throwing a gorgeous robe round him, and then sent him back to Pilate.


text:
And Herod and Pilate became friends that very day, for before that there had been ill-will between them.


text:
and said to them: “You brought this man before me charged with misleading the people; and yet, for my part, though I examined him before you, I did not find this man to blame for any of the things of which you accuse him;


text:
nor did Herod either; for he has sent him back to us. And, as a fact, he has not done anything deserving death;


text:
(Barabbas was a man who had been put in prison for a riot that had broken out in the city and for murder.)


text:
 “Why, what harm has this man done?” Pilate said to them for the third time. “I have found nothing in him for which he could be condemned to death. So I will have him scourged, and then release him.”


text:
He released the man who had been put in prison for riot and murder, as they demanded, and gave Jesus up to be dealt with as they pleased.


text:
And, as they were leading Jesus away, they laid hold of Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and they put the cross on his shoulders, for him to carry it behind Jesus.


text:
There was a great crowd of people following him, many being women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him.


text:
So Jesus turned and said to them: <J>“Women of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.</J> 


text:
 <J>A time, I tell you, is coming, when it will be said — ‘Happy are the women who are barren, and those who have never borne children or nursed them!’</J> 


text:
 <J>At that time people will begin to say to the mountains ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills ‘Cover us.’</J> 


text:
When they had reached the place called ‘The Skull,’ there they crucified Jesus and the criminals, one on the right, and one on the left.


text:
Then Jesus said: <J>“Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.”</J> His clothes they divided among them by casting lots.


text:
Meanwhile the people stood looking on. Even the leading men said with a sneer: “He saved others, let him save himself, if he is God’s Christ, his chosen one.”


text:
One of the criminals who were hanging beside Jesus railed at him. “Are not you the Christ? Save yourself and us,” he said.


text:
But the other rebuked him. “Have not you,” he said, “any fear of God, now that you are under the same sentence?


text:
 It was nearly midday, when a darkness came over the whole country, lasting until three in the afternoon,


text:
Then Jesus, with a loud cry, said: <J>“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”</J> And with these words he expired.


text:
The Roman captain, on seeing what had happened, praised God, exclaiming: “This must have been a good man!”


text:
All the people who had collected to see the sight watched what occurred, and then went home beating their breasts.


text:
All the friends of Jesus had been standing at a distance, with the women who accompanied him from Galilee, watching all this.


text:
Now there was a man of the name of Joseph, who was a member of the Council, and who bore a good and upright character.


text:
(This man had not assented to the decision and action of the Council.) He belonged to Ramah, a town in Judea, and lived in expectation of the kingdom of God.


text:
and, when he had taken it down, he wrapped it in a linen sheet, and laid him in a tomb cut out of stone, in which no one had yet been buried.


text:
The women who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how the body of Jesus was laid,


text:
and then went home, and prepared spices and perfumes.<n>The Risen Life</n> During the Sabbath they rested, as directed by the commandment.


text:
But very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb, taking with them the spices that they had prepared.


text:
While they were at a loss to account for this, all at once two men stood beside them, in dazzling clothing.


text:
But, when in their fear the women bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them: “Why are you looking among the dead for him who is living?


text:
How he said that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of wicked men, and be crucified, and rise again on the third day.”


text:
There were Mary of Magdala, and Joanna, and Mary, the mother of James. The other women, too, spoke about this to the apostles.


text:
It happened that very day that two of the disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem,


text:
While they were talking about these things and discussing them, Jesus himself came up and went on their way with them;


text:
 <J>“What is this that you are saying to each other as you walk along?”</J> Jesus asked. They stopped, with sad looks on their faces,


text:
and then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, said to Jesus: “Are you staying by yourself at Jerusalem, that you have not heard of the things that have happened there within the last few days?”


text:
 <J>“What things do you mean?”</J> asked Jesus. “Why, about Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered, “who, in the eyes of God and all the people, was a prophet, whose power was felt in both his words and actions;


text:
and how the chief priests and our leading men gave him up to be sentenced to death, and afterwards crucified him.


text:
But we were hoping that he was the Destined Deliverer of Israel; yes, and besides all this, it is now three days since these things occurred.


text:
And what is more, some of the women among us have greatly astonished us. They went to the tomb at daybreak


text:
And, not finding the body of Jesus there, came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who told them that he was alive.


text:
So some of our number went to the tomb and found everything just as the women had said; but they did not see Jesus.”


text:
Then, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them all through the scriptures the passages that referred to himself.


text:
but they pressed him not to do so. “Stay with us,” they said, “for it is getting towards evening, and the sun in already low.” So Jesus went in to stay with them.


text:
After he had taken his place at the table with them, he took the bread and said the blessing, and broke it, and gave it to them.


text:
“How our hearts glowed,” the disciples said to each other, “while he was talking to us on the road, and when he explained the scriptures to us!”


text:
 Then they immediately got up and returned to Jerusalem, where they found the Eleven and their companions all together,


text:
So they also related what had happened during their walk, and how they had recognised Jesus at the breaking of the bread.


text:
 <J>Look at my hands and my feet, and you will know that it is I. Feel me, and look at me, for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see that I have.”</J> 


text:
While they were still unable to believe it all, overcome with joy, and were wondering if it were true, Jesus said to them: <J>“Have you anything here to eat?”</J> 


text:
 <J>“This is what I told you,”</J> he said, <J>“when I was still with you — that everything that had been written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms, must be fulfilled.”</J>


text:
 <J>“Scripture says that the Christ should suffer, and that he should rise again from the dead on the third day,</J> 


text:
<J>and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed on his authority to all the nations — beginning at Jerusalem.</J> 


text:
<J>And now I am myself about to send you that which my Father has promised. But you must remain in the city until you have been invested with power from above.”</J>


text:
<n><i>The Good News According to John</i><br/>Introduction</n> In the beginning the Word was; and the Word was with God; and the Word was God.


text:
But to all who did receive him he gave power to become children of God — to those who believe in his name.


text:
 For not to natural conception, nor to human instincts, nor to human will did they owe the new life, but to God.


text:
 And the Word became human, and lived among us, (We saw his glory — the glory of the Only Son sent from the Father), full of love and truth.


text:
 (John bears witness to him; he cried aloud — for it was he who spoke — “‘He who is coming’ after me is now before me, for he was ever first”);


text:
<n>The Preparation</n> When the religious authorities in Jerusalem sent some Priests and Levites to ask John — “Who are you?”,


text:
 “What then?” they asked. “Are you Elijah?” “No,” he said, “I am not.” “Are you ‘the prophet’?” He answered, “No.”


text:
“Who then are you?” they continued; “tell us so that we have an answer to give to those who have sent us. What do you say about yourself?”


text:
 “I,” he answered, “am — ‘The voice of one crying aloud in the wilderness — “straighten the way of the Lord”’,as the prophet Isaiah said.”


text:
and their next question was: “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor yet ‘the prophet’?”


text:
 The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him, and exclaimed: “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!


text:
I was taking about him when I said ‘After me there is coming a man who ranks ahead of me, because before I was born he already was.’


text:
I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water, he said to me ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him — he it is who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’


text:
But Jesus turned round, and saw them following. <J>“What are you looking for?”</J> he asked. “Rabbi,” they answered (or, as we should say, ‘teacher’), “where are you staying?”


text:
 <J>“Come, and you will see,”</J> he replied. So they went, and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was then about four in the afternoon.


text:
He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him: “We have found the Messiah!” (a word which means ‘Christ,’ or ‘Consecrated’.)


text:
Then he brought him to Jesus. Fixing his eyes on him, Jesus said: <J>“You are Simon, the son of John; you will be called Cephas”</J> (which means ‘Peter,’ or ‘Rock’).


text:
The following day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip, and said to him: <J>“Follow me.”</J> 


text:
He found Nathanael and said to him: “We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the law, and of whom the prophets also wrote — Jesus of Nazareth, Joseph’s son!”


text:
When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said: <J>“Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!”</J>


text:
 “How do you know me?” asked Nathanael. <J>“Even before Philip called you,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”</J>


text:
 <J>“Do you believe in me,”</J> asked Jesus, <J>“because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than those!</J> 


text:
 <J>In truth I tell you,”</J> he added, <J>“you will all see heaven open, and ‘the angels of God ascending and descending’ on the Son of Man.”</J> 


text:
<n>The Work in Judaea, Galilee and Samaria</n> Two days after this there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and Jesus’ mother was there.


text:
There were standing there six stone water-jars, in accordance with the Jewish rule of ‘purification,’ each holding twenty or thirty gallons.


text:
And, when they had filled them to the brim, he added: <J>“Now take some out, and carry it to the Master of the feast.”</J> The servants did so.


text:
And, when the Master of the feast had tasted the water which had now become wine, not knowing where it had come from — although the servants who had taken out the water knew —


text:
He called the groom and said to him: “Everyone puts good wine on the table first, and inferior wine afterwards, when his guests have drunk freely; but you have kept back the good wine till now!”


text:
This, the first sign of his mission, Jesus gave at Cana in Galilee, and by it revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.


text:
After this, Jesus went down to Capernaum — he, his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; but they stayed there only a few days.


text:
In the Temple Courts he found people who were selling bullocks, sheep, and pigeons, and the money changers at their counters.


text:
So he made a whip of cords, and drove them all out of the Temple Courts, and the sheep and bullocks as well; he scattered the money of the money changers, and overturned their tables,


text:
and said to the pigeon-dealers: <J>“Take these things away. Do not turn my Father’s house into a market house.”</J> 


text:
 Then some of the religious authorities asked Jesus: “What sign are you going to show us, since you act in this way?”


text:
 “This Temple,” the authorities replied, “has been forty-six years in building, and are you going to ‘raise it in three days’?”


text:
Afterwards, when he had risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the passage of scripture, and the words which Jesus had spoken.


text:
While Jesus was in Jerusalem, during the Passover Festival, many came to trust in him, when they saw the signs of his mission that he was giving.


text:
This man came to Jesus by night, and said to him: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one could give such signs as you are giving, unless God were with him.”


text:
 <J>“In truth I tell you,”</J> exclaimed Jesus, <J>“unless a person is reborn, they cannot see the kingdom of God.”</J>


text:
 <J>“In truth I tell you,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“unless a person owes their birth to water and Spirit, they cannot enter the kingdom of God.</J> 


text:
 <J>All that owes its birth to human nature is human, and all that owes its birth to the Spirit is spiritual.</J> 


text:
 <J>The wind blows wherever it wants, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from, or where it goes; it is the same with everyone who owes his birth to the Spirit.”</J>


text:
 <J>In truth I tell you that we speak of what we know, and state what we have seen; and yet you do not accept our statements.</J> 


text:
 <J>If, when I tell you earthly things, you do not believe me, how will you believe me when I tell you of heavenly things?</J> 


text:
 <J>No one has ascended to heaven, except him who descended from heaven — the Son of Man himself.</J> 


text:
 <J>And, as Moses lifted up the snake<n>+ A bronze snake on a pole, see Num 21:9</n> . in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up;</J> 


text:
 <J>For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life.</J> 


text:
 <J>For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through him.</J> 


text:
 <J>The person who believes in him escapes condemnation, while the person who does not believe in him is already condemned, because they have not believed in the only Son of God.</J> 


text:
 <J>The ground of their condemnation is this, that though the light has come into the world, people preferred the darkness to the light, because their actions were wicked.</J> 


text:
 <J>For the person who lives an evil life hates the light, and will not come to it, fearing that their actions will be exposed;</J> 


text:
 <J>but the person who lives by the truth comes into the light, so it can be clearly seen that God is in all they do.</J>


text:
After this, Jesus went with his disciples into the country parts of Judea; and there he stayed with them, and baptized.


