The Gospel of Luke, chapters 10 through 14 from the twentieth century New Testament. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by J. A. Carter. www.authenticlight.org. The twentieth century New Testament by a company of about twenty scholars. The Gospel of Luke, chapters 10 through 14. CHAPTER X 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. The harvest, he said, is abundant, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray to the owner of the harvest to send laborers to gather in his harvest. Now go. Remember, I am sending you out as messengers like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse with you or a bag or sandals, and do not stop to greet anyone on your journey. Whatever house you go to stay at, begin by praying for a blessing on it. Then, if anyone there is deserving of a blessing, your blessing will rest upon him. But if not, it will come back upon yourselves. Join at that same house and eat and drink whatever they offer you, for the worker is worth his wages. Do not keep changing from one house to another. Whatever town you visit, if the people welcome you, eat what is set before you. Cure the sick there, and tell people the kingdom of God is close at hand. But whatever town you go to visit, if the people do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, We wipe off the very dust of your town which has clung to our feet. Still, be assured that the kingdom of God is close at hand. I tell you that the doom of Sodom will be more bearable on that day than the doom of that town. Alas for you, Corazon. Alas for you, Bethsaida. For if the miracles which had been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have sat in sackcloth and ashes and repented long ago. Yet the doom of Tyre and Sidon will be more bearable at the judgment than yours.  You shall go down to the place of death. He who listens to you is listening to me, and he who rejects you is rejecting me, while he who rejects me is rejecting him who sent me as his messenger. When the seventy-two returned, they exclaimed joyfully, Master, even the demons submit to us when we use your name. And Jesus replied, I have had visions of Satan fallen like lightning from the heavens. Remember, I have given you the power to trample upon serpents and scorpions and to meet all the strength of the enemy. Nothing shall ever harm you in any way. Yet do not rejoice in the fact that the Spirit submit to you, but rejoice that your names have been enrolled in heaven. At that same time, moved to exaltation by the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that though thou hast hidden these things from the wise and learned, thou hast revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, I thank thee that this has seemed good to thee. 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. Then turning to his disciples, Jesus said to them alone, Blessed are the eyes that see what you are seeing, for I tell you many prophets and kings wished for the sight of the things which you are seeing, and yet never saw them, and to hear the things which you are hearing, yet never heard them. 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 immortal life? What is said in the law? answered Jesus. What do you read there?  You have answered right, said Jesus. Do that and you shall live. But the man, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? To which Jesus replied, 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. As it chanced a priest was going down by that road. He saw the man, but passed by on the opposite side. A Levite, too, did the same. He came up to the spot, but when he saw the man, passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan, travelling that way, came upon the man and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. He went up 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. The next day he took out four shillings 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. Now, which do you think of these three men, asked Jesus, proved himself a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands? The one that took pity on him was the answer. On which Jesus said, Go and do the same yourself. As they continued their journey, Jesus came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him to her house. She had a sister called Mary, who seated herself at the master's feet and listened to his teaching. 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. Martha, Martha, replied the master, you are anxious and trouble yourself about many things, but only a few are necessary, or rather one. Mary has chosen the good part, and it shall not be taken away from her. CHAPTER XI.  When you pray, Jesus answered, Say, Father, may thy name be held holy, thy kingdom come. Give us each day the bread that we shall need, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive every one who wrongs us, and take us not into temptation. Jesus also said to them, 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, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house after a journey, and I have nothing to offer him. 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.   Search, and you shall find. Knock, and the door shall be opened to you. For he that asks receives, and he that searches finds, and to him that knocks the door shall be opened. What father among you, if his son asks him for a fish, will give him a snake instead, or if he asks for an egg will give him a scorpion. 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 that ask him?  The people were amazed at this, but some of them said he drives out demons by the help of Beelzebub, the chief of the demons, while others, to test him, asked him for some sign from the heavens. Jesus himself, however, was aware of what they were thinking, and said to them, Any kingdom wholly divided against itself becomes a desolation, and a divided house falls. 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 Beelzebub, but if it is by Beelzebub's help that I drive out demons, by whose help is it that your own sons drive them out? Therefore they shall themselves be your judges. But if it is by the hand of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God must already be upon you. When a strong man is keeping guard, fully armed over his own mansion, his property is in safety. 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. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not help me to gather is scattering. No sooner does a foul spirit leave a man 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, but on coming there it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order, 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.  But Jesus replied, Happy, rather, are those who listen to God's message and keep it. As the crowds increased, Jesus began to speak, This generation is a wicked generation. It is asking for a sign, but no sign shall be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so shall the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation and will condemn them, because she came from the very ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and here is more than a Solomon. 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. No one sets light to a lamp and then puts it in the cellar or under the cornmeasure, but he puts it on the lampstand, so that anyone who comes in may see the light. 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. Take care, therefore, that the inner light is not darkness. 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. As Jesus finished speaking, a Pharisee asked him to breakfast with him, and Jesus went in and took his place at table. The Pharisee noticed, to his astonishment, that Jesus omitted the ceremonial washing before breakfast. But the Master said to him, 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. Fools! Did not the Maker of the outside make the inside too? Only give away what is in them in charity, and at once you have the whole clean. But alas for you Pharisees! You pay ties on mint, roux, 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. Alas for you Pharisees!  Alas for you! You are like unsuspected graves over which men walk unawares. Here one of the students of the law interrupted him by saying, Teacher, when you say this you are insulting us also. But Jesus went on. Alas for you too, you students of the law. You load men with loads that are too heavy to carry, but do not yourselves touch them with one of your fingers. Alas for you! You build the monuments of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. 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. That is why the wisdom of God said, I will send to them prophets and apostles, 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. 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. 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. When Jesus left the house, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees began to press him hard and question him closely upon many subjects, laying traps for him so as to seize upon anything that he might say. CHAPTER XII Meanwhile the people had gathered in thousands so that they trod upon one another, when Jesus addressing himself to his disciples began by saying to them, Be on your guard against the leaven that is the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. There is nothing however covered up which will not be uncovered nor anything kept secret which will not become known. Hence 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 upon the house-tops. 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. 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 the pit. Yes, I say, be afraid of him. Are not five sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them has escaped God's notice. No, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows.  But he who disowns me before his fellow men will be altogether disowned before God's angels. Everyone who shall say anything against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But for him who slanders the Holy Spirit there will be no forgiveness. 