BibleWare/BibWare.bin/bibtrans/weymouth.exe/MR.WNT

Text File | 1993-06-07 | 88KB | 1,746 lines

1:1 /1 The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ /2 the Son
 of God.
1:2 As /3 it is written in Isaiah the Prophet, <"See, I am
 sending My messenger before Thee, Who will prepare Thy way";
1:3 "The voice of one /4 crying aloud: `In the Desert prepare a
 road for the Lord: Make His highways straight.'">
1:4 So John /5 the Baptizer came, and was in the Desert
 proclaiming a baptism of /6 the penitent for forgiveness of
 sins.
1:5 There went out to him people /7 of all classes from Judaea,
 and the inhabitants of Jerusalem of all ranks, and /8 were
 baptized by him /9 in the river Jordan, making open confession
 of their sins.
1:6 As for John, his garment was of camel's hair, and he wore a
 loincloth of leather; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
1:7 /10 His announcement was, "There is One coming after me
 mightier than I--One whose sandal-strap I am unworthy to stoop
 down and unfasten.
1:8 I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you /11
 with the Holy Spirit."

1:9 /1 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was
 baptized by John in the Jordan;
1:10 and /2 immediately on His coming up out of the water He saw
 an opening in the sky, and the Spirit like a /3 dove coming
 down /4 to Him;
1:11 and a voice came from the sky, saying, "Thou art My Son
 dearly loved: in Thee is My delight."
1:12 /5 At once the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the
 Desert,
1:13 where He remained for forty days, tempted by Satan; and He
 was among the wild beasts, but the angels waited upon Him.
1:14 /6 Then, after John had been /7 thrown into prison, Jesus
 came into Galilee proclaiming God's Good News.
1:15 "The time has fully come," He said, "and the Kingdom of God
 is close at hand: repent, and believe this Good News.
1:16 One day, passing along the shore of the Lake of Galilee, He
 saw Simon and Andrew, Simon's brother, throwing their nets in
 the Lake; for they were fisherman.
1:17 "Come and follow me," said Jesus, "and I will make you
 fishers for men."
1:18 At once they left their nets and followed Him.
1:19 Going on a little further He saw James the son of Zabdi and
 his brother John: they also were in the boat mending the nets,
 and He immediately called them.
1:20 They /8 therefore left their father Zabdi in the boat with
 the hired men, and went and followed Him.

1:21 /1 So they came to Capernaum, and on the next Sabbath He
 went to the synagogue and began to teach.
1:22 The people listened with amazement to His teaching--for
 there was authority about it: it was very different from that
 of the Scribes--
1:23 when all at once, there in their synagogue, a man /2 under
 the power of a foul spirit screamed out:
1:24 "What have you to do with us, Jesus the Nazarene? Have you
 come to destroy us? I know who you are--God's Holy One."
1:25 But Jesus reprimanded him, saying, "Silence! come out of
 him."
1:26 So the foul spirit, after throwing the man into
 convulsions, came out of him with a loud cry.
1:27 And all were /3 amazed and awe-struck, so they began to ask
 one another, "What does this mean? Here is a new sort of
 teaching--and a tone of authority! And even to foul spirits he
 issues orders and they obey him!"
1:28 And His fame spread at once everywhere in all that part of
 Galilee.
1:29 /4 Then on leaving the synagogue /5 they came at once, with
 James and John, to the house of Simon and Andrew.
1:30 Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill in bed with a fever, and
 without delay they informed Him about her.
1:31 So He went to her, and taking her /6 hand He raised her to
 her feet: the fever left her, and she began to wait upon them.
1:32 When it was evening, after sunset people came bringing Him
 all who were sick and the demoniacs;
1:33 and the whole town was assembled at the door.
1:34 Then He cured numbers of people who were ill with various
 diseases, and He drove out many demons; not allowing the demons
 to speak, because they knew /7 who He was.

1:35 In the morning He rose early, while it was still quite
 dark, and leaving the house He went away to a solitary place
 and there prayed.
1:36 And Simon and the others searched everywhere for Him.
1:37 When they found Him they said, "Every one is looking for
 you."
1:38 "Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring country towns,"
 He replied, "that I may proclaim my Message there also; because
 for that purpose I came from God."
1:39 And He went through all Galilee, preaching in the
 synagogues and expelling the demons.
1:40 One day there came a leper to Jesus entreating Him, and
 pleading on his knees. "If you are willing," he said, "you are
 able to cleanse me."
1:41 /1 Moved with pity Jesus reached out His hand and touched
 him. "I am willing," He said; "be cleansed."
1:42 The leprosy at once /2 left him, and he was cleansed.
1:43 Jesus at once sent him away, strictly charging him,
1:44 and saying, "Be careful not to tell any one, but go and
 show yourself to the Priest, and for your purification present
 the offerings that Moses appointed as evidence for them."
1:45 But the man, when he went out, began to tell every one and
 to publish the matter abroad, so that it was no longer possible
 for Jesus to go openly into /3 any town; but He had to remain
 outside in unfrequented places, where people came to Him from
 all parts.
2:1 /4 After some days He entered Capernaum again, and it soon
 became known that He was at home;
2:2 and such numbers of people came together that there was no
 longer room for them even round the door. He was speaking His
 Message to them,
2:3 when there came a party of people bringing a paralytic--four
 men carrying him.
2:4 Finding themselves unable, however, to bring him to Jesus
 because of the crowd, they untiled the roof just over His head,
 and after clearing an opening they lowered the mat on which the
 paralytic was lying.

2:5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, "My son,
 your sins are pardoned."
2:6 Now there were some of the Scribes sitting there, and
 reasoning in their hearts.
2:7 "Why does this man use such words?" they said; "he is
 blaspheming. Who can pardon sins but One--that is, God?"
2:8 At once perceiving by His spirit that they were reasoning
 within themselves, Jesus asked them, "Why do you thus argue in
 your /1 minds?
2:9 Which is easier?--to say to this paralytic, `Your sins are
 pardoned,' or to say, `Rise, take up your mat, and walk?'
2:10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on
 earth to pardon sins" --He turned to the paralytic, and said,
2:11 "To you I say, `Rise, take up your mat and go home.'"
2:12 The man rose, and immediately under the eyes of all took up
 his mat and went out, so that they were all filled with
 astonishment, gave the glory to God, and said, "We never saw
 anything like this."
2:13 /2 Again He went out to the shore of the Lake, and the
 whole multitude kept coming to Him, and He taught them.
2:14 And as He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus
 sitting /3 at the Toll Office, and said to him, "Follow me." So
 he rose and followed Him.
2:15 When He was /4 sitting at table in Levi's house, a large
 number of tax-gatherers and notorious sinners were at table
 with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many such who
 habitually followed Him.
2:16 But when the Scribes of the Pharisee sect saw Him eating
 with the sinners and the tax-gatherers, they said to His
 disciples, "He is eating /5 and drinking with the tax-gatherers
 and sinners!"
2:17 Jesus heard the words, and He said, "It is not the healthy
 who require a doctor, but the sick: I did not come to appeal to
 the righteous, but to sinners."

2:18 /1 (Now John's disciples and those of the Pharisees were /2
 keeping a fast.) And they came and asked Him, "How is it that
 John's disciples and those of the Pharisees are fasting, and
 yours are not?"
2:19 "Can a wedding party fast while the bridegroom is among
 them?" replied Jesus. "So long as they have the bridegroom with
 them, fasting is impossible.
2:20 But a time will come when the Bridegroom will be taken away
 from them; then they will fast.
2:21 No one mends an old garment with a piece of unshrunk cloth.
 Otherwise, the patch put on would tear away from it--the new
 from the old--and a worse hole would be made.
2:22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the
 wine would burst the skins, and both wine and skins would be
 lost. New wine needs fresh skins!"
2:23 /3 One Sabbath He was walking through the wheatfields when
 His disciples began to pluck the ears of wheat as they went.
2:24 So the Pharisees said to Him, "Look! why are they doing
 what on the Sabbath is unlawful?"
2:25 "Have you never read," Jesus replied, "what David did when
 the necessity arose and he and his men were hungry:
2:26 how he entered the house of God /4 in the High-priesthood
 of Abiathar, and ate the Presented Loaves--which none but the
 priests are allowed to eat--and gave some to his men also?"
2:27 And Jesus said to them: "The Sabbath was made for /5 man,
 not man for the Sabbath;
2:28 so that the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
3:1 /6 At another time, when He went to the synagogue, there was
 a man there with one arm shrivelled up.
3:2 They closely watched Him to see whether He would cure him on
 the Sabbath--so as to have a charge to bring against Him.
3:3 "Come forward," said He to the man with the shrivelled arm.

3:4 Then He asked them, "Are we allowed to do good on the
 Sabbath, or to do evil? to save a /1 life, or to destroy one?"
 They remained silent.
3:5 /2 Grieved and indignant at the hardening of their hearts,
 He looked round on them with anger, and said to the man,
 "Stretch out your arm." He stretched it out, and the arm was
 completely restored.
3:6 But no sooner had the Pharisees left the synagogue than they
 held a consultation with the Herodians against Jesus, to devise
 some means of destroying Him.
3:7 /3 Accordingly Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the
 Lake, and a vast crowd of people from Galilee followed Him;
3:8 and from Judaea and Jerusalem and Idumaea and from beyond
 the Jordan and from the district of Tyre and Sidon there came
 to Him a vast crowd, hearing of all that He was doing.
3:9 /4 So He gave directions to His disciples to keep a small
 boat in constant attendance on Him because of the throng--to
 prevent their crushing Him.
3:10 For He had cured many of the people, so that all who had
 any ailments pressed upon Him, to touch Him.
3:11 And the foul spirits, whenever they saw Him, threw
 themselves down at His feet, screaming out: "You are the Son of
 God."
3:12 But He many a time checked them, forbidding them to say who
 He was.
3:13 /5 Then He went up the hill; and those whom He Himself
 chose He called, and they came to Him.
3:14 He appointed /6 twelve of them, that they might be with
 Him, and that He might also send them to proclaim His Message,
3:15 with authority to expel the demons.
3:16 /3 These twelve were Simon (to whom He gave the surname of
 Peter),
3:17 James the son of Zabdi and John the brother of James (these
 two He surnamed Boanerges, that is `Sons of Thunder'),
3:18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son
 of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the /7 Cananaean,
3:19 and Judas Iscariot, the man who also betrayed Him.

