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BS 195.5 .M69 1913 Moffatt, James. The New Testament
THE NEW TESTAMENT
THE
NEW TESTAMENT
A NEW TRANSLATION
BY
JAMES MOFFATT
D.D., D.LiTT.
YATES PROFESSOR OF NEW TESTAMENT GREEK AND EXEGESIS, MANSFIELD COLLEGE, OXFORD
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
NEW YORK
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
PREFACE
In his essay on Protestantism, de Quincey has a characteristic para- graph upon the popular delusion that " every idea and word which exists, or has existed, for any nation, ancient or modern, must have a direct interchangeable equivalent in all other languages." No one who attempts to translate any part of the New Testament is likely to remain very long under such a delusion. Thus there is no exact English equivalent for terms like Xoyos and fiva-ri^piov and BiKaLoanjvr). The first of these I have simply transliterated once or twice ; ' Logos ' is at any rate less mis- leading than ' Word ' would be to a modern reader. Even when an equivalent can be got for some New Testament term like Wvrj or 'AiSiys, it cannot be used invariably. I have kept " Gentiles " for edvrj in cases where the contrast between Judaism and the outer world is prominent; if Kipling's " Recessional " was intelligible to modern readers, " Gentiles " here should not cause them undue difficulty. But now and then the Greek term carries a sense which can only be represented by our " pagans " or " heathen," and occasionally it is no more than " nations." This will serve as an illustration of the difficulties which confront a translator. But once the translation of the New Testament is freed from the influence of the theory of verbal inspiration, these difficulties cease to be so formid- able. I have tried not to sacrifice the spirit to the letter. It is true, as de Quincey observes in the same essay, that " the great ideas of the Bible protect themselves. The heavenly truths, by their own imperishableness, defeat the mortality of languages with which for a moment they are associated." Still, this is a victory in which even the camp-followers or translators have a modest share. They can or they should further this linguistic triumph. Hellenistic Greek has its own defects, from the point of view of the classical scholar, but it is an eminently translatable language, and the evidence of papyrology shows it was more flexible than once was imagined. My intention, therefore, has been to produce a
PREFACE
version which will to some degree represent the gains of recent lexical research and also prove readable. I have attempted to translate the New Testament exactly as one would render any piece of contemporary Hellenistic prose ; in this way, students of the original text may perhaps be benefited. But I hope also that the translation may fall into the hands of some who know how to freshen their religious interest in the meaning of the New Testament by reading it occasionally in some unauthorized English or foreign version, as well as into the hands of others who for various reasons neglect the Bible even as an English classic. This is a hope which, no doubt, is accompanied with some risks and fears. Every translation has to face a double ordeal. Some of its readers know the original, some do not, and both classes have to be met. " The English reader," as Dr. Rouse remarks, " may be quite competent to judge of a translation as literature and as intelligible or not intelligible, but he cannot judge of its accuracy. The scholar alone can judge of its accuracy, but (granting that he has literary taste) he knows the original too well to be independent of it, and hence cannot judge of the impression which the translation will make on the minds of those who are not scholars." If this is true of Homer, it is three times true of the New Testament. Any new translation starts under a special handicap. It appears to challenge in every line the rhythm and diction of an English classic, and this irritates many who have no knowledge of the original. The old, they say, is better. They are indifferent to the changes which recent grammatical research has necessitated in the translation of the aorist, the article, and the particles, for example, even since the Revised Version of 1881 was made. But intelligibility is more than associations, and to atone in part for the loss of associations I have endeavoured to make the New Testament, especially St. Paul's epistles, as intelligible to a modern English reader as any version that is not a paraphrase can hope to make them.
This raises one of the numerous points of difficulty that beset the trans- lator. How far is he justified in modernizing an Oriental book? How far can he assume that certain turns of expression have become naturalized in English by the Authorized Version itself? I have never seen any satisfactory solution of this problem, and I have not been able to find one. However, it is superfluous to discuss such matters at length. This is not the place to develop any theories on the subject. What the general public vi
PREFACE
cares for is a translator's practice rather than his principles, and students can easily detect the latter, or the lack of them, in the former.
I wish only to add this caution, that a translator appears to be more dogmatic than he really is. He must come down on one side of the fence or on the other. He has often to decide on a rendering, or even on the text of a passage, when his own mind is by no means clear and certain. In a number of cases, therefore, when the evidence is conflicting, I must ask scholars and students to believe that a line has been taken only after long thought and only with serious hesitation.
The translation has been made from the text recently issued by Von Soden of Berlin, but I have not invariably followed his arrangement and punctuation. Wherever I have felt obliged to adopt a different reading, this is noted at the foot of the page.
Quotations or direct reminiscences of the Old Testament are printed in italics.
The books are arranged for the convenience of the general reader in the order of the English Bible. This applies to the order of chapters as well. Thus the last four chapters of Second Corinthians appear in their usual canonical position instead of in what I believe to be their original position between First and Second Corinthians. The only exception I have made to this rule is in the case of some occasional transpositions either of verses or of paragraphs, for example, in the case of the Fourth Gospel, Any one who cares to look into the evidence for such changes will find it in my Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament.
Lastly, it is right to add that I have not consulted any other version of the New Testament in preparing this work, though probably echoes and reminiscences have clung to one's mind. The only version I have kept before me is the one I prepared thirteen years ago for my Historical New Testament. But the present version is not a revision of that. It is an independent work. I agreed to undertake it with sharp misgivings, but I trust that the spirit and method of its composition may at any rate do something to make some parts of the New Testament more intelligible to some readers.
James Moffatt.
191S.
Til
CONTENTS
MATTHEW .
MARK
LUKE
JOHN
ACTS
ROMANS .
I. CORINTHIANS
II. CORINTHIANS GALATIANS EPHESIANS PHILIPPIANS COLOSSIANS
I. THESSALONIANS
II. THESSALONIANS
I. TIMOTHEUS
II. TIMOTHEUS TITUS PHILEMON HEBREWS . JAMES
rxm 1
43
, 113
. 145
. 187
. 205
. 223
. 234
. 240
. 246
. 250
. 254
. 258
. 261
. 266
. 270
. 272
. 273
, 286 ix
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CONTENTS |
PAOK |
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[. PETER . i |
. 291 |
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11. PETER . |
. 296 |
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I. JOHN . |
. 299 |
||
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II. JOHN . |
, 304 |
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III. JOHN . |
. 305 |
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JUDAS |
. 306 |
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-REVELATION |
. 309 |
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO
S. MATTHEW
1 The birth-roll of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abra- ham.
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his
3 brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father
4 of Aram, Aram the father of Amin- adab, Aminadab the father of Nah- shon, Nahshon the father of Sal-
5 mon, Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, Obed the father of Jessai,
6 and Jessai the father of king David.
David was the father of Solomon
7 by Uriah's wife, Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Je- hoshaphat the father of Joram,
9 Joram the father of Uzziah, Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of
10 Hezekiah, Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the period of
12 the Babylonian captivity. After the Babylonian captivity, Jecho- niah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Elia-
14 kim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of
15 Eliud, Eliud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan, Mat- than the father of Jacob, Jacob 16 the father of Joseph, and Joseph (to whom the virgin Mary was betrothed) the father of Jesus, who is called ' Christ.'
Thus all the generations from 17 Abraham to David number four- teen, from David to the Babylonian captivity fourteen, and from the Babylonian captivity to Christ fourteen.
The birth of Jesus Christ came 18 about thus. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but be- fore they came together she was discovered to be pregnant by the holy Spirit. As Joseph her hus- 19 band was a just man but unwilling to disgrace her, he resolved to divorce her secretly; but after he 20 had planned this, there appeared an angel of the Lord to him in a dream saying, " Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary your wife home, for what is begotten in her comes from the holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you will 21 call him ' Jesus,' for he will save his people from their sins." All 22 this happened for the fulfilment of what the Lord had spoken by the prophet :
T'he maiden will conceive and 23 bear a son,
and his name will be called Immanuel (which may be translated, God is with us). So on waking from sleep 24 Joseph did as the angel of the Lord
S. MATTHEW II
had commanded him ; he took his 25 wife home, but he did not Hve with her as a husband till she bore a son, whom he called Jesus.
2 Now when Jesus was born at Bethlehem, belonging to Judaea, in the days of king Herod, magi- cians from the East arrived at
2 Jerusalem, asking, " Where is the newly-born king of the Jews ? We saw his star when it rose, and we have come to worship him."
3 The news of this troubled king Herod and all Jerusalem as
4 well; so he gathered all the high priests and scribes of the people and made inquiries of them about where the messiah was
5 to be born. They told him, " In Bethlehem belonging to Judaea : for thus it is written by the prophet :
6 And you Bethlehem, in Judah's
land, You are not least among the rulers of Judah : For a ruler will come from you, Who will shepherd Israel my people."
7 Then Herod summoned the magi- cians in secret and ascertained from them the time of the star's
8 appearance. He also sent them to Bethlehem, telling them, " Go and make a careful search for the child, and when you have found him report to me, so that I can go and worship him
9 too." The magicians listened to the king and then went their way. And the star they had seen rise went in front of them till it stopped over the place where the
10 child was. When they caught sight of the star they were intensely glad. 2
And on reaching the house they saw 11 the child with his mother Mary, they fell down to worship him, and opening their caskets they offered him gifts of gold and frank- incense and myrrh. Then, as they 12 had been divinely warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by a different road.
After they had gone, there ap- 13 peared an angel of the Lord to Joseph in a dream, saying, " Rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt ; stay there till I tell you. For Herod is going to search for the child and destroy him." So he got up, took the child and his 14 mother by night, and went off to Egypt, where he stayed until the 15 death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had said by the prophet : / called my Son from Egypt.
Then Herod saw the magicians 16 had trifled with him, and he was furiously angry; he sent and slew all the male children in Bethlehem and in all the neighbourhood who were two years old or under, calcu- lating by the time he had ascer- tained from the magicians. Then 17 the saying was fulfilled which had been uttered by the prophet Jere- miah :
A cry was heard in Rama, 18
weeping and sore lamentation —
Rachel weeping for her children, and inconsolable because they are no more.
But when Herod died, there ap- 19 peared an angel of the Lord in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, 20 " Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead." So he rose, took 21 the child and his mother and went
S. MATTHEW III, IV
22 to the land of Israel ; but on hear- ing that Archelaus reigned over Judaea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there and, by a divine injunction in a dream, withdrew to the region of Galilee.
23 He went and settled in a town called Nazaret, so that what had been said by the prophets might be fulfilled : ' He shall be called a Nazarene.'
3 In those days John the Bapti t came on the scene, jireaching in the
2 desert of Judaea, " Repent, the
3 Reign of heaven is near." (This was the man spoken of by the prophet Isaiah :
The voice of one who cries in the
desert, * Make the way ready for the
Lord, level the paths for him.^)
4 This John had his clothes made of camel's hair, with a leather girdle round his loins ; his food was locusts
5 and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and the whole of Judaea and all the Jordan-district went out to him
6 and got baptized by him in the
7 Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he noticed a number of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, " You brood of vipers, who told you to Hee from the coming Wrath ?
8 Now produce fruit that answers to
9 your repentance, instead of pre- suming to say to yourselves, ' We have a father in Abraham,' I tell you, God can raise up children for
10 Abraham from these stones ! The axe is lying all ready at the root of the trees ; any tree that is not producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
I baptize you with water for 11 repentance, but he who is coming after me
is mightier, and I am not fit even to carry
his sandals ; he will baptize you with the
holy Spirit and fire. His winno wing-fan is in \is 12
hand, he will clean out his threshin;^-
floor, his wheat he will gather into
the granary, but the straw he will burn with fire unquenchable." Then Jesus came on the scene 13 from Galilee, to get baptized by John at the Jordan. John tried 14 to prevent him ; " I need to get baptized by you," he said, " and you come to me ! " But Jesus 15 answered him, " Come now, this is how we should fulfil all our duty to God." Then John gave in to him. Now when Jesus had been 16 baptized, the moment he rose out of the water, the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove upon him. And 17 a voice from heaven said,
' This is my Son, the Beloved, in him is my delight.'
Then Jesus was led into the 4 desert by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. He fasted fort 5'^ days 2 and forty nights and afterwards felt hungry. So the tempter came up 3 and said to him, " If you are God's Son, tell these stones to become loaves." He answered, " It is 4 written,
Man is not to live on bread alone, hut on every word that issues from the mouth of God."
3
S. MATTHEW V
5 Then the devil conveyed him to the holy city and, placing him on
6 the pinnacle of the temple, said to him, " If you are God's Son, throw yourself down; for it is written.
He will give his angeh charge of
you; they will bear you on their liands, lest you strike your foot against a
stone."
7 Jesus said to him, " It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord
8 your God." Once more the devil conveyed him to an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the realms of the world and their
9 grandeur ; he said, " I will give you all that if you will fall down and
10 worship me." Then Jesus told him, " Begone, Satan ! it is written. You must zvorship the Lord your
11 God, and serve him alone." At this the devil left him, and angels came up and ministered to him.
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he with-
13 drew to Galilee ; he left Nazaret and settled at Capharnahum beside the lake, in the territory of Zebulun
14 and Naphtali — for the fulfilment of what had been said by the prophet Isaiah :
15 Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali lying to the sea, across the
Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles !
16 The people ivho sat iii darkness
saw a great light, yea light dawned on those who sat in the land and the shadow of death.
17 From that day Jesus began to preach, saying, " Repent, the Reign of heaven is near."
18 As he was walking along the sea of Galilee he saw two brothers.
Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew, casting a net in the sea — for they were fisher- men; so he said to them, " Come, 19 follow me, and I will make you fish for men." And they dropped 20 their nets at once and followed him. Then going on from there 21 he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedaeus and his brother John, mending their nets in the boat beside their father Zebedaeus. He called them, and they left the 22 boat and their father at once, and went after him.
Then he made a tour through 23 the whole of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the Reign, and healing all the sickness and disease of the people. The fame of him spread all 24 through the surrounding country,* and people brought him all their sick, those who suffered from all manner of disease and pain, de- moniacs, lunatics, and paralytics; he healed them all. And he was 25 followed by great crowds from Galilee and Decapolis and Jeru- salem and Judaea and from across the Jordan.
So when he saw the crowds, he 5 went up the hill and sat down ; his disciples came up to him and he 2 opened his lips and began to teach them. He said :
"Blessed are those who feel poor 3 in spirit ! the Realm of heaven is theirs. Blessed are the mourners ! 4
they will be consoled.
* I accept Blass's suggestion that "^vpiav here is a corruption of ffwoplay (see Mark i. 28), which is actually read by one uncial manuscript r.
S. MATTHEW V
5 Blessed are the humble/
they will inherit tJie earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for goodness ! they will be satisfied.
7 Blessed are the mercii'ul !
they wiil find mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart !
they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers !
they will be ranked sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who have been
persecuted for the sake of goodness ! The Realm of heaven is theirs.
11 Blessed are you when men denounce you and persecute you and utter all manner of evil against
12 you for my sake; rejoice and exult in it, for your reward is rich in heaven; that is how they persecuted the prophets before you.
13 You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes insipid, what can make it salt again ? After that it is fit for nothing, fit only to be thrown outside and trodden by the feet of men.
14 You are the light of the world. A town on the top of a hill cannot
15 be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp to put it imder a bowl ; they put it on a stand and it shines for
16 all in the house. So your light is to shine before men, that they may see the good you do and glorify your Father in heaven.
17 Do not imagine I have come to destroy the Law or the prophets ; I have not come to destroy but to
18 fulfil. (I tell you truly, till heaven and earth pass away not an iotn, not a comma, will pass from the Law until it is all in force. There- fore
19 whoever relaxes a single one of
these commands, were it
even one of the least, and teaches men so, he will be ranked least in the Realm of heaven ; but whoever obeys them and teaches them, he will be ranked great in the Realm of heaven.) For I 20 tell you, unless your goodness excels that of the scribes and Phari- sees, you will never get into the Realm of heaven.
You have heard how the men of 21 old were told, ''Murder not :
whoever murders must come up
for sentence,* whoever maligns liis brother must 22
come before the Sanhedrin, whoever curses his brother must go to the fire of Gehenna.' But I tell you, whoever is angry with his brother will be sentenced by God. So if you remember, even 23 when you are offering your gift at the altar, that your brother has any grievance against you, leave your 24 gift at the very altar and go away ; first be reconciled to your brother, then come back and offer your gift.
Be quick and make terms with 25 your opponent, so long as you and he are on the way to court, in case he hands you over to the judge, and the judge to the jailer, and you are thrown into prison ; truly I tell 26 you, you will never get out till you pay the last halfpenny of your debt.
You have heard how it used to 27 be said. Do not commit aduliery. But I tell you, any one who even 28 looks with lust at a woman has committed adultery with her al- ready in his heart,
* I follow the suggestion that the second and third clauses of ver. 22 should be restored to what seems to be their original position as a rabbinic comment upon the closing words of ver. 21.
5
S. MATTHEW VI
29 If your right eye is a hindrance
to you, phick it out and throw it away : better for you to lose one of j'^our
members than to have all your body
thrown into Gehenna.
30 And if your right hand is a hind-
rance to you, cut it off and throw it away : better for you to lose one of your
members than to have all your body
thrown into Gehenna.
31 It used to be said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a
32 divorce-certificate. But I tell you, anyone who divorces his wife for any reason except unchastity makes her an adulteress, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33 Once again, you have heard how the men of old were told, 'Fom 77iust not forswear yourself but discharge
34 your vows to the Lord '. But I tell you, you must not swear any oath,
neither by heaven,
for it is the throne of God,
35 nor by earth,
for it is the footstool of his feet. nor by Jerusalem,
for it is the city of the great King ;
36 nor shall you swear by your head,
for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
37 Let what you say be simply
' yes ' or ' no ' ; whatever exceeds that springs from evil.
38 You have heard the saying, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
39 But I tell you, you are not to resist an injury :
whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well ;
whoever wants to sue you for 40 your shirt, let him have your coat as well ; whoever forces you to go one 41 mile, go two miles with him ; give to the man who begs from 42 you, and turn not away from him who wants to borrow. You have heard the sajnng, ^You 43 must love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, 44 love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you 45 may be sons of your Father in heaven :
he makes his sim rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love only those who 46 love you, what reward do you get for that ? do not the very taxgatherers do as much? and if you only salute your 47 friends, what is special about that? do not the very pagans do as much ? You must he perfect as your 48 heavenly Father is perfect.
Take care not to practise your 6 charity before men in order to be noticed ; otherwise you get no reward from your Father in heaven. No,
When you give alms, 2
make no flourish of trumpets like the hypocrites in the syna- gogues and the streets, so as to win applause from men; I tell you truly, they do get their reward.
S. MATTHEW VI
3 When you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 so as to keep your alms secret ;
then your Father who sees what is secret will reward you openly.*
5 Also, when you pray, you must not
be like the hypocrites, for they like to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street-corners, so as to be seen by men ; I tell you truly, they do get their rcAvard.
6 When you pray,
go into your room and shut the door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.
7 Do not pray by idle rote like
pagans, for they suppose they will be heard the more they say ;
8 you must not copy them ;
your Father knows your needs before you ask him.
9 Let this be how you pray :
' our Father in heaven, thy name be revered,
10 thy Reign begin, thy will be done
on earth as in heaven !
11 give us to-day our bread for
the morrow,
12 and forgive us our debts
as we ourselves have for- given our debtors,
13 and lead us not into tempta-
tion but deliver us from evil.'
* Retaining ^v ry <pavsp<fi, which has powerful support in the Old Latin and Syriac versions.
For if you forgive men their tres- 14 passes, then your heavenly Father will forgive you ; but if you do not forgive men, 15
your Father will not forgive your trespasses either. When you fast, 16
do not look gloomy like the hypo- crites, for they look woebegone to let men see they are fasting ; I tell you truly, they do get their reward. But when you fast, 17
anoint your head and wash your face, so that your fast may be seen 18 not by men but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you. Store up no treasures for your- 19 selves on earth, where moth and rust corrode, where thieves break in and steal : store up treasures for yourselves 20 in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrode, where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure lies, 21
your heart will lie there too. The eye is the lamp of the body : 22 so, if your Eye is generous,
the whole of your body will be illumined, but if your Eye is selfish, 23
the whole of your body will be darkened. And if your very light turns dark,
then — what a darkness it is ! No one can serve two masters : 24
either he will hate one and love the other.
S. MATTHEW VII
or else he will stand by the one and despise the other — you cannot serve both God and Mammon.
25 Therefore I tell you,
do not trouble about what you are to eat in life, nor about what you are to put on your body ; surely life means more than food, surely the body means more than clothes !
26 Look at the wild birds ;
they sow not, they reap not,
they gather nothing in
granaries, and yet your heavenly Father
feeds them. Are you not worth more than
birds ?
27 Which of you can add an ell to
his height by troubling about it ?
28 And why should you trouble
over clothing ? Look how the lilies of the field grow; they neither toil nor spin,
29 and yet, I tell you, even Solo-
mon in all his grandeur was never robed like one of them.
30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field which blooms to-day and is thrown to-morrow into the fur- nace, will not he much more clothe you ? O men, how little you trust
31 him ! Do not be troubled, then, and cry, ' What are we to eat ? ' or ' what are we to drink ? ' or ' how
32 are we to be clothed ? ' (pagans make all that their aim in life) for your heavenly Father knows quite
33 well you need all that. Seek his Realm and goodness, and all»Miati, will be yours over and above.
34 So do not be troubled about to-
8
morrow ;
to-morrow will take care of
itself. The day's own trouble is quite
enough for the day.
Judge not, that you may not be 7
judged yourselves; for as you judge so you will be 2
judged, and the measure you deal out to others will be dealt out to yourselves. Why do you note the splinter in 3 your brother's eye and fail to see the plank in your own eye ? How 4 can you say to your brother, ' Let me take out the splinter from your eye,' when there lies the plank in your own eye ? You hypocrite ! 5 take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see properly how to take the splinter out of your brother's eye.
Do not give dogs what is sacred 6 and do not throw pearls before swine, in case they trample them under foot and turn to gore you.
Ask and the gift will be yours, 7 seek and you will find,
knock and the door will open to you ; for every one who asks receives, 8 the seeker finds,
the door is opened to any- one who knocks. Why, which of you, when asked 9 by his son for a loaf, will hand him a stone ? Or, if he asks a fish, will you 10 hand him a serpent ? Well, if for all your evil you 11 know to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him ?
S. MATTHEW VIII
12 Well then, whatever you would like men to do to you, do just the same to them ; that is the meaning of the Law and the prophets.
13 Enter by the narrow gate :
for [the gate] is broad and the road is \vide that leads to destruction, and many enter that way.
14 But the road that leads to
life is both narrow and close, and there are few who find it.
15 Beware of false prophets; they come to you with the garb of sheep but at heart they are ravenous
16 wolves. You \NnIl know them by their fruit; do men gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles ? No,
17 every good tree bears soimd
fruit, but a rotten tree bears bad fruit ;
18 a good tree cannot bear bad
fi'uit, and a rotten tree cannot bear sound fruit.
20 So you will know them by their
19 fruit.* Any tree that does not produce sound fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
21 It is not everyone who says to me ' Lord, Lord ! ', who will get into the Realm of heaven, biit he who does the will of my Father in
22 heaven. Many will say to me at that Day, ' Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? did we not cast out daemons in your name ? did we not perform many miracles
23 in your name ? ' Then I will de- clare to them, ' I never knew you ;
* Ver. 19 is repeated from iii. 10; to preserve the proper sequence of thought, it rnxist be placed after ver. 20 as a link with the following paragraph.
depart from my presence, you workers of iniquity.^
Now, everyone who listens to 24 these words of mine and acts upon them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. The 25 rain came down, the floods rose, the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, for it was founded on rock. And everyone 26 who listens to these words of mine and does not act upon them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. The rain came 27 down, the floods rose, the winds blew and beat upon that house, and down it fell — with a mighty crash."
When Jesus finished his speech, 28 the crowds were astounded at his teaching; for he taught them like 29 an authority, not like their own scribes.
CHAP.
When he came down from the 8 • hill, he was followed by large ; crowds. A leper came up and knelt 2 : before him, saying, " If you only j choose, sir, you can cleanse me " ; so he stretched his hand out and 3 touched him, with the words, " I ; do choose, be cleansed." And his j leprosy was cleansed at once. Then 4 ; .Jesus told him, " See, you are not to say a word to anybody; away and show yourself to the priest and offer the gift prescribed by Moses, ' to notify men."
When he entered Capharnahum 5 an army-captain came up to him and appealed to him, saying, " Sir, 6 my servant is lying ill at home with paralysis, in terrible agony." He 7 replied, " I will come and heal him." The captain answered, " Sir, I am 8 not fit to have you under my roof ; only say the word, and my servant will be cured. For though I am 9
9
S. MATTHEW VIII
a man under authority myself, I have soldiers under me; I tell one man to go, and he goes, I tell another to come, and he comes, I tell my servant, ' Do this,' and
10 he does it." When Jesus heard that he marvelled ; " I tell you truly," he said to his followers, " I have never met faith like this any-
11 where even in Israel. Many, I tell you, will come from east and west and take their places beside Abra- ham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Realm
12 of heaven, while the sons of the Realm will pass * outside, into the darkness; there men will wail and
13 gnash their teeth." Then Jesus said to the captain, " Go ; as you have had faith, your prayer is granted." And the servant was cured at that very hour.
14 On entering the house of Peter, Jesus noticed his mother-in-law
15 was down with fever, so he touched her hand; the fever left her and she rose and ministered to him.
16 Now when evening came they brought him many demoniacs, and he cast out the spirits with a word
17 and healed all the invalids — that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. He took away our sicknesses and lie removed our diseases.
18 When Jesus saw crowds round him he gave orders for crossing
19 to the other side. A scribe came up and said to him, " Teacher,
20 I will follow you anywhere " ; Jesus said to him,
" The foxes have their holes, the wild birds have their nests,
* Reading fleXeutrorrai with X*, the Old Latin and Syriac versions, the Diatessaron, etc. The variant eK^X-rtd'harovrai represents a conventional term which would easily be substituted for the less comnion ex- pression, 10
but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." Another of the disciples said to him, 21 " Lord, let me go and bury my father first of all " ; Jesus said to 22 him, " Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead." Then he embarked in the boat, 23 followed by his disciples. Now a 24 heavy storm came on at sea, so that the boat was buried under the waves. He was sleeping. So they 25 went and woke him up, sajnng, " Help, Lord, we are drowning ! " He said to them, " Why are you 26 afraid? How little you trust God ! " Then he got up and checked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. Men 27 marvelled at this; they said, " What sort of man is this ? the very winds and sea obey him ! "
When he reached the opposite 28 side, the country of the Gadarenes, he was met by two demoniacs who ran out of the tombs ; they were so violent that nobody could pass along the road there. They 29 shrieked, " Son of God, what business have you with us ? Have you come here to torture us before it is time?" Now, some dis- 30 tance away, there was a large drove of swine grazing, so the daemons 31 begged him saying, " If you are going to cast us out, send us into that drove of sw^ne." He said to 32 them, " Begone ! " So out they came and went to the swine, and the entire drove rushed down the steep slope into the sea and perished in the water. The herds- 33 men fled ; they went off to the town and reported the whole affair of the demoniacs. Then all the 34 toAvn came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to move out of their district.
S. MATTHEW IX
9 So he embarked in the boat and crossed over to his own town.
2 There a paral}'tic was brought to him, lying on a pallet ; and when Jesus saw the faith of the bearers he said to the paralytic, " Courage, my son ! your sins are forgiven."
3 Some scribes said to themselves, " The man is talking blasphemy ! "
4 Jesus saw what they were thinking and said, " Why do you think evil
5 in your hearts ? Which is the easier thing, to say, ' Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, ' Rise and
6 walk ' ? But to let you see the Son of man has power on earth to for- give sins " — he then said to the paralytic, " Get up, lift your pallet,
7 and go home." And he got up
8 and went home. The crowds who saw it were awed and glorified God for giving such power to men.
9 As Jesus passed along from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-office; he said to him, *' Follow me " ; and he rose and followed him.
10 Jesus was at table indoors, and many taxgatherers and sinners had come to be guests with him
11 and his disciples. So when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, " Why does your teacher eat with taxgatherers and
12 sinners ? " When Jesus heard it he said, "Those who are strong have no need of a doctor, but
13 those who are ill. Go and learn the meaning of this word, / care for mercy not for sacrifice. For I have not come to call just men but sanners."
14 Then the disciples of John came up to him and said, " Why do we and the Pharisees fast a great deal, and your disciples do not fast?"
Jesus said to them, 15
" Can friends at a wedding fast so long as the bridegroom is beside them? A time will come when the bride- groom is taken from them, and then they will fast. No one sews a piece of undressed 16 cloth on an old coat, For the patch breaks away from it, and the tear is made worse : nor do men pour fresh wine into 17 old wineskins, otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine is spilt, the wineskins are ruined. They put fresh wine into fresh
wineskins, and so both are preserved." As he said this, an official came in 18 and knelt before him, saying, " My daughter is just dead; do come and lay your hand on her, and she will live." So Jesus rose and went 19 after him accompanied by his dis- ciples. Now a woman who had had 20 a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel of his robe ; >vhat she 21 said to herself was this, " If I can only touch his robe, I will recover." Then he turned round and when 22 he saw her he said, " Courage, my daughter, your faith has made you well." Andthe woman was well from that hour. Now when Jesus reached 23 the official's house and saw the flute- players and the din the crowd were making, he said, " Be off with you ; 24 the girl is not dead but asleep." They laughed at him. But after 25 the crowd had been put out, he went in and took her hand, and the girl rose up. The report of this went 26 all over that country.
As Jesus passed along from there, 27 he was followed by two blind men
11
S. MATTHEW X
who shrieked, " Son of David, have
28 pity on us ! " When he went indoors the blind men came up to him, and Jesus asked them, " Do you beUeve I can do this ? " They
29 said, " Yes, sir." Then he touched their eyes and said, " As you beheve, so your prayer is granted,"
30 and their eyes were opened. Jesus sternly charged them, " See, nobodj'-
31 is to know of this." But they went out and spread the news of
32 him all over that country. As they went out, a dumb man was brought to him, who was pos-
33 sessed by a daemon, and when the daemon had been cast out, the dumb man spoke. Then the crowd marvelled ; they said, " Such a thing has never been seen in Israel ! " *
35 Then Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the Reign, and healing
36 every disease and complaint. As he saw the crowds he was moved with pity for them; they were harassed and dejected, like sheep
37 without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, " The harvest is
38 rich, but the labourers are few; so pray the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to gather his harvest."
10 And summoning his twelve dis- ciples he gave them power over unclean spirits, power to cast them out and also to heal every disease 2 and every ailment. These are the names of the twelve apostles : first
* Ver. 34 (' But the Pharisees said, " He casts out daemons by the prince of daemons" ') is to be omitted, -nnthD, Syr.*'"-, the Old Latin, the Diatessaron, etc. It is probably a later insertion from xii. 24 or Mark iii. 22, to prepare for xii. 24 f. 12
Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, James the son of Zebedaeus and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, 8 Thomas and Matthew the tax- gatherer, James the son of Alphaeus and Lebbaeus whose surname is Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and 4 Judas Iscariot who betrayed him. These twelve men Jesus despatched 5 with the following instructions, " Do not go among the Gentiles, rather make your way to the lost 6 sheep of the house of Israel. And 7 preach as you go, tell men, ' The Reign of heaven is near.' Heal 8 the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out daemons; give without paying, as you have got without paying; you are not to 9 take gold or silver or coppers in your girdle, nor a wallet for the 10 road, nor two shirts, nor sandals, nor stick — the workman deserves his rations. Whatever town or 11 village you go into, find out a de- serving inhabitant and stay with him till you leave.
When you enter the house, salute 12 it; if the household is deserving, 13
let your peace rest on it ; but if the household is unde- serving, let your peace return to you. Whoever will not receive you or 14 listen to your message, leave that house or town and shake off the very dust from your feet. I tell 15 you truly, on the day of judg- ment it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorra than for that town. I am sending you 16 out like sheep among wolves; so be wise like serpents and guileless like doves. Beware of men, they 17 will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their syna-
S. MATTHEW X
18 gogues, and you will be haled before governors and kings for my sake — it will be a testimony to them and
19 to the Gentiles. Now, when they bring yon up for trial, do not trouble yourselves about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will come to you at the moment,
20 for you are not the speakers, it is the Spirit of your Father that is
21 speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, the father will betray his child, children will rise against their parents and
22 put them to death, and you will be hated by all men on account of my name ; but he will be saved who holds out to the very end.
23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; truly I tell you, you will not have covered the towns of Israel before the Son of man arrives.
24 A scholar is not above his teacher,
nor a servant above his lord ;
25 enough for the scholar to fare
like his teacher, and the servant like his lord. If men have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they mis- call his servants !
26 Fear them not : —
nothing is veiled that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known ;
27 what I tell you in the dark, you
must utter in the open, what you hear in a whisper you must proclaim on the housetop.
28 Have no fear of those who kill
the body but cannot kill the soul : rather fear Him who can de- stroy both soul and body in Gehenna.
Are not two sparrows sold for a 29 farthing ? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unless your Father wills it. The very hairs on your head are 30 ail numbered ; fear not, then, you are worth 31 far more * than spar- rows ! Everyone who will acknowledge 32 me before men, I will acknowledge him before my Father in heaven ; and whoever will disown me 33 before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
Do not imagine I have come to 84 bring peace on earth ; I have not come to bring peace but a sword. I have come to set a man against 35 his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-lazv against her mother-in-law ; Yes, a man's own household will 36
be his enemies. He who loves father or mother 37 more than me is not worthy of me ; he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me : he who will not take his cross and 38 follow after me is not worthy of me. He who has found his life will 39
lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.
* The iroWwv of the text is either a corruption of noWrp or, as Wellhausen points out, a mistranslation of the Arai^oaic equivalent for that. ' Tlie distinction is qualitative, not quantitative.'
13
S. MATTHEW XI
40 He who receives you receives
me, and he who receives me receives Him who sent me.
41 He who receives a prophet be-
cause he is a prophet, will receive a proplict's re- ward; he who receives a good man be- cause he is good, will receive a good man's re- ward.
42 And whoever gives one of these
little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, I tell you, he will not lose his reward."
11 After finishing these instruc- tions to his twelve disciples, Jesus removed from there to teach and preach among their towns.
2 Now when John heard in prison what the Christ was doing, he sent
3 his disciples to ask him, " Are you the Coming One? Or are we to
4 look out for someone else ? " Jesus answered them, " Go and report to John what you hear and see :
5 the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and
6 the dead are raised.* And blessed is he who is repelled by nothing
7 in me ! " As the disciples of John went away, Jesus proceeded to speak to the crowds about John :
" What did you go out to the desert to see ? A reed swayed by the wind ?
8 Come, what did you go out to
see?
* Omitting koX vrwxot evayyeXiCoyrai, which seems a harmionistic interpolation from Lulie vii. 22. Matthew never uses
14
A man arrayed in soft rai- ment ? The wearers of soft raiment are in royal palaces. Come, why did you go out? 9 To see a prophet ? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is 10
written. Here I send my messenger before your face to prepare the xoay for you. I tell you truly, no one has 11 arisen among the sons of women who is greater than John the Bap- tist, and yet the least in the Realm of heaven is greater than he is. From the days of John the Baptist 12 till now the Realm of heaven suffers violence, and the violent press into it. For all the prophets and 13 the Law prophesied of it until John : — if you care to believe it, 14 he is the Elijah who is to come. He who has an ear, let him listen 15 to this.
But to what shall I compare 16 this generation? It is like chil- dren sitting in the marketplace, who call to their playmates,
' We piped to you and you would 17 not dance, we lamented and you would not beat your breasts.' For John has come neither eat- 18 ing nor drinking, and men say, ' He has a devil ' ; the Son of man has come eating 19 and drinking, and men say, ' Here is a glut- ton and a drunkard, a friend of taxgatherers and sinners ! ' Nevertheless, Wisdom is vindi- cated by all that she does."
S. MATTHEW XII
20 Then he proceeded to upbraid the towns where his many miracles had been performed, because they
21 would not repent. "Woe to you, Khorazin ! Woe to you, Beth- saida ! Had the miracles per- formed in you been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and
22 ashes. I tell you this, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for
23 you. And you, O Capharnahum ! Exalted to heaven F No, you xvill sink to Hades, for if the miracles performed in you had been per- formed in Sodom, Sodom would
24 have lasted to this day. I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."
25 At that time Jesus spoke and said, " I praise thee. Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding all this from the wise and learned and revealing it to the simple-
26 minded; yes. Father, I praise thee that such was thy chosen purpose.
27 All has been handed over to me
by my Father : and no one knows the Son
except the Father — nor does anyone know the
Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son
chooses to reveal hira.
28 Come to me, all who are labour-
ing and burdened, and I will refresh you.
29 Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in
heart, and you will find your souls
refreshed ;
30 my yoke is kindly and my
burden hght,"
At that time Jesus walked one 12 sabbath through the cornfields, and as his disciples were hungry they started to pull some ears of corn and eat them. When the 2 Pharisees noticed it, they said to him, " Look at your disciples, they are doing what is not allowed on the sabbath." He rephed, " Have 3 you not read what David did when he and his men were hungry, how 4 he went into the house of God, and there they ate the loaves of the Presence which neither he nor his men were allowed to eat, but only the priests ? Have you not read 5 in the Law that the priests in the temple are not guilty when they desecrate the sabbath? I tell 6 you. One is here who is greater than the temple. Besides, if you 7 had known what this meant, / care for mercy not for sacrifice, you would not have condemned men who are not guilty. For 8 the Son of man is Lord of the sabbath."
Then he moved on from there and 9 went into their synagogue. Now 10 a man with a withered hand was there; so in order to get a charge against him they asked him, " Is it right to heal on the sabbath ? " He said to them, " Is there a man 11 of you with one sheep, who will not catch hold of it and lift it out of a pit on the sabbath, if it falls in? And how much more is a man worth 12 than a sheep ? Thus it is right to do a kindness on the sabbath." Then 13 he said to the man, " Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and it was quite restored, as sound as the other. So the Pharisees with- 14 drew and plotted against him, to de- stroy him; but as Jesus knew of 15 it he retired from the spot. Many followed him, and he healed them
16
S. MATTHEW XII
16 all, charging them strictly not to
17 make him known — it was for the fulfilment of what had been said by the prophet Isaiah,
18 Here is my servant whom I have
chosen, my Beloved in whom my soul delights ; I will invest him with my Spirit, and he will proclaim religion to the Gentiles.
19 He will not wrangle or shout,
no one will hear his voice in the streets.
20 He will not break the bruised
reed, he will not put out the smouldering
flax, till he carries religion to victory :
21 and tJie Gentiles will hope in his
name.
22 Then a blind and dumb demoniac was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the dumb man spoke
23 and saw. And all the crowds were amazed; they said, "Can this be
24 the Son of David ? " But when the Pharisees heard of it they said, " This fellow only casts out dae- mons by Beelzebul the prince of
25 daemons." As Jesus knew what they were thinking, he said to them,
" Any realm divided against itself comes to ruin, any city or house divided against itself will never stand ;
26 and if Satan casts out Satan,
he is divided against him- self; how then can his realm stand ?
27 Besides, if I cast out daemons
by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast
them out? Thus they will be your judges. 16
But if I cast out daemons by 28
the Spirit of God, then the Reign of God has reached you already. Why, how can anj'^one enter the 29 strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first of all binds the strong man ? Then he can plunder his house.
He who is not with me is against 30 me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. I tell you therefore, men will be 31 forgiven any sin and blas- phemy, but they will not be forgiven for blaspheming the Spirit. Whoever says a word against the 32 Son of man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the holy Spirit will never be forgiven, neither in this world nor in the world to come. Either make the tree good and 33 its fruit good, or make the tree rotten and
its fruit rotten ; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can 3-i you speak good when you are evil? For the mouth utters what the heart is full of. The good man brings good out of 35 his good store, and the evil man brings evil out of his store of evil. I tell you, men vnW have to 36 account on the day of judgment for every light word they utter; for by your words you will be 37
acquitted, and by your words you will be
condemned." Then some of the scribes and 38
S. MATTHEW XIII
Pharisees said to him, " Teacher, we would hke to have some
39 Sign from you." He replied to them,
" It is an evil and disloyal genera- tion that craves a Sign, but no Sign will be given to it except the Sign of the prophet Jonah ;
40 for as Jonah xvas three days and
three nights in the belly of the whole, so the Son of man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
41 The men of Ninive will rise at
the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for when Jonah preached they did repent, and here is One greater than Jonah.
42 The queen of the South will rise
at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and here is One greater than Solomon.
43 When an unclean spirit leaves a man, it roams through dry places in search of refreshment and finds
44 none. Then it says, ' I will go back to the house I left,' and when it comes it finds the house vacant,
45 clean, and all in order. Then it goes off to fetch seven other spirits worse than itself; they go in and dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. This is how it will be with the present evil generation."
46 He was still speaking to the crowds when his mother and brothers came and stood out-
side; they wanted to speak to him.* But he replied to the man 48 who told him this, " Who is my mother? and who are my brothers ? " Stretching out his 49 hand towards his disciples he said, " Here are my mother and my brothers ! Whoever does the will 50 of my Father in heaven, that is my brother and sister and mother."
That same day Jesus went out 13 of the house and seated himself by the seaside; but, as great 2 crowds gathered to him, he entered a boat and sat down, while all the crowd stood on the beach. He 3 spoke at some length W them in parables, saying : "A sower went out to sow, and as he sowed some 4 seeds fell on the road and the birds came and ate them up. Some other 5 seeds fell on stony soil where they had not much earth, and shot up at once because they had no depth of soil ; but when the sun rose they 6 got scorched and withered away because they had no root. Some 7 other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. Some other seeds fell on 8 good soil and bore a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirtyfold. He who has an ear, 9 let him listen to this."
Then the disciples came up and 10 said to him, " Why do you speak in parables?" He replied, " Be- 11 cause it is granted you to under-
* Ver. 47, which is rightly omitted by J<*BL, the Old Latin and Syriac versions, etc., has been interpolated by an early copyist who wished to prepare for ver. 48 by using the material of Mark iii. 32. It runs thus : " And a man said to him, ' Here are your mother and brothers standing outside and wanting to speak to you.' "
17
S. MATTHEW XIII
stand the open secrets of the Realm of heaven, but it is not granted to these people.
12 For he who has, to him shall more
be given and richly given, but whoever has not, from him shall be taken even what he has.
13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because for all their seeing they do not see and for all their hearing they do not hear
14 or understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled :
You will hear and hear but never
understand, you zvill see and see but never
perceive.
15 For the heart of this people is
obtuse, their ears are heavy of hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they see with their eyes and
hear with their ears, lest they understand with their
heart and turn again, and I
cure them.
16 But blessed are your eyes for they
see, and your ears, for they hear !
17 I tell you truly, many prophets
and good men have longed to see what you see, but they have not seen it ; and to hear what you hear, but they have not heard it.
18 Now, listen to the parable of the
19 sower. When anyone hears the word of the Realm and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart ; that is the man
20 who is sown ' on the road.' As for him who is sown ' on stony soil,' that is the man who hears the word and accepts it at once with enthusiasm ;
21 he has no root in himself, he does not last, but when the word brings
18
trouble or persecution he is at once repelled. As for him who is 22 sown ' among thorns,' that is the man who listens to the word, but the worry of the world and the delight of being rich choke the word ; so it proves unfruitful. As for him 23 who is sown ' on good soil,' that is the man who hears the word and understands it; he bears fruit, producing now a hundredfold, now sixty, and now thirtyfold."
He put another parable before 24 them. " The Realm of heaven," he said, " is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while 25 men slept his enemy came and re- sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away. When the blade 26 sprouted and formed the kernel, then the weeds appeared as well. So the servants of the owner went 27 to him and said, ' Did you not sow good seed in your field, sir? How then does it contain weeds ? ' He 28 said to them, ' An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, ' Then would you like us to go and gather them ? ' ' No,' he said, ' for 29 you might root up the wheat when you were gathering the weeds. Let 30 them both grow side by side till harvest; and at harvest-time I will tell the reapers to gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to be burnt, but to collect the wheat in my granary.' "
He put another parable before 31 them. " The Realm of heaven," he said, " is like a grain of mustard- seed which a man takes and sows in his field. It is less than any seed 32 on earth, but when it grows up it is larger than any plant, it becomes a tree, so large that the wild birds come and roost in its branches."
He told them another parable. 33 " The Realm of heaven," he said,
S. MATTHEW XIV
" is like dough which a woman took and buried in three pecks of flour, till all of it was leavened."
34 Jesus said all this to the crowds in parables; he never spoke to
35 them except in a parable — to ful- fil what had been said by the prophet,
/ will open my mouth in parables, I will speak out what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.
36 Then he left the crowds and went indoors. And his disciples came up to him saying, " Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."
37 So he replied, " He who sows the
38 good seed is the Son of man ; the field is the world ; the good seed means the sons of the Realm; the weeds
39 are the sons of the evil one ; the enemy who sowed them is the devil ; the harvest is the end of the world,
40 and the reapers are angels. Well then, just as the weeds are gathered and burnt in the fire, so will it be
41 at the end of the world; the Son of man will despatch his angels, and they will gather out of his Realm all who are hindrances and who
42 practise iniquity, and throw them into the furnace of fire ; there men will wail and gnash their teeth.
43 Then the just will shine like the sun in the Realm of their Father. He who has an ear, let him listen to this.
44 The Realm of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field ; the man who finds it hides it and in his delight goes and sells all he possesses and buys that field.
45 Again, the Realm of heaven is like a trader in search of fine pearls ;
46 when he finds a single pearl of high price, he is off to sell all he possesses and buy it.
47 Again, the Realm of heaven is
like a net which was thrown into the sea and collected fish of every sort. When it was full, they dragged it 48 to the beach and sitting down they gathered the good fish into vessels but flung away the bad. So will it 49 be at the end of the world. The angels will go out and separate the evil from among the just and 50 fling them into the furnace of fire ; there men will wail and gnash their teeth.
Have you understood all this ? " 51 They said to him, " Yes." So he 52 said to them, " Well then, every scribe who has become a disciple of the Realm of heaven is like a householder who produces what is new and what is old from his stores."
Now when Jesus had finished 53 these parables he set out from there, and went to his native place, where 54 he taught the people in the syna- gogue till they were astounded. They said " Where did he get all this wisdom and these miraculous powers ? Is this not the son of the 55 joiner? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas ? Are 56 not his sisters settled here among us ? Then where has he got all this ? " So they were repelled by 57 him. But Jesus said to them, " A prophet never goes without honour except in his native place and in his home." There he could 58 not do many miracles owing to their lack of faith.
CHAP.
At that time Herod the tetrarch 14 heard about the fame of Jesus. And he said to his servants, " This 2 is John the Baptist ; he has risen from the dead. That is why miraculous powers are working through him."
19
S. MATTHEW XIV
3 For Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison on account of Ilcrodias the wife of his brother Phihp,
4 since John had told him, " You
5 have no right to her." He was anxious to kill him but he was afraid of the people, for they held
6 John to be a prophet. However, on Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced in public to the
7 delight of Herod; whereupon he promised with an oath to give her
8 whatever she wanted. And she, at the instigation of her mother, said, " Give me John the Baptist's head
9 this moment on a dish." The king was sorry, but for the sake of his oath and his guests he ordered it to
10 be given her ; he sent and had John
11 beheaded in the prison, his head was brought on a dish and given to the girl, and she took it to her
12 mother. His disciples came and removed the corpse and buried him ; then they went and reported it to Jesus.
13 When Jesus heard it he withdrew by boat to a desert place in private ; but the crowds heard of it and fol-
14 lowed himonfootfromthe towns. So when he disembarked he saw a large crowd, and out of pity for them he
15 healed their sick folk. When even- ing fell the disciples came up to him and said, " It is a desert place and the day is now gone; send off the crowds to buy food for themselves in
16 the villages." But he said to them, " They do not need to go away ; give
17 them some food yourselves." They said, " We have only five loaves
18 with us and two fish." He said,
19 " Bring them here to me." Then he ordered the crowds to recline on the grass, and after taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, blessed them, and after
20
breaking the loaves handed them to the disciples, and the disciples handed them to the crowds. They 20 all ate and had enough; besides, they picked up the fragments left over and filled twelve baskets with them. The men who ate numbered 21 about five thousand, apart from the women and children.
Then he made the disciples em- 22 bark in the boat and cross before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds ; after he had 23 dismissed the crowds he went up the hill by himself to pray. When evening came he was there alone, but the boat was in the middle of 24 the sea, buffeted by the waves (for the wind was against them). In 25 the fourth watch of the night he went to them, walking on the sea, but when they saw him walking on 26 the sea they were terrified ; " It is a ghost," they said and they shrieked for fear. Then he spoke 27 to them at once; "Courage," he said, " it is I, have no fear." Peter 28 answered him, " Lord, if it is really you, order me to come to you on the water." He said, " Come." 29 Then Peter got out of the boat and walked over the water on his way to Jesus ; but when he saw the 30 wind he was afraid and began to sink. " Lord," he shouted, " save me." Jesus at once stretched his 31 hand out and caught him, saying, " How httle you trust me ! Why did you doubt? " When they got 32 into the boat the wind dropped, and the men in the boat worshipped 33 him, saying, " You are certainly God's Son."
On crossing over they came to 34 land at Gennesaret. The men of 35 that place recognized him and sent all over the surrounding country, bringing him all who were ill and
S. MATTHEW XV
36 begging him to let them touch the mere tassel of his robe — and all who touched it got perfectly well.
15 Then Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying,
2 " Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders ? They do not wash their hands when they
3 take their food." He replied, " And whj^ do you transgress the command of God with your tra-
4 ditions ? God said. Honour your father and mother, and, He who curses his father or mother is to
5 suffer death. But you say, who- ever tells his father or mother, ' This money might have been at your service but it is dedicated to
6 God,' need not honour his father or mother. So you have repealed the word of God to suit your own
7 tradition. You hypocrites ! Isaiah made a grand prophecy about you when he said,
8 This people honours me with their
lips, hut their heart is far away from me :
9 vain is their worship of me,
for the doctrines they teach are hut human precepts."
10 Then he called the crowd and said to them, " Listen, understand this :
11 it is not what enters a man's
mouth that defiles him, what defiles a man is what comes out of his mouth."
12 Then his disciples came up and said to him, " Do you know that the Pharisees have taken offence
13 at what they hear you say ? " He replied, " Any plant that my heavenly Father has not planted
14 will be rooted up. Let them alone ; they are blind guides of the blind,
and if one blind man leads another, both of them will fall into a pit." Peter answered, " Explain 15 this parable to us at anyrate." He said, " And are you totally 16 ignorant ? Do you not see how all 17 that enters the mouth passes into the belly and is then thrown out into the drain, while what comes 18 out of the mouth comes from the heart — and that is what defiles a man. For out of the heart come 19 evil designs, murder, adultery, sexual vice, stealing, false witness, and slander. That is what defiles 20 a man; a man is not defiled by eating with hands unwashed ! "
Going away from there Jesus 21 withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And a woman of Canaan 22 came out of these parts and wailed, " Have pity on me. Lord, O Son of David ! My daughter is cruelly possessed by a daemon." But he 23 made no answer to her. Then his disciples came up and pressed him, saying, " Send her away, she is wail- ing behind us." He replied, " It 24 was only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel that I was sent." But she came and knelt before him, 25 saying, " Lord, do help me." He 26 replied, " It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." " No, sir," she said, 27 " but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." 28 At that Jesus replied, " O woman, you have great faith ; your prayer is granted as you wish." And from that hour her daughter was cured.
Then Jesus removed from that 29 country and went along the sea of Galilee; he went up the hillside and sat there. And large crowds came to him bringing the lame, the blind, the dumb, the maimed, and 30 many others; they laid them at
21
S. MATTHEW XVI
SI his feet, and he healed them. This made the crowd wonder, to see dumb people speaking,* the lame walking, and the blind seeing.
32 Then Jesus called his disciples and said, " I am sorry for the crowd ; they have been three days with me now, and they have nothing to eat. I will not send them away starving, in case they faint on the road."
33 The disciples said to him, " Where are we to get loaves enough in a desert to satisfy such a crowd ? "
34 Jesus said to them, " How many loaves have you got ? " They said,
35 " Seven, and some little fish." So he ordered the crowd to recline on
36 the ground. He took the seven loaves and the fish and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples to
37 the crowds. So the people all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over and filled seven large baskets with them.
38 The men who ate numbered four thousand, apart from the children
39 and the women. Then he sent the crowd away, got into the boat and went to the territory of Magadan.
CHAP.
16 Now the Pharisees and Saddu- cees came up and, in order to tempt him, asked him to show them a Sign 2 from heaven. He replied, 4 " It is an evil and disloyal genera- tion that craves a Sign, and no Sign shall be given to it except the Sign of Jonah." f Then he left them and went away.
* Leaving out the phrase kvWovs vytus with X, the Latin version, the Old Syriac, Origen, etc. Its insertion for harmonistic reasons is more likely than its omission.
t Three uncials (C D W) of the fifth century and several versions, including the Latin and the Syriac (Vulgate), to- 22
When the disciples reached the 5 opposite side, they found they had forgotten to bring any bread. Jesus 6 said to them, " See and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." They argued among 7 themselves, " But we have not brought any bread ! " When Jesus 8 noted this he said, " How little trust you have in me ! Why all this talk, because you have brought no bread ? Do you not understand 9 even yet ? Do you not remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? And the seven loaves of the 10 four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? Why do 11 you not see that I was not speak- ing to you about bread ? No, be- ware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Then they real- 12 ized that what he told them to beware of was not leaven J but the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Now when Jesus came to the 13 district of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, " Wlio do people say the Son of man is ? " They 14 told him, " Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, others Jere- miah or one of the prophets." He 15 said to them, " And who do you
gether with the Diatessaron, insert at the beginning of this answer the following : " When evening comes, you say, ' It will be fine,' for the sky is red; in the morning you say, ' It will be stormy to-day,' for the sky is red and cloudy. You know how to distinguish the look of the sky, but you cannot read the signs of the times." The majority of the uncials, with the Old Syriac and Origen, rightly omit the passage as irrelevant to the original text. I Omitting tu>v dprcov after C"A"?s with strong support from the Old Latin and Syriac versions.
S. MATTHEW XVII
16 say I am ? " So Simon Peter re- plied, " You are the Christ, the Son
17 of the hving God." Jesus an- swered him, " You are a blessed man, Simon Bar-jona, for it was my Father in heaven, not flesh and blood, that revealed this to you.
18 Now I tell you, Peter is your name * and on this rock I will build my church; the powers of Hades shall
19 not succeed against it. I will give you the keys of the Realm of heaven ;
whatever you prohibit on earth ^vill be prohibited in heaven,
and whatever you permit on earth ^vill be permitted in heaven."
20 Then he forbade the disciples to tell anyone he was the Christ.
21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to leave for Jerusalem and endure great suffering at the hands of the elders and high priests and scribes, and be killed and raised on the
22 third day. Peter took him and began to reprove him for it ; " God forbid. Lord," he said, " This must
23 not be." But he turned and said to Peter, " Get behind me, you Satan ! Your outlook is not God's
24 but man's." Then Jesus said to his disciples, " If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and so follow me ;
25 for whoever wants to save his
life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
26 What profit will it be if a man gains the whole world and foi-feits his
* English fails to bring out the play on the Greek word for " rock." The French version reproduces it : " Et moi je te dis aussi que tu es le Pierre, et but cette pierre je batirai mon ^glise."
own soul? What will a man offer as an equivalent for his soul ? For 27 the Son of man is coming in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will reward everyone for what he has done. I tell you 28 truly, there are some of those stand- ing here who will not taste death till they see the Son of man coming himself to reign."
Six days afterwards Jesus took 17 Peter, James and his brother John, and led them up a high hill by them- selves; in their presence he was 2 transfigured, his face shone like the sun, and his clothes turned white as light. Thc,re appeared to them 3 Moses and Elijah, who conversed with Jesus. So Peter addressed 4 Jesus and said, " Lord, it is a good thing we are here; if you like, I will put up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He was still speaking 5 when a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, " This is my Son, the Beloved,
in him is my delight :
listen to him." When the disciples heard the voice 6 they fell on their faces in terror; but Jesus came forward and touched 7 them, saying, " Rise, have no fear." And on raising their eyes they saw 8 no one except Jesus all alone. As 9 they went down the hill Jesus ordered them, " Tell this vision to nobody until the Son of man is raised from the dead." The disciples in- 10 quired of him, " Then why do the scribes say that Elijah has to come first?" He replied, "Elijah will 11 come and restore all things. Nay, 12 I tell you Elijah has already come, but they have not recognized him —
23
S. MATTHEW XVIII
they have worked their will on him. And the Son of man will suffer at their hands in the same way."
13 Then the disciples realized he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.
14 When they reached the crowd, a man came up and knelt to him.
15 " Ah, sir," he said, " have pity on my son; he is an epileptic and he suffers cruelly, he often falls into the fire and often into the water.
16 1 brought him to your disciples, but
17 they could not heal him." Jesus answered, " O faithless and per- verse generation, how long must I still be with you ? How long have I to bear with you ? Bring him here
18 to me." So Jesus checked the daemon and it came out of him, and from that hour the boy was
19 healed. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and said, " Why
20 could we not cast it out ? " He said to them, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you truly, if you had faith the size of a grain of mustard- seed, you could say to this hill, ' Move from here to there,' and re- move it would; nothing would be impossible for you."
22 When his adherents mustered in Galilee Jesus told them, " The Son of man is to be betrayed into the
23 hands of men, they will kill him, but on the third day he will be raised." They were greatly dis- tressed at this.
24 When they reached Capharnahum, the collectors of the temple-tax came and asked Peter, " Does your teacher not pay the temple-tax ? "
25 He said, " Yes." But when he went indoors Jesus spoke first ; " Tell me, Simon," he said, " from whom do earthly kings collect customs or taxes ? Is it from their o%\ti people
26 or from aliens? " " From aliens,"
24
he said. Then Jesus said to him, " So their own people are exempt. However, not to give any offence to 27 them, go to the sea, throw a hook in, and take the first fish you bring up. Open its mouth and you will find a five-shilling piece; take that and give it to them for me and for your- self."
Chap. At that hour the disciples came 18 and asked Jesus, " Who is greatest in the Realm of heaven ? " So he 2 called a child, set it among them, and said, " I tell you truly, unless 3 you turn and become like children, you will never get into the Realm of heaven at all. Whoever humbles 4 himself like this child, he is the greatest in the Realm of heaven; and whoever receives a little child 5 like this for my sake, receives me. But whoever is a hindrance to one 6 of these little ones who believe in me, better for him to have a great mill-stone hung round his neck and be sunk in the deep sea. Woe to the 7 world for hindrances ! Hindrances have to come, but M^oe to the man by whom the hindrance does come !
If your hand or your foot is a 8 hindrance to you, cut it off and throw it away; better be maimed or crippled and get into Life, than keep both feet or hands and be thrown into the everlasting fire. If your eye is a hindrance to you, 9 tear it out and throw it away; better get into Life with one eye than keep your two eyes and be thrown into the fire of Gehenna. See that you do not despise one 10
S. MATTHEW XIX
of these little ones ; for I tell you, their angels in heaven always look on the face of my Father in heaven.
12 Tell me, if a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays, will he not leave the ninety-nine sheep on the hills and go in search of the
13 one that has strayed ? And if he happens to find it, I tell you he re- joices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.
14 So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that a single one of these little ones should be lost.
15 If your brother sins, go and re- prove him, as between you and him alone. If he listens to you, then you
16 have won your brother over; but if he will not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every case may he decided on the evidence
17 of two or of three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church; and if he refuses to listen to the church, treat him as a
18 pagan or a taxgatherer. I tell you truly.
Whatever you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven,
and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.
19 I tell you another thing : if two of you agree on earth about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in
20 heaven. For where two or three have gathered in my name, I am there among them."
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, " Lord, how often is my brother to sin against me and be forgiven ?
22 Up to seven times ? " Jesus said to him, " Seven times ? I say, seventy
23 times seven ! That is why the Realm of heaven may be compared to a king who resolved to settle
accounts with his servants. When 24 he began the settlement, a debtor was brought in who owed him three million pounds ; as he was unable 25 to pay, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all he had, in pay- ment of the sum. So the servant 26 fell down and prayed him, ' Have patience with me, and I will pay you it all.' And out of pity for that 27 servant his master released him and discharged his debt. But as that 28 servant went away, he met one of his fellow-servants who owed him twenty pounds, and seizing him by the throat he said, ' Pay your debt ! ' So this fellow-servant fell 29 down and implored him, saying, ' Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' But he refused; 30 he went and had him thrown into prison, till he should pay the debt. Now when his fellow-servants saw 31 what had happened they were greatly distressed, and they went and explained to their master all that had happened. Then his 32 master summoned him and said, ' You scoundrel of a servant ! I discharged all that debt for you, because you implored me. Ought 33 you not to have had mercy on your fellow-servant, as I had on you ? ' And in hot anger his master handed 34 him over to the torturers, till he should pay him all the debt. My 35 Father will do the same to you unless you each forgive your brother from the heart."
When Jesus finished saying this 19 he moved from Galilee and went to the territory of Judaea that lies across the Jordan. Large crowds fol- 2 lowed him and he healed them there.
Then the Pharisees came up to 3
S. MATTHEW XIX
tempt him. They asked, " Is it right to divorce one's wife for any
4 reason ? " He replied, " Have you never read that He who created them male and female from the beginning
5 said,
Hence a man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and the fair shall he one flesh ?
6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What God has joined, then,
7 man must not separate." They said to him, " Then why did Moses lay it down that we were to divorce by
8 giving a separation-notice?" He said to them, " Moses permitted you to divorce your wives, on account of the hardness of your hearts, but it was not so from the beginning.
9 I tell you, whoever divorces his wife except for unchastity and marries another woman, commits adultery.
10 The disciples said to him, " If that is a man's position with his wife,
11 there is no good in marrying." He said to them, " True, but this truth is not practicable for everyone, it is only for those who have the gift.
12 There are eunuchs who have been
eunuchs from their birth, there are eunuchs who have been
made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the Realm of heaven. Let anyone practice it for whom it is practicable." 18 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray over them. The 14 disciples checked the people, but Jesus said to them, " Let the children alone, do not stop them from coming to me : the Realm of heaven belongs to such as these." 26
Then he laid his hands on them and 15 went upon his way.
Up came a man and said to him, 16 " Teacher, what good deed must I do to inherit life eternal ? " He 17 said to him, " Why do you ask me about what is good ? One alone is good. But if you want to get into Life, keep the commands." " Which ? " he said. Jesus an- 18 swered, " The commands, you shall not kill, you shall not commit adul- tery, you shall not steal, you shall not hear false witness, honour your 19 father and mother, and you must love your neighbour as yourself." The young man said, " I have 20 observed all these. What more is wanting ? " Jesus said to him, " If 21 you want to be perfect, go and sell your property, give the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven ; then come and follow me." When the young 22 man heard that, he went sadly away, for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, " I 23 tell you truly, it will be difficult for a rich man to get into the Realm of heaven. I tell you again, 24 it is easier for a camel to get through a needle's eye than for a rich man to get into the Realm of heaven." When the disciples 25 heard this they were utterly astounded ; they said, " Who then can possibly be saved ? " Jesus 26 looked at them and said, " This is impossible for men, but anything is possible for God." Then Peter 27 replied, " Well, we have left our all and followed you. Now what are we to get ? " Jesus said to them, 28 " I tell you truly, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me shall also sit on twelve thrones to govern the
S. MATTHEW XX
29 twelve tribes of Israel. Everyone who has left brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands or houses for my name's sake will get a himdred times as much and inherit life eternal.
30 Many who are first shall be last, and many who are last shall be first.
20 For the Realm of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for
2 his vineyard ; and after agreeing with the labourers to pay them a shilling a day he sent them into
3 his vineyard. Then, on going out at nine o'clock he noticed some other labourers standing in the
4 marketplace doing nothing ; to them he said, ' You go into the vine- yard too, and I will give you whatever M^age is fair.' So the}''
5 went in. Going out again at twelve o'clock and at three o'clock, he did
6 the same thing. And when he went out at five o'clock he came upon some others who were stand- ing ; he said to them, ' Why have you stood doing nothing all the
7 day ? ' ' Because nobody hired us,' they said. He told them, ' You go into the vineyard too.'
8 Now when evening came the master of the vineyard said to his baihff, ' Summon the labourers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last and going on to the first.'*
9 When those who had been hired about five o'clock came, they got
10 a shilling each. So when the first labourers came up, they supposed they would get more ; but they too
11 got each their shilling. And on getting it they grumbled at the
12 householder. ' These last,' they said, ' have only worked a single hour, and yet you have ranked
* Note the connexion be( vreen this parable {ver. 16) and six. 30.
them equal to us who have borne the brunt of the day's work and the heat ! ' Then he replied to one 13 of them, ' My man, I am not wronging you. Did you not agree with me for a shilling ? Take what 14 belongs to you and be off. I choose to give this last man the same as you. Can I not do as I please 15 with what belongs to me? Have you a grudge because I am generous ? ' So shall the last be 16 first and the first last."
Now as Jesus was about to go 17 up to Jerusalem he took the twelve aside by themselves and said to them as they were on the road, " We are going up to Jerusalem, 18 and the Son of man will be betrayed to the high priests and scribes ; they will sentence him to death and 19 hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified ; then on the third day he will be raised."
Then the mother of the sons of 20 Zebedaeus came up to him with her sons, praying him for a favour. He said to her, " What do you 21 want ? " She said, " Give orders that my two sons are to sit at your right hand and at your left in your Realm." Jesus replied, 22 " You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I am going to drink ? " They said to him, " We can." " You shall 23 drink my cup," said Jesus, " but it is not for me to grant seats at my right hand and at my left; these belong to the men for whom they hixve been destined by mj'' Father." When the ten heard of 24 this, they were angry at the two brothers, but Jesus called them 25 and said,
" You know the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them.
27
S. MATTHEW XXI
and their great men overbear them :
26 not so with you.
Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant,
27 and whoever wants to be first
among you must be your slave ;
28 just as the Son of man has not
come to be served but to serve, and to give his hfe as a ransom for many."
29 As they were leaving Jericho
30 a crowd followed him, and when two blind men who were sitting beside the road heard Jesus was passing, they shouted, " O Lord, Son of David, have pity on us ! "
31 The crowd checked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, " O Lord, Son of
32 David, have pity on us ! " So Jesus stopped and called them. He said, " What do you want me
33 to do for you ? " " Lord," they said, " we want our eyes opened."
34 Then Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and they regained their sight at once and followed him.
2 1 When they came near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage at the Hill of Olives, then Jesus des-
2 patched two disciples, saying to them, " Go to the village in front of you and you will at once find an ass tethered with a colt alongside of her; untether them and bring
3 them to me. If anj'^one says any- thing to you, you will say that the Lord needs them; then he will at
4 once let them go." This took place for the fulfilment of what had been spoken by the prophet,
5 Tell the daughter of Sion,
' Here is your king coming to you, 28
He is gentle and mounted on an ass. And on a colt the foal of a beast of burden.^
So the disciples went and did as 6 Jesus told them ; they brought the 7 ass and the colt and put their clothes on them. Jesus seated himself on them, and the greater 8 part of the crowd spread their clothes on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and strewed them on the road. And 9 the crowds who went in front of him and who followed behind shouted, " Hosanna to the Son of David !
Blessed he he who comes in ike Lord's naine !
Hosanna in high heaven ! ' '
When he entered Jerusalem the 10 whole city was in excitement over him. " Who is this ? " they said, and the crowds replied, " This is 11 the prophet Jesus from Nazaret in Galilee ! " Then Jesus went 12 into the temple of God and drove out all who were buying and sell- ing inside the temple; he upset the tables of the money-changers and the stalls of those who sold doves, and told them, " It is written, 13 My house shall he called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers"
Blind and lame people came up 14 to him in the temple and he healed them. But when the high priests 15 and scribes saw his wonderful deeds and saw the children who shouted in the temple, " Hosanna to the Son of David ! " they were indig- nant; they said to him, "Do you 16 hear what they are saying? " " Yes," said Jesus, " have you never read Thou hast brought praise to perfection from the mouth of babes and sucklings ? " Then he left 17 them and went outside the city
S. MATTHEW XXI
to Bethany, where he spent the night.
18 In the morning as he came back
19 to the city he felt hungry, and noticing a fig tree by the roadside he went up to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, " May no fruit ever come from you after this ! " And instantly the
20 fig tree withered up. When the disciples saw this they marvelled. " How did the fig tree wither up in
21 an instant ? " they said. Jesus an- swered, " I tell you truly, if you have faith, if you have no doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree but even if you say to this hill ' Take and throw yourself into the sea,' it will be
22 done. All that ever you ask in prayer you shall have, if you believe."
23 ^Vhen he entered the temple, the high priests and elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, " What authority have you for acting in this way? Who gave you this
24 authority ? " Jesus replied, " Well, I will ask you a question, and if you answer me, then I will tell you what authority I have for
25 acting as I do. \VTiere did the baptism of John come from? From heaven or from men ? " Now they argued to themselves, " If we say, ' From heaven,' he will say to us, ' Then why did
26 you not believe him ? ' And if we say, ' From men,' we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet."
27 So they answered Jesus, " We do not know." He said to them, " No more will I tell you what authority I have for acting as I do.
28 Tell me what you think. A man had two sons. He went to the
first and said, ' Son, go and work in the vineyard to-day ' ; he replied, 29 ' I will go, sir,' but he did not go. The man went to the second and 30 said the same to him; he replied, ' I will not,' but afterwards he changed his mind and did go. \Vhich of the two did the will of 31 the father?" They said, "The last." Jesus said to them, " I tell you truly, the taxgatherers and harlots are going into the Realm of God before you. For 32 John showed you the way to be good and you would not believe him; the taxgatherers and harlots believed him, and even though you saw that, you would not change your mind afterwards and believe him.
Listen to another parable. There 33 was a householder who planted a vineyard, put a fence round it, dug a wine-vat inside it, and built a watchtotver : then he leased it to vinedressers and went abroad. When the fruit-season was near, 34 he sent his servants to the vine- dressers to collect his fruit ; but 35 the vinedressers took his servants and flogged one, killed another, and stoned a third. Once more he 36 sent some other servants, more than he had sent at first, and they did the same to them. Afterwards 37 he sent them his son ; ' They will respect my son,' he said. But 38 when the vinedressers saw his son they said to themselves, ' Here is the heir; come on, let us kill him and seize his inheritance ! ' So 39 they took and threw him outside the vineyard and killed him. Now, when the owner of the 40 vineyard comes, what will he do to these vinedressers ? " They 41 replied, " He will utterly destroy the wretches and lease the vine-
29
S. MATTHEW XXII
yard to other vinedressers who will give him the fruits in their season."
42 Jesus said to them, " Have you never read in the scriptures,
Tlie stone that tJie builders rejected is the chief stone now of the corner :
this is the doing of the Lord, and a wonder to our eyes ?
43 I tell you therefore that the Realm of God will be taken from you and given to a nation that bears the fruits of the Realm.
44 Everyone who falls on this stone
will be shattered, and whoever it falls upon \f\\\ be crushed."
45 When the high priests and Pharisees heard these parables they knew
46 he was speaking about them ; they tried to get hold of him, but they were afraid of the crowds, as the crowds held him to be a prophet.
22 Then Jesus again addressed them
2 in parables. " The Realm of heaven," he said, " may be com- pared to a king who gave a mar- riage-banquet in honour of his son.
3 He sent his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast,
4 but they would not come. Once more he sent some other servants, saying, ' Tell the invited guests, here is my supper all prepared, my oxen and fat cattle are killed, everything is ready; come to the
5 marriage-banquet.' But they paid no attention and went off, one to his estate, another to his business,
6 while the rest seized his servants and ill-treated them and killed
7 them. The king was enraged ; he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned up
8 their city. Then he said to his servants, ' The marriage-banquet
30
is all ready, but the invited guests did not deserve it. So go to the 9 byeways and invite anyone you meet to the marriage-banquet.' And those servants went out on the 10 roads and gathered all they met, bad and good alike. Thus the mar- riage-banquet was supplied \\'ith guests. Now when the king came 11 in to view his guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in a wedding-robe. So he said to him, 12 ' My man, how did you get in here without a wedding-robe ? ' The man was speechless. Then said 13 the king to his servants, ' Take him hand and foot, and throw him outside, out into the darkness ; there men will wail and gnash their teeth. For many are invited but 14 few are chosen,"
Then the Pharisees went and 15 plotted to trap him in talk. They 16 sent him their disciples with the Herodians, who said, " Teacher, we know you are sincere and that you teach the Waj^ of God honestly and fearlessly; you do not court human favour. Tell us, then, 17 what you think about this. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not ? " But Jesus detected their 18 malice. He said, " Why do you tempt me, you hypocrites ? Show 19 me the coin for taxes." So they brought him a sliilling. Then Jesus 20 said to them, " Whose likeness, whose inscription is this ? " " Caesar's," they said. Then he 21 told them, " Give Caesar what belongs to Caesar, give God what belongs to God." When 22 they heard that they marvelled ; then they left him and went away.
That same day some Sadducees 23 came up to him, men who hold there is no resurrection. They
S. MATTHEW XXIII
24 put this question to him, " Teacher, Moses said that if anyone dies with- out children, his brother is to espouse his wife and raise offspring for his
25 brother. Now there were seven brothers in our number. The fii'st married and died ; as he had no children he left his wife to his
26 brother. The same happened with the second and the third, down to
27 the seventh. After them all, the
28 woman died. Now at the resurrec- tion whose wdf e will she be ? They
29 all had her." Jesus answered them, " You go wrong because you understand neither the scrip-
30 tures nor the power of God. At the resurrection people neither marry nor are married, they are like the angels of God in heaven.
31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was
32 said to you by God, / am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not a God
33 of dead people but of living." And when the crowds heard it, they were astounded at his teaching.
34 When the Pharisees heard he had silenced the Sadducees, they
35 mustered their forces, and one of them, a lawyer, put a question in
36 order to tempt him. " Teacher," he said, " what is the greatest
37 command in the LaAv ? " He replied, '"''You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, and with your whole
38 mind. This is the greatest and
39 chief command. There is a second like it : you must love your neigh-
40 bour as yourself. The whole Law and the prophets hang upon these two commands."
41 As the Pharisees had mustered, Jesus put a question to them.
42 " Tell me," he said, " what you think about the Christ. Whose
son is he? " They said to him, " David's." He said to them, " How is it then that David in the 43 Spirit calls him Lord ?
The Lord said to my Lord, * Sit at 44
my right hand, till I put your enemies under
your feet.'' If David calls him Lord, how can 45 he be his son ? " No one could 46 make any answer to him, and from that day no one ventured to put another question to him.
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds 23 and to his disciples. " The scribes 2 and Pharisees sit on the seat of Moses; so do whatever they tell 3 you, obey them, but do not do as they do. They talk but they do not act. They make up heavy 4 loads and lay them on men's shoulders but they will not stir a finger to remove them. Besides, 5 all they do is done to catch the notice of men ; they make their phylacteries broad, they wear large tassels, they are fond of the best 6 places at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues ; they like to be saluted in the marketplaces 7 and to be called ' rabbi ' by men. But you are not to be called 8 ' rabbi,' for One is your teacher, and you are all brothers ; you are not to call anyone 9 ' father ' on earth, for One is your heavenly Father ; nor must you be called ' leaders,' 10 for One is your leader, even the Christ. He v/ho is greatest among you 11
must be your servant. Whoever uplifts himself will be 12 humbled,
31
S. MATTHEW XXIII
and whoever humbles himself
will be uplifted. 13 Woe to you, you impious scribes
and Pharisees ! you shut the Realm of heaven
in men's faces; you neither enter yourselves, nor will you let those enter
who are on the point of
entering.
15 Woe to you, you impious scribes
and Pharisees !
you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte,
and when you succeed you make him a son of Ge- henna twice as bad as yourselves.
16 Woe to you, blind guides that
you are !
you say, ' Swear by the sanctu- ary, and it means nothing ;
but swear by the gold of the sanctuary, and the oath is binding.'
17 You are senseless and blind !
for which is the greater, the gold or the sanctuary that makes the gold sacred ?
18 You say again, ' Swear by the
altar, and it means nothing ; but swear by the gift upon it, and the oath is binding.'
19 You are blind ! for which is
the greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred ?
20 He who swears by the altar
swears by it and by all that lies on it;
21 he who swears by the sanctuary
swears by it and by Him who inhabits it;
22 he who swears by heaven
swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. S2
Woe to you, you impious scribes 23 and Pharisees ! you tithe mint and dill and
cummin, and omit the weightier matters
of the law, justice and mercy and faith- fulness ; these latter you ought to have practised — without omit- ting the former. Blind guides that you are, 24
filtering away the gnat and swallowing the camel ! Woe to you, you irreligious 25 scribes and Pharisees ! you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are filled with your rapacity and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee ! first clean the 26 inside of the cup, so that the outside may be clean as well. Woe to you, you irreligious scribes 27 and Pharisees ! you are like tombs white- washed ; they look comely on the out- side, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all manner of impurity. So to men you seem just, 28
but inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe to you, you irreligious 29 scribes and Pharisees ! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the tombs of the just, and you say ' If we had been living 30 in the days of our fathers, we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' So you are witnesses against your- 31 selves, that you are sons of those who killed the prophets ! And you 32
S. MATTHEW XXIV
will fill up * the measure that
33 your fathers filled. You serpents ! you brood of vipers ! how can you escape being sentenced to Gehenna ?
34 This is why I will send you prophets, wise men, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, some of whom you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from
35 town to town ; it is that on you may fall the punishment for all the just blood shed on earth from the blood of Abel the just down to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the
36 altar. I tell you truly, it Avill all come upon this generation.
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! slaying the prophets and stoning those who have been sent to you ! How often I would fain have gathered your children as a fowl gathers her brood under her wings ! But you
38 would not have it ! See, your
39 House is left to you, desolate. For I tell you, you will never see me again till you say, Blessed be he zvho comes in the Lord's name."
*24 So Jesus left the temple and went on his way. His disciples came forward to point out to him the
2 temple-buildings, but he replied to them, " You see all this ? I tell you truly, not a stone here will be left upon another, without being torn down."
3 So as he sat on the Hill of Olives the disciples came up to him in private and said, " Tell us, when will this happen ? What will be the sign of your arrival and of
4 the end of the world ? " Jesus re- plied, " Take care that no one mis-
5 leads you ; for many will come in
♦ Reading irAtipdcrfrt with B, Syr.S'n.
my name, saying ' 1 am the Christ,' and they will mislead many. You 6 will hear of wars and rumours of wars ; see and do not be alarmed. These have to come, but it is not the end yet. For nation will rise against 7 nation, and realm against realm ; there will be famines and earth- quakes here and there. All that 8 is but the beginning of the trouble. Then men will hand you over to 9 suffer affliction, and they will kill you ; you will be hated by all the Gentiles on account of my name. And many will he repelled then, 10 they will betray one another and hate one another. Many false 11 prophets will rise and mislead many. And in most of you love 12 will grow cold by the increase of iniquity ; but he will be saved 13 who holds out to the very end. This gospel of the Reign will be 14 preached all over the wide world as a testimony to all the Gentiles, and then the end will come.
So when you see the appalling 15 Horror spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing erect in the holy place (let the reader note this), then 16 let those who are in Judaea fly to the hills ; a man on the housetop 17 must not go down to fetch what is in- side his house, and a man in the field 18 must not turn back to get his coat. Woe to women with child and to 19 women who give suck in those days ! Pray that you may not have to fly 20 in winter or on the sabbath, for 21 there will be sore misery then, such as has never been from the beginning of the world till now — no and never shall be. Had not those days been 22 cut short, not a soul would be saved alive; however, for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.
If anyone tells you at that time, 23
33
S. MATTHEW XXIV
* Here is the Christ ! ' or, ' there he is ! ' do not beheve it ; for
24 false Christs and jalse prophets will rise and bring forward great signs and wonders, so as to mislead the very elect, — if that were possible.
25 (I am telling you this beforehand.)
26 If they tell you, ' Here he is
in the desert,' do not go out ; * here he is in the chamber,' do not believe it.
27 For like lightning that shoots
from east to west, so will be the arrival of the Son of man.
28 Wherever the body lies, there will the vultures gather.
29 Immediately after the misery of
those days the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not yield her light, the stars will drop from heaven and the orbs of the heavens xvill be shaken. 80 Then the Sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven ; then all tribes on earth will wail, they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaxwn with great power
31 and glory. He will despatch his angels with a loud trumpet-call to muster his elect from the four winds, from the verge of heaven to the verge of earth.
32 Let the fig tree teach you a parable. As soon as its branches turn soft and put out leaves, you
33 Icnow summer is at hand ; so, whenever you see all this happen, you may be sure He is at hand, at the very door.
84 I tell you truly, the present generation will not pass away till
85 all this happens. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my woi*ds will never pass away.
34
Now no one knows anything 36 about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, but only the Father. As were the days of Noah. 37 so will the arrival of the Son of man be. For as in the days before the 38 deluge people ate and drank, mar- ried and were married, till the day Noah entered the ark ; and as they 89 knew nothing till the deluge came and swept them all away; so vnW the arrival of the Son of man be.
Then there will be two men in 40 the field, one will be taken and one will be left ;
two women will be grinding at 41 the millstone, one %vill be taken and one will be left. Keep on the M'atch then, for you 42 never know v.-hat day your Lord will come. But be sure of this, 43 that if the householder had kno^vn at what watch in the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the watch, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. So be ready yourselves, for the Son 44 of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Now where is the trusty and 45 thoughtful servant, whom his lord and master has set over his house- hold to assign them their supplies at the proper time ? Blessed is that 46 servant if his lord and master finds him so doing when he arrives ! I tell 47 you truly, he ^vill set him over all his property. But if the* bad servant 48 says to himself, 'My lord and master is long of coming,' and if he starts 49 to beat his fellow-servants and to eat and drink with drunkards, that 50 servant's lord and master will arrive
* Omitting [iKuvos], a harmonistio gloss from Luke xii. 45.
S. MATTHEW XXV
on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does 51 not know ; he will cut him in two and assign him the fate of the hypo- crites. There men will wail and gnash their teeth.
25 Then shall the Realm of heaven be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride.*
2 Five of them were stupid and five
3 were sensible. For although the stupid took their lamps, they took
4 no oil with them, whereas the sensible took oil in their vessels as
5 well as their lamps. As the bride- groom was long of coming, they all grew drowsy and went to sleep.
6 But at midnight the cry arose, ' Here is the bridegroom ! Come out to
7 meet him ! ' Then all the maidens rose and trimmed their lamps.
I 8 The stupid said to the sensible,
' Give us some of your oil, for our '■■ 9 lamps are going out.' But the sensible replied, ' No, there may not be enough for us and for you. Better go to the dealers and buy 10 for yourselves.' Now while they were away bu3dng oil, the bride- groom arrived ; those maidens who were ready accompanied him to the marriage-banquet, and the door
II was shut. Afterwards the rest of the maidens came and said, ' Oh sir, oh
12 sir, open the door for us ! ' but he replied, ' I tell you frankly, I do not
13 know you.' Keep on the watch then, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
* The words kuI rrji vv^i<pi)i are added by D X*, the Latin and Syriac versions, etc. Their omission may have been due to the feeling of the later church that Jesus as the Bridegroom ought alone to be mentioned.
For the case is that of a man 14 going abroad, who summoned his servants and handed over his property to them; to one he 15 gave twelve hundred pounds, to another fi^^e hundred, and to another two hundred and fifty; each got according to his capacity. Then the man went abroad. The 16 servant who had got the twelve hundred pounds at once went and traded with them, making another twelve hundred. Similarly the ser- 17 vant who had got the five himdred pounds made another five hundred. But the servant who had got tlie 18 two hundred and fifty pounds went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. No-yy 19 a long time afterwards the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. Then 20 the servant who had got the twelve hundred pounds came forward, bringing twelve hundred more; he said, ' You handed me twelv^e hvmdred pounds, sir; here I have gained another twelve hundred.' His master said to him, ' Capital, 21 you excellent and trusty servant ! You have been trusty in charge of a small sum, I will put you in charge of a large sum. Come and share your master's feast.' Then the 22 servant with the five hundred pounds came forward. He said, ' You handed me five hvmdred pounds, sir; here I have gained another five hundred.' His master 23 said to him, ' Capital, you excellent and trusty servant ! You have been trusty in charge of a small sum, I will put you in charge of a large sum. Come and share your mas- ter's feast.' Then the servant who 24 had got the two hundred and fifty pounds came forward. He said, ' I knew you were a hard man, sir,
35
S. MATTHEW XXV
reaping where you never sowed and gathering where you never
25 winnowed. So I was afraid ; I went and hid your two hundred and fifty pounds in the earth.
26 There's your money ! ' His master said to him in reply, 'You rascal, you idle servant ! You knew, did you, that I reap where I have never sowed and gather where
27 I have never winnowed ! Well then, you should have handed my money to the bankers and I would have got my capital with
28 interest when I came back. Take therefore the two hundred and fifty pounds away from him, give it to the servant who had the twelve hundred.
29 For to everyone who has shall
more be given and richly given ; but from him who has nothing, even what he has shall be taken.