text:
John, also, was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there were many streams there; and people were constantly coming and being baptized.


text:
Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a fellow Jew on the subject of ‘purification;’


text:
and the disciples came to John and said: “Rabbi, the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, and to whom you have yourself borne testimony — he, also, is baptizing, and everybody is going to him.”


text:
You are yourselves witnesses that I said ‘I am not the Christ,’ but ‘I have been sent before him as a messenger.’


text:
It is the groom who has the bride; but the groom’s friend, who stands by and listens to him, is filled with joy when he hears the groom’s voice. This joy I have felt to the full.


text:
 He who comes from above is above all others; but a child of earth is earthly, and his teaching is earthly, too. He who comes from heaven is above all others.


text:
For he whom God sent as his messenger gives us God’s own teaching, for God does not limit the gift of the Spirit.


text:
The person who believes in the Son has eternal life, while a person who rejects the Son will not even see that life, but remains under ‘God’s displeasure.’


text:
Now, when the Master heard that the Pharisees had been told that he was making and baptizing more disciples than John


text:
and, on his way, he came to a Samaritan town called Shechem, near the plot of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.


text:
Jacob’s Spring was there, and Jesus, being tired after his journey, sat down beside the spring, just as he was. It was then about midday.


text:
“How is it,” replied the Samaritan woman, “that you who are a Jew ask for water from a Samaritan woman like me?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans).


text:
 <J>“If you knew of the gift of God,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“and who it is that is saying to you ‘Give me some water,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you ‘living water’.”</J>


text:
Surely you are not greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us the well, and used to drink from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle!”


text:
<J>but whoever once drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst any more; but the water that I will give him will become a spring welling up within him — a source of eternal life.”</J>


text:
 “Give me this water, Sir,” said the woman, “so that I may not be thirsty, nor have to come all the way here to draw water.”


text:
 “I have no husband,” answered the woman. <J>“You are right in saying ‘I have no husband,’”</J> replied Jesus,


text:
 <J>“For you have had five husbands, and the man with whom you are now living is not your husband; in saying that, you have spoken the truth.”</J>


text:
“It was on this mountain that our ancestors worshiped; and yet you Jews say that the proper place for worship is in Jerusalem.”


text:
 <J>“Believe me,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“a time is coming when it will be neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem that you will worship the Father.</J> 


text:
 <J>You Samaritans do not know what you worship; we know what we worship, for salvation comes from the Jews.</J> 


text:
 <J>But a time is coming, indeed it is already here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father spiritually and truly; for such are the worshipers that the Father desires.</J> 


text:
 “I know,” answered the woman, “that the Messiah, who is called the Christ, is coming; when once he has come, he will tell us everything.”


text:
At this moment his disciples came up, and were surprised to find him talking with a woman; but none of them asked ‘What do you want?’ or ‘Why are you talking with her?’


text:
 <J>“My food,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“is to do the will of him who sent me, and to complete his work.</J> 


text:
 <J>Do not you say that it still wants four months to harvest? Why, look up, and see how white the fields are for harvest!</J> 


text:
 <J>Already the reaper is receiving wages and gathering in sheaves for eternal life, so that sower and reaper rejoice together.</J> 


text:
 <J>I have sent you to reap that on which you have spent no labour; others have laboured, and you have reaped the results of their labour.”</J>


text:
Many from that town came to believe in Jesus — Samaritans though they were — because the woman had said: ‘He has told me everything that I have done.’


text:
And, when these Samaritans had come to Jesus, they begged him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days.


text:
and they said to the woman: “It is no longer because of what you say that we believe in him, for we have heard him ourselves and know that he really is the Saviour of the world.”


text:
When he entered Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, for they had seen all that he did at Jerusalem during the Festival, at which they also had been present.


text:
So Jesus came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. Now there was one of the king’s officers whose son was lying ill at Capernaum.


text:
When this man heard that Jesus had returned from Judea to Galilee, he went to him, and begged him to come down and cure his son; for he was at the point of death.


text:
 “Sir,” said the officer, “come down before my child dies.” And Jesus answered: “Go, your son is living.”


text:
So he asked them at what time the boy began to get better. “It was yesterday, about one o’clock,” they said, “that the fever left him.”


text:
By this the father knew that it was at the very time when Jesus had said to him <J>‘Your son is living’</J> ; and he himself, with all his household, believed in Jesus.


text:
This was the second occasion on which Jesus gave a sign of his mission on coming from Judea to Galilee.


text:
There is in Jerusalem, near the sheep-gate, a bath with five colonnades round it. It is called in Hebrew ‘Bethesda.’


text:
Jesus saw the man lying there, and, finding that he had been in this state a long time, said to him: <J>“Do you wish to be cured?”</J>


text:
 “I have no one, Sir,” the sick man answered, “to put me into the bath when there is a troubling of the water, and, while I am getting to it, some one else steps down before me.”


text:
Now it was the Sabbath. So the religious authorities said to the man who had been cured: “This is the Sabbath; you must not carry your mat.”


text:
But the man who had been restored did not know who it was; for Jesus had moved away, because there was a crowd there.


text:
Afterwards Jesus found the man in the Temple Courts, and said to him: <J>“You are cured now; do not sin again, or something worse may happen to you.”</J>


text:
This made the authorities all the more eager to kill him, because not only was he doing away with the Sabbath, but he actually called God his own Father — putting himself on an equality with God.


text:
So Jesus made this further reply: <J>“In truth I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself; he does only what he sees the Father doing; whatever the Father does, the Son does also.</J> 


text:
 <J>For the Father loves his Son, and shows him everything that he is doing; and he will show him still greater things — so that you will be filled with wonder.</J> 


text:
 <J>For, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he pleases.</J> 


text:
 <J>The Father himself does not judge any one, but has ‘entrusted the work of judging entirely to his Son,’</J> 


text:
 <J>So that everyone may honour the Son, just as they honour the Father. The person who does not honour the Son fails to honour the Father who sent him.</J> 


text:
 <J>In truth I tell you that the person who listens to my message and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and does not come under condemnation, but has already passed out of death into life.</J> 


text:
 <J>In truth I tell you that a time is coming, indeed it is already here, when the dead will listen to the voice of the Son of God, and when those who listen will live.</J> 


text:
 <J>For, just as the Father has inherent life within him, so also he has granted to the Son to have inherent life within him;</J> 


text:
 <J>Do not wonder at this; for the time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice,</J> 


text:
 <J>and will come out — those who have done good rising to life, and those who have lived evil lives rising for condemnation.</J> 


text:
 <J>I can do nothing of myself; I judge as I am taught; and the judgment that I give is just, because my aim is not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.</J>


text:
 <J>it is another who bears testimony to me, and I know that the testimony which he bears to me is trustworthy.</J> 


text:
 <J>He was the ‘Lamp that was burning’ and shining, and you were ready to rejoice, for a time, in his light.</J> 


text:
<J>But the testimony which I have is of greater weight than John’s; for the work that the Father has given me to carry out — the work that I am doing — is in itself proof that the Father has sent me as his messenger.</J> 


text:
 <J>The Father who has sent me has himself borne testimony to me. You have neither listened to his voice, not seen his form;</J> 


text:
 <J>and you have not taken his message home to your hearts, because you do not believe him whom he sent as his messenger.</J> 


text:
 <J>You search the scriptures, because you think that you find in them immortal life;</J> and, though it is those scriptures that bear testimony to me,


text:
 <J>I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.</J> 


text:
 <J>How can you believe in me, when you receive honour from one another and do not desire the honour which comes from the only God?</J> 


text:
 <J>Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have been resting your hopes.</J> 


text:
 <J>For, had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for it was of me that Moses wrote;</J> 


text:
A great crowd of people, however, followed him, because they saw the signs of his mission in his work among those who were sick.


text:
Looking up, and noticing that a great crowd was coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip: <J>“Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”</J> 


text:
“Even if we spent a years' wages on bread,” answered Philip, “it would not be enough for each of them to have a little.”


text:
 <J>“Make the people sit down,”</J> said Jesus. It was a grassy spot; so the people, who numbered about five thousand, sat down,


text:
and then Jesus took the loaves, and, after saying the thanksgiving, distributed them to those who were sitting down; and the same with the fish, giving the people as much as they wanted.


text:
When they were satisfied, Jesus said to his disciples: <J>“Collect the broken pieces that are left, so that nothing may be wasted.”</J> 


text:
The disciples did so, and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves, which were left after all had eaten.


text:
 When the people saw the signs which Jesus gave, they said: “This is certainly ‘the prophet who was to come’ into the world.”


text:
But Jesus, having discovered that they were intending to come and carry him off to make him king, went again up the hill, quite alone.


text:
and, getting into a boat, began to cross to Capernaum. By this time darkness had set in, and Jesus had not yet come back to them;


text:
When they had rowed three or four miles, they caught sight of him walking on the water and approaching the boat, and they were frightened.


text:
And after this they were glad to take him into the boat; and the boat at once arrived off the shore, for which they had been making.


text:
The people who remained on the further side of the Sea had seen that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not gone into it with his disciples, but that they had left without him.


text:
Some boats, however, had come from Tiberias, from near the spot where they had eaten the bread after the Master had said the thanksgiving.


text:
So, on the next day, when the people saw that Jesus was not there, or his disciples either, they themselves got into the boats, and went to Capernaum to look for him.


text:
 <J>“In truth I tell you,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“it is not because of the signs which you saw that you are looking for me, but because you had the bread to eat and were satisfied.</J> 


text:
 <J>Work, not for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you; for on him the Father — God himself — has set the seal of his approval.”</J>


text:
 <J>“The work that God wants you to do,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“is to believe in him whom God sent as his messenger.”</J>


text:
 “What sign, then,” they asked, “are you giving, which we may see, and so believe you? What is the work that you are doing?


text:
Our ancestors had the manna to eat in the desert; as scripture says — ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”


text:
 <J>“In truth I tell you,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father does give you the true bread from heaven;</J> 


text:
 <J>for the bread that God gives is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.”</J>


text:
 <J>“I am the life-giving bread,”</J> Jesus said to them; <J>“whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never thirst again.</J> 


text:
<J>All those whom the Father gives me will come to me; and no one who comes to me will I ever turn away.</J> 


text:
 <J>and his will is this — that I should not lose one of all those whom he has given me, but should raise them up at the Last day.</J> 


text:
 <J>For it is the will of my Father that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have immortal life; and I myself will raise him up at the Last day.”</J>


text:
The people began murmuring against Jesus for saying — <J>‘I am the bread which came down from heaven.’</J> 


text:
“Is not this Jesus, Joseph’s son,” they asked, “whose father and mother we know? How is it that he now says that he has come down from heaven?”