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 defense will be or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will show you at the moment what you ought to say. Teacher, a man in the crowd said to Jesus, Tell my brother to share the property with me. But Jesus said to him, Man, who made me a judge or an arbiter between you, and then he added, Take care to keep yourselves free from every form of covetousness, for even in the height of his prosperity a man's true life does not depend on what he has. Then Jesus told them this parable. There was once a rich man, whose land was very fertile, and he began to ask himself, What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops? This is what I will do, he said. I will pour down my barns and build larger ones and store all my grain and my goods in them. And I will say to myself, Now you have plenty of good things put by for many years.  But God said to the man, Fool, this very night your life is being demanded, and as for all that you have prepared, who will have it? So it is with those who lay by wealth for themselves and are not rich to the glory of God. And Jesus said to his disciples, 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. Your life is more than food and the body than its clothes. 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. But which of you by being anxious can prolong his life a moment? And if you cannot do even the smallest thing, why be anxious about the other things? Think of the lilies, and how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you even Solomon, and all his splendor was not robed like one of these. If even in the field God so close the grass which is living to-day and tomorrow will be thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O men of little faith. And you, do not be always seeking what you can get to eat or what you can get to drink, and do not waver. These are the things for which all the nations of the world are seeking, and your father knows that you need them. No, seek his kingdom, and these things shall be added for you. So do not be afraid, my little flock, for your father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell what belongs to you, and give in charity. Make yourselves purses that will not wear out, and inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near or moth works ruin. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. Make yourselves ready, with your lamps alight, and be like men 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. Happy are those servants whom, on his return, the master will find watching. I tell you that he will make himself ready and bid them take their places at table, and will come and wait upon them. 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. This you do know, that had the owner of the house known at which time the thief was coming, he would have been on the watch and would not have let his house be broken into. Do you also prepare? For when you are least expecting him, the son of man will come. Master, said Peter, are you telling this parable with reference to us or to everyone? Who then, replied the master, 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? Happy will that servant be, whom his master, when he comes home, shall find doing this? His master, I tell you, will put him in charge of the whole of his property. But should that servant say to himself, my master is a long time coming, and began to beat the men servants and maid servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, that servant's master will come on a day when he does not expect him, and in an hour when he is unaware, and will flog him severely and assign him his place among the untrustworthy. The servant who knows his master's wishes, and yet does not prepare and act accordingly, will receive many lashes. But one who does not know his master's wishes, but acts so as to deserve a flogging, will receive but few. From every one 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. I came to cast fire upon the earth, and what more can I wish if it is already kindled? There is a baptism that I must undergo, and how great is my distress until it is over. Do you think that I am here to give peace on earth?  For from this time, if there are five people in a house, they will be divided, three against two, and two against three. 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, and to the people, Jesus said. When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, there is a storm coming, and come it does. And when you see that the wind is in the south, you say, it will be burning hot, and so it proves. Hippocrates, you know how to judge of the earth and the sky. How is it that you cannot judge of this time? Why do not you yourselves decide what is right? 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. For fear that he should drag you before the judge, when the judge will hand you over to the bailiff of the court, and the bailiff throw you into prison. You will not, I tell you, come out until you have paid the very last farthing. CHAPTER XIII. Just at that time, some people had come to tell Jesus about the Galileans whose blood pilot had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Do you suppose, reply Jesus, that because these Galileans have suffered in this way, they were worse sinners than any other Galileans? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen minutes soloam on whom the tower fell, killing them all. Do you suppose that they were worse offenders than any other inhabitants of Jerusalem? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same manner. And Jesus told them this parable. A man who had a fig-tree growing in his vineyard came to look for fruit on it but could not find any. 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? Leave it this one year more, sir, the man answered, till I have dug round it and manured it. Then, if it bears in future, well and good. But if not, you can have it cut down. Jesus was teaching on a Sabbath in one of the synagogues 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. When Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said, Woman, you are released from your weakness. He placed his hands on her and she was instantly made straight and began to praise God. But the president of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had worked this cure on the Sabbath, interposed and said to the people, There are six days on which work ought to be done. Come and be cured on one of those and not on the Sabbath.  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? As he said this, his opponents all fell to shamed. But all the people rejoiced to see all the wonderful things that he was doing. So Jesus said, What is the kingdom of God like, and to what can I like in it? 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. And again Jesus said, To what can I like in the kingdom of God? It is like some yeast which a woman took and covered in three pecks of flour until the whole had risen. Jesus went through towns and villages teaching as he went and making his way toward Jerusalem. Master, someone asked, Are there but few in the path of salvation? And Jesus answered, Strive to go in by the small door. Many, I tell you, will seek to go in, but they will not be able, 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. 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, I do not know where you come from. Leave my presence, all you who are living in wickedness. 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. People will come from east and west and from north and south and take their places at the banquet in the kingdom of God. There are some who are last now who will then be first, and some who are first now who will then be last.  But Jesus answered, Go and say to that fox, Look you, I am driving out demons and shall be completing cures to-day and to-morrow and on the third day I shall have done. But to-day and to-morrow and the day after I must go on my way, because it cannot be that a prophet should meet his end outside Jerusalem. Jerusalem. Jerusalem. She who slays the prophets and stones the messengers sent to her. O 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. Verily your house is left to you desolate, and never I tell you shall you see me until you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Chapter 14 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. There he saw before him a man who was suffering from dropsy. Is it allowable, said Jesus, addressing the students of the law and the Pharisees, to work a cure on the Sabbath, or is it not? They remained silent. Jesus took hold of the man and cured him and sent him away. And he said to them, Which of you, finding that his son or his ox has fallen into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day? And they could not make any answer to that. Observing that the guests were choosing the best places for themselves, Jesus told them this parable. When you are invited by anyone to a wedding banquet, do not seat yourself in the best place, for fear that someone of higher rank should have been invited by your host, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, Make room for this man, and then you will begin in confusion to take the lowest place. No, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place, so that when he who has invited you comes, he may say to you, Friend, come higher up, and then you will be honored in the eyes of all your fellow guests. For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Then Jesus went on to say to the man who had invited him, When you give a breakfast or a dinner, do not ask your friends or your brothers or your relations or rich neighbors for fear that they should invite you in return, and so you would be repaid. No, when you entertain, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and then you will be happy indeed, since they cannot recompense you, for you shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the good. One of the guests heard what he said and exclaimed, Happy will he be who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God? But Jesus said to him, A man was once giving a great dinner. He invited many people 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. They all, with one accord, began to ask to be excused. The first man 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. The next said, I have bought five pairs of bullocks, and am on my way to try them. I must ask you to consider me excused. While the next said, I am just married, and for that reason I am unable to come. 