3:20 /1 And He /2 went into a house. But again the crowd
 assembled, so that there was no opportunity for them even /3 to
 snatch a meal.
3:21 Hearing of this, /4 His relatives came to seize Him by
 force, for they said, "He is out of his mind."
3:22 The Scribes, too, who had come down from Jerusalem said,
 "He has /5 Baal-zebul in him; and it is by the power of the
 Prince of the demons that he expels the demons."
3:23 So He called them to Him, and using figurative language He
 appealed to them, saying, "How is it possible for Satan to
 expel Satan?
3:24 /6 For if civil war breaks out in a kingdom, nothing can
 make that kingdom last;
3:25 and if a family splits into parties, that family cannot
 continue.
3:26 So if Satan has risen in arms and has made war upon
 himself, stand he cannot, but meets his end.
3:27 Nay, no one can go into a strong man's house and carry off
 his property, unless he first binds the strong man, and then he
 will plunder his house.
3:28 /7 In solemn truth I tell you that all their sins may be
 pardoned to the sons of men, and all their blasphemies, however
 they may have blasphemed;
3:29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, he remains
 /8 for ever unabsolved: he is guilty of /9 a sin /10 of the
 Ages."
3:30 This was because they said, "He is possessed by a foul
 spirit."
3:31 /11 By this time His mother and His brothers arrive, and
 standing /12 outside they send a message to Him to call Him.
3:32 Now a crowd was /13 sitting round Him; so they tell Him,
 "Your mother and your brothers

/1 and sisters are outside, inquiring for you."
3:33 "Who are my mother and my brothers?" He replied.
3:34 And, fixing His eyes on the people who were sitting round
 Him in a circle, He said,
3:35 "Here are my mother and my brothers. For wherever there is
 one who has been obedient to God, there is my brother--my
 sister--and my mother."
4:1 /2 Once more He began to teach by the side of the Lake, and
 a vast multitude of people came together to listen to Him. He
 therefore went /3 on board the boat and sat there, a little way
 from the land; and all the people were on the shore close to
 the water.
4:2 Then He proceeded to teach them many lessons in figurative
 language; and in His teaching He said,
4:3 "Listen: the sower /4 goes out to sow.
4:4 As he sows, some of the seed falls by the way-side, and the
 birds come and peck it up.
4:5 Some falls on the rocky ground where it finds but little
 earth, and it shoots up quickly because it has no depth of
 soil;
4:6 but when the sun is risen, it is scorched, and through
 having no root it withers away.
4:7 Some, again, falls among the thorns; and the thorns spring
 up and stifle it, so that it yields no crop.
4:8 But some of the seed falls into good ground, and gives a
 return: it comes up and increases, and yields thirty, sixty, or
 a hundred-fold."
4:9 "Listen," He added, "every one who has ears to listen with!"
4:10 When He was alone, the Twelve and the others who were about
 Him requested Him to explain His figurative language.
4:11 "To you," He replied, "has been entrusted /5 the secret
 truth concerning the Kingdom of God; but to those others
 outside your number all this is spoken in figurative language;
4:12 that <"`They may look and look but not see, and listen and
 listen but not understand, lest perchance they should return
 and be pardoned.'">

4:13 "Do you all miss the meaning of this parable?" He added;
 "how then will you understand the rest of my parables?"
4:14 "What the sower sows is the Message.
4:15 Those who receive the seed by the way-side are those in
 whom the Message is sown, but, when they have heard it, Satan
 comes at once and carries away the Message sown in them.
4:16 In the same way those who /1 receive the seed on the rocky
 places are those who, when they have heard the Message, at once
 accept it joyfully,
4:17 but they have no root within them. They last for a time;
 then, when suffering or persecution comes because of the
 Message, they /2 are immediately overthrown.
4:18 Others there are who /1 receive the seed among the thorns:
 these are they who have heard the Message,
4:19 but worldly cares and the deceitfulness of wealth and the
 excessive pursuit of other objects come in and stifle the
 Message, and it becomes unfruitful.
4:20 Those, on the other hand, who /1 have received the seed on
 the good ground, are all who hear the Message and welcome it,
 and yield a return of thirty, sixty, or a hundred fold."
4:21 He went on to say, "Is the lamp brought in in order to be
 put under the /3 bushel or under the bed? Is it not rather in
 order that it may be placed on the lampstand?
4:22 /4 Why, there is nothing hidden except with a view to its
 being ultimately disclosed, nor has anything been made a secret
 but that it may at last come to light.
4:23 Listen, every one who has ears to listen with!"
4:24 He also said to them, "Take care what you hear. With what
 measure you measure, it will be measured to you, and that with
 interest.
4:25 For those who have will have more given them; and from
 those who have not, even what they have will be taken away."
4:26 Another saying of His was this: "The Kingdom of God is as
 if a man scattered seed over the ground:
4:27 he spends days and nights, now awake, now asleep, while the
 seed sprouts and grows tall, he knows not how.

4:28 Of itself the land produces the crop-- /1 first the blade,
 then the ear; afterwards the perfect grain is seen in the ear.
4:29 But no sooner is the crop ripe, than he sends the /2
 reapers, because the time of harvest has come."
4:30 /3 Another saying of His was this: "How are we to picture
 the Kingdom of God? or by what figure of speech shall we
 represent it?
4:31 It is like a mustard-seed, which, when sown in the earth,
 is the smallest of all the seeds in the world;
4:32 yet when sown it springs up and becomes larger than all the
 /4 herbs, and throws out great branches, so that the birds
 build under its shadow."
4:33 With many such parables He used to speak the Message to
 them according to their capacity for receiving it.
4:34 But except in figurative language He spoke nothing to them;
 while to His own disciples He expounded everything, in private.
4:35 /5 The same day, in the evening, He said to them, "Let us
 cross to the other side."
4:36 So they got away from the crowd, and took Him--as He
 was--in the boat; and other boats accompanied Him.
4:37 But a heavy squall came on, and the waves were now dashing
 into the boat, so that it was fast filling.
4:38 But He Himself was in the stern asleep, with His head on
 the cushion: so they woke Him. /6 "Rabbi," they cried, "is it
 nothing to you that we are drowning?"
4:39 So He roused Himself and rebuked the wind, and said to the
 waves, "Silence! Be still!" The wind sank, and a perfect calm
 set in.
4:40 "Why are you so timid?" He asked; "have you still no
 faith?"
4:41 Then they were filled with terror, and began to say to one
 another, "Who is this, then? For even wind and sea obey Him."

5:1 /1 So they arrived at the opposite shore of the Lake, in the
 country of the Gerasenes.
5:2 At once, on His landing, there came from the tombs to meet
 Him a man /2 possessed by a foul spirit.
5:3 This man lived /3 among the tombs, nor could any one now
 secure him even with a chain;
5:4 for many a time he had been left securely bound in fetters
 and chains, but afterwards the chains lay torn link from link,
 and the fetters in fragments, and there was no one strong
 enough to master him.
5:5 And constantly, day and night, he remained among the tombs
 or on the hills, shrieking, and mangling himself with sharp
 stones.
5:6 And when he saw Jesus in the distance, he ran and threw
 himself at His feet,
5:7 crying out in a loud voice, "What hast Thou to do with me,
 Jesus, Son of God Most High? In God's name I implore Thee not
 to torment me."
5:8 For He /4 had said to him, "Foul spirit, come out of the
 man."
5:9 Jesus also questioned him. "What is your name?" He said.
 "Legion," he replied, "for there are a host of us."
5:10 And /5 he earnestly entreated Him not to send them away out
 of the country.
5:11 Feeding there, on the mountain slope, was a great herd of
 swine.
5:12 So they besought Jesus. "Send us to the swine," they said,
 "so that we may enter into them."
5:13 He gave them leave; and the foul spirits came out and
 entered into the swine, and the herd--about 2,000 in
 number--rushed headlong down the cliff into the Lake and were
 drowned in the Lake.
5:14 The swineherds fled, and spread the news in town and
 country. So the people came to see what it was that had
 happened;
5:15 and when they came to Jesus, they beheld the demoniac
 quietly seated, clothed and of sane mind--the man who had had
 the legion; and they were awe-stricken.
5:16 And those who had seen it told them the particulars of what
 had happened to the demoniac, and all about the swine.
5:17 Then they began entreating Him to depart from their
 district.

5:18 As He was embarking, the man who had been possessed asked
 permission to accompany Him.
5:19 But He would not allow it. "Go home to your family," He
 said, "and report to them all that the Lord has done for you,
 and the mercy He has shown you."
5:20 So the man departed, and related publicly everywhere in the
 Ten Towns all that Jesus had done for him; and all were
 astonished.
5:21 /1 When Jesus had re-crossed in the boat to the other side,
 a vast multitude came crowding to Him; and He was on the shore
 of the Lake,
5:22 when there came one of the Wardens of the Synagogue--he was
 called /2 Jair--who, on beholding Him, threw himself at His
 feet,
5:23 and besought Him with many entreaties. "My little
 daughter," he said, "is at the point of death: I pray you come
 and lay your hands upon her, that she may recover and live."
5:24 And Jesus went with him. And a dense crowd followed Him,
 and thronged Him on all sides.
5:25 Now a woman who for twelve years had suffered from
 haemorrhage,
5:26 and had undergone many different treatments under a number
 of doctors and had spent all she had without receiving benefit
 but on the contrary growing worse,
5:27 heard of Jesus. And she came in the crowd behind Him and
 touched His cloak;
5:28 for she said, "If I but touch His clothes, I shall be
 cured."
5:29 In a moment the /3 flow of her blood ceased, and she felt
 in herself that her complaint was cured.
5:30 Immediately Jesus, well knowing that healing power had gone
 /4 from within Him, turned round in the crowd and asked, "Who
 touched my clothes?"
5:31 "You see the multitude pressing you on all sides," His
 disciples exclaimed, "and yet you ask, `Who touched me?'"