text:
 <J>“No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him to me; and I will raise him up at the Last day.</J> 


text:
<J>It is said in the prophets — ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who is taught by the Father and learns from him comes to me.</J> 


text:
 <J>I am the living bread that has come down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, they will live for ever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”</J>


text:
They began disputing with one another: “How is it possible for this man to give us his flesh to eat?”


text:
 <J>“In truth I tell you,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you have not life within you.</J> 


text:
 <J>Everyone who takes my flesh for their food, and drinks my blood, has eternal life; and I will raise them up at the Last day.</J> 


text:
 <J>Everyone who takes my flesh for their food, and drinks my blood, remains united to me, and I to them.</J> 


text:
 <J>As the living Father sent me as his messenger, and as I live because the Father lives, so the person who takes me for their food will live because I live.</J> 


text:
 <J>That is the bread which has come down from heaven — not such as your ancestors ate, and yet died; the person who takes this bread for their food will live for ever.”</J>


text:
 <J>“Is this a hindrance to you? What, then, if you should see the Son of Man ascending where he was before?</J> 


text:
<J>It is the Spirit that gives life; human strength achieves nothing. In the teaching that I have been giving you there is Spirit and there is life.</J> 


text:
 <J>Yet there are some of you who do not believe in me.”</J> For Jesus knew from the first who they were that did not believe in him, and who it was that would betray him;


text:
and he added: <J>“This is why I told you that no one can come to me, unless enabled by the Father.”</J> 


text:
 <J>“Did not I myself choose you to be the Twelve?”</J> replied Jesus; <J>“and yet, even of you, one is playing the ‘devil’s’ part.”</J> 


text:
He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who was about to betray him, though he was one of the Twelve.


text:
After this, Jesus went about in Galilee, for he would not do so in Judea, because the religious authorities (in Jerusalem) were eager to put him to death.


text:
his brothers said to him: “Leave this part of the country, and go into Judea, so that your disciples, as well as we, may see the work that you are doing.


text:
For no one does a thing privately, if they are seeking to be widely known. Since you do these things, you should show yourself publicly to the world.”


text:
 <J>Go yourselves up to the Festival; I am not going to this Festival yet, because my time has not yet come.”</J> 


text:
 But, when his brothers had gone up to the Festival, Jesus also went up — not publicly, but privately.


text:
and there were many whispers about him among the people, some saying ‘He is a good man;’ others: ‘No! He is leading the people astray.’


text:
The authorities were astonished. “How has this man got his learning,” they asked, “when he has never studied?”


text:
 <J>If anyone has the will to do God’s will, they will find out whether my teaching is from God, or whether I speak on my own authority.</J> 


text:
 <J>The person who speaks on their own authority seeks honour for themselves; but the person who seeks the honour of him that sent him is sincere, and there is nothing false in him.</J> 


text:
<J>Was not it Moses who gave you the law? Yet not one of you obeys it! Why are you seeking to put me to death?”</J>


text:
“Is he going to kill himself,” they exclaimed, “that he says — <J>‘You cannot go where I am going’?”</J> 


text:
 <J>When a man receives circumcision on a Sabbath to prevent the law of Moses from being broken, how can you be angry with me for making a man sound and well on a Sabbath?</J> 


text:
At this some of the people of Jerusalem exclaimed: “Is not this the man who they are seeking to put to death?


text:
Yet here he is, speaking out boldly, and they say nothing to him! Is it possible that our leading men have really discovered that he is the Christ?


text:
Yet we know where this man is from; but, when the Christ comes, no one will be able to tell where he is from.”


text:
Therefore, Jesus, as he was teaching in the Temple Courts, raised his voice and said: <J>“Yes; you know me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on my own authority, but he who sent me may be trusted; and him you do not know.</J> 


text:
Many of the people, however, believed in him. “When the Christ comes,” they said, “will he give more signs of his mission than this man has given?”


text:
The Pharisees heard the people whispering about him in this way, and so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest him;


text:
on which Jesus said: <J>“I will be with you but a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me.</J> 


text:
 <J>You will look for me, and you will not find me; and you will not be able to come where I will be.”</J>


text:
 “Where is this man going,” the people asked one another, “that we would not find him? Will he go to our countrymen abroad, and teach foreigners?


text:
What does he mean by saying <J>‘You will look for me, and you will not find me; and you will not be able to come where I will be’?”</J>


text:
On the last and greatest day of the Festival, Jesus, who was standing by, exclaimed: <J>“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me, and drink.</J> 


text:
 <J>I tell you what I have myself seen in the presence of my Father; and you, in the same way, do what you have learned from your father.”</J> 


text:
(By this he meant the Spirit, which those who had believed in him were to receive; for the Spirit had not yet come, because Jesus had not yet been exalted.)


text:
 <J>But, as it is, you are seeking to put me to death — a man who has told you the truth as he heard it from God. Abraham did not act in that way.</J> 


text:
 <J>You are doing what your own father does.”</J> “We are not bastards,” they said, “we have one Father — God himself.”


text:
Is not it said in scripture that it is of the race of David, and from Bethlehem, the village to which David belonged, that the Christ is to come?”


text:
When the officers returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, they were asked: “Why have you not brought him?”


text:
“Does our law pass judgment on a person without first giving them a hearing, and finding out what they have been doing?”


text:
 “Are you also from Galilee?” they retorted. “Search, and you will find that no prophet is to arise in Galilee!”


text:
except Jesus, who went to the Mount of Olives<n>+ This passage is inserted in some manuscripts from an ancient source, and found either after John 7:53 or after Luke 21.38 or elsewhere.</n> .


text:
But he went again into the Temple Courts early in the morning, and all the people came to him; and he sat down and taught them.


text:
Presently, however, the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placed her in the middle of the Court,


text:
and said to Jesus: “Teacher, this woman was found in the act of adultery. Now Moses,in the Law, commanded us to stone such women to death; what do you say?”


text:
 They said this to test him, in order to have a charge to bring against him. But Jesus stooped down, and wrote on the ground with his finger.


text:
However, as they continued asking him, he raised himself, and said: “Let the person among you who has never done wrong throw the first stone at her.”


text:
When they heard that, they went out one by one, beginning with the eldest; and Jesus was left alone with the woman in the middle of the Court.


text:
Jesus again addressed the people. <J>“I am the light of the world,”</J> he said. <J>“The person who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”</J>


text:
 “You are bearing testimony to yourself!” exclaimed the Pharisees, “your testimony is not trustworthy.”


text:
 <J>“Even if I bear testimony to myself,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“my testimony is trustworthy; for I know where I came from, and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from, nor where I am going.</J> 


text:
 <J>Yet, even if I were to judge, my judgment would be trustworthy; because I am not alone, but the Father who sent me is with me.</J> 


text:
 <J>I, who bear testimony to myself, am one, and the Father who sent me also bears testimony to me.”</J> 


text:
 <J>“Where is your father, then?”</J> they asked. <J>“You know neither me nor my Father,”</J> replied Jesus. <J>“If you had known me, you would have also known my Father.”</J> 


text:
These statements Jesus made in the Treasury, while teaching in the Temple Courts. Yet no one arrested him, for his time had not then come.


text:
Jesus again spoke to the people. <J>“I am going away,”</J> he said, <J>“and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin; you cannot come where I am going.”</J>


text:
 “Is he going to kill himself,” the people exclaimed, “that he says — <J>‘You cannot go where I am going’?”</J> 


text:
 <J>“You,”</J> added Jesus, <J>“are from below, I am from above; you are of this present world, I am not;</J> 


text:
 <J>and so I told you that you would die in your sins, for, unless you believe that I am what I am, you will die in your sins.”</J>


text:
 <J>“I have still much that concerns you to speak of and to pass judgment on; yet he who sent me may be trusted, and I speak to the world only of the things which I have heard from him.”</J> 


text:
So Jesus added: <J>“When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will understand that I am what I am, and that I do nothing of myself, but that I say just what the Father has taught me.</J> 


text:
 <J>Moreover, he who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone; for I always do what pleases him.”</J> 


text:
So Jesus went on to say to those who had believed him: <J>“If you remain constant to my message, you are truly my disciples;</J> 


text:
 “We are descendants of Abraham,” was their answer, “and have never yet been in slavery to anyone. What do you mean by saying <J>‘you will be set free’?”</J> 


text:
 <J>I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you are seeking to put me to death, because my message finds no place in your hearts.</J> 


text:
 <J>I tell you what I have myself seen in the presence of my Father; and you, in the same way, do what you have learned from your father.”</J>


text:
 “Our father is Abraham,” was their answer. <J>“If you are Abraham’s children,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“do what Abraham did.</J> 


text:
 <J>“If God were your Father,”</J> Jesus replied, <J>“you would have loved me, for I came out from God, and now am here; and I have not come of myself, but he sent me as his messenger.</J> 


text:
<J>How is it that you do not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to listen to my message.</J> 


text:
 <J>As for you, you are children of your Father the devil, and you are determined to do what your father loves to do. He was a murderer from the first, and did not stand by the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he does what is natural to him; because he is a liar, and the father of lying.</J> 


text:
 <J>Which of you can convict me of sin? Why then do not you believe me, if I am speaking truth?</J> 


text:
<J>The person who comes from God listens to God’s teaching; the reason why you do not listen is because you do not come from God.”</J>


text:
 “Are not we right, after all,” replied the people, “in saying that you are a Samaritan, and are possessed by a demon?”


text:
 <J>“I am not possessed by a demon,”</J> Jesus answered, <J>“but I am honouring my Father; and yet you dishonour me.</J> 


text:
 <J>Not that I am seeking honour for myself; there is one who is seeking my honour, and he decides.</J> 


text:
 “Now we are sure that you are possessed by a demon,” the people replied. “Abraham died, and so did the prophets; and yet you say <J>‘If anyone lays my message to heart, they will never know death.’</J> 


text:
Are you greater than our ancestor Abraham, who died? And the prophets died too. Whom do you make yourself out to be?”


text:
 <J>“If I do honour to myself,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“such honour counts for nothing. It is my Father who does me honour — and you say that he is your God;</J> 


text:
 <J>and yet you have not learned to know him; but I know him; and, if I were to say that I do not know him, I should be a liar like you; but I do know him, and I lay his message to heart.</J> 


text:
“Rabbi,” asked his disciples, “who was it that sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”


text:
 <J>“Neither the man nor the parents,”</J> replied Jesus; <J>“but he was born blind so that the work of God should be made plain in him.</J> 


text:
 <J>We must do the work of him who sent me, while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.</J> 


text:
 <J>“Go,”</J> he said, <J>“and wash your eyes in the Bath of Siloam”</J> (a word which means ‘messenger’). So the man went and washed his eyes, and returned able to see.


text:
His neighbours, and those who had formerly known him by sight as a beggar, exclaimed: “Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?”


text:
 “Yes,” some said, “it is”; while others said: “No, but he is like him.” The man himself said: “I am he.”


text:
“The man whom they call Jesus,” he answered, “made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me <J>‘Go to Siloam and wash your eyes.’</J> So I went and washed my eyes, and gained my sight.”


text:
So the Pharisees also questioned the man as to how he had gained his sight. “He put clay on my eyes,” he answered, “and I washed them, and I can see.”