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. Presently, the servant said, Sir, your order has been carried out, and still there is room. Go out, the master said, into the rows and hedge rows, and make people come in so that my house may be filled, for I tell you all that not one of those men who were invited will taste my dinner. One day, when great crowds of people were walking with Jesus, he turned and said to them, If any man comes to me, and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and his very life, he can be no disciple of mine. Whoever does not carry his own cross and walk in my steps can be no disciple of mine. Why, which of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and reckon the cost to see if he is enough to complete it, for fear that if he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it should begin to laugh at him and say, Here is the man who began to build and was not able to finish. 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? And if he cannot, then while the other is still at a distance he sends envoys and asks for terms of peace, and so with every one of you who does not bid farewell to all he has, he cannot be a disciple of mine. Yes, salt is good, but if the salt itself should lose its strength, what shall be used to season it? It is not fit either for the land or for the manure heap. Men throw it away. Let him who has ears to hear with. Here. End of chapters 10 through 14. The Gospel of Luke, chapters 15 through 19, from the twentieth century New Testament. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by J. A. Carter, www.authenticlight.org. The twentieth century New Testament, by a company of about twenty scholars. The Gospel of Luke, chapters 15 through 19. Chapter 15 The tax-gatherers and the outcasts were all drawing near to Jesus to listen to him, but the Pharisees and the teachers of the law found fault. This man always welcomes outcasts and takes meals with them, they complained. So Jesus told them this parable. What man 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 till he finds it? And when he has found it, he puts it on his shoulders rejoicing, and on reaching home he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, Come and rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. So I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one outcast that repents than over ninety-nine religious men who have no need to repent. Or again, what woman who has tin silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, Come and rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I lost. So I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of God's angels over one outcast that repents. Then Jesus continued, A man had two sons, 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. 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 disillute life. After he had spent all that he had, there was a severe famine through all that country, and he began to be an actual want. So he went and engaged himself to one of the people of that country, who sent him into his fields to tin pigs. He even longed to satisfy his hunger with the bean pods on which the pigs were feeding, and no one gave him anything. 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 I am I starving to death. I will get up and go to my father and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son. Make me one of your hired servants. 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. Father, the son said, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son. Make me one of your hired servants. But the father turned to his servants and said, Be quick and fetch a robe, the very best, and put it on him.  For here is my son who was dead and is alive again, was lost and is found. So they began making merry. Meanwhile, the elder son was out in the fields. But on coming home when he got near the house he heard music and dancing and he called one of his servants and asked what it all meant.  This made him angry and he would not go in. But his father came out and begged him to do so.  But no sooner has this son of yours come who has eaten up your property and the company of prostitutes than you have killed the fattened calf for him. Child, the father answered, You are always with me and everything that I have is yours. We could but make merry and rejoice, for here is your brother who was dead and is alive, who was lost and is found. Jesus said to his disciples, There was a rich man who had a steward and this steward was maliciously accused to him of wasting his estate. So the master called him and said, What is this that I hear about you? Give in your accounts for you cannot act as a steward any longer. 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. 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. One by one he called up his master's debtors. How much do you owe my master? he asked the first. 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 twenty. 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. 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. 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. He who is trustworthy in the smallest matter is trustworthy in a great one also. And he who is dishonest in the smallest matter is dishonest in a great one also. So if you have proved untrustworthy with the dishonest money, who will trust you with the true? And if you have proved untrustworthy with what does not belong to us, who will give you what is really your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate one and love the other or else he will attach himself to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. All this was said within hearing of the Pharisees who were lovers of money, and they began to sneer at Jesus. You, said Jesus, are the men who justify themselves before the world, but God can read your hearts, and what is highly esteemed among men may be an abomination in the sight of God. 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 his way into it. 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. Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman is an adulterer, and the man who marries a divorced woman is an adulterer. There was once a rich man who dressed in purple robes and fined linen and feasted every day in great splendor. Near his gateway there had been laid a beggar named Lazarus, who was covered with sores and who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table. Even the very dogs came and licked his sores. After a time the beggar died and was taken by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In the place of death he looked up in his torment and saw Abraham at a distance and Lazarus at his side. 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. 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. 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. Then, Father, he said, I beg you to send Lazarus to my Father's house, for I have five brothers, to warn them so that they may not come to this place of torture also. They have the writings of Moses and the prophets, replied Abraham. Let them listen to them. But Father Abraham, he urged, if someone from the dead were to go to them, they would repent. If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, answered Abraham, they will not be persuaded even if someone were to rise from the dead. Chapter 17 Jesus said to his disciples, It is inevitable that there should be snares, yet alas for him who is answerable for them. It would be good for him if he had been flung into the sea with a millstone round his neck, rather than that he should prove a snare to even one of these lowly ones. Be on your guard. If your brother does wrong, reprove him. But if he repents, forgive him. Even if he wrongs you seven times a day but turns to you every time and then says, I am sorry, you must forgive him. Give us more faith, said the apostles to the Master. But the Master said, 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.  Does he feel grateful to his servant for doing what he is told? 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. On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus passed between Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, tin lepers met him.  When Jesus saw them, he said, Go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they were on their way, they were made clean. One of them, finding he was cured, came back praising God loudly and threw himself on his face at Jesus' feet, thanking him for what he had done. And this man was a Samaritan. Were not all the tin made clean, exclaimed Jesus? But the nine, where are they? Were there none to come back and praise God except this foreigner? Get up, he said to him, and go on your way. Your faith has delivered you. Being once asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God was to come, Jesus answered, The kingdom of God does not come in a way that admits of observation, nor will people say, Look, here it is, or there it is, for the kingdom of God is within you. The day will come, he said to his disciples, when you will long to see but one of the days of the Son of Man, and will not see it. People will say to you, There he is, or here he is. Do not go and follow them, 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. But first he must undergo much suffering, and he must be rejected by the present generation. As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be again in the days of the Son of Man. 