5:32 But He continued looking about to see the person who had
 done this,
5:33 until the woman, frightened and trembling, knowing what had
 happened to her, came and threw herself at His feet, and told
 Him all the truth.
5:34 "Daughter," He said, "your faith has cured you: go in
 peace, and be free from your complaint."
5:35 While He is yet speaking, men come from the house to the
 Warden, and say, "Your daughter /1 is dead: why trouble the /2
 Rabbi further?"
5:36 But Jesus, /3 overhearing the words, said to the Warden,
 "Do not be afraid; only have faith."
5:37 And He allowed no one to accompany Him except Peter and the
 brothers James and John.
5:38 So they come to the Warden's house. Here He gazes on a
 scene of uproar, with people /4 weeping aloud and wailing.
5:39 He goes in. "Why all this outcry and loud weeping?" He
 asks; "the child is asleep, not dead."
5:40 To this their reply is a scornful laugh. He, however, puts
 them all out, takes the child's father and mother and those He
 has brought with Him, and enters the room where the child lies.
5:41 Then, taking her by the hand, He says to her, "Talitha,
 koum;" that is to say, "Little girl, I command you to wake!"
5:42 Instantly the little girl rises to her feet and begins to
 walk (for she was twelve years old). They were /5 at once
 beside themselves with utter astonishment;
5:43 but He gave strict injunctions that the matter should not
 be made known, and directed them to give her something to eat.
6:1 /6 Leaving that place He came into His /7 own country,
 accompanied by His disciples.
6:2 On the Sabbath He proceeded to teach in the synagogue; and

/8 many, as they heard Him, were astonished. "Where did he
 acquire all this?" they asked. "What is this wisdom that has
 been given to him? And what are /1 these marvellous miracles
 which his hands perform?
6:3 Is not this the carpenter, Mary's son, the brother of James
 and Joses, Jude and Simon? And do not his sisters live here
 among us?" So they turned angrily away.
6:4 But Jesus said to them, "There is no Prophet without honour
 except in his own country, and among his own relatives, and in
 his own home."
6:5 And He could not do any miracle there, except that He laid
 His hands on a few who were out of health and cured them; and
6:6 He wondered at their unbelief. /2 So He went round the
 adjacent villages, teaching.
6:7 /3 Then summoning the Twelve to Him, He proceeded to send
 them out by twos, and gave them authority over the foul
 spirits.
6:8 He charged them to take nothing /4 for the journey except a
 stick; no bread, no bag, and /5 not a penny in their /6
 pockets,
6:9 but to go wearing /7 sandals. "And do not," He said, "put on
 an extra under garment.
6:10 Wherever you enter a house, make it your home till you
 leave that place.
6:11 But wherever they will not receive you or listen to you,
 when you leave shake off the very dust from under your feet to
 bear witness concerning them."
6:12 So they set out, and preached in order that men might
 repent.
6:13 Many demons they expelled, and many invalids they anointed
 with oil and cured.
6:14 /8 King Herod heard of all this (for the name of Jesus had
 become widely known), and /9 he kept saying, "John /10 the
 Baptizer /11 has come back to life, and that is why /12 these
 miraculous Powers are working in him."

6:15 Others asserted that He was Elijah. Others again said, "He
 is a Prophet, like one of the great Prophets."
6:16 But when Herod heard of Him, he said, "The John, whom I
 beheaded, /1 has come back to life."
6:17 /2 For /3 Herod himself had sent and had had John arrested
 and had kept him in prison in chains, for the sake of Herodias,
 his brother Philip's wife; because he had married her.
6:18 For John had repeatedly told Herod, "You have no right to
 be living with your brother's wife."
6:19 Therefore Herodias /4 hated him and wished to take his
 life, but could not;
6:20 for Herod /5 stood in awe of John, knowing him to be an
 upright and holy man, and he protected him. After listening to
 him he /6 was in great perplexity, and yet he found a pleasure
 in listening.
6:21 /7 At length Herodias found her opportunity. Herod on his
 birthday gave a banquet to the nobles of his court and to the
 /8 tribunes and the principal people in Galilee,
6:22 at which /9 Herodias's own daughter came in and danced, and
 so charmed Herod and his guests that he said to her, "Ask me
 for anything you please, and I will give it to you."
6:23 He even swore to her, "Whatever you ask me for I will give
 you, up to half my kingdom."
6:24 She at once went out and said to her mother: "What shall I
 ask for?" "The head of John the Baptizer," she replied.
6:25 The girl immediately came in, in haste, to the King and
 made her request. "My desire is," she said, "that you will give
 me, here and now, on a dish, the head of John the Baptist."
6:26 Then the King, though intensely sorry, yet for the sake of
 his oaths, and of his guests, would not break faith with her.

6:27 He at once sent a soldier of his guard with orders to bring
 John's head. So he went and beheaded him in the prison,
6:28 and brought his head on a dish and gave it to the young
 girl, who gave it to her mother.
6:29 When John's disciples heard of it, they came and took away
 his body and laid it in a tomb.
6:30 /1 When the Apostles had re-assembled round Jesus, they
 reported to Him all they had done and all they had taught.
6:31 Then He said to them, "Come away, all of you, to a quiet
 place, and rest awhile." For there were many coming and going,
 so that they had no time even for meals.
6:32 Accordingly they sailed away in the boat to a solitary
 place apart.
6:33 But the people saw them going, and many knew them; and
 coming by land they ran together there from all the
 neighbouring towns, and arrived before them.
6:34 So when Jesus landed, He saw a vast multitude; and His
 heart was moved with pity for them, because they were like
 sheep which have no shepherd, and He proceeded to teach them
 many things.
6:35 By this time it was late; so His disciples came to Him, and
 said, "This is a lonely place, and the hour is now late:
6:36 send them away that they may go to the farms and villages
 near here and buy themselves something to eat."
6:37 "Give them food yourselves," He replied. "Are we," they
 asked, "to go and buy two hundred shillings' worth of bread and
 give them food?"
6:38 "How many loaves have you?" He inquired; "go and see." So
 they found out, and said, "Five; and a couple of fish."
6:39 So He directed them to make all sit down in companies on
 the green grass.
6:40 And they sat down in /2 rows of hundreds and of fifties.
6:41 Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and lifting
 His eyes to Heaven He blessed the food. Then He broke the
 loaves into portions which He went on handing to the disciples
 to distribute; giving pieces also of the two fish to them all.

6:42 All ate and were fully satisfied.
6:43 And they carried away broken portions enough to fill twelve
 baskets, besides pieces of the fish.
6:44 Those who ate the bread were 5,000 adult men.
6:45 /1 Immediately afterwards He made His disciples go on board
 the boat and cross over to Bethsaida, leaving Him behind to
 dismiss the crowd.
6:46 He then bade the people farewell, and went away up the hill
 to pray.
6:47 When evening was come, the boat was half way across the
 Lake, while he Himself was on shore alone.
6:48 But when He saw them distressed with rowing (for the wind
 was against them), /2 towards morning He came towards them
 walking on the Lake, as if intending to pass them.
6:49 They saw Him walking on the water, and thinking that it was
 a spirit they cried out;
6:50 for they all saw Him and were terrified. He, however,
 immediately spoke to them. "There is no danger," He said; "it
 is I; be not alarmed."
6:51 Then He went up to them on board the boat, and the wind
 lulled; and they were beside themselves with /3 silent
 amazement.
6:52 For they had not /4 learned the lesson taught by the
 loaves, but their /5 minds were dull.
6:53 /6 Having crossed over they drew to land in Gennesaret and
 came /7 to anchor.
6:54 But no sooner had they gone ashore than the people
 immediately recognized Him.
6:55 Then they scoured the whole district, and began to bring
 Him the sick on their mats wherever they heard He was.
6:56 And enter wherever He might--village or town or
 hamlet--they laid their sick in the open places, and entreated
 Him to let them touch were it but the tassel of His robe; and
 all, whoever touched Him, were restored to health.

