The New Testament Read online

  Then came Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan and to John to be baptized by him. But he tried to prevent this, saying: I need to be baptized by you. And you come to me? But Jesus answered and said to ^m: Bear with me now; for so it is right for us to fulfill our whole duty. Then he con­sented. And when Jesus was baptized, at once he came out of the water, and behold, the skies opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove, descending upon him, and behold, a voice from the skies was heard saying: This is my son whom I love, in whom I am well pleased.

  tl Then Jesus was led out into the desert by the Spirit, to be tested by the devil. And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and after that he was hungry. And coming up to him the tempter said: If you are the son of God, speak and make these stones become loaves of bread. But he an­swered, saying: It is written: not by bread alone shall man live, but in every word that issues through the mouth of God. Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the gable of the temple and said to him: If you are the son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written: He will charge his angels concerning you, and on their hands they wiU support you, so that never may you strike your foot against the stone. Jesus said to ^m: Again, it is written: You shall not tempt the Lord your God. Once more the devil led him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and said to him: All this I will give you if you will throw yourself down and worship me. But Jesus said to him: Go, Satan; for it is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and shall serve him only. Then the devil let him be; and be­hold, angels came and served him.

  When he heard that John had been betrayed, he with­drew into Galilee, and leaving Nazareth he came and set­tled in Capernaum by the sea, in the districts of Zebulun and Naphthali; so as to fulfill the word spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: Land of Zebulun and land of Naph- thali, way to the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gen­tiles, the people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light, they were sitting in the land of the shadow of death, and the light dawned on them.

  From that time Jesus began to preach and to say: Re­pent; for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.

  And as he walked by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting their net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them: Come now and follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And at once they left their nets and followed him. And as he went on from there he saw two more brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. And he called them. And at once leaving the boat and their father they followed him.

  And he went all over Galilee teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and treating every sickness and every infirmity among the people. And the fame of him went into aU Syria; and they brought him all who were in bad condition with compli­cated diseases and seized with pains, those afflicted with demons, and epilepsy, and paralytics, and he healed them. And many multitudes followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judaea and beyond the Jordan.

  4l And seeing the multitudes he went up onto the moun­tain, and when he was seated, his disciples came to him, and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

  Blessed are the poor in spirit, because theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

  Blessed are they who sorrow, because they shall be comforted.

  Blessed are the gentle, because they shall inherit the earth.

  Blessed are they who are hungry and thirsty for righ­teousness, because they shall be fed.

  Blessed are they who have pity, because they shall be pitied.

  Blessed are the pure in heart, because they shall see God.

  Blessed are the peacemakers, because they shall be called the sons of God.

  Blessed are they who are persecuted for their righteous­ness, because theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

  Blessed are you when they shall revile you and perse­cute you and speak every evil thing of you, lying, because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because your reward in heaven is great; for thus did they persecute the prophets before you.

  You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its power, with what shall it be salted? It is good for nothing but to be thrown away and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city cannot be hidden when it is set on top of a hill. Nor do men light a lamp and set it under a basket, but they set it on a stand, and it gives its light to all in the house. So let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.

  Do not think that I have come to destroy the law and the prophets. I have not come to destroy but to complete. Indeed, I say to you, until the sky and the earth are gone, not one iota or one end of a letter must go from the law, until all is done. He who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men accordingly shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven; he who per­forms and teaches these commandments shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. For I tell you, if your righteousness is not more abundant than that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you may not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

  You have heard that it was said to the ancients: You shall not murder. He who murders shall be liable to judgment. I say to you that any man who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; and he who says to his brother, fool, shall be liable before the council; and he who says to his brother, sinner, shall be liable to Gehenna. If then you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has some grievance against you, leave your gift before the altar, and go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then go and offer your gift. Be quick to be conciliatory with your adversary at law when you are in the street with him, for fear your adversary may turn you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you cannot come out of there until you pay the last penny.