text:
 “The man cannot be from God,” said some of the Pharisees, “for he does not keep the Sabbath.” “How is it possible,” retorted others, “for a bad man to give signs like this?”


text:
So there was a difference of opinion among them, and they again questioned the man; “What do you yourself say about him, for it is to you that he has given sight?”


text:
The religious authorities, however, refused to believe that he had been blind and had gained his sight, until they had called his parents and questioned them.


text:
but how it is that he can see now we do not know; nor do we know who it was that gave him his sight. Ask him — he is old enough — he will tell you about himself.”


text:
His parents spoke in this way because they were afraid of the authorities; for the authorities had already agreed that, if anyone should acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, he should be expelled from their synagogues.


text:
So the authorities again called the man who had been blind, and said to him: “Give God the praise; we know that this is a bad man.”


text:
 “I know nothing about his being a bad man,” he replied; “one thing I do know, that although I was blind, now I can see.”


text:
 “I told you just now,” he answered, “and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Surely you also do not want to become his disciples?”


text:
 “Well,” the man replied, “this is very strange; you do not know where he comes from, and yet he has given me my sight!


text:
We know that God never listens to bad people, but, when a person is god-fearing and does God’s will, God listens to them.


text:
Since the world began, such a thing was never heard of as anyone’s giving sight to a person born blind.


text:
 “You,” they retorted, “were born totally depraved; and are you trying to teach us?” So they expelled him.


text:
Jesus heard of their having put him out; and, when he had found the man, he asked: <J>“Do you believe in the Son of Man?”</J>


text:
and Jesus added: <J>“It was to put people to the test that I came into this world, in order that those that cannot see should see, and that those that can see should become blind.”</J> 


text:
 <J>“If you had been blind,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“you would have had no sin to answer for; but, as it is, you say ‘We can see,’ and so your sin remains.</J> 


text:
 <J>In truth I tell you, whoever does not go into the sheepfold through the door, but climbs up at some other place, that person is a thief and a robber;</J> 


text:
 <J>For him the watchman opens the door; and the sheep listen to his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.</J> 


text:
 <J>When he has brought them all out, he walks in front of them, and his sheep follow him, because they know his voice.</J> 


text:
 <J>They will not follow a stranger, but will run away from him; because they do not know a stranger’s voice.”</J> 


text:
 <J>I am the door; he who goes in through me will be safe, and he will go in and out and find pasture.</J> 


text:
 <J>The thief comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it in greater fullness.</J> 


text:
 <J>The hired man who is not a shepherd, and who does not own the sheep, when he sees a wolf coming, leaves them and runs away; then the wolf seizes them, and scatters the flock.</J> 


text:
 <J>I have other sheep besides, which do not belong to this fold; I must lead them also, and they will listen to my voice; and they will become one flock under ‘one shepherd.’</J> 


text:
 <J>No one took it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to receive it again. This is the command which I received from my Father.”</J> 


text:
Others said: “This is not the teaching of one who is possessed by a demon. Can a demon give sight to the blind?”


text:
when the people gathered round him, and said: “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us so frankly.”


text:
 <J>“I have told you so,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“and you do not believe me. The work that I am doing in my Father’s name bears testimony to me.</J> 


text:
 <J>and I give them eternal life, and they will not be lost; nor will anyone snatch them out of my hands.</J> 


text:
<J>What my Father has entrusted to me is more than all else; and no one can snatch anything out of the Father’s hands.</J> 


text:
and seeing this, Jesus said: <J>“I have done before your eyes many good actions, inspired by the Father; for which of them would you stone me?”</J>


text:
 “It is not for any good action that we would stone you,” they answered, “but for blasphemy; and because you, who are only a man, make yourself out to be God.”


text:
<J>If those to whom God’s word were addressed were said to be ‘gods’ — and scripture cannot be set aside —</J> 


text:
 <J>Do you say of one whom the Father has consecrated and sent as his messenger to the world ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said ‘I am God’s Son’?</J> 


text:
 <J>if I am doing it, even though you do not believe me, believe what that work shows; so that you may understand, and understand more and more clearly, that the Father is in union with me, and I with the Father.”</J> 


text:
Then Jesus again crossed the Jordan to the place where John used to baptize at first, and stayed there some time, during which many people came to see him.


text:
“John gave no sign of his mission,” they said; “but everything that he said about this man was true.”


text:
Now a man named Lazarus, of Bethany, was lying ill; he belonged to the same village as Mary and her sister Martha.


text:
This Mary, whose brother Lazarus was ill, was the Mary who anointed the Master with perfume, and wiped his feet with her hair.


text:
and, when Jesus heard it, he said: <J>“This illness is not to end in death, but is to redound to the honour of God, in order that the Son of God may be honoured through it.”</J> 


text:
 “Rabbi,” they replied, “the authorities there were but just now seeking to stone you; and are you going there again?”


text:
 <J>“Are not there twelve hours in the day?”</J> answered Jesus. <J>“If someone walks about in the daytime, they do not stumble, because they can see the light of the sun;</J> 


text:
And, when he had said this, he added: <J>“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going so that I may wake him.”</J>


text:
 <J>and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may learn to believe in me. But let us go to him.”</J> 


text:
At this, Thomas, who was called ‘The Twin,’ said to his fellow disciples: “Let us go too, so that we may die with him.”


text:
 <J>“I am the resurrection and the life,”</J> said Jesus. <J>“He who believes in me will live, though he die;</J> 


text:
 “Yes Master,” she answered; “I have learned to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, ‘who was to come’ into the world.”


text:
After saying this, Martha went and called her sister Mary, and whispered: “The teacher is here, and is asking for you.”


text:
So the people, who were in the house with Mary, comforting her, when they saw her get up quickly and go out, followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there.


text:
When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she threw herself at his feet. “Master,” she exclaimed, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died!”


text:
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people who had come with her weeping also, he groaned deeply, and was greatly distressed.


text:
but some of them said: “Could not this man, who gave sight to the blind man, have also prevented Lazarus from dying?”


text:
Again groaning inwardly, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against the mouth of it.


text:
 <J>“Move the stone away,”</J> said Jesus. “Master,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time the smell must be offensive, for this is the fourth day since his death.”


text:
 <J>“Did not I tell you,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“that, if you would believe in me, you should see the glory of God?”</J> 


text:
So they moved the stone away; and Jesus, with uplifted eyes, said:<J> “Father, I thank you that you have heard my prayer;</J> 


text:
 <J>I know that you always hear me; but I say this for the sake of the people standing near, so that they may believe that you has sent me as your messenger.”</J>


text:
The dead man came out, wrapped hand and foot in a winding-sheet; his face, too, had been wrapped in a cloth. <J>“Set him free,”</J> said Jesus, <J>“and let him go.”</J>


text:
In consequence of this, many of the people, who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did, learned to believe in him.


text:
The chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the High Council, and said: “What are we to do, now that this man is giving so many signs?


text:
If we let him alone as we are doing, everyone will believe in him; and the Romans will come and will take from us both our city and our Nationality.”


text:
“You are utterly mistaken. You do not consider that it is better for you that one person should die for the people, rather than the whole nation should be destroyed.”


text:
Now he did not say this of his own accord; but, as high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was to die for the nation —


text:
And not for the nation only, but also that he might unite in one body the children of God now scattered far and wide.


text:
In consequence of this, Jesus did not go about publicly among the people any more, but left that neighbourhood, and went into the country bordering on the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.


text:
But the Jewish Festival of the Passover was near; and many people had gone up from the country to Jerusalem, for their ‘purification,’ before the Festival began.


text:
So they looked for Jesus there, and said to one another, as they stood in the Temple Courts: “What do you think? Do you think he will come to the Festival?”


text:
The chief priests and the Pharisees had already issued orders that, if anyone learned where Jesus was, he should give information, so that they might arrest him.


text:
<n>The Last Days</n> Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead, was living.


text:
There a supper was given in honour at which Martha waited, while Lazarus was one of those present at the table.


text:
So Mary took a pound of choice spikenard perfume of great value, and anointed the feet of Jesus with it, and then wiped them with her hair. The whole house was filled with the scent of the perfume.


text:
He said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and, being in charge of the purse, used to take what was put in it.


text:
 <J>“Leave her alone,”</J> said Jesus, <J>“so that she may keep it until the day when my body is being prepared for burial.</J> 


text:
 Now great numbers of people found out that Jesus was at Bethany; and they came there, not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.


text:
because it was owing to him that many of the people had left them, and were becoming believers in Jesus.


text:
On the following day great numbers of people who had come to the Festival, hearing that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, took palm branches,


text:
and went out to meet him, shouting as they went: “‘God save Him! Blessed is He who Comes in the name of the Lord’ — The king of Israel!”


text:
His disciples did not understand all this at first; but, when Jesus had been exalted, then they remembered that these things had been said of him in scripture, and that they had done these things for him.


text:
Meanwhile the people who were with him, when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, were telling what they had seen.


text:
This, indeed, was why the crowd met him — because people had heard that he had given this sign of his mission.


text:
So the Pharisees said to one another: “You see that you are gaining nothing! Why, all the world has run after him!”


text:
 <J>In truth I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains solitary; but, if it dies, it becomes fruitful.</J> 


text:
<J>A person who loves their life loses it; while someone who hates their life in the present world will preserve it for eternal life.</J> 


text:
 <J>If someone is ready to serve me, let them follow me; and where I am, there my servant will be also. If a person is ready to serve me, my Father will honour them.</J> 


text:
 <J>Now I am distressed at heart and what can I say? Father, bring me safe through this hour — yet it was for this reason that I came to this hour —</J> 


text:
 <J>Father, honour your own name.”</J> At this there came a voice from heaven, which said: “I have already honoured it, and I will honour it again.”


text:
The crowd of bystanders, who heard the sound, said that it was thundering. Others said: “An angel has been speaking to him.”


text:
<J>Now this world is on its trial. Now the Spirit that is ruling this world will be driven out;</J> 


text:
“We,” replied the people, “have learned from the law that the ‘Christ is to remain for ever’; how is it, then, that you say that the Son of Man must be <J>‘lifted up’</J> Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”


text:
 <J>“Only a little while longer,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“will you have the light among you. Travel on while you have the light, so that darkness may not overtake you; he who travels in the darkness does not know where he is going.</J> 


text:
 <J>While you still have the light, believe in the light, so that you may be ‘children of light.’”</J> After he had said this, Jesus went away, and hid himself from them.


text:
But, though Jesus had given so many signs of his mission before their eyes, they still did not believe in him,


text:
in fulfilment of the words of the prophet Isaiah, where he says — ‘Lord, who has believed our teaching? And to whom has the might of the Lord been revealed?’


text:
‘He has blinded their eyes, and blunted their mind, so that they should not see with their eyes, and perceive with their mind, and turn — And I should heal them.’