7:1 /1 Then /2 the Pharisees, with certain Scribes who had come
 from Jerusalem, came to Him in a body.
7:2 They had noticed that some of His disciples were eating
 their food with `unclean' (that is to say, unwashed) hands.
7:3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews--being, as they are,
 zealous for the traditions of the Elders--never eat without
 first /3 carefully washing their hands,
7:4 and when they come from market they will not eat without /4
 bathing first; and they have a good many other customs which
 they have received traditionally and cling to, such as the
 rinsing of cups and pots and of bronze utensils, /5 and the
 washing of beds.)
7:5 So the Pharisees and Scribes put the question to Him: "Why
 do your disciples transgress the traditions of the Elders, and
 eat their /6 food with unclean hands?"
7:6 "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites," He replied;
 "as it is written, <"`This People honour Me with their lips,
 while their hearts are far away from Me:
7:7 But idle is their devotion while they lay down precepts
 which are mere human rules.'>
7:8 "You neglect God's Commandment: you hold fast to men's
 traditions."
7:9 "Praiseworthy indeed!" He added, "to set at nought God's
 Commandment in order to observe your own traditions!
7:10 For Moses said, <`Honour thy father and thy mother'> and
 again, <`He who /7 curses father or mother, let him /8 die the
 death.'>
7:11 But *you* say, `If a man says to his father or mother, It
 is a Korban (that is, a thing /9 devoted to God), whatever it
 is, which otherwise you

/1 would have received /2 from me--'
7:12 And so you no longer allow him to do anything for his
 father or mother,
7:13 thus nullifying God's precept by /3 your tradition which
 you have handed down. And many things of that kind you do."
7:14 Then Jesus called the people to Him again. "Listen to me,
 all of you," He said, "and understand.
7:15 There is nothing /4 outside a man which entering him can
 make him unclean; but it is the things which come out of a man
 that make him unclean."
7:16 /5 []
7:17 After He had left the crowd and gone indoors, His disciples
 began to ask Him about this figure of speech.
7:18 "Have *you* also so little understanding?" He replied; "do
 you not understand that anything whatever that enters a man
 from outside cannot make him unclean,
7:19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his
 stomach, and passes away ejected from him?" By these words
 Jesus pronounced all kinds of food clean.
7:20 "What comes out of a man," He added, "that it is which
 makes him unclean.
7:21 For from within, out of men's hearts, their evil purposes
 proceed--fornication, theft, murder, adultery,
7:22 covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy,
 reviling, pride, reckless folly:
7:23 all these wicked things come out from within and make a man
 unclean."
7:24 /6 Then He rose and left that place and went into the
 neighbourhood of Tyre /7 and Sidon. Here He entered a house and
 wished no one to know it, but He could not escape observation.
7:25 Forthwith a woman whose little daughter was possessed by a
 foul spirit heard of Him, and came and flung herself at His
 feet.
7:26 She was a /8 Gentile woman, a Syro-phoenician by nation:
 and again and again she begged Him to expel the demon from her
 daughter.

7:27 "Let the children first eat all they want," He said; "it is
 not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the /1
 dogs."
7:28 "True, Sir," she replied, "and yet the dogs under the table
 eat the children's scraps."
7:29 "For those words of yours, go home," He replied; "the demon
 has gone out of your daughter."
7:30 So she went home, and found the child /2 lying on the bed,
 and the demon gone.
7:31 /3 Returning from the neighbourhood of Tyre, He came by way
 of Sidon to the Lake of Galilee, passing through the district
 of the Ten Towns.
7:32 Here they brought to Him a deaf man that stammered, on whom
 they begged Him to lay His hands.
7:33 So Jesus taking him aside, apart from the crowd, put His
 fingers into his ears, and spat, and moistened his tongue;
7:34 and looking up to Heaven /4 He sighed, and said to him,
 "Ephphatha!" (that is, "Open!")
7:35 And the man's ears were opened, and his tongue became
 untied, and he began to speak perfectly.
7:36 Then Jesus charged them to tell no one; but the more He
 charged them, all the more did they spread the news far and
 wide.
7:37 The amazement was extreme. /5 "He succeeds in everything he
 attempts," they exclaimed; "he even makes deaf men hear and
 dumb men speak!"
8:1 /6 About that time there was again an immense crowd, and
 they found themselves with nothing to eat. So He called His
 disciples to Him.

8:2 "My heart yearns over the people," He said; "for this is now
 /1 the third day they have remained with me, and they have
 nothing to eat.
8:3 If I were to send them home hungry, they would faint on the
 way, some of them having come a great distance."
8:4 "Where can we possibly get bread here in this remote place
 to satisfy such a crowd?" answered His disciples.
8:5 "How many loaves have you?" He asked. "Seven," they said.
8:6 So He passed the word to the people to sit down on the
 ground. Then taking the seven loaves He blessed them, and broke
 them into portions and proceeded to give them to His disciples
 for them to distribute, and they distributed them to the
 people.
8:7 They had also a few small fish. He blessed them, and He told
 His disciples to distribute these also.
8:8 So the people ate an abundant meal; and what remained over
 they picked up and carried away--seven hampers of broken
 pieces.
8:9 The number fed were about 4,000. Then He sent them away,
8:10 /2 and at once going on board with His disciples He came
 into the district of Dalmanutha.
8:11 The Pharisees followed Him and began to dispute with Him,
 asking Him for a sign /3 in the sky, to make trial of Him.
8:12 Heaving a deep and troubled sigh, He said, "Why do the men
 of to-day ask for a sign? In solemn truth I tell you that no
 sign will be given to the men of to-day."
8:13 /4 So He left them, went on board again, and came away to
 the other side.
8:14 Now they had forgotten to take bread, nor had they more
 than a single loaf with them in the boat;
8:15 and when He admonished them, "See to it, be on your guard
 against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod,"
8:16 they explained His words to one another by saying, "We have
 no bread!"
8:17 He perceived what they were saying, and He said to them,
 "What is this discussion of yours about having no bread? Do you
 not yet see and understand? Are your minds so dull of
 comprehension?

8:18 <You have eyes! can you not see? You have ears! can you not
 hear?> and /1 have you no memory?
8:19 When I broke up the five loaves for the 5,000 men, how many
 baskets did you carry away full of broken portions?" "Twelve,"
 they said.
8:20 "And when the seven for the 4,000, how many hampers full of
 portions did you take away?" "Seven," they answered.
8:21 "Do you not yet understand?" /2 He said.
8:22 And they came to Bethsaida. And a blind man was brought to
 Jesus and they entreated Him to touch him.
8:23 So He took the blind man by the /3 arm and brought him out
 of the village, and spitting into his eyes He put His hands on
 him and asked him, "Can you see anything?"
8:24 He looked up and said, "I can see the people: I see them
 like trees--only walking."
8:25 Then for the second time He put His hands on the man's
 eyes, and the man, looking steadily, recovered his sight and
 saw everything distinctly.
8:26 So He sent him home, and added, "Do not even go into the
 village."
8:27 /4 From that place Jesus and His disciples went to the
 villages belonging to Caesarea Philippi. On the way He /5 began
 to ask His disciples, "Who do people say that I am?"
8:28 "John the Baptist," they replied, "but others say Elijah,
 and others, that it is one of the Prophets."
8:29 Then /6 He asked them pointedly, "But you yourselves, who
 do you say that I am?" "You are /7 the Christ," answered Peter.

8:30 And He strictly forbad them to tell this about Him to any
 one.
8:31 And now for the first time He told them, "The Son of Man /1
 must endure much suffering, and be rejected by the Elders and
 the High Priests and the Scribes, and be put to death, and
 after two days /2 rise to life."
8:32 This He told them plainly; whereupon Peter took Him and
 began to remonstrate with Him.
8:33 But turning round and seeing His disciples, He rebuked
 Peter. "Get behind me, /3 Adversary," He said, "for your
 thoughts are not God's thoughts, but men's."
8:34 Then calling to Him the crowd and also His disciples, He
 said to them, "If any one is desirous of following me, let him
 ignore self and take up his cross, and so be my follower.
8:35 For whoever is bent on securing his /4 life will lose it,
 but he who loses his /4 life for my sake, and for the sake of
 the Good News, will secure it.
8:36 /5 Why, what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world
 and /6 forfeit his life?
8:37 For what could a man give to buy back his life?
8:38 Every one, however, who /7 has been ashamed of me and of my
 teachings in this /8 faithless and sinful age, of him the Son
 of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in His Father's glory
 with the holy angels."
9:1 He went on to say, "In solemn truth I tell you that some of
 those who /9 are standing here will certainly not taste death
 till they have seen the Kingdom of God /10 already come /11 in
 power."
9:2 /12 Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and
 John, and brought them alone, apart from the rest, up a high
 mountain; and in their presence His appearance underwent a
 change.

9:3 His garments also became dazzling with brilliant
 whiteness--such whiteness as no bleaching on earth could give.
9:4 Moreover there appeared to them Elijah accompanied by Moses;
 and the two were conversing with Jesus,
9:5 when /1 Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, /2 we are thankful to
 you that we are here. Let us put up three /3 tents--one for
 you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
9:6 For he knew not what /4 to say: they were filled with such
 awe.
9:7 Then there came a cloud /5 spreading over them, and a voice
 issued from the cloud, "This is my Son, dearly loved: listen to
 Him."
9:8 Instantly they looked round, and now they could no longer
 see any one, but themselves and Jesus.
9:9 As they were coming down from the mountain, He very strictly
 forbad them to tell any one what they had seen "until after the
 Son of Man has risen from among the dead."
9:10 So they kept the matter to themselves, although frequently
 asking one another what was meant by the rising from the dead.
9:11 They also asked Him, "How is it that the Scribes say that
 Elijah must first come?"
9:12 "Elijah," He replied, "does indeed come first and reforms
 everything; but how is it that it is written of the Son of Man
 that He will endure much suffering and be held in contempt?
9:13 Yet I tell you that not only has Elijah come, but they have
 also done to him whatever they chose, as the Scriptures say
 about him."
9:14 /6 As they came to rejoin the disciples, they saw an
 immense crowd surrounding them and a party of Scribes disputing
 with them.
9:15 Immediately the whole multitude on beholding Him were /7
 astonished and awe-struck, and yet they ran forward and /8
 greeted Him.