  You have heard that it has been said: You shall not commit adultery. I tell you that any man who looks at a woman so as to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you go amiss, take it out and cast it from you; it is better that one part of you should be lost instead of your whole body being cast into Gehenna. And if your right hand makes you go amiss, cut it off and cast it from you; it is better that one part of you should be lost instead of your whole body going to Gehenna. It has been said: If a man puts away his wife, let him give her a contract of divorce. I tell you that any man who puts away his wife, except for the reason of harlotry, is making her the victim of adultery; and any man who marries a wife who has been divorced is committing adultery. Again, you have heard that it has been said to the ancients: You shall not swear falsely, but you shall make good your oaths to the Lord. I tell you not to swear at all: not by heaven, because it is the throne of God; not by the earth, because it is the footstool for his feet; not by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great king; not by your own head, because you cannot make one hair of it white or black. Let your speech be yes yes, no no; more than that comes from the evil one.

  You have heard that it has been said: An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. I tell you not to resist the wicked man; but if one strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other one to him also; and if a man wishes to go to law with you and take your tunic, give him your cloak also, and if one makes you his porter for a mile, go with him for two. Give to him who asks, and do not turn away one who wishes to borrow from you. You have heard that it has been said: You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven, because he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and rains on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax
collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what do you do that is more than others do? Do not even the pagans do the same? Be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect.

  (l Take care not to practice your righteousness publicly before men so as to be seen by them; if you do, you shall have no recompense from your father in heaven. Then when you do charity, do not have a trumpet blown before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and the streets, so that men may think well of them. Truly I tell you, they have their due reward. But when you do charity, let your left hand not know what your right hand is doing, so that your charity may be in secret; and your father, who sees what is secret, will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand up in the synagogues and the corners of the squares to pray, so that they may be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they have their due reward. But when you pray, go into your inner room and close the door and pray to your father, who is in secret; and your father, who sees what is secret, will reward you. When you pray, do not babble as the pagans do; for they think that by saying much they will be heard. Do not then be like them; for your father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray thus, then: Our father in heaven, may your name be hallowed, may your kingdom come, may your will be done, as in heaven, so upon earth. Give us today our sufficient bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive men their offenses, your heavenly father will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men, neither will your father forgive you your offenses. And when you fast, do not scowl like the hypocrites; for they make ugly faces so that men can see that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have their due reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not show as fasting to men, but to your father, in secret; and your father, who sees what is secret, will re­ward you.

  Do not store up your treasures on earth, where the moth and rust destroy them, and where burglars dig through and steal them; but store up your treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys them, and where burglars do not dig through or steal; for where your trea­sure is, there also will be your heart. The lamp of the body is the eye. Thus if your eye is clear, your whole body is full of light; but if your eye is soiled, your whole body is

  MATTHEW: 6.22|7.4

  dark. If the light in you is darkness, how dark it is. No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will cling to one and despise the other; you cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I tell you, do not take thought for your life, what you will eat, or for your body, what you will wear. Is not your life more than its food and your body more than its clothing? Consider the birds of the sky, that they do not sow or harvest or collect for their granaries, and your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not preferred above them? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his growth? And why do you take thought about clothing? Study the lilies in the field, how they grow. They do not toil or spin; yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and tomorrow is thrown in the oven, will he not much more clothe you, you men of little faith? Do not then worry and say: What shall we eat? Or: What shall we drink? Or : What shall we wear? For all this the Gentiles study. Your father in heaven knows that you need all these things. But seek out first his kingdom and his justice, and all these things shall be given to you. Do not then take thought of tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself, sufficient to the day is its own evil.

  41 Do not judge, so you may not be judged. You shall be judged by that judgment by which you judge, and your measure will be made by the measure by which you mea­sure. Why do you look at the straw which is in the eye of your brother, and not see the log which is in your eye? Or how will you say to your brother: Let me take the straw out of your eye, and behold, the log is in your eye. You hypocrite, first take the log out of your eye, and then you will see to take the straw out of the eye of your brother. Do not give what is sacred to the dogs, and do not cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn and rend you. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and the door wiU be opened for you. Everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and for him who knocks the door will be opened. Or what man is there among you, whose son shall ask him for bread, that will give ^m a stone? Or ask ^m for fish, that will give him a snake? If then you, who are corrupt, know how to give good gifts to your children, by how much more your father who is in heaven will give good things to those who ask him. Whatever you wish men to do to you, so do to them. For this is the law and the prophets.

