Isa. 61; 1. 1 Ki. 17: 9. 2 Kl. 5: 14. of the prophet Isaiah; and having opened the book, he found 18 the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, inasmuch as he hath anointed me to publish glad tidings to the poor: he hath commissioned me to heal the brokenhearted, to announce liberty to the captives, and recovery of 19 sight to the blind; to release the oppressed, to proclaim the 20 year of acceptance with the Lord." And having closedt he book, and returned it to the servant, he sat down, and the eyes of 21 all in the synagogue were fixed upon him. And he began with saying to them: This very day the Scripture which ye have 22 just now heard is fulfilled. And all extolled him; but, being astonished at the words full of grace which he uttered, they 23 said, Is not this Joseph's son? He said to them: Ye will doubtless apply to me this proverb, Physician, cure thyself.' Do as great things here in thine own country, as we hear thou 24 hast done in Capernaum. But in fact, added he, no prophet 25 was ever well received in his own country. I tell you of a truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when heaven was shut up for three years and a half, so 26 that there was great famine throughout all the land; yet to none of them was Elijah sent, but to a widow in Sareptat 27 of Sidonia. There were likewise many lepers in Israel in the days of Elisha the prophet; and Naaman the Syrian was 28 cleansed, but none of those. On hearing this, the whole sy29 nagogue were enraged, and, breaking up, drove him out of the city, and brought him to the brow of the mountain whereon their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. 30 But he passing through the midst of them, went away. 31 Then he came to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught Matt. 7, 28. 32 them on the Sabbath. And they were astonished at his manner of teaching; for he spoke with authority. Mar. 1; 22. Mar. 1: 23. 33 Matt. 8: 14. Now there was in the synagogue a man possessed by the 34 spirit of an unclean demon, who roared out, saying: Ah! Jesus of Nazareth, what hast thou to do with us? Art thou come to destroy us? I know who thou art, the Holy One of God. 35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying: Be silent, and come out of him. Whereupon the demon, having thrown him down in the 36 middle of the assembly, came out without harming him. And they were all in amazement, and said one to another: What meaneth this, that with authority and power he commandeth the 37 unclean spirits, and they come out? Thenceforth his fame was blazed in every corner of the country. 38 When he was gone out of the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon, whose wife's mother had a violent fever, and Jehovah. In the Old Testament Zarephath. 39 they entreated him on her behalf. Jesus standing near her, rebuked the fever, and it left her, and she instantly arose and served them. 40 After sunset, all they who had any sick, of whatever kind of disease, brought them to him; and he, laying his hands on ev41 ery one, cured them. Demons also came out of many, crying Mar. 1: 34. out: Thou art the Messiah, the Son of God. But he rebuked them, and would not allow them to speak, because they knew 42 that he was the Messiah. When it was day, he retired into a desert place; and the multitude sought him out, and came to 43 him, and urged him not to leave them; but he said to them: I must publish the good tidings of the reign of God in other 44 cities also, because for this purpose I am sent. Accordingly he made this publication in the synagogues of Galilee. V. ONE time, as he stood by thel ake of Gennezareth,* the 2 multitude pressing upon him to hear the word of God, he saw two barks aground near the edge, but the fishermen were on 3 shore washing their nets. Having gone aboard one of them, which was Simon's, he desired him to put off a little from the land. Then he sat down, and taught the people out of the bark. 4 When he had done speaking, he said to Simon: Launch out 5 into deep water, and let down your nets for a draught. Simon answered: Master, we have toiled all night, and have caught nothing; nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net. 6 Having done this, they enclosed such a multitude of fishes, that 7 the net began to break. And they beckoned to their companions in the other bark to come and help them. And they came and loaded both the barks, so that they were near sinking. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he threw himself at Jesus' knees, 9 crying: Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. For the draught of fishes which they had taken, had filled him and 10 all his companions with terror, particularly James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners. And Jesus said 11 to Simon: Fear not, henceforth thou shalt catch men. And having brought their barks to land, they forsook all and followed him. 12 Mar. 1: 40. When he was in one of the neighboring cities, a man cover- Matt. 8;2. ed with leprosy, happening to see him, threw himself on his face, and besought him, saying: Master, if thou wilt, thou 13 canst cleanse me. Jesus stretching out his hand, and touching him, said: I will; be thou cleansed. That instant his 14 leprosy departed from him, and he commanded him to tell nobody. But go, said he, show thyself to the priest, and pre- Løv. 14: 3. In the Old Testament Chinnereth. Matt. 9: 2. ch. 7: 43. sent the offering appointed by Moses for notifying unto the peo 15 ple that thou art cleansed. Yet so much the more was Jesus every-where talked of, that vast multitudes flocked to hear him, 16 and to be cured by him of their maladies. And he withdrew into solitary places, and prayed. 17 One day as he was teaching, and pharisees and doctors of law, who had come from Jerusalem, and from every town of Galilee and Judea, were sitting by, the power of the Lord 18 was exerted in the cure of the sick. And behold some men carrying on a bed a man afflicted with a palsy, endeavored to 19 bring him in, and place him before Jesus; but finding it im practicable, by reason of the crowd, they got upon the roof, and let him down through the tiling, with the little bed in the midst 20 before him. Jesus perceiving their faith, said to him: Man, 21 thy sins are forgiven thee. On which the Scribes and the Pharisees reasoned thus, ' Who is this that speaketh blasphe22 mies? Can any one forgive sins beside God?' Jesus knowing their thoughts addressed himself to them, and said: What are 23 ye reasoning in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say Thy 24 sins are forgiven thee;' or to say, with effect, Arise and walk? But, that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power upon the earth to forgive sins: Arise, (said he to the palsied man), 25 take up thy bed and return to thy house. That instant he rose in their presence, took up his bed, and returned home glorify26 ing God. Seeing this, they were all struck with amazement and reverence, and glorified God, saying: We have seen incredible things to-day. Matt. 9:9. 27 Mar. 2: 14. Matt. 9, 14. After this he went out, and observing a publican named 28 Levi sitting at the toll-office, said to him: Follow me. And 29 he arose, left all, and followed him. And Levi made him a great entertainment in his own house, where there was a great 30 company of publicans and others at table with them. But the Scribes and the Pharisees of the place murmured, saying to his disciples: Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? 31 Jesus answering, said unto them: It is not the healthy, but the 32 sick, who need a physician. I am come to call, not the righteous, but sinners, to reformation. 33 Then they asked him: How is it that the disciples of John, and likewise those of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, 34 but thine eat and drink? He answered: Would ye have the 35 bridemen fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come wherein the bridegroom shall be taken from 36 them; in those days they will fast. He added this similitude: No body mendeth an old mantle with new cloth; otherwise the new will rend the old; besides, the old and the new will never 37 suit each other. Nobody putteth new wine into old leathern bot tles; otherwise the new wine will burst the bottles, and thus 38 the wine will be spilled, and the bottles rendered useless. But if new wine be put into new bottles, both will be preserved. 39 Besides, a man, after drinking old wine, calleth not immediately for new; for he saith The old is milder.' VI. Mar. 2; 13. ON the Sabbath called second prime, as Jesus was passing Matt. 12: 1. through the corn-fields, his disciples plucked the ears of corn, 2 and rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. And some Pharisees said to them: Why do ye that which it is not lawful on 3 the Sabbath to do? Jesus replying, said to them: Did ye never 1 Sam. 21; 1. read what David and his attendants did, when they were hun- Lev. 24: 5. 4 gry; how he entered the mansion of God, and took and ate the loaves of the presence, and gave also of this bread to his attendants; though it cannot be eaten lawfully by any but the priests? 