30 Throw the good-for-nothing servant into the darkness outside; there men will wail and gnash their teeth.
31 When the Son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his
32 glory, and all nations will be gathered in front of him; he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep
33 from the goats, setting the sheep on his right hand and the goats on
34 his left. Then shall the King say to those on his right, ' Come, you whom my Father has blessed, come into your inheritance in the realm prepared for you from the founda- tion of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you fed
me, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, 36
I was a stranger and you enter- tained me, I was unclothed and you 3G clothed me, I was ill and you looked after me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the just will answer, 37
' Lord, when did we see you hungry and fed you ? or thirsty and gave you drink ? when did we see you a stranger 38 and entertain you? or un- i clothed and clothed you? when did we see you ill or in 39 prison and visit you ? ' The King will answer them, ' I tell 40 you truly, in so far as you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even to the least of them, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those on 41 the left, ' Begone from me, you accursed ones, to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels !
For I was hungry but you never 42 fed me, I was thirsty but you never gave me drink, I was a stranger but you never 43 entertained me, I was unclothed but you never clothed me, I was ill and in prison but you never looked after me.' Then they will answer too, ' Lord, 44 when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or vmclothed or ill or in prison, and did not minister to you ? ' Then he will 45 answer them, ' I tell you truly, in so far as you did not do it to one of these, even the least of them, you did not do it to me.'
So they will depart to eternal 46 punishment, and the just to eternal life."
S. MATTHEW XXVI
26 When Jesus finished saying all
2 this he said to his disciples, " You know the passover is to be held two days after this, and the Son of man will be delivered up to be crucified."
3 Then the high priests and the elders of the people met in the palace of the high priest who was
4 called Caiaphas and took counsel together to get hold of Jesus by craft and have him put to
5 death. " Only," they said, " it must not be during the festi- val, in case of a riot among the people."
6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a
7 woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of expensive perfume which she poured over his head as
8 he lay at table. When the disciples saw this they were angry. " What is the use of this waste ? " they
9 said ; " the perfume might have been sold for a good sum, and the
10 poor might have got that." But Jesus was aware of what they said, and he replied, " Why are you annoying the woman? It is a beautiful thing she has done to me.
11 The poor you always have beside you, but you will not always have
12 me. In pouring this perfume on my body she has acted in view of
13 my burial. I tell you truly, wher- ever this gospel is preached through all the world, men will speak of what she has done in memory of her."
14 Then one of the twelve called Judas Iscariot went and said to the
15 high priests, "What will you give me for betraying him to you ? " And they weighed out for him thirty
16 silver 'pieces. From that moment he sought a good opportunity to betray him.
On the first day of unleavened 17 bread the disciples of Jesus came up and said to him, " Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the passover?" He said, " Go 18 into the city to so-and-so ; tell him that the Teacher says, ' My time is near, I will celebrate the passover at your house with my disciples." So the disciples did as Jesus had 19 told them and prepared the pass- over. When evening came he lay 20 at table with the disciples, and as 21 they were eating he said, " One of you is going to betray me.' They 22 were greatly distressed at this, and each of them said to him, " Lord, surely it is not me." He answered, 23 " One who has dipped his hand into the same dish as myself is going to betray me. The Son of 24 man goes the road that the scripture has described for him, but woe to the man by whom the Son of man is betrayed ! Better that man had never been born ! " Then Judas 25 his betrayer said, " Surely it is not me. Lord ? " He said to him, " Is it not ? "
As they were eating he took a 26 loaf and after the blessing he broke it; then he gave it to the disciples saying, " Take and eat this, it means my body." He also took 27 a cup and after thanking God he gave it to them saying, " Drink of it, all of you ; this means my blood, 28 the new covenant-blood, shed for many, to win the remission of their sins. I tell you, after this I will 29 never drink this produce of the vine till the day I drink it new ^\dth you in the Realm of my Father."
After the hynm of praise they 30 went out to the Hill of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, " You 81 will all be disconcerted over me
37
S. MATTHEW XXVI
to-night, for it is Avritten, / will strike at the shepherd and tJie sheep
32 will he scattered. But after my rising I will precede you to Galilee."
33 Peter answered, " Supposing they are all disconcerted over you, I
34 will not be disconcerted." Jesus said to him, " I tell you truly, you will diso\vn me three times this very night, before the cock
35 crows." Peter said to him, " Even though I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the disciples said the same thing.
36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he told the disciples, " Sit here till I
37 go over there and pray." But he took Peter and the two sons of Zebedaeus along with him; and when he began to feel distressed and
38 agitated, he said to them, " My heart is sad, sad even to death ; stay here and watch with me."
39 Then he went forward a little and fell on his face prajang, " My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me. Yet, not what I
40 will but what thou wilt." Then he went to the disciples and found them asleep; and he said to Peter, " So the three of you could not watch with me for a single hour?
41 Watch and pray, all of you, so that you may not slip into temptation. The spirit is eager but the flesh is
42 weak." Again he went away for the second time and prayed, " My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done."
43 And when he returned he found them asleep again, for their eyes
44 were heavy. So he left them and went back for the third time, praying in the same words as
45 before. Then he went to the disciples and said to them, " Still
38
asleep? still resting? The hour is near, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Come, 46 get up and let us go. Here is my betrayer close at liand ! " While 47 he was still speaking, up came Judas, one of the twelve, accom- panied by a large mob with swords and clubs who had come from the high priests and the elders of the people. Now his betrayer had 48 given them a signal ; he said, " Who- ever I kiss, that is the man." So 49 he went up at once to Jesus : " Hail, rabbi ! " he said, and kissed him. Jesus said, " My man, do your 50 errand." Then they laid hands on Jesus and seized him. One of 51 his companions put out his hand, drew his sword, and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to 52 him, " Put your sword back into its place; all who draw the sword will die by the sword. What ! do 53 you think I cannot appeal to my Father to furnish me at this moment with over twelve legions of angels ? Only, how couH.the scriptures be 54 fulfilled then — the scriptures that say this must be so ? " At that 55 hour Jesus said to the crowds, " Have you sallied out to arrest me like a robber, with swords and clubs ? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you never seized me. How- 56 ever, this has all happened for the fulfilment of the prophetic scriptures ! "
Then all the disciples left him and fled ; but those who had seized 57 JesuK took him away to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders had gathered. Peter followed him at a distance 58 as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and when he got inside
S. MATTHEW XXVII
he sat down beside the attendants to see the end. 69 Now the high priests and the whole of the Sanhedrin tried to get false witness against Jesus, in order to have him put to death ;
60 but they could find none, although a number of false witnesses came forward. Howeve' , two men came
61 forward at last ■ id said, " This fellow declared, ' . can de^ tro}'' the temple of God a i build i '. in three
62 days.' " So tb high ] iest rose and said to h ' n, " Ha e you no reply to ma > e ? \V1 .t of this
63 evidenje ag 'inst yo ? " Jesus said n ■ ithing. Then t e high priest addr.ssed buiii, " I ? Ijure you by the living God, teP us if you are thf Chris , the f- »n of God ! "
64 J' sus sa <i to hi, "Even so! J?ut I ti i'i you, i future you will see the ^ioii of I'lan seated at the right hiihd of the t'ower, and coming
fi5 on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tor<' his dress and cried, " He has blaspiiem( d ! What more evidence do we wint? Look, you have heard his blasphemy for
66 yourselves ' ^Vbidt is your view? " They replied, " He is doomed to
67 death." Then they spat in his face and bufteted him, some of them cuffing him and crying,
68 " Prophesy to us, you Christ ! tell us who struck you ! "
69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A maidservant came uj) and said to him, " You were with Jesus the Galilean too."
70 But he denied it before them all. " I do not know what you mean,"
71 he said. When he went out to the gateway another maidservant noticed him and said to those who were there, " This fellow was with
72 Jesus the Nazarene." Again he denied it ; he SAVore, " I do not
know the man." After a Httle 73 the bystanders came up and said to Peter, " To be sure, you are one of them too. Why, your accent betrays you ! " At this he broke 74 out cursing and swearing, " I do not know the man." At that moment a cock crowed. Then 75 Peter remembered what Jesus had said, that ' before the cock crows you will disown me three times.' And he went outside and wept bitterly.
CHAJP.
When morning came, all the 27 high priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus, so as to have him put to death. After binding him, they led him 2 off and handed him over to Pilate the governor.
Then Judas his betrayer saw 3 he was condemned, and repented; he brought back the thirty silver pieces to the high priests and elders, saying, " I did wrong in betraying 4 innocent blood." " What does that matter to us ? " they said, " it is your affair, not ours ! " Then 5 he flung down the silver pieces in the temple and went off and hung himself. The high priests took the 6 money and said, " It would be wrong to put this into the treasury, for it is the price of blood." So 7 after consulting they bought with it the Potter's Field, to serve as a burying-place for strangers. That 8 is why the field is called to this day " The Field of Blood." Then 9 the word spoken bjr the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled : and I took the thirty silver pieces, the 'price of him who had been priced, whom they had priced and expelled from the sons of Israel ; and I gave them 10 for the potter's field, as the Lord had bidden me.
39
S. MATTHEW XXVII
1 1 Now Jesus stood before the gover- nor, and the governor asked him, " Are you the King of the Jews ? "
12 Jesus rephed, " Certainly." But while he was being accused by the high priests and elders, he
13 made no reply. Then Pilate said to him, " Do you not hear all
14 their evidence against j^ou ? " But, to Pilate's great astonishment, he would not answer him a single word.
15 At festival time the governor was in the habit of releasing any one prisoner whom the ci'owd
16 chose. At that time they had a notorious prisoner called Jesus *
17 Bar- Abbas ; so, when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, " Who do you want released ? Jesus Bar-Abbas or Jesus the so-
18 called 'Christ'?" (He knew quite well that Jesus had been
19 delivered up out of envy. Besides, when he was seated on the tribunal, his wife had sent to tell him, " Do nothing with that innocent man, for I have suffered greatly to-day
20 in a dream about him.") But the high priests and elders persuaded the crowds to ask Bar-Abbas and
21 to have Jesus killed. The governor said to them, " Which of the two do you want me to release for you ? " " Bar- Abbas," they said.
22 iPilate said, " Then what am I to do with Jesus the so-called ' Christ ' ? " They all said, " Have
23 him crucified ! " " Why," said Pilate, " what has he done wrong ? " But they shouted on more fiercely
• Adding here and in the following verse 'Irja-ovv with the Sinaitic (and Palestinian) Syriac version, some good minuscules, and manuscripts known to Origen. The evidence is discussed in Professor Burkitt's Evangelion da- Mepharreahe, ii. 277 f.
40
than ever, " Have him crucified ! " Now when Pilate saw that instead 24 of him doing any good a riot was rising, he took some water and washed his hands in presence of the crowd, saying, " I am in- nocent of this man's blood. It is your affair ! " To this all the people 25 replied, " His blood be on us and on our children!" Then he released 26 Bar- Abbas for them; Jesus he scourged and handed over to be crucified.
Then the soldiers of the governor 27 took Jesus into the praetorium and got all the regiment round him; they stripped him and threw a 28 scarlet mantle round him, plaited 29 a crown of thorns and set it on his head, put a stick in his hand, and knelt before him in mockery, cry- ing, "Hail, King of the Jews ! " They spat on him, they took the 30 stick and struck him on the head, and after making fun of him they 31 stripped him of the mantle, put on his own clothes, and took him off to be crucified. As they went 32 out they met a Cyrenian called Simon, whom they forced to carry his cross. When they came to a 33 place called Golgotha (meaning the place of a skull), they gave him 34 a drink of wine mixed with bitters ; but when he tasted it he would not drink it. Then they crucified him, 35 distributed his clothes among them by drawing lots, and sat down there 36 to keep watch over him. They 37 also put over his head his charge in writing,
THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE
JEWS.
Two robbers were also crucified with 38 him at that time, one on the right hand and one on the left.
S. MATTHEW XXVII
39 Those who passed by scoffed at him, nodding at him in derision
40 and calUng, " You were to destroy the temple and build it in three days ! Save yourself, if you are God's Son ! Come down from the
41 cross ! " So, too, the high priests made fun of him ^vith the scribes
42 and the elders of the people. " He saved others," they said, " but he cannot save himself ! He the ' King of Israel ' ! Let him come down now from the cross ; then
43 we will believe in him ! His trust is in God ? Let God deliver him now ij He cares jar him ! He said
44 he was the Son of God ! " The robbers who were crucified with him also denounced him in the same way.
45 Now from twelve o'clock to three o'clock darkness covered all
46 the land, and about three o'clock Jesus gave a loud cry, " Elei, Elei, lema sabachthanei " (that is, My God, my God, why hast thou
47 forsaken me). On hearing this some of the bystanders said, " He
48 is calling for Elijah." One of them ran off at once and took a sponge, which he soaked in vinegar and put on the end of a stick to give him a drink. But the others
49 said, " Stop, let us see if Elijah
50 does come to save him ! " But Jesus again uttei'ed a loud scream
51 and gave up his spirit. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth
52 shook, the rocks were split, the tombs were opened, and a number of bodies of the saints who slept
53 the sleep of death rose up — they left the tombs after his resurrection and entered the holy city and appeared to a number of people.
54 Now when the army-captain and his men who were watching Jesus
saw the earthquake and all that happened they were dreadfully afraid ; they said, " This man was certainly a son of God ! " There 55 were also a number of women there looking on from a distance, women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and waited on him, including Mary of Magdala, Mary 56 the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedaeus.
Now when evening came, a rich 57 man from Arimathaca, called Joseph, who had become a dis- ciple of Jesus, went to Pilate 58 and asked him for the body of Jesus. Pilate then ordered the body to be handed over to him. So Joseph took the body, wrapped 59 it in clean linen, and put it in his 60 new tomb, which he had cut in the rock; then, after rolling a large boulder to the opening of the tomb, he went away.
Mary of Magdala and the other 61 Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
Next day (that is, on the day 62 after the Preparation) the high priests and Pharisees gathered round Pilate and said, " We re- 63 member, sir, that when this im- postor was alive he said, ' I mil rise after three days.' Now then, 64 give orders for the tomb to be kept secure till the third day, in case his disciples go and steal him and then tell the people, ' He has risen from the dead,' The end of the fraud will then be worse than the beginning of it." Pilate said 65 to them, " Take a guard of soldiers, go and make it as secure as you can." So off they went and made 66 the tomb secure by putting a seal on the boulder and setting the guard,
41
S. MATTHEW XXVni
CHAP.
28 At the close of the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary went to look at the
2 tomb. But a great earthquake took place ; an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and went and rolled away the boulder
3 and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning and his raiment
4 white as snow. For fear of him the sentries shook and became like
5 dead men ; but the angel addressed the women, saying, " Have no fear; I know you are looking for
6 the crucified Jesus. He is not here, he has risen, as he told you he would. See, here is the place
7 where he lay. Now be quick and go to his disciples, tell them he has risen from the dead and that ' he precedes you to Galilee; you will see him there.' That is my
8 message for you." Then they ran quickly from the tomb in fear and great joy, to announce the news
9 to his disciples. And Jesus him- self met them, saying, ' Hail ! ' So they went up to him and caught hold of his feet and worshipped
10 him; then Jesus said to them, " Have no fear ! Go and tell my brothers to leave for Galilee ; they will see me there."
While they were on their way, 11 some of the sentries went into the city and reported all that had taken place to the high priests, who, 12 after meeting and conferring with the elders, gave a considerable sum of money to the soldiers and told them to say that " his disciples 13 came at night and stole him when we were asleep." " If this comes 14 to the ears of the governor," they added, " we will satisfy him and see that you have no trouble about the matter." So the soldiers took 15 the money and followed their instructions ; and this story has been disseminated among the Jews dowTi to the present day.
Now the eleven disciples went 16 to Galilee, to the hill where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When 17 they saw him they worshipped him, though some were in doubt. Then 18 Jesus came forward to them and said, " Full authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth; go and make disciples of all 19 nations, baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the holy Spirit, and teach them to obey 20 all the commands I have laid on you. And I will be with you all the time, to the very end of the world."
42
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO
S. MARK
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ [the Son of God].
2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
Here I send my messenger before your face to -prepare the way for you :
3 the voice of one who cries in the
desert, * Make the way ready for the
Lord, level the paths for him ' —
4 John appeared baptizing in the desert and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of
5 sins ; and the whole of Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him and got baptized by him in the Jordan river, confess-
6 ing their sins. John was dressed in camel's hair, with a leather girdle roimd his loins, and he ate
7 locusts and wild honey. He an- nounced,
" After me one who is mightier will come, and I am not fit to stoop and untie the string of his sandals :
8 I have baptized you with water,
but he will baptize you with the holy Spirit."
9 Now it was in those days that Jesus arrived from Nazaret in Galilee and got baptized in the
10 Jordan by John. And the moment he rose from the water he saw the heavens cleft and the Spirit coming down upon him like a dove;
11 then said a voice from heaven.
' Thou art my Son, the Beloved, in thee is my delight.'
Then the Spirit drove him imme- 12 diately into the desert, and in 13 the desert he remained for forty days, while Satan tempted him; he was in the company of wild beasts, but angels ministered to him.
After John had been arrested 14 Jesus went to Galilee preaching the gospel of God; he said, "The 15 time has now come, God's reign is near : repent and believe in the gospel."
Now as he passed along the sea 16 of Galilee he saw Simon and Simon's brother Andrew netting fish in the sea — for they were fishermen ; so Jesus said to them, 17 " Come, follow me and I will make you fish for men." At once they 18 dropped their nets and went after him. Then going on a little further 19 he saw James the son of Zebedaeus and his brother John ; they too were in their boat, mending their nets; he called them at once, and 20 they left their father Zebedaeus in the boat with the crew and went to follow him.
They then entered Capharnahum. 21 As soon as the sabbath came, he at once began to teach in the syna- gogue ; and they were astoimded 22 at his teaching, for he taught them like an authority, not like the scribes. Now there was a man 23 with an unclean spirit in their synagogue, who at once shrieked
43
S. MAKK II
24 out, " Jesus of Nazaret, what busi- ness have you with us ? Have you come to destroy us ? We know who you are, you are God's holy
25 One." But Jesus checked it ; " Be quiet," he said, " come out of him."
26 And after convulsing him the un- clean spirit did come out of him
27 with a loud cry. Then they were all so amazed that they discussed it together, saying, "Whatever is this ? " " It's new teaching with authority behind it ! " " He orders even unclean spirits ! " " Yes, and they obey him ! "
28 So his fame at once spread in all directions through the whole of the surrounding country of Galilee.
29 On leaving the synagogue they went straight to the house of Simon and Andrew, accompanied
30 by James and John. Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with fever, so they told him at once
81 about her, and he went up to her and taking her hand made her rise ; the fever left her at once and
32 she ministered to them. Now when evening came, when the sun set, they brought him all who were ill or possessed by daemons —
33 indeed the whole town was gathered
34 at the door — and he cured many who were ill with various diseases and cast out many daemons; but as the daemons knew him he would not let them say anything. Then
35 in the early morning, long before daylight, he got up and went away out to a lonely spot. He was
36 praj-ing there when Simon and his
37 companions himted him out and discovered him; they told him, " Everybody is looking for you,"
38 but he said to them, " Let us go somewhere else, to the adjoining country-towns, so that I may preach
44
there as well ; that is why I came out here." And he went preach- 39 ing in their synagogues throughout the whole of Galilee, casting out daemons.
A leper came to him beseeching 40 him on bended knee, saying, " If you only choose, you can cleanse me ; " so he stretched his hand out 41 in pity and touched him saying, " I do choose, be cleansed." And 42 the leprosy at once left him and he was cleansed. Then he sent him 43 off at once with the stern charge, " See, you are not to say a v/ord to 44 anybody ; away and show yourself to the priest and offer what Moses prescribed for your cleansing, to notify men." But he went off and 45 proceeded to proclaim it aloud and spread news of the affair both far and wide. The result was that Jesus could no longer enter any town openly ; he stayed outside in lonely places, and people came to him from every quarter.
When he entered Capharnahum 2 again after some days it was re- ported that he was at home, and 2 a large number at once gathered, till there was no more room for them, not even at the door. He was speak- ing the word to them, when a 3 paralytic was brought to him ; four men carried him, and as they could 4 not get him near Jesus on account of the crowd they tore up the roof under which he stood and through the opening they lowered the pallet on which the paralytic lay. When 5 Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, " My son, your sins are forgiven." Now there were 6 some scribes sitting there who argued in their hearts, " What does 7 the man mean by talking like this ?
S. MARK II
It is blasphemy ! Who can forgive
8 sins, who but God alone? " Con- scious at once that they were arguing to themselves in this way, Jesus asked them, " Why do you
9 argue thus in your hearts ? Which is the easier thing, to tell the para- lytic, ' Your sins are forgiven,' or to tell him, ' Rise, lift your pallet,
10 and walk ' ? But to let you see the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins " — he said to the
11 paralytic, " Rise, I tell you, hft
12 your pallet, and go home." And he rose, lifted his pallet at once, and went off before them all ; at this they were all amazed and glorified God saying, " We never saw the like of it ! "
13 Then he went out again by the seaside, and all the crowd came to
14 him and he taught them. As he passed along he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax- office ; he said to him, " Follow me," and he rose and followed him.
15 Now Levi was at table in his own house, and he had many tax- gatherers and sinners as guests along with Jesus and his disciples — for there were many of them
16 among his followers. So when some scribes of the Pharisees saw he was eating with taxgatherers and sinners they sa'd to his dis- ciples, " Why does he eat and drink with taxgatherers and
17 sinners? " On hearing this, Jesus said to them,
" Those who are strong have no need of a doctor, but those who are ill : I have not come to call just men but sinners."
18 As the disciples of John and of the Pharisees were observing a fast, people came and asked him, " Why do John's disciples
and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, and your disciples do not fast ? " Jesus said to them, 19
" Can friends at a wedding fast while the bridegroom is be- side them ? As long as they have the bridegroom beside them they cannot fast. A time will come when the bride- 20 groom is taken from them; then they will fast, on that day. No one stitches a piece of un- 21 dressed cloth on an old coat, otherwise the patch breaks away, the new from the old," and the tear is m.ade worse : no one pours fresh wine into old 22 wineskins, otherwise the wine will burst
the wineskins, and both wine and wineskins are ruined." * Now it happened that he was 23 passing through the cornfields on the sabbath, and as the disciples made their way through they began to pull the ears of corn. The 24 Pharisees said to him, " Look at what they are doing on the sabbath! That is not allowed." He said to 25 them, " Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and his men ? He 26 went iaito the house of God (Abialhar was high priest then) and ate the loaves of the Presence wliich no one except the priests i.s allowed to eat, and also shared thcru with his followers." And he said 27 to them,
* Omitting aWa olvov v4ov fis aaKohs Kaivovs, a harmonistic addition from the parallel passage in Luke v. 38 and Matthew ix. 17.
45
S. MARK III
" The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath : 28 so that the Son of man is Lord
even over the sabbath."
3 Again he entered a synagogue. Now a man was there whose hand
2 was withered, and they watched to see if he would heal him on the sabbath, so as to get a charge
3 against him. He said to the man with the withered hand, " Rise
4 and come forward ; " then he asked them, "Is it right to help or to hurt on the sabbath, to save life
or to kill ? " They were silent.
5 Then glancing round him in anger and vexation at their obstinacy he told the man, " Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out and his hand was quite restored.
6 On this the Pharisees withdrew and at once joined the Herodians in a plot against him, to destroy him.
7 Jesus retired with his disciples to the sea, and a large number of people from Galilee followed him; also a large number came to him
8 from Judaea, Jerusalem, Idumaea, the other side of the Jordan, and the neighbourhood of Tyre and Sidon, as they had heard of his
9 doings. So he told his disciples to have a small boat ready; it was to prevent him being crushed by
10 the crowd, for he healed so many that all who had complaints were pressing on him to get a touch of
11 him. And whenever the unclean spirits saw him they fell down before him, screaming, " You are
12 the Son of God ! " But he charged them strictly and severely not to make him known.
13 • Then he went up the hillside and simimoned the men he wanted,
46
and they went to him. He ap- 14 pointed twelve to be with him, also that he might despatch them to preach with the power of casting 15 out daemons ; there was Simon, 16 whom he surnamed Peter, James 17 the son of Zebedaeus and John the brother of James (he surnamed them Boanerges, or " Sons of thunder "), Andrew, Philip, Bar- 18 tholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thad- daeus, Simon the zealot, and Judas 19 Iscariot who betrayed hijn.
Then they went indoors, but the 20 crowd gathered again, 'so that it was impossible even to have a meal. And when his family heard 21 this, they set out to get hold of him, for what they said was, " He is out of his mind." But the 22 scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, " He has Beelze- bul," and " It is by the prince of daemons that he casts out daemons." So he called them 23 and said to them by way of parable, " How can Satan cast out Satan ?
If a realm is divided against itself, 24
that realm cannot stand : if a household is divided against 25 itself, that household cannot stand : and if Satan has risen against 26 himself and is divided, he cannot stand, he comes to an end. No one can enter the strong man's 27 house and plunder his goods un- less first of all he binds the strong man ; then he can plunder his house. I tell you truly, 28
the sons of men shall be forgiven all their sins, and all the blasphemies they
may utter, but whoever blasphemes 29
S. MARK IV
against the holy Spirit is never forgiven, he is guilty of an eternal sin."
80 (This was because they said, " He
81 has an unclean spirit.") Then came his mother and his brothers, and standing outside they sent to
32 call him ; there was a crowd sitting round him, and he was told, " Here are your mother and brothers and sisters wanting you
33 outside." He replied, " Who are my mother and my brothers? "
34 And glancing at those who were sitting round him in a circle he said, " There are my mother and
35 my brothers ! Whoever does the will of God, that is my brother and sister and mother."
4 Once more he proceeded to teach by the seaside, and a huge crowd gathered round him; so he entered a boat on the sea and sat down, while all the crowd stayed ' 2 on shore. He gave them many lessons in parables, and said to them in the course of his teaching :
3 " Listen, a sower went out to sow,
4 and as he sowed it chanced that some seed fell on the road, and the
5 birds came and ate it up ; some other seed fell on stony soil where it had not much earth, and it shot up at once because it had no depth
6 of earth, but when the sun rose it got scorched and withered away, because it had no root; some
7 other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked it,
8 so it bore no crop ; some other seed fell on good soil and bore a crop that sprang up and grew, yielding at the rate of thirty, sixty, and a
9 hundredfold." He added, "Any- one who has ears to hear, let him listen to this."
When he was by himself his 10 adherents and the tAvelve asked him about the parables, and he said 11 to them : " The open secret of the Realm of God is granted to you, but these outsiders get everything by way of parables, so that
for all their seeing they may not 12 'perceive,
and for all their hearifig they may not understand, lest they turn and he forgiven.'''' And he said to them, " You do 13 not understand this parable ? Then how are you to understand the other parables? The sower sows 14 the word. As for those ' on the 15 road,' when the seed is sown there — as soon as they hear it, Satan at once comes and carries off the word sown within them. Similarly those 16 who are sown ' on stony soil ' are the people who on hearing the word accept it * with enthusiasm ; but they have no root in themselves, 17 they do not last; the next thing is that when the word brings trouble or persecution, they are at once repelled. Another set are those 18 who are sown ' among thorns ' ; they listen to the word, but the 19 worries of the world and the delight of being rich and all the other passions come in to choke the word ; so it proves unfruitful. As for 20 those who were sown ' on good soil,' these are the people who listen to the word and take it in and bear fruit at the rate of thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."
He also said to them, 21
♦ Omitting tld^s with D, the Sinaitio Syriac, some manuscripts of the Old Latin, etc. The tendency waa to add Mark's tvOvs rather than omit it, especially when it oeouiTed as here in the Matthew- parallel (aciii. 20).
47
S. MARK V
" Is a lamp brought to be placed under a bowl or a bed V Is it not to be placed upon the stand ?
22 Nothing is hidden except to be
disclosed, nothing concealed except to be revealed.
23 If anyone has ears to hear, let
24 him listen to this." Also he said to them, " Take care Avhat you hear; the measure you deal out to others will be dealt out to yourselves, and you will receive extra.
25 For he who has, to him shall more
be given ; while as for him who has not, from him shall be taken even what he has."
26 And he said, " It is with the Realm of God as when a man has
27 sown seed on earth ; he sleeps at night and rises by day, and the seed sprouts and shoots up — he knows
28 not how. (For the earth bears crops by itself, the blade first, the ear of corn next, and then the
29 grain full in the ear.) But when- ever the crop is ready, he has the sickle put in at once, as harvest
30 has come." He said also,
" To what can we compare the Realm of God ? how are we to put it in a parable ?
31 It is like a grain of mustard- seed — less than any seed on earth
32 when it is sown on earth; but once sown it springs up to be larger than any plant, throwing out such big branches that the wild birds
33 can roost under its shadow." In many a parable like this he spoke the word to them, so far as they
34 could listen to it; he never spoke to them except by way of parable, but in private he explained every- thing to his own disciples.
48
That same day when evening 35 came he said to them, " Let us cross to the other side ; "so, leaving 36 the crowd, they took him just as he was in the boat, accompanied by some other boats. But a heavy 37 squall of wind came on, and the waves splashed into the boat, so that the boat filled. He was 38 sleeping on the cushion in the stern, so they woke him up saying, " Teacher, are we to drown for all you care? " And he woke up, 39 checked the wind, and told the sea, " Peace, be quiet." The wind fell and there was a great calm. Then he said to them, " Why are 40 you afraid like this ? Why not have faith ? " But they were over- 41 awed and said to each other, " Whatever can he be, when the very wind and sea obey him."
Then they reached the opposite 5 side of the sea, the country of the Gerasenes. And as soon as he 2 stepped out of the boat a man from the tombs came to meet him, a man with an unclean spirit who dwelt 3 among the tombs ; by this time no one could bind him, not even with a chain, for he had often been 4 bound with ifetters and chains and had snapped the chains and broken the fetters — nobody could tame him. All night and day among 5 the tombs and the hills he shrieked and gashed himself Nvith stones. On catching sight of Jesus from 6 afar he ran and knelt before him, shrieking aloud, " Jesus, son of 7 God most High, what business have you with me ? By God, I adjure you, do not torture me." (For he had said, " Come out of 8 the man, you unclean spirit.") Jesus asked him, " Wliat is your 9
S. MARK V
10
11
12 13
14
15
16
17 18
19 20
21
22 23
name?" "Legion," he said, " there is a host of us." And they begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a large drove of swine was grazing there on the hillside ; so the spirits begged him saying, " Send us into the swine, that we may enter them." And Jesus gave them leave. Then out came the unclean spirits and entered the s"wine, and the drove rushed doAvn the steep slope into the sea (there were about two thousand of them) and in the sea they were drowned. The herdsmen fled and reported it to the town and the hamlets. So the people came to see what had happened, and when they reached Jesus they saw the hmatic sitting down, clothed and in his sober senses — the man who had been possessed by ' Legion.' That frightened them. And those who had seen it related to them what had happened to the lunatic and the swine. Then they began begging Jesus to leave their district. As he was stepping into the boat the lunatic begged that he might accompany him; but he said, " Go home to your o^vn people, and report to them all the Lord has dorie for you and how he took pity on you." So he went off and began to proclaim throughout Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; it made everyone astonished.
Now when Jesus had crossed in the boat to the other side again, a large crowd gathered round him; so he remained beside the sea. A president of the synagogije called Jairus came up, and on catching sight of him fell at his feet with earnest entreaties. " My little girl is dying," he said, " do come and
lay your hands on her that sfie may recover and live." So Jesus went 24 away with him. Now a large crowd followed him; they pressed round him. And there was a 25 woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years — she had suffered 26 a great deal under a number of doctors and had spent all her means but was none the better; in fact she was rather worse. She 27 heard about Jesus, got behind him in the crowd, and touched his robe ; " if I can touch even his 28 clothes," she said to herself, " I will recover." And at once the 29 hemorrhage stopped, and she felt in her body that she was cured of her complaint. Jesus was at once 80 conscious that some healing virtue had passed from him, so he turned round in the crowd and asked, " Who touched my clothes ? " His 31 disciples said to him, " You see the crowd are pressing round you, and yet you ask, ' Who touched me ? ' " But he kept looking round to see 32 who had done it, and the woman, 33 knowing what had happened to her, came forward in fear and trembling and fell down before him, telling him all the truth. He 34 said to her, " Daughter, your faith has made you well ; go in peace and be free from your complaint." He was still speaking when a 35 message came from the house of the synagogue-president, " Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher to come any further ? " But Jesus ignored the remark 36 and told the president, " Have no fear, only believe." He would not 37 allow anyone to accompany him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. So they 38 reached the president's house, where he saw a din of people wailing
49
S. MARK VI
39 and making shrill lament ; and on entering he asked them, " Why make a noise and wail ? The child
40 is not dead but asleep." They laughed at him. However, he put them all outside and taking the father and mother of the child as well as his companions he went in to where the child was lying;
41 then he took the child's hand and said to her, " Talitha koum " — which may be translated, " Little girl, I am telling you to rise."
42 The girl got up at once and began to walk (she was twelve years old); and at once they were lost in utter
43 amazement. But he strictly for- bade them to let anyone know about it, and told them to give her something to eat.
6 Leaving there he went to his native place, followed by his dis-
2 ciples. WTien the sabbath came, he began to teach in the syna- gogue, and the large audience was astounded. " Where did he get all this ? " they said. " What is the meaning of this wisdom he is endowed with? And these miracles, too, that his hands per-
3 form ! Is this not the joiner, the son of Mary and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon ? Are not his sisters settled here among us ? " So they were
4 repelled by him. Then Jesus said to them, " A prophet never goes without honour except in his native place and among his kinsfolk and
5 in his home." There he could not do any miracle, beyond laying his hands on a few sick people and
6 curing them. He was astonished at their lack of faith.
Then he made a tour round the
7 villages, teaching. And summon-
60
ing the twelve he proceeded to send them out two by two ; he gave them power over the unclean spirits, and ordered them to take 8 nothing but a stick for the journey, no bread, no wallet, no coppers in their girdle; they were to wear 9 sandals, but not to put on two shirts, he said. Also, he told 10 them, " Wherever you enter a house, stay there till you leave the place. And if any place will 11 not receive you and the people will not listen to j^ou, shake off the very dust under your feet when you leave as a warning to them." So thej'^ went out and preached 12 repentance ; also they cast out 13 a number of daemons and cured a number of sick people by anoint- ing them with oil.
NoAv this came to the hearing of 14 king Herod, for the name of Jesus had become well knowTi ; people said,* " John the Baptizer has risen from the dead, that is why miracu- lous powers are working through him; " others said, " It is Ehjah," 15 others again, " It is a prophet, like one of the old prophets." But 16 when Herod heard of it he said, " John has risen, the John I be- headed." For this Herod had sent 17 and arrested John and bound him in prison on account of his marriage to Herodias the wife of his brother Phihp; John had told Herod, 18 " You have no right to your brother's wife." Herodias had a 19 grudge against him; she wanted him killed but she could not manage it, for Herod stood in awe of John, 20 knowing he was a just and holy man ; so he protected John — he was greatly exercised when he listened to him, still he was glad
* Reading e\fyov with B D and the Old Latin.
S. MARK VI
21
23 24
25
26 27
28 29
30
32 33
84
to listen to hivn. Then came a holida}'', when Herod held a feast on his birthday for his chief officials and generals and the not- ables of Galilee. The daughter of Herodias went in and danced to them, and Herod and his guests were so delighted that the king said to the girl, " Ask anything you like and I will give you it." He swore to her, " I will give you whatever you want, were it the half of my realm." So .she went out and said to her mother, "What am I to ask?" "John the Baptizer's head," she answered. Then she hurried in at once and asked the king, saying, " I want you to give me this very moment John the Baptist's head on a dish." The king was very vexed, but for the sake of his oaths and his guests he did not like to dis- appoint her; so the king at once sent one of the gviard ^vith orders to bring his head. The man went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a dish, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard of it they went and fetched his body and laid it in a tomb.
Now the apostles gathered to meet Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. And he said to them, " Come away to some lonely spot and get a little rest " (for there were many people coming and going, and they could get no time even to eat). So they went away privately in the boat to a lonely spot. However a number of people who saw them start and recognized them, got to the place before them by hurrying there on foot from all the towns. So when Jesus disembarked he saw
a large crowd, and out of pity for them, as they were like sheep without a shepherd, he proceeded to teach them at length. Then, 35 as the day was far gone, his disciples came up to him, saying, " It is a desert place and the day is now far gone ; send them off to 36 the farms and villages round about to buy some food for themselves." He replied, " Give them some food, 37 yourselves." They said, " Are we to go and buy ten povmds' worth of food and give them that to eat ? " He said, " How many loaves have 38 you got ? Go and see." When they found out they told him, " Five, and two fish." Then he 39 gave orders that they were to make all the people lie down in parties on the green grass ; so they ar- 40 ranged themselves in groups of a hundred and of fifty. And he 41 took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven he blessed them, broke the loaves in pieces which he handed to the disciples to set before them, and divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and had 42 enough ; besides, the fragments of 43 bread and of fish which were picked up filled twelve baskets. (The number of men who ate the 44 loaves was five thousand.)
Then he made the disciples at 45 once embark in the boat and cross before him towards Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd ; and after saying goodbye to them 46 he went up the hill to pray. Now 47 when evening came the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was on the land alone ; but when he 48 saw them buffeted as they rowed (for the wind was against them) he went to them about the fourth watch of the night walking on the
61
S. MARK VII
49 sea. He meant to pass them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost
50 and shrieked aloud — for they all saw him and were terrified. Then he spoke to them at once; " Courage," he said, " it is I, have
51 no fear." And he got into the boat beside them, and the wind dropped. They were utterly as-
52 tounded, for they had not under- stood the lesson of the loaves ; their minds were dull.
53 On crossing over they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to
54 the shore. And when they had disembarked, the people at once
55 recognized Jesus ; they hurried round all the district and proceeded to carry the sick on their pallets wherever they heard that he
56 was ; whatever village or town or hamlet he went to, they would lay their invalids in the marketplace, begging him to let them touch even the tassel of his robe — and all who touched him recovered.
7 Now the Pharisees gathered to meet him, with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem.
2 They noticed that some of his disciples ate their food with ' common ' (that is, unwashed)
3 hands. (The Pharisees and all the Jews decline to eat till they wash their hands up to the wrist, in obedience to the tradition of the
4 elders ; they decline to eat what comes from the market till they have washed it ; and they have a number of other traditions to keep about washing cups and jugs and
5 basins and beds.) Then the Phari- sees and scribes put this question to him, " Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the
62
elders ? Why do they take their food with ' commoai ' hands ? " He said to them, " Isaiah made a grand 6 prophecy about you hypocrites — as it is written.
This people honours me with their
lips, hut their heart is far away from
me : vain is their worship of me, 7
for the doctrines they teach are
but human precepts. You drop what God commands 8 and hold to human tradition. Yes, forsooth," he added, " you 9 set aside what God commands, so as to maintain your own tradition. Thus, Moses said, Honour your 10 father and mother, and, He who curses his father or mother is to suffer death. But you say that II if a man tells his father or mother, ' This money might have been at your service, but it is Korban ' (that is, dedicated to God), he is 12 exempt, so you hold, from doing anything for his father or mother. That is repealing the word of God 13 in the interests of the tradition which you keep up. And you do many things like that." Then he 14 called the crowd to him again and said to them, " Listen to me, all of you, and imderstand this : —
nothing outside a man can defile 15
him by entering him ; it is what comes from him that „
defiles him. «
If anyone has ears to hear, let 16 him listen to this."
Now when he went indoors away 17 from the crowd, his disciples asked him the meaning of this parabolic saying. He said to them, " So you 18 do not understand, either ? Do you not see how nothing outside a man can defile him by entering him?
S. MARK VIII
19 It does not enter his heart but his belly and passes from that into the drain " (thus he pronounced
20 all food clean). " No," he said, " it is what comes from a man, that
21 is what defiles him. From within, from the heart of man, the designs
22 of evil come : sexual vice, stealing, murder, adultery, lust, malice, deceit, sensuality, envying, slander,
23 arrogance, recklessness, all these evils issue from within and they defile a man."
24 Leaving there, he went away to the territory of Tyre and Si don. He went into a house and wished no one to know of it, but he could
25 not escape notice ; a woman heard of him, whose daughter had an unclean spirit, and she came and
26 fell at his feet (the woman was a pagan, of Syro-phoenician birth) begging him to cast the daemon out
27 of her daughter. He said to her, " Let the children be satisfied first of all; it is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to
28 the dogs." She answered him, " No, sir, but under the table the dogs do pick up the children's
29 crumbs." He said to her, " Well, go your way; the daemon has left your daughter, since you have
30 said that." So she went home and found the child lying in bed and the daemon gone from her.
31 He left the territory of Tyre again and passed through Sidon to the sea of Galilee, crossing the
32 territory of Decapolis. And a deaf man who stammered was brought to him, with the request that he
33 would lay his hand on him. So taking him aside from the crowd by himself, he put his fingers into the man's ears, touched his tongue
34 with saliva, and looking up to
heaven with a sigh he said to him, " Ephphatha " (which means, Open). Then his ears were at 35 once opened and his tongue freed from its fetter — he began to speak correctly. Jesus forbade them to 36 tell anyone about it, but the more he forbade them the more eagerly they made it public ; they were 37 astounded in the extreme, saying, " How splendidly he has done every- thing ! He actually makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak ! "
In those days, when a large 8 crowd had again gathered and when they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples and said to them, " I am sorry for the crowd ; 2 they have been three days with me now, and they have nothing to eat. If I send them home 3 without food they will faint on the road. Besides, some of them have come a long way." His disciples 4 replied, "Where can one get loaves to satisfy them in a desert spot like this ? " He asked them, " How 5 many loaves have you got ? " They said, " Seven." So he or- 6 dered the crowd to recline on the ground, and taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to serve out. They served them out to the crowd, and as they also had 7 a few small fish, he blessed them too and told the disciples to serve them out as well. So the people 8 ate and were satisfied, and they picked up seven baskets of fragments which were left over. (There were 9 about four thousand of them.) Then he sent them away, embarked 10 at once in the boat with his disciples, and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
63
S. MARK VIII
11 Now the Pharisees came out and started to argue with him, asking him for a Sign from heaven, by
12 way of tempting him. But he sighed in spirit and said,
" Why does this generation de- mand a Sign ? I tell you truly, no Sign shall be given this generation."
13 Then he left them, embarked again, and went away to the opposite side.
14 They had forgotten to bring any bread, and had only one loaf with
15 them in the boat. So he cautioned them, " See and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." " Leaven ? "
16 they argued to themselves, " we
17 have no bread at all." He noted this and said to them, " Why do you argue you have no bread ? Do you not see, do you not understand, even yet? Are you still dull of heart ?
18 You have eyes, do you not
see? you have ears, do you not hear?
19 Do you not remember how many baskets full of fragments you picked up when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand ? " They
20 said, " Twelve." " And how many basketfuls of fragments did you pick up when I broke the seven loaves for the seven thousand ? "
21 They said, " Seven." " Do you not understand now? " he said.
22 Then they reached Bethsaida. A blind man was brought to him with the request that he would
23 touch him. So he took the blind man by the hand and led him out- side the village ; then, after spitting on his eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked him, " Do you see
24 anything ? " He began to see and
61
said, " I can make out people, for I see them as large as trees, mov- ing." At this he laid his hands on 25 his eyes once more, and the man stared in front of him; he was quite restored and saw everything distinctly. And Jesus sent him 26 home, saying, " Do not go even into the village."
Then Jesus and liis disciples set 27 off for the villages of Caesarea Philippi ; and on the road he inquired of his disciples, " Who do people say I am ? " " John the 28 Baptist," thc}^ told him, " though some say Elijah and others say you are one of the prophets." So he inquired of them, " And 29 who do you say I am ? " Peter replied, " You are the Christ." Then he forbade them to tell any- 30 one about him. And he proceeded 31 to teach them that the Son of man had to endure great suffering, to be rejected by the elders and the high priests and the scribes, to be killed and after three days to rise again ; he spoke of this quite 32 freely. Peter took him and began to reprove liim for it, but he turned 33 on him and noticing his disciples reproved Peter, telhng him, " Get behind me, you Satan ! Your out- look is not God's but man's." Then he called the crowd to him 34 with his disciples and said to them, " If anyone wishes to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and so follow me;
for whoever wants to save his 35 life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. WTiat profit is it for a man to gain 36 the whole world and to forfeit his soul ? What could a man offer as 37 an equivalent for his soul ?
S. MARK IX
88 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this disloyal and sinful generation, the Son of man mil be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. 9 "I tell you truly," he said, " there are some of those standing here who will not taste death till they see the coming of God's Reign with power."
2 Six days afterwards Jesus took Peter, James and John, and led them up a high hill by themselves alone; in their presence he was
3 transfigured, and his clothes glis- tened white, vivid white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
4 And Elijah along with Moses ap- peared to them, and conversed
5 with Jesus. So Peter addressed Jesus, saying, " Rabbi, it is a good thing we are here; let us put up three tents, one for you, one for
6 Moses, and one for Elijah " (for he did not know what to say, they
7 were so terrified). Then a cloud came overshadowing them, and from the cloud a voice said, " This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to
8 him." And suddenly looking round they saw no one there except
9 Jesus all alone beside them. As they went down the hill, he forbade them to tell anyone what they had seen, till such time as the Son of
10 man rose from the dead. This order they obeyed, debating with themselves what ' rising from the
11 dead ' meant. So they put this question to him, " Why do the Pharisees and scribes say that Elijah has to come first?" He
12 said to them, " Elijah does come first, to restore all things ; but what is written about the Son of man as well ? This, that he is to endure great suffering and be rejected.
As for Elijah, I tell you he has 13 come already, and they have done to him whatever they pleased — as it is written of him." When 14 they reached the disciples they saw a large crowd round them, and some scribes arguing with them. On seeing him the whole crowd 15 was thunderstruck and ran to greet him. Jesus asked them, " What 16 are you discussing with them ? " A man from the crowd answered 17 him, " Teacher, I brought my son to you ; he has a dumb spirit, and whenever it seizes him it throws 18 him down, and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth. He is wasting away with it; so I told your disciples to cast it out, but they could not." He answered 19 them, " O faithless generation, how long must I still be with j^ou ? how long have I to bear ^vith you ? Bring him to me." So they brought 20 the boy to him, and when the spirit saw Jesus it at once convulsed the boy; he fell on the ground and rolled about foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked his father, " How long 21 has he been like this ? " " From 22 childhood," he said ; " it has thrown him into fire and water many a time, to destroy him. If you can do anything, do help us, do have pity on us." Jesus said to him, 23 " ' If you can ' ! Anything can be done for one who believes." At 24 once the father of the boy cried out, " I do believe ; help my un- belief." Now as Jesus saw that a 25 crowd was rapidly gathering, he checked the unclean spirit. " Deaf and dumb spirit," he said, " leave him, I command you, and never enter him again." And it did 26 come out, after shrieking aloud and convulsing him violently. The child turned like a corpse, so that
55
S. MARK IX
most people said, " he is dead " ;
27 but, taking his hand, Jesus raised
28 him and he got up. WTien he went indoors his disciples asked him in private, " ^Vhy could we
29 not cast it out?" He said to them, "Nothing can make this kind come out but prayer and fasting."
30 On leaving there they passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know of their journey,
31 for he was teaching his disciples, telling them that the Son of man would be betrayed into the hands of men, that they would kill him, and that when he was killed he would rise again after three days.
32 But they did not understand what he said, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.
33 Then they reached Capharnahum. And when he got into the house he asked them, " What were you arguing about on the road ? "
34 They said nothing, for on the road they had been disputing about which of them was the greatest.
35 So he sat down and called the twelve. " If anyone wants to be first," he said to them, " he must be last of all and the servant
36 of all." Then he took a httle child, set it among them, and putting his arms round it said to them,
37 " Whoever receives one of these
little ones in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives not me but him who sent me."
38 John said to him, " Teacher, we saw a man casting out daemons in your name ; but he does not follow us, and so we stopped him." Jesus
S9 said, " Do not stop him ; no one who performs any miracle in my , 56
name will be ready to speak evil of me. He who is not against us 40 is for us.
Whoever gives you a cup of 41 water because you belong to Christ, I tell you truly, he shall not miss his reward.
And whoever is a hindrance to 42 one of these little ones who believe, it were better for him to have a great millstone hung round his neck and be thrown into the sea.
If your hand is a hindrance to 43 you, cut it off : better be maimed and get into Life, than keep your two hands and go to Gehenna, to the fire that is never quenched. If your foot is a hindrance to you, 45 cut it off : better get into Life a cripple, than keep your two feet and be thrown into Gehenna. If your eye is a hindrance to you, 47 tear it out : better get into God's Realm with one eye, than keep your two eyes and be thro^vn into Gehenna, where their worm never dies 48 and the fire is never put out. Everyone has to be consecrated* 49 by the fire of disciphne.
Salt is excellent : 50
but if salt is tasteless, how are
you to restore its flavour?
* The Greek word aXto-e^o-eraj literally means ' salted,' the metaphor being taken from the custom of using salt in sacrifices (cp. e.g. Levit. ii. 13; Josephus, Antiquities, iii. 9. 1). " There is fire to be encountered afterwards if not now; how much better to face it now and by self-sacrifice insure against the future " (Professor Menzies).
S. MARK X
Let there be ' salt between you ' ; be at peace Avith one another."
10 Then he left and went to the territory of Judaea over the Jordan. Crowds gathered to him again, and again he taught them as usual.
2 Now some Pharisees came up and asked him if a man was allowed to divorce his ^^dfe. This was to
3 tempt him. So he replied, " What did Moses lay down for you ? "
4 They said, " Moses permitted a man to divorce her by writing out a
5 separation notice." Jesus said to them, " He wrote you that com- mand on account of the hardness
6 of your hearts. But from the beginning, when God created the world,
Male and female. He created them :
7 hence a man shall leave his father
and mother,
8 and the pair shall be one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one
9 flesh. What God has joined, then,
10 man must not separate." Indoors, the disciples again asked him about
11 this, and he said to them, " Who- ever divorces his ■wife and marries another woman is an adulterer to
12 the former, and she is an adulteress if she divorces her husband and marries another man,"
13 Now people brought children for him to touch them, and the
14 disciples cheeked them; but Jesus was angry when he saw this, and he said to them, " Let the children come to me, do not stop them : the Realm of God belongs to such as
15 these. I tell you truly, whoever will not submit to the Reign of God like a child will never get into it
16 at all." Then he put his arms round them, laid his hands on them and blessed them.
As he went out on the road a man 17 ran up and knelt down before him. " Good teacher," he asked, " what must I do to inherit life eternal ? " Jesus said to him, " WTiy call me 18 ' good ' ? No one is good, no one but God. You know the com- 19 mands : do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honour your father and mother.''' " Teach- 20 er," he said, " I have observed all these commands from my youth." Jesus looked at him and loved him. 21 " There is one thing you want," he said ; " go and sell all you have ; give the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven ; then come and follow me." But 22 his face fell at that, and he went sadly away, for he had great possessions. Jesus looked round 23 and said to his disciples, "How difficult it is for those who have money to get into the Realm of God ! " The disciples were 24 amazed at what he said ; so he repeated, " My sons, how difficult it is [for those who rely on money] to get into the Realm of God ! It 25 is easier for a camel to get through a needle's eye than for a rich man to get into the Realm of God." They 26 were more astounded than ever ; they said to themselves, " Then who ever can be saved ? " Jesus looked 27 at them and said, " For men it is impossible, but not for God : any- thing is possible for God." Peter 28 began, " Well, we have left our all and followed you." Jesus said, 29 " I tell you truly, no one has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, who does not get a 30 hundred times as much — in this present world homes, brothers,
67
S. MARK XI
sisters, mothers, cliildren and lands, together with persecutions, and in the world to come life eternal.
31 Many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first."
82 They were on the way up to Jerusalem, Jesus walking in front of them; the disciples were in dismay and the companj'' who followed M^ere afraid. So once again he took the twelve aside and proceeded to tell them what was
33 going to happen to himself. " We are going up to Jerusalem," he said, " and the Son of man will be betrayed to the higfa priests and scribes ; they will sentence him to death and hand him over to the ^34 Gentiles, who will mock liim, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him ; then after three days he will rise again."
85 James and John, the sons of Zebedaeus, came up to him saying, " Teacher, we want you to do what-
86 ever we ask you." So he said, " What do you want me to do for
37 you ? " They said to him, " Give us seats, one at your right hand and one at your left hand, in your
38 glory." Jesus said, " You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I have to drink, or undergo the baptism I have to
89 undergo ? " They said to him, " We can." Jesus said, " You shall drink the cup I have to drink and undergo the baptism I have
40 to undergo ; but it is not for me to grant seats at my right or my left hand — these belong to the men for whom they have been destined."
41 Now when the ten heard of this, they burst into anger at James and
42 John ; so Jesus called them and said, " You know the so-called rulers
of the Gentiles lord it over them, 68
and their great men overbear them : not so with you. 43
Whoever wants to be great among
you must be your servant, and whoever of you wants to be 44
first must be your slave ; for the Son of man himself has 45 not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ran- som for many." Then they reached Jericho ; and 46 as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a considerable crowd, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, the blind beggar who sat beside the road, heard it was Jesus of Nazaret. 47 So he started to shout, " Son of David ! Jesus ! have pity on me." A number of the people checked him 48 and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, " Son of David, have pity on me ! " Jesus 49 stopped and said, " Call him." Then they called the blind man and told him, " Courage ! Get up, he is calling you." Thromng off his 50 cloak he jumped up and went to Jesus. Jesus spoke to him and 51 said, " What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said, " Rabboni, I want to regain my sight." Then Jesus said, " Go, 52 your faith has made you well ; " and he regained his sight at once and followed Jesus along the road.
Now when they came near Jeru- 1 1 salem, near Bethphage and Beth- any, at the Hill of Olives, he des- patched two of his disciples, saying 2 to them, " Go to the village in front of you. As soon as you enter it you will find a colt tethered, on which no one has ever sat; un- tether it and bring it here. If any- 8
S. MARK XI
one asks you, * Why are you doing that ? ' say, ' The Lord needs it, and he will send it back immedi-
4 ately.' " Off they went and found a colt tethered outside a door in the
5 street. They untethered it; but some of the bystanders said to them, " What do you mean by untethering
0 that colt? " So they answered as Jesus had told them, and the men
7 allowed them to go. Then they brought the colt to Jesus, and when thc}'^ had put their clothes on it
8 Jesus seated himself. Many also spread their clothes on the road, while others strewed leaves cut
9 from the fields ; and both those in front and those who followed shouted,
" Hosanna ! Blessed be he who comes in the Lord's name !
10 Blessed be the Reign to come,
our father David's reign. Hosanna in high heaven ! "
11 Then he entered Jerusalem, en- tered the temple, and looked round at everything ; but as it was late he went away with the twelve to Bethany.
12 Next day, when they had left
13 Bethany, he felt hungry, and noticing a fig tree in leaf some distance away he went to see if he could find anything on it ; but when he reached it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the time for
14 figs. Then he said to it, " May no one ever eat fruit from you after this ! " The disciples heard him say it.
15 Then they came to Jerusalem, and entering the temple he started to drive out those who were buying and selling inside the temple; he upset the tables of the money- changers and the stalls of those who
16 sold doves, and would not allow any-
one to carry a vessel through the temple ; also he taught them. " Is 17 it not written," he asked, " My house shall he allied a house of prayer for all nations ? You have made it a den of robbers.''^ This came to 18 the ears of the high priests and scribes, and they tried to get him put to death, for they were afraid of him. But the multitude were all astounded at his teaching. And 19 when evening came he went out- side the city.
Now as they passed in the morn- 20 ing they noticed the fig tree had withered to the root. Then Peter 21 remembered. " Rabbi," he said, " there is the fig tree you cursed, all withered ! " Jesus answered 22 # them, " Have faith in God ! I tell 23 you truly, whoever says to this hill, ' Take and throw yourself into the sea,' and has not a doubt in his mind but believes that what he says will happen, he will have it done. So I tell you, whatever you 24 pray for and ask, believe you have got it and you shall have it. Also, 25 whenever you stand up to pray, if you have anything against anybody, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your trespasses."
Once more they came to Jeru- 27 salem. And as he was walking within the temple the high priests and scribes and elders came and asked him, " What authority have 28 you for acting in this way? Who gave you authority to act in this way?" Jesus said to them, "129 am going to ask you a ques- tion. Answer this, and I will tell you what authority I have for acting as I do. What about the 30 baptism of John? Was it from heaven or from men ? " Now they 31 argued to themselves, " [What are
59
S. MARK XII
32 we to say ?] If we say, ' From heaven,' he will ask, ' Then why did you not believe him.' No, let us say, From men " — but they were afraid of the people, for the people all held John had been really
33 a prophet. So they replied to Jesus, " We do not know." Jesus said to them, " No more will I tell you what authority I have for acting as I do."
12 Then he proceeded to address them in parables. " A man planted a vineyard, fenced it round, dug a trough for the zvinepress, and built a tower ; then he leased it to vine-
2 dressers and went abroad. When the season came round he sent a servant to the vinedressers to collect from the vinedressers some of the
3 produce of the vineyard, but they took and flogged him and sent him
4 off with nothing. Once more he sent them another servant; him they knocked on the head and in-
5 suited. He sent another, but they killed him. And so they treated many others ; some they flogged
6 and some they killed. He had still one left, a beloved son ; he sent him to them last, saying, ' They
7 will respect my son.' But these vinedressers said to themselves, ' Here is the heir ; come on, let us
8 kill him, and the inheritance will be our own.' So they took and killed him, and threw him outside
9 the vineyard. Now what will the owner of the vinej^ard do ? He will come and destroy the vine- dressers, and he will give the vine-
10 yard to others. Have you not even read this scripture ? — The stone that the builders rejected is the chief stone now of the corner : 60
this is the doing of the Lord, 11
and a toonder to our eyes.^' Then they tried to get hold of him, 12 but they were afraid of the crowd. They knew he had meant the parable for them.
So they left him and went away. But they sent some of the Pharisees 13 and Herodians to him for the pur- pose of catching him with a ques- tion. They came up and said to 14 him, " Teacher, we know you are sincere and fearless ; j^ou do not court human favour, you teach the Way of God honestly. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not ? Are 1 5 we to pay, or are we not to pay ? " But he saw their trick and said to them, " Why tempt me ? Bring me a shilling. Let me see it." So they brought one. He said, 16 " Whose likeness, whose inscription is this ? " " Caesar's," they said. Jesus said to them, " Give Caesar 17 what belongs to Caesar, give God what belongs to God." He aston- ished them.
Sadducees, men who hold there 18 is no resurrection, also came up and put a question to him. " Teacher," 19 they said, " Moses has written this law for us, that if a man's brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother is to take the rooman arid raise offspring for his brother. Now there 20 were seven brothers. The first married a wife and died leaving no offspring : the second took her 21 and died without leaving any off- spring : so did the third : none of 22 the seven left any offspring. Last of all the woman died too. At the 23 resurrection, when they rise, "whose wife will she be ? She was wife to the seven of them." Jesus said to 24 them, " Is this not where you go wrong ? — you understand neither the scriptures nor the power of God.
S. MARK XIII
25 When people rise from the dead they neither marry nor arc married, they are hke the angels in heaven.
26 As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, at the passage on the Bush, how God said to him, / am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and
27 the God of Jacob ? He is not the God of dead people but of living. You are far wrong."
28 Then a scribe came up, who had listened to the discussion. Knowing Jesus had given them an apt answer, he put this question to him, " What is the chief of all the commands ? "
29 Jesus repUed, " The chief one is : Hear, 0 Israel, the Lord our God is
30 one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, with your whole mind, and with your whoU
31 strength. The second is this : You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other command greater
32 than these." The scribe said to him, " Right, teacher ! You have truly said, He is One, and there is none
33 else but Him. Also, to love him with the whole heart, with the whole understanding, and with the whole strength, and to love one's neigh- bour as oneself — that is far more than all holocausts and sacrifices."
34 Jesus noted his intelligent answer and said to him, " You are not far off the Realm of God." After that no one ventured to put any more questions to him.
35 And as Jesus taught in the temple he asked, " How can the scribes say that the Christ is David's son?
36 David himself said in the holy Spirit,
The Lord said to my Lord, ' Sit at
my right hand, till I put your enemies under your
feet.'
David here calls him Lord. Then 37 how can he be his son ? "
Now the mass of the people lis- tened with delight to him. And in 38 the course of his teaching he said, " Beware of the scribes ! They like to walk about in long robes, to get saluted in the marketplaces, to secure the front seats in the syna- 39 gogues and the best places at banquets ; they prey upon the 40 property of widows and offer long unreal prayers. All the heavier will their sentence be ! "
Sitting down opposite the treas- 41 ury, he watched the people putting their money into the treasury. A number of the rich were putting in large sums, but a poor widow came 42 up and put in two little coins amounting to a halfpenny. And 43 he called his disciples and said to them, " I tell you truly, this poor widow has put in more than all who have put their money into the treasury ; for they have all put in 44 a contribution out of their surplus, but she has given out of her needi- ness all she possessed, her whole living."
CHAP.
As he went out of the temple one 1 3 of his disciples said to him, " Look, teacher, what a size these stones and buildings are ! " Jesus said to 2 him, " You see these great build- ings ? Not a stone shall be left on another, without being torn down."
And as he sat on the Hill of Olives 3 opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him in private, " Tell us, when is this 4 to happen ? What will be the sign for all this to be accomplished? " So Jesus began : " Take care that 5 no one misleads you : — many will 6 come in my name saying, ' I am he,'
S. MARK XIII
7 and mislead many. And when you hear of wars and rumours of war, do not be alarmed; these have to
8 come, but it is not the end yet. For nation will rise against nation, and realm against realm ; there will be earthquakes here and there, and famines too. All that is but the
9 beginning of the trouble. Look to yourselves. Men will hand you over to Sanhedrins and you will be flogged in synagogues and brought before governors and kings for my sake, to testify to them.
10 (Ere the end, the gospel must be
11 preached to all nations.) Now when they carry you off to trial, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say ; say whatever comes to your lips at the moment, for he who speaks is not you but the holy
12 Spirit. Brother will betray brother to death, the father will betray his child, children will rise against
IS their parents and kill them, and you will be hated by all men on account of my name ; but he will be saved who holds out to the very end.
14 But whenever you see the ap- palling Horror standing where he has no right to stand (let the reader note this), then let those who are
15 in Judaea fly to the hills; a man » on the housetop must not go down
into the house or go inside to fetch
16 anything out of his house, and a man in the field must not turn
17 back to get his coat. Woe to women with child and to women who give suck in those days !
18 Pray it may not be winter when
19 it comes, for those days will be days of misery, the like of which has never been from the beginning of God's creation until noiv — no and
20 never shall be. Had not the Lord cut short those days, not a soul
62
would be saved alive; but he has cut them short for the sake of the elect whom he has chosen.
If anyone tells you at that time, 21 ' Look, here is the Christ,' or, ' Look, there he is,' do not believe it ; for 22 false Christs and false prophets will rise and perform signs and wonders to mislead the elect if they can. Now take care ! I am telling you 23 of it all beforehand.
But when that misery is past, 24 in those days,
the sun will be darkened
and the moon will not yield her light,
the stars zvill drop from heaven, 25 and the orbs of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of man 26 coming in the clouds with great power and glory. Then he will 27 despatch his angels and muster the elect from the four \nnds, from the verge of earth to the verge of heaven.
Let the fig tree teach you a 28 parable. As soon as its branches turn soft and put out leaves, you know summer is at hand ; so, when- 29 ever you see this happen, you may be sure He is at hand, at the very door.
I tell you truly, the present 30 generation will not pass away till all this happens. Heaven and earth 31 will pass away, but my words never.
Now no one knows anything 32 about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, not even the Son, but only the Father. Take 33 care, keep awake; you never know the time. It is like a man leaving 34 his house to go abroad ; he puts his servants in charge, each with his work to do, and he orders the por- ter to keep watch. Watch then, 35
S. MARK XIV
for you never know when the Lord of the House will come, in the late evening or at midnight or at cock-
36 crow or in the morning. Watch, in case he comes suddenly and finds
37 you asleep. Watch : I say it to you, and I say it to all."
14 The passover and the festival of unleavened bread fell two days later ; so the high priests and scribes were trying how to get hold of him by craft and have him put
2 to death. " Only," they said, " it must not be during the fes- tival ; that would mean a popular riot."
3 Now when he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, lying at table, a woman came up with an alabaster flask of pure nard perfume, which had cost a great sum; the flask she broke and poured the per-
4 fume over his head. This angered some of those present. " What was the use of wasting perfume like
5 this ? This perfume might have been sold for over three hundred shillings, and the poor might have got that." So they upbraided her.
6 But Jesus said, " Let her alone. Why are you annoying her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.
7 The poor you always have beside you, and you can be kind to them whenever you want; but you will
8 not always have me. She has done all she could — she has anticipated the perfuming of my body for
9 burial. I tell you truly, v/herever the gospel is preached all over the world, men will speak of what she has done in memory of her."
10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the high priests to
11 betray him to them. They were delighted to hear it, and promised
to pay him for it. Meantime he sought a good opportunity for be- traying him.
On the first day of unleavened 12 bread (the day when the paschal lamb was sacrificed) his disciples said to him, " Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the passover? " So he despatched 13 two of his disciples, telling them, " Go into the city and you will meet a man carrying a water- jar; follow him, and whatever house he 14 goes into, tell the owner that the Teacher says, ' Where is my room, that I may eat the passover there with my disciples ? ' He will show 1 5 you a large room upstairs, with couches spread, all ready; prepare the passover for us there." The 16 disciples went away into the city and found it was as he had told them. So they prepared the pass- over, and when evening fell he 17 arrived along with the twelve. As 18 they were at table eating, Jesus said, " Truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me, one who is eating with me." They got dis- 19 tressed at this, and they said to him one after another, " Surely not me ? " " One of the twelve," he 20 told them, " one who is dipping into the same dish as I am. The Son of 21 man goes the road that the scripture has described for him, but woe to the man by whom the Son of man is betrayed ! Better that man had never been born ! " And as 22 they were eating he took a loaf and after the blessing he broke and gave it to them, saying, " Take this, it means my body." He also took a 23 cup and after thanking God he gave it to them, and they all drank of it ; he said to them, " This means my 24 covenant-blood which is shed for many ; truly I tell you, I will never 25
63
S. MARK XIV
drink the produce of the vine again till the day I drink it new within the Realm of God."
26 After the hymn of praise they went out to the Hill of Olives.
27 Jesus said to them, " You will all be disconcerted, for it is written : / will strike at the shepherd and the
28 sheep will he scattered. But after my rising I will precede you to
29 Galilee." Peter said to him, " Though all are disconcerted, I
30 will not be." Jesus said to him, " I tell you truly, to-day you will disown me three times, this very night, before the cock crows
31 twice." But he persisted, " Though I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And they all said the same.
32 Then they came to a place called Gethsemane, and he told his disciples, " Sit here till I pray."
33 But he took Peter and James and John along with him ; and as he began to feel appalled and agitated,
34 he said to them, "M^ heart is sad, sad even to death; stay here and
35 watch." Then he went forward a little and fell to the earth, praying that the hour might pass away
36 from him, if possible. " Abba, Father," he said, " Thou canst do anything. Take this cup away from me. Yet, not what I will but
37 what thou wilt." Then he came and found them asleep; so he said to Peter, "Are you sleeping, Simon ? Could you not watch for a single
38 hour ? Watch and pray, all of you, so that you may not slip into temptation. The spirit is eager
39 but the flesh is weak." Again he went away and prayed in the same
40 words as before; then he returned and found them once more asleep, for their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
64
Then he came for the third time and 41 said to them, " Still asleep ? still resting ? No more of that ! The hour has come, here is the Son of man betrayed into the hands of sinners. Come, get up, here is my 42 betrayer close at hand." At that 43 very moment, while he was still speaking, Judas [Iscariot] one of the twelve came up accompanied by a mob with swords and clubs who had come from the high priests and scribes and elders. Now his 44 betrayer had given them a signal; he said, " Whoever I kiss, that is the man. Seize him and get him safely away." So when he arrived 45 he at once went up to him and said, " Rabbi [rabbi]," and kissed him. Then they laid hands on him and 46 seized him, but one of the by- 47 standers drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Jesus turned on them, 48 saving, " Have you sallied out to arrest me like a robber, with swords and clubs ? Day after day I was 49 beside you in the temple teaching, and you never seized me. How- ever, it is to let the scriptures be fulfilled."
Then they left him and fled, all 50 of them ; one young man did follow 51 him, with only a linen sheet thrown round his body, but when the 52 [young] men seized him he fled away naked, leaving the sheet be- hind him.
They took Jesus away to the 53 high priest, and all the high priests and scribes and elders went with him. Peter followed him at a dis- 54 tance till he got inside the court- j^ard of the high priest, where he sat down with the attendants to warm himself at the fire.
Now the high priests and the 55 whole of the Sanhedrin tried to get
S. MARK XV
evidence against Jesus, in order to have him put to death; but they
56 could find none, for while many bore false witness against him their
57 evidence did not agree. Some got up and bore false witness against
58 him, saying, " We heard him say, ' I will destroy this temple made by hands, and in three days I will build another temple not made by
59 hands.' But even so the evidence
60 did not agree. So the high priest rose in their midst and asked Jesus, " Have you no reply to make ? What about this evidence against you ? "
61 He said nothing and made no answer. Again the high priest put a question to him. " Are you the Christ? " he said, " the Son of the
62 Blessed ? " Jesus said, " I am. And, what is more, you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with
63 the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothes and cried, " What more evidence do we
64 want ? You have heard his blas- phemy for yourselves. What is your ..ifiind*? " ' y.liey condemned him, all*of them, to the doom of
65 death ; and some of them started to spit on him and to blindfold him and buffet him, asking him, " Prophesy." The attend- ants treated him to cuffs and slaps.
66 Now as Peter was downstairs in the courtyard, a maidservant of the high priest came along, and when
67 she noticed Peter warming himself she looked at him and said, " You were with Jesus of Nazaret too,"
68 But he denied it. " I do not know," he said, " I have no idea what you mean." Then he went outside into the passage. The cock crowed.
69 Again the maidservant who had noticed him began to tell the by-
standers, " That fellow is one of them." But he denied it again. 70 After a little the bystanders once more said to Peter, " To be sure, you are one of them. Why, you are a Galilean ! " * But he broke 71 out cursing and swearing, "I do not know the man you mean," At 72 that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter re- membered how Jesus had told him, " Before the cock crows twice you will disown me thrice ; " and he burst into tears.
Immediately morning came, the 15 high priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and all the Sanhedrin, and after binding .Jesus they led him off and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate asked 2 him, " Are you the king of the Jews ? " He replied, " Certainly." Then the high priests brought many 3 accusations against him, and once more Pilate asked him, " Have you 4 no reply to make? Look at all their charges against you." But, 5 to the astonishment of Pilate, Jesus answered no more. Now at festi- 6 val time he used to release for them some prisoner whom they begged from him. (There was a man 7 called Bar-Abbas in prison, among the rioters who had committed murder during the insurrection.) So the crowd pressed up and started 8 to ask him for his usual boon. Pilate replied, " Would you like 9 me to release the king of the Jews for you ? " (For he knew the high 10 priests had handed him over out of envy.) But the high priests 11 stirred up the crowd to get him to release Bar- Abbas for them instead. Pilate asked them again, "And what 12
• Omitting [kuI t) \oAia ffov 6/xutdC(i].
65
S. MARK XV
am I to do with your so-called King
13 of the Jews ? " Whereupon they shouted again, " Crucify him."
14 " Why," said Pilate, "what has he done wrong? " But they shouted more fiercely than ever, " Crucify
15 him ! " So, as Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowd, he released Bar- Abbas for them ; Jesus he handed over to be crucified, after he had scourged him.
16 The soldiers took him inside the courtyard (that is, the praetorium) and got all the regiment together;
17 then they dressed him in purple, put on his head a crown of thorns
18 which they had plaited, and began to salute him with, " Hail, O king
19 of the Jews ! " They struck him on the head with a stick and spat upon him and bent their knees to him in
20 homage. Then, after making fun of him, they stripped off the purple, put on his own clothes, and took
21 nim away to crucify him. They forced Simon a Cyrenian who was passing on his way from the country (the father of Alexander and Rufus)
22 to carry his cross, and they led him to the place called Golgotha (which
23 means the place of a skull). They offered him wine flavoured Avith myrrh, but he would not take it.
24 Then they crucified liim and dis- tributed his clothes among them- selves, drawing lots for them to de-
25 cide each man's share. It was nine in the morning when they cruci-
26 fied him. The inscription bearing his charge was :
THE KING OF THE JEWS.
27 They also crucified two robbers along with him, one at his right and
29 one at his left. Those who passed
by scoffed at him, nodding at him
in derision and calling, " Ha ! You
were to destroy the temple and
66
build it in three days ! Come down 30 from the cross and save yourself ! " So, too, the high priests made fun of 31 him to themselves with the scribes ; " he saved others," they said, " but he cannot save himself ! Let ' the 32 Christ,' ' the king of Israel ' come down now from the cross ! Let us see that and we will believe ! " Those who were crucified with him also denounced him.
When twelve o'clock came, dark- 33 ness covered the whole land till three o'clock, and at three o'clock 34 Jesus gave a loud cry, " Eloi, Eloi, lema sahachthanei " (which means. My God, my God, why hast thou for- saken me?) On hearing this some 35 of the bystanders said, " Look, he is calling for Elijah." One man ran 36 off, soaked a sjDonge in vinegar, and put it on the end of a stick to give ^ him a drink, saying, " Come on, ] let us see if Elijah does , come to take him down ! " But Jesus gave 37 a loud cry and expired. And the 38 curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now 39 when the army-captain who stood facing him saw that he expired in this way, he said, " This man was certainly a son of God." There 40 were some women also watching at a distance, among them Mary of Mag- dala, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome, women who had followed him when 41 he was in Galilee and waited on him, besides a number of other women who had accompanied him to Jerusalem.
By this time it was evening, and 42 as it was the day of Preparation (that is, the day before the sabbath) Joseph of Arimathaea, a councillor 43 - of good position who himself was on the outlook for the Reign of God, ventured to go to Pilate and
S. MARK XVI
44 ask for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised that he was dead already ; he summoned the captain and asked if he had been dead
45 some time, and on ascertaining this from the captain he bestowed
46 the corpse on Joseph. He, after buying a linen sheet, took him down and swathed him in the linen, laying him in a tomb which had been cut out of the rock and rolling a boulder up against the
47 opening of the tomb. Now Mary or Magdala and Mary the mother of Joses noted where he was laid.
CHAP.
16 And when the sabbath had passed Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought some spices in order to go
2 and anoint him ; and very early on the first day of the week they went
3 to the tomb, at sunrise. They said to themselves, " Who will roll away the boulder for us at the opening of the tomb? " (for it was a very
4 large boulder).* But when they looked they saw the boulder had
5 been rolled to one side, and on enter- ing the tomb they saw a youth sitting on the right dressed in a white robe. They were bewildered,
6 but he said to them, " Do not be bewildered. You are looking for Jesus of Nazaret, who was cruci- fied ? He has risen, he is not here. That is the place where he was laid.
7 Go you and tell his disciples and Peter, ' He precedes you to Galilee ; you will see him there, as he told
8 you.' " And they fled out of the tomb, for they were seized with terror and beside themselves. They
• Transposing the second ver. 4 to the end of ver. 3.
clause of
said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid of — .f
(a) Now after he rose early on the 9 first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary of Magdala out of whom he had cast seven daemons. She went and reported it to those 10 who had been with him, as they mourned and wept; but although 11 they heard he was alive and had been seen by her they would not believe it. After this he appeared 12 in another form to two of them as they were walking on their way to the country. They too went 13 and reported it to the rest, but they would not believe them either. Afterwards he appeared at table 14 to the eleven themselves and re- proached them for their unbelief and dulness of mind, because they had not believed those who saw him risen. [Butthey excused themselves, saying, " This age of lawlessness and unbelief lies under the sway of Satan, who will not allow what lies under the unclean spirits | to understand the truth and power of God ; therefore," they said to Christ, " reveal your righteousness now." Christ answered them, " The limit of years for Satan's power has now expired, but other terrors are at hand. I was delivered to death on behalf of sinners, § that they might return to the truth and sin no more,
t The following appendix represents a couple of Becond century attempts to complete the gospel. The passage within brackets in the first of these epilogues originally belonged to it, but was excised for some reason at an early date. Jerome quoted pswt of it, but the full text has only been discovered quite recently in codex W, the Freer uncial of the gospels.
X Or, the unclean things that lie under the control of spirits.
§ The Greek is obscure at this point.
67
S. MARK XVI
that they might inherit that glory of righteousness which is spiritual
15 and imperishable in heaven."] And he said to them, "Go to all the world and preach the gospel to every creature :
16 he who believes and is baptized
shall be saved, but he who will not believe shall be condemned.
17 And for those who believe, these miracles will follow :
they will cast out daemons in
my name, they will talk in foreign tongues,
18 they will handle serpents,
and if they drink any deadly poison it will not hurt them ;
they will lay hands on the sick and make them well."
Then after speaking to them the 19 Lord Jesus was taken up to heaven and sat down at the right hand of God, while they went out and preached 20 everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the miracles that endorsed it.
(fe) But they gave Peter and his com- panions a brief account of all that had been enjoined. And after that, Jesus himself sent out by means of them from east to west the sacred and imperishable mes- sage of eternal salvation.
68
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO
S. LUKE
CHAP.
1 Inasmuch as a number of writers have essayed to draw up a narrative of the established facts in our
2 rehgion exactly as these have been handed down to us by the original eyewitnesses who were in the
3 service of the Gospel Message, and inasmuch as I have gone carefully over them all myself from the very beginning, I have decided, O Theo- philus, to write them out in order
4 for your excellency, to let you know the solid truth of what you have been taught.
5 In the days of Herod king of Judaea there was a priest called Zechariah, who belonged to the division of Abijah; he had a wife who belonged to the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
6 They were both just in the sight of God, blameless in their obedience to all the commands and regula-
7 tions of God; but they had no child, for Elizabeth was barren. Both of them were advanced in years.
8 Now while he was officiating before God in the due course of his
9 division, it fell to him by lot, as was the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord
10 and burn incense, the mass of the people all remaining in prayer out-
11 side at the hour of incense. And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of
12 the altar of incense. When Zech-
ariah saw him he was troubled, and fear fell on him ; but the angel 13 said to him, " Fear not, Zechariah, your prayer has been heard ; your wife Elizabeth will bear a son to you, and you must call his name John.
It will be joy and gladness for 14 you, and many will rejoice over his birth : for he will be great in the sight 15
of the Lord, he wiU drink neither wine nor
strong drink, he will be filled with the holy
Spirit from his very birth ; he will turn many of the sons 16 of Israel to the Lord their God, he will go in front of Him with 17 the spirit and power of
to turn the hearts of fathers to
their children, turning the disobedient to the
wisdom of the just, to make a people ready and
prepared for the Lord." Zechariah said to the angel, " But 18 how am I to be sure of this ? I am an old man myself, and my wife is advanced in years." The 19 angel replied, " I am Gabriel, I stand before God; I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. But you will be 20 silent and imable to speak till the day this happens, because you have
S. LUKE I
not believed what I told you; it will be accomplished, for all that, in due time."
21 Now the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering that he stayed so long inside the sanctuary.
22 When he did come out he could not speak to them, so they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary ; he made signs to them
23 and remained dumb. Then, after his term of service had elapsed, he went home.
24 After those days his wife Eliza- beth conceived; and for five months she concealed herself.
25 " The Lord has done this for me." she said, " he has now deigned to remove m}'^ reproach among men."
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town
27 in Galilee, to a maiden who was betrothed to a man called Joseph, belonging to the house of David. The maiden's name was Mary.
28 The angel went in and said to her, " Hail, O favoured one ! the Lord
29 be with you ! " At this she was startled; she thought to herself, whatever can this greeting mean?
30 But the angel said to her, " Fear not, Mary, you have found favour
31 with God. You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must call his name Jesus.
32 He will be great, he will be called
the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father ;
33 he will reign over the house of
Jacob for ever, and to his reign there will be no end."
34 "How can this be? " said Mary to the angel, " I have no husband."
35 The angel answered her, " The holy
70
Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Most High will over- shadow you ; thus what is born will he called holy. Son of God. Look, there is your kinswoman 36 Elizabeth ! Even she has con- ceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month ; for with God nothing 37 is ever impossible." Mary said, 38 " I am here to serve the Lord. Let it be as you have said." Then the angel went away.
In those days Mary started with 39 haste for the hill-country, for a town of Judah ; she entered the 40 house of Zechariah and saluted Elizabeth, and when Elizabeth 41 heard the salutation of Mary the babe leapt in her womb. Then Elizabeth was filled with the holy Spirit; she called out with a loud 42 cry,
" Blessed among women are you, and blessed is the fruit of your womb ! What have I done to have the 43 mother of my Lord come to me? Why, as soon as the sound of your 44 salutation reached my ears, the babe leapt for joy within my womb. And blessed is she who 45 believed that the Lord's words to her would be fulfilled." Then 46 Mary said " My soul magnifies the Lord,
my spirit has joy in God my 47 Saviour :
for he has considered the humili- 48 ation of his servant.
From this time forth all genera- tions will call me blessed, for He who is Mighty has done 49 great things for me.
His name is holy,
his mercy is on generation after 50 generation,
for those who reverence him.
S. LUKE II
51 He has done a deed of might
with his arm, he has scattered the proud with their purposes,
52 princes he has dethroned and the
poor he has uplifted,
53 he has satisfied the hungry ivith
good things and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has succoured his servant
Israel, mindful of his mercy —
55 as he promised our fatliers,
to have mercy on Abraham and his 0^ spring for ever."
56 Mary stayed with her about three months and then returned home.
57 Now the time for Ehzabeth's dehvery had elapsed, and she gave
58 birth to a son. When her neigh- bours and kinsfolk heard of the Lord's great mercy to her they re-
59 joiced with her, and on the eighth day came to circumcise the child. They were going to call it by the
60 name of its father Zechariah, but the mother told them, " No, the
61 child is to be called John." They said to her, " None of your family is
62 called by that name." Then they made signs to the father, to find out what he wanted the child to be
63 called, and he asked for a writing- tablet and wrote down, " His name is John," to the astonishment of all.
64 Instantly his mouth M'as opened, his tongue loosed, and he spoke out
65 blessing God. Then fear fell on all their neighbours, and all these events were talked of through the whole of the hill-country of Judaea.
66 All who heard of it bore it in mind ; they said, " Whatever will this child become? " For the hand of the Lord was indeed with him.
67 And Zechariah his father was filled with the holy Spirit; he prophesied in these words.
" Blessed he the Lord the God of 68 Israel, for he has cared for his people and wrought them redemp- tion ; he has raised up a strong saviour 69 for us in the house of his servant David — as he promised of old by the lips 70 of his prophets — to save us from our foes and from 71 the hand of all ivho hate us, to deal mercifully with our fathers 72 and to he mindful of his holy covenant, of the oath he swore to Abraham 73 our father, that freed from fear and from 74 the hand of our foes we should worship him in holi- 75 ness and uprightness all our days within his presence. And 5'^ou, my child, will be called 76 a prophet of the Most High ; for you will go in front of the Lord to make his ways ready, to bring his people the knowledge 77 of salvation through the remission of their sins — by the tender mercy of our God, 78 who will make the Dawn visit us from on high, to shine on those who sit in dark- 79 ness and in the shadow of death, to guide our steps into the way of peace." And the child grew, he became 80 strong in the Spirit and remained in the desert till the day when he made his appearance before Israel.
Now in those days an edict was 2 issued by Caesar Augustus for a census of the whole world. (This 2
71
S. LUKE II
was the first census, and it took place when Quirinius was governor
3 of Syria.) So everyone went to be registered, each at his o^vn town,
4 and as Joseph belonged to the house and family of David he went up from Gaiilee to Judaea, from the town of Nazarct to David's
5 town called Bethlehem, to be registered along with Mary his wife.
6 She was pregnant, and while they were there the days elapsed for her
7 delivery ; she gave birth to her firstborn son, and as there was no room for them inside the khan she wrapped him up and laid him in a
8 stall for cattle. There were some shepherds in the district who were out in the fields keeping guard over
9 their flocks by night ; and an angel of the Lord flashed upon them, the glory of the Lord shone all round them. They were terribly afraid,
10 but the angel said to them, " Have no fear. This is good news I am bringing you, news of a great joy that is meant for all the People.
11 To-day you have a saviour born in the town of David, the Lord
12 messiah. And here is a proof for you : you will find a baby wrapped up and lying in a stall for cattle."
13 Then a host of heaven's army suddenly appeared beside the angel extolling God and saying,
14 " Glory to God in high heaven,
and peace on earth for men whom he favours ! "
15 Now when the angels had left them and gone away to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, " Let us be off to Bethlehem to see this thing that the Lord has told
16 us of." So they made haste and discovered Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the stall for cattle.
17 When they saw this they told people about the word which had
72
been spoken to them about the child ; all who heard it were 18 astonished at the story of the shepherds, and as for Mary, she 19 treasured it all up and mused upon it. Then the shepherds went away 20 back, glorifying and extolling God for all they had heard and seen as they had been told they would.
When the eight days had passed 21 , for his circumcision, he was named Jesus — the name given by the angel before he had been conceived in the womb.