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. So too in the days of Lot people were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building, but on the very day on which Lot came out of Sodom it rained fire and sulfur from the skies, and destroyed them all. It will be the same on the day on which the Son of Man reveals himself. On that day, if a man is on his housetop and his goods in the house, he must not go down to get them, nor again must one on the farm turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever is eager to get the most out of this life will lose it, but whoever will lose it shall preserve it. On that night I tell you, of two men upon the same bed, one will be taken and the other left. Of two women grinding together, one will be taken and the other left. Where will it be, Master? interposed the disciples. Where there is a body, said Jesus, there will the vultures flock. CHAPTER XVIII Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and never despair. There was, he said, in a certain town a judge who had no fear of God nor regard for man. In the same town there was a widow who went to him again and again and said, grant me justice against my opponent. For a time the judge refused, but afterwards he said to himself, although I am without fear of God or regard for man, yet as this widow is so troublesome I will grant her justice and stop her from plaguing me with her endless visits. Then the Master added, listen to what this iniquitous judge says, 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? He will, I tell you, have justice done them, and that soon. Yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? Another time, speaking to people who were satisfied that they were religious and who regarded everyone else with scorn, Jesus told this parable. Two men went up into the temple courts to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood forward and began praying to himself in this way. O God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of everything I get to God. 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, O God, have mercy on me, a sinner. This man, I tell you, went home pardoned rather than the other. For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, while every one who humbles himself shall be exalted. 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. Jesus, however, called the little children to him. Let the little children come to me, he said, and do not hinder them, for it is to the childlike that the kingdom of God belongs. I tell you, unless a man receives the kingdom of God like a child, he will not enter it at all. And one of the presidents asked Jesus this question. Good teacher, what must I do if I am to gain immortal life? Why do you call me good? answered Jesus. No one is good, but God. You know the commandments. Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not say what is false about others, honor your father and your mother. I have observed all these, he replied, from childhood. Hearing this, Jesus said to him, There is one thing still lacking in you. Sell everything that you have, and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have wealth in heaven. Then come and follow me. But the man became greatly distressed on hearing this, for he was extremely rich. Seeing this, Jesus said to his disciples, How hard it is for men of wealth to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier, indeed, for a camel to get through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Then who can be saved? asked those who heard this. But Jesus said, What is impossible with men is possible with God. But we, said Peter, we left what belonged to us and followed you. I tell you, he answered that there is no one who has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children on account of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much in the present, and in the age that is coming, immortal life. Gathering the twelve round him, Jesus said to them, Listen, we are going up to Jerusalem, and there everything that is written in the prophets will be done to the Son of Man. For he will be given up to the Gentiles, mocked, insulted, and spat upon. They will scourge him, and then put him to death. And on the third day he will rise again. The apostles did not comprehend any of this. His meaning was unintelligible to them, and they did not understand what he was saying. As Jesus was getting near Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. Hearing a crowd going by, the man asked what was the matter. And when people told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing, he shouted out, Jesus, Son of David, take pity on me. 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. Then Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. And when he had come close to him, Jesus asked him, What do you want me to do for you? Master, he said, I want to recover my sight. And Jesus said, Recover your sight. Your faith has delivered you. Instantly, he recovered his sight and began to follow Jesus, praising God. And all the people on seeing it gave glory to God. Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. There was a man there, known by the name of Zacchaeus, who was a commissioner of taxes and a rich man. He tried to see what Jesus was like, but being short, he was unable to do so because of the crowd. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a mulberry tree to see Jesus, for he knew that he must pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, be quick and come down, for I must stop at your house today. So Zacchaeus got down quickly and joyfully welcomed him. On seeing this, everyone began to complain. He has gone to stay with a man who is an outcast. 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 any one of anything, I will give him back four times as much.  The son of man has come to search for those who are lost and to save them. 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. He said, A nobleman once went to a distant country to receive his appointment to a kingdom and then return. He called ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds each, and told them to trade with them during his absence. But his subjects hated him and sent envoys after him to say, We will not have this man as our king. 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. The first came up and said, Sir, your ten pounds have made a hundred. Well done, good servant, exclaimed the master. As you have proved trustworthy in a very small matter, I appoint you Governor over ten pounds. Then the second came and said, Your ten pounds, sir, have produced fifty.  Another servant also came and said, Sir, here are your ten pounds. I have kept them put away in a handkerchief. 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.  You knew that I am a stern man, that I take what I have not planted and reap what I have not sown. Then why did you not put my money into a bank? And I on my return could have claimed it with interest. Take away from him the ten pounds, he said, to those standing by, and give them to the one who has the hundred. But, sir, they interposed, he has a hundred pounds already. 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. 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. After saying this, Jesus went on in front, going up to Jerusalem. It was when Jesus had almost reached Bethfaj and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, that he sent on two of the disciples. Go to the village facing us, he said, and when you get there you will find a fold tethered which no one has yet written. Untie it and lead it here. And if anybody asks you why are you untieing it, you are to say this. The master wants it. So the two who were sent went and found it as Jesus had told them. While they were untieing the fold, the owners asked them, why are you untieing the fold? And the two disciples answered, the master wants it. Then they led it back to Jesus and threw their cloaks on the fold and put Jesus upon it. As he went along the people kept spreading their cloaks in the road. When he had almost reached the place where the road led down the Mount of Olives, every one of the many disciples began in their joy to praise God loudly for all the miracles that they had seen. Blessed is he who comes, our King, in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory on high. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, Teacher, reprove your disciples. But Jesus answered, I tell you that if these men are silent the very stones will call out. When he drew near on seeing the city he wept over it and said, Would that 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. For a time is coming upon you when your enemies will surround you with earthworks and encircle you and hem you in on all sides.  Jesus went into the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling, saying as he did so, Scripture says, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers. 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 leading men. Yet they could not see what to do, for the people all hung upon his words. End of CHAPTERS 15 THROUGH 19 CHAPTER 20 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 counsellors, confronted him and addressing him, said, Tell us what authority you have to do these things. Who is it that has given you this authority? I too, said Jesus in reply, will ask you one question. Give me an answer to it. It is about John's baptism. Was it of divine or of human origin? But they began arguing together. If we say divine, he will say, Why did not you believe him? But if we say human, the people will all stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet. So they answered that they did not know its origin. Then I, said Jesus, refused to tell you what authority I have to do these things. But Jesus began to tell the people this parable. A man once planted a vineyard, then let it out to tenants and went abroad for a long while. At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants that they should give him a share of the produce of the vineyard. The tenants, however, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. The owner afterwards sent another servant, but the tenants beat and insulted this man, too, and sent him away empty-handed. He sent a third, but they wounded this man also and threw him outside. What shall I do? said the owner of the vineyard. I will send my son, who is very dear to me. Perhaps they will respect him. 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. So they threw him outside the vineyard and killed him. Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and put those tenants to death and will let the vineyard to others. Heaven forbid, they exclaimed when they heard it. But Jesus looked at them and said, What then is the meaning of this passage? The very stone which the builders despised has now itself become the corner stone. Everyone who falls on that stone will be dashed to pieces, while any one on whom it falls it will scatter him as dust. After this the teachers of the law and the chief priests 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. Having watched their opportunity, they afterwards sent some spies who pretended to be good men to cast Jesus in the course of conversation and so enable them to give him up to the governor's jurisdiction and authority. These men 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 man's position but teach the way of God honestly. Are we right in paying tribute to the emperor or not? Seeing through their deceitfulness, Jesus said to them, Show me a florin. Whose head and title are on it? The emperors they said. And Jesus replied, Well then, pay to the emperor what belongs to the emperor, and to God what belongs to God. They could not lay hold of this answer before the people, and in their wonder at his reply they held their tongues. Presently there came up some Sadducees who maintained that there is no resurrection. Their question was this. 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. Well, there were once seven brothers of whom the eldest after taking a wife died childless. The second and third brothers both took her as their wife, and so two did all the seven, dying without children. The woman herself was the last to die. About the woman then. At the resurrection, whose wife is she to be, all seven brothers having had her as their wife. The men and women of this world said Jesus, Mary, and are given in marriage. 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, nor indeed can they die again, for they are like angels, and having shared in the resurrection they are God's sons. 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.  Well, said teacher, exclaimed some of the teachers of the law, for they did not venture to question him any further. But Jesus said to them, How is it that people say that the Christ is to be David's son? For David, in the book of Psalms, says himself, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I put thy enemies as a stool for thy feet. David then calls him Lord, so how is he David's son? While all the people were listening, Jesus said to the disciples, Be 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, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at dinner. These are the men who rob widows of their houses and make a pretense of saying long prayers. Their sentence will be all the heavier. CHAPTER XXI. Looking up, Jesus saw the rich people, putting their gifts into the chests for the temple offerings. He saw, too, a widow in poor circumstances putting too far things into them. On this he said, I tell you that this poor widow has put in more than all the others. For everyone else here put in something from what they had to spare, while she and her need has put in all she had to live upon. When some of them spoke about the temple being decorated with beautiful stones and offerings, Jesus said, As for these things that you are looking at, a time is coming when not one stone will be left upon another here, which will not be thrown down. So the disciples questioned Jesus. But teacher, when will this be? And what sign will there be when this is near? And Jesus said, 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. 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. Then he said to them, Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be great earthquakes and plagues and famines in various places, and there will be terrible appearances and signs in the heavens.  Then will be your opportunity of witnessing for me. Make up your minds, therefore, not to prepare your defense, for I will myself give you words and a wisdom which all your opponents together will be unable to resist or defy.  Yet not a single hair of your heads shall be lost.  As soon, however, as you see Jerusalem surrounded by armed camps, then you may know that the hour of her desecration is at hand. 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, for these are to be the days of vengeance when all that scripture says will be fulfilled. I'll ask for the women that are with child and for those that are nursing infants in those days, for there will be great suffering in the land and anger against this people. 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 shall be. 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. Men's hearts will fail them through dread of what is coming upon the world, for the forces of the heavens will be convulsed. Then will be seen the son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory, and when these things begin to occur, look upwards and lift up your heads, for your deliverance will be at hand. Then he taught them a lesson, thus. Look at the fig tree and all the other trees. As soon as they shoot, you know as you look at them without being told that summer is near. And so may you, as soon as you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. I tell you that even the present generation will not pass away till all has taken place. The heavens and the earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Be on your guard lest your mind should ever be dulled by debauches or drunkenness or the anxieties of life, unless that day should come suddenly upon you like a snare, for come it will upon all who are living upon the face of the whole earth. 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. 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, and all the people would get up early in the morning and come to listen to him in the temple courts. CHAPTER XXII The feast of the unleavened bread known as the Passover was near. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for an opportunity of destroying Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. Now Satan took possession of Judas, who was known as Ascariot, and who belonged to the Twelve, and he went and discussed with the chief priests and officers in charge of the temple the best way of betraying Jesus to them. They were glad of this, and agreed to pay him. So Judas ascended and looked for an opportunity to betray Jesus to them in the absence of a crowd. When the day of the festival of the unleavened bread came, on which the Passover lambs had to be killed, Jesus sent forward Peter and John, saying to them, Go and make preparations for our eating the Passover. Where do you wish us to make preparations? They asked. Listen, he answered, When you have gone into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him into whatever house he enters, and you shall 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? The man will show you a large upstairs room set out. There make preparations. So Peter and John went on, and found everything just as Jesus had told them, and they prepared the Passover. When the time came, Jesus took his place at table, and the apostles with him. I have most earnestly wished, he said, to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you that I shall not eat it again until it has had its fulfillment in the kingdom of God. Then, on receiving a cup, after saying the Thanksgiving, he said, Take this, and share it among you, for I tell you that I shall not, after today, drink of the juice of the grape to the kingdom of God has come. Then Jesus took some bread, and after saying the Thanksgiving, broke it, and gave it to them with the words, This is my body, which is now to be given on your behalf. Do this in memory of me. And in the same way, with the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant made by my blood, which is being poured out on your behalf. Yet see, the hand of the man that is betraying me is beside me upon the table.  Then they began questioning one another, which of them it could be that was going to do this. And a dispute arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. Jesus, however, said, The kings of the Gentiles lorded over them, and their oppressors are styled benefactors. 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. Which is the leader, the master at the table or his servant? Is it not the master at the table? Yet I myself am among you as one who serves. You are the men who have stood by me in my trials, and just as my father has assigned me a kingdom, I assign you places so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and be seated upon twelve thrones as judges of the twelve tribes of Israel. Simon, listen. Satan demanded leave to sift you all like wheat, but I prayed for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. And you, when you have returned to me, are to strengthen your brothers. Master, said Peter, with you I am ready to go both to prison and to death.  Then he said to them all, When I sent you out as my messengers, without either purse or bag or sandals, were you in need of anything? No, nothing, they answered. Now, however, he said, 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. For I tell you, that passage of scripture must be fulfilled in me which says, He was counted among the godless. Read all that refers to me is finding it's fulfillment. Master, they exclaimed, Look, here are two swords. Enough, said Jesus. Jesus then went out and made his way as usual to the Mount of Olives, followed by his disciples. And when he reached the spot he said to them, Pray that you may not fall into temptation. Then he withdrew about a stone's throw and knelt down and began to pray. Father, he said, If it is thy pleasure, spare me this cup. Only not my will, but thine be done. Presently there appeared to him an angel from heaven who strengthened him, and as his anguish became intense he prayed still more earnestly while his sweat was like great drops of blood falling on the ground. Then he rose from praying and came to his disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow. Why are you asleep? he asked them. Rise and pray that you may not fall into temptation. While he was still speaking a crowd appeared in sight led by the man called Judas, who was one of the twelve.  But when those who were round Jesus saw what was going to happen they exclaimed, Master, shall we use our swords? And one of them struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear, on which Jesus said, Let me at least do this. And touching his ear he healed the wound. Then, turning to the chief priests and officers in charge of the temple and counselors who had come for him, he said, Have you come out as if after a robber with swords and clubs? 