40 his discourse: But Martha, who was much cumbered about serving, came to him and said: Master, carest thou that my 41 sister leaveth me to serve alone? Bid her therefore assist me.

Jesus answering, said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art anx42 ious, and troublest thyself about many things. One thing only is necessary And Mary hath chosen the good part which shall not be taken from her.

XI.

SECTION VIII.-THE CHARACTER OF THE PHARISEES.

IT happened that Jesus was praying in a certain place; and when he had done, one of his disciples said to him: Master, 2 teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. He an- Matt. 6. 9. swered: When ye pray, say, '[Our] Father, [who art in heaven], thy name be hallowed; thy reign come; [thy will be done 3 upon the earth, as it is in heaven]; give us each day our daily 4 bread; and forgive us our sins, for even we forgive all who offend us; and abandon us not to temptation, [but preserve us from evil].'

Matt. 7. 7. & 21. 22.

Mar. 11. 24.

5 Moreover, he said unto them: Should one of you have a friend, and go to him at midnight, and say, ' Friend, lend me three 6 loaves; for a friend of mine is come off his road to see me, and I have nothing to set before him and he from within should 7 answer, 'Do not disturb me; the door is now locked; I and 8 my children are in bed; I cannot rise to give thee:' I tell you, if the other continue knocking, though he will not rise and supply him because he is his friend, he will, because of his im9 portunity, get up, and give him as many as he wanteth. I likewise tell you, Ask, and ye shall obtain; seek, and ye shall 10 find; knock, and the door shall be opened to you: for who- Ja. 1. 5. soever asketh, obtaineth; whosoever seeketh, findeth; and to 11 every one who knocketh, the door is opened. What father amongst you would give his son a stone, when he asketh bread; or when he asketh a fish, would, instead of a fish give him a 12 serpent; or, when he asketh an egg, would give him a scor13 pion? If ye, therefore, bad as ye are, can give good things to your children; how much more will your Father give from heaven the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Jo. 16. 24.

& 12.22.

14 ONE time he was expelling a demon which caused dumb- Matt. 9: 32. ness; and when the demon was gone out, the dumb spake, and 15 the people wondered. Some however said: He expelleth Mar. 3. 22. 16 demons by Beelzebub prince of the demons. (Others, to try 17 him, asked of him a sign in the sky.) But he thoughts, said to them: By intestine broils any 18 be desolated, one family falling after another.

knowing their
kingdom may
Now, if there

Matt. 12. 43.

2 Pet. 2. 20.
Heb. 6. 4.
& 10. 26.

be intestine broils in the kingdom of Satan, how can that kingdom subsist? for ye say that I expel demons by Beelzebub. 19 Moreover, if I by Beelzebub expel demons, by whom do your sons expel them? Wherefore they shall be your judges. 20 But if I by the finger of God expel demons, the reign of God 21 hath overtaken you. When the strong one armed guardeth his 22 palace, his effects are secure. But, if he who is stronger shall attack and overcome him, he will strip him of his armor on 23 which he relied, and dispose of his spoils. He who is not for me, is against me; and he who gathereth not with me, scattereth.

24

The unclean spirit, when he is gone out of a man, wandereth over parched deserts, in search of a resting-place. But not finding any, he saith, I will return to my house whence I came.' 25. Being come, he findeth it swept and furnished. Whereupon he goeth, and bringeth seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and having entered, they dwell there; and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first.

27

While he was saying these things, a woman raising her voice, cried to him from amid the crowd: Happy the womb which 28 bore thee, and the breasts which suckled thee. Say, rather, replied he: Happy they who hear the word of God and obey it.

Matt. 12. 38. 29

& 16. 4.

1 K. 10. 1.

30

2 Chron. 9. 1. 31

Jon. 3. 5.

When the people crowded together, he said: This is an evil generation. They demand a sign; but no sign shall be given them, save the sign of the Prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so shall the Son of Man be to this generation. The queen of the South* country will arise in the judgment against the men of this generation, and cause them to be condemned; because she came from the extremities of the earth to hear the wise discourses of Solomon; and 32 behold here is something greater than Solomon. The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment against this generation, and cause it to be condemned; because they repented when warned by Jonah: and behold here is something greater than Jonah.

