⚫ him. And the disciples hearing [it] fell upon their faces and were greatly terri'fied. And Jesus coming to them touched

:

them, and said: Rise up and be not ter8 rified. And lifting up their eyes, they 9 saw no one but Jesus alone. And as they descended from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying: Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man be risen up 10 from among [the] dead. And the disciples demanded of him, saying: Why then say the scribes that Elias must first 11 come? And Jesus answering said to them Elias, indeed, comes first and 12 will restore all things. But I say unto you that Elias has already come, and they have not known him, but have done unto him whatever they would. Thus also the Son of Man is about to 13 suffer from* them. Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of 14 John the baptist. And when they came to the crowd, a man came to him falling on his knees before him, and saying: 15 Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is * "Tо, the causal power

lunatic, and suffers sorely. For often he falls into the fire and often into the 16 water; and I brought him to thy dis

18 me.

ciples and they were not able to heal 17 him. And Jesus answering said: O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you, how long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon went out from him, and the boy 19 was healed from that hour. Then the disciples coming to Jesus, said to him privately: Why were not we able to 20 cast him out? And Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief; for verily I say unto you: if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say to this mountain: Be transported hence there, and it shall transport itself; and nothing shall be impossible to you. 21 But this kind does not go out but by prayer and fasting.

22

And while they abode in Galilee Jesus

*Classically, 'you shall be unable to do,' but from use in LXX. applied to God, in this phrase; the sense is 'impossible.'

23

said to them: The Son of Man is about to be delivered up into [the] hands of men, and they shall kill him; and the third day he shall be raised up. And 24 they were greatly grieved. And when they came to Capernaum, those who reIceived the didrachmas* came to Peter and said: Does your teacher not pay the 25 didrachmas? he says: Yes.† And when he came in into the house, Jesus anticipated him saying: What dost thou think, Simon; the kings of the earth, from whom do they receive custom or tribute? from their own sons or from strangers ? 26 Peter says to him: From strangers. Jesus said to him: Then are the sons 27 free. But that we may not be an offence

to them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when thou hast opened its mouth, thou wilt find a stater, take that and give it to them for me and thee.

XVIII. In that hour the disciples came to

* A Jewish personal tribute to the temple. † Or, 'surely.'

Jesus saying: Who then is greatest* in 2 the kingdom of the heavens? And Jesus having called a little child to [him], set it in their midst and said: Verily I say 3 to you: Unless ye are converted and become as little children, ye will not enter into the kingdom of the heavens. 4 Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greatest* 5 in the kingdom of the heavens; and whosoever shall receive one such little child in my name, receives me. But whosoever shall offend† one of these little ones who believe in me, it were profitable for him that a great millstone‡ had been hung upon his neck and he sunk in the ' depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of offences!† For it must needs be

* Meiswv, i. e., comparative, but hence greater than others, only it is thus characteristic not personal, as 'o μeyiotos would be. Greatest answers to it in English.

·

+ That is, be a snare to;' but there is no English word which can be carried through. Σkavdaλov is a trap-fall, not a stumbling-block.

Literally an ass-millstone, i. e., turned by an ass, as too great for the hand.

that offences* come; yet woe to that man 8 by whom the offence* comes. And if thy hand or thy foot offend* thee, cut them off and cast [them] from thee; it is better for thee to enter into life lame or maimed than having two hands or two feet to be cast • into eternal fire. And if thine eye offend* thee, pluck it out and cast [it] from thee, it is better for thee to enter into life oneeyed, than having two eyes to be cast 10 into the gehenna of fire. See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I say to you that their angels in [the] heavens continually behold the face of my Father who is in [the] heavens. 11 For the Son of Man is come to save that 12 [which was] lost. What think ye: If a certain man should have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, does he not, leaving the ninety-and-nine on the mountains, go and seek the one 13 that has gone astray? And if it should come to pass that he find it, verily I say unto you he rejoices more because of it than because of the ninety-and-nine not * See first note to verse 6.