He who Matt. xvi. 25.

11

39 follow after me, is not worthy of me.

findeth his life will lose it; and he who loseth his
life for my sake will find it.

40 He who receiveth you receiveth me, and he
who receiveth me receiveth Him who sent me.

41 He who receiveth a prophet because he is a 1 Kings xvii. 10.
prophet, will receive a prophet's reward; and he
who receiveth a righteous man because he is a
righteous man, will receive a righteous man's
42 reward. And whosoever shall give to drink, to
one of these little ones, because he is a disciple,
even a cup of cold water, verily, I say to you, he
will in no wise lose his reward.

I

AND when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.

2 NOW, when John had heard in prison of the Luke vii. 18. 3 works of the Christ, he sent by his disciples, and

said to him, Art thou he who cometh, or are we

to look for another?

Isa. xxix. 18.

4 Jesus answered and said to them, Go and tell Isa. xxxv. 5.
5 John those things which ye hear and see: the
blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are
raised, and the poor have the gospel preached

6 to them. And blessed is he who shall not find Isa. viii. 14.
in me cause of stumbling.

7

And as these departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, What went ye

out into the wilderness to view? a reed shaken Eph. iv. 14.

A

8 by the wind? But what went ye out to see? man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they who 9 wear soft raiment are in kings' palaces. But why went ye out? to see a prophet? yea, I say to Io you, and far more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written,

"Behold, I send My messenger before thy face, Who shall prepare thy way before thee." II Verily, I say to you, among those who are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is but little in the 12 kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the

Mal. iii. 1.

Luke xvi. 16.

Mal. iv. 5.

Matt. x. 25.
Luke xv. 2.

Pro. xvii. 24.
Luke x. 13.

Isa. xiv. 13.

Luke x. 21.

Matt. xxviii. 18.
John i. 18.

violent seize upon it. For all the prophets and 13
the Law prophesied until John. And if ye will 14
receive him, this is Elijah who was to come.
who hath ears, let him hear!

He 15

But whereunto shall I liken this generation? 16 It is like children sitting in the market-places, who call to their fellows and say,

"We piped to you, and ye did not dance;
We sang lamentations, and ye did not

mourn.

17

For, John came neither eating nor drinking, 18 and they say, He hath an evil spirit. The Son 19 of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of collectors and outcasts. Yet wisdom is justified by her works (a).

THEN Jesus began to upbraid the cities where- 20 in most of his mighty works had been done, because they repented not: Alas for thee, Chorazin! 21 Alas for thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works which have been done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, 22 it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, 23 Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted to heaven? thou shalt go down to Hades (b); for if the mighty works which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But, I say to you that 24 it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.

Ar that time Jesus answered and said, I thank 25 thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and prudent, and didst reveal them to babes. Even 26 so, Father; for so it seemed good in Thy sight. All things have been delivered unto me by my 27 Father; and no one knoweth the Son, except the Father; neither knoweth any one the Father, except the Son and him to whom the Son will reveal Him.

Come unto me, all ye who labour and are 28

(a) Or (according to some authorities) children.

(b) i.e. the nether world.

12

29 heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my

yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye will find rest 30 for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my

I

burden is light.

AT that time Jesus went through the corn- Deut. xxiii. 25. fields on the Sabbath; and his disciples were

2 to eat.

3

hungry, and began to pluck ears of corn (a) and
But the Pharisees when they saw it said
to him, Behold, thy disciples are doing that
which it is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.

But he said to them, Have ye not read what I Sam. xxi. 6.
David did, when he and they who were with

4 him were hungry; how he entered the house of

GOD, and they ate the showbread, to eat which
was not lawful for him or for those who were

5 with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye Num. xxviii. 9.
not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath day
the priests in the temple break the Sabbath-

6 rest, yet are guiltless? But I say to you, that

7 one greater than the temple is here. And if ye Hos. vi. 6. had known what this meaneth, "I would have

mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have

8 condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man
is Lord of the Sabbath.

9

AND he departed thence, and went into their

10 synagogue; and there was a man who had a Luke xiv. 3. withered hand. And they asked Jesus, saying,

Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?-that they II might accuse him. And he said to them, What Deut. xxii. 4. man shall there be among you who shall have one sheep, and, if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath 12 day, will not lay hold of it, and lift it out? And how much better a man is than a sheep! Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. 13 Then said he to the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored, sound like the other.

14

BUT the Pharisees went out and held a council against Jesus, how they might destroy him. 15 But he perceiving it, withdrew thence. And 16 many followed him, and he healed them all; and

(a) Or wheat.

Isa. xlii. 1.

Luke xi. 14.

Psa. cxxxix. 2.

Dan. ii. 44.

I John ii. 19.

Heb. x. 29.

charged them that they should not make him
known: that what was spoken through Isaiah the 17
prophet might be fulfilled,

'Behold, My servant whom I have chosen; 18
My beloved in whom My soul delighteth;
I will put My Spirit upon him,

And he will declare judgment to the Gen-
tiles.

He will not strive nor cry aloud;

Neither will any one hear his voice in the

19

20

21

THEN was brought to him one who was pos- 22 sessed by an evil spirit, and was blind and dumb; and Jesus cured him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were 23 amazed and said, Is this the son of David? But 24 when the Pharisees heard it they said, This man doth not cast out evil spirits, unless it be by Beelzebub their prince.

And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said to 25 them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. And if 26 Satan casteth out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? And if by Beelzebub I cast out evil spirits, by 27 whom do your sons cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out 28 evil spirits by the Spirit of GOD, then the kingdom of GOD has come upon you. Besides, how 29 can one enter the strong man's house, and plunder his goods, unless he first bind the strong man? and then he will plunder his goods. He who is 30 not with me is against me; and he who gathereth not with me scattereth.

Therefore I say to you, Every sin and blas- 31 phemy will be forgiven to men; except that the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son 32 of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whosoever

speaketh against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

33 Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; Matt. vii. 16. or else, make the tree corrupt, and its fruit cor34 rupt; for, the tree is known by its fruit. Brood Pro. xiii. 3.

of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the 35 mouth speaketh. The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things; and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth 36 evil things. But I say to you that for every idle Ecc. xii. 14. word which men shall speak, they_shall give 37 account in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou wilt be justified, and by thy words thou wilt be condemned.

38

THEN certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, Master, we would see a sign 39 from thee. But he answered and said to them,

An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; but no sign shall be given it except the 40 sign of the prophet Jonah: for, as Jonah was Jonah i. 17. three days and three nights in the belly of the fish; so will the Son of Man be three days and 41 three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, 42 a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the south will rise in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it; for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

Jonah iii. 5.

Kings x. 1.

43 When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, Luke xi. 24. 44 it passeth through dry places seeking rest; and finding none, it saith, I will return to my house whence I came out; and when it has come, it findeth it empty, and swept, and garnished. 45 Then it goeth, and taketh with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man Heb. vi. 4. becometh worse than was the first. Even so it will be with this wicked generation.

46

WHILE he yet talked to the multitudes, his mother and his brothers stood outside, desiring