Matt. 5. 15. 33

Mar. 4. 21.
Matt. 6. 22.

A lamp is lighted, not to be concealed, or put under a cornmeasure, but on a stand, that they who enter may have light. 34 The lamp of the body is the eye: when, therefore, thine eye

is sound, thy whole body is enlightened; but when thine eye is 35 distempered, thy body is in darkness. Take heed, then, lest 36 the light which is in thee be darkness. If thy whole body, therefore, be enlightened, having no part dark, the whole will be so enlightened as when a lamp lighteth thee by its flame. While he was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with

37

In the Old Testament Sheba.

38 him. And he went and placed himself at the table. But the Pharisee was surprised to observe, that he used no washing be39 fore dinner. Then the Lord said to him: As for you, Phari- Matt. 23. 25. sees, ye cleanse the outside of your cups and dishes, while ye 40 yourselves are inwardly full of rapacity and malevolence. Un

thinking men! did not he who made the outside, make the in41 side also? Only give in alms what ye have, and all things shall be clean unto you.

42

43

44

45

Wo unto you, Pharisees, because ye pay the tithe of mint Matt. 23. 23. and rue, and every kind of herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These things ye ought to have practised, and not to have omitted those.

Wo unto you, Pharisees, because ye love the most conspicu- Matt. 23. & ous seat in synagogues, and salutations in public places.

Wo unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because ye are like concealed graves, over which people walk without knowing it.

Here one of the lawyers interposing, said: By speaking thus, 46 Rabbi, thou reproachest us also. He answered: Wo unto Matt. 23: 4. you, lawyers, also, because ye lade men with intolerable burdens, burdens which ye yourselves will not so much as touch with one of your fingers.

47

Wo unto you, because ye build the monuments of the pro- Matt. 23. 29. 48 phets, whom your fathers killed. Surely ye are both vouchers and accessories to the deeds of your fathers; for they kill

49

ed then, and ye build their monuments.

Wherefore, thus saith the wisdom of God, 'I will send them pro- Matt. 23, 34. phets and apostles; some of them they will kill, others they will 50 banish; insomuch that the blood of all the prophets which hath been shed since the formation of the world shall be required of

51 this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zecha- Gen. 4. 8. riah, who fell between the altar and the house of God.' Yes,

52

I assure you, all shall be required of this generation.

2 Chr. 24. 20.

Wo unto you, lawyers, because ye have carried off the key Matt. 23. 13. of knowledge: ye have not entered yourselves, and those who were entering, ye hindered.

53 While he spake these things, the Scribes and the Pharisees began vehemently to press him with questions on many points; 54 laying snares for him, in order to draw from his own mouth matters of accusation against him.

Mar. 8. 15.

Mar. 4. 22.

XII. MEANTIME, while the crowd in myriads flocked about him, insomuch that they trod upon one another, he said, address- Matt. 16.6. ing himself to his disciples: Above all things beware of the Matt. 10. 26. 2 leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered that shall not be detected; nothing secret that shall 3 not be known. What ye have spoken in the dark, shall be re

ported in the light; and what ye have whispered in the closet, 4 shall be proclaimed from the house-top. But I charge you, my

friends, fear not them who kill the body, and after that can do 5 no more: but I will show you whom ye ought to fear; fear him 6 who, after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell. I repeat it to you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two 7 pence?* Yet not one of them is forgotten of God: yea, the very hairs of your head are all numbered: Fear not, therefore; 8 ye are much more valuable than sparrows. Moreover, I say unto you, whoever shall acknowledge me before men, him the 2 Tim. 2. 12. 9 Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God; but whoever denieth me before men, shall be disowned before the 10 angels of God. And whoso shall inveigh against the Son of

Mar. 8. 38.

Matt. 12. 32.

Mar. 3. 28.