9:16 "What is the subject you are discussing?" He asked them.
9:17 /1 "Rabbi," answered one of the crowd, /2 "I have brought
 you my son. He has a dumb spirit in him;
9:18 and wherever it comes upon him, it /3 dashes him to the
 ground, and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth, and he
 is pining away. I /4 begged your disciples to expel it, but
 they had not the power."
9:19 "O unbelieving generation!" replied Jesus; "how long must I
 be with you? how long must I have patience with you? Bring the
 boy to me."
9:20 So they brought him to Jesus. And the spirit, /5 when he
 saw Jesus, immediately threw the youth into convulsions, so
 that he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the
 mouth.
9:21 Then Jesus asked the father, "How long has he been like
 this?" "From early childhood," he said;
9:22 "and often it has thrown him into the fire /6 or into /7
 pools of water to destroy him. But, if you possibly can, have
 pity on us and help us."
9:23 "`If I possibly can!'" replied Jesus; "why, everything is
 possible to him who believes."
9:24 Immediately the father /8 cried out, "I do believe:
 strengthen my weak faith."
9:25 Then Jesus, seeing that an increasing crowd was running
 towards Him, rebuked the foul spirit, and said to it, "Dumb and
 deaf spirit, *I* command you, come out of him and never enter
 into him again."
9:26 So with a loud cry he threw the boy into fit after fit, and
 came out. The boy looked as if he were dead, so that most of
 them said /9 he was dead;
9:27 but Jesus took his hand and raised him up, and he stood on
 his feet.
9:28 After the return of Jesus /10 to the house His disciples
 asked Him privately, "How is it that we could not expel the
 spirit?"

9:29 "An evil spirit of this kind," He answered, "can only be
 driven out /1 by prayer."
9:30 /2 Departing thence they passed through Galilee, and He was
 unwilling that any one should know it;
9:31 for He was teaching His disciples, and telling them, "The
 Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they
 will put Him to death; and after being put to death, in three
 days He will rise to life again."
9:32 They, however, did not understand what He meant, and were
 afraid to question Him.
9:33 /3 So they came to Capernaum; and when in the house He
 asked them, "What were you arguing about on the way?"
9:34 But they remained silent; for on the way they had debated
 with one another who was the chief of them.
9:35 Then sitting down He called the Twelve, and said to them,
 "If any one wishes to be first, /4 he must be last of all and
 servant of all."
9:36 And taking a young child He made him stand in their midst,
 then threw His arms round him and said,
9:37 "Whoever /5 for my sake receives one such young child as
 this, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not so
 much me as Him who sent me."
9:38 /6 "Rabbi," /7 said John to Him, "we saw a /8 man making
 use of your name to expel demons, and we tried to hinder him,
 /9 on the ground that he did not follow us."
9:39 /10 "You should not have tried to hinder him," replied
 Jesus, "for there is no one who will use my name to perform a
 miracle and be able the next minute to speak evil of me.

9:40 /1 He who is not against us is for us;
9:41 /2 and whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because
 you belong to Christ, I solemnly tell you that he will
 certainly not lose his reward.
9:42 /3 "And whoever shall occasion the fall of one of these
 little ones who /4 believe, he would be better off if, with a
 /5 millstone round his neck, he were /6 lying at the bottom of
 the sea.
9:43 If your hand should /7 cause you to sin, cut it off: it
 would be better for you to enter into Life maimed, than remain
 in possession of both your hands and go away into Gehenna, into
 the /8 fire which cannot be put out.
9:44 /9 []
9:45 Or if your foot /10 should cause you to sin, cut it off: it
 would be better for you to enter into Life crippled, than
 remain in possession of both your feet and be thrown into
 Gehenna.
9:46 /9 []
9:47 Or if your eye /10 should cause you to sin, tear it out. It
 would be better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God
 half-blind than remain in possession of two eyes and be thrown
 into Gehenna,
9:48 where <their worm does not die and the fire does not go
 out.>
9:49 Every one, /11 however, will be salted /12 with fire.
9:50 Salt is a good thing, but if the salt should become
 tasteless, what will you use to give it saltness? Have salt
 within you and live at peace with one another."
10:1 /13 Soon on His feet once more, He enters the district of
 Judaea and crosses the Jordan: again the people flock to Him,
 and ere long, as was usual with Him, He was teaching them once
 more.

10:2 /1 Presently a party of Pharisees come to Him with the
 question--seeking to entrap Him, "May a man divorce his wife?"
10:3 "What rule did Moses lay down for you?" He answered.
10:4 "Moses," they said, "permitted a man to draw up a written
 notice of divorce, and to send his wife away."
10:5 "It was in consideration of your stubborn hearts," said
 Jesus, "that Moses enacted this law for you;
10:6 but from the beginning of the creation the rule was, <`Male
 and female did God make them.
10:7 For this reason a man /2 shall leave his father and his
 mother, and /2 shall cling to his wife,
10:8 and the two /2 shall be /3 one';> so that they are two no
 longer, but /3 <`one.'>
10:9 What, therefore, God has joined together let not man
 separate."
10:10 Indoors the disciples began questioning Jesus again on the
 same subject.
10:11 He replied, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another
 woman, commits adultery against the first wife;
10:12 and if a woman puts away her husband and marries another
 man, she commits adultery."
10:13 /4 One day people were bringing young children to Jesus
 for Him to touch them, but the disciples interfered.
10:14 Jesus, however, on seeing this, was moved to indignation,
 and said to them, "Let the little children come to me: do not
 hinder them; for to those who are childlike the Kingdom of God
 belongs.
10:15 In solemn truth I tell you that no one who does not
 receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will by any
 possibility enter it."
10:16 Then He /5 took them in His arms and blessed them
 lovingly, /6 one by one, laying His hands upon them.
10:17 /7 As He went out to resume His journey, there came /8 a
 man running up to Him, who knelt at His feet and asked, "Good

/1 Rabbi, what am I to do in order to inherit the Life /2 of the
 Ages?"
10:18 "Why do you call me good?" asked Jesus in reply; "there is
 no one truly good except One--that is, God.
10:19 You know the Commandments--<`Do not murder;' `Do not
 commit adultery;' `Do not steal;' `Do not lie in giving
 evidence;' `Do not defraud;' `Honour thy father and thy
 mother.'">
10:20 "Rabbi," he replied, "all these Commandments I have
 carefully obeyed from my youth."
10:21 Then Jesus looked at him and /3 loved him, and said, "One
 thing is lacking in you: go, sell all you possess and /4 give
 the proceeds to the poor, and you shall have riches in Heaven;
 and come and be a follower of mine."
10:22 At these words his brow darkened, and he went away sad;
 for he was possessed of great wealth.
10:23 Then looking round on His disciples Jesus said, "With how
 hard a struggle will the possessors of riches enter the Kingdom
 of God!"
10:24 The disciples were /5 amazed at His words. Jesus, however,
 /6 said again, "Children, how hard a struggle is it /7 for
 those who trust in riches to enter the Kingdom of God!
10:25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
 than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God."
10:26 They were astonished beyond measure, and said to one
 another, "Who then *can* be saved?"
10:27 Jesus looking on them said, "With men it is impossible,
 but not with God; for everything is possible with God."
10:28 "Remember," /8 said Peter to Him, "that we forsook
 everything and have become your followers."

10:29 "In solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that there
 is no one who has forsaken house or brothers or sisters, or
 mother or father, or children or lands, for my sake and for the
 sake of the Good News,
10:30 but will receive a hundred times as much now /1 in this
 present life--houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children,
 lands--and persecution with them--and in the coming age the
 Life /2 of the Ages.
10:31 But many who are now first will be last, and the last,
 first."
10:32 /3 They were still on the road going up to Jerusalem, and
 Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were full of wonder, and
 some, though they followed, did so with fear. Then, once more
 calling to Him the Twelve, He began to tell them what was about
 to happen to Him.
10:33 "See," He said, "we are going up to Jerusalem, where the
 Son of Man will be betrayed to the High Priests and the
 Scribes. They will condemn Him to death, and will hand Him over
 to the Gentiles;
10:34 they will insult Him in cruel sport, spit on Him, /4
 scourge Him, and put Him to death; but on the third day He will
 rise to life again."
10:35 /5 Then James and John, the sons of Zabdi, came up to Him
 and said, /6 "Rabbi, we wish you would grant us /7 whatever
 request we make of you."
10:36 "What would you have me do for you?" He asked.
10:37 "Allow us," they replied, "to sit one at your right hand
 and the other at your left hand, in your glory."
10:38 "You know not," said He, "what you are asking. Are you
 able to drink out of the /8 cup from which I am to drink, or to
 be baptized with the /9 baptism with which I am to be
 baptized?"
10:39 "We are able," they replied. "Out of the cup," said Jesus,
 "from which I am to drink you shall drink, and with the baptism
 with which I am to be baptized you shall be baptized;

10:40 but as to sitting at my right hand or at my left, that is
 not mine to give: it will be for those for whom it is
 reserved."
10:41 The other ten, hearing of it, were at first highly
 indignant with James and John.
10:42 Jesus, however, called them to Him and said to them, "You
 are aware how those who are deemed rulers among the Gentiles
 lord it over them, and their great men make them feel their
 authority;
10:43 but it is not to be so among you. No, whoever desires to
 be great among you must be your servant;
10:44 and whoever desires to be first among you must be the
 bondservant of all.
10:45 For the Son of Man also did not come to be waited upon,
 but to wait on others, and to give His /1 life as the
 redemption-price for a multitude of people."
10:46 /2 They came to Jericho; and as He was leaving that
 town--Himself and His disciples and a great crowd--Bartimaeus
 (the son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, was sitting by the
 way-side.
10:47 Hearing that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry
 out, "Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me."
10:48 Many angrily told him to leave off shouting; but he only
 cried out all the louder, "Son of David, have pity on me."
10:49 Then Jesus stood still. "Call him," He said. So they
 called the blind man. "Cheer up," they said; "rise, he is
 calling you."
10:50 The man flung away his outer garment, sprang to his feet,
 and came to Jesus.
10:51 "What shall I do for you?" /3 said Jesus. /4 "Rabboni,"
 replied the blind man, "let me /5 recover my sight."
10:52 "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has cured you." Instantly he
 /5 regained his sight, and followed Him along the road.