When the daj^s for their purifica- 22 tion in terms of the Mosaic law had elapsed, they brought him up to .Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of 23 the Lord : every male that opens the womb must be considered consecrated to the Lord) and also to offer the 24 sacrifice prescribed in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or txvo young pigeons. No^v there was a 25 man in Jerusalem called Symeon, an upright and devout man, who was on the outlook for the Con- solation of Israel. The holy Spirit was upon him ; indeed it had been 26 revealed to him by the holy Spirit that he was not to see death before he had seen the Lord messiah. By an inspiration of the Spirit he 27 came to the temple, and when the parents of the child Jesus carried him in to perform the customary regulations of the law for him, then Symeon took him in his arms, 28 blessed God, and said, " Now, Master, thou canst let thy 29
servant go, and go in peace, as thou didst
promise ; for mine eyes have seen thy saving 30
power which thou hast prepared before 31
the face of all the peoples,
S. LUKE III
32 to he a light of revelation for the
Gentiles and a glory fo thy people IsraeV*
33 His father and mother were as- tonished at these words about him,
34 but Symeon blessed them, and to his mother Mary he said, " This child is destined for the downfall as well as for the rise of many a one in Israel ; destined to be a Sign for man's attack — to bring out the
35 secret aims of many a heart. And your own soul will be pierced by a spear."
36 There was also a prophetess, Hannah the daughter of Phanuel, who belonged to the tribe of Asher ; she was advanced in years, having lived seven j^ears with her husband
37 after her girlhood and having been a widow for eighty-four years. She was never away from the temple; night and day she worshipped,
38 fasting and praying. Now at that very hour she came up, and she offered praise to God and spoke of him to all who were on the out- look for the redemption of Jeru- salem.
39 ^ATien they had finished all the regulations of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their
40 own town of Nazaret. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the
41 grace of God was on him. Every year his parents used to travel to Jerusalem at the passover festival ;
42 and when he was twelve years old they went up as usual to the festi-
43 val. After spending the full num- ber of days they came back, but the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not
44 know of this ; they supposed he was in the caravan and travelled on for a day, searching for him among their kinsfolk and acquaint-
ances. Then, as they failed to find 45 him, they came back to Jerusalem in search of him. Three days later 46 they found him in the temple, seated among the teachers, listen- ing to them and asking them questions, till all his hearers were 47 amazed at the intelligence of his ovm answers. When his parents 48 saw him they were astounded, and his mother said to him, " My son, why have you behaved like this to us ? Here have your father and I been looking for you anxiously ! " " ^Vlw did you look for me? " he 49 said, " Did you not know I had to be at my Father's house? " But 50 they did not understand w^hat he said. Then he went down along 51 with them to Nazaret, and did as they told him. His mother treas- ured up everything in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and 52 in stature, and in favour with God and man.
Now in the fifteenth year of the 3 reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judaea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, Philip his brother tetrarch of the country of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priest- 2 hood of Annas and Caiaphas the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert; and he went into all the Jordan-district 3 preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins — as it is 4 written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah,
The voice of one who cries in the desert,
' Make the way ready for the Lord,
level the paths f»r him.
73
S. LUKE III
5 Every valley shall be filled up,
every hill and mound laid low, the crooked made straight, the rough roads smooth ;
6 so shall all flesh see the saving
power of God.'
7 To the crowds who came out to get baptized by him John said, " You brood of vipers, who told you to flee from the coming Wrath?
8 Well, produce fruits that answer to your repentance, instead of beginning to say to yourselves, ' We have a father in Abraham.' I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones !
9 The axe is lying all ready at the root of the trees ; any tree that is not producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."
10 The crowds asked him, " Then
11 what are we to do ? " He replied, " Let everyone who possesses two shirts share with him who has none, and let him who has food do like-
12 wise." Taxgatherers also came to get baptized, and they said to him, " Teacher, what are we to do ? "
13 He said to them, " Never exact
14 more than your fixed rate." Sol- diers also asked him, " And what are we to do ? " He said to them " Never extort money, never lay a false charge, but be content \vith your pay."
15 Now as people's expectations were roused and as everybody thought to himself about John,
16 " Can he be the Christ ? " John said to them all,
" I baptize you with water, but after me one who is mightier
will come, and I am not fit to untie the
string of his sandals ; he will baptize you -with the holy Spirit and fire. 74
His winnowing-fan is in his hand 17 to purge his threshing-floor,
to gather the wheat into his granary
and burn the straw with fire unquenchable." Thus with many another appeal he 18 preached the gospel to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, who had 19 been reproved by him for Herodias his brother's wife as well as for all the wickedness that he, Herod, had committed, crowned all by 20 shutting John up in prison.
Now when all the people had 21 been baptized and when Jesus had been baptized and was praying, heaven opened and the holy Spirit 22 descended in bodily form like a dove upon him; and a voice came from heaven,
" Thou art my son, the Beloved, to-day have I become thv father." *
At the outset Jesus was about 23 thirty years of age ; he was the son, as people supposed, of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the 24 son of Levi, the son of Mdchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, the son of Mattathias, the son of 25 Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, the son 26 of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, the son of 27 Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Melchi, 28 the son of Addi, the son of Kosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, the son of Jesus, the son of 29 Eliezer, the son of Jo rim, the son of Matthat, the son of Symeon, the 30
* Reading ^-yotf ffij/xepoy yfyiwriKi. ff€, with D, the Old Latin, Jiistin, Clement, Tyconius, etc. In the other MSS it has been altered, for harmonistic reasons.
S. LUKE IV
son of Judas, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Elia-
31 kim, the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,
32 the son of Jessai, the son of Jobed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala,
33 the son of Nahshon, the son of Aminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the
34 son of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah,
35 the son of Nachor, the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the
36 son of Eber, the son of Sala, the son of Kainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah,
37 the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Maleleel,
38 the son of Kainan, the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
4 From the Jordan Jesus came back full of the holy Spirit, and for forty- days he was led by the Spirit in
2 the desert, while the devil tempted him. During these days he ate nothing, and whcm they were over
3 he felt hungry. The devil said to him, " If you are God's son, tell
4 this stone to become a loaf." Jesus replied to him, " It is written, Man
5 is not to live on bread alone." Then he lifted Jesus up and showed him all the realms of the universe in a
6 single instant ; and the devil said to him, " I will give you all their power and grandeur, for it has been made over to me and I can
7 give it to anyone I choose. If you will worship before me, then it will
8 all be yours." Jesus answered him, " It is written, You must worship) the Lord your God, and serve
him alone." Then he brought him 9 to Jerusalem and placing him on the pinnacle of the temple said to him, " If you are God's son, throw yourself down from this; for it is 10 written,
He will give his angels charge of you, and w
They will hear you on their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone." Jesus answered him, " It has been 12 said, You shall not tempt the Lord your God." And after exhaust- 13 ing every kind of temptation the devil left him till a fit opportunity arrived.
Then Jesus came back in the 14 power of the Spirit to Galilee, and the news of him spread over all the surrounding country. He taught 15 in their synagogues and was glori- fied by all. Then he came to 16 Nazaret, where he had been brought up, and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue as was his custom. He stood up to read the lesson and 17 was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah; on opening the book he came upon the place where it was written,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon 18
me : for he has consecrated me to preach
the gospel to the poor, he has sent me to proclaim release for captives and recovery of sight for the blind, to set free the oppressed,
to proclaim the Lord's year of 19 favour. Then, folding up the book, he 20 handed it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him, and 21 he proceeded to tell them that
7a
S. LUKE V
" To-day, this scripture is fulfilled
22 in your hearing." All spoke well of lum and marvelled at the gracious words that came from his lips ; they said, " Is this not Joseph's son ? "
23 So he said to them, " No doubt you will repeat to me this proverb, ' Doctor, cure yourself ! ' ' Do here in your own country all we have heard you did in Capharnahum.' "
24 He added, " I tell you truly, no prophet is ever welcome in his
25 native place. I tell you for a fact,
In Israel there were many widows during the days of Elijah,
when the sky was closed for three years and six months,
when a great famine came over all the land :
26 yet Elijah was not sent to any
of these, but only to a widow woman at Zarephath in Sidon.
27 And in Israel there were many
lepers in the time of the prophet Elisha, yet none of these was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."
28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage ;
29 they rose up, put him out of the town^and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, in order to hurl him down.
80 But he made his way through them and went off.
31 Then he went down to Caphar- nahum, a town of Galilee, and on the sabbath he taught the people;
32 they were astounded at his teach- ing, for his word came with
33 authority. Now in the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean daemon, who
34 shrieked aloud, " Ha ! Jesus of Nazaret, what business have you with us ? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, you
76
are God's holy One ! " But Jesus 35 checked it, saying, '* Be quiet, come out of him." And after throwing him down before them the daemon did come out of him without doing him any harm. Then amazement 36 came over them all ; they talked it over among themselves, say- ing, " What does this mean ? He orders the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out ! " And a report of him 37 spread over all the surrounding country.
When he got up to leave the 38 synagogue he went to the house of Simon. Simon's mother-in-law was laid up with a severe attack of fever, so they asked him about her ; he stood over her and checked the 39 fever, and it left her. Then she instantly got up and ministered to them. At sunset all who had 40 any people ill with any sort of disease brought them to him; he laid his hands on everyone and healed them. From many people 41 daemons were also driven out, clamouring aloud, " You are God's son ! " But he checked them and refused to let them say anything, as they knew he was the Christ. When day broke he went away out 42 to a lonely spot, but the crowds made inquiries about him, came to where he was, and tried to keep him from leaving them. He an- 43 swered them, " I must preach the glad news of the Reign of God to the other towns as well, for that is what I was sent to do." So he 44 went preaching through the syna- gogues of Judaea.
Now as the crowd were pressing 5 on him to listen to the word of God, he saw, as he stood beside the lake 2
S. LUKE V
of Gcimesaret, tsvo boats on the shore of the hike; the rishcrinen had disembarked and were washing
3 their nets. So he entered one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to push out a httle from the land. Then he sat down and taught the people from the
4 boat. When he stopped speaking, he said to Simon, " Push out to the deep water and lower your nets
5 for a take." Simon replied, " Mas- ter, we worked all night and got nothing! However, I will lower
6 the nets at your command." And when they did so, they enclosed a huge shoal of fish, so that their nets
7 began to break. Then they made signals to their mates in the other boat to come and assist them. They came and filled both the boats, till
8 they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it he fell at the knees of Jesus, crying, " Lord,
9 leave me ; I am a sinful man." For amazement had seized him and all his companions at the take of fish
10 they had caught ; as was the case with James and John, the sons of Zebedaeus, who were partners of Simon. Then said Jesus to Simon, " Have no fear ; from now your
11 catch will be men." Then they brought the boats to land, and leaving all they followed him.
12 When he was in one of their towns there was a man full of leprosy who, on seeing Jesus, fell on his face and besought him, " If you only choose, sir, you can
13 cleanse me." So he stretched his hand out and touched him, with the words, " I do choose, be cleansed." And the leprosy at
14 once left him. Jesus ordered him not to say a word to anybody, but to " Go off and show yourself to the priest, and offer whatever
Moses prescribed for your cleansing, to notify men." But the news of 15 him spread abroad more and more ; large crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their com- plaints, while he kept in lonely 16 places and prayed.
One day he was teaching, and 17 near him sat Pharisees and doctors of the Law who had come from every village of Galilee and Judaea as well as from Jerusalem. Now the power of the Lord was present for the work of healing. Some men 18 came up carrying a man who was parah^sed ; they tried to carry him inside and lay him in front of Jesus, but when they could not find any 19 means of getting him in, on account of the crowd, they climbed to the top of the house and let him down through the tiles, mattress and all, among the people in front of Jesus. When he saw their faith he said, 20 " Man, your sins are forgiven you." Then the scribes and Pharisees 21 began to argue, " Who is this blasphemer ? W ho can forgive sins, who but God alone ? " Conscious 22 that they 'were arguing to them- selves, Jesus addressed them, say- ing, " Why argue in your hearts ? Which is the easier thing, to say, 23 ' Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, ' Rise and walk ' ? But to let you 24 see the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins " — he said to the paralysed man, " Rise, I tell you, lift your mattress and go home." Instantly he got up be- 25 fore them, lifted what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. And all were seized with 26 astonishment; they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, " We have seen incredible things to-day."
On going outside after this he 27
77
S. LUKE VI
noticed a taxgatherer called Levi sitting at the tax-office and said
28 to him, " Follow me " ; he rose, left everything and followed him.
29 Levi held a great banquet for him in his house; there was a large company present of taxgatherers and others who were guests along
30 ^vith them. But the Pharisees and their scribes complained to his dis- ciples, " Why do you eat and drink with taxgatherers and sinners ? "
31 Jesus replied to them,
" Healthy people have no need of a doctor, but those who are ill :
32 I have not come to call just men
but sinners to repentance."
33 They said to him, " The disciples of John fast frequently and offer prayers, as do the disciples of the Pharisees; but your adherents eat
34 and drink." Jesus said to them,
" Can you make friends at a wed- ding fast while the bridegroom is beside them ?
35 A time will come when the bride-
groom is taken from them, and then they will fast at that time."
36 He also told them a parable :
" No one tears a piece from a new cloak and sews it on an old cloak ; otherwise he will tear the new cloak, and the new piece will not match with the old.
37 No one pours fresh wine into old
wineskins ; otherwise the fresh wine will burst the wineskins, the wine will be spilt and the wineskins ruined. 88 No, fresh wine must be poured
into new wineskins. 39 Besides, no one wants new wine [immediately] after drink- ing old ; ' The old,' he says, ' is better.' " 78
One sabbath it happened that 6 as he was crossing the cornfields his disciples pulled some ears of corn and ate them, rubbing them in their hands. Some of the Phari- 2 sees said, " Why are you doing what is not allowed on the sab- bath ? " But Jesus answered them 3 " And have you never read what David did when he and his men were hungry? He went into the 4 house of God, took the loaves of the Presence and ate them, giving them to his men as well — bread that no one is allowed to eat except the priests." And he said to them, 5 " The Son of man is lord even over the sabbath."
Another sabbath he happened to G go into the synagogue and teach. Now a man was there who had his right hand withered, and the 7 scribes and Pharisees watched to see if he would heal on the sabbath, so as to discover some charge against him. He knew what was 8 in their minds ; so he told the man with the withered hand, " Rise and stand forward." He rose and stood before them. Then Jesus 9 said to them, " I ask you, is it right on the sabbath to help or to hurt, to save life or to kill ? " And 10 glancing round at them all in anger he said to the man, " Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was quite restored. This 11 filled them with fury, and they discussed what they could do to Jesus.
It was in these days that he went 12 off to the hillside to pray. He spent the whole night in prayer to God, and when day broke he 13 summoned his disciples, choosing twelve of them, to whom he gave the name of ' apostles ' : Simon (to 14 whom he gave the name of Peter),
S. LUKE VI
Andrew his brother, James, John,
15 Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Al- phaeus, Simon (who was called
16 'the Zealot '), Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot (who
17 turned traitor). With them he came down the hill and stood on a level spot. There was a great company of his disciples with him, and a large multitude of people from all Judaea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to get cured of their diseases.
18 Those who were annoyed with
19 unclean spirits also were healed. Indeed the whole of the crowd made efforts to touch him, for power issued from him and cured
20 everybody. Then, raising his eyes he looked at his disciples and said :
" Blessed are you poor !
the Realm of God is yours.
21 Blessed are you who hunger to-
day !
you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep to- day !
you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when men will
hate you, when they will excommunicate you and denounce you and defame you as wicked on account of the Son of man;
23 rejoice on that day and leap
for joy !
rich is your reward in heaven —
for their fathers did the very same to the pro- phets.
24 But woe to you rich folk !
you get all the comforts you will ever get.
Woe to you who have your fill 25 to-day ! you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh to-day !
you will wail and weep. Woe to you when all men speak 26 well of you ! that is just what their fathers did to the false prophets. I tell you, my hearers, 27
love your enemies, do good to
those who hate you : bless those who curse you, 28 pray for those who abuse you. If a man strikes you on the 29 one cheek, offer him the other as well : if anyone takes your coat, do not deny him your shirt as well ; give to anyone who asks you, 30 and do not ask your goods back from anyone who has taken them. As you would like men to do 31 to you, so do to them. If you love only those who 32 love you, what credit is that to you ? Why, even sinful men love those who love them. If you help only those who 33 help you, what merit is that to you ? Why, even sinful men do that. If you only lend to those from 34 whom you hope to get something, what credit is that to you ? Even sinful men lend to one another, so as to get a fair return. No, you must love your ene- 35
mics and help them,
you must lend to them without
expecting any return ;
79
S. LUKE VII
then you will have a rich
reward, you will be sons of the Most
High- for he is kind even to the
ungrateful and the evil.
36 Be merciful,
as your Father is merciful.
37 Also, judge not, and you will
not be judged yourselves :
condemn not, and you will not be condemned :
pardon, and you will be par- doned yourselves : 88 give, and you will have ample
measure given you —
they will pour into your lap measure pressed down, shaken together, and run- ning over ;
for the measure you deal out to others will be dealt back to yourselves."
39 He also told them a parabolic
w^ord : " Can one blind man lead an- other ? will they not both fall into a pit?
40 A scholar is not above his
teacher : but if he is perfectly trained he will be like his teacher.
41 Why do you note the splinter in your brother's eye and fail to see the plank in your own eye?
42 How dare you say to your brother, ' Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,' and you never notice the plank in your own eye ? You hypocrite ! take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see properlj' to take out the splinter in your brother's eye.
43 No sound tree bears rotten fruit,
nor again does a rotten tree bear sound fruit : 80
each tree is known by its 44 fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, and grapes are not plucked from a bramble-bush. The good man produces good 45 from the good stored in his heart, and the evil man evil from his
evil : for a man's mouth utters what his heart is full of. Why call me, ' Lord, Lord ! ' 46 and obey me not ? Everyone who 47 comes to me and listens to my words and acts upon them, I will show you whom he is like. He i.s 48 like a man engaged in building a house, who dug deep down and laid his foundation on the rock; when a flood came, the river dashed against that house but could not shake it, for it had been well built. He who has listened and has not 49 obeyed is like a man who has built a house on the earth with no foundation ; the river dashed against it and it collapsed at once, and the ruin of that house was great."
When he had finished what he 7 had to say in the hearing of the people, he went into Capharnahum.
Now there was an army-captain 2 who had a servant ill whom he valued very highly. This man was at the point of death ; so, when the 3 captain heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and make his servant well. When they reached Jesus 4 they asked him earnestly to do tliis. " He deserves to have this favour from you," they said, " for 5 he is a lover of our nation ; it was he who built our synagogue." So 6
S. LUKE VII
Jesus went with them. But he was not far from the house when the captain sent some friends to tell him, " Do not trouble yourself, sir, I am not fit to have you under
7 my roof, and so I did not consider myself fit even to come to you. Just say the w^ord, and let my
8 servant be cured. For though I am a man under authority myself, I have soldiers under me; I tell one man to go, and he goes, I tell another to come, and he comes, I tell my servant, ' Do this,' and
9 he does it." When Jesus heard this he marvelled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed he said, " I tell you, I have never met faith like this anywhere even
10 in Israel." Then the messengers went back to the house and found the servant was quite well.
11 It was shortly afterwards that he made his way to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples
12 and a large crowd. Just as he was near the gate of the town, there was a dead man being carried out ; he was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the town were with
13 her. And when the Lord saw her, he felt pity for her and said to her,
14 " Do not weep." Then he went forward and touched the bier; the bearers stopped, and he said, " Young man, I bid you rise."
15 Then the corpse sat up and began to speak; and Jesus gave him
16 back to his mother. All were seized wdth awe and glorified God. " A great prophet has appeared among us," they said, " God has
17 visited his people." And this story of Jesus spread through the whole of Judaea and all the surrounding country.
18 John's disciples reported all this a
to him. So John summoned two 19 of his disciples and sent them to ask the Lord, " Are you the Coming One? Or are we to look out for someone else ? " When 20 the men reached Jesus they said, " John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask if you are the Coming One or if we are to look out for someone else ? " Jesus at that moment was 21 healing many people of diseases and complaints and evil spirits ; he also bestowed sight on many bUnd folk. So he replied, " Go and 22 report to John what you have seen and heard ; that the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he who is repelled 23 by nothing in me ! " When John's 24 messengers had gone, he proceeded to speak to the crowds about John : " What did you go out to the desert to see ? A reed swayed by the wind ? Come, what did you go out to 25 see? A man arrayed in soft robes ? Those who are gorgeously dressed and luxurious live in royal palaces. Come, what did you go out to 26 see ? A prophet ? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, 27 Here I send my messenger before your face, to prepare the way for you. I tell you, among the sons of 28 women there is none greater than John, and yet the least in the Realm of God is greater than he is." (On 29 hearing this all the people and the taxgatherers aclcnowledged the justice of God, as they had been baptized with the baptism of John ;
81
S. LUKE VIII
30 but the Pharisees and lawyers, who had refused his baptism, frustrated God's purpose for themselves.)
31 " To what then shall I compare
the men of this genera- tion ? What are they like ?
32 Like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,
' We piped to you and you would not dance, we lamented and you would not weep.'
83 For John the Baptist has
come, eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ' He has a devil ' ;
84 the Son of man has come
eating and drinking, and you say, ' Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of taxgatherers and sinners ! '
85 Nevertheless, Wisdom is vindi-
cated by all her children."
36 One of the Pharisees asked him to dinner, and entering the house of the Pharisee he reclined at table.
37 Now there was a woman in the town who was a sinner, and when she found out that Jesus was at table in the house of the Pharisee she brought an alabaster flask of
38 perfume and stood behind him at his feet in tears ; her tears began to wet his feet, so she wiped them with the hair of her head, pressed kisses on them, and anointed them
39 with the perfume. When his host the Pharisee noticed this, he said to himself, "If he was a prophet he would know what sort of a woman this is who is touching him ;
40 for she is a sinner." Then Jesus addressed him. " Simon," he said, " I have something to say to you."
82
" Speak, teacher," he said. " There 41 was a moneylender who had two debtors ; one owed him fifty pounds, the other five. As they 42 were unable to pay, he freely for- gave them both. Now which of them will love him most ? " "I 43 suppose," said Simon, " the man who had most forgiven." " Quite right," he said. Then turning to 44 the woman he said to Simon, " You see this woman ? WTien I came into your house,
you never gave me water for my
feet, while she has wet my feet
with her tears and wiped
them with her hair ; you never gave me a kiss, 45
while ever since she came in
she has kept pressing kisses
on my feet ; you never anointed my head with 46
oil, while she has anointed my
feet with perfume. Therefore I tell you, many as her 47 sins are, they are forgiven, for her love is great; whereas he to whom little is forgiven has but little love." And he said to her, 48 " Your sins are forgiven." His 49 fellow guests began to say to them- selves, " Who is this, to forgive even sins ? " But he said to the 50 woman, " Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
CHAP.
Shortly afterwards he went 8 travelling from one town and village to another preaching and telling the good news of the Reign of God ; he was accompanied by the twelve and by some women who had been 2 healed of evil spirits and illnesses, Mary called Magdalene (out of whom seven daemons had been
S. LUKE VIII
8 driven), Joanna the wife of Chuza the chancellor of Herod, Susanna, and a number of others, who ministered to him out of their
4 means. As a large crowd was gathering and as people were re- sorting to him from town after town, he addressed them in a
5 parable. " A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed,
some seed fell on the road and was trampled down, and the wild birds ate it
6
up:
some other seed dropped on the rock,
but it withered away when it sprang up because it had no moisture ;
7 some other seed fell among
thorns, and the thorns sprang up along with it and choked it;
8 some other seed fell on sound
soil, and springing up bore a crop,
a hundredfold." \Mien he said this he called out, " He who has an ear, let him listen
9 to this." The disciples questioned him about the meaning of the
10 parable ; so he said, " It is granted you to understand the open secrets of the Reign of God, but the others get it in parables, so that
for all their seeing they may not
see, and for all their hearing they may
not understand.
11 This is what the parable means.
12 The seed is the word of God. Those ' on the road ' are people who hear ; but then the devil comes and carries off the word from their heart, that they may not believe
i3 and be saved. Those ' on the rock ' are people who on hearing the word welcome it with enthu-
siasm, but they have no root; they believe for a while and fall away in the hour of trial. As for the seed 11 that fell among thorns, that means people who hear but who go and get choked with worries and money and the pleasures of life, so that they never ripen. As for the seed in 15 the good soil, that means those who hear and hold fast the word in a good and sound heart and so bear fruit stedfastly.
No one lights a lamp and hides 16 it under a vessel or puts it below the bed : he puts it on a stand so that those M^ho come in can see the light. For nothing is hidden that will 17 not be disclosed, nothing concealed that will not be known and revealed. So take care how you listen ; 18 for he who has, to him shall more be given, while as for him who has not, from him shall be taken even what he thinks he has." His mother and brothers reached 19 him but they were unable to join him for the crowd. Word was 20 brought to him that " your mother and brothers are standing outside ; they wish to see you," But he 21 answered, "My mother and brothers are those who listen to the word of God and obey it."
It happened on one of these days 22 that he embarked in a boat alone with his disciples and said to them, " Let us cross to the other side of the lake." So they set sail. Dur- 23 ing the voyage he fell asleep. But when a gale of wind came down on the lake and they were being swamped and in peril, they went 24 and woke him up. " Master, master," they cried, " we are
83
S. LUKE VIII
drowning ! " So he woke up and checked the wind and the surf; they ceased and there was a calm.
25 Then he said to them, " Where is your faith ? " They marvelled in awe, saying to one another, " What- ever can he be? He gives orders to the very winds and water, and
26 they obey him ! " They put in at the country of the Gerasenes, on
27 the shore facing Galilee. As he stepped out on land he was met by a man from the town who had daemons in him; for a long while he had worn no clothing, and he stayed not in a house but among
28 the tombs. On catching sight of Jesus he shrieked aloud and prayed him with a loud cry, " Jesus, son of God most High, what business have you with me ? Do not torture me,
29 I beg of you." (For he had charged the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many a time when it had seized hold of him, he had been fastened secure in fetters and chains, but he would snap his bonds and be driven by the daemon into
30 the desert.) So Jesus asked him, " What is your name ? " "Legion," he said, for a number of daemons
31 had entered him. And they begged him not to order them off to the
32 abyss. Now a considerable drove of swine was grazing there on the hillside, so the daemons begged him for leave to enter them. He gave
33 them leave, and the daemons came out of the man and went into the swine; the drove rushed down the steep slope into the lake and were
34 suffocated. When the herdsmen saw what had occurred they fled and reported it to the town and the
35 hamlets. The people came out to see what had occurred and when they reached Jesus they discovered the man whom the daemons had
84
left, seated at the feet of Jesus, clothed and sane. That frightened them. They got a report from 86 those who had seen how the lunatic was cured, and then all the inhabi- 37 tants of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to leave them, they were so seized with terror. He embarked in the boat and went back. The man whom 38 the daemons had left begged that he might accompany him. Jesus, however, sent him away, saying, " Go home and describe all that 39 God has done for you." So he went off to proclaim through the whole town all that Jesus had done for him.
On his return Jesus was welcomed 40 by the crowd ; they were all looking out for him. A man called Jairus 41 came, who was a president of the synagogue, and falling at the feet of Jesus entreated him to come to his house, for he had an only 42 daughter about twelve years old and she was dying. As Jesus went the crowds kept crushing him, and 43 a woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years * which no one could cure, came up behind him and 44 touched the tassel of his robe. Her hemorrhage instantly ceased. Jesus 45 said, "Who touched me?" As everyone denied it, Peter and his companions said, " Master, the crowds are all round you pressing hard ! " Jesus said, " Somebody did 46 touch me, for I felt power had passed from me." So when the woman saw 47 she had not escaped notice she came trembling, and falling down before him she told before all the people why she had touched him and how she had been instantly cured. " Daughter," he said toifcer, " your 48
• Omitting larpo7s irpoeravaXdiracra SXov jhv fij'ov with BD arm. Syr.*"- sah.
S. LUKE IX
faith has made you well; depart
49 in peace." He was still speaking when someone came from the house of the synagogue-president to say, " Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the teacher any further."
50 But when Jesus heard it he said to him, " Have no fear, qnly believe
51 and she will get well." When he reached the house he would not allow anyone to come in with him except Peter and .James and John, and the child's father and mother.
52 Everyone was weeping and bewail- ing her, but he said, " Stop weep- ing; she is not dead but asleep."
53 They laughed at him, knowing that
54 she was dead. But he took her hand and called to her, " Rise, little
55 girl." And her spirit returned, she got up instantly, and he ordered them to give her something to eat.
56 Her parents were amazed, but he charged them not to tell anyone what had happened.
9 Calling the twelve together he gave them power and authority over all daemons as well as to heal
2 diseases. He sent them out to preach the Reign of God and to cure
3 the sick. And he told them, " Take nothing for the journey, neither stick nor wallet nor bread nor silver,
4 and do not carry two shirts. What- ever house you go into, stay there
5 and leave from there. Whoever will not receive you, leave that town and shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony
6 against them." So they went out from village to village preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
7 When Herod the tetrarch heard all that was going on, he was quite at a loss ; for some said that John
8 had risen from the dead, some that
Elijah had appeared, and others that one of the ancient prophets had arisen. Herod said, " John I 9 beheaded. But who is this, of whom I hear such tales? " And he made efforts to see him.
Then the apostles came back and 10 described all they had done to Jesus. He took them and retired in private to a town called Bethsaida, but the 11 crowds learned this and followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them of the Reign of God, and cured those who needed to be healed. Now as the day began 12 to decline the twelve came up to him and said, " Send the crowd off to lodge in the villages and farms around and get provisions there, for here , we are in a desert place." He said to them, " Give 13 them some food yourselves." They said, " We have only got five loaves and two fish. Unless — are we to go and buy food for the whole of this people?" (There 14 were about five thousand men of them.) He said to his disciples, " Make them lie down in rows of about fifty." They did so, and made 15 them all lie down. Then taking the 16 five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven he blessed them, broke them in pieces and handed them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And they all 17 ate and had enough. What they had left over was picked up, twelve baskets full of fragments. • t'Now it happened that while he 18 was praying by himself his disciples were beside him. So he inquired of them, " Who do the crowds say I am ? " They replied, " John the 19 Baptist, though some say Elijah and some say that one of tlie ancient prophets has arisen." <» He"^20 said to them, *' And x^Yio do you
; 86
S. LUKE IX
say I am ? " Peter replied, " The
21 Christ of God." Then he forbade them strictly to tell this to any-
22 one. The Son of man, he said, has to endure great suffering, to be rejected by the elders and high priests and scribes, to be killed, and on the third day to be raised.
23 He said to all, " If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny him- self, take up his cross day after day, and so follow me ;
24 for whoever wants to save his life
^vill lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it.
25 What profit will it be for a man to gain the whole world and lose or
26 forfeit himself ? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the
27 holy angels. I tell you plainly, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death till they see the Reign of God."
28 It was about eight days after he said this, when he took Peter, John, and James, and went up the hillside
29 to pray. While he was praying the appearance of his face altered and his dress turned dazzling white.
30 There were two men conversing
31 with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in a vision of glory and said he must go through with his death and departure at .Jerusalem.
32 Now Peter and his companions had been overpowered with sleep, but on waking up they saw his glory and the two men who were standing
33 beside him. When they were part- ing from him, Peter said to Jesus, " Master, it is a good thing we are here ; let us put up three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah " (not knowing what he was
86
saying). As he spoke, a cloud came 34 and overshadowed them. They were awestruck as they passed into the cloud, but a voice came from 35 the cloud, " This is my Son, my Chosen one ; listen to him." When 36 the voice ceased they found them- selves alone with Jesus. And in those days they kept silence and told nobody anything of what they had seen. ^ - - .
Next day when they came down 37 the hill a large crowd met him. " Teacher," shouted a man from 38 the crowd, " look at my son, I beg of you, for he is my only boy, and a 39 spirit gets hold of him till he sud- denly shrieks ; it convulses him till he foams ; indeed it will hardly leave off tearing him to pieces. I begged 40 your disciples to cast it out, but they could not." Jesus answered, 41 " O faithless and perverse genera- tion, how long must I still be with you and bear with you? Fetch your son here." Before the boy 42 could reach JTesus tUs, daemon dashed him down^and convulsed him, but Jesus checked the unclean spirit, cured the boy, and handed him back to his father. And all 43 were astounded at this grand display of God. But while all marvelled at all he did, he said to his disciples, " Let these words sink into your 44 ears : ' the Son of man is to be be- trayed into the hands of men.' " But they did not understand this 45 saying — indeed it was kept a secret from them, to prevent them from fathoming it — and they were afraid to ask him about this saying. I ' A dispute arose among them as 46 to which of them was the greatest. Jesus knew the dispute that occu- 47 pied their minds, so he took hold of a little child and set it by his side ; then he said to them, 48
S. LUKE X
** Whoever receives this Httle
child in my name receives
me, and whoever receives me
receives him who sent
me. For it is the lowliest of you
all who is great."
49 John said to him, " Master, we saw a man casting out daemons in your name, but we stopped him because he is not a follower of
50 ours." Jesus said to him, " Do not stop him; he who is not against you is for you."
51 As the time for his assumption was now due, he set his face for
52 the journey to Jerusalem. He sent messengers in front of him. They went and entered a Samaritan village to make preparations for
53 him, but the people would not re- ceive him because his face was turned in the direction of Jeru-
54 salem. So when the disciples James and John saw this, they said, " Lord, will you have us bid iire come down from heaven and
55 consume them ? " But he turned
56 and checked them. Then they
57 journeyed to another village. And as they journeyed along the road a man said to him, " I will follow
58 you anywhere." Jesus said to him,
" The foxes have their holes, the wild birds have their nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head."
59 He said to another man, " Follow me " ; but he said, " Let me go and
60 bury my father first of all." Jesus said to him, " Leave the dead to bury their own dead ; you go and spread the news of the Reign of
61 God." Another man also said to
him, " I will follow you. Lord. But let me first say good-bye to my people at home. Jesus said to 62 him, " No one is any use to the Reign of God who puts his hand to the plough and then looks behind him."
After that the Lord commis- 10 sioned other seventy disciples, sending them in front of him two by two to every town and place that he intended to visit himself. He said to them, " The harvest 2 is rich, but the labourers are few; so pray the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to gather his harvest. Go your way; I am 3 sending you out like lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, no wallet, 4 no sandals. Do not stop to salute anybody on the road. Whatever 5 house you enter, first say, ' Peace be to this household ! ' Then, if 6 there is a soul there breathing peace, your peace will rest on him ; other- wise it will come back to you. Stay at the same house, eating 7 and drinking what the people pro- vide (for the workman deserves his wages); you are not to shift from one house to another. Wherever 8 you are received on entering any town, eat what is provided for you, heal those in the town who are ill, 9 and tell them, ' The Reign of God is nearly on you.' But wherever 10 you are not received on entering any town, go out into the streets of the town and cry, ' The very dust 11 of your city that clings to us we wipe off from our feet as a protest. But mark this, the Reign of God is near ! ' I tell you, on the great 12 Day it will be more bearable for Sodom than for that town. Woe 13 to you, Khorazin I woe to you,
87
S. LUKE X
Bethsaida ! Had the miracles per- formed in you been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have been sitting penitent in
14 sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judriment than for
15 you. And you, O Capharn^ihum ! Exalted to heaven ? No, you will sink to Hades !
16 He who listens to you listens to
me, he who rejects you rejects
me, and he who rejects me rejects
him who sent me."
17 The seventy came back with joy. " Lord," they said, " the very daemons obey us in your
18 name." He said to them, " Yes, I watched Satan fall from heaven
19 like a flash of lightning. I have indeed given you the power of treading on serpents and scorpions and of trampling down all the < power of the Enemy ; nothing shall
20 injure you. Only,
do not rejoice because the spirits obey you : rejoice because your names are enrolled in heaven."
21 He thrilled ^nth joy at that hour in the holy Spirit, saying, " I praise thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for concealing this from the "v^nse and learned and reveal- ing it to the simple-minded ; yes. Father, I praise thee that such was thy chosen purpose." Then turning to the disciples he said,
22 " All has been handed over to me ,
by my Father : and no one knows who the
Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except
the Son, and he to whom the Son
chooses to reveal him," 88
Then turning to the disciples he said privately, " Blessed are the eyes that see 23
what you see ! For I tell you many prophets 24
and kings have desired to
see what you see, but they have not seen it; and to hear what you hear, but they have not heard
it." Now a lawyer got up to tempt 25 him. " Teacher," he said, " what am I to do to inherit life eternal ? " He said to him, " What is written 26 in the law? What do you read there ? " He replied, " You must 27 love the Lord your God with your whole heart, zvith your whole soul, with your whole strength, and with your whole mind. Also your neigh- bour as yourself " " A right an- 28 swer ! " said Jesus ; " do tfiat and you will live." Anxious to make 29 an excuse for himself, however, he said to Jesus, " But who is my neighbour?" Jesus rejoined, " A 30 man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho fell among robbers who stripped and belaboured him and then went off leaving him half-dead. Now it so chanced that a priest was 31 going down the same road, but on seeing him he went past on the opposite side. So did a Levite 32 who came to the spot; he went and looked at him but he passed on the opposite side. However a 33 Samaritan traveller came to where he was and felt pity when he saw him ; he went to him, bound his 3 I wounds up, pouring oil and wine into them, mounted him on his own steed, took him to an inn, and attended to him. Next morn- 35 ing he took out a couple of shillings and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ' Attend to him, and if you
S. LUKE XI
are put to any extra expense I will refund you on my way back.'
36 Which of these three men, in your opinion, proved a neighbour to the man who fell among the rob-
37 bers? " He said, " The man who took pity on him." Jesus said to him, " Then go and do the same."
38 In the course of their journey he entered a certain village, and a woman called IMartha welcomed
39 him to her house. She had a sister called Mary, who seated herself at the feet of the Lord to listen to his
40 talk. Now Martha was so busy attending to them that she grew worried ; she came up and said, " Lord, is it all one to you that my sister has left me to do all the work alone ? Come, tell her to
41 lend me a hand." The Lord an- swered her, "Martha, Martha,*
42 Mary has chosen the best dish, and she is not to be dragged away from it."
1 1 He was praying at a certain place, and when he stopped one of his disciples said to him, " Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught
2 his disciples." He said to them, " When you pray, say, Father,
thy name be revered, thy Reign begin ;
3 give us our bread for the mor-
row day by day,
4 and forgive us our sins
for we do forgive everyone who has offended us; and lead us not into tempta- tion."
* Omitting, with D, Syr.S'n- and the majority of the old Latin manuscripts fitpiixvas . . . XP^'" (^ adding 6opu^a^ri). I translate fxtpiSa by ' dish,' to bring out the point and play of the saying. Jesus means that Mary has chosen well in selecting the nourishment of his teaching.
And he said to them, " Suppose 5 one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ' Friend, let me have three loaves ; for a friend of mine travel- 6 ling has come to my house and I have nothing to set before him.' And suppose he answers from the 7 inside, ' Don't bother me ; the door is locked by this time, and my children are in bed with me. I can't get up and give you any- thing.' I tell you, though he will 8 not get up and give you anything because you are a friend of his, he will at least rise and give you whatever you want because you persist. So I tell you, 9
ask and the gift will be yours, seek and you will find,
knock and the door will open to you; for everyone who asks receives, 10 the seeker finds,
the door is opened to anyone who knocks, AV^hat father among you, if asked 11 by his son for a loaf, will hand him a stone ? Or, if asked for a fish, will hand him a serpent instead of a fish? Or, if asked for an egg, will he 12 hand him a scorpion? Well, if for all your evil you 13 know to give your children what is good, how much more ^vill your Father give the holy Spirit from heaven to those who ask him ? " He was casting out a dumb 14 daemon, and when the daemon had gone out the dumb man spoke. The crowds marvelled, but some of 15 them said, " It is by Beelzebul the prince of daemons that he casts out daemons." Others by IG
89
S. LUKE XI
way of temptinff him demanded he should give tnem a Sign from
17 heaven. He knew what they were thinking about, so he said to them,
" Any realm divided against it- self comes to ruin, house after house falls down ;
18 and if Satan is divided against
himself, how can his realm stand ? You say I am casting out daemons by Beelzebul ?
19 If I cast out daemons by Beel-
zebul, by whom do your sons cast
them out? Thus they will be your judges.
20 But if it is by the finger of God
that I cast daemons out, then the Reign of God has reached you already.
21 When the strong man in armour guards his homestead, his property
22 is undisturbed ; but when a stronger man attacks and conquers him, he seizes the panoply on which he relied and divides up the spoil.
23 He who is not with me is against
me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.*
24 When an unclean spirit leaves a man, it roams through dry places in search of refreshment. As it finds none, then it says, ' I will go
25 back to the house I left,' and when it comes it finds the house clean
26 and in order. Then it goes off to fetch seven other spirits worse than itself; they go in and dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first."
27 While he was saying this a woman shouted to him out of the crowd, " Blessed is the womb that
* Omitting fit, which von Soden inserts within bracket (from NL 33 and a few other authorities. 90
bore you, and the breasts you sucked ! " But he said, " Blessed 28 rather are those who hear and who observe the word of God ! "
As the crowds were thronging 20 to him, he proceeded to say, " This is an evil generation : it demands a Sign, but no Sign will be given to it except the Sign of Jonah ; for as Jonah was a Sign to the 30 Ninivites, so shall the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of the South will 31 rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and here is One greater than Solomon. The men of Ninive will rise at 32 the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for when Jonah preached they did repent, and here is One greater than Jonah. No one lights a lamp to put it 83 in a cellar or under a bowl, but on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. Your eye is the lamp of the 84
body : when your eye is sound,
then the whole of your body has light, but if your eye is diseased,
then your body is darkened. (Look ! perhaps your very 35 light is dark.)
S. LUKE XII
36 So if your whole body has Hght, without any corner of it in dark- ness, it will be lit up entirely, as when a lamp lights you with its rays."
37 When he finished speaking a Pharisee asked him to take a meal in his house ; so he went in and lay
38 down at table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he had not
39 washed before the meal, but the Lord said to him,
" You Pharisees do clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but your inner life is filled with rapacity and malice.
40 Foolish men ! did not He who
made the outside make the inside of things too ?
41 Better cleanse * what is within ;
then nothing will be un- clean for you.
42 But woe to you Pharisees !
you tithe mint and rue and every vegetable,
but justice and the love of God you disregard;
these latter you ought to have practised — without omitting the former. 48 Woe to you Pharisees !
you love the front bench in the synagogues
and salutations in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you !
you are like unsuspected tombs ;
men walk over them un- awares."
• The ordinary text SSre iKfTj/xoffvvriv (" give alms ") represents the Aramaic zakki. But the Aramaic dakki (" purify " or " cleanse ") suits the context better, and Wellhausen plausibly suggests that Luke has confused " these two verbs which differ very httle in sound and originally are identical."
One of the lawyers said to him, 45 " Teacher, when you say this you are insulting us as well." He 46 said,
" And woe to you lawyers ! you load men with irksome burdens, and you will not put a single finger to their burdens. Woe to you ! you build tombs 47 for the prophets whom your own fathers killed : thus you testify and con- 48 sent to what your fathers did, for they killed and you build. This is why the Wisdom of God 49 said, ' I will send them prophets and apostles, some they will kill and some they will persecute ' ; it was that the blood of all the 50 prophets shed from the founda- tion of the world might be charged upon this generation, from the 51 blood of Abel down to the blood of Zeehariah who was slain be- tween the altar and the House of God — yes, I tell you, it will all be charged upon this generation.
Woe to you lawyers ! you 52 have taken the key that unlocks the door of know- ledge ; you have not entered your- selves, and you have stopped those who were entering." After he had gone away the scribes 53 and Pharisees commenced to follow him up closely and cross-question him on many points, lying in am- 54 bush to catch a word from his lips.
Meanwhile as the crowd was 12 gathering in its thousands till they trod on one another, he proceeded to say to his disciples first of all,
91
S. LUKE XII
*' Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
2 Nothing is hidden that will not
be revealed, or concealed that will not be made known.
3 So all you utter in the dark will
be heard in the light, and what you whisper in chambers will be proclaimed on the housetops.
4 I tell you, my friends,
have no fear of those who kill the body but after that can do no more ;
5 I will show you whom to fear — fear Him who after he has killed
has power to cast you into Gehenna. . Yes, I tell you, fear Him.
6 Are not five sparrows sold for
two fartliings ? Yet not one of them is for- gotten by God.
7 But the very hairs on your head
are all numbered; fear not, you are worth far more * than sparrows.
8 I tell you, whoever acknow-
ledges me before men, the Son of man will acknow- ledge him before the angels of God;
9 and he who disowns me before
men will be disowned before the angels of God.
10 Everyone also who says a word
against the Son of man will be forgiven for it, but he who blasphemes against the holy Spirit will never be forgiven.
11 When they bring you before synagogues and the magistrates and authorities, do not trouble your-
• See above, on p. 13. 92
selves about how to defend your- selves or what to say, for the holy 12 Spirit will teach you at that hour what you should say."
A man out of the crowd said to 13 him, " Teacher, tell my brother to give me my share of our in- heritance " ; but he said to him, 14 " Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over your affairs ? " Then he said to them, " See and 15 keep clear of covetousness in every shape and form, for a man's life is not part of his possessions because he has ample wealth." And he 16 told them a parable. " A rich man's estate bore heavy crops. So he debated, ' What am I to do ? 17 I have no room to store my crops.' And he said, ' This is what I will do. 18 I will pull down my granaries and build larger ones, where I can store all my produce and my goods. And I will say to my soul, " Soul, 19 you have ample stores laid up for many a year; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry." ' But God 20 said to him, ' Foolish man, this very night your soul is wanted; and who will get all you have pre- pared ? ' So fares the man who 21 lays up treasure for himself instead of gaining the riches of God." To 22 his disciples he said, " Therefore I tell you,
do not trouble about what you
are to eat in life, nor about what you are to
put on your body; life is something more than 23
food, and the body is something
more than clothes. Look at the crows ! they neither 24
sow nor reap, no storehouse or granary have
they, and yet God feeds them.
S. LUKE XII
How much more are you worth than birds ?
25 Which of you can add an ell to
his height by troubling about it?
26 and if you cannot manage even
this, why trouble over other things ?
27 Look how the lilies neither spin
nor weave; and yet, I tell you, even Solo- mon in all his grandeur was never robed like one of them.
28 Now if God so clothes grass which blooms to-day in the field and is thrown to-morrow into the furnace, will he not much more clothe you ? O men, how little you trust him !
29 So do not seek food and drink and
30 be worried ; pagans make food and drink their aim in life, but your Father knows quite well you need
31 that; only seek his Realm, and it will be yours over and above.
32 Fear not, you little flock, for your Father is delighted to give you the Realm.
33 Sell what you possess and give it
away in alms, make purses for yourselves
that never wear out : get treasure in heaven that
never fails, that no thief can get at, no
moth destroy.
34 For where your treasure lies,
your heart will lie there too.
35 Keep your loins girt and your
36 lamps ht, and be Hke men who are expecting their lord and master on his return from a marriage- banquet, so as to open the door for him at once when he comes
37 and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the lord and master finds awake when he comes ! I tell you truly, he will gird himself,
make them recline at table, and come forward to wait on them. Whether he comes in the second or 38 the third watch of the night and finds them thus alert, blessed are they ! Be sure that if the house- 39 holder had known at what hour the thief was coming,* he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. So be ready your- 40 selves, for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect." Peter said, " Lord, are you telling 41 this parable for us, or is it for all and sundry?" The Lord said, 42 " Well, where is the trusty, thoughtful steward whom the lord and master will set over his estab- lishment to give out suppHes at the proper time ? Blessed is that 43 servant if his lord and master finds him so doing when he arrives ! I 44 tell you plainly, he will set him oyer all his property. But if that serv- 45 ant says to himself, ' My lord and master is long of arriving,' and if he starts to beat the menservants and maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, that servant's lord 46 and master will arrive on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know ; he will cut him in two and assign him the fate of unbelievers.
The servant who knew his lord 47
and master's orders and did
not prepare f for them, will receive many lashes ; whereas he who was ignorant 48
and did what deserves a
beating, will receive few lashes.
* Omitting [iypriyopvaey &v, koI], a harmonistic glo83 from Matthew xxiv. 43.
t Omitting ?; Troi-n<ras with L, tlie majority of the old Latin manuscripts, the Syriao and Armenian versions, etc. The ordinary text is complete.
93
S. LUKE XIII
He who has much given him will have much required from him, and he who has much entrusted to him will have all the more de- manded of him.
49 I have come to throw fire on
earth. Would it were kindled already !
50 I have a baptism to undergo.
How I am distressed till it is all over !
51 You think I am here to make
peace on earth ?« No, I tell you, it is dissen- sion.
52 After this there will be five at
issue in one house, three divided against two and two against three,
53 father against son and so7i against
father,
mother against daughter and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against daughter- in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."
54 And to the crowds he said,
" When you see a cloud rise in the west, you say, ' There is a shower coming,' and so it is :
55 when you feel the south wind
blow, you say, ' There will be heat,' and so it is.
56 You hypocrites, you know how
to decipher the look of earth and sky ; how is it you cannot de- cipher the meaning of this era ?
57 And why do you not yourselves 68 settle what is right? Thus, when
you go before the magistrate with 94
your opponent, do your utmost to get quit of him on the way there, in case he hales you before the judge; then the judge will hand you over to the jailer and the jailer will throw you in prison. I tell 59 you, you will never get out till you pay the last farthing of your debt."
It was at this time that some 13 people came to tell him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. But 2 he replied to them, "Do you think, because they suffered this, that these Galileans were worse sinners than the rest of the Galileans? I tell you, no ; 8
unless you repent you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen men killed 4 by the fall of the tower at Siloam ? — Do you think they were worse offenders than the rest of the residents in Jeru- salem ? I tell you, no ; 5
unless you repent you will all perish as they did." And he told this parable. " A man 6 had a fig tree planted in his vine- yard ; he came in search of fruit on it but he found none. So he said to 7 the vinedresser, ' Here have I come for three years in search of fruit on this fig tree without finding any; cut it down, why should it take up space ? ' But the man replied, 8 ' Leave it for this year, sir, till I dig round about it and put in manure. Then it may bear fruit 9 next year. If not, you can have it cut down.' "
When he was teaching in one of 10
S. LUKE XIII
the synagogues on the sabbath,
11 there was a woman who for eighteen years had suffered weakness from an evil spirit ; indeed she was bent double and quite unable to raise
12 herself. Jesus noticed her and called to her, " Woman, you are
13 released from your weakness." He laid his hands on her and instantly she became erect ;;nd glorified God.
14 But the president of the synagogue was annoyed at Jesus healing on the sabbath, and he said to the crowd, " There are six days for work to be done ; come during them to get healed, instead of on
15 the sabbath." The Lord rephed to him, " You hypocrites, does not each of you untether his ox or ass from the stall on the sabbath and
16 lead it away to drink ? And this woman, a daughter of Abraham, bound by Satan for all these eighteen years, was she not to be freed from her bondage on the
17 sabbath?" As he said this all his opponents were put to shame, but all the crowd rejoiced over
18 all his splendid doings. So he said,
" What is the Reign of God like ? to what shall I compare it ?
19 It is like a grain of mustard-seed which a man took and put into his orchard, where it grew up and became a tree, and the wild birds
20 roosted in its branches." He added, " To what shall I compare the
21 Reign of God ? It is like dough which a woman took and buried in three pecks of flour, till all of it was leavened."
22 On he went teaching from one toAvn and village to another, as he
23 made his way to Jerusalem. A man said to him, " Is it only a few, sir, who are saved ? " So he said
24 to them, " Strive to get in through
the narrow door, for I tell you many will try to get in and not be able, once the master of the House 25 has got up and closed the door. You may stand outside and knock at the door, crying, ' Lord, open for us,' but he will answer you, ' I do not know where you come from.' You will then proceed to say, ' But 26 we ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets ! ' ' I 27 tell you,' he will say, ' I do not know where you come from; be- gone every one of you, you evildoers.'' There you will wail and gnash 28 your teeth, to see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the prophets inside the Realm of God and yourselves thrown out. Yes, and people will 29 come from east and west and north and south to their places at the feast within the Realm of God.
Some are last who will be first, 30 and some are first who will be
last." Just then some Pharisees came 31 up to tell him, " Get away from here, for Herod intends *1;o kill you." " Go and tell that fox," he 32 rephed, " I cast out daemons and perform cures to-day and to- morrow, and on the third day I complete my task ! But I must 33 journey on, to-day, to-morrow, and the next day; it would never do for a prophet to perish except in Jerusalem ! O Jerusalem, Jeru- 34 salem, slaying the prophets and stoning those who have been sent to you ! How often I would fain have gathered your children as a fowl gathers her brood under her wings ! But you would not have it ! See, 35 your House is left to yourselves. I tell you, you will never see me till the day comes when you say Blessed he he who comes in the Lord's name."
96
S. LUKE XIV
OHAP.
14 Now when he entered the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees to take a meal, they
2 watched hini closely. In front of him there was a man who had
3 dropsy ; so Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, " Is it right to heal
4 on the sabbath or not ? " They held their peace. Then Jesus took hold of the man and cured him and
5 sent him off. " Which of you," he said to them, " when an ass or an ox has fallen into a well, will not pull him out at once upon the
6 sabbath day ? " This they could
7 not dispute. He also told a parable to the guests, when he observed how they picked out the best places.
8 " When anyone invites you to a marriage-banquet," he said, " never lie down in the best place, in case a more distinguished guest than
9 yourself has been invited ; then the host will tell you, ' Make room for him,' and you will proceed in shame to take the lowest place.
10 No, when you are invited, go and recline fln the lowest place, so that when your host comes in he will tell you, ' Move higher up, my friend.' Then you will be honoured before your fellow guests.
11 For everyone who uplifts him-
self will be humbled, and he who humbles himself wll be uplifted."
12 He also said to his host, " When yoTi give a dinner or supper, do not ask your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neigh- bours, in case they invite you back
13 again and you get repaid. No, when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, and
14 the blind. Then you will be blessed ; for as they have no meajis of repaying you, you will be re- paid at the resurrection of the
90
just." Hearing this, one of his 15 fellow guests said to him, " Blessed is he who feasts in the Realm of God ! " Jesus said to him, " There 16 was a man who was giving a large supper, to which he had invited a number of guests. At the hour 17 for supper he sent his servant to tell the guests, ' Come, things are all ready.' But they all alike pro- 18 ceeded to dechne. The first said to him, ' I have bought a farm and I am obliged to go and look at it. Pray consider me excused.' The 19 second said, ' I have bought five pair of oxen and I am going to try them. Pray consider me excused.' Another said, ' I have married a 20 wife; that is why I cannot come.' The servant went and reported this 21 to his master. Then the master of the house was enraged, and said to his servant, ' Quick, go out to the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the maimed, the blind, and the lame.' When the 22 servant announced, ' Your order has been carried out, sir, but there is still room,' the master said to the 23 servant, ' Go out to the roads and hedges and make people come in, to fill up my house. For 24 I tell you that not one of those who were invited shall taste my supper.' "
There were large crowds travel- 25 ling with him; so he turned and said to them,
" If anyone comes to me and 26 does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, aye and his own life, he cannot be a disciple of mine ;
whoever does not carry his o^vn 27 cross and come after me, he cannot be a disciple of mine.
S. LUKE XV
28 For which of you wants to build a tower and does not first sit down to calculate the expense, to see if he has enough money to complete
29 it ? — in case, after he has laid the foundation and then is unable to finish the building, all the spec- tators start to make fun of him,
SO saying, ' This fellow started to build
31 but he could not finish it.' Or what king sets out to fight against another king without first sitting down to deliberate whether with ten thousand men he can encounter the king who is attacking him with
32 twenty thousand ? If he cannot, when the other is still at a distance he will send an embassy to do homage to him.
S3 So with everyone of you who will not part with all his goods — he cannot be a disciple of mine.
34 Salt is excellent indeed : but if salt becomes insipid, what will
35 restore its flavour? It is no use for either soil or dunghill, it is flung out. He who has an ear let him listen to this."
15 Now the taxgatherers and sinners were all approaching him to listen
2 to him, but the Pharisees and the scribes complained, " He welcomes sinners and eats along with them ! "
3 So he told them this parable :
4 " Which of you with a hundred sheep, if he loses one, does not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one till he
5 finds it ? When he finds it he puts it on his shoulders ^vith joy,
6 and when he gets home he gathers his friends and neighbours : 'Re- joice with me,' he says to them, * for I have found the sheep I
7 lost.' So, I tell you, there will be
joy in heaven over a single sinner who repents more than over ninety- nine good people who do not need to repent. Or again, suppose a 8 woman has ten shillings. If she loses one of them, does she not light a lamp and scour the house and search carefully till she finds it ? And when she finds it she 9 gathers her women-friends and neighbours, saying, ' Rejoice with me, for I have found the shilling I lost.' So, I tell you, there is 10 joy in the presence of the angels of God over a single sinner who repents."
He also said : " There was a 11 man who had two sons, and the 12 yoin^.ger said to his father, ' Father, give me the share of the property that falls to me.' So he divided his means among them. Not 13 many days later the younger son sold off everything and went abroad to a distant land, where he squan- dered his means in loose living. After he had spent his all, a severe 14 famine set in throughout that land, and he began to feel in want ; so 15 he went and attached himself to a citizen of that land, who sent him to his fields to feed swine. And 16 he was fain to fill his belly with the pods the swine were eating; no one gave him anything. But 17 when he came to his senses he said, ' How many hired men of my father have more than enough to eat, and here am I perishing of hunger ! I will be up and off to 18 my father, and I will say to him, " Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you ; I don't 19 deserve to be called your son any more; only make me like one of your hired men." ' So he got up 20 and went off to his father. But when he was still far away his
97
S. LUKE XVI
father saw him and felt pity for him and ran to fall upon his neck and
21 kiss him. The son said to him, ' Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you ; I don't deserve to be called your son any
22 more.' But the father said to his servants, ' Quick, bring the best robe and put it on him, give him a ring for his hand and sandals for
23 his feet, and bring the fatted calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry ;
24 for my son here was dead and he has come to life, he was lost and he is found.' So they began to make
25 merry. Now his elder son was out in the field, and as he came near the house he heard music and dancing ;
26 so, summoning one of the servants,
27 he asked what this meant. The servant told him, ' Your brother has arrived, and your father has killed the fatted calf because he has got him back safe and sound.'
28 This angered him, and he would not go in. His father came out and
29 tried to appease him, but he re- plied, ' Look at all the years I have been serving you ! I have never neglected any of your orders, and yet you have never given me so raiuch as a kid, to let me make
30 merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours arrives, after having wasted your means with harlots, you kill the fatted
31 calf for him ! ' The father said to him, ' My son, j'-ou and I are always
32 together, all I have is yours. We could not but make merry and rejoice, for your brother here was dead and has come to life again, he was lost but he has been found.' "
16 He also said to the disciples : " There was a rich man who had 98
a factor, and this factor, he found, was accused of misapplying his property. So he summoned him 2 and said, ' What is this I hear about you? Hand in your ac- counts; you cannot be factor any longer.' The factor said to himself, 3 ' What am I to do now that my master is taking the factorship away from me? I am too weak to dig, I am ashamed to beg. Ah, 4 I know what I will do, so that people will welcome me to their houses when I am deposed from the factorship.' So he summoned 5 every single one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, ' How much are you owing to my master ? ' ' A hundred barrels of oil.' he said. 6 The factor told him, ' Here is your bill; sit down at once and enter fifty barrels.' Then he asked 7 another, ' And how much do you owe ? ' 'A hundred quarters of wheat,' he said. ' Here is your bill,' said the factor, ' just enter eighty.' Well, the master praised 8 the dishonest factor for looking ahead ; for the children of this world look further ahead in dealing with their own generation than the children of Light. And I tell 9 you, use mammon, dishonest as it is, to make friends for your- selves, so that when you die * they may welcome you to the eternal abodes.
He who is faithful with a trifle 10
is also faithful with a large
trust, and he who is dishonest with
a trifle is also dishonest with
a large trust. So if you are not faithful with 11
dishonest mammon,
* Reading ^KXiirrjTe or f-cAeCirrjTe with K<», the biilk of the Latin manuscripts, the Harklean Syriac, etc.
S. LUKE XVII
12
13
how can yon ever be trusted v.-ith true Riches ? And if you are not faithful with what belongs to another, how can you ever be given what is your own ? No servant can serve two masters : either he will hate the one and
love the other, or else he will stand by the one and despise the other — you cannot serve both God and Mammon." I Now the Pharisees who were fond of money heard all this, and I they sneered at him. So he told them, " You are the people who get men to think you are good, but God knows what your hearts are ! What is lofty in the view of man is loathsome in the eves of God.
The Law and the prophets lasted till John ; since then the good news of the Realm of God is preached, and anyone presses in. Yet it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for an iota of the Law to lapse.
Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, ^
and he who marries a divorcM
woman commits adultery. There was a rich man, clad in purple and fine linen, who lived sumptuously every day. Outside his door lay a poor man called Lazarus ; he was a mass of ulcers, and fain to eat up the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. (The very dogs used to come and lick his ulcers.) Now it happened that the poor man died, and he was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man died too, and was buried. And as he was
being tortured in Hades he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus in his bosom; so he 24 called out, ' Father Abraham, take pity on me, send Lazarus to dip his fingertip in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in these flames.' But Abraham said, ' Re- 25 member, my son, you got all the bliss when you were alive, just as Lazarus got the ills of life; he is in comfort now, and you are in anguish. Besides all that, a great 26 gulf yawns between us and you, to keep back those who want to cross from us to you and also those who want to pass from you to us.' Then 27 he said, ' Well, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house, for 28 I have five brothers; let him bear testimony to them, that they may not come to this place of torture as well.' ' They have got Moses and 29 the prophets,' said Abraham, ' they can listen to them.' 'No, father 30 Abraham,' he said, ' but if someone only goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' He said to him, 31 ' If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced, not even if one rose from the dead."
CHAP.
To his disciples he said, " It is 17 inevitable that hindrances should feome, but woe to the man by whom the^^ come; it would be well for 2 him to have a millstone hung rovmd his neck and be flung into the sea, rather than prove a hindrance to orje of these little ones ! Take heed 3 to yourselves. If your brother sins, check him, and if he repents forgive him. Even if he sins against you seven times in one day and turns to you seven times saying, ' I re- pent,' you must forgive him." The
99
4
S. LUKE XVII
apostles said to the Lord, " Give
6 us more faith ! " The Lord said, " If you had faith the size of a grain of mustard-seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be up- rooted and planted in the sea,' and
7 it would obey you. Which of you, with a servant out plough- ing or shepherding, will say to him when he comes in from the field, ' Come at once and take your place
8 at table ' ? Will the man not rather say to him, ' Get something ready for my supper ; gird yourself and wait on me till I eat and drink ; then you can eat and drink your-
9 self ' ? Does he thank the servant
10 for doing his bidding? Well, it is the same with you ; when you have done all you are bidden say, ' We are but servants ; ♦ we have only done our duty.' "
11 Now it happened in the course of his journey to Jerusalem that he passed between Samaria and Gali-
12 lee. On entering one village he was met by ten lepers who stood at a
13 distance and lifted up their voice, saying, " Jesvis, master, have pity
14 on us." Noticing them he said, " Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went away
15 they were cleansed. Now one of them turned back when he saw he was cured, glorifying God wth a
16 loud voice; and he fell on his face at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The man was a Samaritan.
17 So Jesus said, " Were all the ten not cleansed ? Where are the other
18 nine ? Was there no one to return and give glory to God except this
19 foreigner? " And he said to him,
* Omitting axp^'ioi with Syr.Sin. fol- lowed by most recent editors. The emphasis falls on the simple fact of being slaves, not on any distinction between good and bad slavea. 100
"Get up and go, your faith has made you well."
On being asked by the Pharisees 20 when the Reign of God was com- ing, he answered them, " The Reign of God is not coming as you hope to catch sight of it ; no one 21 will say, ' Here it is ' or ' There it is,' for the Reign of God is now in your midst." To his disciples he 22 said, " There will come days when you will long and long in vain to have even one day of the Son of man. Men will say, ' See, here he 23 is ! ' ' See, there he is ! ' but do not go out or run after them,
for like lightning that flashes 24 from one side of the sky to the other, so will the Son of man be on his own day. But he must first endure great 25 suffering and be rejected by the present generation. And just as it 26 was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of man ; they were eating, drinking, marry- 27 ing and being married, till the day Noah entered the ark — then came the deluge and destroyed them all. Or just as it was in the days of Lot ; 28 they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting and building, but on 29 the day that Lot left Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. So will it be on 30 the day the Son of man is revealed. On that day, if a man is on the 31 housetop and his goods inside the house, he must not go down to fetch them out; nor must a man in the field turn hack (remember Lot's 32 wife).
Whoever tries to secure his life 33 will lose it,
and whoever loses it will preserve it.
S. LUKE XVIII
34 On that night, I tell you,
there will be two men in the one bed, the one will be taken and the other left ;
35 two women will be grinding to-
gether, the one will be taken and the other left." .37 They asked him, "Where, Lord?" And he said to them, " Where the body is lying,
there the vultures will gather."
18 He also told them a parable about the need of always praying
2 and never losing heart. " In a certain town," he said, " there was a judge who had no reverence for God and no respect even for man.
3 And in that town there was a widow who used to go and appeal to him for ' Justice against my opponent ! '
4 For a while he would not, but after- wards'he said to himself, ' Though I have no reverence for God and no
5 respect even for man, still, as this widow is bothering me, I will see justice done to her — not to have her for ever coming and pestering
6 me.' Listen," said the Lord, " to
7 what this unjust judge says ! And will not God see justice done to his elect who cry to him by day and night ? Will he be tolerant to their
8 opponents ? I tell you, he will quicldy see justice done to his elect ! And yet, when the Son of man does come, will he find faith on earth ? "
9 He also told the following parable to certain persons who were sure of their own goodness and looked down
10 upon everybody else. " Two men went up to pray in the temple ; one was a Pharisee and the other was a
taxgatherer. The Pharisee stood 11 up and prayed by himself as follows ; ' I thank thee, O God, I am not like the rest of men, thieves, rogues, and immoral, or even like yon tax- gatherer. Twice a Aveek I fast; 12 on all my income I pay tithes.' But the taxgatherer stood far away 13 and would not lift even his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ' O God, have mercy on me for my sins ! ' I tell you, he went home 14 accepted by God rather than the other man ;
for everyone who uplifts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be uplifted."
Now people even brought their 15 infants for him to touch them; when the disciples noticed it they checked them, but Jesus called for 16 the infants. " Let the children come to me," he said, "do not stop them : the Realm of God belongs to such as these. I tell you truly, 17 whoever will not submit to the Reign of God like a child will never get into it at all."
Then a ruler asked him, " Good 18 teacher, what am I to do to inherit life eternal ? " Jesus said to him, 19 " Why call me ' good ' ? No one is good, no one but God. You know 20 the commands : do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honour your father and mother." He said, " I 21 have observed all these commands from mj^ youth." When Jesus 22 heard this he said to him, " You lack one thing more ; sell all you have, distribute the money among the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me." But when he heard that he 23 was vexed, for he was extremely rich. So Jesus looked at him and 24
101
S. LUKE XIX
said, " How difficult it is for those who have money to enter the Realm
25 of God ! Why, it is easier for a camel to get through a needle's eye than for a rich man to get into the
26 Realm of God." His hearers said, " Then whoever can be saved ? "
27 He said, " What is impossible for men is possible for God." Peter
28 said, " Well, we have left our homes and followed you ! " He said to
29 them, " I tell you truly, no one has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of
30 the Realm of God, who does not receive ever so much more in this present world, and in the world to
31 come life eternal." Then he took the twelve aside and told them, " We are going up to Jerusalem, and all the predictions of the prophets regarding the Son of man
32 will be fulfilled ; he will be betrayed to the Gentiles, mocked,
33 illtreated, and spat on ; they will scourge him and kill him, but he will rise again on the third day."
34 However, they did not under- stand a word of this ; indeed the saying was hidden from them, and they did not know what he meant.
35 As he approached Jericho, it chanced that a blind man was seated
36 beside the road begging. When he heard the crowd passing he in-
37 quired what was the matter, and they told him that Jesus the
38 Nazarene was going by. So he shouted, " Jesus, Son of David,
39 have pity on me ! " The people in front checked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, " Son of David, have pity on
40 me ! " So Jesus stopped and or- dered them to bring him, and asked
41 him when he approached, " What do vou want me to do for you? "
102'
" Lord," he said, " I want to regain my sight." And Jesus said to him, 42 " Regain your sight, your faith has made you well." Instantly he 43 regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people gave praise to God when they saw this.
Then he entered Jericho. And 19 as he passed through it, there was a 2 man called Zacchaeus, the head of the taxgatherers, a wealthy man, who tried to see what Jesus was 3 like ; but he could not, on account of the crowd — for he was small of stature. So he ran forward and 4 climbed into a sycomore tree to get a sight of him, as he was to pass that road. But when Jesus reached 5 the spot he looked up and said to him, " Zacchaeus, come down at once, for I must stay at your house to-day." He came down at once 6 and welcomed him gladly. But 7 when they saw this, everyone began to mutter that he had gone to be the guest of a sinner. So Zacchaeus 8 stopped and said to the Lord, " I will give the half of all I have. Lord, to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will give him back four times as much." And Jesus said 9 of him, " To-day salvation has come to this house, since Zacchaeus here is a son of Abraham. For the Son 10 of man has come to seek and save the lost." He went on to tell a 11 parable in their hearing, as he was approaching Jerusalem and as they imagined God's Reign would in- stantly come into view. " A noble- 12 man,'" he said, " went abroad to obtain royal power for himself and then return. He first called his 13 ten serv^ants, giving them each a five-pound note, and telling them,
A
S. LUKE XIX
' Trade with this till I come back.'
14 Now his people hated him and sent envoys after him to say, ' We object to him having royal power over us.'
15 However he secured the ro5''al power and came home. Then he ordered the servants to be called who had been given the money, that he might find out what business they had
16 done. The first came up saying, ' Your five pounds has made
17 other fifty, sir.' ' Capital,' he said, ' you excellent servant ! be- cause you have proved trustworthy in a trifle, you are placed over
18 ten towns.' Then the second came and said, ' Your five povmds has
19 made twenty-five, sir.' To him he said, ' And you are set over
20 five toAvns.' Then the next came and said, ' Here is your five pounds, sir; I kept it safe in
21 a napkin, for I was afraid of you, you are such a hard man — picking up what you never put down, and reaping what you never sowed.' He replied, ' You
22 rascal of a servant, I will con- \act you by what you have said yourself. You knew, did you, that I was a hard man, picking up what I never put down, and reap-
23 ing what I never sowed ! Why then did you not put my money into the bank, so that I could have got it with interest when I came
24 back ? ' Then he said to the by- standers, ' Take the five pounds from him and give it to the man
25 with fifty.' ' Sir,' they said, ' he
26 has fifty already ! ' 'I tell you,
to everyone who has shall more be given, but ff-om him who has nothing, even what he has shall be taken.
27 And now for these enemies of mine who objected to me reigning over
them — bring them here and slay them in my presence.'"
With these words he went forward 28 on his way up to Jerusalem. When 29 he was near Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Olive-Orchard, he despatched two of his disciples, saying, " Go to the village in front, 30 and on entering it you Avill find a colt tethered on which no one ever has sat ; untether it and bring • it. If anyone asks you, ' Why are 31 you untethering it ? ' this is what you will say, ' The Lord needs it.' " The messengers went off and found 32 the colt exactly as he had told them. As they were untethering it, the 33 owners said to them, " Why are you untethering the colt ? " And 34 they said, " Because the Lord needs it." So they brought it to Jesus, 35 and throwing their clothes on the colt they mounted Jesus upon it. As he went forward they spread 36 their clothes under him on the road, and as he was now close to 37 the descent from the Hill of Olives all the multitude of the disciples started joyfully to praise God with a loud voice for all * they had seen, saying, 38
" Blessed be the king who comes in the Lord's name !
Peace in heaven and glory in the High places ! "
Some Pharisees in the crowd said 39 to him, " Check your disciples, teacher." But he replied, " I tell 40 you, if they were to keep quiet, the very stones would shout." And when he saw the city, as he 41 approached, he wept over it, saying, 42 " Would that you too knew even to- day on what your peace depends ! But no, it is hidden from you ! A 43
* Omitting Swdfxfoiv with the old Syriac version, which presex'ves the ori- ginal text irepl TTcivroiiy elooy Kijovres.
103
S. LUKE XX
time is coming for you when your enemies will throw up ramparts round you and encircle you and
44 besiege you on every side and raze you and your children within you to the ground, leaving not one stone upon another within you — and all because you would not understand when God was
45 visiting you." Then he went into the temple and proceeded to drive
46 out those who were selling. " It is written," he told them, " my house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.'^
47 Day after day he taught within the temple. The high priests and scribes tried to have him put to death, and so did the leaders of the
48 people, but they could not discover what was to be done, for the whole of the people hung upon his lips.
20 One day, when he was teaching the people in the temple and preach- ing the gospel, up came the priests and scribes along with the elders.
2 " Tell us," they said, " what authority you have for acting in this way ? Who was it that gave
3 5'ou this authority ? " He answered them, " Well, I will ask you a ques-
4 tion. Tell me, did the baptism of John come from heaven or from
5 men ? " Now they reasoned to them- selves, " If we say, ' From heaven,' he will ask, ' Why did you not be-
6 lieve him ? ' And if we say, ' From men,' the whole of the people will stone us, for they are convinced
7 John was a prophet." So they answered that they did not know
8 where it came from. Jesus said to them, " No more will I tell you what authority I have for acting as I do."
9 Then he proceeded to tell the 104
people the following parable. *' A man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went abroad for some time. When the season 10 came round he sent a servant to the vinedressers to receive part of the produce of the vineyard, but the vinedressers flogged him and sent him off with nothing. He 11 proceeded to send another servant, and they flogged him too, insulted him and sent him off with nothing. Then he sent still a third, but this 12 one they wounded and threw out- side. Said the owner of the vine- 13 yard, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son ; perhaps they will respect him.' But when 14 the vinedressers saw him, they argued to themselves, ' Here is the heir, let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours.' And they 15 threw him outside the vineyard and killed him. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do to them ? He will come and kill these 16 vinedressers and give the vineyard to others." When they heard that they said, " God forbid ! " But 17 he looked at them and said, " Then what does this scripture mean ? —
The stone that the builders rejected is the chief stone now of the corner.
Everyone who falls on that stone 18 will be shattered, and whoever it falls upon will be crushed."
At that hour the scribes and high 19 priests tried to lay hands on him, but they were afraid of the people. They knew he had meant this parable for them. So watching 20 their chance they sent spies who pretended to be honest persons in order to seize on what he said and get him handed over to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.
S. LUKE XXI
21 They put this question to him, " Teacher, we know you are straight in what you say and teach, you do not look to human favour but teach
22 the Way of God honestly. Is it right for us to pay tribute to Caesar
23 or not ? " But he noted their
24 knavery and said to them, " Show me a shilling. Whose likeness and inscription does it bear ? "
25 " Caesar's," they replied. " Well then," he said to them, "give Caesar what belongs to Caesar, give God
26 what belongs to God." So they could not seize on what he said before the people, and marvelling at his reply they said nothing.
27 Some of the Sadducees came up, who deny any resurrection, and put
28 a question to him. " Teacher," they said, " Moses has written this law for us, that if a man's married brother dies and is childless, his brother is to take the woman and raise o^ spring for his brother.
29 Well, there were seven brothers. The first married a wife and died
30 childless. The second and the third
31 took her, as indeed all the seven did, dying and leaving no children.
32 Afterwards the woman died too.
33 Now at the resurrection whose wife will she be? She was wife to the
34 seven of them." Jesiis said to them, " People in this world marry
35 and are married, but those who are considered worthy to attain yonder world and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor
36 are married, for they cannot die any more ; they are equal to angels and by sharing in the resurrection
37 they are sons of God. And that the dead are raised has been indicated by Moses in the passage on the Bush, when he calls the Lord ' God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God
88 of Jacob.'' God is not a God of dead
people but of living, for all live to him." Some of the scribes de- 39 clared, " Teacher, that was a fine answer ! " They no longer dared 40 to put any question to him. But 41 he said to them, " How can people say that the Christ is David's son ? Why, David himself says in the 42 book of psalms.
The Lord said to my Lord, ' Sit at
my right hand, till 1 put your enemies under 43
your feet.^ David then calls him Lord. So 44 how can he be his son ? " And in 45 the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, " Beware of the 46 scribes ! They like to walk about in long robes, they are fond of getting saluted in the market- places, of securing the front seats in the synagogues and the best places at banquets ; they prey upon 47 the property of widows and offer long unreal prayers. All the heavier will their sentence be ! "
Looking up he saw the rich 21 putting their gifts into the treasury, and noticed a poor 2 widow putting two little coins in. He said, " I tell you plainly, 3 this poor widow has put in more than them all; for these 4 people all contributed out of their surplus, but she has given out of her neediness all her living."
Some were speaking of the temple 5 with its ornamentation of splendid stones and votive gifts, but he said, " As for what you see, there are days 6 coming when not a stone will be left upon another, without being torn down." So they asked him, " Teacher, and when will this 7 happen ? What will be the sign for this to take place ? " He said, 8
105
S. LUKE XXI
" Take care that you are not misled; for many ^vill come in my name saying, ' I am he ' and * the time is near ' — do not go after 9 them. And when you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be scared ; these have to come first, but the end
10 is not at once." Then he said to them, '"''Nation zvill rise against nation, and realm against realm,
11 there will be great earthquakes with famine and pestilence here and there, there will be awful portents
12 and great signs from heaven. But before all that men will lay hands on you and persecute you, handing you over to synagogues and prisons ; you will be dragged before kings and governors for the sake of my
13 name. That will turn out an oppor-
14 tunity for you to bear witness. So resolve to yourselves that you will not rehearse your defence before-
15 hand, for I will give you words and wisdom that not one of your oppo- nents will be able to meet or refute.
16 You will be betrayed by your very parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you will
17 be put to death. You will be hated
18 by all on account of my name ; but not a hair of your head will perish.
19 Hold out stedfast and you win your souls.
20 But whenever you see Jerusalem surroimded by armies, then be sure her desolation is not far away.
21 Then let those who are in Judaea fly to the hills, let those v.-ho are in the city escape, and let not those who are in the country come in
22 to the city; for these are the days of the divine Vengeance, in fulfilment of all that is written in scripture.
23 Woe to women with child and to women who give suck in those days, for sore anguish will come upon the land and Wrath on this people;
106
they will fall by the edge of the 24 sword, they will be carried prisoners to all nations, and Jerusalem will be under the heel of the Gentiles till the period of the Gentiles expires. And there will be signs in sun and 25 moon and stars, while on earth the nations will be in dismay with bewilderment at the roar of sea and waves, men swooning with panic 26 and foreboding of what is to befall the universe. For the orbs of the heavens will be shaken, and then 27 they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin 28 to happen, look up and raise your heads, for j'our release is not far distant." And he told them a par- 29 able. " Look at the fig tree and indeed all the trees ; as soon as they 30 put out their leaves, you can see for yourselves that summer is at hand. So, whenever you see all this hap- 31 pen, be sure the Reign of God is at hand.
I tell you truly, the present 32 generation will not pass away till all this happens. Heaven and 33 earth will pass away, but my words never.
Take heed to yourselves in case 34 your hearts get overpowered by dissipation and drunkenness and worldly anxieties, and so that Day catches you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all 35 dwellers on the face of all the earth. From hour to hour keep 36 awake, praying that you may suc- ceed in escaping all these dangers to come and in standing before the Son of man."
By day he taught in the temple, 37 but at night he went outside the city and passed the night on the hill called the Olive-Orchard. And all 88 the people used to come early in the
S. LUKE XXII
morning to listen to him in the temple.
CHAP.
22 Now the feast of rmleavened bread which is called the passover
2 was near. The high priests and scribes were trying how to get him put to death (for they were afraid
3 of the people), and Satan entered Judas called Iscariot, a member of
4 the twelve, who went off to discuss with the high priests and com- manders how he could betray him
5 to them. They were delighted and
6 agreed to pay him for it. He assented to this and sought a good opportunity for betraying him to them in the absence of the crowd.
7 Then came the day of unleavened bread when the paschal lamb had to
8 be sacrificed. So Jestis despatched Peter and John, saying, " Go and prepare the passover for us that
9 we may eat it." They asked him, " Where do you want us to prepare
10 it ? " He said to them, " When you enter the city you will meet a man carrying a water-jar : follow him to
11 the house he enters, and tell the owner of the house, ' The Teacher asks you. Where is the room in which I can eat the passover with my
12 disciples ? ' Then he will show you a large room upstairs with couches spread ; make your preparations
13 there." They went off and found it was as he had told them. So
14 they prepared the passover, and when the hour came he took his place, with the apostles beside
15 him. He said to them, " I have longed eagerly to eat this pass-
16 over with you before I suffer, for I tell you I will never rat the passover again till the folfilmeul of it in the
17 lleign of God." And he took a
cup which was handed to him, gave thanks to God and said, " Take this and distribute it among your- selves, for I tell you I will never 18 drink the produce of the vine again till such time as God's Reign comes." Then he took a loaf and after thank- 19 ing God he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This means my body given up for yoiu- sake ; do this in memory of me." So too he gave 20 them the cup after supper, saying, " This cup means the new covenant ratified by my blood shed for your sake. But the hand of my betrayer 21 is on the table beside me ! The Son 22 of man moves to his end indeed as it has been decreed, but woe to the man by whom he is betrayed ! " And they began to discuss among 23 themselves which of them could possibly be going to do such a thing. A quarrel also rose among 24 them as to which of them could be considered the greatest. But 25 Jesus said to them, " The kings of the Gentiles rule
over them, and their authorities take the
name of ' Benefactor ' : not so with you. 26
He who is greatest among you
must be like the youngest, and he who is chief like a
servant. Which is the greatest, guest or 27
servant ? Is it not the
guest ? But I am among you as a
servant. It is you who have stood by me 28 through my trials ; so, even as my 29 Father has assigned me royal power, I assign you the right of eating and 30 drinking at my table in my Realm and of sitting on thrones to rule tlie twelve tribes of Israel. Simon, 31
Simon, Satan has claimed the right
107
S. LUKE XXII
82 to sift j^ou all like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail. And you in turn must be a strength to your brothers."
.33 " Lord," he said, " I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."
Si Jesus said, " I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow to-day before you have three times denied that
35 you know me." And he said to them, " When I sent you out with neither purse nor wallet nor san- dals, did you want for anything? " " No," they said, " for nothing."
36 Then he said to them, " But he who has a purse must take it now, and the same with a wallet; and he who has no sword must sell his
37 coat and buy one. For I tell you, this word of scripture must be ful- filled in me : he was classed among criminals. Yes, there is an end to
38 all that refers to me." " Lord," they said, " here are two swords ! " " Enough ! Enough ! " he an- swered.
39 Then he went outside and made his way to the Hill of Olives, as he was accustomed. The disciples
40 followed him, and when he reached the spot he said to them, " Pray that you may not slip into tempta-
41 tion." He withdrew about a stone's throw and knelt in prayer,
42 saying, " Father, if it please thee, take this cup away from me. But
43 thy will, not mine, be done." [And an angel from heaven appeared to
44 strengthen him ; he fell into an agony and prayed with greater intensity, his sweat dropping to the
45 ground lilce clots of blood.] Then rising from prayer he went to the disciples, only to find them asleep
46 from sheer sorrow. He said to them, " Why are you sleeping ? Get up and pray that you may
47 not slip into temptation." While
108
he was still spealdng there came a mob headed by the man called Judas, one of the twelve. He approached in order to kiss Jesus, but Jesus said to him, " Judas ! 48 would you betray the Son of man with a kiss?" Now when the 49 supporters of Jesus saw what was going to happen, they said, " Lord, shall we strike with our swords? " And one of them did strike the 50 servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. Jesus said, " Let 51 me do this at least," and cured him by touching his ear. Then he said 52 to the high priests and commanders of the temple and elders who had appeared to take him, " Have you sallied out to arrest me like a roblDcr, with swords and clubs ? Day after 53 day I was beside you in the temple, and you never stretched a hand against me. But this is your hour and the dark Power has its waj^"
Then they arrested him and led 54 him away inside the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance and sat down among some people who had lit a fire in the court- 55 yard and were sitting round it. A maidservant who noticed him 56 sitting by the fire took a long look at him and said, " That fellow w'as with him too." But he disowned him, saying, " Woman, I know 57 nothing about him." Shortly 58 afterwards another man noticed him and said, " Why, you are one of them ! " " Man," said Peter, " I am not." About an hour had 59 passed when another man insisted, " That fellow really was with him. Why, he is a Galilean ! " " Man," 60 said Peter, " I do not know what you mean." Instantly, just as he was speaking, the cock crowed; the Lord turned round and looked 61 at Peter, and then Peter remem-
i
S. LUKE XXIII
bered what the Lord had told him, that ' Before cock-crow to-day 5'ou will disown me three times.'
62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.
63 Meantime the men who had Jesus in custody flogged him and made
64 fun of him ; blindfolding him they would ask him, " Prophesy, tell
65 us who struck you ? " And many another insult they uttered against him.
66 When day broke, the elders of the people all met along with the high priests and scribes, and had him brought before their Sanhedrin.
