The New Testament Page 7

  41 Then he went aboard a ship and crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, they brought him a paralytic who was laid on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic: Take heart, my child, your sins are for­given. And behold, some of the scribes said among them­selves: This man blasphemes. Then Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said: Why do you think evil in your hearts?

  Which then is easier: to say, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Riseup and walk? But so that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . Then he said to the paralytic: Rise up, take your bed and go to your house. And he rose up and went to his house. And the multitude seeing this were frightened and glori­fied God, who gave such authority to men.

  And Jesus, going on from there, saw a man sitting in the tollhouse, named Matthew, and said to him: Follow me. And he stood up and followed him. And it happened as he dined in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sin­ners came and dined with Jesus and his disciples. And when they saw this the Pharisees said to his disciples: Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sin­ners? He heard them and said: The strong do not need a physician, but those who are in poor health. Go and learn the meaning of: I want mercy, not sacrifice; for I did not come to summon the righteous, but the sinners. Then the disciples of John came to him and said: Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them: Surely the members of the wedding party cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one sews a patch of unfulled cloth on an old coat; for the filling pulls from the coat and makes the tear worse. Nor do they put new wine in old skins; if they do, the skins break, and the wine spills, and the skins are destroyed; but they put new wine in new skins, and both are kept whole.

  As he said this, behold, an official came and bowed down before him and said: My daughter died just now. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live. Jesus rose up and followed him, and his disciples fol­lowed. And behold, a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years came from behind and touched the border of his mantle; for she said to herself: If I only touch his mantle, I shall be healed. But Jesus turned and saw her and said: Take heart, my daughter; your faith has healed you. And the woman was well from that hour. Then Jesus went into the house of the official and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, and said: Go away; for the girl has not died, but she is asleep. And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put out, he went in and took her hand, and the girl woke. And the story of this went out to the whole of that country.

  Then as Jesus went on from there, two blind men fol­lowed him, crying out and saying: Pity us, son of David. As he went into the house, the blind men came up with him, and Jesus said to them: Do you believe that I can do this? They said to him: Yes, Lord. Then he touched their eyes and said: As you have faith, so let it be with you. And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus spoke severely to them, saying: See that nobody hears of this. But they went out and spread the news of him to the whole of that country. As they went out, behold, men brought him a deaf-mute who was possessed by a demon. And when the demon was driven out, the deaf-mute talked. Then the multitude wondered, saying: Never was anything seen like this in Israel. But the Pharisees said: He drives out demons through the prince of demons.

  Now Jesus went about through all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every infirmity. And when he saw the multitudes he was moved with pity for them, because they had been dis­tracted and turned loose like sheep without a shepherd.

  Then he said to his disciples: The harvest is abundant, but the laborers few. Beg the master of the harvest to send out laborers to his harvest.

  tl Then calling to him his twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to treat every sickness and every infirmity. And these are the names of the twelve apostles: First, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus, Simon the Cananaean and Judas the Iscariot, even he who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent forth and gave them instructions, saying:

  Do not go on the road to the Gentiles, and do not go into any city of the Samaritans. Make your way rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, preach and say that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Heal the infirm, raise up the dead, make lepers clean, cast out demons. You have taken a free gift; give a free gift. Do not keep gold or silver or bronze in your money belts, or a bag for the journey or two garments or shoes or a staff. The la­borer is worthy of food and clothing. Whatever city or village you enter, find out who within it is worthy; stay with him until you go on. As you enter his house, greet it; and if the house is worthy, let your peace be upon it; and if it is not worthy, let your peace return upon yourselves. And when one does not receive you or listen to your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust of it from your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city. See, I send you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; be then crafty like snakes and innocent like doves. Beware of people; for they will hand you over to the council boards, and they will flog you in their synagogues, and you will be brought before the leaders and the kings, because of me, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. But when they hand you over, do not think about how you will speak; that will be given to you at the time when you speak; for it will not be you who speak but the spirit of your father speaking through you. Brother will hand brother over to death, father will hand over child, and children will stand up against their parents and cause their death. You will be hated by all because of my name; and he who endures it to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one city, flee to the next one; for truly I tell you, you will not be through with the cities of Israel before the son of man comes. The disciple is not above the teacher, or the slave above his master; it is enough for the disciple that he be as his teacher and for the slave that he be as his master. If then they call the head of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they so call his domestics. Then do not be afraid of them; for there is nothing concealed that shall not be revealed, and nothing secret that shall not be known. What I say to you in the dark, say in the light; what is said in your ear, proclaim on the housetops. And have no fear of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear rather him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And one of them will not fall to the ground without the knowledge of your father. Also, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Then do not fear; you are worth many sparrows. If any man shall acknowledge me before men, I shall acknowledge him before my father in heaven;