  Go in through the narrow gate; because wide and spa­cious is the road that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in through it; because narrow is the gate and cramped the road that leads to life, and few are they who find it. Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inside they are ravening wolves. From their fruits you will know them. Do men gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles? Thus every good tree produces good fruits, but the rotten tree produces bad fruits. A good tree cannot bear bad fruits, and a rotten tree cannot bear good fruits. Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut out and thrown in the fire. So from their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will come into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day: Lord,

  Lord, did we not prophesy in your n^e, and in your name did we not cast out demons, and in your name did we not assume great powers? And then I shall admit to them: I never knew you. Go from me, for you do what is against the law.

  Every man who hears what I say and does what I say shall be like the prudent man who built his house upon the rock. And the rain fell and the rivers c^e and the winds blew and dashed against that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded upon the rock. And every man who hears what I say and does not do what I say will be like the reckless man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell and the rivers c^e and the winds blew and battered that house, and it fell, and that was a great fall.

  And it happened that when Jesus had ended these words, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who has authority, and not like their own scribes.

  (l When he c^e down from the mountain many mul­titudes followed him. And behold, a leper came and bowed before him, saying: Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean. And he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying: I wish it; be clean. And at once his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him: Be sure to tell no one, but go and show yourself to the priest and bring him the gift that Moses has ordained, as a proof to them.

  When he came into Capernaum there came to him a centurion with a request, saying: Lord, my son is lying paralyzed in my house, in terrible pain. He said to him: I will go and treat him. But the centurion answered and said: Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof; but only say it in a word, and my son will be healed. For I myself am a man under orders, and I have soldiers under me, and I say to this man: Go, and he goes, and to another: Come, and he comes, and to my slave: Do this, and he does it. Jesus hearing him was amazed and said to his followers: Truly I tell you, I have not found such faith in anyone in Israel. I tell you that many from the east and the west will come and feast with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven; but the sons of the kingdom shall be thrown into the outer dark­ness; and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion: Go, as you have trusted, so let it befall you. And his son was healed in that hour.

  Then Jesus, going into the house of Peter, saw his mother-in-law, who was lying in a fever, and he took her by the hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and served him. And when evening came
, they brought him many who were afflicted with demons, and he cast out the spirits by a word, and healed all those who were sufering; so as to fulfill what had been said by the prophet Isaiah, saying: He took up our sicknesses and carried off our diseases.

  Then Jesus, seeing a great multitude about him, gave the word to go to the other side. And one scribe came to him and said: Master, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him: Foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head. And another, one of his disciples, said to him: Lord, give me leave first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said to him: Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.

  When he went aboard the ship, his disciples followed him. And behold, there was a great upheaval on the sea, so that the ship was hidden by the waves; but he himself was asleep. And they came and waked him, saying: Lord, save us, we are perishing. And he said to them: Why are you frightened, you men of little faith? Then he rose up and admonished the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. But the people wondered, saying: What sort of man is this, that the winds and the sea obey him? And when he crossed over into the country of the Gadarenes there met him two men possessed by demons, coming out of the tombs, very wild, so that none could force a way past on that road. And behold, they cried out, saying: What have we to do with you, son of God? Have you come thus before your time to torment us? A long way from them was a herd of many swine, feeding. And the demons entreated him, saying: If you throw us out, send us into the herd of swine. And he said to them: Go. And they came out and went into the herd of swine; and behold, the whole herd rushed over the cliH into the sea and died in the waters. Then the swineherds fled and when they came to their city told all the story of those who had been possessed by demons. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to go away from their territory.