text:
Yet for all this, even among the leading men there were many who came to believe in Jesus; but, because of the Pharisees, they did not acknowledge it, because they were afraid that they should be expelled from their Synagogues;


text:
But Jesus had proclaimed: <J>“He who believes in me believes, not in me, but in him who sent me;</J> 


text:
 <J>I have come as a light into the world, so that no one who believes in me should remain in the darkness.</J> 


text:
 <J>When anyone hears my teaching and pays no heed to it, I am not his judge; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.</J> 


text:
 <J>He who rejects me, and disregards my teaching, has a judge already — the message which I have delivered will itself be his judge at the Last day.</J> 


text:
 <J>For I have not delivered it on my own authority; but the Father, who sent me, has himself given me his command as to what I should say, and what message I should deliver.</J> 


text:
 <J>And I know that eternal life lies in keeping his command. Therefore, whatever I say, I say only what the Father has taught me.”</J>


text:
Before the Passover Festival began, Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave the world and go to the Father. He had loved those who were his own in the world, and he loved them to the last.


text:
The devil had already put the thought of betraying Jesus into the mind of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon;


text:
and at supper, Jesus — although knowing that the Father had put everything into his hands, and that he had come from God, and was to return to God —


text:
He then poured some water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel which was tied round him.


text:
 <J>“You do not understand now what I am doing,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“but you will learn by and by.”</J>


text:
 “You will never wash my feet!” exclaimed Peter. <J>“Unless I wash you,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“you have nothing in common with me.”</J>


text:
 <J>“He who has bathed,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“has no need to wash, unless it be his feet, but is altogether clean; and you,”</J> he said to the disciples, <J>“are clean, yet not all of you.”</J> 


text:
When he had washed their feet, and had put on his upper garments and taken his place, he spoke to them again. <J>“Do you understand what I have been doing to you?”</J> he asked.


text:
 <J>If I, then — ‘the Master’ and ‘the teacher’ — have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet;</J> 


text:
 <J>In truth I tell you, a servant is not greater than their master, nor yet a messenger than the one who sends them.</J> 


text:
<J>I am not speaking about all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but this is in fulfilment of the words of scripture — ‘He that is eating my bread has lifted his heel against me.’</J> 


text:
 <J>For the future I will tell you of things before they take place, so that, when they take place, you may believe that I am what I am.</J> 


text:
 <J>In truth I tell you, the one who receives anyone that I send receives me; and the person who receives me receives him who sent me.”</J> 


text:
After saying this, Jesus was much troubled, and said solemnly: <J>“In truth I tell you that it is one of you who will betray me.”</J> 


text:
Being in this position, that disciple leant back on Jesus’ shoulder, and asked him: “Who is it, Master?”


text:
 <J>“It is the one,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“to whom I will give a piece of bread after dipping it in the dish.”</J> And, when Jesus had dipped the bread, he took it and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot;


text:
and it was then, after he had received it, that Satan took possession of him. So Jesus said to him: <J>“Do at once what you are going to do.”</J> 


text:
Some thought that, as Judas kept the purse, Jesus meant that he was to buy some things needed for the Festival, or to give something to the poor.


text:
When Judas had gone out, Jesus said: <J>“Now the Son of Man has been exalted, and God has been exalted through him;</J> 


text:
 <J>My children, I am to be with you but a little while longer. You will look for me; and what I said to the people — ‘You cannot come where I am going’ — I now say to you.</J> 


text:
<J>It is by this that everyone will recognise you as my disciples — by your loving one another.”</J>


text:
 “Where are you going, Master?” asked Peter. <J>“I am going where you cannot now follow me,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“but you will follow me later.”</J>


text:
 <J>“Will you lay down your life for me?”</J> replied Jesus. <J>“In truth I tell you, the cock will not crow until you have disowned me three times.</J> 


text:
 <J>In my Father’s Home there are many dwellings. If it had not been so, I should have told you, for I am going to prepare a place for you.</J> 


text:
 <J>And, since I go and prepare a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me, so that you may be where I am;</J> 


text:
Jesus answered: <J>“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one ever comes to the Father except through me.</J> 


text:
 <J>If you had recognised me, you would have known my Father also; for the future you will recognise him, indeed you have already seen him.”</J>


text:
 <J>“Have I been all this time among you,”</J> said Jesus, <J>“and yet you, Philip, have not recognised me? The person who has seen me has seen the Father, how can you say, then, ‘Show us the Father’?</J> 


text:
 <J>Do not you believe that I am in union with the Father, and the Father with me? In giving you my teaching I am not speaking on my own authority; but the Father himself, always in union with me, does his own work.</J> 


text:
 <J>Believe me,” he said to them all, “when I say that I am in union with the Father and the Father with me, or else believe me because of the work itself.</J> 


text:
 <J>In truth I tell you, the person who believes in me will themselves do the work that I am doing; and they will do greater work still, because I am going to the Father.</J> 


text:
 <J>and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper, to be with you always — the Spirit of truth.</J> 


text:
 <J>The world cannot receive this Spirit, because it does not see him or recognise him, but you recognise him, because he is always with you, and is within you.</J> 


text:
 <J>In a little while the world will see me no more, but you will still see me; because I am living, you will be living also.</J> 


text:
 <J>At that time you will recognise that I am in union with the Father, and you with me, and I with you.</J> 


text:
 <J>It is they who have my commands and lays them to heart that loves me; and the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them, and will reveal myself to them.”</J>


text:
 “What has happened, Master,” said Judas (not Judas Iscariot), “that you are going to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”


text:
 <J>“Whoever loves me,”</J> Jesus answered, <J>“will lay my message to heart; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.</J> 


text:
 <J>The person who does not love me will not lay my message to heart; and the message to which you are listening is not my own, but comes from the Father who sent me.</J> 


text:
 <J>but the helper — the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name — will teach you all things, and will recall to your minds all that I have said to you.</J> 


text:
 <J>Peace be with you! My own peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, or dismayed.</J> 


text:
 <J>You heard me say that I was going away and would return to you. Had you loved me, you would have been glad that I was going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.</J> 


text:
 <J>And this I have told you now before it happens, so that, when it does happen, you may still believe in me.</J> 


text:
 <J>I will not talk with you much more, for the Spirit that is ruling the world is coming. He has nothing in common with me;</J> 


text:
 <J>but he is coming so that the world may see that I love the Father, and that I do as the Father commanded me. Come, let us be going.</J>


text:
 <J>Any unfruitful branch in me he takes away, and he cleanses every fruitful branch, so that it may bear more fruit.</J> 


text:
 <J>Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains united to the vine; no more can you, unless you remain united to me.</J> 


text:
 <J>I am the Vine, you are the branches. If you remains united to me, while I remain united to you — you bear fruit plentifully; for you can do nothing apart from me.</J> 


text:
 <J>If anyone does not remain united to me, they are thrown away, as a branch would be, and withers up. Such branches are collected and thrown into the fire, and are burnt.</J> 


text:
 <J>If you remain united to me, and my teaching remains in your hearts, ask whatever you wish, and it will be yours.</J> 


text:
 <J>It is by your bearing fruit plentifully, and so showing yourselves my disciples, that my Father is honoured.</J> 


text:
 <J>If you lay my commands to heart, you will remain in my love; just as I have laid the Father’s commands to heart and remain in his love.</J> 


text:
 <J>I have told you all this so that my own joy may be yours, and that your joy may be complete.</J> 


text:
 <J>I no longer call you ‘servants,’ because a servant does not know what their master is doing; but I have given you the name of ‘friends,’ because I made known to you everything that I learned from my Father.</J> 


text:
 <J>It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you, and I appointed you to go and bear fruit — fruit that should remain, so that the Father might grant you whatever you ask in my name.</J> 


text:
 <J>If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world — that is why the world hates you.</J> 


text:
 <J>Remember what I said to you — ‘A servant is not greater than their master.’ If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have laid my message to heart, they will lay yours to heart also.</J> 


text:
 <J>But they will do all this to you, because you believe in my name, for they do not know him who sent me.</J> 


text:
 <J>If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin to answer for; but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin.</J> 


text:
 <J>If I had not done among them such work as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin to answer for; but, as it is, they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.</J> 


text:
 <J>But, when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father — the Spirit of truth, who comes from the Father — will bear testimony to me;</J> 


text:
<J>They will expel you from their Synagogues; indeed the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think that they are making an offering to God.</J> 


text:
 <J>But I have spoken to you of these things so that, when the time for them comes, you may remember that I told you about them myself.</J> 


text:
 <J>I did not tell you all this at first, because I was with you. But now I am to return to him who sent me; and yet not one of you asks me — ‘Where are you going?’</J> 


text:
 <J>Yet I am only telling you the truth; it is for your good that I should go away. For otherwise the helper will never come to you, but, if I leave you, I will send him to you.</J> 


text:
 <J>And he, when he comes, will bring conviction to the world as to sin, and as to righteousness, and as to judgment;</J> 


text:
 <J>Yet when he — The Spirit of truth — comes, he will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but he will speak of all that he hears; and he will tell you of the things that are to come.</J> 


text:
 <J>Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said that he takes of what is mine, and will tell it to you.</J> 


text:
<J>In a little while you will no longer see me; and then in a little while you will see me indeed.”</J> 


text:
At this some of his disciples said to one another: “What does he mean by saying to us <J>‘In a little while you will not see me, and then in a little while you will see me indeed’;</J> and by saying <J>‘Because I am going to the Father’?</J> 


text:
What does he mean by <J>‘In a little while’?”</J> they said; “we do not know what he is speaking about.”


text:
Jesus saw that they were wanting to ask him a question, and said: <J>“Are you trying to find out from one another what I meant by saying ‘In a little while you will not see me; and then in a little while you will see me indeed’?</J> 


text:
 <J>In truth I tell you that you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will suffer pain, but your pain will turn to joy.</J> 


text:
 <J>A woman in labour is in pain because her time has come; but no sooner is the child born, than she forgets her trouble in her joy that a child has been born into the world.</J> 


text:
 <J>You, in the same way, are sorry now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will rob you of your joy.</J> 


text:
 <J>And at that time you will not ask me anything; in truth I tell you, if you ask the Father for anything, he will grant it to you in my name.</J> 


text:
 <J>So far you have not asked for anything, in my name; ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.</J> 


text:
 <J>I have spoken to you of all this in figures; a time is coming, however, when I will not speak any longer to you in figures, but will tell you about the Father plainly.</J> 


text:
 <J>You will ask, at that time, in my name; and I do not say that I will intercede with the Father for you;</J> 


text:
 <J>for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came from the Father.</J> 


text:
 <J>I came out from the Father, and have come into the world; and now I am to leave the world, and go to the Father.”</J>


text:
Now we are sure that you know everything, and need not wait for anyone to question you. This makes us believe that you did come from God.”