  if any shall deny me before men, I shall deny him before my father in heaven. Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a bride against her mother-in-law, and the household of a man will be his enemies. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and come along behind me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life shall lose it, and he who loses his life because of me shall find it. He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me re­ceives him who sent me forth. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall have the reward of a pro­phet, and he who receives a just man in the name of a just man shall have the reward of a just man. And he who gives one of these small ones a cup of cold water to drink, if only in the name of a disciple, truly I tell you, he shall not lose his reward.
r />   •t Then it came about that when Jesus had finished in­structing his twelve disciples, he went away from there to teach and preach in their cities. But John in his prison heard of the works of the Christ, and sent his disciples to him, and through them asked him: Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? Jesus answered and said to them: Go and tell John what you are seeing and hearing. The blind see again and the lame walk, lepers are made clean and deaf-mutes hear, and the dead rise up and beggars are told good news. And blessed is he who does not go astray where I am concerned. As these went away

  Jesus began to speak about John to the multitudes: What did you come out into the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you come out to see? A man wrapped in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in the houses of the kings. But why did you come out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he about whom it was written: Behold, I send forth my messenger before your face, who will make your way ready before you. Truly I tell you, among men born of women there has not risen a greater one than John the Baptist; but one who is only a lesser one in the King­dom of Heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven has been forced and the violent have seized it. For all the prophets, and the law, prophesied rmtil John; and if you wish to accept it, he himself is Elijah, who was to come. He who has ears, let him listen. To what shall I liken this genera­tion? It is like children sitting in the public places who call out to others and say: We played the flute, but you did not dance; we lamented and you did not beat yourselves. For John came neither eating nor drinking and they say: He has a demon. The son of man came eating and drink­ing and they say: See, the man is an eater and wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. And wis­dom is justified by what it has done.

  Then he began to blame the cities in which his greatest powers had been shown, because they had not repented: Woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if there had been shown in Tyre and Sidon the powers that have been shown among you, long since they would have re­pented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than it will be for you. And you, Capemaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to Hades. For if in Sodom there had been shown the powers that have been shown among you, Sodom would have remained until today. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than it will be for you.

  At that time Jesus spoke and said: I thank you, father, lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the clever and the understanding, and re­vealed them to the simple; yes, father, that thus it has been your pleasure in your sight. All was given to me by my father, and no one knows the son except the father, and no one knows the father except the son, and anyone to whom the son wishes to reveal it. Come to me, all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble at heart, and you will find rest for your souls; for my yoke is good and my burden is light.

  41 At that time Jesus walked on the sabbath through the sown fields; and his disciples were hungry, and began to pick the ears of grain and eat them. But the Pharisees saw it and said to him: See, your disciples are doing what it is forbidden to do on the sabbath. But he said to them: Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those with him? How he went into the house of God, and they ate the show bread, which he was not permitted to eat, nor those with him, but only the priests? Or have you not read in the law that on sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are not guilty? I tell you that here is a thing greater than the temple. But if you knew what this means: I wish mercy, not a sacrifice; then you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the son of man is lord of the sabbath. And passing on from there he went into their synagogue, and behold, there was a man with a withered arm. And they questioned him, say­ing: Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath? They meant to bring a charge against him. But he said to them: Will there be one of you who owns one sheep, and if it falls down a hole on the sabbath, will not take hold of it and pull it out? How much better a man is than a sheep. Thus it is permitted to do good on the sabbath. Then he said to the man: Stretch out your arm. And he stretched it, and it became sound, like the other arm. But the Pharisees went outside and began plotting against him to destroy him.