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. Those who had taken Jesus prisoner took him away into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance, but when they had lit a fire in the center of the courtyard and had all sat down there, Peter seated himself in the middle of them. Presently a maid servant saw him sitting near the blaze of the fire. Fixing her eyes on him she said, Why, this man was one of his companions. But Peter denied it. I do not know him, he replied. A little while afterwards someone else, a man, saw him and said, Why, you are one of them. No, Peter said, I am not. About an hour later another man declared positively, This man also was certainly with him. Why, he is a Galilean. And Peter said, I do not know what you are speaking about.  And the master turned and looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the words that the master had said to him.  And he went outside and wept bitterly. The men that held Jesus kept making sport of him and beating him. They blindfolded him and then questioned him. Now play the prophet, they said. Who was it that struck you? And they heaped many other insults on him. At daybreak the National Council met, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and took Jesus before their High Council. If you are the Christ, they said, tell us so. If I tell you, reply, Jesus, you will not believe me. And if I question you, you will not answer. But from this hour the Son of Man will be seated on the right hand of God Almighty. Are you then the Son of God, they all asked? It is true, answered Jesus. I am. At this they exclaimed, Why do we want any more evidence? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips. Chapter 23 Then they all rose in a body and led Jesus before Pilate. 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. Are you the king of the Jews? Pilate asked him. It is true, replied Jesus. But Pilate, turning to the chief priests and the people said, I do not see anything to find fault within this man. But they insisted. He is stirring up the people by his teaching all through Judea. He began with Galilee and has now come here. Hearing this, Pilate asked that the man was a Galilean. And having satisfied himself that Jesus came under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also at Jerusalem at the time. 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. So he questioned him at some length, but Jesus made no reply. Meanwhile the chief priests and the teachers of the law stood by and vehemently accused him. And Herod, with his soldiers, treated Jesus with scorn. He mocked him by throwing a gorgeous robe round him, and then he sent him back to Pilate. And Herod and Pilate became friends that very day, for before that there had been ill-will between them. So Pilate summoned the chief priests and the leading men and the people, 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, nor did Herod either, for he has sent him back to us. And as a fact, he has not done anything deserving death. So I shall have him scourged and then release him. But they began to shout as one man, kill this fellow, but release Barabbas for us. Barabbas was a man who had been put in prison for a riot that had broken out in the city, and for murder. Pilate, however, wanting to release Jesus, called to them again. But they kept calling out, Crucify, crucify him. 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. But they persisted in loudly demanding his crucifixion, and their clamor gained the day. Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. 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. 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. There was a great crowd of people following him, many being women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. So Jesus turned to them and said to them, Women of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. A time I tell you is coming when it will be said, Happy are the women who are barren, and those who have never born children or nursed them. At that time people will begin to say to the mountains, Fallen us, and to the hills, Cover us. If what you see is done while the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry? There were two others also, criminals, led out to be executed with Jesus. 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. Then Jesus said, Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing. His clothes they divided among them by casting lots. 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. The soldiers too came up in mockery, bringing him common wine and saying as they did so, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. Above him were the words, This is the king of the Jews.  But the other rebuked him. Have not you, he said, any fear of God, now that you are under the same sentence? And we justly so, for we are only reaping our deserts, but this man has not done anything wrong. Jesus, he went on, Do not forget me when you have come to your kingdom.  It was nearly midday when a darkness came over the whole country, lasting till three in the afternoon, the sun being eclipsed, and the temple curtain was torn down the middle.  And with these words he expired. The Roman captain, on seeing what had happened, praised God, exclaiming, This must have been a good man. All the people who had collected to see the site watched what occurred and then went home beating their breasts. All the friends of Jesus had been standing at a distance with the women who accompanied him from Galilee, watching all this. 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. This man had not ascended to the decision and action of the council. He belonged to Rama, a town in Judea, and lived in expectation of the kingdom of God. He now went to see Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. And when he had taken it down he wrapped it in a linen sheet and laid it in a tomb cut out of stone, in which no one had yet been buried. It was the preparation day, and just before the Sabbath began. The women who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how the body of Jesus was laid, and then went home and prepared spices and perfumes. CHAPTER XXIV During the Sabbath they rested, as directed by the commandment. But very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb, taking with them the spices that they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, and in going into it they could not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were at a loss to account for this, all at once two men stood beside them in dazzling clothing. 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? He is not here, but he has risen. Remember how he spoke to you before he left Galilee? 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. Then they remembered the words of Jesus, and on returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. There were Mary of Magdala and Joanna and Mary the Mother of James. The other women too spoke about this to the apostles. What they said seemed to the apostles mere nonsense, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. Stooping down he saw nothing but the linen wrappings, and he went away, wondering to himself what had taken place. It happened that very day that two of the disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem, talking together as they went about all that had just taken place. While they were talking about these things and discussing them, Jesus himself came up and went on their way with them. But their eyes were blinded so that they could not recognize him. What is this that you are saying to each other as you walk along? Jesus asked. They stopped, with sad looks on their faces, 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? What things do you mean? 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, and how the chief priests and our leading men gave him up to be sentenced to death and afterwards crucified him? 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, and what is more, some of the women among us have greatly astonished us. They went to the tomb at daybreak, 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. So some of our number went to the tomb and found everything just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, O foolish men, slow to accept all that the prophets have said, Was not the Christ bound to undergo this suffering before entering upon his glory? In beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he exclaimed to them all through the scriptures, the passages that referred to himself. When they got near the village to which they were walking, Jesus appeared to be going further, but they pressed him not to do so. Stay with us, they said, for it is getting toward evening and the sun is already low. So Jesus went in to stay with them. After he had taken his place at table with them, he took the bread and said the blessing and broke it and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. 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, then they immediately got up and returned to Jerusalem where they found the eleven and their companions altogether who told them that the master had really risen and had appeared to Simon. So they also related what had happened during the walk and how they had recognized Jesus at the breaking of the bread. While they were still talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said, Peace be with you. In their terror and alarm they thought they saw a spirit, but Jesus said to them, Why are you so startled and why do doubts arise in your minds? 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. After saying this he showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still unable to believe it all for very joy and were wondering if it were true, Jesus said to them, Have you anything here to eat?  