11:1 /1 When they were getting near Jerusalem and had arrived at
 Bethphage and Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two
 of his disciples on in front, with these instructions.
11:2 "Go," He said, "to the village facing you, and immediately
 on entering it you will find an ass's foal tied up which no one
 has ever yet ridden: untie him and bring him here.
11:3 And if any one asks you, `Why are you doing that?' say,
 `The Master needs it, and will send it back here without
 delay.'"
11:4 So they went and found a young ass tied up at the front
 door of a house. They were untying it,
11:5 when some of the bystanders called out, "What are you
 doing, untying the foal?"
11:6 But on their giving the answer that Jesus had bidden them
 give, they let them take it.
11:7 So they brought the foal to Jesus, and threw their outer
 garments over him; and Jesus mounted.
11:8 Then many spread their outer garments to carpet the road,
 and others leafy branches which they had cut down /2 in the
 fields;
11:9 while those who led the way and those who followed kept
 shouting <"God save Him!" Blessed be He who comes in the Lord's
 name.>
11:10 Blessings on the coming Kingdom of our forefather David!
 <God in the highest Heavens save Him!">
11:11 So He came into Jerusalem and into /3 the Temple; and
 after looking round upon everything there, the hour being now
 late He went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
11:12 /4 The next day, after they had left Bethany, He was
 hungry.

11:13 But in the distance He saw a fig-tree in full leaf, and
 went to see whether perhaps He could find some figs on it. When
 however He came to it, He found nothing but leaves (for it was
 /1 not fig time);
11:14 and He said to the tree, "Let no one ever again eat fruit
 from thee!" And His disciples heard this.
11:15 /2 They reached Jerusalem, and entering the Temple He
 began to drive out the buyers and sellers, and upset the
 money-changers' tables and the stools of the pigeon-dealers,
11:16 and would not allow any one to carry /3 anything through
 the Temple.
11:17 And He remonstrated with them. "Is it not written," He
 said, <"`My House shall be called The House of Prayer for all
 the nations?'> But you /4 have made it what it now is--<a
 robbers' cave.">
11:18 This the High Priests and Scribes heard, and they began to
 devise means to destroy Him. For they were afraid of Him,
 because of the deep impression produced on all the people by
 His teaching.
11:19 When evening came on, Jesus and His disciples used to
 leave the city.
11:20 /5 In the early morning, as they passed by, they saw the
 fig-tree withered to the roots;
11:21 and Peter, recollecting, said to Him, "Look, Rabbi, the
 fig-tree which you cursed is withered up."
11:22 Jesus said to them, "Have faith in God.
11:23 In solemn truth I tell you that if any one shall say to
 this mountain, `Remove, and hurl thyself into the sea,' and has
 no doubt about it in his heart, but stedfastly believes that
 what he says will happen, it shall be granted him.
11:24 That is why I tell you, as to whatever you pray and make
 request for, if you believe that you have received it it shall
 be yours.
11:25 But whenever you stand praying, if you have a grievance
 against any one, forgive it, so that your Father in Heaven may
 also forgive you your offences."
11:26 /6 []

11:27 /1 They came again to Jerusalem; and as He was walking in
 the Temple, the High Priests, Scribes and Elders came to Him
11:28 and asked, /2 "By what authority are you doing these
 things? and who gave you authority to do them?"
11:29 "And I will put a question to you," replied Jesus; "answer
 me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these
 things.
11:30 John's Baptism--was it of Heavenly or of human origin?
 Answer me."
11:31 So they debated the matter with one another. "Suppose we
 say, `Heavenly,'" they argued, "he will ask, `Why then did you
 not believe him?'
11:32 Or should we say, `human?'" They were afraid of the
 people; for all agreed in holding John to have been really a
 Prophet.
11:33 So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." "Nor do I tell
 you," said Jesus, "by what authority I do these things."
12:1 /3 Then He began to speak to them in figurative language.
 "There was once a man," He said, "who planted a vineyard,
 fenced it round, dug a pit for the wine-tank, and built a
 strong lodge. Then he let the place to vine-dressers and went
 abroad.
12:2 At vintage-time he sent one of his servants to receive from
 the vine-dressers a share of the grapes.
12:3 But they seized him, beat him cruelly and sent him away
 empty-handed.
12:4 Again he sent to them another servant: and as for him, they
 /4 wounded him in the head and treated him shamefully.
12:5 Yet a third he sent, and him they killed. And he sent many
 besides, and them also they ill-treated, beating some and
 killing others.
12:6 He had still one left whom he could send, a dearly-loved
 son: him last of all he sent, saying, "`They will treat my son
 with respect.'
12:7 "But those men--the vine-dressers--said to one another,
 "`Here is the heir: come, let us kill him, and then the
 property will one day be ours.'
12:8 "So they took him and killed him, and flung /5 his body
 outside the vineyard.

12:9 What, therefore, will the owner of the vineyard do?" "He
 will come and put the vine-dressers to death," they said; "and
 will give the vineyard to others."
12:10 "Have you not read even this passage," He added, <"`The
 stone which the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone:
12:11 /1 this Cornerstone came from the Lord, and is wonderful
 in our esteem?'">
12:12 And they kept looking out for an opportunity to seize Him,
 but were afraid of the people; for they saw that in this
 parable He had referred to *them*. So they left Him and went
 away.
12:13 /2 Their next step was to send to Him some of the
 Pharisees and of Herod's partisans to entrap Him in
 conversation.
12:14 So they came to Him. /3 "Rabbi," they said, "we know that
 you are a truthful man and you do not fear any one; for you do
 not recognize human distinctions, but teach God's way truly. Is
 it allowable to pay poll-tax to Caesar, or not?
12:15 Shall we pay, or shall we refuse to pay?" But He, knowing
 their hypocrisy, replied, "Why try to ensnare me? Bring me a
 shilling for me to look at."
12:16 They brought one; and He asked them, "Whose is this
 likeness and this inscription?" "Caesar's," they replied.
12:17 "What is Caesar's," replied Jesus, "pay to Caesar--and
 what is God's, pay to God." And they wondered exceedingly at
 Him.
12:18 /4 Then came to Him a party of Sadducees, a sect which
 denies that there is any Resurrection; and they proceeded to
 question Him.
12:19 "Rabbi," they said, "Moses made it a law for us: <`If a
 man's brother should die and leave a wife, but no child, the
 man shall marry the widow and raise up a family for his
 brother.'>
12:20 There were once seven brothers, the eldest of whom married
 a wife, but at his death left no family.

12:21 The second married her, and died, leaving no family; and
 the third did the same.
12:22 And so did the rest of the seven, all dying childless.
 Finally the woman also died.
12:23 At the Resurrection whose wife will she be? For they all
 seven married her."
12:24 "Is not this the cause of your error," replied
 Jesus--"your ignorance alike of the Scriptures and of the power
 of God?
12:25 For when they have risen from among the dead, men do not
 marry and women are not given in marriage, but they are as
 angels are in Heaven.
12:26 But as to the dead, that they /1 rise to life, have you
 never read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the Bush,
 how God said to him, <`I am the God of Abraham, the God of
 Isaac, and the God of Jacob?'>
12:27 He is not the God of dead, but of living men. You are in
 grave error."
12:28 /2 Then one of the Scribes, who had heard them disputing
 and well knew that Jesus had given them an answer to the point,
 and a forcible one, came forward and asked Him, "Which is the
 chief of all the Commandments?"
12:29 "The chief Commandment," replied Jesus, "is this: <`Hear,
 O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord;
12:30 and thou shalt love the Lord thy God /3 with thy whole
 heart, thy whole soul, thy whole mind, and thy whole
 strength.'>
12:31 "The second is this: <`Thou shalt love thy /4 fellow man
 as thou lovest thyself.'> "Other Commandment greater than these
 there is none."
12:32 So the Scribe said to Him, "Rightly, in very truth, Rabbi,
 have you said that <He stands alone, and there is none but He;>
12:33 and <To love Him with all one's heart, with all one's
 understanding, and with all one's strength, and to love one's
 fellow man no less than oneself,> is far better than all our
 <whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.">
12:34 /5 Perceiving that the Scribe had answered wisely Jesus
 said to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." No one
 from that time forward ventured to put any question to Him.

12:35 /1 But, while teaching in the Temple, Jesus asked, "How is
 it the Scribes say that the Christ is a son of David?
12:36 David himself said, taught by the Holy Spirit, <"`The Lord
 said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until /2 I have made thy
 foes a footstool under thy feet.'>
12:37 "David himself calls Him `Lord:' how then can He be his
 son?" And the mass of people found pleasure in listening to
 Jesus.
12:38 /3 Moreover in the course of His teaching He said, /4 "Be
 on your guard against the Scribes who like to walk about in
 long robes and to be bowed to in places of public resort,
12:39 and to occupy the best seats /5 in the synagogues and at
 dinner parties,
12:40 and who swallow up the property of widows and then mask
 their wickedness by making long prayers: these men will receive
 far heavier punishment."
12:41 /6 Having taken a seat opposite the Treasury, He observed
 how the people were dropping money into the Treasury, and that
 many of the wealthy threw in large sums.
12:42 But there came one poor widow and dropped in two
 farthings, equal in value to a halfpenny.
12:43 So He called His disciples to Him and said, "In solemn
 truth I tell you that this widow, poor as she is, has thrown in
 more than all the other contributors to the Treasury;
12:44 for they have all contributed out of what they could well
 spare, but she out of her need has thrown in all she
 possessed--all she had to live on."