text:
 <J>“Listen! A time is coming — indeed it has already come — when you are to be scattered, each going his own way, and to leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.</J> 


text:
 <J>I have spoken to you in this way, so that in me you may find peace. In the world you will find trouble; yet, take courage! I have conquered the world.”</J>


text:
After saying this, Jesus raised his eyes heaven-wards, and said: <J>“Father, the hour has come; honour your Son, so that your Son may honour you;</J> 


text:
 <J>even as you gave him power over all humanity, so that he should give eternal life to all those whom you has given him.</J> 


text:
 <J>And the eternal life is this — to know you the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you has sent as your messenger.</J> 


text:
 <J>and now do you honour me, Father, at your own side, with the honour which I had at your side before the world began.</J> 


text:
 <J>I have revealed you to those whom you gave me from the world; they were your own, and you gave them to me; and they have laid your message to heart.</J> 


text:
 <J>for I have given them the teaching which you gave me, and they received it, and clearly understood that I came from you, and they believed that you has sent me as your messenger.</J> 


text:
 <J>I intercede for them; I am not interceding for the world, but for those whom you has given me, for they are your own —</J> 


text:
 <J>Now I am to be in this world no longer, but they are still to be in the world, and I am to come to you. Holy Father, keep them by that revelation of your name which you has given me, so that they may be one, as we are.</J> 


text:
 <J>Whilst I was with them, I kept them by that revelation, and I have guarded them; and not one of them has been lost, except that lost soul — in fulfilment of scripture.</J> 


text:
 <J>But now I am to come to you; and I am speaking like this, while still in the world, so that they may have my own joy, in all its fullness, in their hearts.</J> 


text:
 <J>I have given them your message; and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world, even as I do not belong to the world.</J> 


text:
 <J>Just as you has sent me as your messenger to the world, so I send them as my messengers to the world.</J> 


text:
 <J>And it is for their sakes that I am consecrating myself, so that they also may be truly consecrated.</J> 


text:
 <J>But it is not only for them that I am interceding, but also for those who believe in me through their message,</J> 


text:
 <J>that they all may be one — that as you, Father, are in union with us — and so the world may believe that you have sent me as your messenger.</J> 


text:
 <J>I have given them the honour which you has given me, so that they may be one as we are one —</J> 


text:
 <J>I in union with them and you with me — that so they may be perfected in their union, and so that the world may know that you have sent me as your messenger, and that you have loved them as you have loved me.</J> 


text:
 <J>Father, my desire for all those whom you have given me is that they may be with me where I am, so that they may see the honour which you have given me; for thou did love me before the beginning of the world.</J> 


text:
 <J>Righteous Father, though the world did not know you, I knew you; and these people knew that you have sent me as your messenger.</J> 


text:
 <J>I have made you known to them, and will do so still; that the love that you have had for me may be in their hearts, and that I may be in them also.”</J>


text:
When Jesus had said this, he went out with his disciples and crossed the brook Kedron to a place where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples went.


text:
So Judas, who had obtained the soldiers of the Roman garrison, and some police officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.


text:
Jesus, aware of all that was coming upon him, went to meet them, and said to them: <J>“For whom are you looking?”</J>


text:
 “Jesus of Nazareth,” was their answer. <J>“I am he,”</J> said Jesus. (Judas, the betrayer, was also standing with them.)


text:
 <J>“I have already told you that I am he,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“so, if it is for me that you are looking, let these people go.”</J> 


text:
This was in fulfilment of his words — <J>‘Of those whom you have given me I have not lost one.’</J> 


text:
At this, Simon Peter, who had a sword with him, drew it, and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.


text:
But Jesus said to Peter: <J>“Sheathe your sword. Should I not drink the cup which the Father has given me?”</J>


text:
So the soldiers of the garrison, with their commanding officer and the Jewish police, arrested Jesus and bound him,


text:
and took him first of all to Annas. Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.


text:
It was Caiaphas who had counselled the religious authorities, that it was best that one person should die for the people.


text:
Meanwhile Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. That disciple, being well-known to the high priest, went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard,


text:
while Peter stood outside by the door. Presently the other disciple — the one well-known to the high priest — went out and spoke to the portress, and brought Peter in.


text:
So the maidservant said to Peter: “Are not you also one of this man’s disciples?” “No, I am not,” he said.


text:
The servants and police officers were standing round a charcoal fire (which they had made because it was cold), and were warming themselves. Peter, too, was with them, standing and warming himself.


text:
 <J>“For my part,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“I have spoken to all the world openly. I always taught in some Synagogue, or in the Temple Courts, places where everyone assembles, and I never spoke of anything in secret.</J> 


text:
<J>Why question me? Question those who have listened to me as to what I have spoken about to them. They must know what I said.”</J> 


text:
When Jesus said this, one of the police officers, who was standing near, gave him a blow with his hand. “Do you answer the high priest like that?” he exclaimed.


text:
 <J>“If I said anything wrong, give evidence about it,”</J> replied Jesus; <J>“but if not, why do you strike me?”</J> 


text:
Meanwhile Simon Peter was standing there, warming himself; so they said to him: “Are not you also one of his disciples?” Peter denied it. “No, I am not,” he said.


text:
One of the high priest’s servants, a relation of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, exclaimed: “Did not I myself see you with him in the garden?”


text:
From Caiaphas they took Jesus to the Government house. It was early in the morning. But they did not enter the Government house themselves, otherwise they might become ‘defiled,’ and so be unable to eat the Passover.


text:
Therefore Pilate came outside to speak to them. “What charge do you bring against this man?” he asked.


text:
“Take him yourselves,” said Pilate, “and try him by your own law.” “We have no power to put anyone to death,” the authorities replied —


text:
After that, Pilate went into the Government house again, and calling Jesus up, asked him: “Are you the king of the Jews?”


text:
 <J>“Do you ask me that yourself?”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“or did others say it to you about me?”</J>


text:
“Do you take me for a Jew?” was Pilate’s answer. “It is your own nation and the chief priests who have given you up to me. What have you done?”


text:
 <J>“My kingly power,”</J> replied Jesus, <J>“is not due to this world. If it had been so, my servants would be doing their utmost to prevent my being given up to the authorities; but my kingly power is not from the world.”</J>


text:
 “So you are a king after all!” exclaimed Pilate. <J>“Yes, it is true I am a king,”</J> answered Jesus. <J>“I was born for this, I have come into the world for this — to bear testimony to the truth. Everyone who is on the side of truth listens to my voice.”</J>


text:
 “What is truth?” exclaimed Pilate. After saying this, he went out to the crowd again, and said: “For my part, I find nothing with which he can be charged.


text:
It is, however, the custom for me to grant you the release of one man at the Passover Festival. Do you wish for the release of the king of the Jews?”


text:
The soldiers made a crown with some thorns and put it on his head and threw a purple robe round him.


text:
They kept coming up to him and saying: “Long live the king of the Jews!” and they gave him blow after blow with their hands.


text:
Pilate again came outside, and said to the people: “Look! I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find nothing with which he can be charged.”


text:
Then Jesus came outside, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe; and Pilate said to them: “Here is the man!”


text:
When the chief priests and the police officers saw him, they shouted: “Crucify him! Crucify him!” “Take him yourselves and crucify him,” said Pilate. “For my part, I find nothing with which he can be charged.”


text:
 “But we,” replied the crowd, “have a law, under which he deserves death for making himself out to be the Son of God.”


text:
But Jesus made no reply. So Pilate said to him: “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do not you know that I have power to release you, and have power to crucify you?”


text:
 <J>“You would have no power over me at all,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“if it had not been given you from above; and, therefore, the man who betrayed me to you is guilty of the greater sin.”</J> 


text:
This made Pilate anxious to release him; but the crowd shouted: “If you release that man, you are no friend of the Emperor! Anyone who makes himself out to be a king is setting himself against the Emperor!”


text:
On hearing what they said, Pilate brought Jesus out, and took his seat on the Bench at a place called ‘The Stone Pavement’ — in Hebrew ‘Gabbatha.’


text:
It was the Passover Preparation day, and about noon. Then he said to the crowd: “Here is your king!”


text:
At that the people shouted: “Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!” “What! Should I crucify your king?” exclaimed Pilate. “We have no king but the Emperor,” replied the chief priests;


text:
and he went out, carrying his cross himself, to the place which is named from a scull, or, in Hebrew, Golgotha.


text:
Pilate also had these words written and put up over the cross — ‘JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.’


text:
These words were read by many people, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and they were written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek.


text:
The chief priests said to Pilate: “Do not write ‘The king of the Jews’, but write what the man said — ‘I am the king of the Jews.’”


text:
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares — a share for each soldier — and they took the coat also. The coat had no seam, being woven in one piece from top to bottom.


text:
So they said to one another: “Do not let us tear it, but let us cast lots for it, to see who will have it.” This was in fulfilment of the words of scripture — ‘They shared my clothes among them, And over my clothing they cast lots.’That was what the soldiers did.


text:
Meanwhile near the cross of Jesus were standing his mother and his mother’s sister, as well as Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary of Magdala.


text:
When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved, standing near, he said to his mother: <J>“There is your son.”</J> 


text:
Then he said to that disciple: <J>“There is your mother.”</J> And from that very hour the disciple took her to live in his house.


text:
Afterwards, knowing that everything was now finished, Jesus said, in fulfilment of the words of scripture: <J>“I am thirsty.”</J> 


text:
There was a bowl standing there full of common wine; so they put a sponge soaked in the wine on the end of a hyssop-stalk, and held it up to his mouth.


text:
When Jesus had received the wine, he exclaimed: <J>“All is finished!”</J> Then, bowing his head, he resigned his spirit to God.


text:
It was the Preparation day, and so, to prevent the bodies from remaining on the crosses during the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a great day), the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed.


text:
Accordingly the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man, and then those of the other who had been crucified with Jesus;


text:
One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water immediately flowed from it.


text:
This is the statement of one who actually saw it — and his statement may be relied on, and he knows that he is speaking the truth — and it is given in order that you also may be convinced.


text:
For all this happened in fulfilment of the words of scripture — ‘Not one of its bones will be broken.’


text:
After this, Joseph of Ramah, a disciple of Jesus — but a secret one, owing to his fear of the religious authorities — begged Pilate’s permission to remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him leave; so Joseph went and removed the body.


text:
Nicodemus, too — the man who had formerly visited Jesus by night — came with a roll of myrrh and aloes, weighing nearly a hundred pounds.


text:
They took the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen with the spices, according to the Jewish mode of burial.


text:
At the place where Jesus had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a newly made tomb in which no one had ever been laid.


text:
And so, because of its being the Preparation day, and as the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.


text:
<n>The Risen Life</n> On the first day of the week, early in the morning, while it was still dark, Mary of Magdala went to the tomb, and saw that the stone had been removed.


text:
So she came running to Simon Peter, and to that other disciple who was Jesus’ friend, and said to them: “They have taken away the Master out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him!”


text:
The two began running together; but the other disciple ran faster than Peter, and reached the tomb first.


text:
Presently Simon Peter came following behind him, and went into the tomb; and he looked at the linen wrappings lying there,


text:
and the cloth which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the wrappings, but rolled up on one side, separately.


text:
Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, went inside too, and he saw for himself and was convinced.


text:
For they did not then understand the passage of scripture which says that Jesus must rise again from the dead.


text:
 Meanwhile Mary was standing close outside the tomb, weeping. Still weeping, she leant forward into the tomb,


text:
and perceived two angels clothed in white sitting there, where the body of Jesus had been lying, one where the head and the other where the feet had been.


text:
“Why are you weeping?” asked the angels. “They have taken my Master away,” she answered, “and I do not know where they have laid him.”


text:
After saying this, she turned round, and looked at Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.


text:
 <J>“Why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”</J> he asked. Supposing him to be the gardener, Mary answered: “If it was you, Sir, who carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away myself.”


text:
 <J>“Mary!”</J> said Jesus. She turned round, and exclaimed in Hebrew: “Rabboni!” (or, as we should say, ‘teacher’).