67 They said to him, " Tell us if you are the Christ." He said to them, " You will not believe me if I tell
68 you, and you will not answer me
69 when I put a question to you. But after this the Son of man will be seated at God's right hand of power."
70 " Are you the Son of God then ? " they all said. " Certainly," he replied, " I am." So they said,
71 " What more evidence do we need ? We have heard it from his own lips."
23 Then the whole body of them
2 rose and led him to Pilate. They proceeded to accuse him, saying, " We have discovered this fellov/ perverting our nation, forbidding tribute being paid to Caesar, and alleging he is king messiah."
3 Pila,te asked him, " Are you the king of the Jews ? " He replied,
4 " Certainly." And Pilate said to the high priests and the crowds, " I cannot find anything criminal
5 about him." But they insisted, " He stirs up the people by teaching all over Judaea. He started from
6 Galilee and now he is here." When Pilate heard that, he asked if the
7 man was a Galilean, and ascertain-
ing that he came under the juris- diction of Herod, he remitted him to Herod, who himself was in Jerusalem during those days. Herod was greatly delighted to see 8 Jesus ; he had long wanted to see him, because he had heard about him and also because he hoped to see him perform some miracle. But though he put many questions 9 to him, Jesus gave him no answer. Meanwhile the high priests and 10 scribes stood and accused him with might and main. Then Herod and 11 his troops scoffed at him and made fun of him, and after arraying him in a bright robe he remitted him to Pilate. Herod and Pilate, became 12 friends that day — previously they had been at enmity.
Then summoning the high priests 13 and rulers and the people, Pilate said to them, " You brought me this 14 man as being an inciter to rebellion among the people. I have examined him before you and found nothing criminal about him, for all your accusations against him. No, nor 15 has Herod, for he has remitted him to us. He has done nothing, you see, that calls for death ; so I shall 16 release him with a whipping."* 18 But they shouted one and all, " Away with him ! Release Bar- Abbas for us ! " (This was a man 19 who had been put into prison on account of a riot which had taken place in the city and also on a charge of murder.) Again Pilate addressed 20 them, for he wanted to release Jesus, but they roared, " To the cross, 21 to the cross with him ! " He asked 22 them a third time, " But what crime has he committed? I have found nothing about him that deserves
Omitting [aviyKtiv Ss elxey airoKveip aiiTois KaTa iopr'ijv »Va] as an explanatory and harmoniatic gloss.
109
S. LUKE XXIII
death; so I shall release him with
23 a whipping." But they loudly urged their demand that he should be crucified, and their shouts carried
24 the day. Pilate gave sentence that their demand was to be carried
25 out; he released the man they wanted, the man who had been imprisoned for riot and murder, and Jesus he handed over to their will.
26 As they led him off they caught hold of Simon a Cyrenian on his way from the country and laid the cross
27 on him to carry after Jesus. He was followed bj'^ a large multitude of the people and also of women who beat their breasts and lamented
28 him ; but Jesus turned to them and said, " Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me but weep for your-
29 selves and for your children ! For there are days coming when the cry will be,
' Blessed are the barren,
the wombs that never have
borne and the breasts that never have
suckled ! '
30 Then will people say to tlie moun-
tains, ' Fall on us ! ' and to the hills, ' Cover m*.'
31 For if this is what they do when
the wood is green, what will they do when the wood is dry ? "
32 Two criminals were also led out
33 with him to be executed, and when they came to the place called The Skull they crucified him there with the criminals, one at his right and
34 one at his left. Jesus said, " Father, forgive them, they do not know what they ar3 doing." Then they distributed his clothes among them-
85 selves by drawing lots. The people stood and looked on, and even the rulers sneered at him, saying, 110
" He saved others, let him save him- self, if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One ! " The soldiers made 36 fun of him too by coming up and handing him vinegar, sa^dng, " If 37 you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." (For there was an 38 inscription over him in Greek and Roman and Hebrew characters,
THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.)
One of the criminals who had been 39 hung also abused him, saying, " Are you not the Christ? Save your- self and us as well." But the other 40 checked him, saying, " Have you no fear even of God ? You are suffering the same punishment as he. And we suffer justly; we are 41 getting what we deserve for our deeds. But he has done no harm." And he added, " Jesus, do not for- 42 get me when you come to reign." " I tell you truly," said Jesus, " you 43 will be in paradise with me this very day."
By this time it was about twelve 44 o'clock, and darkness covered the whole land till three o'clock, owing 45 to an eclipse of the sun ; the cur- tain in the middle of the temple was torn in two. Then with a loud 46 cry Jesus said, " Father, / trust my spirit to thy hands," and with these words he expired. When the army- 47 captain saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, " This man was really innocent." And when 48 all the crowds who had collected for the sight saw what had happened they turned away beating their breasts. As for his acquaintances, 49 they were all standing at a distance to look on, with the women who had accompanied him from Galilee.
Now there was a man called 50 Joseph, a member of council but a good and just man who had not 51
S. LUKE XXIV
voted for their plan of action ; he belonged to Arimathaea, a Jewish town, and he was on the outlook for
52 the Reign of God. This Joseph went to Pilate and asked him for the body
53 of Jesus. He then took it down, wrapped it in linen, and put it in a tomb cut out of the rock, where no
54 one had yet been buried. It was the day of the Preparation and the
55 sabbath was just dawning. So the women who had accompanied him from Galilee and who had followed Joseph, noted the tomb and the
56 position of the body; then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes.
CHAP.
24 On the sabbath they rested in obedience to God's command, but on the first day of the week at early dawn they took the spices they had
?repared and went to the tomb, he boulder they found rolled away
3 from the tomb, but when they went inside they could not find the body
4 of the Lord Jesus. They were puzzling over this, when two men flashed on them in dazzling raiment.
5 They were terrified and bent their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, " Why do you look among the dead for him who is
6 alive ? He is not here, he has risen. Remember how he told you when
7 he was still in Galilee that the Son of man had to be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified
I 8 and rise on the third day." Then
they remembered what he had said,
9 and turning away from the tomb
they reported all this to the eleven
10 and all the others. (It was Mary of Magdala, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James who with the rest of the women told this to the
11 apostles.) But this story of the
women seemed in their opinion to be nonsense; they would not believe them. Peter did get up 12 and run to the tomb, but when he looked in he saAV nothing except the hnen bandages; so he went away home wondering what had happened.
That very day two of them were 13 on their way to a village called Emmaus about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were conversing 14 about all these events, and during 15 their conversation and discussion Jesus himself approached and walked beside them, though they IG were prevented from recognizing him. He said to them, " What is IT all this you are debating on your walk?" They stopped, looking downcast, and one of them, called 18 Cleopas, answered him, " Are you a lone stranger in Jerusalem, not to know what has been happening there ? " " What is that ? " he said 19 to them. They replied, " All about Jesus of Nazaret ! To God and all the people he was a prophet strong in action and utterance, but the high priests and our rulers 20 delivered him up to be sentenced to death and crucified him. Our 21 OAvn hope was that he would be the redeemer of Israel ; but he is dead, and that is three days ago ! Though 22 some women of our number gave us a surprise ; they were at the tomb early in the morning and could not 23 find his body, but they came to tell us they had actually seen a %'ision of angels who declared he was alive. Some of our company did go to the 24 tomb and found things exactly as the women had said, but they did not see him." He said to them, 25 " O foolish men, with hearts so slow to believe, after all the prophets have declared ! Had not the Christ 26
111
S. LUKE XXIV
to suffer thus and so enter his
27 glory ? " Then he began with Moses and all the prophets and interpreted to them the passages referring to himself throughout the
28 scriptures. Now they approached the village to which they were going. He pretended to be going further
29 on, but they pressed him, saying, " Stay with us, for it is getting towards evening and the day has now declined." So he went in to
30 stay with them. And as he lay at table with them he took the loaf, blessed it, broke it and handed it
SI to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight.
32 And they said to one another, " Did not our hearts glow within us when he was talking to us on the road, opening up the scriptures
33 for us ? " So they got up and re- turned that very hour to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven and
34 their friends all gathered, who told them that the Lord had really risen and that he had appeared to Simon.
35 Then they related their own ex- perience on the road and how they had recognized him when he broke
36 the loaf. Just as they were speak- ing He stood among them [and said
37 to them, " Peace to you ! "] They were scared and terrified, imagining it was a ghost they saw; but he
38 said to them, " Why are you upset ? Why do doubts invade your mind ?
Look at my hands and feet. It 39 is I ! Feel me and see ; a ghost has not flesh and bones as you see I have." [With these words he 40 showed them his hands and feet.] Even yet they could not believe it 41 for sheer joy; they were lost in wonder. So he said to them, " Have you any food here? " And when 42 they handed him a piece of broiled fish, he took and ate it in their 43 presence. Then he said to them, 44 " When I was still with you this is what I told you, that whatever is written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened 45 their minds to understand the scrip- tures. " Thus," he said, " it is 46 written that the Christ has to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and the 47 remission of sins must be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. To this you must 48 bear testimony. And I will send 49 down on you what my Father has promised ; wait in the city till you are endued with power from on high." He led them out as far as 50 Bethany; then, lifting his hands, he blessed them. And as he blessed 51 them he parted from them [and was carried up to heaven]. They wor- 52 shipped him and returned with great joy to Jerusalem, where they spent all their time within the temple, 5" blessinff God.
112
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO
S. JOHN
OHAF. 1
The Logos existed in the very
beginning, the Logos was with God, the Logos was divine.
2 He was with God in the very
beginning :
3 through him all existence came
into being, no existence came into being apart from him.
4 In him life lay,
and this life was the Light for men :
5 amid the darkness the Light
shone, but the darkness did not master it.
6 A man appeared, sent by God,
7 whose name was John : he came for the purpose of witinessing, to bear testimony to the Light, sq that all men might believe by means of
8 him. He was not the Light ; it was to bear testimony to the
9 Light that he appeared. The real Light, which enlightens every jnai^ was coming then into the w^orld :
10 he entered the world —
the world which existed through him — yet the world did not recognize him;
11 he came to what was his own,
yet his own folk did not welcome him.
12 On those who have accepted him, however, he has conferred the right of being children of God, that is, on those who believe in his Name,
13 who owe this birth of theirs to
God, not to human blood, nor to any impulse of the flesh or of man. So the Logos became flesh and 14 tarried among us; we have seen his glory — glory such as an only son enjoys from his father — seen it to be full of grace and reality. (John testified to him with the cry, 15 ' This was he of whom I said, my successor has taken precedence of me, for he preceded me.') For 16 we have all been receiving grace after grace from his fulness; while 17 the Law was given through Moses, grace and reality are ours through Jesus Christ. Nobody has ever 18 seen God, but God has been un- folded by the divine One, the only Son,* who lies upon the Father's breast.
Now here is John's testimony. 19 When the Jews of Jerusalem despatched priests and Levites to ask bim, "Who are you?" he 20 fraiTkly confessed — he did not deny it, he frankly confessed, " I am not the Christ." They asked him, 21 "Then what are you? Elijah?" He said, " i am not." " Are you the Prophet ? " "No," he an- swered. " Then who are you*? " 22 they said ; " tell us, so that we can give some answer to those who sent us. What have you to say for yourself?" He said, "I am 2«
'■ /■" * Although ee6s (' the divine due ') is probably more original than theig^Sriank reading vios, ^ovoy^vhs (see ver^^^H), requires some such pi'riphrasia in to bring out its full meaning herfi.
113
S. JOHN I
the voice of one who cries in the
desert, ' level the way for the Lord ' —
24 as the prophet Isaiah said." Now it was some of the Pharisees who
25 had been sent to him ; so they* asked him, saying, " Then why are you baptizing people, if you are neither the Christ nor Elijah nor
26 the Prophet? " " I am baptizing with water," John replied, " but my successor is among you, One
27 whom you do not recognize, and I am not fit to untie the thong of
28 his sandal." This took place at Bethany on the opposite side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 Next day he observed Jesus com- ing towards him and exclaimed, " Look, there is the lamb of God, who is to remove the sin of the
30 world ! That is he of whom I said, ' The man who is to succeed me has taken precedence of me, for
31 he preceded me.' I myself did not recognize him; I only came to baptize with water, in order that he might be disclosed to Israel."
32 And John bore this testimony also : " I saw the Spirit descend hke a dove from heaven and rest on him.
33 I myself did not recognize him, but He who sent me to baptize with water told me, ' He on whom you see the Spirit descending and rest- ing, that is he who baptizes with the
84 holy Spirit.' Now I did see it, and I testify that he is the Son of God."
35 Next day again John was stand-
36 ing with two of his disciples ; he gazed at Jesus as he walked about, and said, " Look, there is the lamb
37 of God ! " The two disciples heard jT-Avhat he said and went after Jesus.
*^8 Now Jesus turned, and when he
observed them coming after him, he
asked them, "What do you want ?"
-They rephed, "Rabbi" (which
114
may be translated, * teacher '), "where are you staying?" He said to them, " Come and see." 39 So they went and saw where he stayed, and stayed "vvith him the rest of that day — it was then about four in the afternoon. One of the 40 two men who heard what John said and went after Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Peter. In the morn- 41 ing* he met his brother Simon and told him, " We have found the messiah " (which may be translated, ' Christ '). He took him to Jesus; 42 Jesus gazed at him and said, " You are Simon, the son of John ? Your name is to be Cephas " (meaning ' Peter ' or ' rock ').
Next day Jesus determined to 43 leave for Galilee; there he met Philip and told him, " Follow me." Now Philip belonged to Bethsaida, 44 the same town as Andrew and Peter; he met Nathanael and told 45 him, " We have found him whom Moses wrote about in the Law, and also the prophets — it is Jesus, the son of Joseph, who comes from Nazaret." " Nazaret ! " said 46 Nathanael, " can anything good come out of Nazaret ? " " Come and see," said Philip. Jesus saw 47 Nathanael approaching and said of him, " Here is a genuine Israelite ! There is no guile in him." Nathan- 48 ael said to him, " How do you know me?" Jesus answered, " When you were under that fig tree, before ever Philip called you, I saw you." " Rabbi," said 49 Nathanael, " you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel ! " Jesus answered, " You believe be- 50 cause 1 told you I had seen you
* The Greek word (irpw't) has been mis- read in nearly all the MSS. for " first " {irpwrov) ; see the note in Mrs. A. S. Lewis's Old Syriac Gospels (1910), pp. xxviii-xxix.
S. JOHN II
under that fig tree ? You shall see 51 more than tliat." He said to him, " Truly, trul\' I tell you all,* you shall see heaven open wide and God's angels ascending and descend- ing upon the Son of man."
2 Two days later a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee ; the mother
2 of Jesus was present, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited
3 to the wedding. As the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, " They have no wnne."
4 " Woman," said Jesus, " w^hat have you to do with me ? My time has
5 not come yet." His mother said to the servants, " Do whatever he
6 tells you." Now six stone water- jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of ' purification,' each holding about twenty gallons.
7 Jesus said, " Fill up the jars with water." So they filled them to the
8 brim. Then he said, " Now draw some out, and take it to the man-
9 ager of the feast." They did so ; and when the manager of the feast tasted the water which had become wine, not knowing where it had come from (though the servants who had drawn it knew), he called
1 0 the bridegroom and said to him, " Everybody serves the good wine first, and then the poorer wine after people have drunk freely ; you have kept the good wine till now."
11 .Tesus performed this, the first of his Signs, at Cana in Galilee, thereby displaying his glory ; and his dis- ciples believed in him.
12 After this he travelled dow^n to Capharnahum, with his mother and
* I insert the word ' all ', to make it clear that the ' you ' of ver. 51 is plural. The promise is more than a personal word to
Nathanael.
brothers and disciples ; they stayed there for a few days.f
After this Jesus and his disciples 22 went into the country of Judaea, where he spent some time with them baptizing. John was also 23 baptizing at Aenon near Salim, as there was plenty of water there, and people came to him and were baptized (John had not j^et been 24 thrown into prison). Now a dis- 25 pute arose between John's disciples and a Jew over the question of ' purification ' ; and they came and 26 told John, " Rabbi, the man who was with you on the opposite side of the Jordan, the man to whom you bore testimony — here he is, baptizing, and everybody goes to him ! " John answered, " No one 27 can receive anything except as a gift from heaven. You can bear 28 me out, that I said, ' I am not the Christ ' ; what I said was, ' I have been sent in advance of him.' He who has the bride is the bride- 29 groom; the bridegroom's friend, who stands by and listens to him, is heartily glad at the sound of the bridegroom's voice. Such is my joy, and it is complete. He must 30 wax, I must wane."
Now the Jewish passover was 13 near, so Jesus went up to Jeru- salem, There he found, seated in- 14 side the temple, dealers in cattle, sheep and pigeons, also money- changers. Making a scourge of 15 cords, he drove them all, sheep and cattle together, out of the temple, scattered the coins of the brokers and upset their tables, and 16 told the pigeon -dealers, " Away with these ! My Father's house is not to be turned into a shop ! " (His disciples recalled the scripture 17
t Traiispasing iii, 22-30 to its true position between ii. 12 and ii. 13.
116
S. JOHN III
saying, I am consumed with zeal for
18 thy house.) Then the Jews accosted him with the words, " What sign of authority have you to show us,
19 for acting in this way?" Jesus rephed, " Destroy this sanctuary and I will raise it up in three days."
20 " This sanctuary took forty-six years to build," the Jews retorted, " and you are going to raise it up
21 in three days ! " He meant the
22 sanctuary of his body, however, and when the disciples recalled what he had said, after he had been raised from the dead, they beUeved the scripture and the word of Jesus.
23 When he was in Jerusalem at the festival of the passover, many people believed in his name, as they witnessed the Signs which he per-
24 formed. Jesus, however, would not trust* himself to them ; he knew
25 all men, and required no evidence from anyone about human nature ; well did he know what was in human nature.
CHAP.
3 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who belonged to the
2 Jewish authorities ; he came one night to Jesus and said, " Rabbi, we know you have come from God to teach us, for no one could perform these Signs of yours unless God
3 were with him." Jesus replied, " Truly, truly I tell you, no one can see God's Realm unless he is born
4 from above." Nicodemus said to him, " How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb over again and
5 be born ? " Jesus replied, " Truly, truly I tell you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot
* The Vulgate is able to preserve the asson- ance of the word ' trust ' here and ' believe ' In ver. 23 : " multi crediderunt in nomine
eius leaus non credebat semet ipsum eis."
116
enter God's Realm. What is born 6 of the flesh is flesh : what is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Do not 7 wonder at me saying, ' You must be born from above.' The wind 8 blows where it wills ; you can hear its sound, but you never know where it has come from or where it goes : it is the same with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nico- 9 demus answered, " How can that be? " Jesus replied, " You do not 10 understand this ? — you, a teacher in Israel ! Truly, truly I tell you, 11 we are speaking of what we do understand, we testify to what we have actually seen — and yet you refuse our testimony. If you will 12 not believe when I speak to you about things on earth, how will you believe if I speak to you about things in heaven? And yet the 13 Son of man, descended from heaven, is the only one who has ever as- cended into heaven. Indeed the Son 14 of man must be lifted on high, just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, that everyone who 15 believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world 16 so dearly that he gave up his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life, instead of perishing. God did not send his Son into the 17 world to pass sentence on it, but to save the world by him. He 18 who believes in him is not sen- tenced ; he who will not believe is sentenced already, for having re- fused to believe in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the 19 sentence of condemnation, that the Light has entered the world and yet men have preferred darkness to light. It is because their actions have been evil ; for anyone whose 20 practices are corrupt loathes the
S. JOHN IV
light and v^ill not come out into it, in case his actions are exposed, 21 Avhereas anyone whose Hfe is true comes out into the light, to make it plain that his actions have been divinely prompted.
31 He who comes from above is far above all others ; he who springs from earth belongs to earth and speaks of earth ; he who comes from
32 heaven is far above all others. He is testifying to what he has seen and heard, and yet no one accepts
33 his testimony. Whoever does ac- cept it, certifies to the truth of God.
34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God — God gives him the Spirit in no sparing measure;
35 the Father loves the Son and has given him control over everything.
36 He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who disobeys the Son shall not see life — God's anger broods over him."
CHAP.
4 Now when the Lord learned that the Pharisees had heard of Jesus gaining and baptizing more dis-
2 ciples than John (though Jesus him- self did not baptize, it was his
3 disciples), he left Judaea and went
4 back to Galilee. He had to pass
5 through Samaria, and in so doing he arrived at a Samaritan town called Sychar ; it lay near the terri- tory which Jacob had given to his
6 son Joseph, and Jacob's spring was there. Jesus, exhausted by the journey, sat down at the spring, just as he was. It was about noon,
7 and a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her,
8 " Give me a drink " (his disciples had gone to the town to buy some
9 food). The Samaritan woman said, " What ? You * are a Jew, and you
* The Groek word for ' you ' (in the singu- lar) occurs oftener in the Fourth gospel than
ask me for a drink — me, a Samari- tan ! " (Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered, " If 10 you knew what is the free gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked him instead, and he would have given you ' hving ' water." " Sir," said 11 the woman, " you have nothing to draw water with, and it is a deep well; where do you get your ' living ' water ? Are you a greater 12 man than Jacob, our ancestor ? He gave us this well, and he drank from it, with his sons and his cattle." Jesus answered, " Anyone who 13 drinks this water will be thirsty again, but anyone who drinks the 14 water I will give him will never thirst any more; the water I will give him will turn into a spring of water welling up to eternal life." " Ah, sir," said the woman, " give 15 me this water, so that I need not thirst or come all this road to draw water." Jesus said to her, " Go 16 and call your husband, then come back here." The woman replied, 17 " I have no husband." Jesus said to her, " You were right in saying, ' I have no husband ' ; you have had 18 five husbands, and he whom you have now espoused is not your husband. That was a true word." " Sir," said the woman, " I see you 19 are a prophet. Now our ancestors 20 worshipped on this mountain, whereas you Jews declare the proper place for worship is at Jerusalem." " Woman," said Jesus, " believe me, 21 the time is coming when you will be worshipping the Father neither on this mountain nor at Jerusalem.
in all the first three gospels put together. Dr. E. A. Abbott regards this as an indication of the evangelist's tendency ' to lay stress on personality, and to express personality in dialogue.'
117
S. JOHN IV
22 You are worshipping something you do not know; we are wor- shipping what we do know — for
23 salvation comes from the Jews. But the time is coming, it has come already, when the real worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and in reality; for these are the worshippers that the Father wants.
24 God is Spirit, and his worshippers must worship him in Spirit and
25 in reality." The woman said to him, " Well, I know messiah (which means Christ) is coming. When he
26 arrives, he will explain it all to us." '* I am messiah," said Jesus, " I who am talking to you."
27 At this point liis disciples came up; they were surprised that he was talking to a woman, but none of them said, " What is it ? " or, "Why are you talking to her?"
28 Then the woman left her water-pot, and going off to the town told the
29 people, " Come here, look at a man who has told me everything I ever did ! Can he be the Christ ? "
30 They set out from the town on their
31 way to him. Meanwhile the dis- ciples pressed him, saying, " Rabbi,
32 eat something." But he said to them, " I have food, of which you
33 know nothing." So they asked each other, " Can anyone have brought him something to eat ? "
34 Jesus said, " My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to
35 accomplish his work. You have a saying, have you not, ' Four months yet, then harvest ' ? Look roimd, I tell you ; see, the fields are white
36 for harvesting ! The reaper is already getting his wages and harvesting for eternal life, so that the sower shares the reaper's
37 joy. That proverb, ' One sows and
38 another reaps,' holds true here : I sent 5'^ou to reap a crop for which
118
you did not toil; other men have toiled, and you reap the profit of their toil." Now many Samari- 39 tans belonging to that town believed in him on account of the woman's testimony, " lie told me everything I ever did." So when the Samari- 40 tans arrived, they pressed him to stay with them ; he did stay there two days, and far more of them 41 believed on account of what he said himself. As they told the 42 woman, " We no longer believe on account of what you said ; we have heard for ourselves, we know that he is really the Saviour of the world."
When the two days were over, 43 he left for Galilee (for Jesus himself 44 testified that a prophet enjoj^s no honour in his own country); on 45 reaching Galilee, he was Avelcomed by the Galileans, who had seen all he did at the festival in Jerusalem — for they too had gone to the festival.
Once more he came to Can in 46 Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a royal official, whose son was lying ill at Capernaum ; when he heard that 47 Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judaea, he went to him and begged him to come down and cure his son, who was at the point of death. Jesus said to him, " Unless you see 48 signs and wonders, you never will believe." The official said, " Come 49 down, sir, before my boy is dead." 50 Jesus told him, " Go j^ourself, your son is alive." The man believed what Jesus told hiiu, and started on his journey. And on the road his 51 servants met him with the news that his boy was alive. So he asked 52 them at what hour he had begun to improve ; they told him, " Yes- terday at one o'clock the fever left him." Then the father realized 53 that it had left him at the very
S. JOHN V
time when Jesus had said to him, " Your son is alive" ; and he became a believer with all his household. 54 This was the second Sign which Jesus performed again after leaving Judaea for Galilee.
CHAP.
5 After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up
2 to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem there is a bath beside the sheep- pool, which is called in Hebrew Beth-zatha; it has five porticoes,
3 where a crowd of invalids used to lie, the blind, the lame, and folk with shrivelled limbs [waiting for
4 the water to bubble. For an angel used to descend from time to time into the bath, and disturb the water ; whereupon the first person who stepped in after the water was dis- turbed was restored to health, no matter what disease he had been
5 afflicted with].* Now one man was there, whose illness had lasted
6 thirty-eight years. Jesus saw him lying, and knowing he had been ill for a long while he said to him, " Do you want your health re-
7 stored ? " The invahd replied, " Sir, I have nobody to put me into the bath, when the water is disturbed ; and while I am getting down my- self, someone else gets in before
8 me." Jesus said to him, " Get
9 up, lift your mat, and walk." And instantly the man got well, lifted his mat, and started to walk.
10 Now it was the sabbath on that day. So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, " This is the sabbath, you have no right to be
11 carrying your mat." He replied, " But the man who healed me, he
* The words in brackets, omitted by von Soden, represent a passage which is absent from many important versions and maniiacripts.
told me, ' Lift your mat and walk '." They questioned him, " Who was 12 it that told you, ' Lift it and walk ' ? " Now the man who had 13 been healed did not know who it was, for (owing to the crowd on the spot) Jesus had slipped away. Later on Jesus met him in the 1 i temple, and said to him, " See, you are well and strong; commit no more sins, in case something worse befalls you," Off went the man 15 and told the Jews it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was 16 why the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did things like this on the sabbath. The reply of Jesus 17 was, " As my Father has continued working to this hour, so I work too." But this only made the Jews more 18 eager to kill him, because he not merely broke the sabbath but actually spoke of God as his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God. So Jesus made 19 this answer to them : " Truly, truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, nothing but what he sees the Father doing ; for whatever he does, the Son also does the same. The Father loves 20 the Son and shows him all that he is doing himself. He will show him still greater deeds than these, to make you wonder ; for as the 21 Father raises the dead and makes them alive, so the Son makes anyone live whom he chooses. Indeed the Father passes judgment 22 on no one; he has committed the judgment which determines life or death entirely to the Son, that all 23 men may honour the Son as they honour the Father. (He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him.) Truly, truly I tell you, he who 24 listens to my word and believes
119
S. JOHN V
him who sent me has eternal life; he will incur no sentence of judgment, he has already passed
25 from death across to life. Truly, truly I tell you, the time is com- ing, it has come already, when the dead will listen to the voice of the Son of God, and those who
26 listen will live ; for as the Father has life in himself, so too he has granted the Son to have life in
27 himself, and also granted him authority to act as judge, since he
28 is Son of man. Do not wonder at this ; for there is a time coming when all who are in the tombs will
29 listen to his voice and come out, the doers of good to be raised to life, ill-doers to be raised for the sentence of judgment.
30 I can do nothing of my own accord ; I pass judgment on men as I am taught by God, and my judgment is just, because my aim is not my own will but the will of
31 him who sent me. If I testify to myself, then my evidence is not
32 valid ; I have Another to bear testimony to me, and I know the evidence he bears to me is valid.
33 You sent to John, and he bore
34 testimony to the truth (though I accept no testimony from man — I only speak of this testimony, that
35 you may be saved) ; he was a burn- ing and a shining lamp, and you chose to rejoice for a while in his
36 light. But I possess a testimony greater than that of John, for the deeds which the Father has granted me to accomplish, the very deeds on which I am engaged, are my testi- mony that the Father has sent me.
87 The Father who sent me has also borne testimony to me himself; but his voice you have never heard,
38 his form you have never seen, his word you have not kept with you, 120
because you do not belie^'e him whom he sent. You search the 39 scriptures, imagining you possess eternal life in their pages — and they do testify to me — but you 40 refuse to come to me for life. I 41 accept no credit from men, but I 42 know there is no love to God in you ; here am I, come in the name of my 43 Father, and you will not accept me : let someone else come in his own name, and j^ou will accept him ! How can you believe, you who 44 accept credit from one another in- stead of aiming at the credit which comes from the only God ? Do not 45 imagine I am going to accuse you to the Father; Moses is your accuser, Moses who is your hope ! For if you believed Moses you 46 would believe me, since it was of me that he wrote. But if you do not 47 believe what he wrote, how will you ever believe what I say? "
The Jews were amazed, saying, 15 " How can this uneducated fellow manage to read ? " Jesus told 16 them in reply, " My teaching is not my own but his who sent me ; any- 17 one who chooses to do his will, will understand whether my teaching comes from God or whether I am talking on my own authority. He 18 who talks on his own authority aims at his own credit, but he who aims at the credit of the person who sent him, he is sincere, and there is no dishonesty in him. Did 19 not Moses give you the Law ? — and yet none of you honestly obeys the Law. Else, why do you want to kill me ? " The crowd replied, " You 20 are mad. Who wants to kill you ? " Jesus answered them, " I have only 21 performed one deed, and yet you are all amazed at it. Moses gave 22 you the rite of circumcision (not that it came from Moses, it came
S. JOHN VI
from j'our ancestors), and you will circumcise a man upon the sabbath.
23 Well, if a man gets circumcised upon the sabbath, to avoid breaking the Law of Moses, are you enraged at me for curing, not cutting, the entire body of a man upon the
24 sabbath ? Give over judging by appearances ; be just." *
CHAP.
6 After this Jesus went off to the opposite side of the sea of Galilee
2 (the lake of Tiberias), followed by a large crowd on account of the Signs which they had seen him
3 perform on sick folk. Now Jesus went up the hill and sat down
4 there with his disciples. (The passover, the Jewish festival, was
5 at hand.) On looking up and seeing a large crowd approaching, he said to Philip, " Where are we to buy bread for all these people
6 to eat ? " (lie said this to test Philip, for he knew what he was
7 going to do himself.) Philip an- swered, " Seven pounds' worth of bread would not be enough for them, for everybody to get even a morsel."
8 One of his disciples, Andrew the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,
9 " There is a servant here, with five barley-cakes and a couple of fish; but what is that among so many ? "
10 Jesus said, " Get the people to lie down." Now there was plenty of grass at the spot, so the men lay down, numbering about five thou- •11 sand. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to those who were reclining; so too with the fish, as much as
] 2 they wanted. And when they were satisfied, he said to the disciples, " Gather up the pieces left over,
• Restoring rii. 15-24 to this, its original position in the gospeL
so that nothing may be wasted." They gathered them up, and filled 13 twelve baskets with pieces of the five loaves left over from the meal. Now when the people saw the 14 Sign he had performed, they said, " This really is the Prophet who is to come into the world ! " Where- 15 upon Jesus perceived they meant to come and seize him to make a king of him; so he withdrew by himself to the hill again.
When evening came, his disciples 16 went down to the sea, and em- 17 barking in a boat they started across the sea for Capharnahum. By this time it was dark, Jesus had not reached them yet, and the 18 sea was getting up under a strong wind. After rowing about three 19 or four miles they saw Jesus walking on the sea and nearing the boat. They were terrified, but he said to 20 them, " It is I, have no fear "; so 21 they agreed to take him on board, and the boat instantly reached the land they were making for.
Next day the crowd which had 22 been left standing on the other side of the sea bethought them that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not gone aboard with his disciples, who had left by them- selves. So, as some boats from 23 Tiberias had put in near the spot where they had eaten bread after the Lord's thanksgiving, and as 24 the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they embarked in the boats themselves and made for Capharnahum in search of Jesus. When they found 25 him on the other side of the sea, they said, " Rabbi, when did you get here? " Jesus answered them, 26 " Truly, truly I tell you, it is not because you saw Signs that you are in search of me, but because
121
S. JOHN VI
you ate these loaves and had your
27 fill. Work for no perishing food, but for that lasting food which means eternal life; the Son of man will give you that, for the Father, God, has certified him."
28 Then they asked him, " What must we do to perform the works of
29 God ? " Jesus rephed to them, " This is the work of God, to believe in him whom God has sent."
30 " Well then," they said, " what is the Sign you perform, that we may see it and believe you ? What work
31 have you to show ? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert : as it is written. He gave them bread from
32 heaven to eat.^^ Then said Jesus, " What Moses gave you was not the bread from heaven ; it is my Father who gives you the real bread from
33 heaven — for the bread of God is what comes down from heaven
34 and gives life to the world." " Ah, sir," they said to him, " give us
35 that bread always." Jesus said, " I am the bread of life ; he who comes to me Mall never be hungry, and he who believes on me will never
36 be thirsty again. But, as I told you, though you have seen me,
37 you do not believe. All those will come to me who are the Father's gift to me, and never will I reject
38 one of them ; for I have descended from heaven not to carry out my own will but the will of him who
39 sent me, and the will of him who sent me is that I lose none of those who are his gift to me, but that I raise them all up on the last day.
40 It is the will of my Father that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should possess eternal life, and that I should raise him up on the last day."
41 Now the Jews murmured at him for saving, " I am the bread which
122
has come down from heaven." They said, " Is this not Jesus the 42 son of Joseph ? We know his father and mother. How can he claim now, ' I have descended from heaven ' ? " Jesus replied to them, 43 " Stop murmuring to yourselves. No one is able to come to me 44 unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me (and I will raise him up on the last day). In the prophets 45 it is written, and they will he all instructed by God ; everyone who has listened to the Father and learned from him, comes to me. Not that 46 anyone has seen the Father — he only, who is from God, he has seen the Father. Truly, truly I 47
tell you, the believer has eternal life. I am the bread of life. 48 Your ancestors ate manna in the 49 desert, but they died; the bread 50 that comes down from heaven is such that one eats of it and never dies. I am the living bread which 51 has come down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and more, the bread I will give is my flesh, given for the life of the world."
The Jews then wrangled vnth one 52 another, saying, " How can he give us his flesh to eat ? " So Jesus said 53 to them, " Truly, truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life within you. He who 54 feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood possesses eternal life (and I will raise him up on the last day), for my flesh is real food and 55 my blood is real drink. He who 56 feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains within me, as I remain within him. Just as the 57 living Father sent me and I live by the Father, so he who feeds on me will also live by me. Such is the 58
S. JOHN VII
bread which has come down from heaven : your ancestors ate their bread and died, but he who feeds
59 on this bread will live for ever." This he said as he taught in the synagogue at Capharnahum.
60 Now many of his disciples, on hearing it, said, " This is hard to take in ! Who can listen to talk
61 like this? " Jesus, inwardly con- scious that his disciples were mur- muring at it, said to them, " So
62 this upsets you ? Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascend- ing to where he formerly existed ?
63 What gives life is the Spirit : flesh is of no avail at all. The words I have uttered to you are spirit and
64 life. And yet there are some of you who do not believe " (for .Jesus knew from the very first who the unbelieving were, and who was to
65 betray him ; that was why* he said ' No one is able to come to me unless he is allowed by the Father ').
66 After that, many of his disciples drew back and would not associate
67 with him any longer. So .Jesus said to the twelve, " You do not
68 want to go, too ? " Simon Peter answered liim, *' Lord, who are we
69 to go to ? You have got words of eternal life, and we believe, we are certain, that you ai'c the
70 holy One of God." Jesus answered them, " Did I not choose j'ou, the twelve ? And vet one of you is a devil ! "
71 (He meant Judas the son of Simon Jscariot; for Judas was to be- tray him — and he was one of the twelve.)
7 After this Jesus moved about in Galilee; he would not move in
* Reading S/a rovro ixcyei', with « (so Biass and Merx), instead of ikf^iv Htk tovto.
Judaea, because the Jews were trying to kill him.
Now the Jewish festival of booths 2 was near, so his brothers said to 3 him, " Leave this and go across into Judaea, to let your disciples witness what you can do; for no- 4 body who aims at public recogni- tion ever keeps his actions secret. Since you can do these deeds, display yourself to the world " (for even his brothers did not 5 believe in him). Jesus said to 6 them, " My time has not come yet, but your time is always at hand ; 7 the world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its deeds arc evil. Go up to the 8 festival yourselves ; I am not going up to this festival, for my time has not arrived yet." So saying he 9 stayed on in Galilee. But after his 10 brothers had gone up to the festival, he went up too, not publicly but as it were privately. At the festival 11 the Jews were looking for him, saying, "Where is he?" And 12 the crowd disputed about him hotly; some said, "He is a good man," but others said, " No, he is misleading the people." For fear 13 of the Jews, however, nobody spoke of him in public.
When the festival was half over, 14 .Jesus went up to the temple and began to teach. f Then said some 23 of the .Jerusalemites, " Is this not the man they want to kill ? Yet 26 here he is, opening his lips in public, and they say nothing to him ! Can the authorities have really discovered that he is the Christ ? No, we know where 27 this man comes from; but when the Christ does come, no one will know where he comes from." So 28 Jesus cried aloud, as he was teaching t See note, p. 121.
123
S. JOHN VIII
in the temple, " You know me ? you know where I come from? But I have not come on my own initiative; I am sent, and sent by Him who is real. You do not
29 know Him but I know Him, because I have come from Him and He sent
30 me." So they tried to arrest him ; but no one laid hands on him, because his time had not come
81 yet. Indeed many of the people believed in him, saying, " When the Christ does come, will he per- form more Signs than this man ? "
32 The Pharisees heard the people dis- cussing Jesus in this way, so the high priests and Pharisees despatched
33 attendants to arrest him. Then said Jesus, " I will be with you a little longer, then I go to Him who
34 sent me ; you w^ill search for me but you will not find me, and where
35 I go, you cannot come." The Jews said to themselves, " Where is he going, that we will not find him? Is he off to the Dispersion among the Greeks, to teach the Greeks?
36 What does he mean by saying, ' You will search for me but you will not find me, and where I go, you cannot come ' ? "
37 Now on the last day, the great day, of the festival, Jesus stood and cried aloud, " If anyone is athirst, let him come to me and drink;
38 he who believes in me — out of his body, as scripture says, streams of
39 living water will flow " (he meant by this the Spirit which those who believed in him were to receive : — as yet there was no Spirit, because
40 Jesus had not been glorified yet). On hearing this some of the people
41 said, " This really is the Prophet " ; others said, " He is the Christ " ; but others said, " No, surely the Christ does not come from Galilee ?
42 Does not scripture say it is from the
124
offspring of David, frmn Da\nd's village of Bethlehem, that the Christ is to come? " So the people were 43 divided over him; some wanted to 44 arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. Then the attendants went 45 back to the high priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, " Why have you not brought him with you ? " The attendants replied, 46 " No man ever spoke as he does." The Pharisees retorted, " Are you 47 misled as well ? Have any of the au- 48 thorities or of the Pharisees believed on him ? As for this mob, with its 49 ignorance of the Law — it is ac- cursed ! " Nicodemus, one of their 50 number (the same who had come to him before), said to them, " But 51 surely our Law does not condemn the accused before hearing what he has to say and ascertaining his offence? " They answered him, 52 "And are you from Galilee, too? Search and you will see that no prophet ever springs from Galilee."
[And every one of them went 53 home, but Jesus went to the Hill of 8 Olives. Early in the morning he 2 returned to the temple, the people all came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and 3 Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of committing adultery, and making her stand forward they said to 4 him, " Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of commit- ting adultery. Now Moses has 5 commanded us in the Law to stone such creatures ; but what do j'^ou say ? " (They said this to test 6 him, in order to get a charge against him.) Jesus stooped down, and began to write with his finger on the ground ; but as they per- 7 sisted with their question, he raised himself and said to them, " Let
S. JOHN VIII
the innocent among you throw the
8 first stone at her " ; then he stooped down again and wrote on the ground.
9 And on hearing what he said, they went away one by one, beginning with the older men, till Jesus was left alone with the woman standing
10 before him. Raising himself, Jesus said to her, " Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned
11 you? " She said, " No one, sir." Jesus said, " Neither do I ; be off, and never sin again."]*
12 Then Jesus again addressed them, saying, " I am the light of the world : he who follows me will not walk in darkness, he will enjoy the
13 light of life." So the Pharisees said to him, " You are testifying to yourself ; your evidenceisnotvalid."
14 Jesus rephed to them, " Though I do testify to myself, my evidence is valid, because I know where I have come from and where I am going to — whereas you do not know where I have come from or where
15 I am going to. You judge by the
16 outside. I judge no one ; and though I do judge, my judgment is true, because I am not by myself — there is myself and the Father who sent
17 me. Why, it is written in your own Law that the evidence of two
18 persons is valid : I testify to my- self, and the Father who sent me
19 also testifies to me." " Where is your Father ? " they said. Jesus replied, " You know neither me nor my Father; if you had known me you would have known my Father
20 also." These words he spoke in the trc asury, as he was teaching in the temple, but no one laid hands on him, because his time had not come yet.
* It is uncertain to which, if any, of the canonical gospels this fragment of primitive tradition originally belonged.
Then he said to them again, " I 21 go away, and you will search for me, but you wnll die in your sin ; where I go, you cannot come.'* So the Jews said, " Will he kill 22 himself ? Is that why he says, ' Where I go, you cannot come ' ? " He said to them, " You are from 23 the world below, I am from the world above : you belong to this world, I do not belong to this world. So I told you, you would die in 24 your sins ; for unless you believe who I am, you will die in your sins." They said, " Who are you ? " 25 Jesus replied, " Why should I talk to you at all ? I have a great deal 26 to say about you and many a judgment to pass upon you; but he who sent me is true, and so I tell the world what I have learned from him." They did not understand 27 he was speaking to them about the Father; so Jesus said, " When you 28 have lifted up the Son of man, you will know then who I am, and that I do nothing of my own accord, but speak as the Father has taught me. He who sent me is at my side ; 29 he has not left me alone; for I always do what pleases him." As 30 he said this, a number believed in him. So Jesus addressed the Jews 31 who had believed him, saying, " If you abide by what I say, you are really disciples of mine : you will 32 understand the truth, and the truth will set you free." " We are 33 Abraham's offspring," they re- torted, " we have never been slaves to anybody. What do you mean by saying, ' You will be free ' ? " Jesus replied, " Truly, truly I tell 34 you, everyone who commits sin is a slave. t Now the slave does not 35
t Omitting ttjs afxaprias with D, some evidence from the Latin and Syriae versions, etc. It is a glosa which disturbs the sense of the passage.
126
S. JOHN IX
remain in the household for all time; the son of the house does.
36 So, if the Son sets you free, you
37 will be really free. I know you are Abraham's offspring ! Yet you want to kill me, since my word makes no headway among you !
38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you act as you have
39 learned from your father." They answered him, " Abraham is our father." " If you are Abraham's children," said Jesus, " then do as
40 Abraham did ; but now you want to kill me — to kill a man who has told you the truth, the truth I have learned from God. Abraham
41 did not do that. You do the deeds of your father." They said to him, *' We are no bastards : we have
42 one father, even God." Said Jesus, " If God were your father, you would love me, for I came here from God; I did not come of my own accord, I was sent by him.
43 Why do you not understand my speech ? Because you are unable
44 to listen to what I am saying. You belong to your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires; he was a slayer of men from the very beginning, and he has no place in the truth because there is no truth in him : when he tells a lie, he is expressing his own nature, for he is a liar and the
45 father of lies. It is because I tell the truth, that you do not believe
46 me. Which of you can convict me of sin? If I tell the truth, why
47 do you not believe me ? He who belongs to God listens to the words of God ; you do not listen to them, because you do not belong to God."
48 The Jews retorted, " Are we not right in sapng you are a Samaritan,
49 you are mad ? " Jesus replied, " I am not mad : I honour my
126
Father and you dishonour me. However, I do not aim at my own 50 credit; there is One who cares for my credit, and he is judge. Truly, 51 truly I tell you, if an)^one holds to what I say, he will never see death." The Jews said to him, " Now we are 52 sure you are mad. Abraham is dead, and so are all the prophets ; and you declare, ' If anyone holds to what I saj', he will never taste death ' ! Are you greater than 53 our father Abraham ? He is dead, and the prophets are dead. Who do you claim to be?" Jesus 54 replied, " Were I to glorify myself, my glory would be nothing; it is my Father who glorifies me; you say ' He is our God,' but you do 55 not imderstand him. I know him. Were I to say, 'I do not know him,' I would be a liar like your- selves; but I do know him and I hold to his word. Your father 56 Abraham exulted that he was to see my Day : he did see it and he rejoiced." Then said the Jews to 57 him, " You are not fifty years old, and Abraham has seen you ? "* " Truly, truly I tell you," said Jesus, 58 " I have existed before Abraham was born." At this they picked up 59 stones to throw at him, but Jesus concealed himself and made his way out of the temple.
CHA?.
As he passed along he saw a man 9 who had been blind from his birth ; and his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, 2 for whose sin — for his own or for his parents' — was he born blind ? " Jesus replied, " Neither for his 3 own sin nor for his parents' — it
• Reading iwpaKtu o-e with N and the Sinaitic Syriac, etc. — " le^on plus naturelle peut-etre que la le^on commune, maia qui a pu choquer, parce qu'elle semble mettro Abraham au-dossus du Chiist " (Loisy).
S. JOHN IX
was to let the work of God be
4 illustrated in him. While daylight lasts, we must be busy with the work of God : night comes, when
5 no one can do any work. When I am in the world, I am light for
6 the world." With these words he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, which he smeared
7 on the man's eyes, saying, " Go and wash them in the pool of Siloam " (Siloam meaning ' sent '). So off he went and washed them, and
8 went home seeing. Whereupon the neighbours and those to whom he had been a familiar sight as a beggar, said, " Is this not the man
9 who used to sit and beg? " Some said, "It is"; others said, "No, but it is like him." He said, " I
10 am the man." So they asked him, " How were your eyes opened ? "
11 He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some clay and smeared my eyes wnth it and told me, ' Go and wash them in Siloam ' ; so I went and washed them, and I
12 got my sight." " Where is he? " they asked ; he answered, " I do not
13 know." They brought him be- fore the Pharisees, this man who
14 had once been blind. Now it was on the sabbath day that Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes.
15 So the Pharisees asked him again how he had regained his sight, and he told them, " He smeared some clay on my eyes, and I washed them,
16 and now I can see." Then said some of the Pharisees, " This man is not from God, for he does not keep the sabbath " ; others said, " HoAV can a sinner perform such Signs ? " They were divided on
!7 this. So they asked the blind man once more, " What have you to say about him, for opening your eyes ?" The man rephed, " I say he is a
prophet." Now the Jews would 18 not believe he had been born blind and had regained his sight, till they summoned the parents of the man who had regained his sight and 19 asked them, " Is this your son, the son you declare was born blind ? How is it that he can see now ? " His parents answered, " This is our 20 son, and he was born blind ; we know that. But how he can see 21 to-day, we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask himself; he is of age, he can speak for himself/' (His parents 22 said this because they were afraid of the Jews ; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed him to be Christ should be excommunicated. That was 23 why the man's parents said, " He is of age, ask himself.") So the 24 man born blind was summoned a second time, and told, " Now give God the praise ; this man, we know quite well, is only a sinner." To 25 which he replied, " I do not know whether he is a sinner; one thing I do know, that once I was blind and now I can see." " What did 26 he do to you ? " they said ; " How did he open your eyes ? " He 27 retorted, " I have told you that already, and you would not listen to me. Why do you want to hear it over again ? Do you want to be disciples of his ? " Then they 28 stormed at him : " You are his disciple, we are disciples of Moses ! We know God spoke to Moses, but 29 we do not know where this fellow comes from." The man replied to 30 them, " Well, this is astonishing ! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he has opened my eyes ! God, we know, does not 31 listen to sinners ; he listens to any- one who is devout and who obeys
127
S. JOHN X
82 his will. It is unheard of, since the world began, that anyone should
33 open a blind man's eyes. If this man were not from God, he could
34 do nothing." They retorted, " And so you would teach us — you, born in utter depravity ! " Then they
35 expelled him. Jesus heard that they had expelled him, and on
36 meeting him he said, " You believe in the Son of man ?" * "Who is that, sir? " said the man, " tell me,
37 that I may believe in him." " You have seen liim," Jesus said, " he
38 is talking to you." He said, " I do believe, Lord " — and he wor-
39 shipped him. Then said Jesus, " It is for judgment that I have come into this world, to make the sightless see, to make the seeing
40 blind." On hearing this the Pharisees who were beside him asked, " And are we blind ? "
41 Jesus rephed, " If you were blind, you would not be guilty ; but, as it is, you claim to have sight — and so your sin remains." f
19 The Jews were again divided over
20 these Avords. A number of them said, " He is mad. Why listen to
21 him ? " Others said, " These are not a madman's words. Can a mad- man open the eyes of the blind ? "
22 Then came the festival of Dedica- tion at Jerusalem; it was winter,
23 and Jesus used to walk inside the temple, in the portico of Solomon.
24 So the Jews gathered round him and asked, " How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."
25 Jesus replied, " I have told you, but you do not believe; the deeds I do in the name of my Father
26 testify to me, but you do not
* Reading avdp<^ov instead of Oeov. t Transposing x. 19-29, for the sake of sequence, to the close of ch. is. 128
believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep listen to 27 my voice, and I know them and 28 they follow me; and I give them eternal life ; they will never perish and no one will tear them out of my hand. My Father who t 29 gave me them is stronger than all, and no one can tear anything out of the Father's hand.
CHAP.
Truly, truly I tell you, he who 10 does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs up somewhere else, he is a thief and a robber; he who enters by the gate is the 2 shepherd of the sheep. The gate- 3 keeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice; he calls his sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought 4 all his sheep outside, he goes in front of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice; they will not follow a stranger, 5 they will run from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." Jesus told them this 6 allegory, but they did not under- stand what he was saying to them ; so he said to them again, " Truly, 7 truly I tell you, I am the shepherd § of the sheep; all who ever came 8 before me have been thieves and robbers — but the sheep would not listen to them. (I am the Gate; 9 whoever enters by me will be saved, he will go in and out and find pasture.) The thief only comes 10 to steal, to slay, and to destroy : I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. I am 11
I Reading hs . . . nd^wy with A 1, the Syriac versiona, etc.
§ d Toifirjv must be read here instead of ij 6vpa, for the sake of the sense, although it seems to have been preserved by the Sahidic version alons.
S. JOHN XI
the good shepherd ; a good shep- herd lays down his OAvn hfe for
12 the sheep. The hired man, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, deserts them when he sees the wolf coming; he runs away, leaving the wolf to tear and
13 scatter them, just because he is a hired man, who has no interest
14 in the sheep. I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep and
15 my sheep knoAV me (just as the Father knows me and I know the Father), and I lay down my life
16 for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, which do not belong to this fold ; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice; so it will be one flock, one shepherd.
17 This is why my Father loves me, because I lay down my life to take
18 it up again. No one takes it from me, I lay it doMn of my own accord : I have power to lay it down and also power to take it up again ; I have m)'^ Father's command for
30 this. I and my Father are one — ."
31 The Jews again caught up stones
32 to stone him. Jesus replied, " I have let you see many a good deed of God ; for which of them do you
38 mean to stone me?" The Jews retorted, " We mean to stone you, not for a good deed, but for blas- phemy, because you, a mere man,
34 make yourself God." Jesus an- swered, " Is it not written in your
35 Law, ' I said, you are gods ' ? If the Law said they were gods, to whom the word of God came — and scripture cannot be broken —
36 do you mean to tell me, whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ' You are blaspheming,' because I said, ' I am God's Son ' ?
37 If I am not doing the deeds of my
38 Father, do not believe me ; but if I am, then believe the deeds.
though you will not believe me — that you may learn and under- stand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." Once more 39 they tried to arrest him, but he escaped their hands and went 40 across the Jordan, back to the spot where John had baptized at first. There he stayed ; and many came 41 to him, saying, " John did not perform any Sign, but all he ever said about this man was true." And many believed in him there. 42
CHAP.
Now there was a man ill, 11 Lazarus of Bethany — the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (The Mary whose brother Lazarus 2 was ill was the Mary who anointed the Lord with perfume and waped his feet with her hair.) Jesus 5 loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus ; * so the sisters sent to 3 him, saying, " Lord, he whom you love is ill." When Jesus heard it, 4 he said, " This illness is not to end in death ; the end of it is the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified thereby." So, when 6 he heard of the illness, he stayed where he was for two days ; then, 7 after that, he said to his disciples, " Let us go back to Judaea." " Rabbi," said the disciples, " the 8 Jews were trying to stone you only the other day ; are you going back there?" Jesus replied, "Are there 9 not twelve hours in the day?
If one walks during the day he does not stumble, for he sees the light of this world :
but if one walks during the night 10 he does stumble, for the light is not in him."
• I venture to restore ver. 5 to what appears to have been its original position between vera. 2 and 3.
129
S. JOHN XI
11 This he said, then added, " Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep ; I am going to waken him."
12 " Lord," said the disciples, " if he has fallen asleep, he will get better."
13 Jesus, however, had been speaking of his death ; but as they imagined
14 he meant natural sleep, he then told them plainly, " Lazarus is
15 dead; and for your sakes I am glad I was not there, that you may believe. Come now, let us go to
16 him." Whereupon Thomas (called ' the Twin ') said to his fellow- disciples, " Let us go too, let us die along with him ! "
17 Now when Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been buried
20 for four days.* Then Martha, hearing of the arrival of Jesus, went out to meet him, while Mary
21 sat at home. Said Martha to Jesus, " Had you been here, Lord, my brother would not have died.
22 But now — well, I know whatever you ask God for, he will grant you."
23 Jesus said to her, " Your brother
24 will rise again." " I know," said Martha, " he will rise at the re-
25 surrection, on the last day." Jesus said to her, " I am myself resur- rection and life :
he who believes in me will live, even if he dies,
26 and no one who lives and believes
in me will ever die.
27 You believe that ? " " Yes, Lord," she said, "I do believe you are the Christ, the Son of God, who
28 was to come into the world" — and i with these words she went off to | call her sister Mary, telling her j secretly, " The Teacher is here,
29 and he is calling for you." So, j on hearing this, Mary rose hurriedly
* Another case of displacement; vers. 18 and 19 seem originally to have lain between vers. 30 and 31. 130
and went to him. Jesus had not 30 entered the village yet, he was still at the spot where Martha had met him. Now as Bethany is not 18 far from Jerusalem, only about two miles away, a number of Jews had 19 gone to condole with Martha and Mary about their brother ; and when 31 the Jews who were condoling with her inside the house noticed her rise hurriedly and go out, they fol- lowed her, as they imagined she was going to wail at the tomb. But when 32 Mary reached Jesus she dropped at his feet, crying, "Had j'ou been here. Lord, my brother would not have died." Now when Jesus 33 saw her wailing and saw the Jews who accompanied her wailing, he chafed in spirit and was disquieted. " Where have you laid him ? " he 34 asked. They answered, " Come and see, sir." Jesus burst into tears. 35 Whereupon the Jews said, " See 36 how he loved him ! " — though some 37 of them asked, " Could he not have prevented him from dying, when he could open a blind man's eyes ? " This made Jesus chafe afresh, so 38 he went to the tomb ; it was a cave with a boulder to close it. Jesus 39 said, " Remove the boulder." " Lord," said Martha, the dead man's sister, " he will be stinking by this time; he has been dead four days." " Did I not tell you," 40 said Jesus, " if you will only believe, you will see the glory of God ? " Then they removed the boulder, 41 and Jesus, lifting his eyes to heaven, said, " Father, I thank thee for listening to me. (I knew thou 42 wouldst always listen to me, but I spoke on account of the crowd around, that they might believe thou hast sent me.)" So saying, 43 he exclaimed with a loud cry, " Lazarus, come out ! " Out came 44
S. JOHN XII
the dead man, his hands and feet swathed in bandages, and his face tied up with a towel. Jesus said, " Untie him, and let him move."
45 Now a number of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and who witnessed what he had done, be-
46 lieved in him. But some of them went off to the Pharisees and told
47 them what Jesus had done ; where- upon the high priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. " Whatever is to be done ? " they said. " The fellow is
48 performing a number of Signs. If we let him alone, like this, every- body will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and sup- press our holy Place and our
49 nation." But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said, " You know nothing
50 about it — you do not understand it is in your own interests that one man should die for the People, instead of the whole nation being
51 destroyed." (He did not say this simply of his own accord ; he was high priest that year, and his words were a prophecy that Jesus Avas to
52 die for the nation, and not merely for the nation but to gather into one the scattered children of God.)
53 So from that day their plan was
54 to kill him. Accordingly Jesus no longer appeared in public among the Jews, but withdrew to the country adjoining the desert, to a town called Ephraim; there he stayed with the disciples.
55 Now the passover of the Jews was near, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem, to purify themselves before the
56 passover. They looked out for Jesus, and as they stood in the
temple they said to one another, "What do you think? Do you think he Mill not come up to the festival ? " (The high priests and 57 the Pharisees had given orders that they were to be informed, if any- one found out where he was, so that they might arrest him.)
CHAP.
Six days before the festival, 12 Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus stayed (whom Jesus had raised from the dead). They gave 2 a supper for him there; Martha waited on him, and Lazarus was among those who reclined at table beside him. Then Mary, taking 3 a pound of expensive perfume, real nard, anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair, till the house was filled with the scent of the perfume. One of 4 his disciples, Judas Iscariot (who was to betray him), said, " Why was 5 not this perfume sold for ten pounds, and the money given to the poor? " (Not that he cared for 6 the poor; he said this because he was a thief, and because he carried the money-box and pilfered what was put in.) Then said Jesus, 7 " Let her alone, let her keep what she has for the day of my burial. You have always the poor beside 8 you, but you have not always me."
Now the great mass of the Jews 9 learned he was there, and they came not only on account of Jesus but to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. So the 10 high priests planned to kill Lazarus as well, since it was owing to him 11 that a number of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.
Next day the great mass of 12 people who had come up for the festival heard that Jesus was enter- ing Jerusalem, and taking palm- 13
131
S. JOHN XII
branches they went out to meet him, shouting, " Hosanna ! Blessed he he xvho comes in the
14 Lord's name,
the king of Israel ! " And Jesus came across a young ass and seated himself on it; as it is written,
15 Fear not, daughter of Sion ; here is your king coming, seated on an ass's colt.
16 (His disciples did not understand this at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered this had been written of him and
17 had happened to him.) Now the
Eeople who were Avith him when e called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead,
18 testified to it ; and that was why the crowd went out to meet him, because they heard he had per-
19 formed this Sign. Then said the Pharisees to one another, " You see, you can do nothing ! Look, the whole world has gone after him."
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who had come up to
21 worship at the festival ; they came to Philip of Bethsaida in Galilee and appealed to him, saying, " Sir,
22 we want to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
23 And Jesus answered, " The hour has come for the Son of man to be
24 glorified. Truly, truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains a single grain ; but if it dies, it bears
25 rich fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who cares not for his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.
26 If anyone serves me, let him
follow me, 132
and where I am, there my servant will be also :
if anyone serves me,
my Father will honour him.
My soul is now disquieted. What 27 am I to say ? ' Father, save me from this hour ' ? Nay, it is some- thing else that has brought me to this hour: I will say, ' Father, glorify 28 thy name.' " Then came a voice from heaven, " I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." When they heard the sound, the 29 people standing by said it had thundered ; others said, " An angel spoke to him." Jesus answered, 30 " This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. Now is this 31 world to be judged ; now the Prince of this world will be expelled. But I, when I am lifted up from the 32 earth, will draw all men to myself." (By this he indicated the kind of 33 death he was to die.) So the 34 people answered, " We have learned from the Law that the Christ is to remain for ever ; what do you mean by saying that the Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man? " Then Jesus said to them, 35 " The Light will shine among you for a little longer yet; walk while you have the Light, that the dark- ness may not overtake you. He who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. While 36 you have the Light, believe in the Light, that you may be sons of the Light." * And Jesus cried 44 aloud, " He who believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me, and he who beholds 45 me beholds him who sent me. I 46 have come as light into the world, that no one who believes in me may remain in the dark. If any- 47
* Restoring vers. 44-50 to their original position in the middle of ver. 3ti.
S. JOHN XIII
one hears my words and does not keep them, it is not I who judge him ; for I have not come to judge the world but to save the world.
48 He who rejects nic and will not receive my words has indeed a judge : the word I have spoken
49 will judge him on the last day, for I have not spoken of my own accord — the Father who sent me, he it was who ordered me what to say
50 and what to speak. And I know his orders mean eternal life. Therefore when I speak, I speak as the Father
36 has told me." With these words Jesus went away and hid from them.
37 Now for all the Signs he had performed before them, they did
38 not believe in him — that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled :
Lord, who has believed what they
heard from us ? And to whom has the arm of the
Lord been revealed ?
39 This was v>'hy they could not believe; for Isaiah again said,
40 lie has blinded their eyes
and made their hearts insensible, to 'prevent them seeii g with their eyes and understandi g ivith their hearts and turning for me to cure them.
41 (Isaiah said this because he saw
42 his glory and spoke of him.) Still, a number even of the authorities believed in him, though they would not confess it on account of the Pharisees, in case of being excom-
43 munieated ; they preferred the ap- proval of men to the approval of God.
13 Now before the jjassover festival Jesus knew the time had come for him to pass from this world to the Father. He had loved his own in this world and he loved
them to the end; so at supper, 2 knowing that though the devil had suggested to Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, the 3 Father had put everything into his hands — knowing that he had come from God and was going to God, he rose from table, laid 4 aside his robe, and tied a towel round him, then poured water into 5 a basin, and began to wash the feet of the disciples, wiping them with the towel he had tied round him. He came to Simon Peter. 6 " Lord," said he, " you to wash my feet ! " Jesus answered him, " You 7 do not understand just now what I am doing, but you M'ill understand it later on." Said Peter, " You 8 will never wash my feet, never ! " " Unless I wash you," Jesus rephed, " you will not share my lot." "Lord," said Simon Peter, "then 9 wash not only my feet but my hands and head." Jesus said, " He 10 who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed ; he is clean all over. And you are clean — but not all of you " (he knew the traitor; that 11 was why he said, " You are not all clean "). Then, after washing their 12 feet and putting on his robe, he lay down again. "Do you know," he said to them, " what I have been doing to you ? You call me Teacher 13 and Lord, and you are right : that is what I am. Well, if I have washed 14 your feet, I who am your Lord and Teacher, you are bound to wash one another's feet; for I have been 15 setting you an example, that you should do what I have done to you. Truly, truly I tell you, a 16 servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than he who sent him. If you 17 know all this, blessed are you if you really do it. When I say ' you,' 18
133
S. JOHN XV
I do not mean you all ; I know the men of my choice, and I made my choice that this scripture might be fulfilled, he who eats my bread has
19 lifted up his heel against me. I am telling you this now, before it occurs, so that when it has occurred
20 you may believe who I am. (Truly, truly I tell you,
he who receives anyone I send
receives me, and he who receives me receives
him who sent me.) "
21 On saying this Jesus was disquieted in spirit : he testified and said, " Truly, truly I tell you, one of you
22 will betray me." The disciples looked at each other, at a loss to
23 know which of them he meant. As one of his disciples was reclining on his breast — he was the favourite of
24 Jesus — Peter nodded to him, saying,
25 " Tell us who he means." The disci- ple just leant back on the breast of Jesus and said, " Lord, who is it ? "
26 Jesus answered, " The man I am going to give this piece of bread to, when I dip it in the dish." Then he took the piece of bread, dipped it, and gave it to Judas, the son
27 of Simon Iscariot ; and when he took the bread, at that moment Satan entered him. Then Jesus told him, " Be quick with what
28 you have to do." (None of those at table understood why he said
29 this to him ; some of them thought that as Judas kept the money-box, Jesus told him to buy what they needed for the festival or to give
80 something to the poor.) So Judas ^ent out immediately after taking
the bread. And it was night. 31 When he had gone out, Jesus
said.*
• Chapters xv. and xvi. are restored to their original position in the middle of ver. 31. 134
" I AM the real Vine, and my 15 Father is the vine-dresser ; he cuts 2 away any branch on me which is not bearing fruit, and cleans every branch which does bear fruit, to make it bear richer fruit. You 3 are already clean, by the word I have spoken to you. Remain in 4 me, as I remain in you : just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, without remaining on the vine, neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the 5 branches. He who remains in me, as I in him, bears rich fruit (because apart from me you can do nothing). If anj'^one does not 6 remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers up; then the branches are gathered and thrown into the fire to be burned. If you remain in me and 7 my words remain in you, then ask whatever you like and you shall have it. As you bear rich fruit 8 and prove yourselves my disciples, my Father is glorified. As the 9 Father has loved me, so I have loved you ; remain within my love. If you keep my commands you 10 will remain within my love, just as I have kept my Father's com- mands and remain within his love.
I have told you this, that my 11 joy may be within you and your joy complete. This is my com- 12 mand : j^ou are to love one another as I have loved you. To lay life 13 down for his friends, man has no greater love than that. You are 14 my friends — if you do what I command you; I call you servants 15 no longer, because a servant does not know what his master is doing : I call you friends, because I have im- parted to you all that I have learned from my Father. You have not 16 chosen me, it is I who have chosen
S. JOHN XVI
you, appointing 5'on to go and bear fruit — fruit that lasts, so that the Father may grant you whatever
17 you ask in my name. This is what I command you, to love one another.
18 If the world hates you, remember
19 it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what it owned ; it is because you do not belong to the world, because I have chosen you from the world,
20 that the world hates you. Re- member what I told you, ' A ser- vant is not greater than his master.'
If they persecuted me, they will
persecute you ; if they hold to my word, they will
hold to 5^ours.
21 They will do all this to you on account of my name, because they know not him who sent me.
22 They would not be guilty, if I had not come and spoken to them ; but, as it is, they have
23 no excuse for their sin — he who hates me hates my Father also.
24 They would not be guilty, if I had not done deeds among them such as no one has ever done; but, as it is, they have seen — and they have hated — both me and
25 my Father. It is that the word written in their Law may be ful- filled : they hated me for no cause.
26 When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which issues from the Father, he will
27 bear witness to me ; and you too are witnesses, for you have been with me from the very beginning.
16 I have told you all this, to keep
2 you from being repelled. They will
excommunicate you; indeed the
time is coming when anyone who
6
8
9
kills you will imagine he is perform- ing a service to God. This they 3 will do, because they have not known the Father nor me.
I have told you all this, so 4 that when the time for it arrives, you may remember what I said to you. I did not tell you about this at the beginning, because I was with you then ; but now I am going to 5 him who sent me. And yet not one of you asks, ' Where are you going? ' No, your heart is full of sorrow at what I have told you. Yet — I am telling you the truth — my going is for your good. If I do not depart, the Helper will not come to you ; whereas if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world, convincing men of sin, of righteous- ness, and of judgment : of sin, because they do not believe in me; of righteousness, because I 10 go to the Father and you see me no more; of judgment, because 11 the Prince of this world has been judged. I have still much to say 12 to you, but you cannot bear it just now. However, when the 13 Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you all to the truth ; for he will not speak of his own accord, he will say whatever he is told, and he will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify me, for he 14 will draw upon what is mine and disclose it to you. All that the 15 Father has is mine; that is why I say, ' he will draw upon what is mine and disclose it to you.' In a little while, you will behold 16 me no longer; then, after a little, you will see me." So some of his 17 disciples said to one another, " What does he mean by telling us, ' In a little while, you will behold me no longer; then, after a little,
135
S. JOHN XIV
you will see me ' ? and, ' I go to
18 the Father ' ? " They said, " What is the meaning of 'In a little ' ? We do not understand what he is
19 saying." Jesus knew they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, " Is this what you are discussing together, why I said, ' In a little while, you will not see me : then, after a little, you will behold me ' ?
* 20 Truly, truly I tell you, you ^^dll be wailing and lamenting while the world is rejoicing; you will be sorrowful, but then your sorrow
21 will be changed into joy. When a woman is in labour she is sorry, for her time has come ; but when the child is born she remembers her anguish no longer, for joy that a human being has been born into
22 the world. So with you. Just now you are in sorrow, but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice — with a joy that no one
23 can take from you. And on that day you will not ask me any questions. Truly, truly I tell you, whatever you ask the Father, he
24 will give you in my name ; hitherto you have asked nothing in my name ; ask and you will receive, that your
25 joy may be full. I have told you this in figures, but the time is coming when I will speak to you in figures no longer; I will let you know plainly about the Father.
26 On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you I will ask the Father on your
27 behalf; for the Father loves you himself, because you have loved me and believed that I came forth
28 from the Father. From the Father I came and I entered the world; again, I leave the world and I go
29 to the Father." His disciples said, " Now, you are talking plainly at
30 last, not speaking in figures. Now
136
we are sure you know everything, • and we need not question you. This makes us believe you have come forth from God." Jesus 31 replied, " You believe it, at last ? Behold, the time is coming, it has 82 come already, when you will be scattered to your homes, every one of you, leaving me alone. But I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said all this to you that in 33 me you may have peace; in the world you have trouble, but courage ! I have conquered the world.*
" Now at last the Son of man is 31 glorified, and in him God is glori- fied : if God is glorified in him, 32 God will glorify him in Himself and glorify him at once. My dear chil- 33 dren, I am only to be with you a little longer ; then you will look for me, and, as I told the Jews I tell you now, where I go you cannot come. I give you a new command, to 34 love one another — as I have loved you, you are to love one another. By this everyone will recognize 35 that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another." " Lord," said Simon Peter, " where 36 are you going ? " Jesus replied, " I am going where you cannot follow me at present; later on you will follow me." " Lord," 37 said Peter, " why cannot I follow you just now ? I will lay down my life for you." Jesus replied, " Lay 38 down your life for me? Truly, truly I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have disowned me thrice over.
OHAP.
Let not your heart be dis- 14 quieted ; you believe — believe in God and also in me. In my 2
* The tequence of xiii. 31 is now resumed (see abovo, note on p. 134).
S. JOHN XIV
Father's house there are many abodes; were it not so, would I have told you I was going to
3 prepare a place for you ? And when I go and prepare a place for 5''ou, I will come back and take you to be with me, so that you
4 may be where I am. And you know the way to where I am going,"
5 " Lord," said Thomas, " we do not know where you are going, and how
6 are we to know the wfiy ? " Jesus said to him, " I am the real and living way : no one comes to the
7 Father except by means of me. If you knew me, you would know my Father too. You know him now
8 and you have seen him." " Lord," said Philip, " let us see the Father;
9 that is ali we want." Jesus said to him, " Philip, have I been with you all this time, and yet you do not understand me ? He who has seen me has seen the Father. What do you mean by saying,
10 ' Let us see the Father ' ? Do you not believe I am in the Father and the Father is in me ? The words I speak to you I do not speak of my own accord ; it is the Father who remains ever in me, who is
11 performing his own deeds. Believe me, I am in the Father and the Father is in me : — or else, believe because of the deeds themselves.
12 Truly, truly I tell you, he who believes in me will do the very deeds I do, and still greater deeds than these. For I am going to the
13 Father, and I will do whatever you ask in my name, that the Father may be glorified in the
14 Son ; I will do whatever you ask
15 me in my name. If you love me
16 you will keep my commands, and I will ask the Father to give you another Helper to be with you for
17 ever, even the Spirit of truth : the
world cannot receive him, because it neither sees nor knows him, but you know him, because he remains with you and will be within you. I will not leave you 18 forlorn ; I am coming to you. A 19 little while longer and the world will see me no more; but you will see me, because I am living and you will be living too. You 20 will understand, on that day, that I am in my leather and you are in me and I am in you. He who 21 possesses my commands and obeys them is he who loves me, and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and appear to him." " Lord," said 22 Judas (not Judas Iscariot), " why is it that 3^ou are to appear to us, and not to the world ? " Jesus 23 answered, " If anyone loves me he will obey my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up our abode with him. He who does not love me 24 does not obey my word ; and what you hear me say is not my word but the word of the Father who sent me.
I have told you all this while 25 I am still with you, but the 26 Helper, the holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and recall to you everything I have said. Peace I leave to you, my peace 27 I give to you ; I give it not as the world gives its ' Peace 1 ' Let not your heart be disquieted or timid. You heard me tell you 28 I was going away and coming back to you ; if you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father — for the Father is greater than I am.
I tell you this now, before it occurs, 29 so that, when it does occur, you may
137
S. JOHN XVII
80 believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the Prince of this world is coming. lie has no hold
31 on me; his coming will only serve to let the world see that I love the Father and that I am acting as the Father ordered. Rise, let us be going."
17 So Jesus spoke; then, lifting his eyes to heaven, he said : " Father, the time has now come ; glorify thy Son that thy Son may
2 glorify thee, since thou hast granted him power over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom
3 thou hast given to him. And this is eternal life, that they know thee, the only real God, and him whom thou hast sent, even Jesus
4 Christ. I have glorified thee on earth by accomplishing the work
5 thou gavest me to do ; now. Father, glorify me in thy presence with the glory which I enjoyed in thy presence before the world
6 began. I have made thy Name known to the men whom thou hast given to me from the world (thine they were, and thou gavest them to me), and they have held to thy
7 word. They know now that what- ever thou hast given me comes from
8 thee, for I have given them the words thou gavest me and they have received them; they are now sure that I came from thee and that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them — not for the world but for those whom thou hast given me do I pray; for they are
10 thine (all mine is thine and thine is mine), and I am glorified in
11 them. I am to be in the world no longer, but they are to be in the world; I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them by the power
138
of thy Name which thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are one. When I was with them, 12 I kept them by the power of thy Name which thou hast given me; I guarded them, and not one of them perished — only the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to 13 thee (I speak thus in the world that they may have my joy com- plete within them). I have given 14 them thy word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I 15 pray not that thou wilt take them out of the world, but that thou wilt keep them from the evil one. They 16 do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Con- 17 secrate them by thy truth : thy word is truth. As thou hast sent 18 me into the world, so have I sent them into the world, and for their 19 sake I consecrate myself that they may be consecrated by the truth.
Nor do I pray for them alone, 20 but for all who believe in me by their spoken word; may they all 21 be one ! As thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, so may they be in us — that the world may be- lieve thou hast sent me. Yea, I 22 have given them the glory thou gavest me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and thou 23 in me — that they may be made perfectly one, so that the world may recognize that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Father, it is my 24 will that these, thy gift to me, may be beside me where I am, to behold my glory which thou hast given me, because thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O just 25 Father, though the world has not
S. JOHN XVIII
known thee, I have known * thee, and they have known that thou 26 hast sent me ; so have I declared, so will I declare, thy Name to them, that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them."
18 Having said this, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron ravine to an orchard, which he entered in the company
2 of his disciples. Judas the traitor also knew the spot, for Jesus and
3 his disciples often met there. So after procuring troops and some attendants belonging to the high priests and the Pharisees, Judas went there with lanterns and
4 torches and weapons. Then Jesus, who knew everything that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, " Who are you looking
5 for? " " Jesus of Nazaret," they replied. Jesus said, " I am he." (And Judas the traitor was standing
6 beside them.) When he said, " I am he," they fell back and dropped
7 to the ground ; so he asked them once more, " Who are you looking for? " And when they replied,
8 " Jesus of Nazaret," he answered, " I told you that I am he ; if it is me you are looking for, let these
9 men get away " (this was to fulfil his own word : ' I did not lose a single one of those whom thou
10 didst give me '). Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's ser- vant, cutting off his right ear (the servant's name was Malchus) ;
11 whereupon Jesus said to Peter,
* The English perfect is the least inade- quate rendering of the Greek aorist here. Luther, however, prefers the present. " Ich kenne Dich, und diese erkennen. . . ."
" Sheathe your sword. Am I not to drink the cup which the Father has handed me ? "
So the troops and their com- 12 mander and the Jewish attendants seized Jesus, bound him, and 13 brought him first of all to Annas (for Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year — the Caiaphas who had 14 advised the Jews that it was for their interests that one man should die for the people).t Then the 19 high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. Jesus answered, " I have spoken 20 openly to the world ; I have always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where all Jews gather; I have said nothing in secret. Why ask me ? Ask my hearers 21 what I have said to them; they know what I said." As he said 22 this, one of the attendants who stood by gave him a blow, saying, " Is that how you answer the high priest ? " " If I have said any- 23 thing wrong," replied Jesus, " prove it; if I said what was true, why strike me?" Then Annas had 24 him bound and sent him to Caiaphas the high priest. Simon Peter 15 followed Jesus along with another disciple; and as this disciple was an acquaintance of the high priest, he passed into the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus, while Peter 16 stood outside at the door. Then this other disciple, who was an acquaintance of the high priest, came out and spoke to the woman at the door, and brought Peter inside. The maidservant then said 17 to Peter, " Are you not one of this fellow's disciples? " He said, " No." Now the servants and the 18
f Transposing vers. 19-24 to a position between vers. 14 and 16.
139
S. JOHN XIX
attendants were standing and warming themselves at a charcoal fire which they had lit (for it was cold), and Peter also stood beside
25 them and warmed himself. They asked him, " Are you not one of his disciples? " He denied it, say-
26 ing, " No." Said one of the high priest's servants, a kinsman of the man whose ear had been cut off by Peter, " Did I not see you
27 with him in the orchard ? " Again Peter denied it. And at that very moment the cock crowed.
28 Then from the house of Caiaphas they took Jesus to the praetorium. (It was early morning.) They would not enter the praetorium themselves, in case of being cere- monially defiled, for they wanted
29 to eat the passover ; so Pilate came outside to them and asked, " What charge do you bring against
30 this man ? " They retorted, " If he had not been a criminal, we would not have handed him over
31 to you." Then said Pilate, " Take him yourselves, and sentence him according to your own Law." The Jews said, " We have no right to
32 put anjrone to death " (that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, by which he had indicated the
33 kind of death he was to die). So Pilate went back inside the prae- torium and called Jesus, saying, " Then you are king of the Jews ? "
34 Jesus replied, " Are 3'^ou saying this of your own accord, or did other
35 people tell you about me ? " " Am I a Jew ? " said Pilate. " Your own nation and the high priests have handed you over to me.
36 Wliat have you done ? " Jesus replied, " My realm does not be- long to this world; if my realm did belong to this world, my men would have fought to prevent me
140
being handed over to the Jews. No, my realm lies elsewhere." " So 37 you are a king? " said Pilate, " you ! " " Certainly," said Jesus, " I am a king. This is why I was born, this is why I came into the world, to bear testimony to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." " Truth ! " said Pilate, " what 38 is truth ! " With these words he went outside to the Jews again and told them, " I cannot find anything wrong about him. But 39 it is your custom that I should release a prisoner for you at the passover. Is it j^our will that I release you the king of the Jews ? " Again they yelled, " No, not him ! 40 Bar- Abbas ! " Now Bar- Abbas was a robber.
Then Pilate took Jesus and had 19 him scourged. And the soldiers 2 twisted some thorns into a crown and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purple robe, marching 3 to him and shouting, " Hail, king of the Jews ! " — and striking him. Again Pilate went out and said to 4 them, " Look, I am bringing him out to you. Understand, I cannot find anythingwrong about him." So 5 out came Jesus, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe ; and Pilate said, " Here the man ♦ is ! " Now when the high priests and their 6 attendants saw him, they yelled, " Crucify him, crucify him ! " Pilate said, " Take him and crucify him yourselves ! I find nothing wrong about him." The Jews re- 7 torted, " But we have a Law, and
* The unconscious force of Pilate's words, it has been suggested, might be brought out by rendering either " Here is the man I " or, " Here is the Man ! "
S. JOHN XIX
by [our] Law he is bound to die, because he has made himself out
8 to be God's Son." Now when Pilate heard that, he was still
9 more afraid ; he went inside the praetorium again and asked Jesus, " Where do you come from ? "
10 Jesus made no reply. Then Pilate said, " You will not speak to me ? Do you not know it is in my power to release you or to crucify you? "
11 Jesus answered, " You would have no power over me, unless it had been granted you from above. So you are less guilty than he who
12 betrayed me to you." This made Pilate anxious to release him, but the Jews yelled, " If you release him, you are no friend of Caesar's ! Anyone who makes himself a king
13 is against Caesar ! " On hearing this Pilate brought Jesus out and seated him on the tribunal at a spot called the ' mosaic pavement '
14 — the Hebrew name is Gabbatha (it was the day of Preparation for the passover, about noon). " There is your king ! " he said to the
15 Jews. Then they yelled, " Off with him ! Off with him ! Crucify him ! " " Crucify your king? " said Pilate. The high priests re- torted, " We have no king but
16 Caesar ! " Then Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
17 So they took Jesus, and he went away, carrying the cross by him- self, to the spot called the ' place of the skull ' — the Hebrew name
18 is Golgotha; there they crucified him, along with two others, one on each side and Jesus in the
19 middle. Pilate had written an inscription to be put on the cross; what he wrote was, jesus
THE NAZARENE, KING OF THE
20 JEWS. Now many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place
where Jesus had been crucified was close to the city; besides, the inscription was in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. So the Jewish high 21 priests said to Pilate, " Do not write, KING OF the jews; write,
HE SAID I AM KING OF THE JEWS."
Pilate replied, " What I have 22 written, I have written."
Now when the soldiers crucified 23 Jesus they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. But as the tunic was seamless, woven right down in a single piece, they said to 24 themselves, " Don't let us tear it. Let us draw lots to see who gets it " (that the scripture might be fulfilled,
they distributed my clothes among them,
and drew lots for my raiment). This was what the soldiers did.
Now beside the cross of Jesus 25 stood his mother and his mother's sister, Marj'' the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. So when Jesus 26 saw his mother and his favourite disciple standing near, he said to his mother, " Woman, there is your son ! " Then he said to the 27 disciple, " Son, there is your mother ! " And from that hour the disciple took her to his home. After that, as Jesus knew that 28 everything was now finislied and fulfilled, he said (to fulfil the scrip- ture), " / am thirsty.^' A jug full 29 of vinegar was lying there; so they put a sponge full of vinegar on a spear and held it to his lips. And when Jesus took the vinegar, 30 he said, " It is finished," bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.
Now, as it was the day of Prepara- 31 tion, in order to prevent the bodies remaining on the cross during the sabbath (for that sabbath-day was
141
S. JOHN XX
a great day), the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the
32 bodies removed. So the soldiers went and broke the legs of the first man and of the other man who had
33 been crucified along with him ; but when they came to Jesus and saw he was dead already, they did not
34 break his legs ; only, one of the soldiers pricked his side with a lance, and out came blood and
35 water in a moment. He who saw it has borne witness (his witness is true; God knows he is telling the truth), that you may believe.
36 For this took place that the scrip- ture might be fulfilled.
Not a hone of him will he broken.
37 And another scripture also says.
They will look on him whom they have impaled.
38 After this, Joseph of Arimathaea, a disciple of Jesus but a secret disciple — for fear of the Jews — asked Pilate for permission to remove the body of Jesus. And Pilate allowed him. So he went
39 and removed the body, accom- panied by Nicodemus (he who had first come to Jesus by night) who brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds of
40 it ; they took and wrapped up the body of Jesus in the spices and in bandages, according to the Jewish
41 custom of burial. Now at the spot where he had been crucified there was an orchard, and in the orchard a new tomb where no one
42 had yet been laid ; so they put Jesus there, since it was the Jewish day of Preparation, seeing that the tomb was close by.
20 On the first day of the week Mary of Magdala went early to the tomb, when it was still dark; but as 142
she saw the boulder had been re- moved from the tomb, she ran off 2 to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the favourite of Jesus, telling them, " They have taken the master out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have put him ! " So Peter and the 3 other disciple set out for the tomb; they both started to nm, 4 but the other disciple ran ahead, faster than Peter, and got to the tomb first. He glanced in and saw 5 the bandages lying on the ground, but he did not go inside. Then 6 Simon Peter came after him, and went inside the tomb; he noticed not only that the bandages were lying on the ground but that the 7 napkin which had been round his head was folded up by itself, instead of lying beside the other bandages. Upon this the other 8 disciple, who had reached the tomb first, went inside too, and when he saw for himself he was con- vinced. (For as yet they did not 9 understand the Scripture that he must rise from the dead.) Then 10 the disciples returned home; but 11 Mary stood sobbing outside the tomb. As she sobbed, she glanced inside the tomb and noticed two 12 angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. " Woman," they said to her, " why 13 are you sobbing?" She said, " Because they have taken away my master, and I do not know where they have put him ! " With 14 these words she turned round and noticed Jesus standing — thougii she did not know it was Jesus. " Woman," said Jesus, " why are 15 you sobbing? Who are you look- ing for? " Supposing he w^as the gardener, she said, " Oh, sir, if
S. JOHN XXI
you carried him away, tell me where you put him, and I will
16 remove him." " Mary ! " said Jesus. She started round and said, " Rabboni ! " (a Hebrew word
17 meaning ' teacher '). Jesus said, " Cease clinging to me. I have not ascended yet to the Father, but go to my brothers and tell them, ' I am ascending to my Father and yours, to my God and
18 yours.' " Away went Mary of Mag- dala to the disciples with the news, " I have seen the Lord ! " — telhng them what he had said to her.