13:1 /1 As He was leaving the Temple, one of His disciples
 exclaimed, "Look, /2 Rabbi, /3 what wonderful stones! /3 what
 wonderful buildings!"
13:2 "You see all these great buildings?" Jesus replied; /4 "not
 one stone will be left here upon another--not thrown down."
13:3 He was sitting /5 on the Mount of Olives opposite to the
 Temple, when Peter, James, John, and Andrew, apart from the
 others asked Him,
13:4 "Tell us, When will these things be? and what will be the
 sign when all these predictions are on the point of being
 fulfilled?"
13:5 So Jesus began to say to them: "Take care that no one
 misleads you.
13:6 Many will come /6 assuming my name and saying, `I am He;'
 and they will mislead many.
13:7 But when you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be
 alarmed: come they must, but the End is not yet.
13:8 For <nation /7 will rise in arms against nation, and
 kingdom against kingdom.> There will be earthquakes in various
 places; there will be famines. These miseries are but like the
 early pains of childbirth.
13:9 /8 "You yourselves must be on your guard. They will deliver
 you up to Sanhedrins; you will be brought into synagogues and
 cruelly beaten; and you will stand before governors and kings
 for my sake, to be witnesses to them for me.
13:10 But the proclamation of the Good News must be carried to
 all the Gentiles /9 before the End comes.
13:11 When however they are marching you along under arrest, do
 not be anxious beforehand about what you are to say, but speak
 what is given you when the time comes; for it will not be you
 who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

13:12 "Brother will betray brother to be killed, and fathers
 will betray children; and <children will rise against their
 parents> and have them put to death.
13:13 You will be objects of universal hatred because you are
 called by my name, but those who stand firm to the End will be
 saved.
13:14 /1 "As soon, however, as you see the <Abomination of
 Desolation> standing where /2 he ought not" --let the reader
 observe these words--"then let those in Judaea /3 escape to the
 hills;
13:15 let him who is on the roof not come down and enter the
 house to fetch anything out of it;
13:16 and let not him who is in the field turn back to pick up
 his outer garment.
13:17 And alas for the women who at that time are with child or
 have infants!
13:18 "But pray that it may not come in the winter.
13:19 For those will be times of <suffering the like of which
 has never been from the /4 first creation of God's world until
 now,> and assuredly /5 never will be again;
13:20 and but for the fact that the Lord has cut short those
 days, no one would escape; but for the sake of His own People
 whom He has chosen for Himself He has cut short the days.
13:21 /6 "At that time if any one says to you, `See, here is the
 Christ!' or `See, He is there!' do not believe it.
13:22 For <there will rise up> false Christs and false
 <prophets, displaying signs and prodigies> with a view to lead
 astray--if indeed that were possible--even God's own People.
13:23 But as for yourselves, be on your guard: I have forewarned
 you of everything.

13:24 <"At that time,> however, after that <distress, the sun
 will /1 be darkened and the moon will not shed her light;
13:25 the stars will be seen falling from the firmament, and the
 /2 forces which are in the heavens will be disordered and
 disturbed.>
13:26 And then will they see <the Son of Man coming in clouds>
 with great power and glory.
13:27 Then He will send forth the angels and gather together His
 chosen People from north, south, east and west, from the
 remotest parts of the earth and the sky.
13:28 "Learn from the fig-tree the lesson it teaches. As soon as
 its branch has become soft and it is bursting into leaf, you
 know that summer is near.
13:29 So also do you, when you see these things happening, be
 sure that /3 He is near, at your very door.
13:30 I tell you in solemn truth that /4 the present generation
 will certainly not pass away without all these things having
 first taken place.
13:31 /5 Earth and sky will pass away, but it is certain that my
 words will not pass away.
13:32 "But as to that day or the exact time no one knows--not
 even the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
13:33 Take care, be on the alert, /6 and pray; for you do not
 know when it will happen.
13:34 It is like a man living abroad who has left his house, and
 given the management to his /7 servants--to each one his
 special duty--and has ordered the porter to keep awake.
13:35 Be wakeful therefore, for you know not when the master of
 the house is coming--in the evening, at midnight, at cock-crow,
 or at dawn.
13:36 /8 Beware lest He should arrive unexpectedly and find you
 asleep.
13:37 Moreover, what I say to you I say to all--Be wakeful!"
14:1 /9 It was now /10 two days before the Passover and the
 feast of Unleavened Bread, and the High Priests and Scribes
 were bent on finding how to seize Him by stratagem and put Him
 to death.
14:2 But they said, "Not on the Festival-day, for fear there
 should be a riot among the people."

14:3 /1 Now when He was at Bethany, in the house of Simon the
 Leper, while He was at table, there came a woman with a jar of
 /2 pure, sweet-scented ointment very costly: she broke the jar
 and poured the ointment over His head.
14:4 But there were some who said indignantly among themselves,
 "Why has the ointment been thus wasted?
14:5 For that ointment might have been sold for /3 fifteen
 pounds or more, /4 and the money have been given to the poor."
 And they were exceedingly angry with her.
14:6 But Jesus said, "Leave her alone: why are you troubling
 her? She has done a most gracious act towards me.
14:7 For you always have the poor among you, and whenever you
 choose you can do acts of kindness to them; but me you have not
 always.
14:8 What she could she did: she has perfumed my body in
 preparation for my burial.
14:9 And I solemnly tell you that wherever in the whole world
 the Good News shall be proclaimed, this which she has done
 shall also be told in remembrance of her."
14:10 /5 But Judas Iscariot, /6 already mentioned as one of the
 Twelve, went to the High Priests to betray Jesus to them.
14:11 They gladly listened to his proposal, and promised to give
 him a sum of money. So he looked out for an opportunity to
 betray Him.
14:12 /7 On the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread--the
 day for killing the Passover lamb--His disciples asked Him,
 "Where shall we go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?"
14:13 So He sent two of His disciples with instructions, saying,
 "Go into the city, and you will meet /8 a man carrying a
 pitcher of water: follow him,

14:14 and whatever house he enters, tell the master of the
 house, `The /1 Rabbi asks, Where is my /2 room where I can eat
 the Passover with my disciples?'
14:15 Then he will himself show you a large room upstairs, ready
 furnished: there make preparation for us."
14:16 So the disciples went out and came to the city, and found
 everything just as He had told them; and they got the Passover
 ready.
14:17 /3 When it was evening, He came with the Twelve.
14:18 /4 And while they were at table Jesus said, "I solemnly
 tell you that one of you will betray me--one who is eating with
 me."
14:19 They were filled with sorrow, and began asking Him, one by
 one, "Not I, is it?"
14:20 "It is one of the Twelve," He replied; "he who is dipping
 his fingers in the dish with me.
14:21 For the Son of Man is going His way as it is written about
 Him; but alas for the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!
 It had been a happy thing for that man, had he never been
 born."
14:22 /5 Also during the meal He took a Passover biscuit,
 blessed it, and broke it. He then gave it to them, saying, /6
 "Take this, it is my body."
14:23 Then He /7 took the cup, gave thanks, and handed it to
 them, and they all of them drank /8 from it.
14:24 "This is my blood," He said, "which is to be poured out on
 behalf of many--the blood /9 which makes /10 the Covenant sure.

14:25 I solemnly tell you that never again will I taste the
 produce of the vine till I shall drink the new wine in the
 Kingdom of God."
14:26 /1 After singing /2 a hymn, they went out to the Mount of
 Olives.
14:27 /3 Then said Jesus to them, "All of you are about to
 stumble and fall, for it is written, <`I will strike down the
 Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered in all directions.'>
14:28 But after I have risen to life again I will go before you
 into Galilee."
14:29 "All may stumble and fall," said Peter, "yet I never
 will."
14:30 "I solemnly tell you," replied Jesus, "that to-day--this
 night--before the cock crows twice, you yourself will three
 times disown me."
14:31 "Even if I must die with you," declared Peter again and
 again, "I will never disown you." In like manner protested also
 all the disciples.
14:32 /4 So they came to a place called Gethsemane. There He
 said to His disciples, "Sit down here till I have prayed."
14:33 Then He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began
 to be full of terror and distress,
14:34 and He said to them, "My heart is oppressed with anguish
 to the very point of death: wait here and keep awake."
14:35 Going forward a short distance He threw Himself upon His
 face and prayed repeatedly that, if it was possible, /5 He
 might be spared that time of agony;
14:36 and He said, "Abba! /6 my Father! all things are possible
 for Thee: /7 take this /8 cup of suffering away from me: and
 yet not what I desire, but what Thou desirest."
14:37 Then He came and found them asleep, and He said to Peter,
 "Simon, are you asleep? Had you not strength to keep awake a
 single hour?
14:38 Be wakeful, all of you, and keep on praying, that you may
 not come into temptation: /9 the spirit is right willing, but
 the body is frail."

14:39 He again went away and prayed, using the very same words.
14:40 When He returned He again found them asleep, for they were
 very tired; and they knew not how to answer Him.
14:41 A third time He came, and then He said, "Sleep on and
 rest. Enough! the hour has come. Even now they are betraying
 the Son of Man into the hands of sinful men.
14:42 Rouse yourselves, let us be going: my betrayer is close at
 hand."
14:43 /1 Immediately, while He was still speaking, /2 Judas, one
 of the Twelve, came and with him a crowd of men armed with
 swords and cudgels, sent by the High Priests and Scribes and
 Elders.
14:44 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them. "The one
 I kiss," he said, "is the man: lay hold of him, and take him
 safely away."
14:45 So he came, and going straight to Jesus he said, "Rabbi!"
 and kissed Him with seeming affection;
14:46 whereupon they laid hands on Him and held Him firmly.
14:47 But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck a
 blow at the High Priest's /3 servant, cutting off his ear.
14:48 "Have you come out," said Jesus, "with swords and cudgels
 to arrest me, as if you had to fight with a robber?
14:49 Day after day I used to be among you in the Temple
 teaching, and you never seized me. But /4 this is happening in
 order that the Scriptures may be fulfilled.'
14:50 Then His friends all forsook Him and fled.
14:51 One youth indeed did follow Him, /5 wearing only a /6
 linen cloth round his bare body. Of him they laid hold,
14:52 but he left the linen cloth in their hands and fled /7
 without it.
14:53 /8 So they led Jesus away to the High Priest, and /9 with
 him there assembled all the High Priests, Elders, and Scribes.