1 Jo. 5. 16. Matt. 10. 19. Mar. 13. 11.

Man, may obtain remission; but to him who detracteth from the 11 Holy Spirit, there is no remission. And when ye are brought

before synagogues and magistrates, and rulers, be not solicitous 12 how or what ye shall answer, or what ye shall say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that moment what ought to be said.

13 Then one said to him out of the crowd: Rabbi, order my 14 brother to divide the inheritance with me. He answered: Man, 15 who constituted me your judge or arbiter? And he said to

16

them: Be upon your guard against covetousness; for in whatever affluence a man be, his life dependeth not on his possesions.

He also used this example: A certain rich man had lands 17 which brought forth plentifully. And he reasoned thus with

himself, What shall I do; for I have not where to store up my Ecclus. 11. 18 crop?—I will do this, added he, I will pull down my barns, and!

19.

Matt. 6. 25.
Ps. 55. 22..

1 Pet. 5. 7.

build larger, and there I will store up all my product and my 19 goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast plenty of goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, en20 joy thyself.' But God said to him, 'Thou fool, this very night thy soul is required of thee: Whose, then, shall those things be 21 which thou hast provided?' So it fareth with him who amasses treasure for himself, but is not rich towards God.

22

Then he said to his disciples: For this reason I charge you, be not anxious about your life, what ye shall eat; nor about 23 your body, what ye shall wear. Life is a greater gift than food, 24 and the body than raiment. Consider the ravens ; they neith

er sow nor reap; have neither cellar nor barn; but God feed25 eth them. How much more valuable are ye than the fowls?

Besides, which of you can, by his anxiety, prolong his life one 26 hour? If, therefore, ye cannot thus effect even the smallest

* Value three cents, of our money.

27 thing, why are ye anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies: How do they grow? They toil not; they spin not; yet I affirm that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not equally adorned with 28 one of these. If then, God so array the herbage, which to-day is in the field, and to-morrow is cast into the oven; how much 29 more will he array you, O ye distrustful? Ask not ye, there

fore, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; live not in anx30 ious suspense. For all these things the Pagans seek; whereas 31 your Father knoweth that ye need them. But seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be superadded to 32 you. Fear not, my little flock, for it hath pleased your Fath33 er to give you the kingdom. Sell your goods, and give alms; Matt. 6. 20. provide yourselves purses which wear not out; inexhaustible in heaven, where no thieves approach, where nothing is spoiled 34 by worms. For where your treasure is your heart will likewise be.

and 19. 21.

35 Let your loins be girt, and your lamps burning; and your- 1 Pet. 1. 13. 36 selves like those who wait their master's return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may imme37 diately let him in. Happy those servants whom their master, at his return, shall find watching. Verily I say unto you, that he will gird himself, and having placed them at table, will at38 tend and serve them. And whether he come in the second watch, or in the third, if he find things thus, happy are 39 those servants. Ye are certain, that if the master of the house Matt. 24. 43. knew at what hour the thief would come, he would watch, and Rev. 3. 3. 40 not allow him to break into his house. Be ye then always prepared; because the Son of Man will come at an hour when ye are not expecting him.

41 Then Peter said to him: Master, is this comparison direct42 ed to us alone, or to all present? The Lord said: Who now is the discreet and faithful steward whom the master will set over his household, to dispense regularly the allowance of corn! 43 Happy that servant, if his master, at his arrival, shall find him 44 so employed. I tell you truly, he will entrust him with the 45 inanagement of all his estate. But as to the servant who shall

say within himself, My master delayeth his return,' and shall beat the men-servants and the maids, and shall feast and ca46 rouse, and be drunken; the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not expecting him, and at an hour he is not apprised of; and having discarded him, will assign him his 47 portion with the faithless. And that servant who knew his master's will, yet did not make himself ready, nor execute his orders, shall receive many stripes; whereas he who knew it 45 not, but did things deserving chastisement, shall receive few: for much will be required of every one to whom much is given;

VOL. II.

36

1 Thess. 5. 2.

and 16. 15.

Ja. 4. 17.