thee, thou malignant slave. Thou knewest that I am an austere man, taking up what I laid not down, and reaping what I 23 did not sow! Why then didst thou not put my money in the 24 bank, that at my return I might have received it with interest?

Then he said to his attendants, Take the pound from him, and 25 give it to him who hath the ten pounds, (and upon their say

ing to him, My lord he hath ten pounds) for I tell you, said 26 he, that to every one who improveth more shall be given; but

from him who improveth not, even what he hath shall be 27 taken away. And as for those enemies of mine who would not have me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.

28

Having spoken this, he proceeded on in his journey up to 29 Jerusalem. And when he was come nigh to Bethphage and

Bethany, to the mountain called The mount of olives, he sent 30 two of his disciples, saying, Go to yonder village, in which, as 31 you enter, you will find a colt tied, on which no man ever rode. Untie it, and bring it hither. And if any one ask you why you untie it, answer him thus, Because the Lord hath occasion of 32 it. Accordingly they who were despatched went and found it 33 as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, the 34 owners of it said to them, Why do ye untie the colt? And they 35 said, The Lord hath occasion of it. So they brought it to Je36 sus. And having thrown their mantles on the colt, they set

Jesus thereon. And as he went along, the people spread their mantles on the way. And as he was drawing near, just at the 37 descent of the mount of olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to express their joy in loud acclamations, praising God for all the miracles which they had seen, say38 ing, Blessed be the king who is coming in the name of the 39 Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! Upon this, 40 some of the Pharisees who were in the crowd, said to him,

Teacher, rebuke these disciples of thine. In reply to which, he said to them, I tell you, If these keep silence, those stones 41 would exclaim. And as he drew near he viewed the city and 42 wept over it, saying, O that thou hadst known-even thou

even in this very day of thine, the things which were for thy 43 peace! But now they are hidden from thine eyes. For days will come upon thee, when thine enemies will surround thee

44 with a rampire; and enclose thee; and shut thee up on every side; and dash thee to the ground, and thy children within thee; and not leave one stone on another; because thou didst

not know the time of this thy visitation.

45 Then he went into the temple and began driving out thence them who were selling and buying in it, saying to them, It is 46 written, "My house is a house of prayer:" but you have • made it a den of robbers.

47 Now while he was daily in the temple teaching, the chief

priests, and the Scribes, and the chiefs of the people were con48 triving his destruction; but could not find the means of effectXX. ing it. For all the people were bent upon hearing him. So

on one of those days when he was teaching the people in the 2 temple, and proclaiming the glad tidings, the chief priests, and the Scribes, and the elders, came up to him and accosted him, 3 saying, Tell us, by what authority thou dost these things? Or who hath given thee this authority? In answer to which, 4 he said to them, Let me also ask you one question, and do 5 you tell me. Was the baptism of John from heaven, or of men? Upon this they reasoned among themselves, saying, If we say from heaven, he will say, Why then did you not be6 lieve him? And if we say, Of men; all the people will stone

us; for they are all firmly persuaded that John was a prophet. 7 So they answered that they did not know whence it was. 8 Whereupon Jesus said to them, Neither do I tell you by

what authority I do these things. Then he addressed to the 9 people this parable. A certain man planted a vineyard and let 10 it to husbandmen, and went abroad for many seasons. And at

one season he sent a servant to the husbandmen that they 11 might give him some of the product of the vineyard. But the husbandmen beat him and sent him away empty. Again he sent another servant; and him also they beat, and abused 12 shamefully, and sent away empty. Again he sent a third, and 13 this one they wounded and cast out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my son, the Beloved. Perhaps they will reverence him, when they see him. 14 But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among

themselves, saying, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, 15 that the inheritance may be our own. So having cast him out

of the vineyard they slew him. What then will the owner of 16 the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those 17 husbandmen and give the vineyard to others. Upon hearing

this, they said, God forbid. But he looking earnestly at them, said, What then is the meaning of this passage of scripture, 18 The stone which the builders rejected was the very one for the head of the corner!* Whosoever falleth on this stone will be bruised; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

19

Upon this the chief priests and the Scribes sought to lay hands on him that very hour, (but they were afraid of the people,) for they knew that he had spoken this parable with a view 20 to them. Therefore, having watched him diligently, they sent to him spies who should feign themselves to be righteous men, that they might lay hold of some word of his, in order to deliver him up to the jurisdiction and authority of the governor. 21 So they asked him, saying, Teacher, we know that thou speak

est and teachest uprightly, and that thou art not a respecter of 22 persons, but teachest the way of God with truth. Is it lawful 23 for us to pay tribute to Cæsar, or is it not? But he, knowing 24 their craftiness, said to them, Why are you trying me? Shew 25 me a deniar. Whose image and inscription hath it? When they

in reply, said, Cæsar's; then he said to them, Render then to Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's; and to God, the things 26 which are God's. So they were not able to take advantage of his decision before the people. Therefore, having expressed admiration at his answer, they held their peace.