This is what I told you, he said, when I was still with you, that every thing that had been written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he enabled them to understand the meaning of the scriptures, saying to them, Scripture says that the Christ should suffer and that he should rise again from the dead on the third day and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed on his authority to all the nations beginning at Jerusalem. You yourselves are to be witnesses to all this. And now I am myself about to send upon you that which my Father has promised. But you must remain in the city until you have been invested with power from above. After this, Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and there raised his hands and blessed them. As he was in the act of blessing them, he left them and was carried up into heaven. They bowed to the ground before him and returned to Jerusalem full of joy. And they were constantly in the temple courts blessing God. The 20th Century New Testament by a company of about twenty scholars. The Gospel of John. Introduction and chapters 1 through 5. Introduction The Gospel according to St. John. Written at Ephesus at an uncertain date later than A.T.A.D. This Gospel appears to embody the doctrine concerning Christ which was accepted in the Ephesian Church in Asia Minor by the end of the first century. It was not authoritatively attributed to the Apostle John till toward the end of the second century after Christ, but it may safely be ascribed if not to St. John himself to some writer brought up in the Church of Ephesus over which that Apostle so long presided. The writer apparently proposed to himself to illustrate the spirit of the Gospel of Love by such incidents in the life of Jesus as best suited his purpose, at the same time correcting previous Gospels and making such additions to them as his information enabled him to do. There is no attempt at a regular connected narrative, and the writer allows himself such freedom in commenting upon the teaching of Jesus that it is not always easy to tell where that teaching ends and the writer's comment begins. It is to the great struggle between light and darkness, death and life, words much in use and much debated in the current philosophy of Ephesus, that the writer devotes his attention rather than to the external incidents of the story which had already been told and which is plainly viewed by him from a greater distance of time than is the case with the compilers of the three other Gospels. CHAPTER I. In the beginning the word was. And the word was with God. And the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Through him all things came into being and nothing came into being apart from him. That which came into being in him was life, and the life was the light of man, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness never overpowered it. There appeared a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness to the light, that through him all men might believe. He was not the light, but he came to bear witness to the light. That was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and through him the world came into being, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, yet his own did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name. For not to natural conception, nor to human instincts, nor to will of man, did they owe the new life, but to God. And the word became man and dwelt among us. We saw his glory, the glory of the only Son sent from the Father, full of love and truth. 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. Out of his fullness we have all received some gift, gift after gift of love. For the law was given through Moses. Love and truth came through Jesus Christ. No man has ever yet seen God. God the only Son, who is ever with the Father, he has revealed him. When the Jews sent some priests and Levites to John from Jerusalem to ask, Who are you? His statement was this. He confessed and did not deny it. He confessed, I am not the Christ. What then they asked? Are you Elijah? No, he said, I am not. Are you the prophet? He answered, No. Who then are you, they continued? Tell us that we may have some answer to give to those who have sent us. What do you say about yourself? I, he answered, am the voice of one crying aloud in the wilderness, straightened the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said. These men had been sent from the Pharisees, and their next question was, Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ nor Elijah nor yet the prophet? John's answer was, I baptize with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know. He is coming after me, yet I am not worthy even to unfasten his sandal. All this took place at Bethany, across the Jordan, where John was then baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and exclaimed, Here is the Lamb of God, who is to take away the sin of the world. It was of him that I spoke, when I said, After me is coming a man who is now before me, for he was ever first. I myself did not know him, but that he may be made known to Israel, I have come baptizing with water. John also made this statement. I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of the heavens, and it remained upon him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water, he said to me, He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, he it is who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. This I have seen myself, and I have declared my belief that he is the Son of God. The next day, when John was standing with two of his disciples, he looked at Jesus as he passed, and exclaimed, There is the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard him say this, and followed Jesus. Jesus turned round and saw them following. What are you looking for? he asked. Rabbi they answered, or as we should say, teacher, Where are you staying? Come, and you shall see, 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. One of the two who heard what John said and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, We have found the Messiah, a word which means Christ or consecrated. Then he brought him to Jesus.  You shall be called Kephus, which means Peter or Rock. The following day, Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, Follow me. Philip was from Bethsaida and a fellow townsman of Andrew and Peter. He found Nathaniel 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. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? asked Nathaniel. Come and see, replied Philip. When Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him, he said, Here is a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit. How do you know me? asked Nathaniel. Even before Philip called you, replied Jesus, When you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Rabbi, Nathaniel exclaimed, You are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel. Do you believe in me? asked Jesus because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You shall see greater things than those. In truth, I tell you, he added, You shall all see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. CHAPTER II Two days after this there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and Jesus's mother was there. Jesus himself, too, with his disciples, was invited to the wedding. And when the wine ran short his mother said to him, They have no wine left. What do you want with me? answered Jesus. My time has not come yet. His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you. There were, standing there, six stone water jars in accordance with the Jewish rule of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, Fill the water jars with water. And when they had filled them to the brim, he added, Now take some out and carry it to the master of the feast. The servants did so. And when the master of the feast it 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, he called the bridegroom 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. 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. After this Jesus went down to Capernaum, he, his mother, his brothers and his disciples, but they stayed there only a few days. Then as the Jewish Passover was near Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people who were selling bullocks, sheep and pigeons and the money changers at their counters. 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 and said to the pigeon-dealers, Take these things away, do not turn my father's house into a market house. His disciples remembered that scripture said, Zeal for thy house will consume me. Upon this the Jews asked Jesus, What sign are you going to show us since you act in this way? Destroy this temple was his answer and I will raise it in three days. This temple, replied the Jews, has been forty-six years in building and are you going to raise it in three days? But Jesus was speaking of his body as a temple. 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. 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. But Jesus did not trust himself to them since he could read every heart and because he did not need that others should tell him what men were. For he could of himself read what was in men. CHAPTER 3 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus who was a leading man among the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi we know that you are a teacher come from God but no one could give such signs as you were giving unless God were with him. In truth I tell you exclaimed Jesus unless a man is reborn he cannot see the kingdom of God. How can a man, asked Nicodemus, be born when he is old? Can he be born a second time? In truth I tell you, answered Jesus unless a man owes his birth to water and spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. All that owes its birth to human nature is human and all that owes its birth to the spirit is spiritual.  The wind blows where it wills and you can hear the sound of it but you do not know whence it comes or where it goes. It is the same with everyone that owes his birth to the spirit. How can that be, asked Nicodemus? What you a teacher of Israel exclaimed Jesus and yet you do not understand this. 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. If when I tell you earthly things you do not believe me how will you believe me when I tell you of heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven except him who descended from heaven the son of man himself.  