21 22 Happy ye who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours! Happy are you, when men will hate you; even when they will discard and reproach you, and expose your name as infamous on the account of the son of man; rejoice on that day 23 and leap for joy; for behold your reward in heaven is great; for thus their fathers treated the prophets. 24 But alas! for you who are rich, for you are receiving your consolation. 25 Alas for you who are filled; for you shall hunger. 26 Alas for you who laugh now; for you shall mourn and weep. Alas for you, when all men speak well of you; for thus 27 their fathers did to the false prophets. But I charge you, my 28 hearers, Love your enemies. Do good to them who hate you. Bless them who curse you; and pray for them who spitefully 29 abuse you. To him who smiteth thee on one cheek, present also the other. And from him who taketh thy mantle, withhold 30 not thy coat. Give to every one who asketh thee. And from him who taketh away thy goods, do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish men to do to you, do ye even so to them. If 32 you indeed love them who love you, what thanks are you en33 titled to. For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to them who do good to you, what thanks are 34 you entitled to? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to them from whom you hope to receive; what thanks are you entitled to. For even sinners lend to sinners, that they may 35 receive as much in return. But love your enemies; and do good; and lend without any mistrust, and your reward will be 36 great. And you will be the children of the Most High. Because he is kind, even to the ungrateful and malignant; be ye therefore merciful, even as your Father is merciful. 37 Furthermore, judge not, that so you may not be judged. Condemn not, that so you may not be condemned. Forgive; 38 and you shall be forgiven. Give; and to you will be given— into your lap there shall be given good measure, pressed down and shaken and running over. For with the same measure VOL. IV. with which you mete to others, you shall have measure returned to you. 39 Then he spake a parable to them-Can the blind lead the 40 blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? A scholar is not above his teacher. But every one will be instructed as his teacher is. 41 Now why beholdest thou the mote which is in thy bre42 ther's eye, and perceivest not the splinter which is in thine own eye? Or how canst thou say to thy brother, Hold, brother, Let me take out the mote which is in thine eye, not considering that there is a splinter in thine own eye? Hypocrite, first take the splinter out of thine own eye, and then thou wilt see clearly to take out the mote which is in thy brother's eye. 43 That indeed is not a good tree which beareth bad fruit; 44 nor is that a bad tree which beareth good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from 45 thorns; nor grapes from a bramble bush. The good man out 46 of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good. And the bad man out of the bad treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is bad. For from the overflowing of the heart the mouth speaketh. Now why do you call me, master, master, when ye do not 47 what I command? With regard to every one who cometh to me, and hearkeneth to my words, and doth them, I will tell 48 you to whom he is like. He is like a man building a house, who digged deep and laid a foundation on the rock. And when a flood came, the current beat against that house, but could 49 not shake it, because it was founded on the rock. But he who hath heard and hath not practised, is like a man who built a house on the ground, without a foundation, against which the current beat impetuously, and presently it fell. And great was the ruin of that house. VII. Now when he had finished all these his sayings in the 2 hearing of the people, he went to Capernaum, where a certain centurion's servant, who was dear to his master, was sick 3 and at the point of death. And the centurion, having heard of Jesus, had sent to him the elders of the Jews with a request 4 that he would come and cure his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they pressed him earnestly, saying, He is worthy of 5 this favour; for he loveth our nation, and it was he who built 6 the synagogue for us. So Jesus went with them. But when he was now at no great distance from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying, Sir, trouble not thyself; for I am 7 not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof: and for 8 that reason I did not think myself worthy to come to thee. Say but a word, and my servant will be healed. For even I, who am a man subject to authority, having soldiers under me, say to one, Go; and he goeth: and to another, Come; and he 9 cometh and to my slave, Do this; and he doeth it. When Jesus heard this, he admired him; and turning to the multitude that followed him, he said, I say to you, I have not found 10 such an instance of faith even in Israel. And when they, who had been sent, returned to the house, they found the servant well who had been sick. 11 And on the day following, he went to a city called Nain, 12 accompanied by many of his disciples, and a great crowd. And as he approached the gate of the city, behold the people were carrying out a dead man to be buried-the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And there was a great mul13 titude of the city with her. And when the Lord beheld her, he 14 had compassion on her, and said to her, Weep not. Then he advanced and touched the bier, (now the bearers had stopped) 15 and he said, Young man, I say to thee, Arise. Thereupon he 16 who had been dead, sat up and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. And a dread fell upon all; and they glorified God, saying, A great prophet is risen up among us, 17 and God hath visited his people. And his fame spread through all Judea and through all the neighbouring country. 