  Jesus seeing this went away from them, and many fol­lowed him, and he healed them all, and charged them not to divulge what he was doing; so as to fulfill the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah, saying: Behold, my son, whom I have chosen, whom I love, and my soul is well pleased with him. I will put my spirit into him, and he will announce the judgment to the nations. He will not fight or cry out, nor will any hear his voice in the public places. He will not break the reed that is bent or quench the flax that is smoking, until he issues his judgment in triumph. And in his name the nations shall have hope.

  Then there was brought to him a man possessed by a demon, blind and a deaf-mute, and he healed him, so that the deaf-mute talked and saw. Then all the multitudes were astonished and said: Is this not the son of David? But the Pharisees heard them and said: This man does not drive out demons except through Beelzebub, the prince of demons. He knew their thoughts and said to them: Every kingdom that is divided against itself is made desolate, and every city or house that is divided against itself will not stand. And if Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then shall his kingdom stand? If through Beelzebub I drive out demons, through whom do your sons drive them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come to you. Or how can one enter the house of the strong man and seize his goods, unless he first binds the strong man and then plunders his house? He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not join my meetings dispels them. Therefore, I tell you this, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men, but the blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be for­given. And if one speaks a word against the son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but if one speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor the next. Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for from the fruit the tree is known. You viper's brood, how can you say what is good when you are bad? For from what overflows the heart the mouth speaks. The good man issues good from his good storehouse, and the bad man issues bad from his bad storehouse. I tell you, every idle word men speak they shall account for on the day of judgment; for from your words you shall be justified, and from your words judg­ment shall be given against you.

  Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him and said: Master, we wish to see a sign from you. He answered and said to them: A corrupt and adulterous gen­eration asks for a sign, and no sign shall be given to it unless it be the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so the son of man shall be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. The men of Nineveh shall stand up on the day of judgment with this generation and condemn it; because they repented upon the proclamation of Jonah, and behold, there is more than Jonah here. The Queen of the South shall rise up on the day of judgment with this generation and condemn it; because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, there is more than Solomon here. But when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a place to rest, and finds none. Then it says: I will return to my house that I came out from; and it comes and finds it free and swept and furnished. Then it goes and picks up seven more spirits worse than itself, and they go and settle there; and the end for that man is worse than the beginning. Thus it will be also with this evil generation.

  While he was still talking with the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, desiring to speak with him. A
nd someone said to him: See, your mother and your brothers are standing outside and desire to speak with you. But he answered and said to the man who reported this: Who is my mother, and who are my brothers? And pointing his hand toward his disciples, he said: These are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.

  41 On that day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea; and a great multitude gathered before him, so that he went aboard a ship and sat there, and all the mul­titude stood on the shore. And he talked to them, speak­ing mostly in parables: Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some of the grain fell beside the way, and birds came and ate it. Some fell on stony ground where there was not much soil, and it shot up quickly because there was no depth of soil, but when the sun came up it was parched, and because it had no roots it dried away. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and stifled it. But some fell upon the good soil and bore fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirty- fold. He who has ears, let him hear. Then his disciples came to him and said: Why do you talk to them in para­bles? He answered them and said: Because it is given to you to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given. When a man has, he shall be given, and it will be more than he needs; but when he has not, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I talk to them in parables, because they have sight but do not see, and hearing but do not hear or under­stand. And for them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, saying: With your hearing you shall hear and not under­stand, and you shall use your sight and look but not see. For the heart of this people is stiffened, and they hear with difficulty, and they have closed their eyes; so that they may never see with their eyes, or hear with their ears and with their hearts understand and turn back, so that I can heal them.