Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sack22 cloth and ashes. But I say to you, the condition of Tyre and

Sidon will, in a day of judgment, be more tolerable than 23 yours. And thou Capernaum, which hast been exalted to hea

ven, shalt be brought down to the mansion of the dead; for if the miracles, which have been done in thee, had been done in 24 Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I say to you, that the condition of the land of Sodom will, in a day of judgment, be more tolerable than thine.

25

At that time Jesus took occasion to say, I thank thee, O father, Lord of heaven and earth; that thou having hid these things from the wise and prudent, hast revealed them to babes. 26 Yes, O father, because it thus seemed good in thy sight. All 27 things are delivered up to me by my father; and none but

the father knoweth the son; nor doth any know the father, but only the son, and he to whom the son is pleased to reveal 28 him. Come to me all ye who labour and are heavily burden29 ed and I will give you rest. Take upon you my yoke and

learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. XII. About this time, as Jesus was walking through corn fields on the sabbath days, his disciples were hungry and be2 gan to pluck some ears, and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this they said to him, See! Thý disciples are doing that 3 which it is not lawful to do on a sabbath. Whereupon he said to them, Have you not read, what David did when he was 4 hungry, and they who were with him? How he went to the

house of God and ate the presence loaves, which it was not lawful for him or his company to eat, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law, that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple break the sabbath and are blame6 less? Now I say to you, There is one here greater than the 7 temple. And if you had known the meaning of this, "I desire mercy rather than sacrifice," you would not have condemn8 ed the innocent. For the son of man is lord even of the sab. bath.

9

Having departed thence, he went into their synagogue and 10 lo! there was a man there who had his hand withered. And

they asked him with a design to accuse him; Is it lawful to 11 heal on the sabbath days? And he said to them, What man is there among you, who having one sheep, if it fall into a pit on the sabbath days, will not take hold of it and lift it up? 12 Of how much greater value then is a man than a sheep? 13 Therefore it is lawful to do good on the sabbaths. Then he said to the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it 14 out. And his hand was restored sound as the other. Thereupon the Pharisees went out and conspired against him that 15 they might destroy him. But Jesus, knowing this, withdrew from that place; and great multitudes followed him, and he 16 healed them all; and strictly charged them not to make him 17 known; so that there was a full confirmation of what was 18 spoken by the prophet Esaias saying, "Behold my servant whom I have chosen! My beloved in whom my soul is well pleased! I will put my spirit upon him; and he will publish 19 judgment to the nations. He will not contend nor raise a cla20 mour; nor shall any one hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, nor extinguish a dimly burning ta21 per, until he render his judgment victorious. In his name therefore let the nations trust.*"

22

Then there was brought to him a demoniac, blind and dumb, and he healed him, so that he who was blind and dumb 23 both spake and saw. And all the people were astonished and 24 said, Is this the son of David? But the Pharisees, hearing them

said, This man expelleth the demons, only by Beelzebub, the 25 chief of the demons. Thereupon Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. And no city or family divided against itself can 26 subsist. Now if Satan expelleth Satan, he is at variance with 27 himself, how then can his kingdom subsist? Besides if I expel

demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons expel them? 28 Let them therefore be your judges. But if I expel the demons

by the Spirit of God, then indeed the reign of God over you 29 is come. How can any one enter the house of the strong and

*Es. 42. 1. &c.-This quotation from Esaias is not from the Septuagint, as we now have it. In substance, they agree, but are very different in phraseology.

plunder his goods, unless he first bind the strong one, in which 30 case he may then plunder his house. He who is not for me is

against me; and he who gathereth not with me, scattereth. 31 Therefore I say to you, All manner of sin and slander may be

forgiven men; but this slanderous speaking against the spirit is 32 not to be forgiven men-Even though one speak against the son of man, it may be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the holy Spirit is not to be forgiven, either in the present age, 33 or in that to come.* Either make the tree good and its fruit

good, or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad. For the tree is 34 known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! how can you who are evil

speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the 35 mouth speaketh. The good man out of the good treasure of his

heart produceth good things; and the bad man, out of his bad 36 treasure produceth bad things. Now I assure you in respect to

every idle word which men shall utter, they shall give an ac37 count thereof in a day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Then some of the Scribes and Pharisees interposed, say39 ing, Teacher, we desire to see a sign from thee. In reply to

38

which he said to them, An evil, and an adulterous generation demand a sign, but no sign shall be given them, save the sign of 40 the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was three days and three

nights in the belly of the great fish, so the son of man will be 41 three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Ninive will be raised up at the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it; because they repented at the proclamation of Jonas; and behold something greater than Jo42 nas is here. The queen of the south will be raised up at the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, because she came from the extremities of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold something greater than Solomon is here.