19 On the evening of that same day — the first day of the week — though the disciples had gathered within closed doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus entered and stood among them, saying, " Peace be
20 with you ! " So saying he showed them his hands and his side; and when the disciples saw the Lord,
21 they rejoiced. Jesus then re- peated, " Peace be Avith you ! As the Father sent me forth, I am
22 sending you forth." And with these words he breathed on them, and added, " Receive the holy
23 Spirit ! If you remit the sins of any, they are remitted : if you retain them, they are retained."
24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who was called ' the Twin,' was not
25 with them when Jesus came ; and when the rest of the disciples told him, " We have seen the Lord," he said, " Unless I see his hands with the mark of the nails, and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side,
26 I refuse to believe it." Eight days afterwards his disciples were tcgetTier again, and Thomas with them. Though the doors were closed, Jesus entered and stood among them, saying, " Peace be
with you ! " Then he said to 27 Thomas, " Look at my hands, put your finger here; and put your hand here into my side ; cease your unbelief and beheve." Thomas 28 answered him, " My Lord and my God ! " Jesus said to him, " You 29 believe because you have seen me ? Blessed be those who beheve though they have never seen me."
Many another Sign did Jesus 30 perform in presence of his disciples, which is not recorded in this book; but these Signs are recorded so 31 that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believ- ing may have life through his Name.
CHAP.
After that, Jesus disclosed him- 21 self once more to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. It was in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (who 2 was called ' the Twin '), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the two sons of Zebedaeus, and two other dis- ciples of his, were all together. Simon Peter said to them, " I am 3 going to fish." They said, " We are coming too." Off they went and embarked in the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Now 4 at break of day Jesus was standing on the beach (though the disciples did not know it was Jesus). " Lads," said Jesus, " have you 5 got anything? " "No," they an- swered. So he told them, " Throw 6 your net on the right of the boat, and you will have a take." At this they threw the net, and now they could not haul it in for the mass of fish. So the disciple who was 7 Jesus' favourite said to Peter, " It is the Lord ! " Hearing it was the Lord, Simon Peter threw on his blouse (he was stripped for work) and jumped into the water, while 8
143
S. JOHN XXI
the rest of the disci[)Ies came ashore in the punt (they were not far from land, only about a hundred yards), 9 dragging their netful of fish. When they got to land, they saw a char- coal fire burning, with fish cooking
10 on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, " Bring some of the fish
11 you have just caught." So Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty three of them; but for all their number the net was not
12 torn. Jesus said, " Come and breakfast." (Not one of the dis- ciples dared to ask him who he was; they knew it was the Lord.)
13 Jesus went and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish too.
14 This was the third time, now, that Jesus appeared to the disciples after rising from the dead.
15 Then after breakfast Jesus said to Simon Peter, " Simon, son of John, do you love me more than the others do?" "Why, Lord," he said, " you know I love you." " Then feed my lambs," said Jesus.
16 Again he asked him, for the second time, *' Simon, son of John, do you love me?" " Wh3% Lord," he said, " you know I love you." " Then be a shepherd to my sheep,"
17 said Jesus. For the third time he asked him, " Simon, son of John, do you love me ? " Now Peter was vexed at being asked a third time, " Do you love me ? " So he replied ; " Lord, you know everything, you
can sec I love you." Jesus said, " Then feed my sheep. Truly, 18 truly I tell you, you put on your own girdle and went wherever you wanted, when you were young ; but when you grow old, 3^011 will stretch out your hands for someon(i to gird you, and you will be taken ■where 3'^ou have no wish to go " (he said 19 this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God) ; then he added, " Follow me." Peter turned roimd and saw that 20 the favourite disciple of Jesus was following, the disciple who had leant on his breast at supper and put the question, " Lord, who is to betray you? " So, on catching 21 sight of him, Peter said to Jesus, " And what about him. Lord ? " Jesus replied, " If I choose that he 22 should survive till I come back, what does that matter to you ? Follow me yourself." This started the report 23 among the brotherhood that the said disciple was not to die. Jesus, how- ever, did not say he was not to die ; what he said was, " If I choose tliat he should survive till I come back, what does that matter to you ?"
This was the disciple who bears 24 testimony to these facts and who wrote them down; his testimony, we know, is true.
Now there is much else that 25 Jesus did — so much, that if it was written down in detail, I do not suppose the world itself could hold the written records.
10
THE
ACTS or THE APOSTLES
CHAP.
1 In my former volume, Theo- philus, I treated all that Jesus
2 began by doing and teaching down to the day when, after issuing his orders by the holy Spirit to the disciples whom he had chosen, he
3 was taken up to heaven. After his sufferings he had shown them that he was alive by a number of proofs, revealing himself to them for forty days and discussing the
4 affairs of God's Realm. Also, as he ate vrith. them, he charged them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father promised — " for what you have heard me speak of,"
5 said he; "for John baptized with water, but not many days after this you will be baptized with the holy
6 Spirit." Now when they met, they asked him, " Lord, is this the time you are going to restore the Realm
7 to Israel ? " But he told them, " It is not for you to know the course and periods of time that the FMher has
8 fixed by his own authority. You will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses at Jerusalem, through- out all Judaea and Samaria, and
9 to the end of the earth." On saying this he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him
10 out of sight. As he went up, their eyes were fixed on heaven ; but just then two men stood beside
11 them dressed in white, who said, " Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up to heaven ? This Jesus
who has been taken from you into heaven will come back, just as you have seen hfm depart to heaven." Then they made their way back 12 to Jerusalem from the hill called 'The Oliv^e^Orchard '; it is close to Jeru5;alem, only a sabbath day's journey from it. On entering the 13 city they went to the upper room where they 'were in the habit of meeting; there were Peter, John, James, Andrew^ Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James (the son of Alphaeus) and Simon who had been a Zealot, with Judas the son of James. All «these men 14 resorted with one mind to prayer, together with the women, with Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers.
Now during these days Peter 15 stood up among the brothers (there was a crowd of about a hundred and twenty persons all together). " My 16 brothers," said he, " it had to be fulfilled, that scripture which the holy Spirit uttered beforehand by the lips of David with regard to Judas who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus. Jddas did 17 enter our number, he did get his allotted share of this our ministry. With the money paid him for 18 his crime he purchased an estate; but swelling up he burst in two, and all his bowels poured out — a 19 fact which became known to all the residents in Jerusalem, so that the estate got the name, in
145
THE ACTS II
their language, of Akeldamach
20 or The Ground of Blood. Now it is written in the book of psalms,
Desolate be his residence, may no one dwell in it : also,
let another man take over his charge.
21 Well then, of the men who have been associated with us all the time the Lord Jesus went in and out
22 among us, from the baptism of John down to the day when he was taken up from us — of these men one must join us as a witness to his
23 resurrection." So they brought forward two men, Joseph called Bar-Sabbas (sumamed Justus) and
24 Matthias ; and they prayed, " O Lord, who readest the hearts of all, do thou single out from these two men him whom thou hast
25 chosen to fill the place in this apostolic ministry which Judas left in order to go to his own place." Then they cast lots for them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, who was assigned his position with the eleven apostles.
2 During the course of the day of Pentecost they were all to-
2 gether, when suddenly there came a sound from heaven like a violent blast of wind, which filled the whole house where they were
8 seated. They saw tongues like flames distributing themselves, one
4 resting on the head of each, and they were all filled with the holy Spirit — they began to speak in foreign tongues, as the Spirit en- abled them to express themselves.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying
6 in Jerusalem. So when this sound
146
was heard, the multitude gathered in bewilderment, for each heard them speaking in his own language. All were amazed and astonished. " Are these not all Galileans," they 7 said, " who are speaking ? Then 8 how is it that each of us hears them in his own native tongue? Par- 9 thians, Medes, Elamites, residents in Mesopotamia, in Judaea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, in 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the districts of Libya round Cyrene, visitors from Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Ara- 11 bians, we hear these men talking of the triumphs of God in our own languages ! " They were all 12 amazed and quite at a loss. " What can it mean ? " they said to one another. Some others sneered, 13 " They are brim-full of new wine ! " But Peter stood up along with the 14 eleven, and raising his voice he addressed them thus : " Men of Judaea and residents in Jerusalem, let every one of you understand this — attend to what I say : these 15 men are not drunk, as you imagine. Why, it is only nine in the morning ! No, this is what was predicted by 16 the prophet Joel —
In the last days, saith God, then 17 will I pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
your sons and daughters shall prophesy,
your young men shall see visions,
your old men shall dreajn dreams :
on my very slaves and slave- girls IS in these days will I pour out my Spirit,
and they shall prophesy.
And I will display wonders in 19 heaven above and signs on earth below,
blood and fire and vapour of smoke :
THE ACTS II
20 the sun shall he changed into
darkness and the moon into blood, ere the great, open Day of the Lord
arrives.
21 And everyone who invokes the
name of the Lord will be saved.
22 Men of Israel, listen to my words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man ac- credited to you by God through miracles, wonders, and signs which God performed by him among you
23 (as you yourselves know), this Jesus, betrayed in the predestined course of God's deliberate purpose, you got wicked men to nail to the
24 cross and murder ; but God raised him by checking the pangs of death. Death could not hold him.
25 For David says of him,
/ saw the Lord before me ever- more ; lest I be shaken, he is at my right hand.
26 My heart is glad, my tongue exults,
my very flesh will rest in hope,
27 because thou wilt not forsake my
soul in the grave, nor let thy holy one suffer decay.
28 Thou hast made known to me the
paths of life, thou wilt fill me with delight in thy presence.
29 Brothers, I can speak quite plainly to you about the patriarch David; he died and was buried and his tomb remains with us to this day.
30 (He was a prophet; he knew God had sworn an oath to him that he would seat one of his descendants
31 on his throne ; * so he spoke with a prevision of the resurrection of the Christ, when he said that he was not forsaken in the grave nor did
32 his flesh suffer decay. This Jesus
Omitting \rh Kara adpKix ivaffr-ljffsti/ Thy
XptlTThl^J-
God raised, as we can all bear witness. Uplifted then by God's 33 right hand, and receiving from the Father the long-promised holy Spirit, he has poiu-ed on us what you now see and hear.) For it was 34 not David who ascended to heaven, David says,
The Lord said to my Lord, ' Sit at
my right hand, till I put your enemies under 35
your feet '. So let all the house of Israel under- 36 stand beyond a doubt that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this very Jesus whom you have crucified." When they heard this, 37 it went straight to their hearts; they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, " Brothers, what are we to do ? " " Repent," said Peter, 38 " let each of you be baptized in the na,me of Jesus Christ for the re- mission of your sins; then you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit. For the promise is meant 39 for you and for your children and for all who are far off, for anyone whom the Lord our God may call to himself.''' And with many another 40 appeal he urged and entreated them. " Save yourselves," he cried, " from this crooked genera- tion ! " So those who accepted 41 what he said were baptized ; about three thousand souls were brought in, that day. They devoted them- 42 selves to the instruction given by the apostles and to fellowship, breaking bread and praying to- gether. Awe fell on everyone, 43 and many wonders and signs were performed by the apostles [in Jerusalem]. The behevers f all 44 kept together ; they shared all they 45 had with one another, they would sell their possessions and goods
t Omitting [<p6^os t* ^v jxiya^ iirl iravras].
147
THE ACTS III
and distribute the proceeds among all, as anyone might be in need.
46 Day after day they resorted with one aceord to the temple and broke bread together in their own homes ; they ate with a glad and simple heart,
47 praising God and looked on with favour by all the people. Mean- time the Lord added the saved daily to their number.*
OHAP.
2 Peter and John were on their way up to the temple for the hour of prayer at three in the afternoon,
2 when a man lame from birth was carried past, who used to be laid every day at what was called the ' Beauti- ful Gate ' of the temple, to ask alms from those who entered the temple.
3 When he noticed that Peter and John meant to go into the temple, he
4 asked them for alms. Peter looked at him steadily, as did John, and
5 said, " Look at us." The man attended, expecting to get some-
6 thing from them. But Peter said, " I have no silver or gold, but I will give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene,
7 [get up and] walk ! " And catch- ing him by the right hand he raised him. Instantly his feet and ankles
8 grew strong, he leapt to his feet, started to walk, and accompanied them into the temple, walking,
9 leaping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and
10 praising God, and when they recog- nized this was the very man who used to sit and beg at the Gate Beautiful, they were lost in awe and amazement at what had hap-
11 pened to him. As he clung to Peter and John, all the people rushed awestruck to them in what
* Omitting [rfi 4Kic\T)ffia], although the omission makes it difficult to get the above sense, or indeed any, out of the Greek. 148
was called Solomon's portico. But 12 when Peter saw this, he said to the people, " Men of Israel, why are you surprised at this ? Why do you stare at us, as if we had made him walk by any power or piety of ours ? The God of Abraham and 13 the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified Jesus his servant, whom you de- livered up and repudiated before Pilate. Pilate had decided to re- lease him, but you repudiated the 14 Holy and Just One ; the boon you asked was a murderer, and you killed 15 the pioneer of Life. But God raised him from the dead, as we can bear witness. (He it is who has given 16 strength to this man whom yon see and know, by faith in His name ; it jJ is the faith He inspires which has f made this man hale and whole before you all.) Now I know, 17 brothers, that you acted in ignor- ance, like your rulers — though this 18 was how God fulfilled what he had announced beforehand by the lips of all the prophets, namely the sufferings of his Christ. Repent 19 then, and turn to have your sins blotted out, so that a breathing- space may be vouchsafed you, and 20 that the Lord may send Jesus your long-decreed Christ, who must be 21 kept in heaven till the period of | -the great Restoration. Ages ago " God spoke of this by the lips of his holy prophets; for Moses said, 22 The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brotherhood, as he raised me : you must listen to whatever he may tell you. Any soul that xvill not listen to 23 this prophet will be exter- minated from the People ; and all the prophets who have 24
THE ACTS IV
spoken since Samuel and his suc- cessors have also announced these
25 days. Now you are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers when he said to Abraham, all families on earth shall be blessed in
26 your o^spring. It was for you first that God raised up his Servant, and sent him to bless you by turn- ing each of you from your wicked ways."
4 While they were speaking to the people, they were surprised by the priests, the commander of the
2 temple, and the Sadducees, who were annoyed at them teaching the people and proclaiming Jesus as an instance of resurrection from
3 the dead. They laid hands on them and, as it was now evening, put them in custody till next morn-
4 ing. (A number of those who heard them speak believed, bringing up their numbers to [aboiit] five thousand.)
5 Next morning a meeting was held in Jerusalem of their rulers, elders
6 and scribes, which was attended by the high priest Annas, by Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all the mem- bers of the high priest's family.
7 They made the men stand before them and inquired, " By what authority, in whose name, have you*
8 done this ? " Then Peter, filled with the holy Spirit, said to them : " Rulers of the people and elders
9 of Israel, if we are being cross- examined to-day upon a benefit rendered to a cripj^e, upon how
10 this man got better, you and the people of Israel must all understand that he stands before you strong
* With a touch of superciliousness (' men iike you ! '), which is perhaps better ex- pressed in reading aloud than by any verbal periphrasis.
and well, thanks to the name of
Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead. He is 11
the stone despised by you builders, which has become head of the corner. There is no salvation by anyone 12 else, nor even a second Name under heaven appointed for us men and our salvation." They were aston- 13 ished to notice how outspoken Peter and John were, and to discover that they were uncultured persons and mere outsiders ; they recognized them as having been companions of Jesus, but as they saw the man 14 who had been healed standing be- side them, they could say nothing. Ordering them to withdraw from 15 the Sanhedrin, they proceeded to hold a consultation. " What are 16 we to do with these men ? " they said. " It is plain to all the in- habitants of Jerusalem that a miracle has admittedly been worked by them. That we cannot deny. However, to keep things from 17 going any further with the people, we had better threaten them that they are not to tell anyone in future about this Name." So they called the men 18 in and ordered them not to speak or teach a single sentence about the Name of Jesus. But Peter and 19 John replied, " Decide for your- selves whether it is right before God to obey you rather than God. Certainly we cannot give up speak- 20 ing of what we have seen and heard." Then they threatened 21 them still further and let them go ; on account of the people they found themselves unable to get any way of punishing them, for every body was glorifying God over what had happened (the man on whom 22 this miracle of healing had been
149
THE ACTS V
performed, being more than forty years old).
23 On being released they went to their friends and related what the high priests and elders had
24 said ; and on hearing this the entire company raised their cry to God, " O Sovereign Lord, thou art he * who made heaven, earth,
25 and sea, and all that in them, is, who said to our fathers f by the holy Spirit through the lips of thy servant David,
Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples vainly conspire ?
26 The kings of the earth stood ready, the rulers mustered together
against the Lord and his Christ.
27 In this very city they actually mustered against thy holy Servant Jesus, whom thou didst consecrate
Herod and Pontius Pilate, to- gether with the Gentiles and the
28 peoples of Israel, mustering to carry out what thy hand had traced,
29 thy purpose had decreed. So now, O Lord, consider the threats of these men, and grant that thy servants may be perfectly fearless
30 in speaking thy word, when thy hand is stretched out to cure and to perform miracles and wonders by the name of thy holy Servant
31 Jesus." At their prayer the place of meeting was shaken, and they were all filled with the holy Spirit, speaking God's word fearlessly;
33 the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power, and great grace was upon them all. J
32 Now there was but one heart
• Omitting [6 Behs].
t Accepting Hort's suggestion that rod varpSs is a corruption of to7s irarpdcnv, though the text even then seems to include a gloss somewhere.
J Transposing ver. 33 to its original position after ver. 31. 150
and soul among the whole of the believers; not one of them con- sidered anything his personal pro- perty, they shared all they had with one another. There was not 34 a needy person among them, for those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sale, laying the 35 money before the feet of the apostles ; it was then distributed ac- cording to each individual's need. Thus .Joseph, who was surnamed 36 Barnabas or (as it may be trans- lated) ' Son of Encouragement ' by the apostles, a Levite of Cypriote birth, sold a farm belonging to him 37 and brought the money, which he placed before the feet of the apostles. But a man called Ananias, who 5 with his wife Sapphira had sold some property, embezzled some of the 2 purchase-money with the conniv- ance of his wife; he only brought part of it to lay before the feet of the apostles. " Ananias," said 3 Peter, " why has Satan filled your heart and made you cheat the holy Spirit by embezzling some of the money paid for the land ? When it 4 remained unsold, did it not remain your own ? And even after the sale, was the money not yours to do as you pleased about it ? How could you think of doing a thing like this ? You have not defrauded men but God." When Ananias heard this, 5 he fell down and expired. (Great awe came over all who heard of it.) And the younger men rose, wrapped G the body up and carried it away to be buried. After an interval of 7 about three hours his wife happened to come in, quite unconscious of what had occurred. " Tell me," 8 said Peter, " did you only sell the land for such and such a sum? " " Yes," she said, " that was all we
THE ACTS V
9 sold it for." Peter said to her, " How could you arrange to put the Lord's Spirit to the proof? Listen, there are the footsteps of the men who have buried your hus- band ! They are at the door, and they will carry you out as well."
10 Instantly she fell down at their feet and expired. The younger men came in to find her dead ; they carried her out and buried her
11 beside her husband. Great awe came over the whole church and over all who heard about this.
12 Now they all without exception met in the portico of Solomon.
13 Though the people extolled them, not a soul from the outside dared
14 to join them. On the other hand, crowds of men and women who believed in the Lord were brought
12 in. Many miracles and wonders
were performed among the people
15 by the apostles.* In fact, invalids were actually carried into the streets and laid on beds and mattresses, so that, when Peter passed, his shadow at anyrate might fall on one or other of them.
16 Crowds gathered even from the towns round Jerusalem, bringing invalids and people troubled with unclean spirits, all of whom were healed.
17 This filled the high priest Annas f and his allies, the Sadducean party,
18 with bitter jealousy; they laid hands on the apostles and put
19 them into the public prison, but an angel of the Lord opened the prison-doors during the night and
20 brought them out, saying, " Go and stand in the temple, telling
• Transposing the first clause of ver. 12 to the beginning of ver. 15.
t Blass's brilliant conjecture for the i.vaffrds of the ordinary text. It is not entirely without manuscript evidence.
the people all about this Life." With these orders they went into 21 the temple about dawn and pro- ceeded to teach. Meantime the high priest and his allies met, called the Sanhedrin together and the council of seniors belonging to the sons of Israel, and then sent to prison for the men. But as the 22 attendants did not find them when they got to the prison, they came back to report, " We found the prison 23 safely locked up, with the sentries posted at the doors, but on opening the doors we found no one inside ! ' On hearing this the commander 24 of the temple and the high priests were quite at a loss to know what to make of it. However, someone 25 came and reported to them, " Here are the very men you put in prison, standing in the temple and teach- ing the people ! " At this the 26 commander went off with the attendants and fetched them — but without using violence, for fear that the people would pelt them with stones. They conducted them be- 27 fore the Sanhedrin, and the high priest asked them, " We strictly 28 forbade you to teach about this Name, did we not? And here you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine ! You want to make us responsible for this man's death ! " Peter and the apostles answered, 29 " One must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers 30 raised Jesus whom you murdered by hanging him on a gibbet. God 81 lifted him up to his right hand as our pioneer and saviour, in order to grant repentance and remission of sins to Israel. To these facts 32 we bear witness, Avith the holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey him." When they 33 heard this, they were so furious
151
THE ACTS VI
that they determined to make
34 away with the apostles. But a Pharisee in the Sanhedrin called Gamaliel, a doctor of the Law who was highly respected by all the people, got up and ordered the prisoners to be removed for a few
35 moments. Then he said, " Men of Israel, take care what you do
36 about these men. In days gone by Theudas started up, claiming to be a person of importance ; a number of men, about four hundred of them, rallied to him, but he was slain, and all his followers were
37 dispersed and wiped out. After him Judas the Galilean started up at the time of the census, and got people to desert to him; but he perished too, and all his followers
38 were scattered. So I advise you to-day to leave these men to them- selves. Let them alone. If this project or enterprise springs from
39 men, it will collapse; while, if it really springs from God, you will be unable to put them down. You may even find yourselves fighting
40 God ! " They gave in to him, and after summoning the apostles and giving them a flogging, they re- leased them with instructions that they were not to speak about the
41 name of Jesus. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy of suffering dishonour for the sake
42 of the Name ; not for a single day did they cease to teach and preach the gospel of Jesus the Christ in the temple and at home.
CHAP.
6 During these days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists began to complain against the Hebrews, on the ground that their widows were being over- 152
looked in the daily distribution of food. So the twelve summoned 2 the main body of the disciples and said : " It is not desirable that we should drop preaching the word of God and attend to meals. Brothers, 3 look out seven of your own number, men of good reputation who are full of the Spirit and of wisdom. We will appoint them to this duty, but we will continue 4 to devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word." This 5 plan commended itself to the whole body, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nikanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nikolaos a proselyte from Antioch; these 6 men they presented to the apostles, who, after prayer, laid their hands upon them.
And the word of the Lord spread; 7 the number of the disciples in Jeru- salem greatly increased, and a host of priests became obedient to the faith.
Now Stephen, who was full of 8 grace and power, performed great wonders and miracles among the people. Some of those who be- 9 longed to the so-called synagogue of the Libyans,* the Cyrenians, and the Alexandrians, as well as to that of the Cihcians and Asiatics, started a dispute with Stephen, but 10 they could not meet the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. They then instigated people to say, 11 " We have heard him talking blasphemy against Moses and God," In this way they excited the people, 12 the elders, and the scribes, who
♦ Reading Ai^varlvuiv instead of the Ai&eprli'wv of the text. This, as Blass points out, gives " the African Jews in the geographical order of their original dwelUng-pl^cps. ' '
THE ACTS VII
rushed on him, dragged him away, and took him before the Sanhcdrin.
13 They also brought forward false witnesses to say, "This fellow is never done talking against tliis
14 holy Place and the Law ! Why, we have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this Place and change the customs handed down to us by Moses ! "
15 Then all who were seated in the Sanhedrin fixed their eyes on him, and saw that his face shone like the face of an angel.
CHAP.
7 Said the high priest, " Is this
2 true ? " " Listen, brothers and fathers," said Stephen. " The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was still in
3 Mesopotamia, before ever he stayed in Haran, and said to him, ' Leave your land and your countrymen and come to whatever * land I shoiv you.'
4> Then he left the land of the Chal- deans and stayed in Haran. From Haran God shifted him, after his father's death, to this land Avhich
5 you now inhabit. But he did not give him any inheritance in it, not even a foot of the land. All he did was to promise he would give it as a possession to him and to his o-Q spring after him (he at the time
6 being childless). What God said was this : ' His offspring will sojourn in a foreign land, zvhere they will be enslaved and oppressed for
7 four hundred years. But,' said God, ' / 1 will pass sentence on the nation that has made them slaves, and then they will get azvay to worship me in
* Omitting [tV]-
t The ' I ' is emphatic. AVhen the New Testament is read aloud, as it was originally meant to be, such stressee can be brought out. They often interpret the inner meaning of the text.
this Place.' God also gave liim 8 the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, whom he circumcised on the eighth day, Isaac was the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. Out of jealousy the 9 patriarchs sold Joseph into Egypt; but God was with him, rescuing 10 him from all his troubles and allowing him to find favour for his wisdom with Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him viceroy over Egypt and over all his own house- hold. Now a famine came over 11 the whole of Egypt and Canaan, attended with great misery, so that our ancestors could not find pro- vender. But, hearing there was 12 food in Egypt, Jacob sent our ancestors on their first visit to that country ; at their second visit 13 Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Pharaoh was in- formed of Joseph's lineage. Then 14 Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his kinsfolk, amounting to seventy-five souls ; and Jacob went 15 south to Egypt. When he and our ancestors died, they were carried 16 across to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. As the time 17 approached for the promise God had made to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till 18 another king arose to rule Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph. He took a 19 cunning method with our race; he oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to expose their infants, to prevent them from surviving. It 20 was at this period that Moses was born, a divinely beautiful child. For three months he was brought up in his father's house ; then he 21 was exposed, but Pharaoh's daughter
153
THE ACTS VII
adopted him and brought him up
22 as her own son. So Moses got educated in all the culture of the Egyptians; he was a strong man
23 in speech and action. When he had completed his fortieth year, it occurred to him to visit his
24 brothers, the sons of Israel. He saw one of them being badly treated, so he defended him, struck doivn the Egyptian and thus avenged the
25 man who had been wTonged. (He thought his brothers would under- stand God was going to bring them deliverance by means of him, but
26 they did not understand.) Next day he came upon two of them fighting and tried to pacify them. " You are brothers ! " he said,
27 " why injure one another? " But the man who was injia-ing his neighbour pushed him aside. " Who made you ruler and umpire over
28 us ? " he asked. " Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian
29 yesterday ? " At that Moses fled ; he became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he had two sons
30 born to him. At the close of forty years an angel {of the Lord] appeared to him in the flames of a burning thorn-bush, in the desert of mount
31 Sinai. When Moses saw this, he marvelled at the sight; and as he went up to look at it, the voice of
82 the Lord said ' / am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.^ Moses was so terrified that he did not dare to look
33 at the bush. But the Lord said to him, ' T'ake the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is sacred ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, I have heard their groans, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you back to
35 Egypt,' The Moses they refused, 154
when they said, * Who made you ruler and umpire over us ? ' — that was the very man whom God sent to rule and to redeem them, by aid of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush. He it was who 3() led them forth, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert during forty years. (This was the Moses 37 who told the sons of Israel, ' God will raise a prophet for you from among your brotherhood, as he raised me.') This was the man who at the 38 assembly in the desert intervened between the angel who spoke to him on mount Sinai and our fathers ; he received living Words to be given to us. But our fathers would 39 not submit to him; they pushed him aside and hankered secretly after Egypt. They told Aaron, 40 ' Make gods that zvill march in front of us ! As for this Moses who led us out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him ! ' They 41 actuall}^ made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to this idol, and grew festive over what their own hands had manufactured. So God 42 turned from them, abandoning them to the worship of the starry Host — as it is written in the book of the prophets, Did you offer me victims afid sacrifices during the forty years in the desert, 0 house of Israel ? No, it was the tent 43 of Moloch and the star-symbol of Repha your god that you carried, figures that you riiamifactured for worship. So now I ivill transport you beyond Babylon ! In the desert 44 our fathers had the tent of witness as arranged by Him who told Moses to make it after the pattern he had seen. It was passed on and borne 45 in by oiir fathers as with Joshua they took possession of the territory
1
THE ACTS VIII
of the nations whom God drove out before our fathers. So it remained
46 down to the days of David. He found favour with God and asked permission to devise a dwelling for
47 the God of Jacob. It was Solomon, however, who huilt him a house.
48 And yet the most High does not dwell in houses made by hands. As the prophet says,
49 Heaven is my throne,
the earth is a footstool for my feet! What house would you build me ?
saith the Lord. On what spot could I settle ?
50 Did not my hand make all this ?
51 Sti^ -necked, uncircumcised in heart and ear, you are always resisting the holy Spirit ! As with your
52 fathers, so with 3^ou ! Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Just One. And here you have betrayed him, mur- dered him ! — you who got the Law that angels transmitted, and have not obeyed it ! "
When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth
55 at him. He, full of the holy Spirit, gazed up at heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing
56 at God's right hand. " Look," he said, " I see heaven open and the Son of man standing at God's right
57 hand ! " With a loud shriek they shut their ears and rushed at him
58 like one man. Flinging him out- side the city, they proceeded to stone him (the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a youth called
59 Saul). So they stoned Stephen, who called on the Lord, saying, " Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit ! " Then he knelt down and cried
60 aloud, " Lord, let not this sin stand against them ! " With these words
he slept the sleep of death. (Saul 8 quite approved of his murder.)
That day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone, with the exception of the apostles, was scattered over Judaea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and 2 made loud lamentation over him, but Saul made havoc of the church 3 by entering one house after another, dragging off men and Avomen, and consigning them to prison.
Now those who had to scatter 4 went through the land preaching the gospel. Philip travelled down 5 to a town in Samaria, where he preached Christ to the people. And the crowds attended like one 6 man to v/hat was said by Philip, listening to him aiid watching the miracles he performed. For un- 7 clean spirits came screaming and shrieking out of many who had been possessed, and many para- lytics and lame people were healed. So there was great rejoicing in that 8 town. Now for some time previous 9 a man called Simon had been practising magic arts in the town, to the utter astonishment of the Samaritan nation ; he made him- self out to be a great person, and 10 all sorts and conditions of people attached themselves to him, de- claring he was that Power of God which is known as ' the Great Power.' They attached them- II selves to him because he had dazzled them Avith his skill in magic for a considerable time. But when they 12 believed Philip, who preached the gospel of the Reign of God and the name of Jesus, they had them- selves baptized, both men and women ; indeed Simon himself 13 believed, and after his baptism kept , close to PhiUp, utterly astonished
155
THE ACTS VIII
to see the signs and striking miracles which were taking place.
14 When the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they despatched
15 Peter and John, who came down and prayed that the Samaritans
16 might receive the holy Spirit. (As yet it had not fallen upon any of them; they had simply been bap- tized in the name of the Lord
17 Jesus.) Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the holy
18 Spirit. Now Simon noticed that the holy Spirit was conferred by the laying on of the apostles' hands; so he brought them money, saying,
19 " Let me share this power too, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the holy Spirit."
20 Peter said to him, " Death to you and your money, for dreaming you
21 could buy the gift of God ! You come in for no share or lot in this religion. Yovr heart is all wrong
22 in the sight of God. So repent of this wickedness of yours, and ask God whether you cannot be for- given for your heart's purpose.
23 For I see you are a bitter poison and
24 a pack of evil." Simon replied, " Ask you the Lord for me ! Pray that nothing you have said may befall me ! "
25 After bearing their testimony to the word of the Lord and preach- ing it, the apostles went back to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to a number of the Samaritan
26 villages ; but an angel of the Lord said to Philip, " Get up and go south, along the road from Jeru- salem to Gaza " (the desert-route).
27 So he got up and went on his way. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a high official of Candace the queen of the Ethiopians (he was her chief treasurer), who had come to Jeru-
156
salem for worship and was on his 28 way home. He was sitting in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, " Go 29 up and join that chariot." When Philip ran up, he heard him read- 30 ing the prophet Isaiah. " Do you really understand * what you are reading?" he asked. "How can 31 I possibly understand it," said the eunuch, " unless someone puts me on the right track? " And he begged Philip to get up and sit beside him. Now the passage of scripture which 32 he was reading was as follows : —
he was led like a sheep to he slaughtered,
and as a lamb is dumb before the shearer, so he opens not his lips.
By humbling himself he had his 33 doom removed.
Who can tell his family ?
For his life is cut off from the earth.
So the eunuch said to Philip, 34 " Pray, who is the prophet speaking about? Is it himself or someone else ? " Then PhiUp opened his 35 lips, and starting from this scripture preached the gospel of Jesus to him. As they travelled on, they came to 36 some water, and the eunuch said, " Here is water ! What is to pre- vent me being baptized ? " So he 38 ordered the chariot to stop. Both of them stepped into the water, and Philip baptized the eunuch. When they came up from the water, 39 the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch lost sight of him. He went on his way rejoicing, while Philip found himself 40 at Azotus, where he passed on,
* The Vulgate preserves the play on words in the Greek. Intellegis quae legie brings out, as English cannot, the force of yiv<i)iTK.iis & avayivwaKfiS.
THE ACTS IX
preaching the gospel in every town, till he reached Caesarea.
9 Meanwhile Saul still breathed threats of murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went
2 to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus empowering him to put any man or woman in chains whom he could find belonging to the Way,
3 and bring them to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus in the course of his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed round him;
4 he dropped to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, " Saul, Saul,
5 why do you persecute me ? " " Who are you?"* he asked. "I am Jesus," he said, " and you perse-
6 cute me. Get up and go into the city. There you will be told what
7 you have to do." His fellow- travellers stood speechless, for they heard the voice but they could not
8 see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but though his eyes were open he could see nothing; so they took his hand and led him to
9 Damascus. For three days he re- mained sightless, he neither ate nor drank.
10 Now there was a disciple called Ananias in Damascus. The Lord said to him in a vision, " Ananias."
11 He said, " I am here, Lord." And the Lord said to him, " Go away to the street called ' The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus called Saul. He is praying at this very
12 moment, and he has seen a man called Ananias enter and lay his hands upon him to bring back his
* I have deliberately left Kvpie untrans- lated here, as in xxii. 8 and xxvi. 14, no less than in x. 4. Any English rendering would imply eithei too much or too little.
sight." " But, Lord," Ananias 13 answered, " many people have told me about all the mischief this man has done to thy saints at Jerusalem ! And in this city too 14 he has authority from the high priests to put anyone in chains who invokes thy Name ! " But the Lord said to him, " Go; I have 15 chosen him to be the means of bring- ing my Name before the Gentiles and their kings as well as before the sons of Israel. I will show 16 him all he has to suffer for the sake of my Name." So Ananias went off 17 and entered the house, laying his hands on him with these words, " Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord, by Jesus who appeared to you on the road, to let you regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit." In a mo- 18 ment something like scales fell from his ej^es, he regained his sight, got up and was baptized. Then he 19 took some food and felt strong again. For several days he stayed at Damascus with the disciples. He lost no time in preaching 20 throughout the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God — to the 21 amazement of all his hearers, who said, " Is this not the man who in Jerusalem harried those who invoke this Name, the man who came here for the express purpose of carrying them all in chains to the high priests? "
Saul became more and more 22 vigorous. He put the Jewish resi- dents in Damascus to confusion by his proof that Jesus was the Christ ; and the Jews, after a number of 23 days had elapsed, conspired to make away with him. But this plot came 24 to the ears of Saul, and, although they kept watch on the gates day and night in order to make away
167
THE ACTS X
25 with him, his disciples managed one night to let him down over the wall by lowering him in a basket.
26 He got to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, unable to believe he
27 was really a disciple. Barnabas, however, got hold of him and brought him to the apostles. To them he related how he had seen the Lord upon the road, how He had spoken to him, and how he had spoken freely in the name of Jesus
28 at Damascus. He then went in and out among them at Jerusalem,
29 speaking freely in the name of the Lord ; he also held conversations and debates with the Hellenists, But when the brothers learned that the Hellenists were trying to make
30 away with him, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
31 Now, all over Judaea, Galilee, and Samaria, the church enjoyed peace; it was consolidated, in- spired by reverence for the Lord and by its invocation of the holy Spirit, and so increased in numbers.
32 Peter moved here and there among them all, and it happened that in the course of his tours he came down to visit the saints who stayed
33 at Lydda. There he found a man called ^neas who had been bed- ridden for eight years with paraly-
34 sis. " ^neas," said Peter, " Jesus the Christ cures you ! Get up and make your bed ! " He got up at
35 once. And all the inhabitants of Lydda and Saron saw him, and they turned to the Lord.
36 At Joppa there was a disciple called Tabitha (which may be trans- lated Dorcas, or ' Gazelle '), a woman whose life was full of good actions
168
and of charitable practices. She 37 happened to take ill and die at this time, and after washing her body they laid it in an upper room. When 38 the disciples heard that Peter was at Lydda (for Joppa is not far from Lydda), they sent two men to beg him to " Come on to us without delay." So Peter got up and went 39 with them. When he arrived, they took him up to the room, where all the widows stood beside him crying as they showed him the garments and dresses that Dorcas used to make when she was with them. Peter put them all outside ; 40 then he knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body said, " Tabitha, rise." She opened her eyes, and on seeing Peter she sat up. Then he gave her his hand, 41 raised her, and, after calling the saints and the widows he pre- sented her to them alive. This 42 became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43
In Joppa Peter stayed for some time, at the house of Simon a tanner. Now in Caesarea there 10 was a man called Cornelius, a captain in the Italian regiment, a religious man, who reverenced 2 God with all his household, who was liberal in his alms to the People, and who constantly prayed to God. About three o'clock in the 3 afternoon he distinctly saw in a vision an angel of God entering and saying to him, " Cornelius." He 4 stared at the angel in terror, say- ing, " What is it ? " He rephed, " Your prayers and your alms have risen before God as a sacri- fice to be remembered. You must 5 now send some men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is sur- named Peter; he is staying with 6 Simon a tanner, whose house stands
THE ACTS X
7 by the sea." When the angel who spoke to him had left, he called two of his menservants and a religiously minded soldier who be-
8 longed to his personal retinue, and after describing all the vision to
9 them, he sent them to Joppa. Next day they were still on the road and not far from the town, when Peter went up to the roof of the house
10 about noon to pray. He got very hungry and longed for some food. But as they were getting the meal
11 ready, a trance came over him. He saw heaven open and a vessel com- ing down, like a huge sheet lowered by the four corners to the earth,
12 which contained all quadrupeds and creeping things of the earth
13 and wild birds. A voice came to him, " Rise, Peter, kill and eat."
14 But Peter said, " No, no, my Lord ; I have never eaten anything com-
15 mon or unclean." A second time the voice came back to him, " What God has cleansed, you must
16 not regard as common." This happened three times ; then the vessel was at once raised to heaven.
17 Peter was quite at a loss to know the meaning of the vision he had seen ; but just then, the messenger of Cornelius, who had made in- quiries for the house of Simon,
18 stood at the door and called out to ask if Simon, surnamed Peter,
19 was staying there. So the Spirit said to Peter, who was pondering over the vision, " There are three
20 men looking for you ! Come, get up and go down, and have no hesita- tion about accompanying them, for it is I who have sent them."
21 Then Peter went down to the men, saying, " I am the man you are looking for. What is your reason
i 22 for coming?" They said, " Cor- nehus, a captain, a good man who
reverences God and enjoys a good reputation among the whole Jewish nation, was instructed by a holy angel to send for you to his house and to listen to what you had to say." So he invited them in and 23 entertained them. Next day he was up and off with them, accom- panied by some of the brothers from Joppa ; and on the next day he 24 reached Caesarea. Peter was just 25 going into the house when Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and wor- shipped him ; but Peter raised him, 26 saying, " Get up, I am only a man myself." Then talking to him he 27 entered the house, to find a large company assembled. (For Cor- 24 nelius had been expecting him and had called his kinsfolk and intimate friends together.) * To them Peter 28 said, " You know yourselves it is illegal for a Jew to join or accost any- one belonging to another nation ; but God has shown me that I must not call any man common or unclean, and so I have come without any 29 demur when I was sent for. Now I want to know why you sent for me ? " " Three days ago," said 30 Cornelius, " at this very hour I was praying in my house at three o'clock in the afternoon, when a man stood before me in shining dress, saying, 31 ' Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, your alms are remem- bered by God. You must send to 32 Joppa and summon Simon who is surnamed Peter; he is staying in the house of Simon a tanner beside the sea.' So I sent for you at once, 33 and you have been kind enough to come. Well nov/, here we are all present before God to listen to what the Lord has commanded you to say." Then Peter opened his lips 34
* Transposing ver. 24b to its right position between ver. 27 and ver. 28.
159
THE ACTS XI
and said, " I see quite plainly that
35 God has no favourites, but that he who reverences Him and lives a good life in any nation is welcomed
36 by Him. You know the message he sent to the sons of Israel when he preached the gospel of peace by Jesus Christ (who is Lord of all);
37 you know how it spread over the whole of Judaea, starting from Galilee o.fter the baptism preached by John — how God consecrated
38 Jesus of Nazaret with the holy Spirit and power, and how he went about doing good and curing all who were harassed by the devil;
39 for God was with him. As for Avhat he did in the land of the Jews and of Jerusalem, we can testify to that. They slew him by hanging him on a
40 gibbet, but God raised him on the third day,and allowed him to be seen
41 not by all the People but by wit- nesses whom God had previously selected, by us who ate and drank with him after his resurrection from
42 the dead, when he enjoined us to preach to the People, testifying that this was he whom God has appointed to be judge for the living and of the
43 dead. All the prophets testify that everyone who believes in him is to receive remission of sins through
44 his Name." While Peter was still speaking, the holy Spirit fell upon all who listened to what he said.
45 Now the Jewish believers who had accompanied Peter were amazed that the gift of the holy Spirit had actually been poured out on the
46 Gentiles — for they heard them speak with ' tongues ' and magnify
47 God. At this Peter asked, " Can any one refuse water for the bap- tism of these people — people who have received the holy Spirit just
48 as we ourselves have ? " And he ordered them to be baptized in the
160
name of Jesus Christ. Then they begged him to remain for some days.
OHAP.
Now the apostles and the brothers 11 in Judaea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So M-hen Peter came up to Jeru- 2 salem, the circumcision party fell foul of him. " You went into 3 the houses of the uncircumcised," they said, " and you ate with them ! " Then Peter proceeded to 4 put the facts before them. "15 was in the town of Joppa at prayer," he said, " and in a trance I saw a vision — a vessel coming down like a huge sheet lowered from heaven by the four corners. It came down to me, and when I looked steadily 6 at it, I noted the quadrupeds of the earth, the wild beasts, the creeping things and the wild birds. Also I 7 heard a voice saying to me, ' Rise, Peter, kill and eat.' I said, ' No, 8 no, my Lord ; * nothing common or unclean has ever passed my lips.' But a voice answered me for the 9 second time out of heaven, ' What God has cleansed, you must not regard as common.' This hap- 10 pened three times, and then the whole thing was drawn back into heaven. At that very moment 11 three men reached the house where I was living, sent to me from Caesarea. The Spirit told me to 12 have no hesitation in accompanying them ; these six brothers went with me as well, and v/e entered the man's house. He related to us how 13 he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ' Send to Joppa for Simon who is surnamed
* Here, as in x. 14, Kvpie is translated. Peter was a Christian, and the connexion of the Voice with the Spirit ia evident iiom the context.
THE ACTS XII
14 Peter; he will tell you how you and all your household are to be saved.'
13 Now just as I began to speak, the holy Spirit fell upon them as upon
16 us at the beginning; and I remem- bered the saying of the Lord, that ' John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the holy
17 Spirit.' Well then, if God has given them exactly the same gift as he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I — how could I try — to thwart God ? "
18 On hearing this they desisted and glorified God, saying, " So God has actually allowed the Gentiles to repent and live ! "
19 Now those who had been scat- tered by the trouble which arose over Stephen made their way as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and An- tioch, but they preached the word
20 to none except Jews. Some of them, however, were Cypriotes and Cyrenians, who on reaching An- tioch told the Greeks * also the
21 gospel of the Lord Jesus ; the strong hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number believed
22 and turned to the Lord. The news of this reached the church in Jeru- salem, and they despatched Barna-
23 bas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God he rejoiced, and encouraged them all to hold by the Lord with heartfelt pur- pose (for he was a good man, full
24 of the holy Spirit and faith). Con- siderable numbers of people were
25 brought in for the Lord. So Barna- bas went off to Tarsus to look for
26 Saul, and on finding him he brought him to Antioch, where for a whole year they were guests of the church and taught considerable numbers.
* Reading "EW-nvas with N= A D*, for which 'EWrjutaras seems to have been sub- stituted under the influence of ix. 29. M
It was at Antioch too that the disciples were originally called " Christians."
During these days some prophets 27 came down from Jerusalem to Antioch, one of whom, named 28 Agabus, showed by the Spirit that a severe famine was about to visit the whole world (the famine which occurred in the reign of Claudius). So the disciples put aside monej^, 29 as each of them was able to afford it, for a contribution to be sent to the brothers in Judaea. This they 30 carried out, sending their contribu- tion to the presbyters by Barnabas and Saul.
It was about that time that king 12 Herod laid hands of violence on some members of the church. James 2 the brother of John he slew with the sword, and when he saw this 3 pleased the Jews, he went on to seize Peter. (This was during the days of unleavened bread.) After 4 arresting him he put him in prison, handing him over to a guard of sixteen soldiers, with the intention of producing him to the People after the passover. So Peter was 5 closely guarded in prison, while earnest prayer for him was offered to God by the church. The very 6 night before Herod meant to have him produced, Peter lay asleep between two soldiers; he was fast- ened by two chains, and sentries in front of the door guarded the prison. But an angel of the Lord 7 flashed on him, and a light shone in the cell; striking Peter on the side he woke him saying, " Quick, get up ! " The fetters dropped from his hands, and the angel said to him, 8 " Gird yourself and put on your sandals." He did so. Then "said
161
THE ACTS XIII
the angel, " Put on your coat and
9 follow me." And he followed him
out, not realizing that what the
angel did was real, but imagining
10 that he saw a vision. When they had passed the first guard and the second they came to the iron gate leading into the city, which opened to them of its own accord ; they passed out, and after they had gone through one street, the angel imme-
11 diately left him. Then Peter came to his senses and said, " Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were anticipat-
12 ing." When he grasped the situa- | tion, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was sur- named Mark, where a number had
13 met for prayer. When he knocked at the door of the porch, a maidservant called Rhoda came to answer it;
14 but as soon as she recognized Peter's voice, instead of opening the door she ran inside from sheer joy and announced that Peter was standing
15 in front of the porch. " You are mad," they said. But she insisted it was true. " It is his angel," they
16 said. But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door they
17 were amazed to see him. He beck- oned to them to keep quiet and then described to them how the Lord had brought him out of prison. " Report this to James," he said, " and to the brothers." And off he
18 went to another place. Now when day broke there was a great commotion among the soldiers over what could have become of Peter.
19 Herod made inquiries for him but could not find him; so, after cross- examining the guards, he ordered them off to death. He then went down from Judaea to Caesarea,
162
where he spent some time. As 20 there was a bitter feud between him and the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon, they waited on him unanimously and after conciliating the royal chamberlain Blastus made overtures for peace, as their country depended for its food-supply vipon the royal territory. On a stated 21 day Herod arrayed himself in royal robes, took his seat on the dais, and proceeded to harangue them. The populace shouted, " It is a 22 god's voice, not a man's ! " And 23 in a moment an angel of the Lord struck him, because he had not given due glory to God; he was eaten up by worms and so expired.
The word of God spread and 24 multiplied.
After fulfilling their commission, 25 Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, bringing with them John who is surnamed Mark. Now in the local church at An- 13 tioch there were prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Symeon (called Niger) and Lucius the Cyrenian, besides Manaen (a foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. As they were worshipping the Lord 2 and fasting, the holy Spirit said, " Come ! set me apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then after 3 fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and let them go.
Sent out thus by the holy Spirit, 4 they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. On reaching Salamis they pro- 5 claimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues, with John as their assistant. They covered the 6 whole island as far as Paphos, where they fell in with a Jewish
THE ACTS XIII
sorcerer and false prophet called
7 Bar- Jesus ; he belonged to the suite of the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man who called for Barnabas and Saul and demanded
8 to hear the word of God. But the sorcerer Eljanas (for that is the translation of his name) tried to divert the proconsul from the faith.
9 So Saul (who is also called Paul), filled with the holy Spirit, looked
10 steadily at him and said, " You son of the devil, you enemy of all good, full of all craft and all cun- ning, will you never stop diverting
11 the straiglit paths of the Lord? See here, the Lord's hand will fall on you, and you will be blind, unable for a time to see the sun." In a moment a dark mist fell upon him,
12 and he groped about for someone to take him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had happened ; he was astounded at the doctrine of the Lord.
13 Setting sail from Paphos, Paul and his companions reached Perga in Pamphylia; .John left them and
14 went back to Jerusalem, but they passed on from Perga and arrived at Pisidian Antioch. On the sab- bath they went into the synagogue
15 and sat down ; and, after the reading of the Law and the prophets, the president of the synagogue sent to tell them, " Brothers, if you have any word of counsel for the people,
16 say it." So Paul stood up and motioning with his hand said, " Listen, men of Israel and you who
17 reverence God. The God of this People Israel chose Our fathers ; he multiplied the people as they sojourned in the land of Egypt and 7(ith arm uplifted led them out of it.
18 For about forty years he bore with
19 them in the desert,and after destroying
seven nations in the land of Canaan he gave them their land as an inherit- ance for about four hundred and fifty years. After that he gave them 20 judges, down to the prophet Samuel. Then it was that they 21 begged for a king, and God gave them forty years of Saul, the son of Kish, who belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. After deposing him, 22 he raised up David to be their king, to whom he bore this testimony that '/n David, the son of Jessai, / have found a man after my own heart, who will obey all my will.' From his offspring God brought to 28 Israel, as he had promised, a saviour in Jesus, before whose coming John 24 had already preached a baptism of repentance for all the people of Israel. And as John was closing 25 his career he said, ' What do you take me for? I am not He; no, he is coming after me, and I am not fit to untie the sandals on his feet ! * Brothers, sons of Abraham's race 26 and all among you who reverence God, the message of this salvation has been sent to us. The inhabi- 27 tants of Jerusalem and their rulers, by condemning him * in their ignorance, fulfilled the words of the prophets which are read every sab- bath ; though they could find him 2<S guilty of no crime that deserved death they begged Pilate to have him put to death, and, after carry- 29 ing out all that had been predicted of him in scripture, they lowered him from the gibbet and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him 30 from the dead. For many days he iJl was seen by those who had come
* The Greek text is difficult. I prefer, as the least radical treatment, Lachrnann's proposal to read Kplvavrts immediately after ayvo-haavTii Koi, which at anyrate yields a fair sense.
163
THE ACTS XIV
up with him from Galilee to Jeru- salem; they are now his witnesses
32 to the People. So we now preach to you the glad news that the
33 promise made to the fathers has been fulfilled by God for us their children, when he raised Jesus. As it is written in the second psalm,
thou art my son,
to-day have I become thy father.
34 And as a proof that he has raised him from the dead, never to return to decay, he has said this : I will give you the holiness of David that fails not.
35 Hence in another psalm he says,
thou wilt not let thy holy One suffer decay.
36 Of course David, after serving God's purpose in his own generation, died and was laid beside his fathers; he
37 suffered decay, but He whom God
38 raised did not suffer decay. So you must understand, my brothers, that remission of sins is proclaimed
39 to you through him, and that by him everyone who believes is ab- solved from all that the law of
40 Moses never could absolve you from. Beware then in case the prophetic saying applies to you :
41 Look, you disdainful folk, wonder
at this and perish — for in your days I do a deed, a deed you will never believe, not though one were to explain it to youJ'^ 4i2 As Paul and Barnabas went out, the people begged to have all this repeated to them on the following
43 sabbath. After the synagogue broke up, a number of the Jews and the devout proselytes followed them; Paul and Barnabas talked to them and encouraged them to hold by
44 the grace of God. And on the next sabbath nearly all the town gathered
45 to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds they
164
were filled with jealousy ; they began to contradict what Paul said and to abuse him. So Paul and Barna- 46 bas spoke out fearlessly. " The word of God," they said, " had to be spoken to you in the first in- stance ; but as you push it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eter- nal life, well, here we turn to the Gentiles ! For these are the Lord's 47 orders to us :
/ have set you to be a light for the
Gefitiles, to bring salvation to the end of
the earth.'' ^ When the Gentiles heard this they 48 rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord and believed, that is, all who had been ordained to eternal life; and the word of the Lord 49 went far and wide over the whole country. But the Jews incited the 50 devout women of high rank and the leading men in the town, who stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their territory. They shook the 51 dust off their feet as a protest and went to Iconium. As for the 52 disciples, they were filled with joy and the holy Spirit.
CHAP.
At Iconium the same thing hap- 14 pened. They went into the syna- gogue of the Jews and spoke in such a way that a great body both of Jews and Greeks believed. Here 3 they spent a considerable time, speaking fearlessly about the Lord, who attested the word of his grace by allowing signs and wonders to be performed by them.* But the 2 refractory Jews stirred up and exasperated the feeling of the Gentiles against the brothers. The 4
* Restoring ver. 3 to what appears to have been its original position between vers. 1 and 2.
THE ACTS XV
populace of the town was divided ; some sided with the Jews, some
5 vnth the apostles. But, when the Gentiles and Jew^s along with their rulers made a hostile movement to
6 insult and stone them, the apostles grasped the situation and escaped to the Lycaonian tow^ns of Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding
7 country ; there they continued to preach the gospel.
8 At Lystra there was a man sitting, who was powerless in his feet, a lame man unable to walk ever since
9 he was born. He heard Paul speak- ing, and Paul, gazing steadily at him and noticing that he had faith
10 enough to make him better, said in a loud voice, " Stand erect on your feet." Up he jumped and
11 began to walk. Now when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, " The gods have come down to us in human form ! "
12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul Hermes, since he was the chief
13 spokesman. Indeed the priest of the temple of Zeus in front of the town brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to offer sacrifice along with the crowds.
14 But when the apostles, Paul and Barnabas, heard this they rent their clothes and sprang out among
15 the crowd, shouting, " Men, what is this you are doing? We are but human, with natures like your own ! The gospel we are preach- ing to you is to turn from such futile ways to the living God who made the heaven, the earth, the sea,
16 and all that in them is. In bygone ages he allowed all nations to go
17 their own ways, though as the boun- tiful Giver he did not leave himself without a witness, giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons,
giving you food and joy to your heart's content." Even bj'^ saying 18 this it was all they could do to keep the crowds from sacrificing to them.
But Jews from Antioch and Ico- 19 nium arrived, who won over the crowds, and after pelting Paul with stones they dragged him outside the town, thinking he was dead. How- 20 ever, as the disciples gathered round him, he got up and went into the tow^n.
Next day he went off with Barna- bas to Derbe, and after preaching 21 the gospel to that town and making a number of disciples, they turned back to Lystra, Iconium and An- tioch, strengthening the souls of the 22 disciples, encouraging them to hold by the faith, and telling them that " we have to get into the Realm of God through many a trouble." They chose presbyters for them in 23 every church, and with prayer and fasting entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Then 24 they came through Pisidia to Pam- phylia, and after speaking the word 25 of the Lord in Perga they went down to Attaleia ; thence they sailed 26 for Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now com- pleted. On their arrival they 27 gathered the church together and reported how God had been \Fith them, what he had done, and how he had opened a door into faith for the Gentiles.
They spent a considerable time 28 with the disciples there. But cer- 15 tain individuals came down from Jerusalem and taught the brothers that " unless you get circumcised after the custom of Moses you can- not be saved." As a sharp dispute 12 and controversy sprang up between
165
THE ACTS XV
them and Paul and Barnabas, it was arranged that Paul and Barna- bas, along with some others of their number, should go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and presbyters at Jerusalem about this question.
3 The church sped them on their jour- ney, and they passed through both Phoenicia and Syria informing the brothers, to the great joy of all, that the Gentiles were turning to God.
4 On arriving at Jerusalem they were received by the church, the apostles and the presbyters, and they re- ported how God had been with them
5 and what he had done. But some of the believers who belonged to the Pharisaic party got up and said, " Gentiles must be circumcised and told to observe the law of Moses."
6 The apostles and the presbyters met
7 to investigate this question, and a keen controversy sprang up; but Peter rose and said to them, " Brothers, you are M^ell aware that from the earliest days God chose that of you all I should be the one by whom the Gentiles were to hear the word of the gospel and believe
8 it. The God who reads the hearts of all attested this by giving them the holy Spirit just as he gave it
9 to us ; in cleansing their hearts by faith he made not the slightest dis- tinction between us and them.
10 Well now, why are you trying * to impose a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we ourselves could
11 bear? No, it is by the grace of the Lord Jesus that we believe and are saved, in the same way as they
12 are." So the whole meeting was quieted and listened to Barnabas and Paul recounting the signs and wonders God had performed by
166
Omitting t^j' 6e6v.
them among the Gentiles. When 13 they had finished speaking, James spoke. " Brothers," he said, " lis- ten to me. Symeon has explained 14 how it was God's original concern to secure a People from among the Gentiles to bear his Name. This 15 agrees with the words of the pro- phets ; as it is written,
After this I will return and rebuild 16 David's fallen tent, its ruins I will rebuild and erect it anew, that the rest of men may seek for 17 the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by 77iy name, saith the Lord, who makes this known 18 from, of old. Hence, in my opinion, 19 we ought not to put fresh difficulties in the way of those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but 20 write them injunctions to abstain from whatever is contaminated by idols, from sexual vice, from the flesh of animals that have been strangled, and from tasting blood ; for Moses has had his preachers 21 from the earliest ages in every town, where he is read aloud in the syna- gogues every sabbath." Then the 22 apostles and the preslnters, to- gether with the whole church, de- cided to select some of their number and send them with Paul and Bar- nabas to Antioch. The men selected were Judas (called Bar-Sabbas) and Silas, prominent members of the brotherhood. They conveyed the 23 following letter. " The apostles and the presbj^ters of the brother- hood to the brothers who belong to the Gentiles throughout Antioch and Syria and Cihcia : greeting. Having learned that some of our 24 number,! quite unauthorized by us,
I Omitting e|eX9ovTe;.
THE ACTS XVI
have unsettled you with their teach-
25 ing and upset your souls, we have decided unanimously to select some of our number and send them to you along with our beloved Paul and
26 Barnabas who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus
27 Christ. We therefore send Judas and Silas with the following mes- sage, which they will also give to
28 you orally. The holy Spirit and we have decided not to impose any extra burden on you, apart from
29 these essential requirements: abstain from food that has been offered to idols, from tasting blood, from the flesh of animals that have been strangled, and from sexual vice. Keep clear of all this and you will
30 prosper. Goodbye." When the messengers were despatched, they went down to Antioch and after gathering the whole body they
31 handed them the letter. On read- ing it the people rejoiced at the
32 encouragement it brought; and as Judas and Silas were themselves prophets, they encouraged and strengthened the brothers Avith
33 many a counsel. Then after some time had passed the brothers let them go with a greeting of peace
35 to those who had sent them. Paul and Barnabas, however, stayed on in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord along with a number of others.
36 Some days later, Paul said to Barnabas, " Come and let us go back to visit the brothers in every town where we have proclaimed the word of the Lord. Let us see how
37 they are doing." But while Barna- bas wanted to take John (who was
38 called Mark) along with them, Paul held they should not take a man with them who had deserted them in Pamphylia, instead of accom-
panying them on active service. So 39 in irritation they parted company, Barnabas taking Mark with him and sailing for Cyprus, while Paul 40 selected Silas and went off, com- mended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. He made his 41 M'ay through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. He also came down to Dcrbe 16 and Lystra, where there was a dis- ciple called Timotheus, the son of a believing Jewess and a Greek father. He had a good reputation 2 among the brothers at Lystra and Iconium ; so, as Paul wished him to 3 go abroad with him, he took and circumcised him on account of the local Jews, all of whom knew his father had been a Greek. As they 4 travelled on from town to town, they handed over to the people the resolutions which the apostles and the presbj'ters in Jerusalem had decided were to be obeyed ; and the churches were strengthened 5 in the faith and increased in num- bers day by day. They crossed 6 Phrygia and the country of Galatia, the holy Spirit having stopped them from preaching the word in Asia; when they got as far as 7 M3^sia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them, and so they passed 8 Mysia by and went down to Troas. A vision appeared to Paul by night, 9 the vision of a Macedonian stand- ing and appealing to him with the words, " Cross to Macedonia and help us." As soon as he saw the 10 vision, we made efforts to start for Macedonia, inferring that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. Setting sail then from Troas 11 we ran straight to Samotliraee and on the following day to Ncapolis. We then came to the Roman colony 12
167
THE ACTS XVI
of Philippi, which is the foremost town of the district of Macedonia. In this town we spent some days.
13 On the sabbath we went outside the gate to the bank of the river, where as usual there was a place of prayer; we sat down and talked
14 to the women who had gathered. Among the listeners there was a woman called Lydia, a dealer in purple who belonged to the town of Thyatira. She reverenced God, and the Lord opened her heart to
15 attend to what Paul said. When she was baptized, along with her household, she begged us, saying, " If you are convinced I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." She compelled us to come.
16 Now it happened as we went to the place of prayer that a slave-girl met us, possessed by a spirit of ventriloquism, and a source of great profit to her owners by her power
17 of fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shrieking, " These men are servants of the Most High God, they proclaim to
18 you the way of salvation ! " She did this for a number of days. Then Paul turned in annoyance and told the spirit, " In the name of Jesus Christ I order you out of her ! " And it left her that very moment.
19 But when her owners saw their chance of profit was gone, they caught hold of Paul and Silas and dragged them before the magistrates
20 in the forum. Bringing them before the praetors they declared, " These fellows are Jews who are making
21 an agitation in our town ; they are proclaiming customs which as Ro- mans we are not allowed to accept
22 or observe ! " The crowd also joined in the attack upon them, while the praetors, after having
168
them stripped and after ordering them to be flogged with rods, had 23 many lashes inflicted on them and put them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safe. On re- 24 ceiving so strict a charge, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks. But about midnight, as Paul and 25 Silas were praying and singing to God, while the prisoners listened, all of a sudden there was a great 26 earthquake which shook the very foundations of the prison ; the doors all flew open in an instant and the fetters of all the prisoners were unfastened. When the jailer 27 started from his sleep and saw the prison-doors open, he drew his sword and was on the point of killing himself, supposing the
Erisoners had made their escape ; ut Paul shouted aloud, " Do 28 not harm yourself, we are all here ! " So calling for lights he 29 rushed in, fell in terror before Paul and Silas, and brought them out 30 (after securing the other prisoners). " Sirs," he said, " what must I do to be saved ? " " Beheve in the 31 Lord Jesus Christ," they said, " and then you will be saved, you and your household as well." And 32 they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all in his house. Then 33 he took them at that very hour of the night and washed their wounds and got baptized instantly, he and all his family. He took them up to 34 his house and put food before them, overjoyed like all his household at having believed in God. When 35 day broke, the praetors sent the lictors with the message, " Release these men." The jailer repeated 36 this to Paul. " The praetors," he said, " have sent to release you. So come out and go in peace." But 37
THE ACTS XVII
Paul replied, " They flogged us in public and A\ithout a trial, flogged Roman citizens ! They put us in prison, and now they are going to get rid of us secretly ! No indeed ! Let them come here themselves
38 and take us out ! " The lictors reported this to the praetors, who, on hearing the men were Roman
S9 citizens, got alarmed ; they went to appease them and after taking them out of prison begged them to
40 leave the town. So they left the prison and went to Lydia's house where they saw the brothers and encouraged them; then they de- parted.
17 Travelling on through Amphi- polis and Apollonia they reached Thessalonica. Here there was a
2 Jewish synagogue, and Paul as usual went in ; for three sabbaths he argued with them on the scrip-
3 tures, explaining and quoting pas- sages to prove that the messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead, and that " the Jesus I proclaim
4 to you is the messiah." Some were persuaded and threw in their lot with Paul and Silas, including a host of devout Greeks and a large num-
5 ber of the leading women. But the JeAvs were roused to jealousy; they got hold of some idle rascals to form a mob and set the town in an up- roar; they attacked Jason's house in the endeavour to bring them
6 out before the populace, but as they failed to find Paul and Silas they haled Jason and some of the brothers before the politarchs, yel- ling, " These upsetters of the whole
7 world have come here too ! Jason has welcomed them ! They all violate the decrees of Caesar by declaring someone else called Jesus
is king." Both the crowd and the 8
Eolitarchs were disturbed when they card this ; however they let Jason 9 and the others go, after binding them over to keep the peace. Then 10 the brothers at once sent off Paul and Silas by night to Beroea. When they arrived there, they be- took themselves to the Jewish syna- gogue, where the people were more 11 amenable than at Thessalonica; they were perfectly ready to receive the Word and made a daily study of the scriptures to see if it was really as Paul said. Many of them 12 believed, together with a large num- ber of prominent Greeks, both women and men. But when the 13 Jews of Thessalonica heard that Paul was proclaiming the word of God at Beroea as well, they came to create a disturbance and a riot among the crowds at Beroea too. The brothers then sent off Paul at 14 once on his way to the sea, while Silas and Timotheus remained where they were. Paul's escort 15 brought him as far as Athens and left with instructions that Silas and Timotheus were to join him as soon as possible.
While Paul was waiting for them 16 at Athens, his soul was irritated at the sight of the idols that filled the city. He argued in the synagogue 17 with the Jews and the devout prose- lytes and also in the marketplace daily with those who chanced to be present. Some of the Epicurean 18 and Stoic philosophers also came across him. Some said, " Whatever does the fellow mean with his scraps of learning?" Others said, "He looks like a herald of foreign deities" (this was because he preached ' Jesus ' and ' the Resurrection '). Then taking him to the Areopagus 19 they asked, " May we know what
168
THE ACTS XVIII
is this novel teaching of yours ?
20 You talk of some things that sound strange to us ; so we want to know
21 what they mean." (For all the Athenians and the foreign visitors to Athens occupied themselves with nothing else than repeating or listen-
22 ing to the latest novelty.) So Paul stood in the middle of the Areo- pagus and said, " Men of Athens, I observe wherever I turn that you
23 are a most religious people. Why, as I passed along and scanned your objects of worship, I actually came upon an altar with the inscription
TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.
Well, I proclaim to you what you
24 worship in your ignorance. The God ivho made the world and all things in it, he, as Lord o/ heaven and earth, does not dwell in shrines that are
25 made by human hands ; he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything, for it is he who gives life and breath and all things
26 to all men. All nations he has created from a common origin, to dwell all over the earth, fixing their allotted periods and the
27 boundaries of their abodes, meaning them to seek for God on the chance of finding him in their groping for him. Though indeed he is close to
28 each one of us, for it is in him that we live and move and exist — as some of your own poets have said,
' We too belong to His race.'
29 Well, as the race of God, we ought not to imagine that the divine nature resembles gold or silver or stone, the product of human art
30 and invention. Such ages of ignor- ance God overlooked, but he now charges men that they are all
170
everywhere to repent, inasmuch 31 as he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world justly by a man whom he has destined for this. And he has given proof of this to all by raising him from the dead." But on hearing of a ' resur- 32 rection of dead men,' some sneered, while others said, " We "svill hear you again on that subject." So 33 Paul withdrew from them. Some 34 men, however, did join him and believe, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman called Damaris, and some others.
After this Paul left Athens and 18 went to Corinth. There he came 2 across a Jew called Aquila, a native of Pontus who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife Priscilla, as Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul accosted them, and as he belonged to the same 3 trade he stayed with them and they all worked together. (They were workers in leather by trade.) Every sabbath he argued in the 4 synagogue, persuading both Jews and Greeks. By the time Silas 5 and Timotheus came south from Macedonia, Paul was engrossed in this preaching of the word, arguing to the Jews that the messiah was Jesus. But as they opposed and 6 abused him, he shook out his gar- ments in protest, saying, " Your blood be on your own heads ! I am not responsible ! After this I will go to the Gentiles." Then 7 he removed to the house of a de- vout proselj'te called Titus Justus, which adjoined the synagogue. But 8 Crispus the president of the syna- gogue believed in the Lord, as did all his household, and many of the Corinthians listened, believed,
THE ACTS XIX
9 and were baptized. And the Lord said to Paul in a vision by night, " Have no fear, speak on and never
10 stop, for I am with you, and no one will attack and injure you; I have many people in this city."
11 So he settled there for a year and six months, teaching them the word of God.
12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia the Jews without excep- tion rose against Paul and brought
13 him up before the tribunal, crying, " This fellow incites men to worship
14 God contrary to the Law." Paul was just on the point of opening his lips to reply, when Gallio said to the Jews, " If it had been a mis- demeanour or wicked crime, there would be some reason in me listening
15 to you, O Jews. But as these are merely questions of words and per- sons and your own Law, you can attend to them for yourselves. I decline to adjudicate upon matters
16 like that." And he drove them
17 from the tribunal. Then all [the Greeks] caught hold of Sosthenes the president of the synagogue and beat him in front of the tribunal; but Gallio took no notice.
18 After waiting on for a number of days Paul said goodbye to the brothers and sailed for Syria, accom- panied by Priscilla and Aquila. (As the latter was under a vow, he had his head shaved at Cenchreae.)
19 When they reached Ephesus Paul left them there. He went to the synagogue and argued with the
20 Jews, who asked him to stay for a while. But he would not consent;
21 he said goodbye to them, telling them, " I will come back to you, if it is the will of God." Then,
22 sailing from Ephesus, he reached Caesarea, went up to the capital to salute the church, and travelled
down to Antioch. After spending 23 some time there he went off on a journey right through the country of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthen- ing the disciples.
There came to Ephesus a Jew 24 called Apollos, who was a native of Alexandria, a man of culture, strong in his knowledge of the scriptures. He had been instructed in the Way 25 of the Lord and he preached and taught about Jesus with ardour and accuracy, though all the bap- tism he knew was that of John. In the synagogue he was very out- 26 spoken at first, but when Priscilla and Aquila listened to him, they took him home and explained more accurately to him what the Way of God really meant. As he wished to 27 cross to Achaia, the brothers wrote and urged the disciples there to give him a welcome. And on his arrival he proved of great service to those who by God's grace had believed, for he publicly refuted the 28 Jews with might and main, showng from the scriptures that the messiah was Jesus.
It was when Apollos was in 19 Corinth that Paul, after passing through the inland districts, came down to Ephesus. There he found some disciples, whom he asked, 2 " Did you receive the holy Spirit M'hen you believed ? " " No," they said, " we never even heard of its existence." " Then," said he, 3 "what were you baptized in?" " In John's baptism," they replied. " John," said Paul, " baptized with 4 a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus." When they heard this, 5 they had themselves baptized in
171
THE ACTS XIX
6 the name of the Lord Jesus, and after Paul laid his hands on them the holy Spirit came upon them, they spoke with ' tongues ' and
7 prophesied. They numbered all together about twelve men.
8 Then Paul entered the synagogue and for three months spoke out fearlessly, arguing and persuading people about the Reign of God.
9 But as some grew stubborn and disobedient, decrying the Way in presence of the multitude, he left them, withdrew the disciples, and continued his argument every day from eleven to four* in the
10 lecture-room of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia, Jews as well as Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.
11 God also worked no ordinary
12 miracles by means of Paul ; people even carried away towels or aprons he had used, and at their touch sick folk were freed from their diseases and evil spirits came out
13 of them. Some strolling Jewish exorcists also undertook to pro- nounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, " I adjure you by the Jesus
14 whom Paul preaches ! " The seven sons of Sceuas, a Jewish high priest,
15 used to do this. But the evil spirit retorted, " Jesus I know and Paul I know, but you — who are you?"
16 And the man in whom the evil spirit resided leapt at them, overpowered them all, and belaboured them, till they rushed out of the house
17 stripped and wounded. This came to the ears of all the inhabitants of Ephesus, Jews as v/ell as Greeks; awe fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
* The words Attc) Sipas ire/j-irrTis €us SfKdrtjs D. etc.) are probably original. 172
Many believers would also come to 18 confess and disclose their magic spells ; and numbers who had prac- 19 tised magic arts collected their books and burned them in the presence of all. On adding up the value of them, it was found that they were worth two thousand pounds.
Thus did the word of the Lord 20 increase and prevail mightily.
After these events Paul resolved 21 in the Spirit to travel through Macedonia and Achaia on his way to Jerusalem. " After I get there," he said, " I must also visit Rome." So he despatched tAvo of his assis- 22 tants to Macedonia, Timotheus and Erastus, while he himself stayed on awhile in Asia. It was about that 23 time that a great commotion arose over the Way. This was how it 24 happened. By making silver shrines of Artemis a silversmith called Demetrius was the means of bring- ing rich profit to his workmen. So 25 he got them together, along with the workmen who belonged to similar trades, and said to them : " My men, you know this trade is the source of our wealth. You also see 26 and hear that not only at Ephesus but almost all over Asia this fellow Paul has drawn off a considerable number of people by his persuasions. He declares that hand-made gods are not gods at all. Now the 27 danger is not only that we will have our trade discredited but that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will fall into contempt and that she \^all be degraded from her majestic glory, she whom all Asia and the wide world worship." When they heard this they were 28 filled with rage and raised the cry, " Great is Artemis of Ephesus ! " So the city was filled with confusion. 29
THE ACTS XX
They nished like one man into the amphitheatre, dragging along Gains and Aristarchus, Macedon- ians who were travelling with Paul.
30 (Paul wanted to enter the popular assembly, but the disciples would
31 not allow him. Some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, also sent to beg him not to venture
32 into the amphitheatre.) Some were shouting one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion, and the majority had no idea why
33 they had met. Some of the mob concluded it must be Alexander, as the Jews pushed him to the front. So Alexander motioning "vsith his hand wanted to defend himself
34 before the people; but when they discovered he was a Jew, a roar broke from them all, and for about two hours they shouted, " Great is Artemis of Ephesus ! Great is
85 Artemis of Ephesus ! " The secre- tary of state then got the mob calmed down, and said to them, " Men of Ephesus, who on earth does not know that the city of Ephesus is Warden of the temple of the great Artemis and of the
36 statue that fell from heaven ? All this is bej'^ond question. So you should keep calm and do nothing
37 reckless. Instead of that you have brought these men here who are guilty neither of sacrilege nor of
38 blasphemy against our goddess. If Demetrius and his fellow trades- men have a grievance against any- body, let both parties state their charges; assizes are held and there
89 are always the proconsuls. Any wider claim must be settled in the legal assembly of the citizens.
40 Indeed there is a danger of our being charged with riot over to-day's meeting ; there is not a single reason we can give for this disorderly
gathering." With these words he 41 dismissed the assembly.
When the tumult had ceased, 20 Paul sent for the disciples and encouraged them; he then took leave of them and went his way to Macedonia. After passing 2 through the districts of Macedonia and encouraging the people at length, he came to Greece, where he 3 spent three months. Just as he was on the point of sailing for Syria, the Jews laid a plot against him. He therefore resolved to return through Macedonia. His company 4 as far as Asia consisted of Sopater of Bercea (the son of Pyrrhus), Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gains of Derbe, Timotheus, and Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia. They went 5 on to wait for us at Troas, while we 6 sailed from Philippi, after the days of unleavened bread, and joined them five days later at Troas. There we spent seven days. On the first 7 day of the week we met for the breaking of bread; Paul addressed them, as he was to leave next day, and he prolonged his address till midnight (there were plenty of 8 lamps in the upper room where we met). In the "window sat a young 9 man called Eutychus, and as Paul's address went on and on, he got overcome with drowsiness, went fast asleep, and fell from the third storey. He was picked up a corpse, but Paul went downstairs, threw 10 himself upon him, and embraced him. " Do not lament," he said, " the life is still in him." Then he 11 went upstairs, broke bread, and ate ; finally, after conversing awhile with them till the dawn, he went away. As for the lad, they took 12
173
THE ACTS XXI
him away alive, much to their
13 rehef. Now we had gone on beforehand to the ship and set sail for Assos, intcndinfy to take Paul on board there. This was his own arrangement, for he intended to
14 travel by land. So when he met us at Assos, we took him on board
15 and got to Mitylene. Sailing thence on the follo\ving day we arrived off Chios ; next day we crossed over to Samos, and [after stopping at Trofryllium] we went on next day
16 to Miletus. This was because Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, to avoid any loss of time in Asia; he wanted to reach Jerusalem, if pos- sible, by the day of Pentecost.
17 From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the presbyters of the church.
18 When they came to him, he said, " You know quite well how I lived among you all the time ever since
19 I set foot in Asia, how I served the Lord in all humility, with many a tear and many a trial which I en- countered owing to the plots of the
20 Jews, hoAv I never shrank from let- ting you know anj^thing for your good, or from teaching you alike in
21 public and from house to house, bear- ing my testimony both to Jews and Greeks of repentance before God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
22 Now here I go to Jerusalem under the binding force of the Spirit. What will befall me there I do
23 not know. Only, I know this, that in town after town the holy Spirit testifies to me that bonds and
24 troubles are awaiting me. But then, I set no value on my own life as compared with the joy of finishing my course and fulfilling the commission I received from the Lord Jesus to attest the gospel
25 of the grace of God. I know to- day that not one of you will ever
174
see my face again — not one of you among whom I moved as I preached the Reign. Therefore do 26 I protest before you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you ; I never shrank from 27 letting you know the entire purpose of God. Take heed to yourselves 28 and to all the flock of which the holy Spirit has appointed you guardians; shepherd the church of the Lord which he has purchased with his own blood. I know that 29 when I am gone, fierce wolves will get in among you, and they will not spare the flock ; yes, and men 30 of your own number will arise with perversions of the truth to draw the disciples after them. So be on 31 the alert, remember how for three whole years I never ceased night and day to watch over each one of you with tears. And now I entrust 32 you to God and the word of his grace; he is able to upbuild you and give you your inheritance among all the consecrated. Silver, gold, or 33 apparel I never coveted ; you know 34 yourselves how these hands of mine provided everything for my own needs and for my companions. I 35 showed you how this was the way to work hard and succour the needy, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, who said, ' To give is happier than to get.' " With these words he 36 knelt down and prayed beside them all. They all broke into loud lament- 37 ation and falling upon the neck of Paul kissed him fondly, sorrowing 38 chiefly because he told them they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.
When we had torn ourselves 21 away from them and set sail, we made a straight run to Cos, next
THE ACTS XXI
day to Rhodes, and thence to
2 Patara ; as we found a ship there bound for Phoenicia, we went on
3 board and set sail. After sighting Cyprus and leaving it on our left, we sailed for Syria, landing at Tyre where the ship was to unload her
4 cargo. We found out the local disciples and stayed there for seven days. These disciples told Paul by the Spirit not to set foot in Jeru-
5 salem ; but, when our time was up, we started on our journey, escorted by them, women and children and all, till we got outside the town. Then, kneeling on the beach, we
6 prayed and said goodbye to one another. We went on board and
7 they went home. By sailing from Tyre to Ptolemais we completed our voyage; we saluted the brothers,
8 spent a day with them, and started next morning for Caesarea, where we entered the house of Philip
9 the evangelist (he belonged to the Seven, and had four unmarried daughters who prophesied). We
10 stayed with him. While we re- mained there for a number of days, a prophet called Agabus came down
11 from Judaea. He came to us, took Paul's girdle and bound his own feet and hands, saying, " Here is the word of the holy Spirit : ' So shall the Jews bind the owner of this girdle at Jerusalem and hand
12 him over to the Gentiles '." Now when we heard this, we and the local disciples besought Pavil not to
13 go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul replied, " What do you mean by weeping and disheartening me ? I am ready not only to be bound but also to die at Jerusalem for the
14 sake of the Lord Jesus." As he would not be persuaded, we ac- quiesced, saying, " The will of the Lord be done."
After these days we packed up 15 and started for Jerusalem, accom- 16 panied by some of the disciples from Caesarea, who conducted us to the house of Mnason, a Cypriote, with whom we were to lodge. He was a disciple of old standing.
The brothers welcomed us gladly 17 on our arrival at Jerusalem. Next 18 day we accompanied Paul to James ; all the presbyters were present, and after saluting them 19 Paul described in detail what God had done by means of his ministry among the Gentiles. They glorified 20 God when they heard it. Then they said to him, " Brother, you see how many thousands of be- lievers there are among the Jews, all of them ardent upholders of the Lord. Now they have heard that 21 you teach Jews who live among Gentiles to break away from Moses and not to circumcise their children, nor to follow the old customs. What is to be done ? They will 22 be sure to hear you have arrived.* So do as we tell you. We have 23 four men here under a vow ; asso- 24 ciate yourself with them, purify yourself with them, pay their ex- penses so that they may be free to have their heads shaved, and then everybody will understand there is nothing in these stories about you, but that, on the contrary, you are guided by obedience to the Law. As for Gentile believers, we have 25 issued our decision that they must avoid food that has been offered to idols, the taste of blood, flesh of animals that have been strangled, and sexual vice." Then Paul 20 associated himself with the men next day; he had himself purified along with them and went into
♦ Omitting [5tT ir\ridos irvvfAee7i/] and
176
THE ACTS XXII
the temple to give notice of the time when the days of 'purification would be completed — the time, that is to say, when the sacrifice could be offered for each one of them.
27 The seven days were almost over when the Asiatic Jews, catching sight of him in the temple, stirred up all the crowd and laid hands on
28 him, shouting, " To the rescue, men of Israel ! Here is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against the People and the Law and this Place ! And he has actually brought Greeks inside the temple
29 and defiled this holy Place ! " (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian along with him in the city, and they supposed Paul had taken him inside the temple.)
30 The whole city was thrown into turmoil. The people rushed to- gether, seized Paul and dragged him outside the temple ; whereupon the
31 doors were immediately shut. They were attempting to kill him when word reached the commander of the garrison that the whole of Jerusalem
32 was in confusion. Taking some soldiers and officers, he at once rushed down to them, and when they saw the commander and the soldiers they stopped beating Paul.
33 Then the commander came up and seized him; he ordered him to be bound with a couple of chains, and asked " Who is he? " and " What
34 has he done ? " Some of the crowd roared one thing, some another, and as he could not learn the facts owing to the uproar, he ordered Paul to be taken to the barracks.
35 By the time he reached the steps, he had actually to be carried by the soldiers on account of the
36 violence of the crowd, for the whole mass of the people followed shout-
176
ing, " Away with him ! " Just as 87 he was being taken into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, " May I say a word to you ? " "You know Greek ! " said the commander. " Then you are not the Egyptian 38 who in days gone by raised the four thousand assassins and led them out into the desert? " Paul said, 30 " I am a Jew, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, the citizen of a famous town. Pray let me speak to the people." As he gave per- 40 mission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the people. A great hush came over them, and he addressed them as follows in Hebrew.
" Brothers and fathers, listen 22 to the defence I now make before you." When thej^ heard him 2 addressing them in Hebrew they were all the more quiet. So he went on. "I am a Jew, born at 3 Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel in all the stictness of our ancestral Law, ardent for God as you all are to-day. I persecuted 4 this Way of religion to the death, chaining and imprisoning both men and women, as the high priest and 5 all the council of elders can testify. It was from them that I got letters to the brotherhood at Damascus and then journeyed thither to bind those who had gathered there and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment. Now as I neared 0 Damascus on my journey, sud- denly about noon a brilliant light from heaven flashed round me. I 7 dropped to the earth and heard a voice sajdng to me, ' Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me ? ' ' Who are 8 you ? ' 1 asked. He said to me, ' I
THE ACTS XXIII
am Jesus the Nazarcne, and you are
9 persecuting me.' (My companions
saw the light, but they did not hear
the voice of him who talked to me.)
10 I said, ' What am I to do ? ' And the Lord said to me, ' Get up and make your way into Damascus; there you will be told about all you are
11 destined to do.' As I could not see owing to the dazzling glare of that light, my companions took my hand
12 and so I reached Damascus. Then a certain Ananias, a devout man in the Law, who had a good reputation among all the Jewish inhabitants,
13 came to me and standing beside me said, ' Saul, my brother, regain your sight ! ' The same moment I regained my sight and looked up
14 at him. Then he said, ' The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, to see the Just One, and to hear him speak with his own
15 lips. For you are to be a witness for him before all men, a witness of what you have seen and heard.
jl6 And now, why do you wait ? Get up and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.'