5 He added: The Son of Man is master even of the Sabbath. 6 It happened also, on another Sabbath, that he went into the Matt. 12: 9. synagogue, and taught; and a man was there, whose right 7 hand was blasted. Now the Scribes and Pharisees watched to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, that they might 8 find matter for accusing him. But he, knowing their thoughts, said to the man whose hand was blasted, arise, and stand in the 9 middle. And he arose and stood. Then Jesus said to them: I would ask you, What is it lawful to do on the Sabbath; Good 10 or ill? To save or to destroy? And looking around on them all, he said to the man: stretch out thy hand; and in doing 11 this his hand was rendered sound like the other. But they were filled with madness, and consulted together what they should do to Jesus. Mar. 3: 1. 12 SECTION V.-THE NOMINATION OF APOSTLES. IN those days Jesus retired to a mountain to pray, and spent 13 the whole night in an oratory. When it was day, he called to Matt. 10: 2. him his disciples and of them he chose twelve, whom he named Mar. 3: 13. 14 apostles: Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew 15 and Thomas, James son of Alpheus, Simon called the Zealous, 16 Judas brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who proved a trai- Jude, 1 17 tor. Afterward, Jesus coming down with them, stopped in a plain, whither a company of his disciples, with a vast multitude from all parts of Judea, Jerusalem, and the maritime country of Tyre and Sidon, were come to hear him, and to be healed of 18 their diseases. Those who were also infested with unclean spirits, VOL. II. 34 Matt. 5: 8. 19 came and were cured. And every one strove to touch him, because a virtue came from him, which healed them all. 20 THEN lifting his eyes on his disciples, he said: Happy ye 21 poor, for the kingdom of God is yours! Happy ye that hunger now, for ye shall be satisfied! Happy ye that weep now, 1 Pet. 3: 14.22 for ye shall laugh! Happy shall ye be when men shall hate Isa. 61: 3. & 4: 14. 1sa. 65: 13. you, and separate you from their society; yea, reproach and 23 defame you, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice on that day, and triumph, knowing that your reward in heaven is 24 great! for thus did their fathers treat the prophets. But wo unto you rich; for ye have received your comforts! Wo 25 unto you that are full; for ye shall hunger! Wo unto 26 you who laugh now; for ye shall mourn and weep! Wo unto you, when men shall speak well of you; for so did their fathers of the false prophets ! Matt. 5:44. 27 Ro. 12: 20. Tob. 4; 16. But I charge you, my hearers, love your enemies, do good 28 to them who hate you, bless them who curse you, and pray for 29 them who traduce you. To him who smiteth thee on one cheek, present the other; and from him who taketh thy man30 tle, withhold not thy coat. Give to every one who asketh thee; and from him who taketh away thy goods, do not deMatt. 7; 12. 31 mand them back. And as ye would that men should do unto 32 you, do ye likewise unto them. For if ye love those only who Matt. 7; 1. Jo. 13. 16. love you, what thanks are ye entitled to; since even sinners 33 love those who love them. And if ye do good to those only who do good to you, what thanks are ye entitled to? since even 34 sinners do the same. And if ye lend to those only from whom ye hope to receive, what thanks are ye entitled to? since even sinners lend to sinners, that they may receive as much in return. 35 But love ye your enemies, do good and lend, nowise despairing; and your reward shall be great; and ye shall be the sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and malig36 nant. Be therefore merciful, as your Father is merciful. 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; release, and ye shall be released; 38 give, and ye shall get good measure, pressed and shaken, and heaped, shall be poured into your lap; for with the same measure wherewith ye give to others, ye yourselves shall receive. Matt. 15; 14. 39 He used also this comparison: Can the blind guide the blind? Matt. 10: 24. 40 Will not both fall into a ditch? The disciple is not above his teacher; but every finished disciple shall be as his teacher. 41 And why observest thou the mote in thy brother's eye? but 42 perceivest not the thorn in thine own eye? Or how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me take out the mote which is in thine eye,' not considering that there is a thorn in thine own eye? Hypocrite, first take the thorn out of thine own eye; |