43

When the unclean spirit hath gone out of the man, it walk44 cth through dry places seeking rest, but doth not find it. Then

*Neither in the present age (that is the age under the Mosaic law) nor in that to come (i. e. the age under the Messiah.)

it saith I will return to my habitation from which I came out. And when it is come, it findeth it unoccupied, swept and fur45 nished. Then it goeth and bringeth with it seven other spirits worse than itself, and they enter and dwell there. So the last state of that man is worse than the first. Thus also will it be with this wicked generation.

46

Now, while he was speaking to the people, lo! his mother and his brethren were standing without, desiring to speak with 47 him. And one said to him, lo! thy mother and thy brethren 48 are standing without, desiring to speak with thee. In reply to which he said to him who told him, Who is my mother? And who are my brethren? Then, stretching out his hand towards his disciples, he said, Behold my mother, and my brethren! for whoever will do the will of my father who is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother.

XIII. And on the same day, Jesus having gone out of the 2 house, sat down by the sea side; but such great multitudes 3 flocked to him that he went on board the vessel and sat down, and all the multitude stood on the shore, and he spake many 4 things to them in parables, saying, Behold the sower went out to sow; and as he was sowing, some grains fell on the high5 way and the birds came and devoured them. And others fell on rocky ground, where they had little earth; these sprang up immediately, because they had no depth of soil; but soon as 6 the sun arose they were scorched; and for want of root wither7 ed away and some fell among the thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choaked them. And some fell on good ground and yielded increase; some an hundred; some, sixty; and 9 some, thirty fold. Whoever hath ears to hear, let him hear.

8

10

Then the disciples accosted him, saying, Why speakest 11 thou to them in parables? And he in reply said to them, To

you it hath been granted to know the secrets of the reign of 12 the heavens; but to them it hath not been granted. For to him who improveth, more shall be given and he shall abound: but from him who improveth not, even that which he hath shall 13 be taken. To them I speak in parables for this reason, be

cause they overlook what they see, and are inattentive to what

they hear; and they do not understand, and in them is fulfilled 14 this prophesy of Esaias, which saith, "Hearing you shall hear,

though you may not understand, and seeing you shall see, 15 though you may not perceive; for the heart of this people is

callous, and their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes, that for a while they may not see' with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and 16 return that I may heal them.+" But blessed are your eyes, be17 cause they see, and your ears, because they hear. For verily I say to you, "Many prophets and righteous men have earnestly desired to see what you see, and have not seen them; 18 and to hear what you hear and have not heard them. Hear 19 then the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the doc

trine of the kingdom and doth not mind it, the evil one cometh and snatcheth away what was sown in his heart. This is 20 the meaning of that sown on the highway. And that sown on rocky ground denoteth him, who, upon hearing the word, re21 ceiveth it at first with joy, but not having it rooted in him, it is only temporary; and when tribulation and persecution cometh on account of the word, he is immediately stumbled.

22

And that sown among thorns denoteth him, who heareth the word, but worldly care and the delusion of riches choak 23 the word and it becometh unfruitful. But that sown on good ground denoteth him who heareth and mindeth the word, and who beareth fruit and bringeth forth, one a hundred, and another sixty, and another thirty fold.

24

Another parable he stated to them, saying, The reign of the heavens may be compared to a man sowing good seed in 25 his field. But when the men were asleep; his enemy came and 26 sowed darnel among the wheat, and went away. And when the

blade sprang up and put forth the ear, then the darnel appear27 ed. Whereupon the servants of the householder came and said

to him, Master, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? 28 Whence then hath it darnel? And he said to them, An enemy hath done this. Then the servants said to him, Is it thy plea

* Literally, because, seeing they see not; and, hearing, they hear † Es. 6. 9.

not..