For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that every one who believes in him may not be lost but have immortal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him escapes condemnation while he who does not believe in him is already condemned because he is not believed in the only son of God. The ground of his condemnation is this, that though the light has come into the world men preferred the darkness to the light because their actions were wicked. For he who lives an evil life hates the light and will not come to it for fear that his actions should be exposed. But he who acts up to the truth comes to the light that his actions may be shown to have been done in dependence upon God. After this Jesus went with his disciples into the country parts of Judea and there he stayed with them and baptized. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Selim because there were many streams there and people were constantly coming and being baptized for John had not yet been imprisoned. Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew on the subject of purification 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 your self-born testimony, he also is baptizing and everybody is going to him. John's answer was, A man can gain nothing but what is given him from heaven. You are yourselves witnesses that I said I am not the Christ but I have been sent before him as a messenger. It is the bridegroom who has the bride, but the bridegroom's friend who stands by and listens to him is filled with joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. This joy I have felt to the full. He must become greater and I less. 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. He states what he has seen and what he heard and yet no one accepts his statement. They who did accept his statement attested the fact that God is true. For he whom God sent as his messenger gives us God's own teaching, for God does not limit the gift of the Spirit. The Father loves his Son and has put everything in his hands. He who believes in the Son has immortal life, while he who rejects the Son will not even see that life but remains under God's displeasure. CHAPTER 4 Now when the Master heard that the Pharisees had been told that he was making and baptizing more disciples than John, though it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized, he left Judea and set out again for Galilee. He had to pass through Samaria and on his way he came to a Samaritan town called Shaquem near the plot of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 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. A woman of Samaria came to draw water and Jesus said to her, Give me some to drink, for his disciples had gone into the town to buy food. CHAPTER 5 How is it, replied this Samaritan woman, that you who are a Jew who asks for water from a Samaritan woman like me, for Jews do not associate with Samaritans? If you knew of the gift of God, replied Jesus, 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. CHAPTER 6 You have no bucket, sir, and the well is deep, she said. Where did you get that living water? Surely you are not greater than our ancestor Abraham, who gave us the well and used to drink from it himself and his sons and his cattle. All who drink of this water, replied Jesus, will be thirsty again, but whoever once drinks of the water that I will give him, shall never thirst any more, but the water that I will give him shall become a spring welling up within him, a source of immortal life. CHAPTER 7 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.  CHAPTER 9 I have no husband, answered the woman. CHAPTER 9 You are right in saying I have no husband, replied Jesus, where 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.  It was on this mountain that our ancestors worshipped, and yet you Jews say that the proper place for worship is in Jerusalem. CHAPTER 11 Believe me, replied Jesus, a time is coming when it will be neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem that you will worship the Father. You Samaritans do not know what you worship. We know what we worship, for salvation comes from the Jews. 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. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship spiritually and truly. CHAPTER 11 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. CHAPTER 12 I am He, Jesus said to her. I who am speaking to you. CHAPTER 13 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? So the woman, leaving her picture, went back to the town and said to the people, come and see someone who has told me everything that I have done. Can He be the Christ? And the people left the town and went to see Jesus. Meanwhile, the disciples kept saying to Him, take something to eat, Rabbi. I have food to eat, He answered, of which you know nothing. Can anyone have brought Him anything to eat? The disciples said to one another. CHAPTER 14 My food, replied Jesus, is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to complete His work. Do you not say that it still wants four months to harvest? Why look up and see how white the fields are for harvest. Already the reaper is receiving wages and gathering in sheaves for immortal life, so that the sower and reaper rejoice together. For here the proverb holds good. One sows, another reaps. I have sent you to reap that on which you have spent no labor. Others have labored, and you have entered upon the results of their labor. CHAPTER 15 Many from that town came to believe in Jesus, Samaritans, although they were, on account of the woman's statement. He has told me everything that I have done. And when these Samaritans had come to Jesus they begged Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. But far more came to believe in Him on account of what He said Himself, 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. After these two days Jesus went on to Galilee, for He Himself declared that a prophet is not honoured in His own country. When He entered Galilee the Galalians welcomed Him, for they had seen all that He did at Jerusalem during the festival at which they also had been present. So Jesus came again to Canaan 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. 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. Jesus answered, Unless you all see signs and wonders, you will not believe. Sir said the officer, Come down before my child dies. And Jesus answered, Go, your son is living. The man believed what Jesus said to him and went. And while he was on his way down, his servants met him and told him that the child was living. So he asked him at what time the boy began to get better. It was yesterday, about one o'clock, they said, that the fever left him. By this the father knew that it was at the very time when Jesus had said to him, Your son is living. And he himself, with all his household, believed in Jesus. This was the second occasion on which Jesus gave a sign of his mission on coming from Judea to Galilee. CHAPTER V Sometime after this there was a Jewish festival and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. There is in Jerusalem, near the sheep-gate, a bath with five colonnades around it. It is called in Hebrew, Bethesda. In these colonnades a large number of afflicted people were lying, blind, lame, and crippled.  Jesus saw the man lying there, and finding that he had been in this state a long time, said to him, Do you wish to be cured? I have no one, sir, the afflicted man answered to put me into the bath when there is a troubling of the water, and while I am getting to it someone else steps down before me. Stand up, said Jesus.  The man was cured immediately, and took up his mat and began to walk about. Now it was the Sabbath, so the Jews said to the man who had been cured, This is the Sabbath. You must not carry your mat. The man who cured me, he answered, said to me, Take up your mat and walk about.  But the man who had been restored did not know who it was, for Jesus had moved away because there was a crowd there. Afterwards Jesus found the man in the temple courts and said to him, You are cured now. Do not sin again, for fear that something worse may befall you. The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had cured him. And that was why the Jews began to persecute Jesus, because he did things of this kind on the Sabbath. But Jesus replied, My Father works to this very hour, and I work also.  So Jesus made this further reply, 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. 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.  The Father himself does not judge any man, but has entrusted the work of judging entirely to his Son, so that all men may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son, fails to honor the Father who sent him.  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. For just as the Father has inherent life within him, so also he is granted to the Son to have inherent life within him, and because he is the Son of Man, he has also given him authority to act as judge. Do not wonder at this.  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. If I bear testimony to myself, my testimony is not trustworthy. It is another who bears testimony to me, and I know that the testimony which he bears to me is trustworthy. You have yourselves set to John, and he is testified to the truth. For the testimony which I receive is not from man. I am saying this for your salvation. He was a lamp that was burning and shining, and you were ready to rejoice for a time in his light. 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. The Father who has sent me has himself borne testimony to me. You have neither listened to his voice nor seen his form, and you have not taken his message home to your hearts, because you do not believe him whom he sent as his messenger.  I do not receive honor from men, but I know this of you, that you have not the love of God in your hearts. 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. How can you believe in me when you receive honor from one another, and do not desire the honor which comes from the only God? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father.  For had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for it was of me that Moses wrote. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my teaching?