text:
 <J>“Do not hold me,”</J> Jesus said; <J>“for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers, and tell them that I am ascending to him who is my Father and their Father, my God and their God.”</J> 


text:
Mary of Magdala went and told the disciples that she had seen the Master, and that he had said this to her.


text:
In the evening of the same day — the first day of the week — after the doors of the room, in which the disciples were, had been shut because they were afraid of the religious authorities, Jesus came and stood among them and said: <J>“Peace be with you”;</J> 


text:
after which he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Master.


text:
Again Jesus said to them: <J>“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me as his messenger, so I am sending you.”</J> 


text:
 <J>if you remit anyone’s sins, they have been remitted; and, if you retain them, they have been retained.”</J>


text:
so the rest of the disciples said to him: “We have seen the Master!” “Unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands,” he exclaimed, “and put my finger into the marks, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”


text:
A week later the disciples were again in the house, and Thomas with them. After the doors had been shut, Jesus came and stood among them, and said: <J>“Peace be with you.”</J> 


text:
Then he said to Thomas: <J>“Place your finger here, and look at my hands; and place your hand here, and put it into my side; and do not refuse to believe, but believe.”</J> 


text:
 <J>“Is it because you have seen me that you have believed?”</J> said Jesus. <J>“Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed!”</J>


text:
There were many other signs of his mission that Jesus gave in presence of the disciples, which are not recorded in this book;


text:
but these have been recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God — and that, through your belief in his name, you may have life.


text:
It was in this way: — Simon Peter, Thomas, who was called ‘The Twin,’ Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two other disciples of Jesus, were together, when Simon Peter said:


text:
“I am going fishing.” “We will come with you,” said the others. They went out and got into the boat, but caught nothing that night.


text:
Just as day was breaking, Jesus came and stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was he.


text:
 <J>“Cast your net to the right of the boat,”</J> he said, <J>“and you will find fish.”</J> So they cast the net, and now they could not haul it in because of the quantity of fish.


text:
The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter: “It is the Master!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Master, he fastened his coat round him (for he had taken it off), and threw himself into the Sea.


text:
But the rest of the disciples came in the boat (for they were only about a hundred yards from shore), dragging the net full of fish.


text:
When they had come ashore, they found a charcoal fire ready, with some fish already on it, and some bread as well.


text:
So Simon Peter got into the boat and hauled the net ashore full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and yet, although there were so many, the net had not been torn.


text:
And Jesus said to them: <J>“Come and breakfast.”</J> Not one of the disciples ventured to ask him who he was, knowing that it was the Master.


text:
This was the third time that Jesus showed himself to the disciples after he had risen from the dead.


text:
When breakfast was over, Jesus said to Simon Peter: <J>“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than the others?”</J> “Yes, Master,” he answered, “you know that I am your friend.”<J> “Feed my lambs,”</J> said Jesus.


text:
Then, a second time, Jesus asked: <J>“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”</J> “Yes, Master,” he answered, “you know that I am your friend.”<J> “Tend my sheep,”</J> said Jesus.


text:
The third time, Jesus said to him: <J>“Simon, son of John, are you my friend?”</J> Peter was hurt at his third question being ‘Are you my friend?’; and exclaimed: “Master, you know everything! You can tell that I am your friend.”<J> “Feed my sheep,”</J> said Jesus.


text:
 <J>“In truth I tell you,” he continued, “when you were young, you used to put on your own girdle, and walk wherever you wished; but, when you have grown old, you will have to stretch out your hands, while some one else puts on your girdle, and takes you where you do not wish.”</J> 


text:
Jesus said this to show the death by which Peter was to honour God, and then he added: <J>“Follow me.”</J> 


text:
Peter turned round, and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following — the one who at the supper leant back on the Master’s shoulder, and asked him who it was who would betray him.


text:
 <J>“If it is my will that he should wait until I come,”</J> answered Jesus, <J>“what has that to do with you? Follow me yourself.”</J> 


text:
So the report spread among his followers that that disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say that he was not to die, but said <J>“If it is my will that he should wait until I come, what has that to do with you?”</J>


text:
It is this disciple who states these things, and who recorded them; and we know that his statement is true.


text:
There are many other things which Jesus did; but, if every one of them were to be recorded in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not hold the books that would be written.


text:
<n><i>The Acts of the Apostles</i><br/>The Church and the Jews</n> <TS2><i>The Doings of the Apostles Peter and John</i><Ts2>The first account which I drew up, Theophilus, dealt with all that Jesus did and taught from the very first,


text:
down to that day on which he was taken up to heaven, after he had, by the help of the Holy Spirit, given instructions to the apostles whom he had chosen.


text:
With abundant proofs, he showed himself to them, still living, after his death; appearing to them from time to time during forty days, and speaking of all that related to the kingdom of God.


text:
And once, when he had gathered them together, he charged them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the fulfilment of the Father’s promise — <J>“that promise,”</J> he said, <J>“of which you have heard me speak;</J> 


text:
 <J>for, while John baptized with water, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit before many days have passed.”</J>


text:
 So, when the apostles had met together, they asked Jesus this question — “Master, is this the time when you intend to re-establish the kingdom for Israel?”


text:
His answer was: <J>“It is not for you to know times or hours, for the Father has reserved these for his own decision;</J> 


text:
 <J>but you will receive power, when the Holy Spirit will have descended on you, and will be witnesses for me not only in Jerusalem, but throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”</J>


text:
 No sooner had Jesus said this than he was caught up before their eyes, and a cloud received him from their sight.


text:
While they were still gazing up into the heavens, as he went, suddenly two men, clothed in white, stood beside them,


text:
and said: “People of Galilee, why are you standing here looking up into the heavens? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into the heavens, will come in the same way in which you have seen him go into the heavens.”


text:
 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called Olivet, which is about three quarters of a mile from the city.


text:
When they reached Jerusalem, they went to the upstairs room, where they were staying. There were there Peter, John, James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.


text:
They all united in devoting themselves to prayer, and so did some women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.


text:
About this time, at a meeting of the Lord's followers, when there were about a hundred and twenty present, Peter rose to speak.


text:
“Friends,” he said, “it was necessary who the prediction of scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit made by the lips of David about Judas, who acted as guide to the men that arrested Jesus,


text:
(This man had bought a piece of land with the price of his treachery; and, falling heavily, his body had burst open, and all his bowels protruded.


text:
This became known to everyone living in Jerusalem, so that the field came to be called, in their language, ‘Akeldama,’ which means the ‘Field of Blood.’)


text:
 “For in the book of Psalms,” Peter continued, “it is said — ‘Let his home, And let no one live in it’;and also — ‘His office let another take.’


text:
Therefore, from among the men who have been with us all the time that Jesus, our Master, went in and out among us —


text:
From his baptism by John down to that day on which he was taken from us — some one must be found to join us as a witness of his resurrection.”


text:
and they offered this prayer — “Lord, who reads all hearts, show which of these two men you have chosen


text:
Then they drew lots between them; and, the lot having fallen on Matthias, he was added to the number of the eleven apostles.


text:
when suddenly there came from the heavens a noise like a strong wind rushing by; it filled the whole house in which they were sitting.


text:
Then there appeared tongues of what seemed to be flame, separating, so that one settled on each of them;


text:
and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with strange ‘tongues’ as the Spirit prompted their utterances.


text:
and, when this sound was heard, numbers of people collected, in the greatest excitement, because each of them heard the disciples speaking in his own language.


text:
They were utterly amazed, and kept asking in astonishment: “What! Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?


text:
Some of us are Parthians, some Medes, some Elamites; and some of us live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Roman Asia,


text:
in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the districts of Libya adjoining Cyrene; some of us are visitors from Rome,


text:
either Jews by birth or converts, and some are Cretans and Arabians — yet we all alike hear them speaking in our own tongues of the great things that God has done.”


text:
 Then Peter, surrounded by the eleven other apostles, stood up, and, raising his voice, addressed the crowd. “People of Judea,” he began, “and all you who are staying in Jerusalem, let me tell you what this means. Mark well my words.


text:
 ‘It will come about in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour out my Spirit on all humanity; Your sons and your daughters will become prophets, Your young men will see visions, And your old men dream dreams; 


text:
Yes, even on the slaves — for they are mine — both men and women, I will in those days pour out my Spirit, And they will become prophets;


text:
 And I will show wonders in the heavens above, And signs on the earth below — Blood and fire and mist of smoke;


text:
 The sun will become darkness, And the moon blood-red, Before the day of the Lord comes — that great and awful day. 


text:
People of Israel, listen to what I am saying. Jesus of Nazareth, a man whose mission from God to you was proved by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God showed among you through him, as you know full well —


text:
He, I say, in accordance with God’s definite plan and with his previous knowledge, was betrayed, and you, by the hands of lawless men, nailed him to a cross and put him to death.


text:
But God released him from the pangs of death and raised him to life, it being impossible for death to retain its hold on him.


text:
Indeed he was the one David was referring to when he said — ‘I have had the Lord ever before my eyes, For he stands at my right hand, so that I should not be disquieted.


text:
 Therefore my heart was cheered, and my tongue told its delight; Yes, even my body, too, will rest in hope;


text:
 For you will not abandon my soul to the place of death, Nor surrender me, your holy one, to undergo corruption.


text:
Friends, I can speak to you the more confidently about the patriarch David, because he is dead and buried, and his tomb is here among us to this very day.


text:
David, then, prophet as he was, knowing that God ‘had solemnly sworn to him to set one of his descendants on his throne,’ looked into the future,


text:
and referred to the resurrection of the Christ when he said that ‘he had not been abandoned to the place of death, nor had his body undergone corruption.’


text:
And now that he has been exalted to the right hand of God, and has received from the Father the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, he has begun to pour out that gift, as you yourselves now see and hear.


text:
It was not David who went up into heaven; for he himself says — ‘The Lord said to my master: “Sit on my right hand,


text:
So let the whole nation of Israel know beyond all doubt, that God has made him both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified.”


text:
 When the people heard this, they were conscience-smitten, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: “Friends, what can we do?”


text:
 “Repent,” answered Peter, “and be baptized every one of you in the faith of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.


text:
For the promise is for you and for your children, and also for all those now far away, who may be called by the Lord our God.”


text:
Peter spoke to them for a long time using many other arguments and pleaded with them — “Save yourselves from the perverse spirit of this age.”


text:
So those who accepted his teaching were baptized, and about three thousand people joined the disciples on that day alone.


text:
They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the Common life of the church, to the breaking of the bread and to the Prayers.


text:
 A deep impression was made on everyone, and many wonders and signs were done at the hands of the apostles.


text:
they sold their property and their goods, and shared the proceeds among them all, according to their individual needs.


text:
Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the Temple Courts, and to the breaking of bread at their homes, while they partook of their food in simple-hearted gladness, praising God, and winning the goodwill of all the people.


text:
One day, as Peter and John were going up into the Temple Courts for the three o’clock Prayers, a man, who had been lame from his birth, was being carried by.


text:
This man used to be set down every day at the gate of the Temple called ‘the Beautiful Gate,’ to beg of those who went in.


text:
but Peter added: “I have no gold or silver, but I give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk.”


text:
Grasping the lame man by the right hand, Peter lifted him up. Instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong,


text:
and, leaping up, he stood and began to walk about, and then went with them into the Temple Courts, walking, and leaping, and praising God.