17 When I returned to Jerusalem, it happened that while I was praying in the temple I fell into a trance
18 and saw Him saying to me, ' Make haste, leave Jerusalem quickly, for they will not accept your evidence
19 about me.' ' But, Lord,' I said, ' they surely know it was I who imprisoned and flogged those who believed in you throughout the synagogues, and that I stood and
JO approved when the blood of your martyr Stephen was being shed, taking charge of the clothes of his
II murderers ! ' But he said to me, ' Go ; I will send you afar to the
^2 Gentiles ' " Till he said that,
they had listened to him. But at that they shouted, " Away with
such a creature from the earth ! He is not fit to live ! " They yelled 23 and threw their clothes into the air and flung dust about, till the com- 24 mander ordered him to be taken inside the barracks and examined under the lash, so as to find out why the people shouted at him in this way. They had strapped him up, 25 when Paul said to the officer who was standing by, " Are you allowed to scourge a Roman citizen — and to scourge him without a trial ? " When the officer heard this, he went 26 to the commander and said to him, " What are you going to do ? This man is a Roman citizen," So the 27 commander went to him and said, " Tell me, are you a Roman citizen ? " " Yes," he said. The 28 commander replied, " I had to pay a large sum for this citizenship." " But I was bom a citizen," said Paul. Then those who were to have 29 examined him left him at once alone; even the commander was alarmed to find Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.
Next day, as he was anxious to 30 find out the real reason why the Jews accused him, he unbound him, ordered the high priests and all the Sanhedrin to meet, and brought Paul down, placing him in front of them. With a steady look at the 23 Sanhedrin Paul said, " Brothers, I have lived with a i>erfectly good conscience before God down to the present day." Then the high 2 priest Ananias ordered those who were standing next Paul to strike him on the mouth. At this Paul 3 said to him, " You whitewashed wall, God will strike you ! You sit there to judge me by the Law, do you ? And you break the Law by ordering me to be struck ! " The 4
177
THE ACTS XXIII
bystanders said, " What ! would you
5 rail at God's high priest ? " " Bro- thers," said Paul, " I did not know he was high priest" (for it is written. You must not speak evil of any ruler
6 of your people). Then, finding half the Sanhedrin were Sadducees and the other half Pharisees, Paul shouted to them, " I am a Phari- see, brothers, the son of Pharisees ! It is for the hope of the resurrection from the dead that I am on trial ! "
7 When he said this, a quarrel broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees ; the meeting was
8 divided. For while the Sadducees declare there is no such thing as resurrection, angels, or spirits, the Pharisees affirm them all. Thus a loud clamour broke out. Some of the scribes who belonged to the Pharisaic party got up and con- tended, " We find nothing wrong about this man. What if some spirit or angel has spoken to him ? "
10 The quarrel then became so \iolent that the commander was afraid they would tear Paul in pieces ; he there- fore ordered the troops to march down and take him from them by force, bringing him inside the
11 barracks. On the following night the Lord stood by Paul and said, " Courage ! As you have testified to me at Jerusalem, so you must testify at Rome."
12 When day broke, the Jews formed a conspiracy, taking a solemn oath neither to eat nor to drink till
13 they had killed Paul. There were more than forty of them in this
14 plot. They then went to the high priests and elders, sajdng, " We have taken a solemn oath to taste no food till we have killed
15 Paul. Now you and the Sanhedrin must inform the commander that you propose to investigate this case
178
in detail, so that he may have Paul brought down to you. We will be all ready to kill him on the way down." Now Paul's nephew heard about their treacherous am- bush; so he got admission to the barracks and told Paul. Paul summoned one of the officers and said, " Take this young man to the commander, for he has some news to give him." So the officer took him to the commander, saying, " The prisoner Paul has summoned me to ask if I would bring this young man to you, as he has some- thing to tell you." The commander then took him by the hand aside and asked him in private, " What is the news you have for me? " He answered, " The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to-morrow to the Sanhedrin, on the plea that they* propose to examine his case in detail. Now do not let them persuade you. More than forty of them are lying in ambush for him, and they have taken a solemn oath neither to eat nor to drink till they have murdered him. They are all ready at this moment, awaiting your consent." Then the commander dismissed the youth, bidding him " Tell nobody that you have informed me of this." He summoned two of the officers and said, " Get ready by nine o'clock to-night two hundred infantry to march as far as Caesarea, also seventy troopers, and two hundred spearmen." Horses were also to be provided, on which they were to mount Pavil and carry him safe to Felix the governor. He then wrote a letter in the following terms.
* Reading either fxeWoyrfs with the Latin, Syriac, Sahidic, and Ethiopia versions, or /j.ewSvraii' (A'^, Chrysostuni, and some minuscules).
16
17
18
19
20
21
22 23 I
241
25
THE ACTS XXIV
26 " Claudius Lysias, to his excellency
27 the governor Felix : greeting. This man had been seized by the Jews and was on the point of being mur- dered by them, when I came on them with tlie troops and rescued him, as I had ascertained that he
28 was a Roman citizen. Anxious to find out why they accused him, I took him down to their Sanhedrin,
29 where I found he was accused of matters relating to their Law but not impeached for any crime that deserved death or imprisonment.
30 I am informed a plot is to be laid against him, so I am sending him to you at once,* telling his accusers that they must impeach him before
31 you. Farewell." The soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by
32 night to Antipatris. Next day the infantry returned to their bar-
33 racks, leaving the troopers to ride on with him. They reached Caesarea, presented the letter to the governor, and also handed Paul
34 over to him. On reading the letter he asked what province he belonged to, and finding it was
35 Cilicia he said, " I will go into your case whenever your accusers arrive," giving orders that he was to be kept in the praetorium of Herod.
24 Five days later down came the high priest Ananias with some elders and a barrister called Ter- tullus. They laid information be- fore the governor against Paul. 2 So Paul was summoned, and then Tertullus proceeded to accuse him. " Your excellency," he said to Felix, " as it is owing to you that
* Reading t^aurris instead of 4^ avTwv.
we enjoy unbroken peace, and as it is owing to your wise care that the state of this nation has been improved in every way and every- where, w-e acknowledge all this wiih 3 profound gratitude. I have no wish 4 to weary you, but I beg of you to grant us in your courtesy a brief hearing. The fact is, we have 5 found this man is a perfect pest; he stirs up sedition among the Jews all over the world and he is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect. He actually tried to desecrate the 6 temple, but we got hold of him. Examine him for yourself and you 8 will be able to find out about all these charges of ours against him." The Jews joined in the attack, 9 declaring that such were the facts of the case. Then at a nod from 10 the governor Paul made his reply. " As I know you have administered justice in this nation for a number of years," he said, " I feel encour- aged to make my defence, because 11 it is not more than twelve days, as you can easily ascertain, since I wxnt up to worship at Jerusalem. They 12 never found me arguing with any- one in the temple or causing a riot either in the synagogues or in the city ; they cannot furnish you with 13 any proof of their present charges against me. I certainly admit to 14 j'ou that I worship our fathers' God according to the methods of what they call a ' sect ' ; but I be- lieve all that is written in the Law and in the prophets, and I cherish 15 the same hope in God as they accept, namely that there is to be a resurrection of the just and the unjust. Hence I too endeavour 16 to have a clear conscience before God and men all the time. After 17 a lapse of several years I came up with alms and offerings for my
179
THE ACTS XXV
18 nation,* and it was in presenting these tiiat I was found within the temple. I was ceremonially pure, I was not mixed up in any mob or riot; no, the trouble was caused
19 by some Jews from Asia, who ought to have been here before you with any charge they may
20 have against me. Failing them, let these men yonder tell what fault they found with my appear-
21 ance before the Sanhedrin ! — unless it was with the single sentence I uttered, when I stood and said, ' It is for the resurrection of the dead that I am on my trial to-day
22 before you.' " As Felix had a pretty accurate knowledge of the Way, he remanded Paul, telling the Jews, " When Lysias the com- mander comes down, I will decide
23 your case." He gave orders to the officer to have Paul kept in custody but to allow him some freedom and not to prevent any of his own people from rendering him any service.
24 Some days later Felix arrived with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and heard what he had to say about
25 faith in Christ Jesus ; but when he argued about morality, self- mastery, and the future judgment, Felix grew uneasy. " You may go for the present," he said ; " when I can find a moment, I will send for
26 you " (though at the same time he hoped Paul would give him a bribe). So he did send for him pretty frequently and conversed
27 with him. But when two years
* It is hardly possible to make sense of the following Greek text, and none of the various readings or of the emendations that have been proposed is entirely satis- factory. All one can do is to reproduce the general drift of the passage. 180
had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and as Felix wanted to ingratiate himself with the Jews, he left Paul still in cus- tody.
Three days after Festus entered 25 his province, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. The high 2 priests and the Jewish leaders laid information before him against Paid, and begged him, as a special 3 favour, to send for him to Jeru- salem, meaning to lay an ambush for him and murder him on the road. Festus replied that Paul 4 would be kept in custody at Caes- n area, but that he himself meant to leave for Caesarea before long — " when," he added, " your compe- 5 tent authorities can come down with me and charge the man with whatever crime he has committed." After staying not more than eight or 6 ten days with them, he went down to Caesarea. Next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought before him. When he arrived, the Jews who 7 had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him and brought a number of serious charges against him, none of which they were able to prove. Paul's defence was, "18 have committed no offence against the Law of the Jews, against the temple, or against Caesar." As 9 Festus wanted to ingratiate him- self with the Jews, he asked Paul, " Will you go up to Jerusalem and be tried there by me upon these charges ? " Paul said, " I am 10 standing before Caesar's tribunal; that is where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong whatever to the Jews — you know that perfectly well. If I am a criminal, if I have 11
THE ACTS XXVI
done anything that deserves death, I do not object to die; but if there is nothing in any of their charges against me, then no one can give me up to them. I appeal to
12 Caesar ! " Then, after conferring with the council, Festus answered, " You have appealed to Caesar ? Very well, you must go to Caesar ! "
13 Some days had passed, when king Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to pay their respects to
14 Festus. As they were spending several days there, Festus laid Paul's case before the king. " There is a man," he said, " who was left
15 in prison by Felix. When I was at Jerusalem, the high priests and elders of the Jews informed me about him and demanded his con-
16 demnation. I told them Romans were not in the habit of giving up any man until the accused met the accusers face to face and had a chance of defending himself against
17 the impeachment. Well, the day after they came here along with me, I took my seat on the tribunal A\dthout any loss of time. I ordered
18 the man to be brought in, but when his accusers stood up they did not charge him with any of the crimes
19 that I had expected. The questions at issue referred to their own religion and to a certain Jesus who had
20 died. Paul said he was alive. As I felt at a loss about the method of inquiry into such topics, I asked if he would go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges.
21 But Paul entered an appeal for his case to be reserved for the de- cision of the emperor ; so I ordered him to be detained till I could remit
22 him to Caesar." " I should like to hear the man myself," said Agrippa to Festus. " You shall hear him to-morrow," said Festus.
So next day Agrippa and Bernice 23 proceeded with great pomp to the hall of audience, accompanied by the military commanders and the prominent civilians of the town. Festus then ordered Paul to be brought in. " King Agrippa and 24 all here present," said Festus, " you see before you a man of whom the entire body of the Jews at Jerusa- lem and also here have complained to me. They loudly insist he ought not to live any longer. I could not 25 find he had done anything that deserved death, so I decided to send him, on his own appeal, to the emperor. Only, I have nothing 26 definite to write to the sovereign about him. So I have brought him up before you all, and especially before you, O king Agrippa, in order that I may get something to write as the result of your cross- examination. For it seems absurd 27 to me to forward a prisoner without notifying the particulars of his charge." Then Agrippa said to 26 Paul, " You have our permission to speak upon your own behalf." At this Paul stretched out his hand and began his defence. " I consider 2 mj^self fortunate, king Agrippa, in being able to defend myself to-day before you against all that the Jews charge me with; for you are well 3 acquainted with all Jewish customs and questions. Pray listen to me then with patience. How I lived 4 from my youth up among my own nation and at Jerusalem, all that early career of mine, is known to all the Jews. They know me of old. 5 They know, if they chose to admit it, that as a Pharisee I lived by the principles of the strictest party in our religion. To-day I am standing 6 my trial for hoping in the promise made by God to our fathers, a 7
181
THE ACTS XXVI
promise which our twelve tribes hope to gain by servingGod earnestly both night and day. And I am actually impeached by Jews for 9 this hojpe, O king ! I once believed it my duty indeed actively to oppose the name of Jesus the
10 Nazarene. I did so in Jerusalem. I shut up many of the saints in prison, armed with authority from the high priests ; when they were put to death, I voted against them ;
11 there was not a synagogue where I did not often punish them and force them to blaspheme; and in my frantic fury I persecuted them
12 even to foreign towns. I was travelling to Damascus on this business, with authority and a commission from the high priests,
13 when at mid-day on the road, O king, I saw a light from heaven, more dazzling than the sun, flash round me and my fellow-travellers.
14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice sajing to me in Hebrew, ' Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? You hurt yourself
15 by kicking at the goad.' ' Who are you ? ' I asked. And the Lord said, ' I am Jesus, and you are
16 persecuting me. Now get up and stand on your feet, for I have ap- peared to you in order to appoint you to my service as a witness to what you have seen and to the
17 visions you will have of me. / Tvill rescue you from the People and also from the Gentiles — to whom I
18 send you, that their eyes may be opened and that they may turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God. to get remission of their sins and an inheritance among those who are
19 consecrated by faith in me.' Upon this, O king Agrippa, I did not
20 disobey the heavenly vision ; I
182
announced to those at Damascus and at Jerusalem in the first in- stance, then all over the land of Judaea, and also to the Gentiles, that they were to repent and turn to God by acting up to their repen- tance. This is why the Jews seized 21 me in the temple and tried to assassi- nate me. To this day I have had 22 the help of God in standing, as I now do, to testify alike to low and high, never uttering a single syll- able beyond what the prophets and Moses predicted was to take place. Wh)?^ should you consider it in- 8 credible that God raises the dead,* that the Christ is capable of suffer- 23 ing, and that he should be the first to rise from the dead and bring the message of light to the People and to the Gentiles? " When he 24 brought this forward in his defence, Festus called out, " Paul, you are quite mad ! Your great learning is driving you insane." " Your 25 excellency," said Paul to Festus, " I am not mad, I am speaking the sober truth. Why, the king 26 is well aware of this ! To the king I can speak without the slightest hesitation. I do not believe any of it has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, )^ou 27 believe the prophets ? I know you do." " At this rate," Agrippa re- 28 marked, " it won't be long before you believe you have made a Christian of me ! " " Long or 29 short," said Paul, " I would to God that not only you but all my hearers to-day could be what I am — barring these chains ! " Then the king rose, with the gover- 30 nor and Bernice and those who had been seated beside them. They Si
* Restoring ver. 8 to ite original position at the beginning of ver. 23.
THE ACTS XXVII
retired to discuss the affair, and agreed that " this man has done nothing to deserve death or im- 32 prisonment." " He might have been released," said Agrippa to Festus, " if he had not appealed to Caesar."
27 When it was decided we were to sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to an officer of the Imperial regiment
2 called Julius. Embarking in an Andramyttian ship which was bound for the Asiatic seaports, we set sail, accompanied by a Mace- donian from Thessalonica called
3 Aristarchus. Next day wc put in at Sidon, where Julius very kindly allowed Paul to visit his friends and
4 be looked after. Putting to sea from there, we had to sail under the lee of Cyprus as the wind was
5 against us ; then, sailing over the Cilician and Pamphylian waters,
6 we came to Myra in Lyeia. There the officer found an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy, and put us on
7 board of her. For a number of days we made a slow passage and had great difficulty in arriving off Cnidus ; then, as the wind checked our progress, we sailed under the
8 lee of Crete off Cape Salmone, and coasting along it with great difficulty we reached a place called Fair Havens, not far from the town of
9 Lasea. By this time it was far on in the season and sailing had become dangerous (for the autun;n Fast was past), so Paul warned them thus :
10 " Men," said he, " I see this voyage is going to be attended with hard- ship and serious loss not only to
'^ the cargo and the ship but also to
11 our own lives." However the officer let himself be persuaded
by the captain and the owner rather than by anything Paul could say, and, as the harbour was badly 12 placed for wintering in, the majority proposed to set sail and try if they could reach Phoenix and winter there (Pha>nix is a Cretan harbour facing S.W. and N.W.). When a 13 moderate southerly breeze sprang up, they thought they had secured their object, and after weighing anchor they sailed along the coast of Crete, close inshore. Presently 14 down rushed a hurricane of a wind called Euroclydon ; the ship was 15 caught and unable to face the wind, so we gave up and let her drive along. Running under the lee of 16 a small island called Clauda we managed with great difficulty to get the boat hauled in ; once it was 17 hoisted aboard, they used ropes* to undergird the ship, and in fear of being stranded on the Syrtis they lowered the sail and lay to. As 18 we were being terribly battered by the storm, they had to jettison the cargo next day, while two days 19 later they threw the ship's gear overboard with their own hands ; for many days neither sun nor stars 20 could be seen, the storm raged heavily, and at last we had to give up all hope of being saved. When 21 they had gone without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, " Men, you should have listened to me and spared yourselves this hardship and loss by refusing to set sail from Crete. I now bid you cheer up. There 22 will be no loss of life, only of the ship. For last night an angel of 23 the God I belong to and serve, stood before me, saying, ' Have no 24
* Naber's conjecture $oe[ais for the Pov6eiu.is of tho MSS. yields this excellent sense.
183
THE ACTS XXVIII
fear, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And God has granted you the lives of all your fellow-voya-
25 gers.' Cheer up, men ! I believe God, I believe it will turn out just
26 as I have been told. However, we are to be stranded on an island."
27 When the fourteenth night arrived, we were drifting about in the sea of Adria when the sailors about midnight suspected land was
28 near. On taking soundings they found twenty fathoms, and a little further on, when they sounded
29 again, they found fifteen. Then, afraid of being stranded on the rocks, they let go four anchors from the stern and longed for
30 dajdight. The sailors tried to escape from the ship. They had even lowered the boat into the sea, pretending they were going to lay
31 out anchors from the bow, when Paul said to the officer and the soldiers, " You cannot be saved unless these men stay by the
32 ship." Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat and let her
33 fall off. Just before daj^break Paul begged them all to take some food. " For fourteen days," he said, " you have been on the watch all the time, without a proper
34 meal. Take some food then, I beg of you ; it will keep you alive. You are going to be saved ! Not a hair of your heads will perish."
35 With these words he took a loaf and after thanking God broke and
36 ate it in presence of them all. Then they all cheered up and took food
37 for themselves (there were about* seventy-six souls of us on board,
38 all told) ; and when they had eaten their fill, they lightened the ship
♦ Reading ws (B and Sahidic version) for StuKSffiai. 184
by throwing the wheat into the sea. VVhen day broke, they could not 39 recognize what land it was; how- ever they noticed a creek with a sandy beach, and resolved to see if they could run the ship ashore there. So the anchors were cut 40 away and left in the sea, while the crew imlashed the ropes that tied the rudders, hoisted the foresail to the breeze, and headed for the beach. Striking a reef, they drove 41 the ship aground ; the prow jammed fast, but the stern began to break up under the beating of the waves. Now the soldiers resolved to kill 42 the prisoners, in case any of them swam off and escaped, but as the 43 officer wanted to save Paul, he put a stop to their plan, ordering those who could swim to jump over- board first and get to land, while 44 the rest were to manage with planks or pieces of wreckage. In this way it turned out that the whole company got safe to land.
It was only after our escape 28 that we found out the island was called Malta. The natives showed 2 us uncommon kindness, for they lit a fire and welcomed us all to it, as the rain had come on and it was chilly. Now Paul had gathered a bundle 3 of sticks and laid them on the fire, when a viper crawled out with the heat and fastened on his hand. When the natives saw the creature 4 hanging from his hand, they said to each other, " This man must be a murderer ! He has escaped the sea, but Justice will not let him live." However, he shook off the 5 creature into the fire and was not a whit the worse. The natives 6 waited for him to swell up or drop
THE ACTS XXVIII
down dead in a moment, but after waiting a long while and observing that no harm had befallen him, they changed their minds and declared he was a god.
7 There was an estate in the neigh- bourhood wliich belonged to a man called Publius, the governor of the island ; he welcomed us and enter- tained us hospitably for three days.
8 His father, it so happened, was laid up with fever and dysentery, but Paul went in to see him and after prayer laid his hands on him and
9 cured him. When this had hap- pened, the rest of the sick folk in the island also came and got cured ;
10 they made us rich presents and fur- nished us, when we set sail, with all we needed.
11 We set sail, after three months, in an Alexandrian ship, with the Dioscuri on her figure-head, which
12 had wintered at the island. We put in at Syracuse and stayed for
13 three days. Then tacking round we reached Rhegium; next day a south wind sprang up which brought us in a day to Puteoli,
14 where we came across some of the brotherhood, who invited us to stay a week with them.
In this way we reached Rome.
15 As the local brothers had heard about us, they came out to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Tres Tabernae, and when Paul saw them he thanked God and took courage.
16 When we did reach Rome, Paul got permission * to live by himself,
17 with a soldier to guard him. Three days later he called the leading Jews together, and when they met he said to them, " Brothers, al- though I have done nothing against the People or our ancestral customs,
* Omitting [5 (KarSprapxos ■KapiSiaKfv tqvs iecTfilovs T^ ffTpaToiTiSiipxv] and [Si],
I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem. They meant to release me after 18 examination, as I was innocent of any crime that deserved death. But the Jews objected, and so I 19 was obliged to appeal to Caesar — not that I had any charge to bring against my own nation. This is 20 my reason for asking to see you and have a word with you. I am wearing this chain because I share Israel's hope." They replied, " We 21 have had no letters about you from Judaea, and no brother has come here with any bad report or story about you. We think it 22 only right to let you tell your own story; but as regards this sect, we are well aware that there are objections to it on all hands." So 23 they fixed a day and came to him at his quarters in large numbers. From morning to evening he ex- plained the Reign of God to them from personal testimony, and tried to convince them about Jesus from the law of Moses and the prophets. Some were convinced by what he 24 said, but the others would not be- lieve. As they could not agree 25 among themselves they turned to go away, when Paul added this one word : "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers, when he 26 said.
Go and tell this people,
' You will hear and hear but never understand,
you will see and see but never perceive.^ For the heart of this people is 27 obtuse,
their ears are heavy of hearing,
their eyes they have closed, lest they see zvith their eyes and hear with their ears,
185
THE ACTS XXVIII
lest they understand with their heart and turn again, and I cure them. 28 Be sure of this, then, that this sal- vation of God has been sent to the Gentiles ; they will listen to it."
For two full years he remained in 30 his private lodging, welcoming any- one who came to visit him; he preached the Reign of God and 31 taught about the Lord Jesus Christ quite openly and unmolested.
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE
ROMANS
1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart
2 for the gospel of God (which he promised of old by his prophets
3 in the holy scriptures) concerning his Son, who was born of David's
4 offspring by natural descent and installed as Son of God with power by the Spirit of holiness when he was raised from the dead — con- cerning Jesus Christ our Lord,
5 through whom I have received the favour of my commission to pro- mote obedience to the faith for his sake among all the Gentiles,
6 including yourselves who are called
7 to belong to Jesus Christ : to all in Rome who are beloved by God, called to be saints, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because the report of your faith
9 is over all the world. God is mj'' witness, the God whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his
10 Son, how unceasingly I always mention you in my prayers, asking if I may at last be sped upon my
11 way to you by God's will. For I do yearn to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift
12 for your strengthening — or, in other words, that I may be encouraged by meeting you, I by your faith
13 and you by mine. Brothers, I would like you to understand that I have often purposed to come to you (though up till now I have been
prevented) so as to have some re- sults among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. To Greeks 14 and to barbarians, to wise and to foolish alike, I owe a duty. Hence 15 my eagerness to preach the gospel to you in Rome as well. For I am 16 proud of the gospel; it is God's saving power for everyone who has faith, for the Jew first and for the Greek as well. God's righteousness 17 is revealed in it by faith and for faith — as it is written, Noiv by faith shall the righteous live. But God's 18 anger is revealed from heaven against all the impiety and wicked- ness of those who hinder the Truth by their wickedness. For what- 19 ever is to be known of God is plain to them; God himself has made it plain — for ever since the 20 world was created, his invisible nature, his everlasting power and divine being, have been quite per- ceptible in what he has made. So they have no excuse. Though 21 they knew God, they have not glorified him as God nor given thanks to him; they have turned to futile speculations till their ignorant minds grew dark. They 22 claimed to be wise, but they have become fools ; they have exchanged 23 the glory of the immortal God for tlie semblance of the likeness of mortal man, of birds, of quad- rupeds, and of reptiles. So God 24 has given them up, in their heart's lust, to sexual vice, to the dis- honouring of their own bodies, —
187
ROMANS II
25 since they have exchanged the truth of God for an untruth, wor- shipping and serving the creature rather than the Creator who is
26 blessed for ever : Amen. That is why God has given them up to vile passions ; their women have exchanged the natural function of
27 sex for what is unnatural, and in the same way the males have abandoned the natural use of women and flamed out in lust for one another, men perpetrating shameless acts with their own sex and getting in their own persons the due recompense of their perversity.
28 Yes, as they disdained to acknow- ledge God any longer, God has given them up to a reprobate instinct for the perpetration of what is improper,
29 till they are filled with all manner of wickedness, depravity, lust, and viciousness, filled to the brim with envy, murder, quarrels, in-
30 trigues, and malignity — slanderers, defamers, loathed by God, out- rageous, haughty, boastful, inven- tive in evil, disobedient to parents,
31 devoid of conscience, false to their
32 word, callous, merciless ; though they know God's decree that people who practise such vice deserve death, they not only do it them- selves but applaud those who practise it.
2 Therefore you are inexcusable, whoever you are, if you pose as a judge, for in judging another you condemn yourself ; you, the judge, do the very same things yourself.
2 ' We know the doom of God falls justly upon those who practise such
3 vices.' Very well ; and do you imag- ine you will escape God's doom, O man, you who judge those who practise such vices and do the same
188
yourself ? Or are you slighting all 4 his wealth of kindness, forbearance, and patience? Do you not know his kindness is meant to make you repent ? In your stubbornness and 5 impenitence of heart you are simply storing up anger for yourself on the Day of anger, when the just doom of God is revealed. For he 6 will render to everyone according to what he has done, eternal life to 7 those who by patiently doing good aim at glory, honour, and immor- tality, but anger and wrath to those 8 who are wilful, who disobey the Truth and obey v^ckedness — an- 9 guish and calamity for every human soul that perpetrates evil, for the Jew first and for the Greek as well, but glory, honour, and peace for 10 everyone who does good, for the Jew first and for the Greek as well. There is no partiality about God. 11
All who sin outside the Law will 12 perish outside the Law,
and all who sin under the Law will be condemned by the Law. For it is not the hearers of the Law 13 who are just in the eyes of God, it is those who obey the Law who will be acquitted, on the day when 16 God judges the secret things of men, as my gospel holds, by Jesus Christ. (When Gentiles who have 14 no law obey instinctively the Law's requirements, they are a laAV to themselves, even though they have no law; they exhitat the effect of 15 the Law written on their hearts, their conscience bears them wit- ness, as their moral convictions accuse or it may be defend them.)*
* Ver. 16 is the sequel to the first clause of ver. 14. The rest of ver. 14 and the whole of ver. 15 form a short para- graph which is either a marginal note or an awkward insertion. To preserve the sequence of thought I have re-arranged the verses as above.
ROMANS III
17 If you bear the name of 'Jew,' relying on the Law, priding your-
18 self on God, understanding his will, and with a sense of what is vital in religion ; if you are in-
19 structed by the Law and are per- suaded you are a guide to the blind, a light to darkened souls,
20 a tutor for the foolish, a teacher of the simple, because in the Law you have the embodiment of know-
21 ledge and truth — well then, do you ever teach yourself, you teacher of other people ? You preach against stealing ; do you steal ?
22 You forbid adultery ; do you com- mit adultery ? You detest idols ;
23 do you rob temples ? You pride yourself on the Law; do you dis- honour God by your breaches of the
24 Law ? Why, it is owing to you that the name of God is maligned among
25 the Gentiles, as scripture says ! Cir- cumcision is certainly of use, pro- vided you keep the Law; but if you are a breaker of the Law, then your circumcision is turned into
26 uncircumcision. (If then the uncir- cumcised observe the requirements of the Law, will not their uncircum- cision be reckoned equivalent to
27 circumcision ? And will not those who are physically uncircumcised and who fulfil the Law, judge you who are a breaker of the Law for all your written code and circum- cision?)
28 He is no Jew who is merely a Jew
outwardly, nor is circumcision something outward in the flesh ;
29 he is a Jew who is one inwardly,
and circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual not literal —
praised by God, not by man.
Then what is the Jew's superi- 3 ority? What is the good of cir- cumcision ? Much in every way. 2 This to begin with — Jews were en- trusted with the scriptures of God. Even supposing some of them have 3 proved untrustworthy, is their faithlessness to cancel the faith- fulness of God ? Never ! Let God 4 be true to his word, though every man he 'perfidious — as it is written, That thou mayest he vindicated in
thy pleadings, and triumph in thy trial. But if our iniquity thus serves 5 to bring out the justice of God, what are we to infer? That it is unfair of God to inflict his anger on us ? (I speak in a merely human way.) Never ! In that case, how 6 could he judge the world? You 7 say, " If my perfidy serves to make the truthfulness of God redound to his glory, why am I to be judged as a sinner? Why should we not 8 do evil that good may come out of it ? " (which is the calumny attri- buted to me — the very thing some people declare I say). Such argu- ments are rightly condemned.
Well now, are we Jews in a better 9 position ? Not at all. I have already charged all, Jews as well as Greeks, with being under sin — as it 10 is written.
None is righteous, no, not one ; no one understands, no one 11 seeks for God. All have swerved, one and all have 12 gone wrong, no one does good, not a single one. Their throat is an open grave, 13 they are treacherous with their tongues, the venom of an asp lies under
their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and 14 bitterness.
189
ROMANS IV
15 their feet are swift for bloodshed,
16 their ways bring destruction and
calamity,
17 they know nothing of the way of
peace ;
18 there is no reverence for God
before their eyes.
19 Whatever the Law says, we know, it says to those who are inside the Law, that every mouth may be shut and all the world
20 made answerable to God ; for no person will be acquitted in his sight on the score of obedience to law. What the Law imparts is the con-
21 sciousness of sin. But now we have a righteousness of God disclosed apart from law altogether; it is attested bj^ the Law and the
22 prophets, but it is a righteous- ness of God wliich comes by be- lieving in Jesus Christ. And it is meant for all who have faith. No
23 distinctions are drawn. All have sinned, all come short of the glory
24 of God, but they are justified for nothing by his grace through the ransom provided in Christ Jesus,
25 v/hom God put forward as the means of propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to demonstrate the justice of God in view of the fact that sins pre- viously committed during the time of God's forbearance had
26 been passed over; it was to demonstrate his justice at the present epoch, showing that God is just himself and that he justi- fies man on the score of faith in Jesus.
27 Then what becomes of our boast- ing? It is ruled out absolutely. On what principle? On the prin- ciple of doing deeds ? No, on the
28 principle of faith. We hold a man is justified by faith apart from
29 deeds of the Law altogether. Or
190
is God only the God of Jews? Is he not the God of the Gentiles as well ? Surely he is. Well then, 30 there is one God, a God who will justify the circumcised as they be- lieve and the uncircumcised on the score of faith. Then ' by this 31 faith ' we ' cancel the Law ' ? Not for one moment ! We uphold the Law.
But if so, what can we say 4 about Abraham,* our forefather by natural descent ? This, that 2 if ' Abraham was justified on the score of what he did,' he has some- thing to be proud of. But not to be proud of before God. For what 3 does scripture say? Abraham be- lieved God and this was counted to him as righteousness. Now a 4 worker has his wage counted to him as a due, not as a favour ; but 5 a man who instead of ' working ' believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, has his faith counted as righteousness. Just as David him- 6 self describes the bliss of the man who has righteousness counted to him by God apart from what he does —
Blessed are they whose breaches of 7 the Law are forgiven, whose sins are covered !
Blessed is the man whose sin the 8 Lord will not count to him.
Now is that description of bliss 9 meant for the circumcised, or for the uncircumcised as well ? Abra- ham's faith, I repeat, xvas counted to him as righteousness. In what 10 way ? When he was a circum- cised man or an uncircumcised man ? Not when he was circum- cised, but when he was uncircum-
• Omitting, with B, 1908* and Origen,
ROMANS V
11 cised. He only got circumcision as a sign or seal of the righteous- ness which belonged to his faith as an uncircumcised man. The reason of this was to make him the father of all who believe as un- circumcised persons and thus have righteousness counted to them,
12 as well as a father of those circum- cised persons who not only share circumcision but walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had as an uncircumcised man.
13 The promise made to Abraham and his offspring that he should inherit the world, did not reach him through the Law, but through
14 the righteousness of faith. For if it is adherents of the Law who are heirs, then faith is empty of all meaning and the promise is void.
15 (What the Law produces is the Wrath, not the promise of God; where there is no law, there is no
16 transgression either.) That is why all turns upon faith ; it is to make the promise a matter of favour, to make it secure for all the offspring, not simply for those who are ad- herents of the Law but also for those who share the faith of Abra- ham— of Abraham who is the
17 father of us all (as it is written, / have made you a father of many nations). Such a faith implies the presence of the God in whom he believed, a God who makes the dead live and calls into being what
18 does not exist. For Abraham, when hope was gone, hoped on in faith, and thus became the father of many nations — even as he was told. So numberless shall your off-
19 spring be. His faith never quailed even when he noted the utter im- potence of his own body (for he was about a hundred years old)
or the impotence of Sara's womb; no unbelief made him waver about 20 God's promise; his faith won strength as he gave glory to God and felt convinced that He was 21 able to do what He had promised. Hence his faith was counted to him 22 as righteousness. And these words 23 counted to him have not been written for him alone but for our sakes as 24 well; faith will be counted to us as we believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, Jesus who was delivered up for our 25 trespasses and raised that we might be justified.
As we are justified by faith, 5 then, let us enjoy the peace we have with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we 2 have got access * to this grace where we have our standing, and triumph in the hope of God's glory. Not only so, but we 3 triumph even in our troubles, knowing that trouble produces endurance, endurance produces 4 character, and character produces hope — a hope which never dis- 5 appoints us, since God's love floods our hearts through the holy Spirit which has been given to us. For 6 when we were still in weakness, Christ died in due time for the ungodly. For the ungodly ! Why, 7 a man will hardly die for the just, though one might bring oneself to die, if need be, for a good man. But God proves his love for us in 8 this, that Christ died for us when we were still sinners. Much more 9 then, now that we are justified by his blood, shall we be saved by him from Wrath. If we were 10
* Omitting rfi via-rei with B D Q, the Old Latin, and Origen.
191
ROMANS VI
reconciled to God by the death of his Son when we were enemies, much more, now that we are recon- ciled, shall we be saved by his life.
11 Not only so, but we triimiph in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we now enjoy our recon- ciliation.
12 Thus, then, sin came into the world by one man, and death came in by sin ; and so death spread to all men, inasmuch as all men
13 sinned. Sin was indeed in the world before the Law, but sin is never counted in the absence of
14 law. Nevertheless, from Adam to Moses death reigned even over those whose sins were not like Adam's transgression. Adam pre-
15 figured Him who was to come, but the gift is very different from the trespass. For while the rest of men died by the trespass of one man, the grace of God and the free gift which comes by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflowed far more richly upon the rest of men.
16 Nor is the free gift like the effect of the one man's sin; for while the sentence ensuing on a single sin resulted in doom, the free gift ensuing on many trespasses issues
17 in acquittal. For if the trespass of one man allowed death to reign through that one man, much more shall those who receive the over- flowing grace and free gift of right- eousness reign in life throiigh One,
18 through Jesus Christ. Well then,
as one man's trespass issued in doom for all, so one man's act of redress issues in acquittal and life for all.
19 Just as one man's disobedience
made all the rest sinners, so one man's obedience will make all the rest righteous. 192
Law slipped in to aggravate the 20 trespass ; sin increased, but grace surpassed it far, so that while sin 21 had reigned the reign of death, grace might also reign with a righteousness that ends in life eternal through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now what are we to infer from 6 this ? That we are to ' remain on in sin, so that there may be all the more grace ' ? Never ! 2 How can we live in sin any longer when we died to sin ? Surely you 3 know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death ! Our baptism into his death made 4 us share his burial, so that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live and move in the new sphere of Life. For if we have grown 5 into him by a death like his, we shall grow into him by a resurrec- tion like his, knowing as we do 6 that our old self has been crucified with him in order to crush the sinful body and free us from any further slavery to sin (for once dead, a man 7 is absolved from the claims of sin). We believe that as we have died 8 with Christ we shall also live with him; for we know that Christ 9 never dies after his resurrection from the dead — death has no more hold over him; the death he died 10 was for sin, once for all, but the life he lives is for God. So you 11 must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Sin is not to 12 reign, then, over your mortal bodies and make you obey their passions; you must not let sin 13 have your members for the service
ROMANS VII
of vice, you must dedicate your- selves to God as men who have been brought from death to Hfe, dedicating your members to God for the service of righteousness.
14 Sin must have no hold over you, for you live under grace, not under law.
15 What follows, then ? Are we ' to sin, because we live under grace,
16 not under law ' ? Never ! Do you not know you are the servants of the master you obey, of the master to whom j^ou yield your- selves obedient, whether it is Sin, whose service ends in death, or Obedience, whose service ends in
17 righteousness ? Thank God, though you did serve sin, you have rendered whole-hearted obedience to what you were taught under
18 the rule of faith ; set free from sin, you have passed into the service of
19 righteousness. (I use this human analogy to bring the truth home to your weak nature.) As you once dedicated your members to the service of vice and lawless- ness,* so now dedicate them to the service of righteousness that means
20 consecration. When you served sin, you were free of righteousness,
21 Well, what did you gain then by it all? Nothing but what you are now ashamed of ! The end of
22 all that is death; but now that you are set free from sin, now that you have passed into the service of God, your gain is consecration, and the end of that is life eternal.
23 Sin's wage is death, but God's gift is life eternal in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• Omitting els tV avofilav, which Hort brackets, as a gloss introduced to complete the parallel of eh aytafff4.6f.
OHA».
Surely you know, my brothers 7 — for I am speaking to men who know what law means — that the law has hold over a person only during his lifetime ! Thus a 2 married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is alive; but if the husband dies, she is done with the law of ' the husband.' Accordingly, she will be called an 3 adulteress if she becomes another man's while her husband is alive; but if her husband dies, she is freed from the law of ' the husband,' so that she is no adulteress if she becomes another man's. It is the 4 same in your case, my brothers. The crucified body of Christ made you dead to the Law, so that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead that we might be fruitful to God. For 5 when we were unspiritual, the sinful cravings excited by the Law were active in our members and made us fruitful to Death; but now we 6 are done with the Law, we have died to what once held us, so that we can serve in a new way, not under the written code as of old but in the Spirit.
What follows, then ? That ' the 7 Law is equivalent to sin ' ? Never ! Why, had it not been for the I^aw, I would never have known what sin meant ! Thus I would never have known what it is to covet, unless the Law had said, You must not covet. The command gave an 8 impulse to sin, and sin resulted for me in all manner of covetous desire — for sin, apart from law, is lifeless. I lived at one time without law 9 myself, but when the command came home to me, sin sprang to life and I died; the command 10 that meant life proved death for me. The command gave an im- II
193
ROMANS VIII
pulse to sin, sin beguiled me and used the command to kill me.
12 So the Law at any rate is holy, the command is holy, just, and for
13 our good. Then did what was meant for my good prove fatal to me ? Never ! It was sin ; sin resulted in death for me by mak- ing use of this good thing. This was how sin was to be revealed in its true nature; it was to use the command to become sinful
14 in the extreme. The Law is spiritual ; we know that. But then I am a creature of the flesh,
15 in the thraldom of sin. I cannot understand my own actions ; I do not act as I want to act; on the
16 contrary, I do what I detest. Now, when I act against my wishes, that means I agree that the Law is
17 right. That being so, it is not I who do the deed but sin that
18 dwells within me. For in me (that is, in my flesh) no good dwells, I know ; the wish is there, but not the power of doing what is right.
19 I cannot be good as I want to be, and I do wrong against my wishes.
20 Well, if I act against my wishes, it is not I who do the deed but
21 sin that dwells within me. So this is my experience of the Law : I want to do what is right, but wrong
22 is all I can manage ; I cordially agree with God's law, so far as my
23 inner self is concerned, but then I find quite another law in my roApibers which conflicts with the llfv "Df my mind and makes me a pf^oner to sin's law that resides
25 m my members. (Thus, left to m}«elf, I s^We' the law of God with rrfy mind, but with my flesh I
24 serve the law of sin.) * Miserable
* Restoring the second part of ver. 25 to what seems its original and logical position before the climax of ver. 24. 194
3 I
wretch that I am ! Who will
rescue me from this body of death ? God will ! Thanks be 25 to him through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Thus there is no doom now for 8 those who are in Christ Jesus ; the 2 law of the Spirit brings the life which is in Christ Jesus, and that law has set me free from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the Law, weakened here by the flesh, could not do ; by sending his own Son in the guise of sinful flesh, to deal with sin, he con- demned sin in the flesh, in order 4 to secure the fulfilment of the Law's requirements in our lives, as we live and move not by the flesh but by the Spirit.
For those who follow the flesh 5
have their interests in the
flesh, and those who follow the
Spirit have their interests in
the Spirit. The interests of the flesh mean 6
death, the interests of the Spirit mean
life and peace. For the interests of the flesh are 7 hostile to God ; they do not yield to the law of God (indeed they cannot). Those who are in the 8 flesh cannot satisfy God. But you 9 are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells within you. Anyone who does not possess the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. On the other hand, 10 if Christ is within you, though the body is a dead thing owing to Adam's sin, the spirit is living as the result of righteousness. And if the Spirit 11 of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells within you, then He
ROMANS VIII
who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also make your mortal bodies live by his indwelling Spirit in your lives.
12 Well then, my brothers, we owe a duty — but it is not to the flesh ! It is not to live by the flesh ! If you live by the flesh, you are on the
13 road to death, but if by the Spirit you put the actions of the body
14 to death you will live. For the sons of God are those who are
15 guided by the Spirit of God. You have received no slavish spirit that would make you relapse into fear ; you have received the Spirit of son- ship. And when we cry, " Abba !
16 Father ! ", it is this Spirit testi- fying along with our own spirit
17 that we are children of God ; and if children, heirs as well, heirs of God, heirs along with Christ — for we share his sufferings in order to share his glory.
18 Present suffering, I hold, is a mere nothing compared to the glory that we are to have revealed.
19 Even the creation waits with eager longing for the sons of God
20 to be revealed. For creation was not rendered futile by its own choice, but by the will of Him who thus made it subject, the
21 hope being that creation as well as man would one day be freed from its thraldom to decay and gain the glorious freedom of the children
22 of God. To this day, we know, the entire creation sighs and throbs
23 with pain ; and not only so, but even we ourselves, who have the Spirit as a foretaste of the future, even we sigh to ourselves as we wait for the redemption of the body that means our full sonship.
24 We were saved with this hope in view. Now when an object of hope is seen, there is no further need to
hope. Who ever hopes for what he sees already ? But if we hope for 25 something that we do not see, we wait for it patiently.
So too the Spirit assists us in 26 our weakness ; for we do not know how to pray aright, but the Spirit pleads for us with sighs that are beyond words, and He who 27 searches the human heart knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, since the Spirit pleads before God for the saints.
We know also that those who 28 love God, those who have been called in terms of his purpose, have his aid and interest in every- thing. For he decreed of old that 29 those whom he predestined should share the likeness of his Son — that he might be the firstborn of a great brotherhood. Then he calls those 30 whom he has thus decreed ; then he justifies those whom he has called; then he glorifies those whom he has justified.
Now what follows from all this ? 31 If God is for us, who can be against us ? The God who did not spare 32 his own Son but gave him up for us all, surely He will give us every- thing besides ! Who will accuse 33 the elect of God? When God acquits, who will condemn ? Will 34 Christ? — the Christ who died, yes and rose from the dead ! the Christ who is at God's right hand, who actually pleads for us ! What can 35 ever part us from Christ's love ? Can anguish or calamity or persecu- tion or famine or nakedness or danger or the sword ? {Because, as 3G it is written.
Fur thy sake we are being killed all the day long,
we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.) No, in all this we are more than 37
195
ROMANS IX
conquerors through him who loved
38 us. For I am certain neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present
39 nor the future, no powers of the Height or of the Depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to part us from God's love in Christ Jesus our Lord.
9 I AM telling the truth in Christ — it is no lie, my conscience bears
2 me out in the holy Spirit when I say that I am in sore pain. I suffer
8 endless anguish of heart. I could have wished myself accursed and banished from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my natural kins-
4 men ; for they are Israelites, theirs is the Sonship, the Glory, the covenants, the divine legislation, the Worship, and the promises ;
5 the patriarchs are theirs, and theirs too (so far as natural descent goes) is the Christ. (Blessed for ever- more be the God who is over all ! Amen.)
6 It is not, of course, as if God's word had failed ! Far from it ! ' Israel ' does not mean everyone who belongs to Israel; they are
7 not all children of Abraham be- cause they are descended from Abraham. No, it is through Isaac that your offspring shall be reckoned
8 — meaning that instead of God's children being the children born to him by natural descent, it is the children of the Promise who are reckoned as his true offspring.
9 For when God said, / shall come about this time and Sara will have a son, that was a word of promise.
10 And further, when Rebecca be- came pregnant by our father Isaac, though one man was the father of
11 both children, and though the
196
children were still unborn and had done nothing either good or bad (to confirm the divine purpose in election which depends upon the call of God, not on anything man does), she was told that the elder 12 will serve the younger. As it is 13 written, Jacob I loved but Esau I hated.
Then are we to infer that there 14 is injustice in God ? Never ! God says to Moses,
/ will have mercy on whom / 15 choose to have mercy,
I will have compassion on whom I choose to have compassion. You see, it is not a question of 16 human will or effort but of the divine mercy. Why, scripture says 17 to Pharaoh,
It was for this that I raised you up, to display my power in you, and to spread news of my name over all the earth.
Thus God has mercy on anyone 18 just as he pleases, and he makes anyone stubborn just as he pleases.
" Then, " you will retort, " why 19 does He go on finding fault ? Who can oppose his ^vill ? " But who 20 are you, my man, to speak back to God ? Is something a. man has moulded to ask him who has moulded it, " Why did yo\i make me like this ? " What ! has the potter no 21 right over the clay ? Has he no right to make out of the same lump one vessel for a noble purpose and another for a menial ? What 22 if God, though desirous to display his anger and show his might, has tolerated most patiently the objects of his anger, ripe and ready to be destroyed ? What if he means 23 to show the wealth that lies in his glory for the objects of his mercy,
ROMANS X
whom he has made ready before-
24 hand to receive glory — that is, for us whom he has called from among the Gentiles as well as
25 the Jews ? As indeed he says in Hosea,
Those who were no yeople of mine, I tvill call ' 77iy People,^ and Iter ' beloved ' who xvas not beloved ;
26 on the very spot where they icere
told, ' You are no people of mine,' there shall they be called ''sons of the living God.'
27 And Isaiah exclaims, with regard to Israel, Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be
28 saved ; for the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with rigour
29 and despatch. Indeed, as Isaiah foretold,
Had not the Lord of hosts left us
with some descendants,
we would have fared like SodoTu,
we would have been like Gomorra.
80 What are we to conclude, then ?
That Gentiles who never aimed
at righteousness have attained
righteousness, that is, righteous-
31 ness by faith ; whereas Israel who did aim at the law of righteousness
32 have failed to reach that law. And why ? Simply because Israel has relied not on faith but on wliat they could do. They have stumbled over the stone that makes men stumble
33 — as it is written,
Here I lay a stone in Sion that will make men stumble, even a rock to trip them up ; hut he who believes in Him will never he disappointed.
10 Oh for their salvation, brothers ! That is my heart's desire and
prayer to God ! I can vouch for 2 their zeal for God; only, it is not zeal with knowledge. They would 3 not surrender to the righteousness of God, because they were ignorant of his righteousness and therefore essayed to set up a righteousness of their own. Now Christ is an end to 4 law, so as to let every believer have righteousness. Moses writes of 5 law-righteousness, Anyone who can perform it will live by it. But here 6 is what faith-righteousness says : — Say not in your heart, ' Who will go up to heaven ? ' (that is, to bring Christ down). Or, ' who will go 7 doivn to the abyss? ' (that is, to bring Christ from the dead). No, what 8 it does say is this : — The word is close to you, in your very mouth and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach). Confess 9 with your mouth that ' Jesus is Lord,' believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and you will be saved ; for 10
with his heart man believes and is justified,
with his mouth he confesses and is saved. No one who believes in him, the 11 scripture says, will ever be dis- appointed. No one — for there is 12 no distinction of Jew and Greek, the same Lord is Lord of them all, with ample for all who invoke him. Everyone who invokes the name of 13 the Lord will be saved. But how 14 are they to invoke One in whom they do not believe? And how are they to believe in One of whom they have never heard ? And how are they ever to hear, without a preacher? And how can men 15 preach unless they are sent? — as it is written, How pleasant is the coming of men with glad, good news !
197
ROMANS XI
16 But they have not all given in to the gospel of glad news ? No, Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed
17 what they heard from us? (You see, faith must come from what is heard, and what is heard comes from word
18 of Christ.) But, I ask, " Have they never heard ? " Indeed they have.
Their voice carried over all the
earth, and their words to the end of the
world.
19 Then, I ask, " Did Israel not under- stand?" Why, first of all Moses declares,
/ ivill make you jealous of a natian that is no nation,
I will provoke you to anger over a nation devoid of understanding.
20 And then Isaiah dares to say,
/ have been found by those who
never sought me, I have shown myself to those who
never inquired of me.
21 He also says of Israel, All the day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.
11 Then, I ask, has God repudiated his People ? Never ! Why, I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of
2 Benjamin ! God has not repudiated his People, his predestined People ! Surely you know what scripture says in the passage called ' Elijah ' ? You know how he pleads with God
3 against Israel : Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have de- molished thine altars ; I alone am
4i left, and they seek my life. Yet what is the divine ansAver? / have left myself seve7i thousand men
5 who have not knelt to Baal. Well, at the present day there is also a remnant, selected by grace.
6 Selected by grace, and therefore not for anything they have done;
198
otherwise grace would cease to be grace.*
Now what are we to infer from 7 this ? That Israel has failed to secure the object of its quest; the elect have secured it, and the rest of men have been rendered insen- sible to it — as it is written, 8 God has given them a spirit of torpor, eyes that see not, ears that hear not — down to this very day. And David 9 says.
Let their table prove a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a retribution for them ; let their eyes be darkened, that 10 they cannot see, bow down their hacks for ever. Now I ask, have they stumbled 11 to their ruin ? Never ! The truth is, that by their lapse salvation has passed to the Gentiles, so as to make them jealous. Well, if their 12 lapse has enriched the world, if their defection is the gain of the Gentiles, what will it mean when they all come in? I tell you this, 13 you Gentiles, that as an apostle to the Gentiles I lay great stress on my office, in the hope of being 14 able to make my fellow- Jews jealous and of managing thus to save some of them. For if their exclusion 15 means that the world is reconciled to God, what will their admission mean ? Why, it will be life from the dead !
If the first handful of dough is 16 consecrated, so is the rest of the lump ; if the root is consecrated, so are the branches.
* Omitting [el 8e ^| ipywv, ovk4ti eVrli/ Xo-pn, ^TTfl rh fpyov ovKtri iffrlv (pyov^ with the Latin version and most MSS.
ROMANS XII
17 Supposing some of the branches have been broken off, while you have been grafted in like a shoot of wild olive to share the rich
18 growth of the olive-stem, do not pride yourself at the expense of these branches. Remember, in your pride, the stem supports you,
19 not you the stem. You will say, " But branches were broken off to
20 let me be grafted in ! " Granted. They were broken off — for their lack of faith. And you owe your position to your faith. You should feel awed instead of being uplifted.
21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you
22 either. Consider both the kind- ness and the severity of God ; those who fall come under his severity, but you come under the divine kind- ness, provided you adhere to that kindness. Otherwise, you will be
23 cut away too. And even the others will be grafted in, if they do not adhere to their unbelief; God can
24 graft them in again. For if you have been cut from an olive which is naturally wild, and grafted, con- trary to nature, upon a garden olive, how much more will the natural branches be grafted into their proper olive ?
25 To prevent you from being self- conceited, brothers, I would like you to understand this secret : it is only a partial insensibility that has come over Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in.
26 This done, all Israel will be saved — as it is written,
The deliverer will come from Sion, he will banish all godlessness from Jacob :
27 this is my covenant with them,
xvhen I take their sins away.
28 So far as the gospel goes, they are enemies of God — which is to your
advantage; but so far as election goes, they are beloved for their fathers' sake. For God never goes 29 back upon his gifts and call.
Once you disobeyed God, 30
and noM' you enjoy his mercy thanks to their disobedience ; in the same way they at present are disobedient, so that they in turn may enjoy 31 the same mercy as your- selves. For God has consigned all men 32 to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all. What a fathomless wealth lies 33 in the wisdom and knowledge of God ! How inscrutable his judg- ments ! How mysterious his methods !
Whoever understood the thoughts of 34 the Lord ? Who has ever been his coun- sellor ? Who has first given to him and has 35 to be repaid ? All comes from him, 36 all lives by him, all ends in him. Glory to him for ever, Amen !
Well their,Tfny brothers, I appeal 12 to yo^i by all the mercy of God to dedicate your bodies as a living sacrifice, consecrated and accept- able to God ; that is your cult, a spiritual rite. Instead of being 2 moulded to this world, have your mind renewed, and so be trans- formed in nature, able to make out what the will of God is, namely, what is good and acceptable to him and perfect.
In virtue of my office, I tell every- 3 one of your number who is self- important,* that he is not to think
* I accept the ingenious conjecture that Ti has fallen out after uvn.
199
ROMANS XIII
more of himself than he ought to think; he must take a sane view of himself, corresponding to the degree of faith which God has
4 assigned to each. In our one body we have a number of members, and the members have not all the
5 same function ; so too, for all our numbers, we form one Body in Christ and we are severally
6 members one of another. Our talents differ with the grace that is given us; if the talent is that of prophecy, let us employ it in
7 proportion to our faith ; if it is practical service, let us mind our service ; the teacher must mind his
8 teaching, the speaker his words of counsel; the contributor must be liberal, the superintendent must be in earnest, the sick visitor must
9 be cheerful. Let your love be a real thing, with a loathing for evil and a bent for what is good.
10 Put affection into your love for the brotherhood ; be forward to honour
11 one another; never let your zeal flag; maintain the spiritual glow;
12 serve the Lord ; let your hope be a joy to you ; be stedfast in trouble,
18 attend to prayer, contribute to needy saints, make a practice of
14 hospitality. Bless those who make a practice of persecuting you ; bless them instead of cursing them.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
16 Keep in harmony with one another ; instead of being ambitious, associ- ate with humble folk ; never he self-
17 conceited. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone ; aim to be above re-
18 proach in the eyes of all ; be at peace Avith all men, if possible, so far as
19 that depends on you. Never re- venge yourselves, beloved, but let the Wrath of God have its way ; for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I
200
will exact a requital — the Lord has said it. No,
if your enemy is hungry, feed him, 20
if he is thirsty, give him drink ; for in this way you will make him feel a burning sense of shame. Do not let evil get the better of 21 you ; get the better of evil by doing good.
Every subject must obey the 13 government-authorities, for no authority exists apart from God; the existing authorities have been constituted by God. Hence anyone 2 who resists authority is opposing the divine order, and the opposition will bring judgment on themselves. Magistrates are no terror to an 3 honest man,* though they are to a bad man. If you want to avoid being alarmed at the government- authorities, lead an honest life and you will be commended for it ; the 4 magistrate is God's servant for your benefit. But if you do wrong, you may well be alarmed ; a magis- trate does not wield the power of the sword for nothing, he is God's servant for the infliction of divine vengeance upon evil-doers. You 5 must be obedient, therefore, not only to avoid the divine vengeance but as a matter of conscience, for 6 the same reason as you pay taxes — since magistrates are God's officers, bent upon the maintenance of order and authority. Pay them all 7 their respective dues, tribute to one, taxes to another, respect to this man, honour to that. Be in debt 8 to no man — apart from the debt
* Reading ayaQoepyif, Patrick Young's attractive conjecture (confirmed by the Ethiopio version). As Hort points out, " the apparent antithesis to toj /ca/c^ could hardly fail to introduce rif ajadf."
ROMANS XIV
of love one to another. He who loves his fellow-man has fulfilled the 9 law. You must not commit adultery, you must not kill, you must not steal, you must not covet — these and any other command are summed up in the single word, You must love
10 your neighbour as yourself. Love never wrongs a neighbour; that is why love is the fulfilment of the law.
11 And then you know what this Crisis means, you know it is high time to waken up; for Salvation is nearer to us now than when we
12 first believed. It is far on in the night, the day is almost here ; so let us drop the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of the light;
13 let us live decorously as in the open light of day — no revelry or bouts of drinking, no debauchery or sensuality, no quarreling or jeal-
14 ousy. No, put on the character of the Lord Jesus Christ, and never think how to gratify the cravings of the flesh.
14 Welcome a man of weak faith, but not for the purpose of passing
2 judgment on his scruples. While one man has enough confidence to eat any food, the man of weak faith
3 only eats vegetables. The eater must not look down upon the non- eater, and the non-eater must not criticize the eater, for God has
4 welcomed him. Who are you to criticize the servant of Another? It is for his Master to say whether he stands or falls ; and stand he will, for the Master has power to
5 make him stand. Then again, this man rates one da}'^ above another, while that man rates all days alike. Well, everyone must be convinced in his own mind;
the man who values a particular 6 day does so to the Lord.* The eater eats to the Lord, since he thanks God for his food; the non-eater abstains to the Lord, and he too thanks God. For none of us lives to himself, 7 and none of us dies to him- self ; if we live, we live to the Lord, 8 and if we die, we die to the Lord. Thus we are the Lord's whether we live or die ; it was for this that 9 Christ died and rose and came to life, to be Lord both of the dead and of the living. So why do you 10 criticize your brother ? And you, why do you look down upon your brother? All of us have to stand before the tribunal of God — for it 11 is written,
As I live, saiih the Lord, every
knee shall bend before me, every tongue shall offer praise to God. Each of us then will have to answer 12 for himself to God.
So let us stop criticizing one 13 another; rather make up your mind never to put any stumbling- block or hindrance in your brother's way. I know, I am certain in the 14 Lord Jesus, that nothing is in itself unclean ; only, anything is unclean for a man who considers it unclean. If your brother is being injured be- 15 cause you eat a certain food, then you are no longer living by the rule of love. Do not let that food of yours ruin the man for whom Christ died. Your rights must not get a bad 16 name. The Reign of God is not a 17
* Omitting [koI b fiii ippoviv rrty fifiepap Kvplff ov (f>pov(T] with the Latin version and most manuscripts.
201
ROMANS XV
matter of eating and drinking, it means righteousness, joy, and peace
18 in the holy Spirit ; he who serves Christ on these Unes, is acceptable to God and esteemed by men.
19 Peace, then, and the building up of each other, these are what we
20 must aim at. You must not break down God's work for the mere sake of food ! Everything may be clean, but it is wrong for a man to prove a stumbling-block by what he eats;
21 the right course is to abstain from flesh or wine or indeed anything that your brother feels to be a stumbling-
22 block.* Certainly keep your own conviction on the matter, as be- tween yourself and God; he is a fortunate man who has no mis- givings about what he allows him-
23 self to eat. But if anyone has doubts about eating and then eats, that condemns him at once; it was not faith that induced him to eat, and any action that is not based on faith is a sin.
15 We who are strong ought to bear the burdens that the weak make for themselves and us. We are not
2 to please ourselves. Each of us must please his neighbour, doing him good by building up his faith.
3 Christ certainly did not please him- self, but, as it is written, The re- pi'oaches of those who denounced Thee
4 have fallen upon me. — All such words were written of old for our instruc- tion, that by remaining stedfast and drawing encouragement from the scriptures we may cherish hope.
5 May the God who inspires stedfast- ness and encouragement grant you such harmony with one another,
6 after Christ Jesus, that you may unite in a chorus of praise and
* Omitting [^ o-KOfSoA/^eraj fi aadeve'i] with N* A C, Origen, the Peshitto, etc., »8 a homiletic gloss. 202
10
11
12
glory to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ! Welcome one another, then, as Christ has wel- comed yourselves, for the glory of God. Christ, I mean, became a ser- vant to the circumcised in order to prove God's honesty by fulfilling His promises to the fathers, and also in order that the Gentiles should glorify God for His mercy — as it is written.
Therefore will I offer praise to Thee among the Gentiles,
and sing to thy name ; or again.
Rejoice, 0 Gentiles, with his People ; or again,
Extol the Lord, all Gentiles,
let all the peoples praise him ; or again, as Isaiah says.
Then shall the Scion of Jessai live,
he who rises to rule the Gentiles ;
on him will the Gentiles set their hope. May the God of your hope so fill 13 you with all joy and peace in your faith, that you may be overflowing with hope by the power of the holy Spirit !
Personally I am quite certain, 14 my brothers, that even as it is you have ample goodness of heart, you are filled with knowledge of every kind, and you are well able to give advice to one another. Still, by 15 way of refreshing your memory, I have written you with a certain freedom, in virtue of my divine commission as a priest of Christ 16 Jesus to the Gentiles in the service of God's gospel. My aim is to make the Gentiles an acceptable offering, consecrated by the holy Spirit. Now in Christ Jesus I can be proud 17 of my work for God. I will not 18 make free to speak of anything ex- cept what Christ has accomplished by
ROMANS XVI
me in the way of securing the obedi- ence of the Gentiles, by my words
19 and by my deeds, by the force of miracles and marvels, by the power of the Spirit of God. Thus from Jerusalem right round to Illyricum, I have been able to complete the preaching of the gospel of Christ —
20 my ambition always being to preach it only in places where there had been no mention of Christ's name, that I might not build on founda-
21 tions laid by others, but that (as it is written)
They should see who never had
learned about him, and they who had never heard of
him should understand.
22 This is why I have been so often
23 prevented from visiting you. But now, as I have no further scope for work in these parts, and as for a number of years I have had a long-
24 ing to visit you whenever I went to Spain, I am hoping to see you on my way there, and to be sped forward by you after I have en-
25 joyed your company for a while. At the moment I am off to Jeru-
26 salem on an errand to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have decided to make a contribution for the poor among the saints at
27 Jerusalem. Such was their de- cision ; and yet this is a debt they owe to these people, for if the Gen- tiles have shared their spiritual blessings, they owe them a debt of
28 aid in material blessings. Well, once I finish this business by putting the proceeds of the collection safely in their hands, I will start for Spain
29 and take you on the way. When I do come to you, I know I will bring a full blessing from Christ.
30 Brothers, I beg of you, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love that the Spirit inspires, rally round
me by praying to God for me ; pray 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judaea, and also that my mission to Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints. Then, by God's will, I shall gladly 32 come to you and rest beside you.
The God of peace be with you 33 all ! Amen.
Let me introduce our sister 16 Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at Cenchreae ; receive her in the 2 Lord as saints should receive one another, and give her any help she may require. She has been a help herself to many people, including myself.
Salute Prisca and Aquila, my 3 fellow-workers in Christ Jesus, who 4 have risked their lives for me; I thank them, and not only I but all the Gentile churches as well. Also, salute the church that meets 5 in their house. Salute my beloved Epaenetus, the first in Asia to be reaped for Christ. Salute Mary, 6 who has worked hard for you. Salute Andronicus and Junias, 7 fellow-countrymen and fellow-pris- oners of mine; they are men of note among the apostles, and they have been in Christ longer than I have. Salute Amplias, my beloved 8 in the Lord. Salute Urbanus, 9 our fellow-worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. Salute that 10 tried Christian, Apelles. Salute those who belong to the house- hold of Aristobulus. Salute my fel- 11 low-countryman Herodion. Salute such members of the household of Narcissus as are in the Lord. Salute Tryphaena and Tryphosa, 12 who work hard in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis ; she has worked
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ROMANS XVI
13 very hard in the Lord. Salute that choice Christian, Rufus; also his mother, who has been a mother to
14 me. Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the
15 brothers of their company. Salute Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, Olympas too, and all the
16 saints in their company. Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ salute you.
17 Brothers, I beg of you to keep your eye on those who stir up dis- sensions and put hindrances in your way, contrary to the doctrine which you have been taught. Avoid them.
18 Such creatures are no servants of Christ our Lord, they are slaves of their OAvn base desires ; with their plausible and pious talk they be- guile the hearts of unsuspecting people. But surely not of you !
19 Everyone has heard of your loyalty to the gospel; it makes me rejoice o\er you. Still, I want you to be experts in good and innocents in
evil. The God of peace will soon 20 crush Satan under your feet !
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Timotheus my fellow-worker 21 salutes you; so do my fellow- countrymen Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater.
I Tertius, who write the letter, 22 salute you in the Lord.
Gains, my host and the host of 23 the church at large, salutes you. Erastus the city-treasurer salutes you; so does brother Quartus.
[Now to Him who can strengthen 25 you by my gospel, by the preach- ing of Jesus Christ, by revealing the secret purpose which after the silence of long ages has now been 26 disclosed and made known on the basis of the prophetic scriptures (by command of the eternal God) to all the Gentiles for their obedience to the faith — to the only wise God be 27 glory through Jesus Christ for ever and ever ; Amen.]
204
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE
COEINTHIANS
1 Paui<, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,
2 with brother Sosthenes, to the church of God at Corinth, to those who are consecrated in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, as well as to all who, wherever they may be, in- voke the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord no less than
3 ours : grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank my God for the grace of God that has been bestowed
5 on you in Christ Jesus ; in him you have received a wealth of all bless- ing, full power to speak of your faith and full insight into its meaning,
6 all of which verifies the testimony we bore to Christ when we were
7 with you. Thus you lack no spiritual endowment during these days of waiting till our Lord Jesus
8 Christ is revealed ; and to the very end he will guarantee that you are vindicated on the day of our Lord
9 Jesus Christ. Faithful is the God who called you to this fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
10 Brothers, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ I beg of you all to drop these party-cries. There must be no cliques among you; you must regain your common temper and
11 attitude. For Chloe's people inform
12 me that you are quarrelling. By ' quarrelling ' I mean that each of you has his party-cry, " I belong
to Paul," "And I to Apollos," "And I to Cephas," "And I to Christ." Has Christ been parcelled 13 out? Was it Paul who was cruci- fied for you ? Was it in Paul's name that you were baptized ? I am 14 thankful now that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gains, so that no one can say you 15 were baptized in my name. (Well, 16 I did baptize the household of Stephanas, but no one else, as far as I remember.) Christ did 17 not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel.
And to preach it with no fine rhetoric, lest the cross of Christ should lose its power ! Those who 18 are doomed to perish find the story of the cross ' sheer folly,' but it means the power of God for those v/hom he saves. It is written, 19
/ will destroy the wisdom of the sages,
I zvill confound the insight of the wise. Sage, scribe, critic of this world, 20 where are they all ? Has not God stultified the wisdom of the world ? For when the world with all its 21 wisdom failed to know God in his wisdom, God resolved to save believers by the ' sheer folly ' of the Christian message. Jews de- 22 mand miracles and Greeks want wisdom, but our message is Christ 23 the crucified — a stumbling-block to the Jews, ' sheer folly ' to the Greeks, but for those who are called, 24 whether Jews or Greeks, a Christ
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I. CORINTHIANS II
who is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 For the ' foohshness ' of God is
wiser than men, and the ' weakness ' of God is stronger than men.
26 Why, look at your own ranks, my brothers; not many wise men (that is, judged by human stand- ards), not many leading men, not many of good birth, have been
27 called ! No,
God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise;
28 God has chosen what is weak in
the world to shame what is strong ; God has chosen what is mean and
despised in the world — things which are not, to put
down things that are ;
29 that no person may boast in the
30 sight of God. This is the God to whom you owe your being in Christ Jesus, whom God has made our ' Wisdom,' that is, our righteous- ness and consecration and redemp-
31 tion ; so that, as it is written, let him who boasts boast of the Lord.
CHAP.
2 Thus when I came to you, my brothers, I did not come to proclaim to you God's secret purpose * with any elaborate words or wisdom.
2 I determined among you to be ignorant of everything except Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ the cruci-
3 fied. It was in weakness and fear and with great trembling that I
4 visited you ; what I said, what I preached, did not rest on the plausible arguments of 'wisdom'
* The textual evidence for fiapripiov is slightly stronger, but I incline upon the whole to regard it as a secondary reading, due to i. 6, and to adopt livarripioy. 206
but on the proof supplied by the Spirit and its power, so that your 5 faith might not rest on any human 'wisdom' but on the power of God.
We do discuss ' wisdom ' with 6 those who are mature ; only it is not the wisdom of this world or of the dethroned Powers who rule this world, it is the mysterious 7 Wisdom of God that we discuss, that hidden wisdom which God decreed from all eternity for our glory. None of the Powers of this 8 world understands it (if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory). No, as it is 9 written,
what no eye has ever seen,
what no ear has ever heard,
what never entered the mind of man,
God has prepared all that for those who love him. And God has revealed it to us by 10 the Spirit, for the Spirit fathoms 1 everything, even the depths of * God.
What human being can under- 11 stand the thoughts of a man, except the man's own inner spirit ?
So too no one understands the thoughts of God, except the Spirit of God. Now we have received the Spirit — 12 not the spirit of the world but the Spirit that comes from God, that we may understand what God bestows upon us. And this is what we dis- 13 cuss, using language taught by no human wisdom but by the Spirit. We interpret what is spiritual in spiritual language. The unspiritual 14 man rejects these truths of the Spirit of God; to him they are ' sheer folly,' he cannot understand them. And the reason is, that they must be read with the spiritual
I. CORINTHIANS III, IV
15 eye. The spiritual man, again, can read the meaning of everything ; and yet no one can read what
16 he is. For who ever understood the thoughts of the Lord, so as to give him instruction ? No one. Well, our thoughts are Christ's thoughts.
caip.
3 But I could not discuss things
with you, my brothers, as spiritual
persons ; I had to address you as
worldlings, as mere babes in Christ.
2 I fed you with milk, not with solid food. You were not able for solid food, and you are not able even
3 now ; you are still worldly. For with jealousy and quarrels in your midst, are you not worldly, are you not behaving like ordinary men ?
4 When one cries, " I belong to Paul," and another, " I belong to Apollos," what are you but men of the world ?
5 Who is Apollos ? Who is Paul ? They are simply used by God to give you faith, each as the Lord assigns his task.
6 I did the planting, Apollos did
the watering, but it was God who made the seed grow.
7 So neither planter nor waterer
counts, but God alone who makes the seed grow.
8 Still, though planter and waterer are on the same level, each will get his own wage for the special work that he has done.
9 We work together in God's ser- vice; you are God's field to be planted, God's house to be built.
10 In virtue of my commission from God, I laid the foundation of the house like an expert master-builder. It remains for another to build on this foundation. Whoever he is, let
11 him be careful how he builds. The
foundation is laid, namely Jesus Christ, and no one can lay any other. On that foundation anyone may 12 build gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, but in every 13 case the nature of his work will come out ; the Day will show what it is, for the Day breaks in fire, and the fire will test the work of each, no matter what that work may be.
If the structure raised by any man 14 survives, he will be rewarded ;
if a man's work is burnt up, 15
he will be a loser — and though he will be saved himself, he will be snatched from the very flames.
Do you not know you are God's 16 temple and that God's Spirit dwells within you ? God will destroy any- 17 one who would destroy God's temple, for God's temple is sacred — and that is what you are.
Let no one deceive himself about 18 this ; whoever of you imagines he is wise with this world's wisdom must become a ' fool,' if he is really to be wise. For God ranks this 19 world's wisdom as ' sheer folly.' It is written, He seizes the wise in their craftiness, and again. The Lord 20 knows the reasoning of the wise is futile.
So you must not boast about men. 21 For all belongs to you ; Paul, 22 Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, the present and the future — all belongs to you ; and you belong 23 to Christ, and Christ to God.
CHAP.
This is how you are to look upon 4 us, as servants of Christ and stewards of God's secret truths. Now in stewards your first require- 2 ment is that they must be trust- worthy. It matters very little to me 3
207
I. CORINTHIANS V
that you or any human court should cross-question me on this point. I do not even cross-question my- i self ; for, although I am not conscious of having anything against me, that does not clear me. It is the Lord who cross-questions me on the
5 matter. So do not criticize at all ; the hour of reckoning has still to come, when the Lord will come to bring dark secrets to the light and to reveal life's inner aims and motives. Then each of us \vill get his meed of praise from God.
6 Now I have applied what has been said above to myself and Barnabas, to teach you ... * that you are not to be puffed up with rivalry over one teacher as against
7 another. Who singles you out, my brother ? What do you possess that has not been given you? And if it was given you, why do you boast as if it had been gained, not given ?
8 You Corinthians have your heart's desire already, have you? You have heaven's rich bliss already ! You have come into your kingdom without us ! I wish indeed you had come into your kingdom, so that v;e
9 could share it with you ! For it seems to me that God means us apostles to come in at the very end, like the doomed gladiators in the arena ! We are made a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men !
10 We, for Christ's sake, are ' fools ' ; 3'ou in Christ are sensible. We are weak, you are strong; you are
11 honoured, we are in disrepute. To this very hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and knocked about,
12 we are waifs, we work hard for our living; when reviled, we bless;
* The text and the meaning of the phrase between /xaflrjre and "(va fxi} are beyond recovery. ^08
when persecuted, we put up with it; when defamed, we try 13 to conciliate. To this hour we are treated as the scum of the earth, the very refuse of the world !
I do not write this to make you 14 feel ashamed, but to instruct you as beloved children of mine. You may 15 have thousands to superintend you in Christ, but you have not more than one father. It was I who in Christ Jesus became your father by means of the gospel. Then imitate 16 me, I beg of you. To ensure this, 17 I am sending you Timotheus, my beloved and trustworthy son in the Lord ; he will remind you of those methods in Christ Jesus which I teach everywhere in every church. Certain individuals have got puffed 18 up, have they, as if I were not com- ing myself ? I will come to you be- 19 fore long, if the Lord wills, and then I will find out from these puffed up creatures not what their talk but what their power amounts to. For 20 God's Reign does not show itself in talk but in power. Which is 21 it to be ? Am I to come to you with a rod of discipline or with love and gentleness ?
It is actually reported that there 5 is immorality among you, and im- morality such as is unknown even among pagans — ^that a man has taken his father's wife ! And yet 2 you are puffed up ! You ought much rather to be mourning the loss of a member ! Expel the perpe- j trator of such a crime ! For my 8 I part, present with you in spirit though absent in body, I have already passed sentence on such an offender as this, by the authority 4 of our Lord Jesus Christ; I have
I. CORINTHIANS VI
met with you in spirit and by the
5 power of our Lord Jesus I have consigned that individual to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, in order that his spirit may be saved
0 on the Day of the Lord Jesus. Your boasting is no credit to you. Do you not know that a morsel of dough will leaven the whole lump ?
7 Clean out the old dough that you may be a fresh lump. For you are free from the old leaven; Christ our paschal lamb has been sacrificed.
8 So let us celebrate our festival, not with any old leaven, not with vice and evil, but with the un- leavened bread of innocence and integrity.
9 In my letter I wrote that you were not to associate with the immoral.
10 I did not mean you were literally to avoid contact Avith the immoral in this world, with the lustful and the thievish, or with idolaters ; in that case you would have to leave the
11 world altogether. What I now write is that you are not to associate with any so-called brother who is immoral or lustful or idolatrous or given to abuse or drink or rob- bery. Associate with him ! Do not
12 even eat with him ! Outsiders it is no business of mine to judge. You must judge those who are in- side the church, for yourselves ;
13 as for outsiders, God will judge them. Expel the wicked from your company.
3HAP.
6 When any of you has a grievance against his neighbour, do you dare to go to law in a sinful pagan court, instead of laying the case before
2 the saints ? Do you not know the saints are to manage the world? If the world is to come under your jurisdiction, are you incompetent
to adjudicate upon trifles ? Do you 3 not know we are to manage angels, let alone mundane issues? And 4 yet, when you have mundane issues to settle, you refer them to the judgment of men who from the point of view of the church are of no ac- count ! I say this to put you to 5 shame. Has it come to this, that there is not a single wise man among you who could decide a dispute between members of the brotherhood, instead of one brother 6 going to law with another — and before unbelievers too ! Even to 7 have law-suits with one another is in itself evidence of defeat. Why not rather let yourselves be wronged ? W^hy not rather let yourselves be defrauded ? But 8 instead of that you inflict wrong and practise frauds — and that upon members of the brotherhood ! What ! do you not know that the 9 wicked vrill not inherit the Realm of God ? Make no mistake about it; neither the immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor cata- mites nor sodomites nor thieves 10 nor the lustful nor the drunken nor the abusive nor robbers will inherit the Realm of God. Some of you 11 were once like that ; but you washed yourselves clean, you were con- secrated, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and ^ in the Spirit of our God.
' All things are lawful for me ' ? 12
Yes, but not all are good for me. ' All things are lawful for me ' ? Yes, but I am not going to let anything master me. ' Food is meant for the stomach, 13 and the stomach for food ' ? Yes, and God will do away with the one and the other. The body is not meant for im-
209
I. CORINTHIANS VII
morality but for the Lord, and the
14 Lord is for the body ; and the God who raised the Lord will also raise
15 us by his power. Do you not know your bodies are members of Christ ? Am I to take Christ's members and devote them to a harlot?
16 Never ! Do you not know that
he who joins himself to a harlot is one with her in body (for the pair, it is said, shall become one flesh),
17 while he who joins himself to the
Lord is one with him in spirit.
18 Shun immorality ! Any other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins
19 against his body. Do you not know your body is the temple of the holy Spirit within you — the Spirit you have received from God?
20 You are not your own, you were bought for a price; then glorify God with your body.
7 Now about the questions in your letter.
It is an excellent thing for a man to have no intercourse with a 2 woman; but there is so much im- morality that every man had better have a wife of his own and every woman a husband of her own.
8 The husband must give the wife
her conjugal dues, and the wife in the same way must give her husband his ;
4 the wife cannot do as she pleases
with her body — her husband has power, and in the same way the husband cannot do as he pleases with his body — his wife has power.
5 Do not withhold sexual intercourse from one another, unless you agree
210
to do so for a time in order to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again. You must not let Satan tempt you through incon- tinence. But what I have just said 6 is by way of concession, not com- mand. I would like all men to be 7 as I am. However, everyone is endowed by God in his own way; he has a gift for the one life or the other.
To the unmarried and to widows 8 I would say this : it is an excellent thing if like me they remain as they are. Still, if they cannot restrain 9 themselves, let them marry. Better marry than be aflame with passion !
For married people these are 10 my instructions (and they are the Lord's, not mine). A wife is not to separate from her husband — if she 11 has separated, she must either re- main single or be reconciled to him — and a husband must not put away his wife.
To other people I would say 12 (not the Lord) : —
if any brother has a wife who is not a believer, and if she consents to live with him, he must not put her away ; and if any wife has a husband 13
who is not a believer, and if he consents to live with her, she must not put her hus- band away. For the unbelieving husband is 14 consecrated in the person of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is consecrated in the person of the Christian brother she has married; otherwise, of course, your children would be unholy instead of being consecrated to God. (Should the 15l
I. CORINTHIANS VII
unbelieving partner be determined to separate, however, separation let it be ; in such cases the Christian brother or sister is not tied to mar- riage.) It is to a life of peace that
16 God has called us.* O wife, how do you know you may not save your husband ? O husband, how do you know you may not save your wife ?
17 Only, everyone must lead the lot assigned him by the Lord ; he must go on living the life in which God's call came to him. (Such is the rule I lay down for all the churches).
18 Was a man circumcised at the
time he was called ? Then he is not to efface the marks of it. Has any man been called when he was uncircumcised ? Then he is not to get circum- cised.
19 Circumcision counts for nothing, uncircumcision counts for nothing ; obedience to God's commands is
20 everything. Everyone must remain in the condition of life where he was
21 called. You were a slave when you were called? Never mind. Of course, if you do find it possible to get free, you had better avail
22 yourself of the opportunity. But a slave who is called to be in the Lord is a freedman of the Lord. Just as a free man who is called is
23 a slave of Christ (for you were bought for a price; you must not
24 turn slaves to any man). Brothers, everyone must remain with God in the condition of life where he was called.
25 I have no orders from the Lord for unmarried women, but I will give you the opinion of one whom you can trust, after all the Lord's
* Reading jifxas with B D G, the Latin version, Origen, Chryaostom, etc., instead
of vuaSt
mercy to him. Well, what I think 26 is this : that, considering the immi- nent distress in these days, it would be an excellent plan for you to re- main just as you are.
Are you tied to a wife ? Never 27 try to untie the knot. Are you free ? Never try to get married. Of course, if you are actually 28 married, there is no sin in that; and if a maid marries, there is no sin in that. (At the same time those who marry will have outward trouble — and I would spare you that.) I mean, 29 brothers, —
the interval has been shortened ; so let those who have wives live
as if they had none, let mourners live as if they were 30
not mourning, let the joyful live as if they had
no joy, let buyers live as if they had no
hold on their goods, let those who mix in the world 31 live as if they were not en- grossed in it, for the present phase of things is passing away. I want you to be free from all 32 anxieties.
The unmarried man is anxious about the Lord's affairs, how best to satisfy the Lord; the married man is anxious about 33 worldly affairs, how best to satisfy his wife — so he is torn in two directions. 34 The unmarried woman or the maid f is also anxious about the Lord's affairs, how to be consecrated, body and spirit;
t Reading ri ywij ri Ayafios koI rj itapOivos with p'6 B P, the Vulgate, etc.
211
I. CORINTHIANS VIII, IX
once married, she is anxious about worldly affairs, how best to satisfy her husband. 35 I am saying this in your own interests. Not that I want to restrict your freedom. It is only to secure decorum and concentration upon a life of devotion to the Lord. 86 At the same time, if any man con- siders he is not behaving properly to the maid who is his spiritual bride, if his passions are strong and if it must be so, then let him do what he wants — let them be married ;
37 it is no sin for him. But the man of firm purpose who has made up his mind, who, instead of being forced against his will, has deter- mined to himself to keep his maid a spiritual bride — that man will
38 be doing the right thing. Thus both are right alike in marrying and in refraining from marriage, but he who does not marry will be found to have done better.
39 A woman is bound to her hus- band during his lifetime ; but if he dies, she is free to marry anyone she pleases — only, it must be a
40 Christian. However, she is happier if she remains as she is ; that is my opinion — and I suppose I have the Spirit of God as well as other people!
8 With regard to food that has been offered to idols. Here, of course, ' we all possess knowledge ' ! Knowledge puffs up, love builds
2 up. Whoever imagines he has attained to some degree of know- ledge, does not possess the true
3 knowledge yet ; but if anyone loves
4 God, he is known by Him. Well then, with regard to food that has been offered to idols, I am quite aware that ' there is no such thing as an idol in the world ' and that
212
'there is only the one God.' (So- 5 called gods there may be, in heaven or on earth — as indeed there are plenty of them, both gods and ' lords ' — but for us 6
there is one God, the Father,
from whom all comes, ;
and for whom we exist;
one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom all exists,
and by whom we exist.) Biit remember, it is not everyone 7 who has this ' knowledge.' Some who have hitherto been accus- tomed to idols eat the food as food which has been really offered to an idol, and so their weaker conscience is contaminated. Now mere food 8 will not bring us any nearer to God ;
if we abstain we do not lose any- thing,
and if we eat we do not gain anything. But see that the exercise of your 9 right does not prove any stumbling- block to the weak. Suppose any- 10 one sees you, a person of enlightened mind, reclining at meat inside an idol's temple; will that really ' fortify his weak conscience ' ? Will it not embolden him to violate his scruples of conscience by eating food that has been offered to idols ? He is ruined, this weak man, ruined 11 by your ' enlightened mind,' this brother for whose sake Christ died ! By sinning against the brotherhood 12 in this way and wounding their weaker consciences, you are sinning against Christ. Therefore if food 13 is any hindrance to my brother's welfare, sooner than injure him I will never eat flesh as long as I live, never !
OHAP.
Am I not free? Am I not an 9 apostle ? Have I not seen Jesus our
I. CORINTHIANS IX
Lord? Are you not the work 1 have accomplished in the Lord?