27

Then some of the Sadducees, who deny a future state, 28 came and asked him, saying, Teacher, Moses hath written for us, If a man's brother, having a wife, die; when he dieth childless, his brother must take his wife and raise up a seed for his 29 brother. Now there were seven brothers. And the first, hav30 ing taken a wife, died childless. Then the second took the 31 wife, and he died childless: then the third took her, and so all 32 the seven, and died without issue. And last of all the wo33 man also died. In the future state, therefore, whose wife of

*Psalm 118. 22. † Deut. 25. 5.

34 them is she, as she hath been married to all the seven? In rè35 ply to this, Jesus said to them, The children of this world mar

ry and are given in marriage; but they who shall be account36 ed worthy to obtain that state, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage, For they can die no more. For angel-like they are indeed children of God, 37 being children of the resurrection. Now that the dead are raised up, even Moses hath plainly shewn; as at the bush he stileth the Lord, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaak, and 38 the God of Jacob.* For he is not the God of the dead, but of 39 the living. For to him they are all alive. Upon this, some of the scribes addressing him, said, Teacher, thou hast spoken 40 well. And after that they did not presume to ask him another question.

41

Then he said to him, How do they say that the Christ is the son of David, when David himself saith in the book of 43 Psalms, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand un44 til I make thine enemies thy footstool.† David therefore calleth him Lord, how then is he his son?

45

Then in the hearing of all the people he said to his disci46 ples, Beware of the Scribes, who are fond of walking in robes, and love salutations in places of public resort, and the first seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost places at entertain47 ments; who devour the families of widows, and for a disguise make long prayers. They shall receive a severer sentence of judgment.

XXI.

And when he looked up and beheld the rich casting 2 their gifts into the treasury, and saw also a certain poor widow 3 throwing into it two mites, he said, Verily I say to you, That 4 poor widow hath thrown in more than they all: for all those

5

cast in, for their homage gifts to God, part only of their superfluous stores; but she hath thrown in all the little she had for her subsistence.

Again as some were speaking of the temple, how it was 6 adorned with beautiful stones and dedications, he said, With regard to all those things on which you are gazing, days will

come in which there will not be one stone left on another, 7 which shall not be thrown down. And when they asked him, saying, Teacher, When will this happen? And what will be the sign, when these things are about to be accomplished, he 8 said, Take heed that ye be not led astray. For many will come my name, saying, I am he: and the time is at hand; there9 fore go not after them. And when you hear of wars and in

in

surrections, be not terrified; for these things must first hap10 pen; but the end will not follow immediately. Then he said to them, nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against 11 kingdom. And there will be great earthquakes in divers places; and famines, and pestilences. And there will be awful sights 12 and great signs from heaven. But before all these events they will lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, to be led before kings and go13 vernors on account of my name. But this will give scope for 14 your testimony. Therefore settle it in your minds not to pre15 meditate what defence you shall make. For I will give you a

mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be 16 able to contradict or withstand. You will indeed be deliver17 ed up by parents, and brothers, and kinsmen, and friends.

And some of you will be put to death. And on the account 18 of my name you will be hated by all. But not a hair of your 19 head shall be lost. By your perseverance preserve your lives;*. 20 and when you see Jerusalem encompassed by armies, then

know that its desolation is near. Then let them who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let them who are in the midst of this [city] withdraw; and let not them who are in the re22 gions enter it. Because these are days of vengeance that all 23 which are written may be accomplished; alas therefore for the

women with child and for them who give suck in those days; 24 for there will be great distress in this land and wrath on this people. They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and be led captives to all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trampled down 25 by nations until the times of nations shall be fulfilled. There will indeed be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the

*See Matt. 10. 22. 24. 13.