text:
and, when they recognised him as the man who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, they were utterly astonished and amazed at what had happened to him.


text:
While the man still clung to Peter and John, the people all quickly gathered round them in the Colonnade named after Solomon, in the greatest astonishment.


text:
 On seeing this, Peter said to the people: “People of Israel, why are you surprised at this? And why do you stare at us, as though we, by any power or piety of our own, had enabled this man to walk?


text:
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has done honour to his servant Jesus — him whom you gave up and disowned before Pilate, when he had decided to set him free.


text:
The guide to life you put to death! But God raised him from the dead — and of that we are ourselves witnesses.


text:
And it is by faith in the name of Jesus, that this man, whom you all see and know, has — by his name — been made strong. Yes, it is the faith inspired by Jesus that has made this complete cure of the man, before the eyes of you all.


text:
But it was in this way that God fulfilled all that he had long ago foretold, as to the sufferings of his Christ, by the lips of all the prophets.


text:
Therefore, repent and turn so that your sins may be wiped away; so that happier times may come from the Lord himself,


text:
But heaven must be his home, until the days of the Universal Restoration, of which God has spoken by the lips of his holy prophets from the very first.


text:
Moses himself said — ‘The Lord your God will raise up from among yourselves a prophet, as he raised me. To him you will listen whenever he speaks to you.


text:
And it will be that should anyone among the people not listen to that prophet, he will be utterly destroyed.’


text:
Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel onwards, and all their successors who had a message to deliver, told of these days.


text:
You yourselves are the heirs of the prophets, and heirs, too, of the covenant which God made with your ancestors, when he said to Abraham — ‘In your descendants will all the nations of the earth be blessed.’


text:
For you, first, God raised up his servant, and sent him to bless you, by turning each one of you from his wicked ways.”


text:
While Peter and John were still speaking to the people, the chief priest, with the officer in charge at the Temple and the Sadducees, came up to them,


text:
much annoyed because they were teaching the people, and because, through Jesus, they were preaching the resurrection from the dead.


text:
They arrested the apostles and, as it was already evening, had them placed in custody until the next day.


text:
Many, however, of those who had heard the apostles’ message became believers in Christ, the number of the men alone amounting to about five thousand.


text:
The next day, a meeting of the leaders of the people, the councillors, and the teachers of the law was held in Jerusalem.


text:
There were present Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all who were of High-Priestly rank.


text:
They had Peter and John brought before them, and questioned them. “By what power,” they asked, “Or in whose name have men like you done this thing?”


text:
since we are on our trial today for a kind act done to a helpless man, and are asked in what way the man here before you has been cured,


text:
let me tell you all and all the people of Israel, that it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead — it is, I say, by his name that this man stands here before you lame no longer.


text:
And salvation is in him alone; for there is no other name in the whole world, given to people, to which we must look for our salvation.”


text:
 When the Council saw how boldly Peter and John spoke, and found that they were uneducated men of humble station, they were surprised, and realised that they had been companions of Jesus.


text:
But, when they looked at the man who had been healed, standing there with them, they had nothing to say.


text:
 “What are we to do to these men?” they asked one another. “That a remarkable sign has been given through them is obvious to everyone living in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.


text:
But, to prevent this thing from spreading further among the people, let us warn them not to speak in this name any more to anyone whatever.”


text:
 But Peter and John replied: “Whether it is right, in the sight of God, to listen to you rather than to him —


text:
However, after further warnings, the Council set them at liberty, not seeing any safe way of punishing them, because of the people, for they were all praising God for what had occurred;


text:
After they had been set at liberty, the apostles went to their friends and told them what the chief priests and the councillors had said to them.


text:
All who heard their story, moved by a common impulse, raised their voices to God in prayer: “Sovereign Lord, it is you who has ‘made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them,’


text:
And who, by the lips of our ancestor, your servant David, who spoke under the influence of the Holy Spirit, have said — ‘Why did the nations rage, And the peoples form vain designs? 


text:
The kings of the earth set their array, And its rulers gathered together, Against the Lord and against his Christ.’


text:
 There have indeed gathered together in this city against your holy servant Jesus, whom you has consecrated the Christ, not Herod and Pontius Pilate only, but the nations and the people of Israel besides —


text:
Now, therefore, Lord, mark their threats, and enable your servants, with all fearlessness, to tell your message,


text:
while you stretch out your hand to heal, and cause signs and wonders to take place through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”


text:
When their prayer was ended, the place in which they were assembled was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to tell God’s message fearlessly.


text:
The whole body of those who had become believers in Christ were of one heart and mind. Not one of them claimed any of his goods as his own, but everything was held for the common use.


text:
The apostles continued with great power to bear their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s blessing rested on them all abundantly.


text:
Nor was there anyone in need among them, for all who were owners of land or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the sales


text:
A Levite of Cyprian birth, named Joseph, (who had received from the apostles the additional name of ‘Barnabas’ — which means ‘The Consoler,’)


text:
and, with her connivance, kept back some of the proceeds. He brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.


text:
 “Ananias,” Peter exclaimed, “how is it that Satan has so taken possession of your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit, and kept back a part of the money paid for the land?


text:
While it was unsold, was not it your own? And after it was sold, was not the money at your own disposal? How did you come to think of such a thing? You have lied, not to people, but to God!”


text:
“Is it true,” Peter asked, addressing her, “that you sold your land for such a sum?” “Yes,” she answered, “we did.”


text:
Then Peter said: “How did you come to agree to provoke the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The footsteps of those who have buried your husband are at the door; and they will carry you out too.”


text:
 Instantly Sapphira fell down at Peter’s feet and expired. On coming in, the young men found her dead; so they carried her out and buried her by her husband’s side.


text:
Many signs and wonders continued to occur among the people, through the instrumentality of the apostles, whose custom it was to meet all together in the Colonnade of Solomon;


text:
but of the rest no one ventured to join them. On the other hand, the people were full of their praise,


text:
and still larger numbers, both of men and women, as they became believers in the Lord, were added to their number.


text:
The consequence was that people would bring out their sick even into the streets, and lay them on mattresses and mats, in the hope that, as Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some one of them.


text:
Besides this, the inhabitants of the towns round Jerusalem flocked into the city, bringing with them their sick and those who were troubled by foul spirits; and they were cured everyone.


text:
At this the high priest was roused to action, and he and all his supporters (who formed the party of the Sadducees), moved by jealousy,


text:
“Go,” he said, “and stand in the Temple Courts, and tell the people the whole message of this new life.”


text:
When they heard this, they went at daybreak into the Temple Courts, and began to teach. The high priest and his party, on their arrival, summoned the High Council, including all the leaders of the people among the Israelites, and sent to the jail to fetch the apostles.


text:
But, when the officers got there, they did not find them in the prison; so they returned and reported that,


text:
while they had found the goal barred securely and the guards posted at the doors, yet, on opening them, they had not found anyone inside.


text:
When the officer in charge at the Temple and the chief priests heard their story, they were perplexed about the apostles and as to what all this would lead to.


text:
Presently, however, some one came and told them, that the men whom they had put in prison were actually standing in the Temple Courts, teaching the people.


text:
Then, the officer went with his men and fetched the apostles — without using violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people —


text:
 “We gave you strict orders,” he said, “not to teach in this name. Yet you have actually flooded Jerusalem with your teaching, and you want to make us responsible for the death of this man.”


text:
It is this Jesus whom God has exalted to his right hand, to be a guide and a Saviour, to give Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.


text:
And we are witness to the truth of this, and so is the Holy Spirit — the gift of God to those who obey him.”


text:
 The members of the Council became frantic with rage on hearing this, and were for putting the apostles to death.


text:
But Gamaliel, a Pharisee, who was a Doctor of the law and who was held in universal respect, rose in the Council, and directed that the men should be taken out of court for a little while.


text:
For not long ago Theudas appeared, professing to be somebody, and was joined by a body of some four hundred men. But he was killed; and all his followers scattered and dwindled away.


text:
After him, Judas the Galilean appeared at the time of the census, and induced people to follow him; Yet he, too, perished and all his followers were dispersed.


text:
And, in this present case, my advice to you is not to interfere with these men, but to let them alone, for, if their designs and their work are merely of human origin, they will come to an end;


text:
but, if they are of divine origin, you will be powerless to put an end to them — or else you may find yourselves fighting against God!”


text:
 The Council followed his advice, and, calling the apostles in, had them flogged, and then, after cautioning them not to speak in the name of Jesus, set them free.


text:
But the apostles left the Council, rejoicing that they had been thought worthy to suffer disgrace for that name;


text:
and never for a single day, either in the Temple Courts or in private houses, did they cease to teach, or to tell the good news of Jesus, the Christ.


text:
About this time, when the number of the disciples was constantly increasing, complaints were made by the Greek speaking Jews against the Aramaic speaking Jews, that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.


text:
The Twelve, therefore, called together the general body of the disciples and said to them: “It is not well for us to see to the distribution at the tables and neglect God’s message.


text:
Therefore, friends, look for seven men of reputation among yourselves, wise and spiritually-minded men, and we will appoint them to attend to this matter;


text:
 This proposal was unanimously agreed to; and the disciples chose Stephen — a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit — and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a former convert to Judaism;


text:
So God’s message spread, and the number of the disciples continued to increase rapidly in Jerusalem, and a large body of the priests accepted the faith.


text:
Meanwhile Stephen, divinely helped and strengthened, was showing great wonders and signs among the people.


text:
But some members of the Synagogue of the Freed Slaves (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and Visitors from Cilicia and Roman Asia, were roused to action and began disputing with Stephen;


text:
Then they induced some men to assert that they had heard Stephen saying blasphemous things against Moses, and against God;


text:
and they stirred up the people, as well as the councillors and the teachers of the law, and set on Stephen, and arrested him, and brought him before the High Council.


text:
There they produced witnesses who gave false evidence. “This man,” they said, “is incessantly saying things against this Holy place and the law;


text:
indeed, we have heard him declare that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and change the customs handed down to us by Moses.”


text:
The eyes of all the members of the Council were riveted on Stephen, and they saw his face looking like the face of an angel.


text:
Stephen replied: “Brothers and fathers, hear what I have to say. God, who manifests himself in the glory, appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, and before he settled in Haran, and said to him —


text:
And so Abraham left the country of the Chaldaeans and settled in Haran; and from there, after his father’s death, God caused him to migrate into this country, in which you are now living.


text:
God did not at that time give him any part of it, not even a foot of ground. But he promised to ‘give him possession of it and his descendants after him, though at that time he had no child.


text:
God’s words were these — ‘Abraham’s descendants will live in a foreign country, where they will be enslaved and ill-treated for four hundred years.


text:
But I myself will judge the nation, to which they will be enslaved,’ God said, ‘and after that they will leave the country and worship me in this place.’


text:
Then God made with Abraham the covenant of circumcision; and under it Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him when he was eight days old; and Isaac became the father of Jacob; and Jacob of the Twelve Patriarchs.


text:
and delivered him out of all his troubles, and enabled him to win favour and show wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him Governor of Egypt and of his whole household.


text:
Then a famine spread over the whole of Egypt and Canaan, causing great distress, and our ancestors could find no food.


text:
Hearing, however, that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob sent our ancestors there on their first visit.