14:54 Peter followed Jesus at a distance, as far as the outer
 court of the High Priest's palace. But there he remained
 sitting among the /1 officers, and warming himself /2 by the
 fire.
14:55 /3 Meanwhile the High Priests and the entire Sanhedrin
 were endeavouring to get evidence against Jesus in order to put
 Him to death, but could find none;
14:56 for though many gave false testimony against Him, their
 statements did not tally.
14:57 Then some came forward as witnesses and falsely declared,
14:58 "We have heard him say, `I will pull down this Sanctuary
 built by human hands, and three days afterwards I will erect
 another built without hands.'"
14:59 But not even in this shape was their testimony consistent.
14:60 At last the High Priest stood up, and advancing into the
 midst of them all, asked Jesus, "Have you no answer to make?
 What is the meaning of all this that these witnesses allege
 against you?"
14:61 But He remained silent, and gave no reply. A second time
 the High Priest questioned Him. "Are you the Christ, the Son of
 the Blessed One?" he said.
14:62 "I am," replied Jesus, "and /4 you and others will see the
 Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the /5 divine Power,
 and coming amid the clouds of the sky."
14:63 Rending his garments the High Priest exclaimed, "What need
 have we of witnesses after that?
14:64 You all heard his impious words. What is your judgement?"
 Then with one voice they condemned Him as deserving of death.
14:65 Thereupon some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him,
 while striking Him with their fists and crying, /6 "Prove that
 you are a prophet." The /7 officers too /8 struck Him with /9
 open hands as they took Him in charge.

14:66 Now while Peter was below in the quadrangle, one of the
 High Priest's maidservants came,
14:67 and seeing Peter warming himself she looked at him and
 said, "You also were with Jesus, the Nazarene."
14:68 But he denied it, and said, /1 "I don't know--I don't
 understand--What do you mean?" And then he went out into the
 outer court. /2 Just then a cock crowed.
14:69 Again the maidservant saw him, and again began to say to
 the people standing by, "He is one of them."
14:70 A second time he repeatedly denied it. Soon afterwards the
 bystanders again accused Peter, saying, "You are surely one of
 them, for you too are a Galilaean."
14:71 But he broke out into curses and oaths, declaring, "I know
 nothing of the man you are talking about."
14:72 No sooner had he spoken than a cock crowed for the second
 time, and Peter recollected the words of Jesus, "Before the
 cock crows twice, you will three times disown me." And as he
 thought of it, he /3 wept aloud.
15:1 At earliest dawn, after the High Priests had held a
 consultation with the Elders and Scribes, they and the entire
 Sanhedrin bound Jesus and took Him away and handed Him over to
 Pilate.
15:2 /4 So Pilate questioned Him. "Are *you* the King of the
 Jews?" he asked. "I am," replied Jesus.
15:3 Then, as the High Priests went on heaping accusations on
 Him,
15:4 Pilate again and again asked Him, "Do you make no reply?
 Listen to the many charges they are bringing against you."
15:5 But Jesus made no further answer: so that Pilate wondered.
15:6 /5 Now at the Festival it was customary for Pilate to
 release to the Jews any one prisoner whom they might beg off
 from punishment;
15:7 and at this time a man named Barabbas was in prison among
 the insurgents--persons who in the insurrection had committed
 murder.

15:8 So the people came crowding up, asking Pilate to grant them
 the usual favour.
15:9 "Shall I release for you the King of the Jews?" answered
 Pilate.
15:10 For he could see that it was out of sheer spite that the
 High Priests had handed Him over.
15:11 But the High Priests urged on the crowd to obtain
 Barabbas's release in preference;
15:12 and when Pilate again asked them, "What then shall I do to
 the man you call King of the Jews?"
15:13 they once more shouted out, "Crucify Him!"
15:14 /1 "Why, what crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But
 they vehemently shouted, "Crucify Him!"
15:15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the mob, released Barabbas
 for them, and after scourging Jesus handed Him over for
 crucifixion.
15:16 /2 Then the soldiers led Him away into the court of the
 Palace (the Praetorium), and calling together the whole
 battalion
15:17 they arrayed Him in crimson, placed on His head a wreath
 of thorny twigs which they had twisted,
15:18 and went on to salute Him with shouts of "Long live the
 King of the Jews."
15:19 Then they began to beat Him on the head with a /3 cane, to
 spit on Him, and to do Him homage on bended knees.
15:20 At last, having finished their sport, they took the robe
 off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify
 Him.
15:21 /4 One Simon, a Cyrenaean, the father of Alexander and
 Rufus, was passing along, coming from the country: him they
 compelled to carry His cross.
15:22 So they brought Him to the place called Golgotha, which,
 being translated, means `Skull-ground.'
15:23 Here they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He
 refused it.
15:24 /5 Then they crucified Him. This done, they divided His
 garments among them, drawing lots to decide

/1 what each should take.
15:25 It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified
 Him.
15:26 Over His head was the notice in writing of the charge
 against Him: THE KING OF THE JEWS.
15:27 And together with Jesus they crucified two robbers, one at
 His right hand and one at His left.
15:28 /2 []
15:29 /3 And all the passers-by reviled Him. They shook their
 heads at Him and said, "Ah! you who were for destroying the
 Sanctuary and building a new one in three days,
15:30 come down from the cross and save yourself."
15:31 In the same way the High Priests also, as well as the
 Scribes, kept on scoffing at Him, saying to one another, "He
 has /4 saved others: /5 himself he cannot save!
15:32 This Christ, the King of Israel, let him come down now
 from the cross, that we may see and believe." Even the men who
 were being crucified with Him heaped insults on Him.
15:33 /6 At noon there came a darkness over the whole land,
 lasting till three o'clock in the afternoon.
15:34 But at three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice,
 <"Elohi, Elohi, lama sabachthani?"> which means, "My God, My
 God, <why hast Thou forsaken me?">
15:35 Some of the bystanders, hearing Him, said, "Listen, he is
 calling for Elijah!"
15:36 Then a man ran to fill a sponge with /7 sour wine, and he
 put it on the end of a cane and placed it to His lips, saying
 at the same time, "Wait! let us see whether Elijah will come
 and take him down."
15:37 But Jesus uttered a loud cry and yielded up His spirit.

15:38 /1 And the curtain in the Sanctuary /2 was torn in two,
 from top to bottom.
15:39 And when the /3 Centurion who stood in front of the cross
 saw that He was dead, he exclaimed, "This man was indeed God's
 Son."
15:40 There were also a party of women looking on from a
 distance; among them being both Mary of Magdala and Mary the
 mother of James the Little and of Joses, and Salome--
15:41 all of whom in the Galilaean days /4 had habitually been
 with Him and cared for Him, as well as many other women who had
 come up to Jerusalem with Him.
15:42 /5 Towards sunset, as it was the Preparation--that is, the
 day preceding the Sabbath--
15:43 Joseph of Arimathaea came, a /6 highly respected member of
 the /7 Council, who himself also was living in expectation of
 the Kingdom of God. He summoned up courage to go in to see
 Pilate and beg for the body of Jesus.
15:44 But Pilate could hardly believe that He was already dead.
 He called, however, for the Centurion and inquired whether He
 had been long dead;
15:45 and having ascertained the fact he granted the body to
 Joseph.
15:46 He, having bought a sheet of linen, took Him down, wrapped
 Him in the sheet and laid Him in a tomb hewn in the rock; after
 which he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb.
15:47 Mary of Magdala and Mary the mother of Joses were looking
 on to see where He was put.
16:1 /8 When the Sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, Mary the
 mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, in order to come
 and anoint /9 His body.
16:2 So, very soon after sunrise on the first day of the week,
 they came to the tomb;
16:3 and they were saying to one another, `Who will roll away
 the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?"

16:4 But then, looking up, they saw that the stone was already
 rolled back: /1 for it was of immense size.
16:5 /2 Upon entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at
 their right hand, clothed in a long white robe. They were
 astonished and terrified.
16:6 But he said to them, "Do not be terrified. It is Jesus you
 are looking for--the Nazarene who has been crucified. He has /3
 come back to life: He is not here: this is the place where they
 laid Him.
16:7 But go and tell His disciples and Peter that He is going
 before you into Galilee: and that there you will see Him, as He
 told you."
16:8 /4 So they came out, and fled from the tomb, for they were
 greatly agitated and surprised; and they said not a word to any
 one, for they were afraid.
16:9 /5 [But He rose to life early on the first day of the week,
 and appeared first to Mary of Magdala from whom He had expelled
 seven demons.
16:10 She went and brought the tidings to those who had been
 with Him, as they were mourning and weeping.
16:11 But they, when they were told that He was alive and that
 she had seen Him, could not believe it.
16:12 /6 Afterwards He showed Himself in another form to two of
 them as they were walking, on their way into the country.
16:13 These, again, went and told the news to the rest; but not
 even them did they believe.
16:14 /7 Later still He showed Himself to the Eleven themselves
 whilst they were at table, and He upbraided them with their
 unbelief and obstinacy in not having believed those who had
 seen Him alive.
16:15 /8 Then He said to them, "Go the whole world over, and
 proclaim the Good News to all /9 mankind.
16:16 He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who
 disbelieves will be condemned.

16:17 And signs shall attend those who believe, even such as
 these. By making use of my name they shall expel demons. They
 shall speak /1 new languages.
16:18 They shall take up venomous snakes, and if they drink any
 deadly poison it shall do them no harm whatever. They shall lay
 their hands on the sick, and the sick shall recover."
16:19 /2 So the Lord /3 Jesus after having thus spoken to them
 was taken up into Heaven, and sat down at the right hand of
 God.
16:20 But they went out and made proclamation everywhere, the
 Lord working with them and confirming their Message by the
 signs which accompanied it.]