2 To other people I may be no apostle, but to you I am, for you are the seal set upon my apostleship in the
3 Lord. Here is my reply to my
4 inquisitors. Have we no right to eat and drink at the expense of
5 the churches ? Have we no right to travel with a Christian ^vife, like the rest of the apostles, like the brothers of the Lord, like Cephas
6 himself ? What ! are we the only ones, myself and Barnabas, who are denied the right of abstaining
7 from work for our living ? Does a soldier provide his own supplies? Does a man plant a vineyard with- out eating its produce? Does a shepherd get no drink from the milk
8 of the flock ? Human arguments, you say? But does not Scripture
9 urge the very same ? It is written in the law of ]\Ioses, Yo7i must not muzzle an ox when he is treading the grain. Is God thinking here about
10 cattle ? Or is he speaking purely for our sakes ? Assuredly for our sakes. This word was written be- cause the ploughman needs to plough in hope, and the thresher to thresh in the hope of getting a share
11 in the crop. If we sowed 5^ou the seeds of spiritual good, is it a great matter if we reap your worldly
12 goods ? If others share this right over you, why not we all the more ? We did not avail ourselves of it, you say ? No, we do not mind any privations if we can only avoid putting any obstacle in the way of
13 the gospel of Christ. Do you not knoAv that as men who perform temple-rites get their food from the temple, and as attendants at the altar get their share of thesacri-
14 fjccs, so the Lord's instructions were that those who proclaim the gospel
are to get their living by the gospel ? Only, I have not availed myself of 15 any of these rights, and I am not writing in order to secure any such provision for myself. I would die sooner than let anyone deprive me of this, my source of pride. What I am 16 proud of is not the mere preaching of the gospel ; that I am constrained to do. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel ! I get a reward if I do 17 it of my own accord, whereas to do it otherwise is no more than for a steward to discharge his trust. And 18 my reward ? This, that I can preach the gospel free of charge, that I can refrain from insisting on all my rights as a preacher of the gospel. Why, 19
free as I am from all, I have made myself the slave of all, to win over as many as I could. To Jews I have become like a 20 Jew, to win over .lews; to those under Ihe Law I have become as one of them- selves— though I am not under the Law myself — to win over those under the La%v ; to those outside the Law I have 21 become like one of them- selves— though I am under Christ's law, not outside God's Law — to win over those outside the Law; to the weak I have become as 22 weak myself, to win over the weak. To all men I have become all things, to save some by all and every means. And I do it all for the sake of 23
213
I. CORINTHIANS X
the gospel, to secure my own share
24 in it. Do you not know that in a race, though all run, only one man gains the prize ? Run so as to win
25 the prize. Every athlete practices self-restraint all round; but while they do it to win a fading wreath,
26 we do it for an unfading. Well, I run without swerving; I do not plant my blows upon the empty
27 air — no, I maul and master my body, in case, after preaching to other people, I am disqualified my- self.
10 For I would have you know this, my brothers, that while our fathers all lived under the cloud, all crossed
2 through the sea, all were baptized into Moses by the cloud and by the
3 sea, all ate the same spiritual food,
4 and all drank the same spiritual drink (drinking from the spiritual Rock which accompanied them —
5 and that Rock was Christ), still with most of them God was not satisfied ; they were laid low in the
6 desert. Now this took place as a warning for us, to keep us from
7 craving for evil as they craved. And you must not be idolaters, like some of them ; as it is written,
the people sat down to eat and
drink, and they rose up to make sport.
8 Nor must we commit immorality, as some of them did — and in a single day twenty-three thousand of them
9 fell. Nor must we presume upon the Lord as some of them did — only to be destroyed by serpents.
10 And you must not murmur, as some of them did — only to be destroyed
11 by the Destroying angel. It all happened to them by way of warn- ing for others, and it was written down for the purpose of instructing
214
us whose lot has been cast in the closing hours of the world. So let 12 anyone who thinks he stands secure, take care in case he falls. No 13 temptation has waylaid you that is beyond man's power ; trust God, he will never let you be tempted beyond what you can stand, but when temptation comes, he will provide the way out of it, so that you can bear up under it.
Shun idolatry, then, my beloved. 14 I am speaking to sensible people; 15 weigh my words for yourselves. The cup of blessing, which we 16 bless, is that not participating in the blood of Christ ? The bread we break,
is that not participating in the body of Christ ? (for many as we are, we are one 17 Bread, one Body, since we all par- take of the one Bread). Look at 18 the rites of Israel. Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I imply, you ask, 19 that 'food offered to an idol has any meaning, or that an idol itself means anything ' ? No, what I 20 imply is that anything people sacrifice is sacrificed to daemons not to God. And I do not want you to participate in daemons ! You can- 21 not drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of daemons; you can- not partake of the table of the Lord and also of the table of daemons. What ! do we intend to 22 rouse the Lord's jealousy ? Are we stronger than he is ? ' All things are lawful ' ? 23
Yes, but not all are good for us. ' All things are lawful ' ?
Yes, but not all are edifying. Each of us must consult his neigh- 24 hour's interests, not his own. Eat 25
I. CORINTHIANS XI
any food that has been sold in the market, instead of letting scruples of conscience oblige you to ask any
26 questions about it ; the earth and all
27 its contents belong to the Lord. When an unbeliever invites you to dinner and you agree to go, eat whatever is put before you, instead of letting scruples of conscience induce you to
28 ask any questions about it. But if someone tells you, ' This was sacri- ficial meat,' then do not eat it ; you must consider the man who told you, and also take conscience into
29 account — his conscience, I mean, not your own ; for why should one's own freedom be called in question
30 by someone else's conscience? If one partakes of food after saying a blessing over it, why shoidd one be denounced for eating what one has
31 given thanks to God for? So whether you eat or drink, or what- ever you do, let it be all done for
32 the glory of God. Put no stumbhng- block in the way of Jews or Greeks
33 or the church of God. Such is my own rule, to satisfy all men in all points, aiming not at my own ad- vantage but at the advantage of the greater number — at their salva-
11 tion. Copy me, as I copy Christ.
2 I commend you for always bear- ing me in mind and for maintaining the traditions I passed on to you.
3 But I would like you to understand this : Christ is the head of every man, man is the head of woman,
4 and God is the head of Christ. Any man who prays or prophesies with a veil on his head dishonours his
5 head, while any woman who prays or prophesies without a veil on her head dishonours her head ; she is no better than a shaven woman.
6 If a woman will not veil herself, she should cut off her hair as well. But she ought to veil herself ; for it
is disgraceful that a woman should have her hair cut off or be shaven. Man does not require to have a veil 7 on his head, for he represents the likeness and supremacy of God ; but woman represents the supremacy of man. (Man was not made from 8 woman, woman was made from man ; and man was not created 9 for woman, but woman for man.) Therefore, in view of the angels, 10 woman must wear a symbol of sub- jection on her head. (Of course, in 11 the Lord, woman does not exist apart from man, any more than man apart from woman ; for as woman 12 was made from man, so man is now made from woman, while both, like all things, come from God. ) .Judge 13 for yourselves; is it proper for an unveiled woman to pray to God ? Surely nature herself teaches you 14 that while long hair is disgraceful for a man, for a woman long hair 15 is a glory ? Her hair is given her as a covering. If anyone pre- 16 sumes to raise objections on this point — well, I acknowledge no other mode of worship, and neither do the churches of God.
But in giving you the following 17 injunction I cannot commend you ; for you are the worse, not the better, for assembling together. First of 18 all, in your church-meetings I am told that cliques prevail. And I partly beheve it. There must be 19 parties among you, if genuine Christians are to be recognized. But this makes it impossible for 20 you to eat the ' Lord's ' supper when you hold your gatherings. As you eat, everyone takes his 21 own supper ; one goes hungry while another gets drunk. What ! have 22 you no houses to eat and drink in ? Do you think you can show dis- respect to the church of God and
215
I. CORINTHIANS XII
put the poor to shame? What can I say to you? Commend
23 you ? Not for this. I passed on to ji-ou what I received from the Lord himself, namely, that on the night he was betrayed the Lord
24 Jesus took a loaf, and after thank- ing God he broke it, saying, ' This means my body broken * for
25 you ; do this in memory of me.' In the same way he took the cup after supper, saying, ' This cup means the new covenant ratified by my hlood ; as often as you drink it, do
26 it in memory of me.' For as often as you eat this loaf and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death
27 until he comes. Hence anyone who eats the loaf or drinks the cup of the Lord carelessly, will have to answer for a sin against the body
28 and the blood of the Lord. Let a man test himself; then he can eat from the loaf and drink from the
29 cup. For he who eats and drinks without a proper sense of the Body, eats and drinks to his own con-
30 demnation. That is why many of you are ill and infirm, and a number
31 even dead. If we only judged our own lives truly, we would not come
32 under the Lord's judgment. As it is, we are chastened when we are judged by him, so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
33 Well then, my brothers, when you gather for a meal, wait for
34 one another ; and if anyone is hungry let him eat at home. You must not gather only to incur condemnation.
* Von Sodon brackets K\(Sifi.evov, but it must be read with ts« C*, two correctors of D (which originally read 6pvTtr6fj.ivov), G, the Old Latin and Syriac Viilgate, Chrysostom, etc. If it is a gloss, it is a correct one, unless the Lucan SL56iJ.evov be preferred. . 216
I will give you my instructions upon the other mattei's when I come.
CHAP.
But I want you to understand 12 about spiritual gifts, brothers. You 2 know, when j^ou were pagans, how your impulses led you to dumb idols ; so I tell you now, that no one 3 is speaking in the Spirit of God when he cries, ' Cursed be Jesus,' and that no one can say, ' Jesus is Lord ' except in the holy Spirit.
There are varieties of talents, 4 but the same Spirit;
varieties of service, 5
but the same Lord;
varieties of effects, 6
but the same God who effects everything in everyone. Each receives his manifestation of 7 the Spirit for the common good. One man is granted words of wis- 8 dom by the Spirit, another words of knowledge by the same Spirit; one man in the same Spirit has the 9 gift of faith, anoth r in the one Spirit has gifts of healing; one has 10 prophecy, another the gift of dis- tinguishing spirits, another the gift of ' tongues ' in their variety, another the gift of interpreting ' tongues.' But all these effects 11 are produced by one and the same Spirit, apportioning them severally to each individual as he pleases.
As the human body is one and 12 has many members, all the mem- bers of the body forming one body for all their number, so is it with Christ. For by one Spirit we have 13 all been baptized into one Body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or freemen ; we have all been imbued with one Spirit. Wh}^, even the body con- 14 sists not of one member but of many. If the foot were to say, 15
I. CORINTHIANS XIII
* Because I am not the hand, I do not belong to the body,' that does not make it no part of the body.
16 If the ear were to say, ' Because I am not the eye, I do not belong to the body,' that does not make it
17 no part of the body. If the body were all eye, where would hearing be ? If the body were all ear, where
18 would smell be? As it is, God has set the members in the body, each
19 as it pleased him. If they all made up one member, what would become
20 of the body ? As it is, there are
21 many members and one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ' I have no need of you,' nor again the head to the feet, ' I have no need of you.*
22 Quite the contrary. We cannot do without those very members of the body which are considered rather
23 delicate, just as the parts we con- sider rather dishonourable are the very parts we invest with special honour; our indecorous parts get
24 a special care and attention which does not need to be paid to our more decorous parts. Yes, God has tempered the body together, \Wth a special dignity for the
25 inferior parts, so that there may be no disunion in the body, but that the various members should have a common concern for one
26 another. Thus
if one member suffers,
all the members share its suffer- ing; if one member is honoured,
all the members share its honour.
27 Now you are Christ's Body, and
28 severally members of it. That is to say, God has set people within the church to be first of all apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators,
and speakers in ' tongues ' of vari- ous kinds. Are all apostles ? Are 29 all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles ? Are SO all endowed with the gifts of healing? Are all able to speak in ' tongues ' ? Are all able to interpret ?
Set your heai'ts on the higher 81 talents. And yet I will go on to show you a still higher path. Thus, I may speak with the tongues of 13 men and of angels, but if I have no love,
I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal ; I may prophesy, fathom all 2
mysteries and secret lore, I may have such absolute faith that I can move hills from their place, but if I have no love, I count for nothing; I may distribute all I possess in 3
charity, I may give up my body to be burnt, but if I have no love, I make nothing of it. Love is very patient, very kind. 4 Love knows no jealousy; love makes no parade, gives itself no airs, is never rude, never selfish, 5 never irritated, never resentful ; love is never glad when others go 6 wrong, love is gladdened by good- ness, always slow to expose, always 7 eager to believe the best, always hopeful, always patient. Love 8 never disappears. As for prophesy- ing, it Avill be superseded; as for ' tongues,' they will cease ; as for knowledge, it will be superseded. For we only know bit by bit, and 9 we only prophesy bit by bit; but 10 when the perfect comes, the im- perfect will be superseded. When 11 I was a child, I talked like a child,
217
I. CORINTHIANS XIV
I thought Hke a child, I argued like a child ; now that I am a man, I am done with childish ways.
12 At present we only see the baffling
reflections in a mirror, but then it wall be face to
face ; at present I am learning bit by
bit, but then I will understand, as
all along I have myself been
understood.
13 Thus ' faith and hope and love last on, these three,' but the
14 greatest of all is love. Make love your aim, and then set your heart on the spiritual gifts — espe-
2 cially upon prophecy. For he who speaks in a ' tongue ' addresses God not men ; no one understands him ; he is talking of di\4ne secrets
3 in the Spirit, On the other hand, he who prophesies addresses men in words that edify, encourage, and
4 console them. He who speaks in a * tongue ' edifies himself, whereas he who prophesies edifies the
5 church. Now I would like you all to speak with ' tongues,' but I would prefer you to prophesy. The man who prophesies is higher than the man who speaks with ' tongues ' — unless indeed the latter interprets, so that the church may get edifica-
6 tion. Suppose now I were to come to you speaking with ' tongues,' my brothers ; what good could I do you, unless I had some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teach-
7 ing to lay before you ? Inanimate instruments, such as the flute or the harp, may give a sound, but if no intervals occur in their music, how can one make out the air that is being played either on flute or
8 on harp ? If the trumpet sounds indistinct, who will get ready for
9 the fray ? Well, it is the same
218
with yourselves. Unless your tongue utters language that is readily understood, how can people make out what you say ? You will be pouring words into the empty air ! There are ever so many kinds 10 of language in the world, every one of them meaning something. Well, 11 unless I understand the meaning of what is said to me, I v^dll appear to the speaker to be talking gibberish, and to my mind he will be talking gibberish himself. So with your- 12 selves ; since your heart is set on possessing ' spirits,' make the edifi- cation of the church your aim in this desire to excel. Thus a man who 13 speaks in a ' tongue ' must pray for the gift of interpreting it. For if 14 I pray with a ' tongue,' my spirit prays, no doubt, but my mind is no use to anyone. Very well 15 then, I will pray in the Spirit, but I will also pray with my mind ; I will sing praise in the Spirit, but I will also sing praise with my mind. Otherwise, suppose you are blessing 16 God in the Spirit, how is the out- sider to say ' Amen ' to your thanksgiving? The man does not understand what you are saying ! Your thanksgiving may be all right, 17 but then — the other man is not edified ! Thank God, I speak in 18 ' tongues ' more than any of you ; but in church I would rather say 19 five words with my own mind for the instruction of other people than ten thousand words in a ' tongue.'
Brothers, do not be children in 20 the sphere of intelligence; in evil be mere infants, but be mature in your intelligence. It is written in 21 the Law, By men of alien tongues and by the lips of aliens I will speak to this People ; hut even so, they will not listen to me, saith the Lord.
I. CORINTHIANS XV
22 Thus ' tongues ' are intended as a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers ; whereas prophesying is meant for believers, not for
23 unbelievers. Hence if at a gather- ing of the whole church everybody speaks with ' tongues,' and if out- siders or unbelievers come in, will they not say you are insane ?
24 Whereas, if everybody prophesies, and some unbeliever or outsider comes in, he is exposed by all,
25 brought to book by all ; the secrets of his heart are brought to light, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring, ' God is really among you.*
26 Very well then, brothers; when you meet together, each contributes something — a song of praise, a lesson, a revelation, a ' tongue,' an interpretation? Good, but let
27 everything be for edification. As for speaking in a ' tongue,' let only two or at most three speak at one meeting, and that in turn. Also,
28 let someone interpret ; if there is no interpreter, let the speaker keep quiet in church and address
29 himself and God. Let only two or three prophets speak, while the rest exercise their judgment upon what
80 is said. Should a revelation come to one who is seated, the first
31 speaker must be quiet. You can all prophesy quite well, one after another, so as to let all learn and
32 all be encouraged. Prophets can control their own prophetic spirits,
33 for God is a God not of disorder but 37 of harmony.* If anyone considers
himself a prophet or gifted with the Spirit, let him understand that
• Transposing vers. 336-36 to the end of the chapter, in order to preserve the sequence of thought. There is some early textual evidence for reading 34-35 after 40.
what I write to you is a command of the Lord. Anyone who disregards 38 this will be himself disregarded.
To sum up, my brothers. Set 39 your heart on the prophetic gift, and do not put any check upon speaking in ' tongues ' ; but let 40 everything be done decorously and in order.
As is the rule in all churches of 33 the saints, women must keep quiet 34 at gatherings of the church. They are not allowed to speak ; they must take a subordinate place, as the Law enjoins. If they want any 35 information, let them ask their husbands at home ; it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church. You challenge this rule ? Pray, 36 did God's word start from you ? Are you the only people it has reached ?
Now, brothers, I would have you 15 know the gospel I once preached to you, the gospel you received, the gospel in which you have your footing, the gospel by which you 2 are saved — provided you adhere to my statement of it — unless indeed your faith was all haphazard.
First and foremost I passed on 3 to you what I had myself received, namely, that Christ died for our sins as the scripture had said, that he 4 was buried, that he rose on the third day as the scripture had said, and 5 that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve ; after that, he was seen 6 by over five hundred brothers all at once, the majority of whom survive to this day, though some have died ; after that, he was seen 7 by James, then by all the apostles, and finally he was seen by myself, 8 by this so-called ' abortion ' of an apostle. For I am the very least 9
210
I. CORINTHIANS XV
of the apostles, unfit to bear the name of apostle, since I persecuted
10 the church of God. But by God's grace I am what I am. The grace he showed me did not go for no- thing; no, I have done far more work than all of them — though it was not I but God's grace at my
11 side. At any rate, whether I or they have done most, such is what we preach, such is what you be- lieved.
12 Now if we preach that Christ rose from the dead, how can certain individuals among you assert that * there is no such thing as a resur-
13 reetion of the dead '"? If ' there is no such tiling as a resurrection from the dead,' then even Christ
14 did not rise ; and if Christ did not rise, then our preaching has gone for nothing, and your faith has gone
15 for nothing too. Besides, we are detected bearing false witness to God by affirming of him that he raised Christ — whom he did not raise, if after all dead men never
16 rise. For if dead men never rise,
17 Christ did not rise either ; and if Christ did not rise, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins.
18 More than that : those who have slept the sleep of death in Christ
19 have perished after all. Ah, if in this life we have nothing but a mere hope in Christ, we are of all men to be pitied most !
20 But it is not so I Christ did rise from the dead, he was the first to be reaped of those who sleep in death.
21 For since death came by man,
by man came also resurrection from the dead ; 22i as all die in Adam,
so shall all be made alive in Christ. 23 But each in his owti division : — Christ the first to be reaped ; after 220
that, all who belong to Christ, at his arrival. Then comes the end, 24 when he hands over his royal power to God the Father, after putting down all other rulers, all other authorities and powers. For he 25 must reign until all his foes are put under his feet. (Death is the last 26 foe to be put down.) For God has 27 put everything under his feet. When it is said that everything has been put under him, plainly that excludes Ilim who put everything under him ; and when everything is put 28 under him, then the Son himself will be put Tmder Him who put everything under him, so that God may be everjrthing to everyone.
Otherwise, if there is no such 29 thing as a resurrection, what is the meaning of people getting baptized on behalf of their dead? If dead men do not rise at all, why do people get baptized on their behalf ? Yes, and why am I myself in danger 30 every hour ? (Not a day but I am at death's door ! I swear it by 31 my pride in you, brothers, through Christ Jesus our Lord.) What would 32 it avail me that, humanly speaking, I ' fought with wild beasts ' at Ephesus ? If dead men do not rise, let us eat and drink, for we will he dead to-morrow !
Make no mistake about this : 33 ' bad company is the ruin of good character.' Get back to your sober 34 senses and avoid sin, for some of you — and I say this to your shame — some of you are insensible to God.
But, someone will ask, ' how do 35 the dead rise ? WTiat kind of body have they when they come ? ' Foolish man ! W^hat you sow never 36 comes to life unless it dies. And 37 what you sow is not the body that is to be ; it is a mere grain of wheat, for example, or some other seed.
I. CORINTHIANS XVI
88 God gives it a body as he pleases, gives each kind of seed a body of its
39 own. Flesh is not all the same ; there is human flesh, there is flesh of beasts, flesh of birds, and flesh
40 of fish. There are heavenly bodies and also earthly bodies, but the splendour of the heavenly is one thing and the splendour of the
41 earthly is another. There is a splendour of the sun and a splen- dour of the moon and a splendour of the stars — for one star differs
42 from another in splendour. So with the resurrection of the dead :
what is sown is mortal, what rises is immortal ;
43 sown inglorious,
it rises in glory ; sown in weakness, it rises in power;
44 sown an animate body,
it rises a spiritual body. As there is an animate body, so
45 there is a spiritual body. Thus it is written,
' The first man, Adam, became an animate being, the last Adam a hfe-giving Spirit ' ;
46 but the animate, not the spiritual,
comes first, and only then the spiritual.
47 Man the first is from the earth,
material ; Man the second is from heaven.
48 As Man the material is, so are the material ;
as Man the heavenly is, so are the heavenly.
49 Thus, as we have borne the hke- ness of material Man,
so we are to bear * the likeness of the heavenly Man. ^ I tell you this, my brothers, flesh
• Reading <po(>iaoy.fv with B 181 arm aeth, etc., instead of the strongly sup- ported <p»p4ffun(y.
and blood cannot inherit the Realm of God, nor can the perishing inherit the imperishable. Here is 51 a secret truth for you : not all of us are to die, but all of us are to be changed — changed in a moment, 52 in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet-call. The trumpet will sound, the dead will rise imperish- able, and we shall be changed. For this perishing body must be 53 invested with the imperishable, and this mortal body invested with immortality ; and when this mortal 54 body has been invested with im- mortality,! tlien the saying of Scripture will be reahzed.
Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your victory ? 55 0 Death, where is your sting ? \ The victory is ours, thank God ! 57 He makes it ours by our Lord Jesus Christ. Well then, my beloved 58 brothers, hold your ground, im- movable; abound in work for the Lord at all times, for you may be sure that in the Lord your labour is never thrown away.
OHAP.
With regard to the collection for 16 the saints, you must carry out the same arrangements as I made for the churches of Galatia. On the first 2 day of the week let each of you put aside a sum from his weekly gains, so that the money may not have to be collected when I come. On my arrival I will furnish 8
■f Omitting tJ> (pdafnhv tovto ivSva-rjrai a.(pdapfflav, Kai with N* C* and niost of the versions. The phrase was probably in- serted for the sake of completing the parallel.
X After this verse, the words " The sting of sin is death, and the strength of sin is the Law " have been added either as a gloss by some editor or perhaps as a marginal note by Paul himself.
221
I. CORINTHIANS XVI
credentials for those whom you select, and send them to convey
4 your bounty to Jerusalem; if the sum makes it worth my while to go too, they will accompany me.
5 I mean to visit you after my tour in Macedonia, for I am going to make a tour through Macedonia.
6 The chances are I will spend some time with you, possibly even pass the winter with you, so that you may speed me forward on any
7 journey that lies before me. I do not care about seeing you at this moment merely in the by-going; my hope is to stay among you for some time, with the Lord's per-
8 mission. I am staying on for the present at Ephesus till Pentecost,
9 for I have wide opportunities here for active service — and there are many to thwart me.
10 If Timotheus arrives, see that you make him feel quite at home with you ; he carries on the work of the
11 Lord as I do. So let no one dispar- age him. When he leaves to rejoin me, speed him cordially on his journey, for I am expecting him along with the other brothers.
12 As for our brother Apollos, I urged him to accompany the other brothers on a visit to you ; he will come as soon as he has time, but
for the present it is not the will of God that he should visit you.
Watch, stand firm in the faith, 13 play the man, be strong ! Let all 14 you do be done in love.
I ask this favour of you, my bro- 15 thers. The household of Stephanas, you know, was the first to be reaped in Achaia, and they have laid them- selves out to serve the saints. Well, 16 I want you to put yourselves under people like that, under everyone who sets his hand to the work.
I am glad that Stephanas and 17 Fortunatus and Achaicus have arrived, for they have made up for your absence. They refresh my 18 spirit as they do your own. You should appreciate men like that.
The churches of Asia salute you, 19 Aquila and Prisca, with the church that meets in their house, salute you warmly in the Lord. All the 20 brotherhood salutes you. Salute one another with a holy kiss.
I Paul write this salutation with 21 my own hand. ' If anyone has no 22 love for the Lord, God's curse be on him ! Maran atha ! * The 23 grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with you all in 24 Christ Jesus.'
• An Arsimaic phrase, probably mean- ing " Lord, come ' (see Rev. xxii. 20).
222
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE
COEINTHIANS
1 Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and brother Timotheus, to the church of God at Corinth as well as to all the saints throughout the whole of
2 Achaia : grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of tender mercies and the God of all
4 comfort, who comforts me in all my distress, so that I am able to comfort people who are in any dis- tress by the comfort with which I
5 myself am comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ are abun- dant in my case, so my comfort is
6 also abundant through Christ. If I am in distress, it is in the interests of your comfort and salvation ; if I am comforted, it is in the interests of your comfort, which is effective as it nerves you to endure the same
7 sufferings as I suffer myself. Hence my hope for you is well-founded, since I know that as you share the sufferings you share the comfort also.
8 Now I would like you to know about the distress which befell me in Asia, brothers. I was crushed, crushed far more than I could stand, so much so that I despaired
9 even of life ; in fact I told myself it was the sentence of death. But that was to make me rely not on myself but on the God who raises
10 the dead ; he rescued me from so terrible a death, he rescues still, and
I rely upon him for the hope that he will continue to rescue me. Let me 11 have your co-operation in prayer, so that many a soul may render thanks to him on my behalf for the boon which many have been the means of him bestowing on myself.
My proud boast is the testimony 12 of my conscience that holiness and godly sincerity, not worldly cunning but the grace of God, have marked my conduct in the outside world and in particular my relations with you. You don't have to read 13 between the lines of my letters ; you can understand them. Yes, I trust you will understand the full mean- ing of my letters as you have partly 14 understood the meaning of my life, namely that I am your source of pride (as you are mine) on the Day of our Lord Jesus. Relying on 15 this I meant to visit you first, to let you have a double delight ; 116 intended to take you on my way to Macedonia, and to visit you again on my way back from Macedonia, so as to be sped by you on my journey to Judaea. Such was my intention. 17 Now, have I sho^vn myself ' fickle ' ? When I propose some plan, do I propose it in a worldly way, ready to mean ' no ' as well as ' yes ' ? By the good faith of God, my word 18 to you was not ' yes and no ' ; for 19 the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was proclaimed among you by us (by myself and Silvanus and Timotheus) was not ' yes and no ' — the divine ' yes ' has at last sounded
223
II. CORINTHIANS II, III
20 in him, for in him is the ' yes ' that affirms all the promises of God. Hence it is throuo;!! him that we affirm our ' amen ' in worship, to
21 the glory of God. And it is God who confirms me along with you
22 in Christ, who consecrated me, who stamped me with his seal and gave me the Spirit as a pledge in my
23 heart. I call God to witness against my soul, it was to spare you that I refrained from revisiting
24 Corinth. (Not that we lord it over your faith — no, we co-operate for your joy : you have a standing of
2 your own in the faith.) I decided I would not pay you another painful
2 visit. For if I pain you, then who is to give me pleasure ? None but
3 the very people I am paining ! So the very reason I wrote was that I might not come only to be pained by those who ought to give me joy ; I relied on you all, I felt sure that my joy would be a joy for every
4 one of you. For I wrote you in sore distress and misery of heart, with many a tear — not to pain you but to convince you of my love, my
5 special love for you. If a certain individual has been causing pain, he has been causing pain not so much to me as to all of you — at anyrate (for I am not going to over- state the case) to a section of you.
6 This censure from the majority is severe enough for the individual
7 in question, so that instead of cen- suring you should now forgive him and comiort him, in case the man is overwhelmed by excessive re-
8 morse. So I beg you to reinstate
9 him in your love. For my aim in writing was simply to test you, to see if you were absolutely obedi-
10 ent. If you forgive the man, I forgive him too; anything I had to forgive him has been forgiven 224
in the presence of Christ for your sakes, in case Satan should take 11 advantage of our position — for I know his manoeuvres !
Well, when I reached Troas to 12 preach the gospel of Christ, though I had a wide opportunity in the Lord, my spirit could not rest, be- 13 cause I did not find Titus my brother there; so I said goodbye and went off to Macedonia. Wherever I go, 14 thank God, he makes my life a constant pageant of triumph in Christ, diffusing the perfume of his knowledge everywhere by me. I live for God as the fragrance of 15 Christ breathed alike on those who are being saved and on those who are perishing, to the one a deadly 16 fragrance that makes for death, to the other a vital fragrance that makes for life. And who is quali- fied for this career? I am, for I 17 am not like most, adulterating the word of God ; like a man of sincerity, like a man of God, I speak the word in Christ before the very presence of God.
Am I beginning again to ' com- 3 mend ' myself ? Do I need, like some people, to be commended by written certificates either to you or from you? Why, you are my 2 certificate yourselves, written on my heart, recognized and read by all men ; you make it obvious that 3 you are a letter of Christ which I have been employed to inscribe, written not with ink but wdth the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of the human heart. Such is the confi- 4 dence I possess through Christ in my service of God. It is not that I 5 am personally qualified to form any judgment by myself; my
II. CORINTHIANS iV
6 qualifications come from God, and he has further quahfied me to be the minister of a new covenant — a covenant not of written law but of spirit ; for the written law kills but
7 the Spirit makes alive. Now if the administration of death which was engraved in letters of stone, was invested with glory — so much so that the children of Israel could not gaze at the face of Moses on account of the dazzling glory that was fading
8 from his face ; surely the adminis- tration of the Spirit must be in-
9 vested with still greater glory. If there was glory in the administra- tion that condemned, then the ad- ministration that acquits abounds
10 far more in glory (indeed, in view of the transcendent glory, what was glorious has thus no glory at all);
LI if what faded had its glory, then what lasts will be invested with far
12 greater glory. Such being my hope
L3 then, I am quite frank and open — not like Moses, who used to hang a veil over his face to keep the children of Israel from gazing at the last rays
'A of a fading glory. Besides, their minds were dulled, for to this very day, when the Old Testament is read aloud, the same veil hangs. Veiled from them the fact that the
5 glory fades in Christ ! Yes, down to this day, whenever Moses is read aloud, the veil rests on their heart ;
6 though whenever they turn to the
7 Lord, the veil is removed. (The Lord means the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
8 open freedom.) But we all mirror the glory of the Lord with face un- veiled, and so we are being trans- formed into the same likeness as himself, passing from one glory to another — for this comes of the
" Lord the Spirit. Hence, as I
hold this ministry by God's mercy
to me, I never lose heart In it; I disown those practices which 2 very shame conceals from view; I do not go about it craftily; I do not falsify the word of God; I state the truth openly and so commend myself to every man's conscience before God. Even if 3 my gospel is veiled, it is only veiled in the case of the perishing; there the god of this world has 4 blinded the minds of unbelievers, to prevent them seeing the light thrown by the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God. (It is Christ Jesus as Lord, not my- 5 self, that I proclaim; I am simply a servant of yours for Jesus' sake.) For God who said, " Light shall 6 shine out of darkness," has shone within my heart to illuminate men with the knowledge of God's glory in the face of Christ.
But I possess this treasure in a 7 frail vessel of earth, to show that the transcending power belongs to God, not to myself, ; on every side I am 8 harried but not hemmed in, per- plexed but not despairing, perse- 9 cuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed —
wherever I go I am being killed 10 in the body as Jesus was, so that the hfe of Jesus may come out in my body : every day of my Hfe I am being 11 given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may come out within my mortal flesh. In me then death is active, in 12 you life. But since our spirit of 13 faith is the same, therefore — as it is written / believed and so I spoke — I too beheve and so I speak, sure that 14 He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise me too with Jesus and set me
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II. CORINTHIANS V, VI
15 at your side in his presence. It is all in your interests, so that the more grace abounds, the more thanksgiving may rise and redound
16 to the glory of God. Hence I never lose heart; though my outward man decays, my inner man is re-
17 newed day after day. The slight trouble of the passing hour * results in a solid glory past all comparison,
18 for those of us whose eyes are on the unseen, not on the seen ; for the seen is transient, the unseen eternal.
5 I know that if this earthly tent of mine is taken down, I get a home from God, made by no human
2 hands, eternal in the heavens. It makes me sigh indeed, this yearning to be under the cover of my heavenly
3 habitation, since I am sure that once so covered I shall not be
4 ' naked ' at the hour of death. I do sigh within this tent of mine with heavy anxiety — not that I want to be stripped, no, but to be under the cover of the other, to have my mortal element absorbed
5 by life. I am prepared for this change by God, who has given me the Spirit as its pledge and instal-
6 ment. Come what may, then, I am confident; I know that while I reside in the body I am away from
7 the Lord (for I have to lead my life
8 in faith, without seeing him) : and in this confidence I would fain get away from the body and re-
9 side with the Lord. Hence also I am eager to satisfy him, whether in
10 the body or away from it ; for we have all to appear without disguise before the tribunal of Christ, each to be requited for what he has done with his body, well or ill.
11 If I ' appeal to the interests of men' then, it is with the fear of the Lord before my mind. What I am
• Omitting ^jiaiy. 226
is plain to God without disguise, plain also, I trust, to your own con- science. This is not ' recommending 12 myself to you again ' ; it is giving you an incentive to be proud of me, which you can use against men who are proud of externals instead of the inward reality. ' I am beside my- 13 self,' am I? Well, that is between myself and God. I am ' sane,' am I ? Well, that is in your interests ; for 14 I am controlled by the love of . Christ, convinced that as One has ■ died for all, then all have died, and 15 that he died for all in order to have the living live no longer for them- selves but for him who died and rose for them. Once convinced of this, 16 then, I estimate no one by w^hat is external; even though I once estimated Christ by what is ex- ternal, I no longer estimate him thus. There is a new creation 17 whenever a man comes to be in Christ; what is old is gone, the new has come. It is all the doing 18 of the God who has reconciled me to himself through Christ and has permitted me to be a minister of his reconciliation. For in Christ God 19 reconciled the world to himself instead of counting men's trespasses against them ; and he entrusted me with the message of his reconcilia- tion. So I am an envoy for Christ, 20 God appealing by me, as it were — be reconciled to God, I entreat you on behalf of Christ. For our sakes 21 He made him to be sin who himself knew nothing of sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. I appeal to you too, as 6
a worker with God, do not receive the grace of God in vain. (He saith, 2
/ have heard you in the time of favour,
and helped you on the day of salvation.
II. CORINTHIANS VII
Well, here is the time of favour, here
3 is the day of salvation.) I put no obstacle in the path of any, so that my ministry may not be discredited ;
4 I prove myself at all points a true minister of God, by great endurance, by suffering, by troubles, by calam-
5 ities, by lashes, by imprisonment ; mobbed, toiling, sleepless, starving ;
6 with innocence, insight, patience, kindness, the holy Spirit, unaffected
7 love, true words, the power of God ; with the weapons of integrity
8 for attack or for defence, amid honour and dishonour, amid evil report and good report, an ' im-
9 poster ' but honest, ' unknown ' but well-known, dying but here I am alive, chastened but not killed,
10 grieved but always glad, a ' pauper ', but the means of wealth to many, ^^dthout a penny but possessed of all.
11 O Corinthians, I am keeping nothing back from you; my heart
12 is zvide open for you. ' Restraint ' ?
13 — that lies with you, not me. A fair exchange now, as the children say ! Open your hearts wide to me.
14 [Keep out of all incongruous ties
with unbelievers. What have righteousness and iniquity in common, or how can light associate with darkness ?
15 What harmony can there be be-
tween Christ and Beliar, or what business has a believer with an unbeliever?
16 What compact can there be be-
tween God's temple and idols ? For we are the temple of the living God — as God has said,
/ will dwell and move among them, I will be their God and they will be my people.
17 Therefore com,e away from them,
separate, saith the Lord, touch not what is unclean ; then I will receive you,
I will be a Father to you, 18
and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord almighty.
As these great promises are ours, 7 beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates either flesh or spirit; let us be fully consecrated by reverence for God].* Make a place for me 2 in your hearts; I have wronged no one, ruined no one, taken advantage of no one.
I am not saying this to condemn 3 you. Condemn you? Why, I re- peat, you are in my very heart, and you will be there in death and life alike. I have absolute confidence 4 in you, I am indeed proud of you, you are a perfect comfort to me, I am overflowing with delight, for all the trouble I have to bear. For 5
I got no relief from the strain of things, even when I reached Mace- donia ; it was trouble at every turn, wrangling all round me, fears in my own mind. But the God who 6 comforts the dejected comforted me by the arrival of Titus. Yes, 7 and by more than his arrival, by the comfort which you had been to him ; for he gave me such a report of how you longed for me, how sorry you were, and how eagerly you took my part, that it added to my dehght. In fact, if I did pain 8 you by that letter, I do not regret it. I did regret it when I dis- covered t that my letter had pained
* This bracketed paragraph (vi. 14- vii. 1) belongs to some other part of Paul's correspondence with the Corinthian church.
t Reading $\4iraiy with the Vulgate, which " alone has preserved the true read- ing, « being read as w " (Hort).
227
II. CORINTHIANS VIII
9 you even for the time being, but I am glad now — not glad that you were pained but glad that your pain induced you to repent. For you were pained as God meant you to be pained, and so you got no harm
10 from what I did ; the pain God is allowed to guide ends in a saving repentance never to be regretted, whereas the world's pain ends in
11 death. See what this pain divine has done for you, how serious it has made you, how keen to clear yourselves, how indignant, how alarmed, how eager for me, how determined, how relentless ! You have shown in every way that you
12 were honest in the business. So my letter was written to you, not on account of the offender nor for the sake of the injured party, but in order to let you realize before God how seriously you do care for me.
13 That is what comforts me.
And over and above my personal comfort, I was specially delighted at the delight of Titus. You have
14 all set his mind at rest. I told him of my pride in you, and I have not been disappointed. No, just as all I have had to say to you has been true, so all I said about you to Titus, all my pride in you, has also
15 proved true. His own heart goes out to you all the more when he remembers how you all obeyed him, and how you received him with
16 reverence and trembling. I am glad to have full confidence in you.
8 Now, brothers, I have to tell you about the grace God has given to
2 the churches of Macedonia. Amid a severe ordeal of trouble their overflowing joy and their deep poverty together have poured out
3 a flood of rich generosity ; I can
228
testify that up to their means, aye and beyond their means, they have given — begging me of their own 4 accord, most urgently, for the favour of contributing to the sup- port of the saints. They have done 5 more than I expected; they gave themselves to the Lord, to begin with, and then (for so God willed it) they put themselves at my dis- posal. This has led me to ask 6 Titus to complete the arrangements for the same gracious contribution among yourselves, as it was he who started it. Now then, you are to 7 the front in everything, in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, in all zeal, and in love for us * — do come to the front in this gracious enter- prise as well. I am not issuing any 8 orders, only using the zeal of others to prove how sterling your own love is. (You know how gracious 9 our Lord Jesus Christ was ; rich though he was, he became poor for the sake of you, that by his poverty you might be rich.) But 10 I will tell you what I think about it; it is to your interest to go on with this enterprise, for you started it last year, you were the first not merely to do anything but to want to do anything. Now, carry it 11 through, so that your readiness to take it up may be equalled by the way you carry it through — so far as your means allow. If only one 12 is ready to give, according to his means, it is acceptable; he is not asked to give what he has not got. This does not mean that other 13 people are to be relieved and you to suffer : it is a matter of give and 14 take ; at the present moment your surplus goes to make up what they
* Reading e| vixSiv iv t]/mv with X C D G, almost all the evidence of the Latin and Syriao versions, etc.
11. CORINTHIANS IX
J lack, in order that their surplus may go to make up what you lack.
15 Thus it is to be give and take — as it is written,
He who got much had nothing
over, and he who got little had not too
little.
16 Thanks be to God who has inspired Titus with an interest in
17 you equal to my own ; he has in- deed responded to my request, but he is off to you by his own choice,
18 so keen is his interest in you. Along with him I am sending that brother
I whose services to the gospel are
19 praised by all the churches ; be- sides, he has been appointed by the churches to travel with me on the business of administering this fund to the glory of the Lord. His appointment has my full consent,
20 for I want to take precautions against any risk of suspicion in connection Avith the administration
21 of this charity; I aim at being above reproach not only from God
22 but also from men. Along with them I am also sending our brother : I have had ample proof of his keen interest on many occasions, and it is specially keen on this occasion, as he has absolute confidence in
23 you. Titus is my colleague, he shares my work for you, and these brothers of mine are apostles of
24 the church, a credit to Christ. So let them have proof of how you can love, and of my reasons for being proud of you; it will be a proof
9 read by the churches. Indeed
it is quite superfluous for me to be writing to you about this charit-
2 able service to the saints ; I know how willing you are, I am proud of it, I ha\e boasted of you to the Macedonians : " Achaia," I tell them, " was all ready last
year." And your zeal has been a stimulus to the majority of them. At the same time I am sending these 3 brothers just in case my pride in you should prove an empty boast in this particular instance ; I want you to be " all ready," as I have been telling them that you would be, in case any Macedonians accom- 4 pany me and find you are not ready — which would make me (not to speak of yourselves) ashamed of having been so sure. That is why 5 I have thought it necessary to ask these brothers to go on in advance and get your promised contribu- tion ready in good time. I want it to be forthcoming as a generous gift, not as money wrung out of you. Mark this : he who sows 6 sparingly will reap sparingly, and he who sows generously will reap a generous harvest. Everyone is 7 to give what he has made up his mind to give; there is to be no grudging or compulsion about it, for God loves the giver who gives cheerfully. God is able to 8 bless you with ample means, so that you may always have quite enough for any emergency of your own and ample besides for any kind act to others ; as it is written, 9
He scatters his gifts to the poor broadcast,
his charity lasts for ever. He who furnishes the sower with 10 seed and with bread to eat will supply seed for you and multiply it ; he will increase the crop of your charities — you will be enriched on 11 all hands, so that you can be generous on all occasions, and your generosity, of which I am the agent, will make men give thanks to God ; for the service rendered 12 by this fund does more than supply the wants of the saints, it overflows
229
II. CORINTHIANS X, XI
with many a cry of thanks to God.
13 This service shows what you are, it makes men praise God for the way you have come under the gospel of Christ Avhich you confess, and for the generosity of your con- tributions to themselves and to all ;
14 they are drawn to you and pray for you, on account of the surpass- ing grace which God has shown to
15 you. Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift !
10 I APPEAL to you myself by the gentleness and consideration of Christ — the Paul who is ' humble enough to your face when he is with you, but outspoken enough
2 when he gets away from you.' I beg of you that when I do come I may not have to speak out and be peremptory ; but my mind is made up to tackle certain people who have made up their minds that I move on the low level of the flesh.
3 I do Hve in the flesh, but I do not
4 make war as the flesh does ; the weapons of my warfare are not weapons of the flesh, but divinely
5 strong to demolish fortresses — I demolish theories and any rampart thrown up to resist the knowledge of God, I take every project pris-
6 oner to make it obey Christ, I am prepared to court-martial any- one who remains insubordinate, once your submission is complete.
7 Look at this obvious fact. So- and-so is perfectly sure he ' be- longs to Christ'? Well then, let himunderstand,on second thoughts, that I ' belong to Christ ' as much
8 as he does. Even supposing I were to boast somewhat freely of my authority (and the Lord gave it to me for building you up, not for demolishing you), I would feel
230
quite justified. But I am not going 9 to seem as if I were ' overaAving you with a letter,' so to speak. My opponent says, ' Paul's letters 10 are weighty and telling, but his personality is weak and his delivery is beneath contempt.' Let him 11 understand that I will act when I arrive, as forcibly as I express my- self by letter when I am absent. I do not venture to class myself 12 or to compare myself with certain exalted indi\'iduals ! They belong to the class of self-praisers ; while I limit myself to my own sphere,* I compare myself with my own standard, and so my boasting never 13 goes beyond the limit — it is deter- mined by the limits of the sphere marked out for me by God. That sphere stretches to include your- selves ; I am not overstepping the 14 limit, as if you lay beyond my sphere; I was the very first to reach you with the gospel of Christ. I do not boast beyond my limits 15 in a sphere where other men have done the work ; my hope rather is that the growth of your faith will allow me to enlarge the range of my appointed sphere and preach 16 the gospel in the lands that lie beyond you, instead of boasting within another's province over work that is already done. How- 17 ever, let him who boasts boast of the Lord ; for it is not the self-praiser 18 with his own recommendations who is accepted, it is the man whom the Lord recommends.
I WISH you would put up with 1 1 a little ' folly ' from me. Do put up with me, for I feel a divine 2 jealousy on your behalf; I be-
• Omitting ol auviovffiv • ijfxfls Si with D*, etc.
II. CORINTHIANS XI
trothed you as a chaste maiden to present you to your one husband
3 Christ, but I am afraid of your thoughts getting seduced from a single devotion to Christ, just as the serpent beguiled Eve with his
4 cunning. You put up with it all right, when some interioper preaches a second Jesus (not the Jesus I preached), or when you are treated to a Spirit different from the Spirit you once received, and to a different gospel from what I gave you ! Why
5 not put up with me ? I hold I am not one whit inferior to these
6 precious ' apostles ' ! I am no speaker, perhaps, but knowledge I do possess ; I never failed to make myself intelligible to you.
7 But perhaps I did wrong in taking a humble place that you might have a high one — I mean, in preaching the gospel of God to
8 you for nothing ! I made a levy on other churches, I took pay from
9 them so as to minister to you ; even when I ran short, during my stay with you, I was no encumbrance to anybody, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my wants. Thus I kept myself, as I intend to keep myself, from being
10 a burden to you in any way. By the truth of Christ within me, I am going to make this my pride and boast unchecked throughout the
11 regions of Achaia ! Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I
12 do. No, I intend to go on as I am doing, in order to checkmate those who would fain make out that in the apostolate of which they boast they work on the same terms
13 as I do. ' Apostles ' ? They are spurious apostles, false workmen — they are masquerading as ' apostles
14 of Christ.' No wonder they do, for Satan himself masquerades as an
angel of hght. So it is no surprise 15 if his ministers also masquerade as ministers of righteousness. Their doom will answer to their deeds.
I repeat, no one is to think me a 16 fool ; but even so, pray bear with me, fool as I am, that I may have my little boast as well as others ! (What I am now going to say is not 17 inspired by the Lord : I am in the role of a ' fool,' now, on this busi- ness of boasting. Since many boast 18 on the score of the flesh, I will do the same.) You put up with fools 19 so readily, you who know so much ! You put up with a man who 20 assumes control of your souls, with a man who spends your money, with a man who dupes you, with a man who gives himself airs, with a man who flies in your face. I am quite ashamed to say I was 21 not equal to that sort of thing ! But let them vaimt as they please, I am equal to them (mind, this is the role of a fool !). Are they 22 Hebrews ? so am I. Israelites ? so am I. Descended from Abra- ham ? so am I. Ministers of 23 Christ? yes perhaps, but not as much as I am (I am mad to talk like this !), with all my labours, with all my lashes, with all my time in prison — a record longer far than theirs. I have been often at the point of death ; five times 24 have I got forty lashes (all but one) from the Jews, three times I have 25 been beaten by the Romans, once pelted with stones, three times ship- wrecked, adrift at sea for a whole night and day ; I have been often on 26 my travels, I have been in danger from rivers and robbers, in danger from Jews and Gentiles, through dan- gers of town and of desert, through dangers on the sea, through dangers among false brothers — through 27
231
II. CORINTHIANS XH
labour and hardship, through many a sleepless night, through hunger and thirst, starving many a time, cold and ill-clad, and all the rest
28 of it. And then there is the press- ing business of each day, the care
29 of all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel his weakness? Whose faith is hurt, and I am not
30 aglow with indignation ? If there is to be any boasting, I will boast of what I am weak enough to
31 suffer ! The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed for ever, He knows I am telling the
32 truth ! (At Damascus the ethnarch of king Aretas had patrols out in the city of the Damascenes to arrest me, but I was lowered in a basket from a loophole in the wall, and so managed to escape his
12 clutches.) There is nothing to be gained by this sort of thing, but as I am obliged to boast, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. In the body or out of the body ? That I do not
3 know : (k)d knows. I simply know that in the body or out of the body
4 (God knows which) this man Avas caught up to paradise and heard sacred secrets which no human lips
5 can repeat. Of an experience like that I am prepared to boast, but not of myself personally — not ex- cept as regards my weaknesses.
6 (If I did care to boast of other things I would be no ' fool,' for I would have a true tale to tell; however, I abstain from that — I want no one to take me for more than he can see in me or make out
7 from me.) My wealth of visions might have puffed me up, so I was given a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to rack me and keep me
232
from being puffed up ; three times 8 over I prayed the Lord to make it leave me, but he told me, " It is 9 enough for you to have my grace : it is in weakness that [my] power is fully felt." So I am proud to boast of all my weakness, and thus to have the power of Christ resting on my life. It makes me satisfied, 10 for Christ's sake, with weakness, insults, trouble, persecution, and calamity ; for I am strong just when] I am weak.
Now this is playing the fool ! 11 But you forced me to it, instead of coming forward yourselves and vouching for me. That was what I deserved ; for, ' nobody ' as I am, I am not one whit inferior to these precious ' apostles.' You had all 12 the miracles that mark an apostle done for you fully and patiently — miracles, wonders, and deeds of power. Where were you inferior 13 to the rest of the churches ? — unless in this, that your apostle did not choose to make himself a burden to you. Pray pardon me this terrible wrong !
Here am I all ready to pay you 14 my third visit. And I will not be a burden to you ; I want your- selves and not your money. Chil- dren have not to put money by for their parents ; that is what parents do for their children. And for your 15 souls I will gladly spend my all and be spent myself. Am I to be loved the less because I love you more than others ?
But let that pass, you say; I was 16 not a burden to you, no, but I was clever enough to dupe you with my tricks ? Was I ? Did I make 17 something out of you by any of my messengers ? I asked Titus to go, 18 and with him I sent our brother. Titus did not make anything out of
II. CORINTHIANS XIII
you, did he? And did not I act in the same spirit as he did? Did I not take the very same steps ?
19 You think all this time I am defending myself to you? No, I am speaking in Christ before the presence of God, and speaking every word, beloved, in order to
20 build you up. For I am afraid I may perhaps come and find you are not what I could wish, while you may find I am not what you could wish; I am afraid of finding quarrels, jealousy, temper, rivalry, slanders, gossiping, arrogance, and
21 disorder — afraid that when I come back to you, my God may humiliate me before you, and I may have to mourn for many who sinned some time ago and yet have never re- pented of the impurity, the sexual vice, and the sensuality which they have practised.
13 This will be my third visit to you : every case is to be decided on the evidence of two or of three zcit-
2 nesses. I warned you already, on my second visit, and I warn you now before I come, both you who sinned some time ago and the rest of you as well, that I will spare no one
3 if I come back. That will prove to you that I am indeed a spokesman of Christ. It is no weak Christ you have to do with, but a Christ
4 of power. For though he was crucified in his weakness, he lives
by the power of God; and though I am weak rs he was weak, you will find I am alive as he is alive by the power of God. Put yourselves 5 to the proof, not me; test your- selves, to see if you are in the faith. Do you not understand that Jesus Christ is within you? Otherwise you must be failures. But I trust you will find I am no 6 failure, and I pray to God that you 7 may not go wrong — not to prove I am a success, that is not the point, but that you should come right, even if I seemed to be a failure. (Fail or succeed, I cannot 8 work against the truth but for it !) I am glad to be weak if you 9 are strong; mend your ways, that is all I ask. I am writing thus to 10 you in absence, so that when I do come I may not have to deal sharply with you; I have the Lord's authority for that, but he gave it to me for building you up, not for demolishing you.
Now brothers, goodbye ; mend 11 your ways, listen to what I have told you, live in harmony, keep the peace; then the God of love and peace will be with you.
Salute one another with a holy 12 kiss. All the saints salute you. 13
The grace of the Lord Jesus 14 Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the holy Spirit be with you all.
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE
GALATIANS
1 Paul an apostle — not appointed by men nor commissioned by any man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from
2 the dead, — with all the brothers who are beside me, to the churches
3 of Galatia ; grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord
4 Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil world — by the will of
5 our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever : Amen.
6 I am astonished you are hastily shifting like this, deserting Him who called you by his grace and
7 going over to another gospel. It simply means that certain indi- viduals are unsettling you; they want to distort the gospel of
8 Christ. Now even though it were myself or some angel from heaven, whoever preaches a gospel that contradicts the gospel I preached
9 to you, God's curse be on him ! I have said it before and I now repeat it: whoever preaches a gospel to you that contradicts the gospel you have already received, God's curse be on him !
10 Now is that ' appealing to the interests of men ' or of God ? Trying to ' satisfy men ' ? Why, if I still tried to give satisfaction to human masters, I would be no
11 servant of Christ. No, brothers, I tell you the gospel that I preach
12 is not a human affair ; no man put it into my hands, no man taught
234
me what it meant, I had it by a revelation of Jesus Christ. You 13 know the story of my past career in Judaism; you know how furi- ously I persecuted the church of God and harried it, and how I outstripped 14 many of my own age and race in my special ardour for the ancestral traditions of my house. But the 15 God who had set me apart from my very birth called me by his grace, and when he chose to reveal 16 his Son to me, that I might preach him to the Gentiles, instead of consulting with any human being, instead of going up to Jerusalem 17 to see those who had been apostles before me, I went off at once to Arabia, and on my return I came back to Damascus. Then, after 18 three years, I went up to Jeru- salem to make the acquaintance of Cephas. I stayed a fortnight \vith him. I saw no other apostle, only 19 James the brother of the Lord. (I am writing you the sheer truth, 20 I swear it before God!) Then 121 went to the districts of Syria and of Cilicia. Personally I was quite 22 unknown to the Christian churches of Judaea ; they merely heard that 23 ' our former persecutor is now preaching the faith he once harried,' which made them praise God for 24 me. Then, fourteen years later, I 2 went up to Jerusalem again, accom- panied by Barnabas ; I took Titus with me also. (It was in consequence 2 of a revelation that I went up at
GALATIANS III
all.) I submitted the gospel I am in the habit of preaching to the Gentiles, submitting it privately to the authorities, to make siu-e that my course of action would be
3 and had been sound. But even my companion Titus, Greek though he was, was not obliged to be cir-
4 cumcised. There were traitors of false brothers, who had crept in to spy out the freedom we enjoy in Christ Jesus; they did aim at
5 enslaving us again. But we re- fused to yield for a single instant to their claims ; we w^ere deter- mined that the truth of the gospel
6 should hold good for you. Besides, the so-called ' authorities ' (it makes no difference to me what their status used to be — God pays no regard to the externals of men), these ' authorities ' had no addi-
7 tions to make to my gospel. On the contrary, when they saw I had been entrusted with the gospel for the benefit of the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been for the
8 circumcised (for He who equipped Peter to be an apostle of the cir- cumcised equipped me as well for the uncircumcised), and when they recognized the grace I had been
9 given, then the so-called ' pillars ' of the church, James and Cephas and John, gave myself and Barna- bas the right hand of fellowship. Our sphere was to be the Gentiles,
10 theirs the circumcised. Only, we were to ' remember the poor. ' I was quite eager to do that myself.
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face. The
12 man stood self-condemned. Be- fore certain emissaries of James arrived, he ate along with the Gentile Christians ; but when they arrived, he began to draw back and hold aloof, because he was afraid
of the circumcision party. The 13 rest of the Jewish Christians also played false along with him, so much so that even Barnabas was carried away by their false play. But I saw they were swerving from 14 the true line of the gospel ; so I said to Cephas in presence of them all, " If you live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, though you are a Jew yourself, why do you oblige the Gentiles to become Jews ? " — We may be Jews by birth and 15 not ' Gentile sinners,' but since we 16 know a man is justified simply by faith in Jesus Christ and not by doing what the Law commands, we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus so as to get justified by faith in Christ and not by doing what the Law commands — for by doing what the law commands no person shall he justified. If it is discovered that 17 in our quest for justification in Christ we are ' sinners ' as well as the Gentiles, does that make Christ an agent of sin ? Never ! I 18 really convict myself of transgres- sion when I rebuild what I de- stroyed. For through the Law I 19 died to the Law that I might live for God ; I have been crucified 20 with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, Christ lives in me; the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. I do not annul God's grace; 21 but if righteousness comes by way of the Law, then indeed Christ's death was useless.
O SENSELESS Galatians, who has 3 bewitched you — you who had Jesus Christ the crucified placarded before your very eyes ? I simply want 2 to ask you one thing: did you
236
GALATIANS III
receive the Spirit by doing what the Law commands or by believing
3 the gospel message ? Are you such fools? Did yoii begin with the Spirit only to end now ^vith the
4 flesh? Have you had all that experience for nothing (if it has
5 really gone for nothing) ? When He supphes you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, is it because you do what the Law commands or because you
6 believe the gospel message ? Why, it is as with Abraham, he had faith in God and that ivas counted
7 to him as righteousness. Well then, you see that the real sons of Abraham are those who rely on
8 faith. Besides, Scripture antici- pated God's justification of the Gentiles by faith when it an- nounced the gospel beforehand to Abraham in these terms : All nations shall be blessed in thee.
9 So that those who rely on faith are blessed along with believing Abra-
10 ham. Whereas a curse rests on all who rely upon obedience to the Law ; for it is written, Cursed is everyone who does not hold by all that is written in the book of the law, to
11 perform it. And because no one is justified on the score of the Law before God (plainly, the just shall
12 live by faith, — and the Law is not based on faith : no, he ivho per- forms these things shall live by them),
13 Christ ransomed us from the curse of the Law by becoming accursed for us (for it is written, Cursed is
14 everyone who hangs on a gibbet), that the blessing of Abraham might reach the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promised Spirit.
15 To take an illustration from human life, my brothers. Once a man's will is ratified, no one else
236
annuls it or adds a codicil to it. Now the Promises were made to 16 Abraham and to his offspring ; it is not said, ' and to your offsprings * in the plural, but in the singular and to your offspring — which is Christ. My point is this : the Law 17 which arose four hundred and thirty years later does not repeal a will previously ratified by God, so as to cancel the Promise. If the 18 Inheritance is due to law, it ceases to be due to promise. Now it was by a promise that God bestowed it on Abraham. Then what about 19 the Law? Well, it was inter- polated for the purpose of pro- ducing transgressions till such time as the Offspring arrived to whom the Promise was made; also, it was transmitted by means of angels through the agency of an inter- mediary (an intermediary implies 20 more than one party, but God is one). Then the Law is contrary 21 to God's Promises ? Never ! Had there been any law which had the power of producing life, righteous- ness would really have been due to law, but Scripture has consigned 22 all without exception to the custody of sin, in order that the promise due to faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who have faith. Before this faith came, we 23 were confined by the Law and kept in custody, with the prospect of the faith that was to be revealed; the Law thus held us as wards in 24 discipline, till such time as Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. But faith has come, and 25 we are wards no longer ; you are 26 all sons of God by your faith in Christ Jesus (for all of you who 27 had yourselves baptized into Christ have taken on the character of Christ). There is no room for Jew 28
GALATIANS IV
29
or Greek, there is no room for slave or freeman, there is no room for male and female; you are all one in Christ Jesus. Now if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring; in virtue of the Promise you are heirs. What I mean is this. As long as an heir is under age, there is no difference between him and a servant, though he is lord of all the property; he is under guardians and trustees till the time fixed by his father. So with us. When we were under age, we lived under the thraldom of the Elemental spirits of the world ; but when the time had fully expired, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to ransom those who were under the Law, that we might get our sonship. It is because you are sons that God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying ' Abba ! Father ! ' So you are servant no longer but son, and as son you are also heir, all owing to God.
In those days, when you were ignorant of God, you were in servitude to gods who are really no gods at all; but now that you know God — or rather, are known by God — how is it you are turning back again to the weakness and poverty of the Elemental spirits ? Why do you want to be enslaved all over again by them? You observe days and months and festal seasons and years ! Why, you make me afraid I may have spent my labour on you for nothing ! Do take my line, brothers, I beg of you — just as I once took yours. I have no complaint against you; no, although it was because of an illness (you know) that I preached the gospel to you on my former
visit, and though my flesh was a 14 trial to you, you did not scoff at me nor spurn me, you welcomed me like an angel of God, like Christ Jesus. You congratulated your- 15 selves. Now, what has become of all that ? (I can bear witness that you would have torn out your very eyes, if you could, and given me them.) Am I your enemy to-day, 16 because I have been honest with you ? These men make much of 17 you — yes, but for dishonest ends; they want to debar you from us, so that you may make much of them. Now it is fine for you to 18 be made much of honestly and all the time — not simply when I can be with you. O my dear children, 19 you with whom I am in travail over again till Christ be formed within you, would that I could be 20 with you at this moment, and alter my tone, for I am at my wits' end about you ! Tell me, you who 21 are keen to be under the Law, will you not listen to the Law ? Surely 22 it is written in the Law that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-woman and one by the free- woman ; but while the son of 23 the slave-woman was born by the flesh, the son of the free- woman was born by the promise. Now this 24 is an allegory. The women are two covenants. One comes from mount Sinai, bearing children for servitude ; that is Hagar, for 25 mount Sinai * is away in Arabia. She corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for the latter is in servi- tude with her children. But the 26 Jerusalem on high is free, and she is ' our ' mother. For it is 27 written,
• Omitting "Ayap ea a gloBS, with the Latin, Sahidic, and Ethiopio versions, K C G, Origen, and many others.
237
GALATIANS V
Rejoice, O thou barren who bearest
not, break into joy, thou who
travailest not ; for the children of the desolate
woman are far more than of
the married.
28 Now you are the children of
29 the Promise, brothers, Hke Isaac ; but just as in the old days the son born by the flesh persecuted the son born by the Spirit, so it is still
30 to-day. However, what does the scripture say ? Put away the slave- woman and her son, for the son of the slave-woman shall not be heir along with the son of the free-
31 woman. Hence we are children of no slave-woman, my brothers,
5 but of the free- woman,* with the freedom for which Christ set us free. Make a firm stand then, do not shp into any yoke of servitude.
2 Here, listen to Paul ! I tell you, if you get circumcised, Christ will
3 be no use to you. I insist on this again to everyone who gets cir- cumcised, that he is obliged to carry out the whole of the Law.
4 You are for justification by the Law? Then you are done with Christ, you have deserted grace,
5 for it is by faith that ' we ' wait in the Spirit for the righteousness
6 we hope for; in Christ Jesus cir- cumcision is not valid, neither is un- circumcision, but only faith active
* Whether § is read after t^ ikevdfpia or instead of rfj, the opening words of 51 must be connected with the closing words of 4^1. I think on the whole that this interpretation of the text, which is advocated by modern editors hke Lightfoot and Zahn, has the best claim to be regarded as authentic ; it goes back to Marcion and has the powerfiil support of the Latin version, of G, of Origen, Ambrosiaster, Jerome, and others. 238
in love. You were doing splen- 7 didly. Who was it that prevented you from obeying the Truth? That sort of suasion does not come 8 from Him who called j'^ou ! (A 9 morsel of leaven will leaven the whole lump.) I feel persuaded 10 in the Lord that you will not go wrong. But he who unsettles you will have to meet his doom, no matter who he is. I am 'still 11 preaching circumcision myself,' am I ? Then, brothers, why am I still being persecuted? And so the stumbling-block of the cross has lost its force, forsooth ! O that 12 those who are upsetting you would get themselves castrated !
Brothers, you were called to be 13 free ; only, do not make your free- dom an opening for the flesh, but serve one another in love. For 14 the entire Law is summed up in one word, in You must love your neigh- bour as yourself (whereas, if you 15 snap at each other and prey upon each other, take care in case you destroy one another). I mean, 16 lead the life of the Spirit ; then you will never satisfy the passions of the flesh. For the passion of the 17 flesh is against the Spirit, and the passion of the Spirit against the flesh — the two are at issue, so that you are not free to do as you please. If you are under the sway of the 18 Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are quite 19 obvious, such as sexual vice, im- purity, sensuality, idolatry, magic, 20 quarrels, dissension, jealousy, tem- per, rivalry, factions, party-spirit, envy, [murder], drinking bouts, 21 revelry, and the like; I tell you beforehand as I have told you already, that people who indulge in such practices will never inherit the Realm of God. But the harvest 22
GALATIANS VI
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, good temper, kindliness, generosity,
23 fidelity, gentleness, self-control : — there is no law against those
24 who practice such things. Now those who belong to Christ* have crucified the flesh with its emotions
25 and passions. As we live by the Spirit, let us be guided by the
26 Spirit ; let us have no vanity, no provoking, no envy of one another.
6 Even if anyone is detected in some trespass, brothers, you are spiritual, you must set the offender right in a spirit of gentleness ; let each of you look to himself, in case
2 he too is tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the
3 law of Christ. If anyone imagines he is somebody, he is deceiving
4 himself, for he is nobody ; let everyone bring his own work to the test — ^then he will have something to boast about on his own account, and not in comparison with his
5 fellows. For everyone will have to bear his own load of responsibility.
6 Those who are taught must share all the blessings of life with those
7 who teach them the Word. Make no mistake — God is not to be mocked — a man will reap just
8 what he sows; he who sows for his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, and he who sows for the
* Ormtting 'irjo-oC with D G, the Latin, Gothic, and Armenian versions, Marcion, Chrysostom, and others.
Spirit will reap life eternal from the Spirit. Never let us grow tired 9 of doing what is right, for if we do not faint we \\ill reap our harvest at the opportune season. So then, 10 as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men and in particular to the household of the faith.
See what big letters I make 11 when I write you in my own hand !
These men who are keen upon 12 you getting circumcised are just men who want to make a grand display in the flesh — it is simply to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Why, even the circum- 13 cision party do not observe the Law themselves ! They merely want you to get circumcised, so as to boast over your flesh ! But no 14 boasting for me, none except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been cruci- fied to me and I crucified to the world. For what counts is neither 15 circumcision nor uncircumcision, it is the new creation. On all who 16 will be guided by this rule may peace and mercy rest, even upon the Israel of God.
Let no one interfere with me IT after this, for I bear branded on my body the owner's stamp of Jesus.
The grace of our Lord Jesus 18 Christ be with your Spirit, brothers. Amen.
239
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE
EPHESIANS
1 Paul, by the will of God an apostle of Christ Jesus, to the saints who are faithful * in Christ
2 Jesus : grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who in Christ has blessed us with every
4 spiritual blessing ! He chose us in him ere the world was founded, to be consecrated and unblemished
5 in his sight, destining us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ.
6 Such was the purpose of his will, redounding to the praise of his glorious grace bestowed on us in
7 the Beloved, in whom we enjoy our redemption, the forgiveness of our trespasses, by the blood he shed.
8 So richly has God lavished his grace
9 upon us ! He has granted us com- plete insight and understanding of the open secret of his will, showing us how it was the purpose of his
10 design so to order it in the fulness of the ages that all things in heaven and earth alike should be gathered
11 up in Christ — in the Christ in whom we have had our heritage allotted us (as was decreed in the design of him who carries out everything according to the counsel of his
12 will), to make us redound to the praise of his glory by being the first to put our hope in Christ.
13 You also have heard the message of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, and in him you also by
• Omitting [iv 'E^eV^j. 210
your faith have been stamped wit the seal of the long-promised hol> Spirit which is the pledge and instal- 14f ment of our common heritage, that we may obtain our divine posses- sion and so redound to the praise of his glory.
Hence, as I have heard of your 15 faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I never cease 16 to give thanks for you, when I mention you in my prayers. May 17 the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, grant you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation for the knowledge of himself, illuminating the eyes of your heart 1 so that you can understand the hope to which He calls us, the wealth of his glorious heritage in the saints, and the surpassing 19 greatness of his power over us believers — a power which operates with the strength of the might which he exerted in raising Christ 20 from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavenly sphere, above all the angelic Rulers, 21 Authorities, Powers, and Lords, above every Name that is to be named not only in this age but in the age to come — he has put every- 22 thing under his feet and set him as head over everything for the church, the church which is his 23 Body, filled by him who fills the universe entirely. And as with us 2 so with you. You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you 2 moved as you followed the course
EPHESIANS III
of this world, under the sway of the«^ prince of the air — the spirit which is atpresent active within those sons^
3 oi disobedience among whom all of us lived, we as well as you, when we obeyed the passions of our flesh, carrying out the dictates of the flesh and its impulses, when we were objects of God's anger by
4 nature like the rest of men. But, dead in trespasses as we were, God was so rich in mercy that for his
5 great love to us he made us live together with Christ (it is by grace
6 you have been saved); together with Christ he raised and seated us within the heavenly sphere in
7 Christ Jesus, to display throughout ages to come his surpassing wealth,, of grace and goodness toward us in
8 Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, as you had faith ; it is not your doing but God's gift,
9 not the outcome of what you have done — lest anyone should pride
10 himself on that ; God has made us what we are, creating us in Christ Jesus for the good deeds which are prepared beforehand by God as our sphere of action.
11 Remember then that once upon a time you Gentiles in the flesh, who are called 'the Uncircumcision ' by that so-called * Circumcision ' which is itself the product of human hands in the flesh — re-
12 member you were in those days outside Christ, aliens to the com- monwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the Promise, devoid of hope and God within
13 the world. Whereas now, within Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near
14 by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, he who has made both of us a unity and destroyed the
15 barrier which kept us apart; in*
his own flesh he put an end to the feud of the Law with its code of commands, so as to make peace by the creation of a new Man in him- self out of both parties, so as him- 16 self to give the death-blow to that feud by reconciling them both to God in one Body through the cross ; he came with a gospel of peace for 17 those far away (that is, for you) and for those who were near, for it is 18 through him that we both enjoy our access to the Father in one Spirit. Thus you are strangers 19 and foreigners no longer, you share the membership of the saints, you belong to God's own household, you are a building that rests on 20 the apostles and prophets as its foundation, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone ; in him the whole 21 structure is welded together and--' rises into a sacred temple in the Lord, and in him you are yourselves built into this to form a habitation for God in the Spirit.
For this reason I Paul, I whom 3 Jesus has made a prisoner for the sake of you Gentiles — for surely 2 you have heard how the grace of God which was vouchsafed me in your interests has ordered it, how 3 the divine secret was disclosed to me by a revelation (if you read what I have already written briefly about this, you can understand 4 my insight into that secret of Christ which was not disclosed to the 5 sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his sacred apostles and prophets by the Spirit), namely, that in Christ 6 Jesus the Gentiles are co-heirs, companions, and co-partners in the * Promise. Such is the gospel • Omitting [aifToD].
241
EPHESIANS IV
7 which I was called to serve by the endowment of God's grace which was vouchsafed me, by the energy
8 of his power ; less than the least of all saints as I am, this grace was vouchsafed me, that I should bring the Gentiles the gospel of the
9 fathomless wealth of Christ and enlighten all men upon the new order of that divine secret which God the Creator of all concealed
10 from eternity — intending to let the full sweep of the divine wisdom be disclosed now by the church to the angelic Rulers and Authorities in
11 the heavenly sphere, in terms of the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,
12 through whom, as we have faith in him, we enjoy our confidence of free access.
13 So I beg of you not to lose heart over what I am suffering on your behalf ; my sufferings are an honour to you.
14 For this reason then I kneel before
15 the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its
16 name and nature, praying Him out of the wealth of his glory to grant you a mighty increase of strength by his Spirit in the inner man.
17 May Christ dwell in your hearts as you have faith ! May you be so
18 fixed and founded in love that you can grasp with all the saints what is the meaning of ' the Breadth,' * the Length,' ' the Depth,' and
19 ' the Height,' by knowing the love of Christ which surpasses all know- ledge ! May you be filled with the
20 entire fulness of God ! Now to him who by the action of his power within us can do all things, aye far more than we ever ask or imagine,
21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all gene- rations for ever and ever : Amen.
242
OHAP,
As the Lord's prisoner, then, I 4 beg of you to live a life worthy of your calling, with perfect modesty 2 and gentleness, showing forbear- ance to one another patiently, zealous in love to preserve the 3 unity of the Spirit by binding peace upon yourselves. For there 4 is one Body and one Spirit — as you \ were called for the one hope that \ belongs to your call — one Lord, one 5 • faith, one baptism, one God and 6 > Father of all, who is over us all, who pervades us all, who is within us all. But each one of us is 7 granted his own grace as deter- mined by the full measure of Christ's gift. Thus it is said, 8 I
When he ascended on high he led a host captive
and granted gifts to men.
What does he ascended mean ex- 9 i cept that he first descended to the nether regions of the earth? He 10 who descended is he who ascended above all the heavens to fill the universe; he granted some men to 11 be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to shepherd and teach, for the equip- 12 ment of the saints, for the business of the ministry, for the upbuilding of the Body of Christ, till we should 13 all attain the unity of the faith and knowledge of God's Son, reaching maturity, reaching the full measure of development which belongs to the fulness of Christ — instead of 14 remaining immature, blown from our course and swayed by every passing wind of doctrine, by the adroitness of men who are dexterous in devising error ; we are to hold 15 by the truth, and by our love to grow up wholl}^ into Him. For He, Christ, is the head an t under him, 16 as the entire Body is welded to-
EPHESIANS V
gether and compacted by every joint with which it is suppHed, the due act- ivity of each part enables the Body to grow and build itself up in love.
17 Now in the Lord I insist and protest that you must give up living like pagans ; for their pur-
18 poses are futile, their intelligence is darkened, they are estranged from the life of God by the ignorance which their dulness of heart has
19 produced in them — men who have recklessly * abandoned themselves to sensuality, with a lust for the business of impurity in every shape
20 and form. That is not how you have understood the meaning of
21 Christ (for it is Christ whom you have been taught, it is in Christ that you have been instructed — the real Christ who is in Jesus);
22 you must lay aside the old nature which belonged to your former course of life, that nature which crumbles to ruin under the passions
23 of moral deceit, and be renewed in
24 the spirit of your mind, putting on the new nature, that divine pattern which has been created in the up- right and pious character of the
25 Truth. Lay aside falsehood, then, let each tell his neighbour the truth, for we are members one of another.
26 Be angry but do not sin ; never let the sun set upon your exaspera-
27 tion, give the devil no chance. Let
28 the thief steal no more ; rather let him work and put his hands to an honest task, so as to have some- thing to contribute to the needy.
29 Let no bad word pass your lips, but only such speech as is good for edification, as occasion may require, words that are gracious and a means of grace to those who hear
♦ Reading aTrrjATrt/cdrer with D G, the Latin version, the Syriac Vulgate, Irenaaus, Victorinus, etc.
them. And do not vex God's holy 80 Spirit, by whom you have been sealed for the day of redemption. Drop all bitter feeling and passion 31 and anger and clamouring and insults, together with all malice; be kind to each other, be tender- 32 hearted, be generous to each other as God has been generous to you in Christ. Copy God, then, as his be- 5 loved children, and lead lives of love, 2 just as Christ loved you and gave himself up for you to be a fragrant o^ering and sacrifice to God. Never let any sexual vice or 8 impurity or lust be so much as mentioned by you — that is the proper course for saints to take; no, nor indecent, silly, or scurrilous 4 talk — all that is improper. Rather, voice your thanks to God. Be 5 sure of this, that no one guilty of sexual vice or impurity or lust (that is, an idolater) possesses any inheritance in the realm of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you 6 with specious arguments ; these are the vices that bring down God's anger on the sons of disobedience. So avoid the company of such men. 7 For while once upon a time you 8 were darkness, now in the Lord you are light ; lead the life of those who are children of the light (for the 9 fruit of light consists in all that is good and right and true), verifying 10 what pleases the Lord. Have no- 11 thing to do with the fruitless enter- prises of the darkness ; rather expose them. One is indeed ashamed even 12 to speak about what such men do in secret ; still, whatever the light 13 exposes becomes illuminated — for anything that is illuminated turns into light. Thus it is said, 14
' Wake up, O sleeper, and rise from the dead ; so Christ %vill shine upon you,'
243
EPHESIANS VI
vl5 Be strictly* careful then about ,y^ the life you lead ; act like sensible
16 men, not like thoughtless ; make the very most of your time, for
17 these are evil days. So do not be senseless, but understand what is
18 the Lord's will ; and do not get drunk with wine — that means pro- fligacy— but be filled with the
19 Spirit, converse with one another in the music of psalms, in hymns, and in songs of the spiritual life, praise the Lord heartily with words
20 and music, and render thanks to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ at all times and for all things.
21 Be subject to one another out of
22 reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands as to the
23 Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ also (though he is the saviour of the Body) is the
24 head of the church ; as the church is subject to Christ, so wives are to be subject to their husbands
25 in every respect. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
26 to consecrate her by cleansing her in the bath of baptism as she utters
27 her confession, in order to have the church as his very own, standing before him in all her glory, with never a spot or wrinkle or any such flaw, but consecrated and un-
28 blemished. So ought husbands to love their wives — to love them as their own bodies (he who loves his
29 wife loves himself). For no one ever hates his flesh; no, he nour- ishes and cherishes it (just as Christ
30 does the church, for we are members
31 of his Body).| Therefore shall a
• Reading aKpi$ws irws with X*, B, Origen, etc.
I Omitting [^K rrjs <rapKhs avrov koI iK twv iirriwv outou] with X*, A B, Origen, etc. 244
man leave father and mother and cleave to his xvife, and the pair shall be one flesh. This is a profound 32 symbol, I mean as regards Christ and the church. However, let 33 every man of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife reverence her husband. Children, obey your 6 parents in the Lord, for this is right; honour your father and mother 2 (it is the first command vnih a promise), that it may be well with 3 you and that you may live long on earth. As for you fathers, do not 4 exasperate your children, but bring them up in the discipline and on the admonitions of the Lord. Servants, be obedient to those 5 who are your masters here below with reverence and trembling, with singleness of heart as to Christ himself ; instead of merely working 6 when their eye is on you, like those who court human favour, do God's will from the heart like servants of 7 Christ, by rendering service with goodwill as to the Lord and Master, not to men. Be sure that everyone, 8 slave or free, will be paid back by the Lord and Master for the good he has done. And as for you masters, 9 act by your servants in the same way, and stop threatening them; be stire that they and you have a Lord and Master in heaven, and there is no partiality about him.
To conclude. Be strong in the 10 Lord and in the strength of his might; put on God's armour so 11 as to be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil. For we 12 have to struggle not with blood and flesh but with the angelic Rulers, the angelic Authorities, the poten- tates of the dark present, the spirit- forces of e^^l in the heavenly sphere. So take God's armour, 18 that you may be able to make a
EPHESIANS VI
y stand upon the evil day and hold your ground by overcoming all
14 the foe. Hold your ground, tighten the belt of truth about your loi?is, ivear integrity as your coat of mail,
15 and have your feet shod with the stability of the gospel of peace ;
16 above all, take faith as your shield, to enable you to quench all the fire-tipped darts flung by the evil
17 one, put on salvation as your hel- met, and take the Spirit as your sword (that is, the word of God),
18 praying at all times in the Spirit with all manner of prayer and en-
v^treaty — be alive to that, attend to -^it unceasingly, interceding on be-
19 half of all the saints and on my behalf also, that I may be allowed
to speak and open my lips in order to expound fully and freely that open secret of the gospel for the 20 sake of which I am in custody as its envoy. Pray that I may have freedom to declare it as I should.
Our beloved brother Tychicus, a 21 faithful minister in the Lord, will give you all information about me, so that 5'ou may know how I am ; that is why I am sending 22 him to you, to let you know how I am and to encourage your hearts.
Peace and love with faith be to 23 the brothers from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace 24 be with all who have an undjdng love for our Lord Jesus Christ.
245
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE
PHILIPPIANS
1 Paul and Timotheus, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, as well as to the bishops and deacons :
2 grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 I thank my God for all your
4 remembrance of me; in all my prayers for you all I always pray
5 with a sense of joy for what you have contributed to the gospel from the very first day down to this
6 moment ; of this I am confident, that he who has begun the good work in you will go on completing
7 it until the day of Jesus Christ, It is only natural for me to be think- ing of you all in this way, for alike in my prison and as I defend and vindicate the gospel, I bear in mind how you all share with me in the
8 grace divine. God is my witness that I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus himself !
9 And it is my prayer that your love may be more and more rich in knowledge and all manner of in- sight, enabling you to have a sense
10 of what is vital, so that you may be transparent and no harm to anyone in view of the day of Christ,
11 your life covered with that harvest of righteousness which Jesus Christ produces to the glory and the praise of God.
12 I would have you understand, my brothers, that my affairs have really tended to advance the gos-
13 pel ; throughout the whole of the
246
praetorian guard and everywhere else it is recognized that I am im- prisoned on account of my con- nexion with Christ, and my im- 14 prisonment has given the majority of the brotherhood greater con- fidence in the Lord to venture on speaking the word of God without being afraid. Some of them, it is 15 true, are actually preaching Christ from envy and rivalry, others from goodwill ; the latter do it from love 16 to me, knowing that I am set here to defend the gospel, but the former 17 proclaim Christ for their own ends, with mixed motives, intending to annoy me as I lie in prison. What 18 does it matter? Anyhow, for ul- terior ends or honestly, Christ is being proclaimed, and I rejoice over that ; yes and I will rejoice over it.
The ontcome of all this, I know, 19 ivill he my release, as you continue to pray for me, and as I am pro- vided with the Spirit of Jesus Christ — my eager desire and hope 20 being that I may never feel ashamed but that now as ever I may do honour to Christ in my own person by fearless courage. Whether that means life or death, no matter ! As life means Christ 21 to me, so death means gain. But 22 then, if it is to be life here below, that means fruitful work. So — well, I cannot tell which to choose ; I 23 am in a dilemma between the two. My strong desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far the best. But for your sakes it is 24
PHILIPPIANS II
25 necessary I should live on here be- low. I am sure it is, and so I know I shall remain alive and serve you all by forwarding your progress and fostering the joy of your faith.
26 Thus you will have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus over me — over my return to you.
27 Only, do lead a life that is worthy of the gospel of Christ. Whether I come and see you or only hear of you in absence, let me know you stand firm in a common spirit, fighting side by side like one man for the faith of
28 the gospel. Never be scared for a second by your opponents ; your fearlessness is a clear omen of ruin for them and of your own salvation
29 — at the hands of God. For on behalf of Christ you have the favour of suffering no less than of
30 believing in him, by waging the same conflict that, as once you saw and now you hear, I wage my-
2 self. So by all the stimulus of Christ, by every incentive of love, by all your participation in the Spirit, by all your affectionate
2 tenderness, I pray you to give me the utter joy of kno-wang you are living in harmony, with the same feelings of love, with one heart and
3 soul, never acting for private ends or from vanity, but humbly con- sidering each other the better man,
4 and each with an eye to the inter- ests of others as well as to his own.
5 Treat one another with the same spirit as you experience in Christ
6 Jesus. Though he was divine by nature, he did not snatch at
7 equality with God but emptied himself by taking the nature of a
8 servant ; born in human guise and appearing in human form, he hum- bly stooped in his obedience even to die, and to die upon the cross.
Therefore God raised him high and 9 conferred on him a Name above all names, so that before the Name 10 of Jesus every knee should bend in heaven, on earth, and underneath the earth, a7id every tongue confess 11 that ' Jesus Christ is Lord,' to the glory of God the Father.
Therefore, my beloved, as you 12 have been obedient always and not simply when I was present, so, now that I am absent, work all the more strenuously at your salvation with reverence and trembling, for 13 it is God who in his goodwill en- ables you to will this and to achieve it. In all that you do, avoid 14 grumbling and disputing, so as to 15 be blameless and innocent, fault- less children of God in a crooked and perverse generation where you shine like stars in a dark world; hold fast the word of life, so that I 16 can be proud of you on the Day of Christ, because I have not nm or tvorked for nothing. Even if my 17 life-blood has to be poured as a libation on the sacred sacrifice of faith you are offering to God, I rejoice, I congratulate you all — and 18 you in turn must rejoice and con- gratulate me.
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send 19 you Timotheus before long, that I may be heartened by news of you. I have no one like him, for 20 genuine interest in your welfare. Everybody is selfish, instead of 21 caring for Jesus Christ. But you 22 know how he has stood the test, how he has served ^\ith me in the gospel, like a son helping his father. I hope to send him then, 23 as soon as ever I see how it will go with me — though I am confident in 24 the Lord that I will be coming my- self before long. As for Epaphro- 25 ditus, however, my brother, mv
247
PHILIPPIANS III
fellow-worker, my fellow-soldier, and your messenger to meet my wants, I think it necessary to send
26 you him at once, for he has been yearning for you all. He has been greatly concerned because you
27 heard he was ill. And he was ill, nearly dead with illness. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me, to save me from having one sorrow upon another.
28 So I am specially eager to send him, that you may be glad when you see him again, and thus my own
29 anxiety may be lightened. Give him a welcome in the Lord, then, with your hearts full of joy.
30 Value men like that, for he nearly died in the service of Christ by risking his life to make up for the services you were not here to render me.
3 Well then, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. I am repeating this word ' rejoice ' in my letter, but that does not tire me and it is the
2 safe course for you. — Beware of these dogs, these wicked workmen,
3 the incision-party ! We are the true Circumcision, we who worship God in spirit, we who pride ourselves on Christ Jesus, we who rely upon
4 no outward privilege. Though I could rely on outward privilege, if I chose. Whoever thinks he can
5 rely on that, I can outdo him. I was circumcised on the eighth day after birth ; I belonged to the race of Israel, to the tribe of Benjamin; I was the Hebrew son of Hebrew parents, a Pharisee as regards the
6 Law, in point of ardour a persecutor of the church, immaculate by the standard of legal righteousness.
7 But for Christ's sake I have learned to count my former gains a loss;
248
indeed I count anything a loss, 8 compared to the supreme value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have lost everything (I count it all the veriest refuse) in order to gain Christ and be 9 found at death in him, possessing no legal righteousness of my own but the righteousness of faith in Christ, the divine righteousness that rests on faith. I would know 10 him in the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, with my nature transformed to die as he died, to see if I too can 11 attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already 12 attained this or am already perfect, but I press forward to appropriate it because I have been appropriated myself by Christ Jesus. Brothers, 13 I for one do not consider myself to have appropriated this ; my one thought is, by forgetting what lies behind me and straining to what lies before me, to press on to the 14 goal for the prize of God's high call in Christ Jesus. For all those of 15 our number who are mature, this must be the point of view; God will reveal that to any of you who look at things differently. Only, 16 we must let our steps be guided by such truth as we have attained.