18 When John was informed by his disciples of all these 19 things, he called two of them and sent them to Jesus, saying, 20 Thou art the one coming: may we expect another? And when the men came to him, they said, John the baptist hath sent us to thee, saying, Thou art the one coming: may we expect 21 another? Now at that very time he was curing many of diseases, and maladies, and evil spirits, and graciously bestow22 ing sight to many who were blind. And Jesus answering, said to them, Go and tell John what you have seen and heard; that the blind see; the lame walk; lepers are cleansed; deaf hear; dead are raised to life, and the poor have glad tidings pro23 claimed to them. And happy is he who shall not be stumbled 24 at me. And when John's messengers were gone, he took occasion to say to the people respecting John, What went ye out to the 25 wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what went ye out to see? A man clothed with soft raiment? Behold they who are splendidly dressed, and who live luxuriously, are to 26 be found in royal palaces. But what went ye out to see? A 27 prophet? Yes, I tell you, and something more than a prophet. This is he, of whom it is written, "Behold I send my messenger before thee, who shall prepare thy way for thee.*" For I 28 say to you, Among those who are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the baptist, but the least in the 29 kingdom of God is a greater than he. All the people indeed, even 30 the publicans, when they heard, justified God by submitting to the baptism of John; but the Pharisees and the teachers of the law made null, with regard to themselves, the counsel of God, 31 by not submitting to be baptized by him; therefore the Lord said, To what shall I compare the men of this generation, and 32 to what are they like? They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one another, and say, We have played on the pipe for you, and you have not danced: we have 33 sung for you songs of woe, and you have not wept. For John the baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and 34 you say, He hath a demon. The son of man came eating and drinking; and you say, Behold a gluttonous man and a wine 35 bibber; a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified by all her children. 36 When one of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he had gone to the Pharisee's house and placed himself at 37 table, behold a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that he was at table in the Pharisee's house, took an ala38 baster bottle of myrrh, and standing behind, at his feet, weeping, she first bathed his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the tresses of her hair. Then she kissed his feet and Mal. 3. 1. 39 anointed them with the myrrh. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said within himself, if this man were a prophet, he would know what sort of a woman this is, who 40 toucheth him-that she is a sinner. Thereupon Jesus addressing him, said; Simon, I have something to say to thee. And 41 he saith, Teacher, say it. A certain creditor had two debtors. The one owed him five hundred deniars; and the other fif42 ty. And as they had not wherewithal to pay, he forgave them 43 both. Which of them, therefore, said he, will love him most? 44 To which Simon replied, He, I suppose, to whom he forgave most. Jesus said to him, Thou hast judged rightly. Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, Thou seest this woman? I came to thy house: Thou gavest me no water for my feet; but she with her tears hath washed my feet, and 45 wiped them with the hairs of her head: Thou gavest me no 46 kiss: but she, since I came in, hath not ceased kissing my feet. My head thou didst not anoint with oil: but she hath anointed 47 my feet with myrrh. For what reason? I tell thee. Her sins which are many, are forgiven her; therefore her love is great. 48 But he to whom little is forgiven, hath little love. Then he 49 said to her, Thy sins are forgiven. Upon this, they who were at table with him began to say within themselves, Who is this 50 that forgiveth sins? Thereupon he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee, Go in peace. VIII. Immediately after this he travelled through cities and villages, publishing and proclaiming the glad tidings of the reign of God, accompanied by the twelve, and by certain women who had been delivered from evil spirits and diseases, particularly Mary, called Magdalene, out of whom had gone 3 seven demons; and Joanna the wife of Chusa, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to him out of 4 their possessions. And as a great multitude were coming together, and those in every city were flocking to him, he said *About sixty dollars. † About six dollars. Literally, Her sins, which are many, must needs have been forgiven, since she hath loved much. In Chap. 23. 40. and Acts 1. 17. the Greek particle or is used in the same sense, and signifies since, ⚫r seeing that. |