Copy me, brothers, one and all 17 of you, and notice those who live by the example you get from me. For many — as I have often told 18 you and tell you now with tears — many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Destruction is their fate, 19 the belly is their god, they glory in their shame, these men of earthly mind ! But we are a colony of 20 heaven, and we wait for the Saviour who comes from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform 21 the body that belongs to our low
PHILIPPIANS IV
estate till it resembles the body of his Glory, by the same power that enables him to make everything 4 subject to himself. So then, my brothers, for whom I cherish love and longing, my joy and crown, this is how you must stand firm in the Lord, O my beloved.
2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord.
3 And you, my true comrade, lend a hand to these women, I beg of you; they have fought at my side in the active service of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow-workers, whose names are in the hook of life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I
5 will say it again, ' rejoice.' Let your forbearance be known to everyone; the Lord is at hand.
6 Never be anxious, but always make your requests known to God in prayer and supplication with
7 thanksgiving ; so shall God's peace, that surpasses all our dreams, keep guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, keep in mind whatever is true, whatever is worthy, whatever is just, what- ever is pure, whatever is attrac- tive, whatever is high-toned, all
9 excellence, all merit. Practise also what you have learned and re- ceived from me, what you heard me say and what you saw me do ; then the God of peace will be with you.
10 It was a great joy to me in the Lord that your care for me could revive again; for what you lacked
was never the care but the chance of showing it. Not that I com- 11
Elain of want, for I have learned ow to be content wherever I am. I know how to live humbly; I 12 also know how to live in prosperity. I have been initiated into the secret for all sorts and conditions of life, for plenty and for hunger, for prospenty and for privations. In him who strengthens me I am 13 able for anything. But you were 14 kind enough to take your share in my trouble. You Philippians 15 are well aware that in the early days of the gospel, when I had left Macedonia, no church but your- selves had any financial dealings with me; even when I was m 16 Thessalonica, you sent money more than once for my needs. It is 17 not the money I am anxious for; what I am anxious for is the in- terest that accumulates in this way to your divine credit ! Your debt 18 to me is fully paid and more than paid ! I am amply supplied with what you have sent by Epaphro- ditus, a fragrant 'perfume, the sort of sacrifice that God approves and welcomes. My God will supply all 19 your own needs from his wealth in Glory in Christ Jesus. Glory to 20 God our Father for ever and ever: Amen.
Salute every saint in Christ 21 Jesus. The brothers beside me salute you. All the saints salute 22 you, especially the Imperial slaves.
The grace of the Lord Jesus 23 Christ be \\ith your spirit. Amen.
249
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE
COLOSSIANS
CHAP.
1 Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, and brother Timo-
2 theus, to the consecrated and faith- ful brothers in Christ at Colossae : grace and peace to you from God our Father.
3 We always thank the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
4 when we pray for you, since we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the
5 saints, due to the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. You heard of this hope oriorinally in the message of the Truth, in
6 that gospel which has reached you as it spreads over all the world with fruit and increase. Such has been your life from the day you learned to know what God's
7 grace really is. You got that lesson from our beloved fellow- servant Epaphras, a minister of Christ who is faithful to your in-
8 terests ; and it is he who has in- formed us of your love in the Spirit.
9 Hence, from the day we heard of it, we have never ceased to pray for you, asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all
10 spiritual wisdom and insight, so that you may lead a life that is worthy of the Lord and give him entire satisfaction. May you be fruitful and increase in the doing of all good, as you thus know God !
11 May his glorious might nerve you with full power to endure and to be patient cheerfully, whatever comes,
12 thanking the Father who has quali-
250
fied you to share the lot of the saints in the Light, rescuing us 13 from the power of the Darkness and transferring us to the realm of his beloved Son ! In him we enjoy 14 our redemption, that is, the forgive- ness of sins. He is the likeness of 15 the unseen God, born first before all the creation — for it was by him 16 that all things were created both in heaven and on earth, both the seen and the unseen, including Thrones, angehc Lords, celestial Powers and Rulers ; all things have been created by him and for him ; he is prior to 17 all and all coheres in him. Also, 18 he is the head of the Body, that is, of the church, in virtue of his primacy as the first to be born from the dead — that gives him pre- eminence over all. For it was in 19 him that the divine Fulness willed to settle without limit, and by him it 20 walled to reconcile in his own person all on earth and in heaven alike, in a peace made by the blood of his cross. Once you were estranged 21 yourselves, your hearts hostile to him in evildoing; but now he has reconciled you by dying in his 22 mortal body, so as to set you conse- crated and unblemished and irre- proachable in his presence — that is, 23 if you adhere to the foundations and stability of the faith, instead of mov- ing away from the hope you have learned in the gospel, that gospel which has been preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I Paul was made a minister.
COLOSSIANS II
24 I am suffering now on your be- half, but I rejoice in that ; I would make up the full sum of all that Christ has to suffer in my person on behalf of the church, his Body ;
25 for I am a minister of the church by the divine commission M'hich has been granted me in your interests, to make a full presentation of God's
26 message — of that open secret which, though concealed from ages and generations of old, has now been
27 disclosed to the saints of God. It is His will that they should under- stand the glorious wealth which this secret holds for the Gentiles, in the fact of Christ's presence among
28 you as your hope of glory. This is the Christ we proclaim; avc train everyone and teach everj''one the full scope of this knowledge, in order to set everyone before God
29 mature in Christ ; I labour for that end, striving for it with the divine energy which is a power within me.
2 Striving? Yes, I want you to understand my deep concern for you and for those at Laodicca, for all who have never seen my face.
2 May their hearts be encouraged ! May they learn the meaning of love ! May they have all the wealth of conviction that comes from insight ! May they learn to know that open secret of God, the
3 Father of Christ, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
4 lie hidden f I say this to prevent you from being deluded by plau-
5 sible arguments from anybody ; for although I am absent in body I am with you in spirit, and it is a joy to note your steadiness and the solid front of your faith in Christ.
6 Since you have had the messiah, even Jesus the Lord, brought to
7 you, lead your life in him, fixed and founded in him, confirmed in the
faith as you have been taught it, and overflowing with thankfulness to God. Beware of anyone getting 8 hold of you by means of a theosophy which is specious make-believe, on the lines of human tradition, cor- responding to the Elemental spirits of the world and not to Christ. It is in Christ that the entire 9 Fulness of deity has settled bodily, it is in him that you reach your full 10 life, and he is the Head of every angelic Ruler and Power; in him 11 you have been circumcised with no material circumcision that cuts flesh from the body, but Avith Christ's own circumcision, when 12 you were buried with him in your baptism and thereby raised with him as you believed in the power of the God who raised him from the dead. For though you were 13 dead in your trespasses, your flesh uncircumcised, He made you live with Christ, He forgave us all our trespasses. He cancelled the regu- 14 la,tions that stood against us — all these obligations he set aside when he nailed them to the cross, when 15 he cut away the angelic Rulers and Powers from us, exposing them to all the world and triumphing over them in the cross. So let no one 16 take you to task on questions of eat- ing and drinking or in connexion with the observance of festivals or new moons or sabbaths. All that 17 is the mere shadow of what is to be ; the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one lay down rules for you 18 as he pleases, A\'ith regard to fasting and the cult of angels, presuming on his visions and inflated by his sensuous notions, instead of keeping 19 in touch Avith that Head under whom the entire Body, supplied with joints and sinews and thus com- pacted, grows with growth divine.
251
COLOSSIANS III, IV
20 As you died with Christ to the Elemental spirits of the world, why- live as if you still belonged to the world? Why submit to rules and
21 regulations like " Hands off this ! " " Taste not that ! " " Touch not
22 this ! " — referring to things that perish by being used? These rules are determined by human
23 precepts and tenets ; they get the name of ' wisdom ' with their self- imposed devotions, with their fast- ing, with their rigorous discipline of the body, but they are of no value, they simply pamper the flesh !
3 Since then you have been raised with Christ, aim at what is above, where Christ is, seated at the right
2 hand of God ; mind what is above,
3 not what is on earth, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ
4 in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will appear
5 with him in glory. So put to death those members that are on earth : sexual vice, impurity, appetite, evil desire, and lust (which is
6 idolatry), things that bring down the anger of God on the sons of
7 disobedience. Once you moved among them when you lived in
8 them; but off with them all now, off with anger, rage, malice, slander,
9 foul talk ! Tell no lies to one another ; you have stripped off the old nature with its practices,
10 and put on the new nature which is renewed in the likeness of its Creator
11 for the knowledge of him. In it there is no room for Greek and Jew, cir- cumcised and uncircumcised, bar- barian, Scythian, slave, or free man ; Christ is everything and everywhere.
12 As God's own chosen, then, as consecrated and beloved, be clothed with compassion, kindliness, humility, gentleness, and good
13 temper — forbear and forgive each
252
other in any case of complaint ; as the Lord forgave you, so must you forgive. And above all you must 14 be loving, for love is the link of the perfect life. Also, let the peace 15 of Christ be supreme within your hearts — that is why you have been called as members of the one Body. And you must be thankful. Let the 16 inspiration of Christ dwell in your midst with all its wealth of wis- dom ; teach and train one another with the music of psalms, with hymns, and songs of the spiritual J life ; praise God with thankful heart. ™ Indeed, whatever you say or do, let 17 everything be done in dependence on the Lord Jesus, giving thanks in || his name to God the Father.
Wives, be subject to your hus- 18 bands ; that is your proper duty in the Lord. Husbands, love your 19 wives, do not be harsh to them. Children, obey your parents at 20 every point, for this pleases the Lord right well. Fathers, avoid 21 irritating your children, in case they get dispirited. Servants, obey 22 your masters here below at every point; do not work simply when their eye is on you, like those who court human favour, but serve them with a single heart out of reverence for your Lord and Master. What- 23 ever be your task, work at it heartily as servants of the Lord and not of men ; remember, you 24 will receive from the Lord the in- heritance which is your due ; serve Christ your Lord and Master, for 25 the wrongdoer will be paid back for his wrongdoing — there will be no favour shown. Masters, treat 4 your servants justly and fairly; remember you have a Master of your own in heaven.
Attend to your prayers, maintain 2 your zest for prayer by thanks-
COLOSSIANS IV
3 giving ; and pray for me as well, that God may give me an opening for the word, to speak of the open secret of Christ for which I am
4 in custody. Pray that I may un-
5 fold it as I should. Let Christian wisdom rule your behaviour to the outside world ; make the very
6 most of your time; let your talk always have a saving salt of grace about it, and learn how to answer any question put to you.
7 Tychicus, that beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow- servant in the Lord, will give you
8 all information about me. That is why I am sending him to you, to let you know how I am and to en-
9 courage your hearts. He is accom- panied by that faithful and be- loved brother Onesimus, who is one of yourselves. They will in- form you of all that goes on here.
Aristarchus my fellow-prisoner salutes you ; so does Mark the cousin of Barnabas, about whom you have got instructions (if he comes to you, give him a welcome); and so does Jesus who is called Justus. These
10
11
are the only comrades in the work of God's realm, belonging to the circumcised, who have been any comfort to me. Epaphras, who is 12 one of yourselves, salutes you — a servant of Christ Jesus who is always earnest in prayer for you, that you may stand firm like mature and convinced Christians, what- ever be the will of God for you. I 13 can testify to his exertions on your behalf and on behalf of those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. Our be- 14 loved Luke, the doctor, salutes you ; so does Demas. Salute the brothers 15 at Laodicea, also Nympha and the church which meets at her house. And when this letter has been 16 read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans; also, see that you read the letter that reaches you from Laodicea. And 17 tell Archippus, ' Attend to the ministry you have received in the Lord ; see that you fulfil it.'
This salutation is in my own 18 hand, from Paul. ' Remember I am in prison. Grace be with you.'
253
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE
THESSALONIANS
1 Paul and Silvanus and Timo- theus, to the church of the Thessa- lonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ : grace and peace to you.
2 We always thank God for you all when we mention you constantly
3 in our prayers, as we recall your active faith and labour of love and patient hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.
4 O brothers beloved by God, we
5 know he has chosen you ; for our gospel came to you not ^vith mere words but also with power and with the holy Spirit, with ample con- viction on our part (you know what we were to you, for your own
6 good), and you started to copy us and the Lord, welcoming the word, though it brought you heavy trouble, ^vith a joy inspired by the
7 holy Spirit. Thus you became a pattern to all the believers in Mace-
8 donia and in Achaia ; for the word of the Lord has resounded from you not only through Macedonia and Achaia — no, your faith in God has reached every place. We never need to speak about it.
9 People tell us of their own accord about the visit we paid to you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and a real
10 God and to wait for the coming of his Son from heaven — the Son whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who rescues us from the Wrath to come. 254
But you remember yourselves, 2 brothers, that our visit to you was no failure. At Philippi, as 2 you know, we had been ill-treated and insulted, but we took courage and confidence in our God to tell you the gospel of God in spite of all the strain. For the appeal we 3 make does not spring from any delusion or from impure motives — it does not work by cunning; no, 4 God has attested our fitness to be entrusted Avith the gospel, and so we tell the gospel not to satisfy men || but to satisfy the God who tests our hearts. We never resorted to 5 flattery (you know that), nor to any pretext for self-seeking (God is witness to that) ; we never sought 6 honour from men, from you or from anybody else, though as apostles of Christ we had the power of claiming to be men of weight; no, we behaved gently when we 7 were among you, like a nursing ^ mother cherishing her own children, ■ fain, in our yearning affection for 8 you, to impart not only the gospel of God to you but our very souls as well — you had so won our love. Brothers, you recollect our hard 9 labour and toil, how we worked at our trade night and day, when we preached the gospel to you, so as not to be a burden to any of you. You are witnesses, and so is God, 10 to our behaviour among you be- lievers, how pious and upright and blameless it was, how (as you know) 11
I. THESSALONIANS III, IV
we treated each of you as a father treats his children, beseeching you, encouraging you, and charging you
12 to lead a life worthy of the God who called you to his own realm and glory.
13 We thank God constantly for this too, that when you received the word of the divine message from us, you took it not as a human word but for what it really is, the word of God. It proves effective in
14 you believers, for you have started, my brothers, to copy the churches of God in Christ Jesus throughout Judaea; you have suffered from your compatriots just as they
15 have suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, who harassed ourselves, who offend God and oppose all
16 men by hindering us from speaking words of salvation to the Gentiles. So they would fill up the measure of their sins to the last drop ! But the Wrath is on them to the bitter end !
17 Brothers, when we were bereft of you for a little while (out of sight, not out of mind), we were the more eager to see you. We had a keen
18 longing for you. (We did want to reach you — I did, I Paul, more than once — but Satan stopped us.)
19 For Avho is our hope, our joy, our crown of pride (who but you?) in the presence of our Lord Jesus
20 on his arrival ? Why, you, you 3 are our glory and joy ! So,
unable to bear it any longer, I made up my mind to be left
2 behind at Athens all alone ; I sent Timotheus our brother, who works Avith God in the gospel of Christ, for your strengthening and en-
3 couragemcnt in the faith, to prevent anyone being disturbed by these troubles. (Troubles are our lot,
4 you know that well ; for we told
you beforehand, when we were with you, that " we Christians are to have trouble " — and, as you know, it has been so.) Well then, unable 5 to bear it any longer, I sent to find out about your faith, in case the Tempter had tempted you and our labour had been thrown away. But when Timotheus reached me a 6 moment ago on his return from you, bringing me the good news of your faith and love and of how you always remember me kindly, longing to see me as I long to see you, then, amid all my own dis- 7 tress and trouble, I was cheered — this faith of yours encouraged me. It is life to me now, if you stand 8 firm in the Lord. How can I 9 render thanks enough to God for you, for all the joy you make me feel in the presence of our God ? Night and day I pray specially 10 that I may see your faces and sup- ply what is defective in your faith. May our God and Father and our 11 Lord Jesus direct my way to you ! And may the Lord make you in- 12 crease and excel in love to one another and to all men (as is my love for you), so as to streng- 13 then your hearts and make them blameless in holiness before our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. [Amen.]
CHAP,
Finally, brothers, we beg and 4 beseech you in the Lord Jesus to follow our instructions about the way you are to live so as to satisfy God; you are leading that life, but you are to excel in it still further. You remember the in- 2 structions we gave you on the authority of the Lord Jesvis. It 3 is God's will that you should be
255
I. THESSALONIANS V
consecrated, that you abstain from
4 sexual vice, that each of you should leam to take a wife for himself
5 chastely and honourably, not to gratify sensual passion like the Gentiles in their ignorance of God —
6 no one is to defraud or overreach his brother in this matter, for the Lord avenges all these sins, as we told you already in our solemn
7 protest against them. God did not call us to be impure but to be
8 consecrated; hence, he who dis- regards this, disregards not man but the God who gave you his holy
9 Spirit. You need no one to write you upon brotherly love, for you are yourselves taught by God to
10 love one another, as indeed is your practice towards all the brothers throughout all Macedonia. We be- seech you, brothers, to excel in
11 this more and more; also, endea- vour to live quietly, attend to your own business, and — as we charged
12 you — work with your hands, so that your life may be correct in the eyes of the outside world and self- supporting.
13 We would like you, brothers, to understand about those who are asleep in death. You must not grieve for them, like the rest of men
14 who have no hope. Since we be- lieve that Jesus died and rose again, then it follows that by means of Jesus God will bring with him
15 those who have fallen asleep. For we tell you, as the Lord has told us, that we the living, who survive till the Lord comes, are by no means to take precedence of those who
16 have fallen asleep. The Lord him- self will descend from heaven with a loud summons, when the arch- angel calls and the trumpet of God sounds; the dead in Christ will
17 rise first; then we the living, who
256
sur\ave, will be caught up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord for ever. Now 18 then, encourage one another with these words.
As regards the course and periods 5 of time, brothers, you have no need of being written to. You know per- 2 f ectly well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night; when ' all's well ' and ' all is safe ' 3 are on the lips of men, then all of a sudden Destruction is upon them, like pangs on a pregnant woman — escape there is none. But, brothers, 4 you are not in the darkness for the Day to surprise you like thieves ; * you are all sons of the Light and 5 sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness. Well 6 then, we must not sleep like the rest of men, but be wakeful and sober; for sleepers sleep by night 7 and drunkards are drunk by night, but we must be sober, we who 8 belong to the day, clad in faith and love as our coat of mail, with the hope of salvation as our helmet — for God destined us not for Wrath 9 but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for 10 us that waking in life or sleeping in death we should live together with him. Encourage one another, 11 therefore, and let each edify the other — as indeed you are doing.
Brothers, we beg you to respect 12 those who are working among you, presiding over you in the Lord and maintaining disciphne ; hold them 13 in special esteem and affection, for the sake of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. We 14 beseech you, brothers, keep a check upon loafers, encourage the
* Reading K\firras with A B and tha Bohairio version.
I. THESSALONIANS V
faint-hearted, sustain weak souls, never lose your temper with any-
15 one ; see that none of you pays back evil for evil, but always aim at what is kind to one another
16 and to all the world; rejoice at
17 all times, never give up prayer,
18 thank God for everything — such is his will for you in Christ Jesus ;
19 never quench the fire of the Spirit,
20 never disdain prophetic revelations
21 but test them all, retaining what
22 is good and abstaining from what- ever kind is evil.
Ma-y the God of peace consecrate 23 you through and through ! Spirit, soul, and body, may you be kept without break or blame till the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ ! He who calls you is faithful, he will 24 do this.
Pray for us, brothers. 25
Salute every one of the brothers 26 with a holy kiss. I adjure you 27 by the Lord to have this letter read aloud to all the [holy] brothers.
The grace of our Lord Jesus 28 Christ be with you. [Amen.]
257
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE
THESSALONIANS
CHAP.
1 Paul and Silvanus and Timo- theus, to the church of the Thessa- lonians in God our Father and the
2 Lord Jesus Christ : grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We are bound always to thank God for you, brothers — it is proper that we should, because your faith grows apace and your mutual love,
4 one and all, is increasing. So much so, that throughout the churches of God we are proud of you, proud of the stedfastness and faith you display through all the persecutions and the troubles in which you are
5 involved. They are proof positive of God's equity; you are suffering for the realm of God, and he means to make you worthy of it — since
6 God considers it but just
to repay with trouble those who trouble you,
7 and repay you who are troubled
(as well as us) with rest and relief, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven together with the angels of his
8 power in flaming fire,
to inflict punishment on those who ignore God, even on those who refuse obedi- ence to the gospel of our Lord Jesus,
9 men who will pay the penalty of
being destroyed eternally from the presence of the Lord and from tiie glory of his might, 258
when he comes to he glorified in 10 his saints and marvelled at in all believers on that day (for our testimony has found confirmation* in your lives). In view of this we always pray 11 for you, asking our God to make you worthy of his calling and by his power to fulfil every good resolve and every effort of faith, so that 12 the name of our Lord Jesus may he glorified in you (and you glorified in him), by the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
With regard to the arrival of 2 the I Lord Jesus Christ and our muster before him, I beg you, brothers, not to let your minds 2 get easily unsettled or excited by any spirit of prophecy or any de- claration or any letter purporting to come from me, to the effect that the Day of the Lord is already here. Let nobody delude you into 3 this belief, whatever he may say. It will not come till the Rebellion takes place first of all, with the revealing of the Lawless | One, the doomed One, the adversary who 4 vaunts himself above and against every so-called god or object of worship, actually seating himself in the temple of God with the pro- clamation that he himself is God.
* Reading with Markland and Hort fTriaTaiBr] (104 469 Ambrosiaster) for the tiri(Trev6r] of most manuscripts and all versions.
t Omitting rifiZv with B Syr^^^i.
X Reading ituofilas with K B, etc., for the Westexni paraphrastic afiaprlas.
II. THESSALONIANS III
10
5 Do you not remember I used to tell you this when I was with you?
6 Well, you can recall now what it is that restrains him from being revealed before his appointed time.
7 For the secret force of lawlessness is at work already ; only, it cannot be revealed till he who at present restrains it is removed.
8 Then shall the Lawless One be
revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will
destroy with the breath of his
lips and quell by his appearing and
arrival —
9 that One whose arrival is due to
Satan's activity, with the full power, the miracles
and portents, of falsehood, and with the full deceitfulness
of evil for those who are
doomed to perish, since they refuse to love the
Truth that would save
them.
11 Therefore God visits them with an active delusion,
till they put * faith in false- hood,
12 so that all may be doomed who
refuse faith in the Truth but delight in e\al.
13 Now we are bound always to thank God for you, brothers be- loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you as the first to be reaped for salvation, by the consecration
I of your spirit and by faith in the 114 Truth; it was for this that he called you by our gospel, to gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 5 Well, ' then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the rules which you have learned from us orally or by 16 letter. And may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father who has loved us and given us
eternal encouragement and good hope, graciously encourage your 17 hearts and strengthen them for all good in word and deed.
Finally, brothers, pray for us, 3 that the word of the Lord may speed on and triumph, as in your own case, and that we may be 2 delivered from perverse and evil men — for the faith is not held by all. However, the Lord is faithful ; 3 he -will be sure to strengthen you and protect you from the Evil one. Now, we rely on you in 4 the Lord, confident that you do and will do what we enjoin. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts towards God's love and towards Christ's patience !
Brothers, we charge you in the 6 name of the Lord Jesus Christ to shun any brother who is loafing, instead of following the rule you got * from us. For you know quite 7 well how to copy us; we did not loaf in your midst, we did not take 8 free meals from anyone ; no, toiling hard at our trade, we worked night and day, so as not to be a burden to any of you. Not that we have 9 no right to such support; it was simply to give you a pattern to copy. We used to charge you even when we 10 were with you, ' If a man will not work, he shall not eat.' But we are 11 informed that some of your num- ber are loafing, busybodies instead of busy. Now in the Lord Jesus 12 Christ we charge and exhort such persons to keep quiet, to do their work and earn their own living. As for yourselves, brothers, never 13 grow tired of doing what is right.
• Reading iropeXaSere with B G, etc., for
259
II. THESSALONIANS III
14 Only, if anyone will not obey our orders in this letter, mark that man, do not associate with him — that
15 will make him feel ashamed ! You are not to treat him as an enemy, but to put him under discipline as a brother.
16 May the Lord of peace himself
grant you peace continually, what- ever comes.
The Lord be with you all.
The salutation is in my own hand, 17 Paul's; that is a mark in every letter of mine. This is how I write. ' The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 18 be with you all.'
280
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO
TIMOTHEUS
1 Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God onr Saviour
2 and Christ Jesus our Hope, to Timo- theus his lawful son in the faith : grace, mercy, peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 As I asked you when I was on my way to Macedonia, stay where you are at Ephesus and warn certain individuals against teaching novel-
4 ties and studying myths and inter- minable genealogies ; such studies bear upon speculations rather than on the divine order which belongs
5 to faith. Whereas the aim of the Christian discipline is the love that springs from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from a sincere
6 faith. Certain individuals have failed here by turning to empty
7 argument ; doctors of the Law is what they want to be, but they have no idea either of the meaning of the words they use or of the themes
8 on which they harp. I am quite aware that ' the Law is admirable ' — provided that one makes a law-
9 ful use of it ; he must keep in mind that no law is ever made for honest people but for the lawless and the insubordinate, for the impious and the sinful, for the irreverent and the profane, for parricides and matri-
10 cides, murderers, immoral persons, sodomites, kidnappers, liars, per- jurers, and whatever else is con-
11 trary to sound doctrine as laid down by that glorious gospel of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.
I render thanks to Christ Jesus 12 our Lord, who has made me able for this ; he considered me trust- worthy and appointed me to the ministry, though I had formerly 13 been a blasphemer and a perse- cutor and a wanton aggressor. I obtained mercy because in my unbelief I had acted out of ignor- ance; and the grace of our Lord 14 flooded my life along with the faith and love that Christ Jesus inspires. It is a sure word, it 15 deserves all praise, that " Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners " ; and though I am the foremost of sinners, I obtained 16 mercy, for the purpose of furnishing Christ Jesus with the chief illustra- tion of his utter patience ; I was to be the typical instance of all who were to believe in him and gain eternal life. To the King of eter- 17 nity, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever : Amen.
I transmit these instructions to 18 you, Timotheus my son, in accord- ance with what the prophets said who first directed me to you ; fight the good fight on these lines, keep- 19 ing hold of faith and a good con- science. Certain individuals have scouted the good conscience and thus come to grief over their faith — including Hymenaeus and 20 Alexander, whom I have made over to Satan. That will teach them to stop their blasphemous ongoings !
261
I. TIMOTHEUS II, III
CHAT.
2 Well, my very first counsel is that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgiving, are to be offered
2 for all men — for kings and all in authority, that we may lead a tran- quil hfe in all piety and gravity;
3 it is good to pray thus, it is accept- able to our Saviour, to the God who
4 desires all men to be saved and to attain the knowledge of the Truth.
5 For "there is one God" and " one intermediary between God and men, the man Christ Jesus who gave him-
6 self as a ransom for all " : — in due time this was attested, and I was ap-
7 pointed to be its herald and apostle (I am not telhng a lie, it is quite true), to teach the Gentiles faith and truth.
8 Now I want the men to offer prayer at any meeting of the church ; and let the hands they lift to heaven be holy — they must be free
9 from anger and dissension. Women in turn are to dress modestly and quietly in seemly garb; they are not to adorn themselves with plaits of hair, with gold or pearls or ex-
10 pensive finery, but with good deeds (as befits women who make a re-
11 ligious profession). A woman must listen quietly in church and be
12 perfectly submissive ; I allow no woman to teach or dictate to men,
13 she must keep quiet. For Adam ' 14 was created first, then Eve ; and
Adam was not deceived, it was Eve who was deceived and who fell 15 into sin. However, women will get safely through childbirth if ihey continue to be faithful and loving and holy as well as unassuming. 8 It is a popular * saying that * Reading avdpu>irivos with D, the Old Latin, Ambrosiaster, and Western codices known to Jerome. It is much more easy to understand how it was altered to iricris for the sake of uniformity with i. 15, etc., than vice versa. 262
" whoever aspires to ofRce is set upon an excellent occupation." Well, for the office of a bishop a 2 man must be above reproach; he must be only married once, he must be temperate, master of himself, unruffled, hospitable, a skilled teacher, not a drunkard or violent, 3 but lenient and conciliatory, not a lover of money, able to manage 4 his own household properly and keep his children submissive and perfectly respectful (if a man does 5 not know how to manage his own household, how is he to look after the church of God?); he must not 6 be a new convert, in case he gets conceited and incurs the doom passed on the devil ; also, he must 7 have a good reputation among outsiders, in case he incurs slander and is trapped by the devil.
Deacons in turn are to be serious 8 men; they are not to be tale- bearers or addicted to drink or pilfering; they must maintain the 9 divine truth of the faith with a pure conscience. They too must be put 10 on probation ; after that, if they are above reproach, they can serve as deacons. Their wives must be 11 serious too; they must not be slanderers but temperate and ab- solutely trustworthy. Deacons are 12 only to be married once, and they must manage their children and households properly. For those 13 who do good service as deacons win a good position for themselves as well as great freedom in the faith of Christ Jesus.
Though I hope to come to you 14 before long, I am writing to you in this way, in case I am detained, 15 to let you see how people ought to behave within the household of God ; it is the church of the li\Tng God, the pillar and bulwark of the
I. TIMOTHEUS IV, V
16 Truth. And who does not admit how profound is the divine truth of our rehgion ? — it is He who was " manifest in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by the angels, preached among the nations, believed on throughout the world, taken up to glory." 4 But in later days, the Spirit distinctly declares, certain people ^vill rebel against the faith; they will listen to spirits of error and to the doctrines that daemons teach
2 through plausible sophists who are
3 seared in conscience — men who prohibit marriage and insist on abstinence from foods which God created for believing men, who understand the Truth, to partake
4 of with thanksgiving. Anything God has created is good, and nothing is to be tabooed — provided
5 it is eaten with thanksgiving, for then it is consecrated by the prayer said over it.
6 Lay this before the brotherhood, and you \vill be an excellent minis- ter of Christ Jesus, brought up on the truths of the faith and on the lessons of the good doctrine you
7 have already followed. Shut your mind against these profane, drivel- ling myths ; train for the rehgious
8 life. The training of the body is of small service, but religion is of service in all directions ; it con- tains the promise of life both for
9 the present and for the future. It is a sure word, it deserves all
10 praise, that " we toil and strive * because our hope is fixed upon the living God, the Saviour of all men " — of believers in particular.
* Reading aywi'iCStxeda with 5^* A C G K, etc. The context requires an aggressive, active verb. The " sure words " all have a more or less eschatological outlook.
Give these orders and teach these 11 lessons. Let no one slight you 12 because you are a youth, but set the believers an example of speech, behaviour, love, faith, and purity. Attend to your Scripture-reading, 1.3 your preaching, and your teaching, till I come. You have a gift that 14 came to you transmitted by the prophets, when the presbytery laid their hands upon you; do not neglect that gift. Attend to these 15 duties, let them absorb you, so that all men may note your progress. Watch yourself and watch your 16 teaching; stick to your work; if you do that, you will save your hearers as well as yourself.
Never censure an older man 5 harshly ; appeal to him as a father. Treat younger men like brothers, older women like mothers, younger 2 women like sisters — with perfect propriety.
Widows who really need it must 3 be supported from the funds. (When a widow has children or 4 grandchildren, they must learn that the first duty of religion is to their own household, and that they should make some return to those who have brought them up. In God's sight this is an acceptable thing.) The really forlorn widow 5 has her hope fixed on God, night and day she is at her prayers and supplications ; whereas the widow 6 who plunges into dissipation is dead before ever she dies. So lay down 7 the following rules, to prevent any reproach being incurred. Who- 8 ever does not provide for his own relatives and particularly for his own family, has repudiated the faith : he is worse than an infidel. No one under sixty is to be put 9 on the church's list of widows ; and she must have been only once
263
I. TIMOTHEUS VI
10 married, she must have a reputa- tion for good service, as a woman who has brought up children, shown hospitahty, washed the feet of the saints, reheved distress, and interested herself in all good works.
11 Refuse to put young widows on the list, for when their wanton desires alienate them from Christ, they
12 want to marry and thus are guilty of breaking their first troth
13 to Him. Besides, they become idle unconsciously * by gadding about from one house to another — and not merely idle but gossips and busybodies, repeating things they have no right to mention.
14 So I prefer young widows to marry again, to bear children, to look after their households, and not to afford our opponents any chance of
15 reviling us. As it is, some widows have already turned after Satan. —
16 Any believer, man or woman, who has widowed relatives, must give them relief; the church is not to be burdened with them; she has to relieve the widows who really need relief.
17 Presbyters who are efficient presi- dents are to be considered worthy of ample remuneration, particularly those who have the task of preach-
18 ing and teaching : Scripture says. You must not muzzle an ox when he is treading the grain, and A work- man deserves his wages.
19 Never let any charge be brought against a presbyter, unless it is certified by two or three witnesses.
20 Those who are guilty of sin you must expose in public, to over- awe the others.
21 In the presence of God and the
* I accept the conjecture XavOdvovcri for the navddvovat of the canonical text, which makes the grammatical construction very awkward. 264
Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels, I adjure you to be unpreju- diced in carrying out these orders ; be absolutely impartial.
Never be in a hurry to ordain a 22 presbyter; do not make yourself responsible for the sins of another man — keep your own life pure.f Some people's sins are notorious 24 and call for judgment, but in some cases sin only comes out afterwards. Good works are equally conspi- 25 cuous ; and even when they are not, they cannot escape notice for ever.
Let all servants who are under 6 the yoke of slavery remember that their masters are entitled to per- fect respect — otherwise it will be a scandal to the Name of God and to our doctrine. Those who have 2 Christian believers as their masters must not take liberties with them because they are brothers; they must be all the better servants because those who get the good of their service are believers and beloved.
This is what you are to teach and preach. Anyone who teaches 3 novelties and refuses to fall in with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the doctrine that tallies with piety, is a conceited, ignorant 4 creature, with a morbid passion for controversy and argument which only leads to envy, dissen- sion, insults, insinuations, and con- 5 stant friction between people who are depraved in mind and de- prived of the Truth. They imagine religion is a paying concern. And 6 so it is — provided it goes with a
•f The words, " Give up being a total abstainer; take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and yovir frequent attacks of illness," which follow, are either a marginal gloss or misplaced.
I. TIMOTHEUS VI
7 8 9
10
11 12
13
^4
il5
contented spirit; for we bring nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. If we have food and clothes, we must be con- tent with that. Those who are eager to be rich get tempted and trapped in many senseless and pernicious propensities that drag men down to ruin and destruction. For love of money is the root of all mischief; it is by aspiring to be rich that certain individuals have gone astray from the faith and found themselves pierced with many a pang of remorse. Shun that, O man of God, aim at integrity, piety, faith, love, stedfastness, and suavity ; fight in the good fight of the faith, secure that life eternal to which you were called when you voiced the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the presence of God who is the Life of all, and of Christ Jesus who testified to the good confession be- fore Pontius Pilate, I charge you to keep your commission free from stain, free from reproach, till the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ — which will be brought about in due time by that blessed and only
Sovereign, King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, 16 who dwells in light that none can approach, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honour and eternal power: Amen.
Charge the rich of this world not 17 to be supercilious, and not to fix their hopes on so uncertain a thing as riches but on the living God who richly provides us with all the enjoyments of life; tell them to be 18 bountiful, rich in good works, open- handed and generous, amassing 19 right good * treasure for them- selves in the world to come, in order to secure the life which is life indeed.
O Timotheus, keep the securities 20 of the faith intact : avoid the profane jargon and contradictions of what is falsely called ' Know- ledge.' Certain individuals have 21 failed in the faith by professing that.
Grace be with you. [Amen.]
* For 6€/jLf\iov I accept the attractive conjecture 6(/j.a \iav, in view of the close parallel in Tobit iv. 9-10 (ef/xa yap ayadhv 0T}(Tavpi^fii aeavTCfi els rifJiepav avdyKris • StSri i\eriixoffvvr] iK Bavirov pverai).
265
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO
TIMOTHEUS
1 Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God in the ser- vice of the Life he has promised in
2 Christ Jesus — to his beloved son Timotheus : grace, mercy, peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
8 I render thanks to God, the God of my fathers whom I worship with a pure conscience, as I mention you
4 constantly in my prayers. When I recall the tears you shed when we parted, I long by night and day to see you again. That would fill
5 me with joy, for I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, as it dwells (I feel sure) in yourself.
6 Hence I would remind you to re- kindle the divine gift which you received when my hands were laid
7 upon you ; for God has not given us a timid spirit but a spirit of power
8 and love and discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify to our Lord, and do not be ashamed of a prisoner of the Lord like me; join me in bearing suffering for the gospel by
9 the power of the God who has saved us and called us to a life of consecra- tion— not for anything we have done but because he chose to do it him- self, by the grace which he gave us
10 ages ago in Christ Jesus and has now revealed in the appearance of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who has put down death and brought life and immortality to light by the
11 gospel. Of that gospel I have been
266
appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, and this is why I 12 am suffering. Still, I am not ashamed of it; I know whom I have trusted and I am certain he is able to keep what I have put into his hands till the great Day.
Model yourself on the sound 13 instruction you have had from me in the faith and love of Christ Jesus. Keep the great securities of your 14 faith intact, by aid of the holy Spirit that dwells ^vithin us. You 15 are aware that all the Asiatics have discarded me, including Phj^gelus and Hermogenes. May the Lord 16 show favour to the household of Onesiphorus, for many a time he braced me up ; he was not ashamed of my imprisonment — no, he made 17 eager search for me when he reached Rome, and he found me (may he 18 find favour with the Lord on the great Day ! The Lord grant it !). And you know very well what a help he was to me in Ephesus.
Now, my son, be strong in the 2 grace of Christ Jesus, and trans- 2 mit the instructions I gave you in presence of many Avitnesses to trustworthy men, that they may be competent to teach others. Join 3 the ranks of those who bear suffer- ing, like a loyal soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled 4 in civil pursuits ; his aim is to satisfy his commander. Again, a 5 competitor in the games is not crowned unless he observes the rules. The farmer who has done the work 6
II. TIMOTHEUS III
8 9
10
11 12
13 14
15
16
17 ^8
10
must have the first share of the fruit. Think what I mean ! The Lord will help you to understand perfectly.
Never forget " Jesus Christ risen from the dead, descended from Da\id " — that is my gospel, for which I have to suffer imprison- ment as if I were a criminal. (But there is no prison for the word of God.) All I endure is for the sake of the elect, to let them get their share of the salvation of Christ Jesus and also of eternal glory. It is a sure word, that " If we have died ^vith him, we will live with him,
if we endure, then we will reign with him,
if we disown him, then he will disown us,
if we are faithless, he remains faithful "— for he cannot be untrue to himself.
Remind men of this ; adjure them before the Lord not to bandy arguments — no good comes out of that, it only means the undoing of your audience. Do your utmost to let God see that you at least are a sound workman, with no need to be ashamed of the way you handle the word of the Truth. Avoid all that profane jargon, for it leads people still further into irre- ligion, and their doctrine spreads Hke a gangrene. So it is with Hymenaeus and Philetus; they have failed in the Truth by arguing that the resurrection has taken place already, and they are under- mining some people's faith. But the solid foundation laid by God remains, and this is its inscription :
the Lord knows who are his, and
' let everyone who names the name of the Lord give up evil.'
In any great house there are indeed 20 vessels not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for noble, some for menial service. If one ^^ill only keep clear of the 21 latter, he will be put to noble use, he will be consecrated and useful to the Owner of the House, he will be set apart for good work of all kinds. So shun the lusts of youth 22 and aim at integrity, faith, love and peace, in the company of those who invoke the Lord out of a pure heart. Shut your mind against 23 foohsh, popular controversy; be sure that only breeds strife. And 24 the Lord's servant must not be a man of strife ; he must be kind to everybody, a skilled teacher, a man who will not resent injuries; he 26 must be gentle in his admonitions to the opposition — God may per- haps let them change their mind and admit the Truth ; they may 26 come to their senses again and escape the snare of the devil, as they are brought back to life by God to do his will.
Mark this, there are hard times 3 coming in the last days. For men 2 will be selfish, fond of money, boast- ful, haughty, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, ir- reverent, callous, relentless, scur- 3 rilous, dissolute, and savage ; they will hate goodness, they vnW be 4 treacherous, reckless and conceited, preferring pleasure to God — for 6 though they keep up a form of religion, they will have nothing to do with it as a force. Avoid all such. Some of them worm their 6 way into families and get hold of the women-folk who feel crushed by the burden of their sins — way- ward creatures of impulse, who are 7
267
II. TIMOTHEUS IV
always curious to learn and never able to attain the knowledge of the
8 Truth. For these guides of theirs are hostile to the Truth, just as Jannes and Jambres were hostile to Moses; they are depraved in mind and useless for all pur-
9 poses of faith. However, they will get no further, for their aber- ration will be detected by every- one, as was the case with these magicians.
10 Now you have followed my teach- ing, my practice, my aims, my faith, my patience, my love, my stedfast-
11 ness, my persecutions, my sufferings — all that befell me at Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, all the persecu- tions I had to undergo, from which
12 the Lord rescued me. Yes, and all who want to live the religious life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
13 Bad characters and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and deceived themselves ;
14 but hold you to what you have been taught, hold to your convictions, remember who your teachers were,
15 remember you have known from childhood the sacred writings that can impart saving wisdom by faith
16 in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for amend-
17 ment, and for moral discipline, to make the man of God proficient and equip him for good work of every kind.
4 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who will judge the living and the dead, in the hght of his appearance and his reign, I ad-
2 jure you to preach the M'ord ; keep at it in season and out of season, refuting, checking, and exhorting men ; never lose patience with them, and never give up your teach-
8 ing, for the time will come when 268
people will decline to be taught sound doctrine and \vill accumulate teachers to suit themselves and tickle their own fancies ; they will 4 give up listening to the Truth and turn to myths.
Whatever happens, be self-pos- 5 sessed, flinch from no suffering, do your work as an evangehst, and discharge all your duties as a minister.
The last drops of my own sacri- 6 fice are falling ; my time to go has come. I have fought in the good 7 fight; I have run my course; I have kept the faith. Now the 8 crown of a good life awaits me, with which the Lord, that just Judge, will reward me on the great Day — and not only me but all who have loved and longed for his appearance.
Do your best to come soon to 9 me, for Demas, in his love for this 10 world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica ; Crescens is off to Gaul, Titus to Dalmatia, Luke 11 is the only one who is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him along with you, for he is of great use in helping me. (I have had 12 to send Tychicus to Ephesus.) When you come, bring the mantle 13 I left at Troas with Carpus, also my books, and particularly my paper.
Alexander the blacksmith has 14 done me a lot of harm : the Lord will pay him hack for what he has done (beware of him), for he has 15 been bitterly hostile to anything I have said. The first time I had 16 to defend myself, I had no sup- porters; everyone deserted me. God grant it may not be brought up against them ! But the Lord 17 supported me and gave me strength to make a full statement of the
II. TIMOTHEUS IV
gospel and let all the heathen hear it. I was rescued from the jaws of 18 the lion. The Lord will rescue me from every assault of evil, he will bring me safe to his own realm in heaven. To him be glory for ever and ever ! Amen.
Salute Prisca and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus.
19
Erastus stayed on at Corinth : 20 I left Trophimus ill at Miletus. Do your best to come before %vinter. 21
Eubulus salutes you ; so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brotherhood.
The Lord Jesus be with your 22 spirit.
Grace be with you all.
269
>ii
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL IX)
TITUS
COAT.
1 Paul a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and for their know- ledge of the Truth that goes with
2 a religious Ufe, serving in hope of the life eternal which God, who
3 never lies, promised ages ago — he gave effect to his word in due time by a proclamation with which I have been entrusted by command
4 of God our Saviour :— to Titus my lawful son in a faith we hold in common; grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.
5 I left you behind in Crete in order to finish putting things right and to appoint presbyters in every
6 town as I told you, men who are above reproach, only once married, with children who beUeve and who are not liable to the charge of being profligate or insubordinate.
7 [For a bishop must be above re-
E roach — he is a steward of God's ouse — he must not be presump- tuous or hot-tempered or a drunkard or violent or addicted to pilfering ;
8 he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, master of himself, a just man, a religious man, and ab-
9 stemious ; he must hold by the sure truths of doctrine so as to be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and refute objections
10 raised by any.] ♦ For there are plenty of insubordinate creatures
* This passage seems to have been added, rather awkwardly, to the original text. 270
who impose on people with their empty arguments, particularly those who have come over from Judaism ; they must be silenced, for they H are undermining whole families by teaching objectionable doctrine for the base end of making money. It 12 has been said by one of them- selves, by a prophet of their own, that— " Cretans are always liars, evil
beasts, lazy gluttons." That is a true statement. So deal 13^ sharply with them, to make them sound in the faith instead of 1 t studying Jewish myths and rules laid down by men who have dis- covered the Truth. For the pure 15 all things are pure, but nothing is pure for the polluted and un- believing ; their very mind and con- science are polluted. They profess 16 to know God but they deny him by their deeds; they are detest- able, disobedient, and useless for good work of any kind.
CH
You must instruct people in 2 what is due to sound doctrine. Tell 2 the older men to be temperate, serious, masters of themselves, sound in faith, in love, and in sted- fastness. Tell the older women 3 also to be reverent in their de- meanour and not to be slanderers or slaves to drink; they must give good counsel, so that the 4 yoimg women may be trained to love their husbands and children,
TITUS III
5 to be mistress of themselves, chaste, domestic, kind, and submissive to their husbands — otherwise it will
6 be a scandal to the gospel. Tell the young men also to be masters
7 of themselves at all points ; set them an example of good conduct ; be sincere and serious in your teach-
8 ing, let your words be sound and such that no exception can be taken to them, so that the opposite side may be confounded by finding no- thing that they can say to our dis-
9 credit. Tell servants to be sub- missive to their masters and to give them satisfaction all round, not to be refractory, not to embezzle,
10 but to prove themselves truly faithful at all points, so as to be an ornament to the doctrine of God
11 our Saviour in all respects. For the grace of God has appeared to
12 save all men, and it schools us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions and to hve a life of self- mastery, of integrity, and of piety
13 in this present world, awaiting the blessed hope of the appearance of the Glory of the great God and
14 of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who gave himself up for us to redeem us from all iniquity and secure himself a clean people with a zest for good works.
15 Tell them all this, exhort and reprove, with full authority; let no one slight you.
3 Remind them to be submissive to their rulers and authorities ; they must obey, they must be ready for
2 any good work, they must abuse no one, they must not quarrel but be conciliatory and display perfect
8 gentleness to all men. For we our- selves were once senseless, disobe-
dient, astray, enslaved to all man- ner of passions and pleasures; we spent our days in mahce and envy, we were hateful, and we hated one another. But " the goodness and 4 affection of God our Saviour ap- peared; and he saved us, not for 5 anything we had done but from his own pity for us, by the water that means regeneration and re- newal under the holy Spirit which 6 he poured upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, that we 7 might be justified by his grace and become heirs to the hope of life eternal." It is a sure saying. 8
I want you to insist on this, that those who have faith in God must profess honest occupations. Such counsels are right and good for men. But avoid foolish con- 9 troversy, and let genealogies and dissensions and strife over the Law alone, for these are fruitless and futile.
After a first and a second warning 10 have no more to do with a factious person ; you may be sure a man like 11 that is perverted ; he is sinning and he knows it.
Whenever I send Artemas or 12 Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to winter there. Give a 13 heart}^ send-off to Zenas the lawyer and Apollos ; see that they want for nothing. Our people must 14 really learn to profess honest occu- pations, so as to be able to meet such special occasions; they must not be idle.
All who are with me salute you. 15
Salute those who love us in the faith.
Grace be with you all.
271
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO
PHILEMON
1 Paul a prisoner of Jesus Christ and brother Timotheus, to our be-
2 loved fellow-worker Philemon, to our sister Apphia, to our fellow- soldier Archippus, and to the church
3 that meets in your house : grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank my God when I
5 mention you in my prayers ; for as I hear of your love and loyalty to the Lord Jesus and to all the
6 saints, I pray that by their partici- pation in your loyal faith they may have a vivid sense of how much good we * Christians can attain.
7 I have had great joy and en- couragement over your love, my brother, over the way you have refreshed the hearts of the saints.
8 Hence, although in Christ I would feel quite free to order you to do
9 your duty, I prefer to appeal to you on the ground of love. Well then, as Paul the old man, who now-a- days is a prisoner for Christ Jesus,
10 I appeal to you on behalf of my spiritual son born while I was in
11 prison. It is Onesimus! Once you found him a worthless character, but now-a-days he is worth something
12 to you and me. I am sending him back to you, and parting with my
* Reading ^^Tv instead of vfiiv. As Lightfoot observes, " scribes would be strongly tempted to alter rifiiv into vfjuv from a misapprehension of the sense, and a wish to apply the words to Philemon and his household." 272
very heart. I would have liked to 13 keep him beside me, that as your deputy he might serve me during my imprisonment for the gospel; but 14 I did not want to do anything ^^^th- out your consent, so that your good- ness to me might come of your own free will, without any appearance of constraint.
Perhaps this was why you and 15 he were parted for a while, that you might get him back for good, no 16 longer a mere slave but something more than a slave — a beloved brother; especially dear to me but how much more to you as a man and as a Christian ! You count me 17 a partner? Then receive him as you would receive me, and if he has 18 cheated you of any money or owes you any sum, put that down to my account. This is in my own hand- 19 writing : * I Paul promise to refund it ' — not to mention that you owe me, over and above, your very soul. Come, brother, let me have 2C some return from you in the Lord ! Refresh my heart in Christ.
I send you this letter relying on 21 your obedience; I know you will do even more than I tell you. And 22 get quarters ready for me, for I am hoping that by your prayers I will be restored to you.
Epaphras my fellow-prisoner in 2S Christ Jesus salutes you. So do 24 Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow-workers.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 2£ be with your spirit. Amen,
THE EPISTLE TO THE
HEBREWS
OBAP.
1 Many were the forms and fashions in which God spoke of old to
2 our fathers by the prophets, but in these days at the end he has spoken to us by a Son — a Son whom he appointed heir of the universe as it was by him that
3 he created the world. He, reflect- ing God's bright glory and stamped with God's own character, sustains the universe with his word of power. When he had secured our purifi- cation from sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on
4 high. And thus he is superior to the angels, as he has inherited a Name
5 superior to theirs. For to what angel did God ever say,
' Thou art my son,
to-day have I become thy father ' ? Or again, ' 1 will be a father to him,
and he will be a son to me ' ?
6 And further, when introducing the Firstborn into the world, he says,
' Let all God's angels worship him.'
7 While he says of angels,
' Who makes his angels into winds, his servants into flames of fire,'
8 he says of the Son,
' God is thy throne for ever and ever, thy royal sceptre is the sceptre of equity :
9 thou hast loved justice and hated
lawlessness, *
therefore God, thy God, has con- secrated thee
•with the oil of rejoicing beyond thy comrades ' —
* Roading avoixiav instead of iSiKlav. T
and, 10
' I'hoii didst found the earth at the beginning, 0 Lord,
and the heavens are the zvork of thy hands ;
they will perish, but thou re- 11 mainest,
they zvill all be worn out like a garment,
thou wilt roll them up like a mantle 12 and f they will be changed,
but thou art the same,
and thy years will never faiV To what angel did he ever say, 13
' Sit at my right hand,
till I put your enemies under your feet ' .? Are not all angels merely spirits in 14 the divine service, commissioned for the benefit of those who are to in- herit salvation ?
We must therefore pay closer 2 attention to what we have heard, in case we drift away. For if the 2 divine word spoken by angels held good, if transgression and disobedi- ence met with due punishment in every case, how shall we escape 3 the penalty for neglecting a salva- tion which was originally proclaimed by the Lord himself and guaranteed to us by those who heard him, while 4 God corroborated their testimony with signs and wonders and a variety of miraculous powers, distributing the holy Spirit as it pleased him.
For the world to come, of which 5 I am speaking, was not put under
t Omitting [its tudnov], which has be«n repeated from the previous line.
273
HEBREWS III
6 the control of angels. One writer, as we know, has affirmed,
What is man, that thou art mind- ful of him ? or the son of man, that thou carest for him ?
7 For a little while thou hast 'put
him lower than the angels, crowning him with glory and honour,
8 putting all things under his feet. Now by putting all things under him the writer meant to leave nothing out of his control. But, as it is, we do not yet see all things controlled by
9 man ; what we do see is Jesus who was put lower than the angels for a little while to suffer death, and who ^ has been crowned with glory and honour thoX by God's grace he might.
10 taste death for everyone. In bring- ing many sons to glory, it was befit- ting that He for whom and by whom the universe exists, should perfect the Pioneer of their salvation by
11 suffering. For sanctifier and sanc- tified have all one origin. That is why he is not ashamed to call them
12 brothers, saying,
' / will proclaim thy name to my
brothers, in the midst of the church I will sing of thee,''
13 and again,
' / will put my trust in him,^ and again,
' Here am I and the children God has given me.*
14 Since the children then share blood and flesh, he himself participated in their nature, so that by dying he might crush him who wields the power of death (that is to say, the
15 devil) and release from thraldom those who lay under a life-long
16 fear of death. (For of course it is not angels that he succours, it is
17 the offspring of Abraham.) He had '
274
to resemble his brothers in every respect, in order to prove a mer- ciful and faithful high priest in things divine, to expiate the sins of the People. It is as he suffered 18 by his temptations that he is able to help the tempted.
CHAP.
Holy brothers, you who partici- 3 pate in a heavenly calling, look at Jesus then at the apostle and high priest of our confession ; he is faith- 2 f ul to Him who appointed him. For while Moses also was faithful in every department of God^s house, Jesus has 3 been adjudged greater glory than Moses, inasmuch as the founder of a house enjoys greater honour than the house itself. (Every house is 4 founded by someone, but God is the founder of all.) Besides, while 5 Moses was faithful in every depart- ment of God^s house as an attendant — by way of witness to the coming revelation — Christ is faithful as a 6 Son over God's house.
Now we are this house of God, if we will only keep confident and proud of our hope.* Therefore, as 7 the holy Spirit says.
To-day, when you hear his voice, harden not your hearts as at the 8
Provocation, on the day of the Temptation in the desert, where your fathers put me to the 9 proof, and for forty years felt what I could do. Therefore I grew exasperated with 10 that generation, I said, ' They are always astray
in their heart '.' They would not learn my ways ;
• Omitting /J.exP^ rtXavs ^i^aiav, which has probably been inserted from ver. 14, where the same words occur in a similar ooanexioD.
HEBREWS IV, V
11 80 I swore in my anger,
' they shall never enter my Rest.''
12 Brothers, take care in case there is a wicked, unbeheving heart in any of you, moving you to apostatize
13 from the living God. Rather ad- monish one another daily, so long as this word To-day is uttered, that none of you may be deceived
14 by sin and hardened. For we only participate in Christ provided that we keep firm to the very end the confidence with which we started,
15 this word ever sounding in our ears,
To-day, when you hear his voice, harden not your hearts as at the Provocation.
16 Who heard and yet provoked him? Was it not all who left Egypt under
17 the leadership of Moses ? And with whom was he exasperated for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the
18 desert ? And to whom did he swear that they would never enter his Rest? To whom but those who disobeyed ? Thus we see it was owing to unbelief
4 that they could not enter. Well
then, as the promise of entrance is still left to us, let us be afraid of anyone being judged to have
2 missed it. For we have had the good news as well as they; only, the message they heard was of no use to them, because it did not meet with * faith in the hearers.
3 For we do enter the Rest by our faith : according to his word,
As I swore in my anger, they shall never enter my Rest — although his works were all over by
4 the foundation of the world. For he says this somewhere about the seventh day : And God rested from all his works on the seventh day.
Reading avyKeKfpaa-fifvos or avyKSKpa- txivos with N, the Old Latin, the Peahitto, etc.
And again in this passage, they shall 5 never enter my Rest. Since then it 6 is reserved for some to enter it, and since those who formerly got the good news failed to enter owing to their disobedience, he again fixes 7 a day; To-day — as he says in ' David ' after so long an interval, and as has been already quoted —
To-day, when you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts. Thus if Joshua had given them 8 Rest, God would not speak later about another day. There is a 9 sabbath-Rest then reserved still for the People of God (for once a man 10 enters his rest, he rests from work just as God did).
Let us be eager then to enter that 11 Rest, in case anyone falls into the same sort of disobedience. For the 12 Logos of God is a living thing, active and more cutting than any sword with double edge, penetrating to the very division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow — scrutin- izing the very thoughts and concep- tions of the heart. And no created 13 thing is hidden from him ; all things lie open and exposed before the eyes of him with whom we have to reckon.
As we have a great high priest, 14 then, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession ; for ours 15 is no high priest who is incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every respect hke ourselves, yet without siiming. So let us approach 16 the throne of grace with confidence, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in the hour of need.
Every high priest who is selected 5 from men and appointed to act on
275
HEBREWS VI
behalf of men in things divine, offering gifts and sacrifices for sins,
2 can deal gently with those who err through ignorance, since he him-
3 self is beset with weakness — which obliges him to present offerings for his own sins as well as for those of
4 the People. Also, it is an office which no one elects to take for him- self; he is called to it by God, just
5 as Aaron was. Similarly Christ was not raised to the glory of the high priesthood by himself but by Him who declared to him,
lliou art my son,
to-day have I become thy father.
6 Just as elsewhere he says,
Thou art a priest for ever, with the rank of Melchizedek.
7 In the days of his flesh, with bitter cries and tears, he offered prayers and supplications to Him who was able to save him from death ; and he was heard because of his godly
8 fear. Thus, Son though he was, he learned by all he suffered how
9 to obey, and by being thus perfected he became the source of eternal
10 salvation for all who obey him, be- ing designated by God high priest with the rank of Melchizedek.
11 On this point I have a great deal to say, which it is hard to make intelligible to you. For you have
12 grown dull of hearing. Though by this time you should be teaching other people, you still need some- one to teach you once more the rudimentary principles of the divine revelation. You are in need of
13 milk, not of solid food. (For any- one who is fed on milk is un- skilled in moral truth; he is a
14 mere babe. Whereas solid food is for the mature, for those who have their faculties trained by exercise to distinguish good and evil.)
276
Let us pass on then to what 6 is mature, leaving elementary Christian doctrine behind, instead of laying the foundation over again with repentance from dead works, with faith in God, with instruction about ablutions and the laying on of hands, about the resurrection of the dead and eternal punishment. With God's permission, we will take this step.* For in the case of people 4 who have been once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly Gift, who participated in the holy Spirit, who tasted the goodness of God's word and the powers of the world to come, and then fell away — it is 6 impossible to make them repent afresh, since they crucify the Son of God in their own persons and hold him up to obloquy. For land which absorbs the rain that often falls on it, and bears plants that are useful to those for whom it is tilled, receives a blessing from God; whereas, if it produces thorns and 8 thistles, it is reprobate and on the verge of being cursed — its fate is to be burned.
Though I say this, beloved, I feel sure you will take the better course that means salvation. God is not 10 unfair ; he will not forget what you have done, or the love you have shown for his sake in ministering, as you still do, to the saints. It is II my heart's desire that each of you would prove equally keen upon real- izing your full hope to the very end, 12 so that instead of being slack you may imitate those who inherit the promises by their stedfast faith. For in making a promise to Abra- 13 ham God swore by himself (since he could swear by none greater), / will 14 indeed bless you and multiply you.
* Reading Troffia-ofj.ev with X B, the Latin version, etc., instead of woiiiaccf^tv.
HEBREWS VII
15 Thus it was that Abraham by his stedfastness obtained what he had
16 been promised. For as men swear by a greater than themselves, and as an oath means to them a guarantee
17 that ends any dispute, God, in his desire to afford the heirs of the Promise a special proof of the solid character of his purpose, interposed
118 with an oath; so that by these two solid facts "(the Promise and the Oath), where it is impossible for God to be false, we refugees might have strong encouragement to seize the
il9 hope set before us, anchoring the soul to it safe and sure, as it enters the inner Presence behind the veil.
:20 Tl ere Jesus entered for us in ad- vance, when he became high priest for ever with the rank of Melckizedek.
'1 For Melchizedek, the king of Salem, a priest of the Most High God, who 7net Abraham on his return from the slaughter of the kings and
2 blessed him — who had a tenth part of everything assigned him by Abraham — this Melchizedek is prim- arily a king of righteousness (that is the meaning of his name); then, besides that, king of Salem (which
3 means, king of peace). He has neither father nor mother nor genealogy, neither a beginning to his days nor an end to his life, but, resembling the Son of God, con- tinues to be priest permanently.
4 Now mark the dignity of this man. The patriarch Abraham paid him a
5 tenth of the spoils. Those sons of Levi who receive the priestly office are indeed ordered by law to tithe the people (that is, their brothers), although the latter are descended
6 from Abraham ; but he who had no Levitical genealogy actually tithed Abraham and blessed the possessor
7 of the promises ! (And there is no question that it is the inferior who
is blessed by the superior.) Again, 8 it is mortal men in the one case who receive tithes, while in the other it is one of whom the witness is that * he lives.' In fact, we might 9 almost say that even Levi the re- ceiver of tithes paid tithes through Abraham; for he was still in the 10 loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. Further, if the Levitical 11 priesthood had been the means of reaching perfection (for it was on the basis of that priesthood that the Law was enacted for the People), why was it still necessary for another sort of priest to emerge with the rank of Melchizedek, instead of simply tvith the rank of Aaron 12 (for when the priesthood is changed, a change of law necessarily follows) ? He who is thus described belongs 13 to another tribe, no member of which ever devoted himself to the altar ; for it is evident that our 14 Lord sprang from Judah, and Moses never mentioned priesthood in connexion with that tribe. This 15 becomes all the more plain when another priest emerges resembling Melchizedek, one who has become 16 a priest by the power of an indis- soluble Life and not by the law of an external command ; for the witness 17 to him is,
Thou art priest for ever, with the rank of Melchizedek. A previous command is set aside 18 on account of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made 19 nothing perfect), and there is in- troduced a better Hope, by means of which we can draw near to God. A better Hope, because it 20 was not promised apart from an oath. Previous priests became 21 priests apart from any oath, but he has an oath from Him who said to him,
277
HEBREWS VIII
The Lord has sxvorn, and he will
not change his mind, thou art a priest for ever.
22 And this makes Jesus surety for a
23 superior covenant. Also, while they became priests in large nimibers, since death prevents them from
24 continuing to serve, he holds his priesthood without any successor,
25 since he continues for ever. Hence for all time he is able to save those who approach God through him, as he is always living to intercede on their behalf.
26 Such was the liigh priest for us, saintly, innocent, unstained, lifted high above the heavens, far from
27 all contact with the sinful, one who has no need, like yonder high priests, day by day to offer sacri- fices first for their own sins and then for those of the People — he did that once for all in offering up
28 himself. For the Law appoints human beings in their weakness to the priesthood ; but the word of the Oath appoints a Son who is made perfect for ever.
8 The point* of all this is, we do have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne
2 of Majesty in the heavens, and who officiates in the sanctuary or true tabernacle set up by the Lord and not
3 by man. Now, as every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacri- fices, he too must have something to
4 offer. Were he on earth, he would not be a priest at all, for there are priests already to offer the gifts
5 prescribed by Law (men who serve a mere outline and shadow of the heavenly — as Moses was instructed, when he was about to execute the building of the tabernacle : see, God
* Or, as Coverdale translates, "the pith." "All this" means "all the previous argu- ment."
278
said, that you make everything on the pattern shozvn you upon the moun- tain). As it is, however, the divine 6 service he has obtained is superior, owing to the fact that he mediates a superior covenant, enacted with superior promises. For if the first 7 covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second. Whereas God does find fault 8 \Aith the people of that covenant, when he says :
The day is coming, saith the Lord, when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be on the lines of the covenant I made with their fathers. Oil the day I took them by the hand 9
to lead out of Egypt's land; for they would not hold to my
covenant, so I let them alone,^ saith the
Lord.
This is the covenant I will make 10 ivith the house of Israel when that day comes, saith the Lord ; I will set my laws within their
mind, inscribing them upon their hearts ; I zvill be a God to them, and they shall be a People to me ; one citizen will no longer teach his 11
fellow, one man will no longer teach his
brother, saying, ' Knoiv the Lord,^ for all ivill knozv me, low and high
together.
I will be merciful to their iniquities, 12 and remember their sins no more. By saving 'a new covenant,' he 13 antiquates the first. And whatever is antiquated and aged is on the verge of vanishing.
t The same Greek word as is translated " neglected " in ii. 3.
HEBREWS IX
9 The first covenant had indeed its regulations for worship and a
2 material sanctuary. A tent was set up, the outer tent, containing the lampstand, the table, and the loaves of the Presence ; this is called
3 the Holy place. But behind the second veil was the tent called
4 the Holy of Holies, containing the golden altar of incense, and also the ark of the covenant covered all over with gold, which held the golden pot of manna, the rod of Aaron that once blossomed, and the
5 tablets of the covenant ; above this were the cherubims of the Glory, overshadowing the mercy seat — matters which it is impossible for me to discuss at present in detail.
6 Such were the arrangements for worship. The priests constantly enter the first tent, in the discharge
7 of their ritual duties, but the second tent is entered only once a year by the high priest alone — and it must not be without blood, which he presents on behalf of himself and
8 the errors of the People. By this the holy Spirit means that the way into the Holiest Presence was not disclosed so long as the first tent
9 (which foreshadowed the present age) was still standing, with its offerings of gifts and sacrifices which cannot possibly make the conscience of the worshipper per-
10 feet, since they relate merely to food and drink and a variety of ablutions — outward regulations for the body, that only hold till the
11 period of the New Order. But when Christ arrived as the high priest of the bliss that was to be, he passed through the greater and more per- fect tent which no hands had made (no part, that is to say, of the pre-
12 sent order), not taking any blood
of goats and oxen but his own blood, and entered once for all into the Holy place. He secured an eternal redemption. For if the blood of 13 goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled on defiled persons, give them a holiness that bears on bodily purity, how much more will 14 the blood of Christ, who in the spirit of the eternal offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve a living God? He 15 mediates a new covenant for this reason, that those who have been called may obtain the eternal in- heritance they have been promised, now that a death has occurred which redeems them from the trans- gressions involved in the first cove- nant. Thus in the case of a will, 16 the death of the testator must be announced. A will only holds in 17 cases of death; it is never valid so long as the testator is alive. Hence even the first covenant of 18 God's will was not inaugurated apart from blood ; for after Moses 19 had announced every command in the Law to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, to- gether with water, scarlet wool and hyssop, sprinkling the book and all the people, and saying. This is 20 the blood of that covenant which is God's command for you. He even 21 sprinlded with blood the tent and all the utensils of worship in the same way. In fact, one might 22 almost say that by Law everything is cleansed with blood. No blood shed, no remission of sins ! Now, 23 while the copies of the heavenly things had to be cleansed with sacrifices like these, the heavenly things themselves required nobler sacrifices. For Christ has not en- 24 tered a holy place which human
279
HEBREWS X
hands have made (a mere type of the reaUty !) ; he has entered heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
25 of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, hke the high priest entering the holy place every year with blood that was
26 not his own : — for in that case he would have had to suffer repeatedly, ever since the world Avas founded. Nay, once for all, at the end of the world, he has appeared with his
27 self-sacrifice to abolish sin. And just as it is appointed for men to die once and after that to be
28 judged, so Christ, after being once sacrificed to bear the sins of many, will appear again, not to deal with sin but for the saving of those who look out* for him.
10 For as the Law has a mere shadow of the bliss that is to be, instead of representing the reality of that bliss, it can never perfect those who draw near with the same annual sacrifices that are perpetu-
2 ally offered. Otherwise, they would surely have ceased to be offered ; for the worshippers, once cleansed, would no longer be conscious of
3 sins ! As it is, they are an annual
4 reminder of sins (for the blood of bulls and goats cannot possibly
5 remove sins !). Hence, on entering the world he says.
Thou hast no desire for sacrifice or offering ; it is a body thou hast prepared for me —
6 in holocausts and sin-offerings
thou takest no delight.
7 So I said, ' Here I come — in the
roll of the book this is written of me — / come to do thy will, O God.''
* Paul's word in Phil. iii. 20 ; but I trans- late " look out " here, in order to suggest the antithesis in x. 27. 280
He begins by saying, thou hast no 8 desire for, thou takest no delight in, sacrifices and offerings and holocausts and sin-offerings (and these are what are offered in terms of the Law) ; he then adds, Here I come to 9 do thy will. He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And it is by this ivill that 10 we are consecrated, because Jesus Christ once for all has offered up his body.
Again, while every priest t stands 11 daily at his service, offering the same sacrifices repeatedly, sacri- fices which never can take sins away — He offered a single sacri- 12 fice for sins and then seated him- self for all time at the right hand of God, to wait until his enemies are 13 put under his feet. For by a single 14 offering he has made the sanctified perfect for all time. Besides, we 15 have the testimony of the holy Spirit ; for after saying.
This is the covenant I will make 16 with them when that day comes, saith the Lord,
I will set my laws upon their hearts,
inscribing them upon their minds, he adds,
And their sins and breaches of the 17 laiv I zvill remember no more. Now where these are remitted, an 18 offering for sin exists no longer.
Brothers, since we have confi- 19 dence to enter the holy Presence in virtue of the blood of Jesus, by 20 the fresh, living way which he has inaugurated for us through the veil (that is, through his flesh), and since 21 we have a great Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with 22 a true heart, in absolute assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean
t Beading hpsvs instead of apx^^ptvs.
HEBREWS XI
from a bad conscience, and our bodies
23 washed in pure water; let us hold the hope we avow without wavering (for we can rely on him who gave
24 us the Promise) ; and let us consider how to stir up one another to love
25 and good deeds — not ceasing to meet together, as is the habit of some, but admonishing one another, all the more so, as you see the Day com-
26 ing near. For if we sin deliberatel}^ after receiving the knowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacri-
27 fice for sins left, nothing but an awful outlook of doom, of that burning Wrath which will consume
28 t]ie foes of God. Anyone who has rejected the law of Moses dies without mercy, on the evidence of two
29 or of three witnesses. How much heavier, do you suppose, will be the punishment assigned to him who has spurned the Son of God, who has profaned the covcnaxt- blood with which he was sanctified, who has insulted the Spirit of grace ?
30 We know who said, Vengeance is mine, I will exact a requital : and again, The Lord will pass sentence on
31 his people. It is an awful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 Recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you en- dured a hard struggle of suffering,
33 partly by being held up yourselves to obloquy and anguish, partly by making common cause with those
34 who fared in this way ; for you did sympathize with the prisoners, and you took the confiscation of your o^vn belongings cheerfully, con- scious that elsewhere you had higher,
35 you had lasting, possessions. Now do not drop that confidence of yours ; it carries with it a rich hope
36 of reward. Steady patience is what you need, so that after doing
the will of God you may get what you have been promised. For in a 37 little, a very little now.
The Coming One will arrive with- out delay.
Meantime my just man will live 38 on by his faith ;
if he shrinks back, my soul takes no delight in him. We are not the men to shrink back 39 and be lost, but to have faith and so to \\'in our souls.
Now faith means we are confident 1 1 of what we hope for, convinced of what we do not see. It was for 2 this that the men of old won their record. It is by faith we understand 3 that the world was fashioned by the word of God, and thus the visible was made out of the in- visible. It was by faith that Abel 4 offered God a richer sacrifice than Cain did, and thus won from God the record of being 'just,' on the score of what he gave ; he died, but by his faith he is speaking to us still. It was by faith that Enoch 5 was taken to heaven, so that he never died {he was not overtaken by death, for God had taken him away). For before he was taken to heaven, his record was that he had satisfied * God ; and apart from faith it is im- 6 possible to satisfy him, for the man who draws near to God must believe that he exists and that he does reward those who seek him. It 7 was by faith that Noah, after being told by God of what was still un- seen, reverently constructed an ark to save his household ; thus he con- demned the world and became heir of the righteousness that follows faith. It was by faith that Abra- 8 ham obeyed his call to go forth to a
* Here, as elsewhere, " satisfy " is used in the sense of a servant giving satisfaction to his master.
281
HEBREWS XI
place which he would receive as an inheritance; he went forth, al- though he did not know where he 9 was to go. It was by faith that he sojourned in the promised land, as in a foreign country, residing in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob who were co-heirs with him of the same
10 promise ; he was waiting for the City with its fixed foundations, whose
11 builder and maker is God. It was by faith that even Sara got strength to conceive, bearing a son when she was past the age for it — because she considered she could rely on Him who gave the promise.
12 Thus a single man, though he was physically impotent, had issue in number like the stars in heaven, countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 (These all died in faith without obtaining the promises ; they only saw them far away and hailed them, owning they were ' strangers and
14 exiles upon earth.' Now people who speak in this way plainly show they are in search of a fatherland.
15 If they thought of the land they have left behind, they would have
16 time to go back, but they really aspire to the better land in heaven. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God ; he has prepared
17 a City for them.) It was by faith, when Abraham ivas put to the test, that he sacrificed Isaac ; he was ready to sacrifice his only son, although he
18 had received the promises and had been told that it is through Isaac that your offspring shall be reckoJied
19 — for he considered God was able even to raise men from the dead. Hence he did get him back, by what was a parable of the resurrection.
20 It was by faith that Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in connection with
21 the future. It was by faith that, when Jacob was dying, he blessed
282
each of the sons of Joseph, bending in prayer over the head of his staff. It was by faith that Joseph at his 22 end thought about the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders about his own bones. It was by 23 faith that Moses was hidden for three months after birth by his parents, because they saw the child was beautiful, and had no fear of the royal decree. It was by faith that 24 Moses refused, when he had grozvn up, to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; ill-treatment with God's 25 people he preferred to the passing pleasures of sin, considering obloqu}'^ 26 with the messiah to be richer wealth than all Egypt's treasures — for he had an eye to the Reward. It was 27 ty faith that he left Egypt, not from any fear of the king's wrath ; like one who saw the Iving Invisible, he never flinched. It was by faith that he 28 celebrated the passover and per- formed the sprinkling by blood, so that the destroying angel might not touch Israel's first-born. It was 29 by faith that they crossed the Red Sea like dry land — and when the Egyptians attempted it, they were drowned. It was by faith that the 30 walls of Jericho collapsed, after being surrounded for only seven days. It was by faith that Rahab 31 the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, as she h^.d welcomed the scouts peaceably.
And what more shall I say ? 32 Time would fail me to tell of Gideon, of Barak and Samson and Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets — men who by 33 faith conquered kingdoms, adminis- tered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouth of lions, quenched 34 the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness won to strength, proved valiant in war-
HEBREWS XII
fare, and routed hosts of foreigners.
35 Some were given back to their womankind, raised from the very dead; others were broken on the wheel, refusing to accept release, that they might obtain a better
36 resurrection ; others, again, had to experience scoffs and scourging,
37 aye chains and imprisonment — they were stoned,* sawn in two, and cut to pieces; they had to roam about in sheepskins and goatskins,
38 forlorn, oppressed, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wanderers in the desert and among the hills, in caves and gullies.
39 They all won their record for faith, but the Promise they did
40 not obtain. God had something better in store for us; he would not have them perfected apart from us.
12 Therefore, with all this host of ^vitnessest encircling us, we must strip off every handicap, strip off sin "mih its clinging folds, to run our
2 appointed course steadily, our eyes fixed upon Jesus as the pioneer and the perfection of faith — upon Jesus who, in order to reach his own ap- pointed joy, steadily endured the cross, thinking nothing of its shame, and is now seated at the right hand
3 of the throne of God. Compare him who steadily endured all that hos- tility from sinful men, so as to keep your own hearts from fainting and
4 failing. You have not had to shed blood yet in the struggle against
5 sin. And have you forgotten the
* The next word, i-rrfipdtrBria-av, is either due to dittography (with the following 4irpia0r}<rav) or a corruption of some word like itrvpaffOriffau or iireipiidrja'ai'. I have left it untranslated.
t The Greek word is beginning already to hover round the special sense of " martyrs " ; but the broader sense is obviously required here.
word of appeal that reasons with you as sons ? —
My son, never make light of the Lord's discipline,
never faint under his reproofs ;
for the Lord disciplines the man he 6 loves,
and scourges every son he receives. It is for discipline that you have to 7 endure. God is treating you as sons; for where is the son Avho is not disciplined by his father ? Dis- 8 cipline is the portion of all ; if you get no discipline, then you are not sons but bastards. Why, we had 9 fathers of our flesh to discipline us, and we yielded to them ! Shall we not far more submit to the Father of our spirits, and so live ? For 10 while their discipline was only for a time, and inflicted at their plea- sure, he disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his own holi- ness. Discipline always seems for 11 the time to be a thing of pain, not of joy; but those who are trained by it reap the fruit of it afterwards in the peace of an upright life. So 12 up with your listless hands ! Streng- then your weak knees ! And make 13 straight paths for your feet to walk in. You must not let the lame get dislocated, but rather make them whole. Aim at peace with all — and 14 at that consecration without which no one will ever see the Lord; see 15 to it that no one misses the grace of God, that no root of bitterness grows up to be a trouble by contaminating all the rest of you; that no one 16 turns to sexual vice or to a profane life as Esau did — Esau, who for a single meal parted with his birthright. You know how later on, when he 17 wanted to obtain his inheritance of blessing, he was set aside ; he got no chance to repent, though he tried for it -with tears.
283
HEBREWS XIII
18 You have not come to what you can touch, to flames of fire, to mist
19 and gloom and stormy blasts, to the blare of a trximpet and to a Voice whose words made those who heard it refuse to hear another
20 syllable (for they could not bear the command, // even a beast touches the mountain, it must be stoned) —
21 indeed, so awful was the sight that Moses said, / am terrified and aghast.
22 You have come to mount Sion, the city of the Uving God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to myriads of angels in
23 festal gathering, to the assembly of the first-born registered in heaven, to the God of all as judge, to the spirits of just men made per-
24 feet, to Jesus who mediates the new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood whose message is nobler than
25 Abel's. See that you do not refuse to listen to His voice. For if they failed to escape, who refused to listen to their instructor upon earth, much less shall we, if we dis- card Him who speaks from heaven.
26 Then his voice shook the earth, but now the assurance is, once again /roi'/Z make heaven as well as earth to quake.
27 That phrase, once again, denotes the removal of what is shaken (as no more than created), to leave only
28 what stands unshaken. Therefore let us render thanks* that we get an unshaken realm; and in this way let us worship God acceptably
29 — but with godly fear j and awe, for our God is indeed a consuming fire.
13 Let your brotherly love con-
2 tinue. Never forget to be hospit- able, for by hospitality some have
3 entertained angels unawares. Re-
* Reading (xoimev. t Like Jesus himself (v. 7). 284
member prisoners as if you were in prison yourselves; remember those who are being ill-treated, since you too are in the body.
Let marriage be held in honour 4 by all, and keep the marriage-bed unstained. God will punish the vicious and adulterous.
Keep your life free from the love 5 of money; be content with what you have, for He has said,
Never will I fail you, never will I forsake you. So tifiat we can say confidently, 6
The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.
What can men do to me ?
Remember your leaders, the 7 men who spoke the word of God to you; look back upon the close of their career, and copy their faith.
Jesus Christ is always the same, 8 yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Never let yourselves be carried 9 away with a variety of novel doc- trines; for the right thing is to have one's heart strengthened by grace, not by the eating of food — that has never been any use to those who have had recourse to it. Our altar is one of which the wor- 10 shippers have no right to eat. For 11 the bodies of the animals whose blood is taken into the holy Place by the high priest as a sin-offer- ing, are burned outside the camp; and so Jesus also suffered outside 12 the gate, in order to sanctify the people by his own blood. Let us 13 go to him outside the camp, then, bearing his obloquy (for we have 14 no lasting city here below, we seek the City to come). And by him let 15 us constantly offer praise to God as our sacrifice, that is, the fruit of lips that celebrate his Name. Do 16 not forget beneficence and charity,
HEBREWS XIII
17
18
19
20
either ; these are the kind of sacri- fices that are acceptable to God.
Obey your leaders, submit to them; for they are ahve to the interests of your souls, as men who will have to account for their trust. Let their work be a joy to them and not a grief — which would be a loss to yourselves.
Pray for me, for I am sure I have a clean conscience ; my desire is in every way to lead an honest life. I urge you to this all the more, that I may get back to you the sooner.
May the God of peace zvho brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, with the blood of the eternal covenant.
furnish you with everything * for 21 the doing of his will, creating in your lives by Jesus Christ what is acceptable in his own sight ! To him be glory for ever and ever: Amen.
I appeal to you, brothers, to 22 bear with this appeal of mine. It is but a short letter.
You must understand that our 23 brother Timotheus is now free. If he comes soon, he and 1 will see you together.
Salute all your leaders and all the 24 saints. The Italians salute you.
Grace be with you all. Amen.
* Omitting, with K, D*, the Latin and Bohairic versions, etc., the hoaailetic addition of ayad<j>.
28S
THE EPISTLE OP
JAMES
1 James, a servant of God and the
Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion : greeting.
2 Greet it as pure joy, my brothers, when you come across any sort of
3 trial, sure that the sterling temper of your faith produces endurance;
4 only, let your endurance be a fin- ished product, so that you may be finished and complete, with never a
5 defect. Whoever of you is defec- tive in wisdom, let him ask God who gives to all men without ques- tion or reproach, and the gift will
6 be his. Only, let him ask in faith, with never a doubt; for the doubtful man is like surge of the sea whirled and swayed by the
7 "svind ; that man need not imagine he will get anything from God,
8 double-minded creature that he is,
9 wavering at every turn. Let a brother of low position exult when
0 he is raised ; but let one who is rich
1 exult in being lowered ; for the rich will pass away like the flower of the grass — up comes the sun with the scorching wind and withers the grass, its flower drops off, and the splen- dour of it is ruined : so shall the rich fade away amid their pursuits.
12 Blessed is he who endures under trial; for when he has stood the test, he will get the crown of life which is promised to all who love
13 Him. Let no one who is tried by temptation say, ' My temptation comes from God ' ; God is incap- able of being tempted by evil and
14 he tempts no one. Everyone is
286
tempted as he is beguiled and allured by his own desire; then 15 Desire conceives and breeds Sin, while Sin matures and gives birth to Death. Make no mistake about 16 this, my beloved brothers : all we 17 are given is good, and all our endow- ments are faultless, descending from above, from the Father of the heavenly lights, who knows no change of rising and setting, who casts no shadow on the earth. It 18 was his own will that we should be born by the Word of the truth, to be a kind of firstfruits among his creatures. Be sure of that, my 19 beloved brothers.
Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to talk, slow to be angry — for 20 human anger does not promote divine righteousness ; so clear away 21 all the foul rank growth of malice, and make a soil of modesty for the Word which roots itself inwardly with power to save your souls. Act 22 on the Word, instead of merely lis- tening to it and deluding yourselves. 23 For whoever listens and does no- 24 thing, is like a man who glances at his natural face in a mirror; he glances at himself, goes off, and at once forgets what he was like. Whereas he who gazes into the 25 faultless law of freedom and remains in that position, proving himself to be no forgetful listener but an active agent, he will be blessed in his activity. Whoever considers 26 he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own
JAMES II
27
4
10
11
12
heart, his reUgion is futile. Pure, unsoiJed rehgion in the judgment of God the Father means this : to care for * orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself from the stain of the world.
My brothers, as you believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Glory, pay no servile regard to people. Suppose there comes into your meeting a man who wears gold rings and handsome clothes, and also a poor man in dirty clothes ; if you attend to the wearer of the handsome clothes and say to him, " Sit here, this is a good place," and tell the poor man, " You can stand," or " Sit theref at my feet," are you not drawing distinctions in your own minds and proving that you judge people with partiality? Listen, my beloved brothers; has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the realm which he has promised to those who love him ? Now you insult the poor. Is it not the rich who lord it over you and drag you to court ? Is it not they who scoff at the noble Name you bear ? If you really fulfil the royal law laid down by scripture. You must love your neighbour as yourself, well and good; but if you pay servile regard to people, you com- mit a sin, and the Law convicts you of transgression. For whoever obeys the whole of the Law and only makes a single slip, is guilty of everything. He who said. Do not commit adultery, also said. Do not kill. Now if you do not commit adultery but if you kill, you have transgressed the Law. Speak, act,
* As in Matthew xxv. 36, the word implies personal service and help.
t Reading ^ KaOov ^Kel with B and some evidence from the Latin version.
as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom; for the judg- 13 ment will be merciless to the man who has shown no mercy — whereas the merciful life will triumph in the face of judgment. J Do not 11 defame one another, brothers ; he who defames or judges his brother defames and judges the Law; and if you judge the Law, you pass sentence on it instead of obeying it. One alone is the legislator, who 12 passes sentence ; it is He who is able to save and to destroy; who are you, to judge your neighbour?
My brothers, what is the use of 14 anyone declaring he has faith, if he has no deeds to show? Can his faith save him? Suppose some 15 brother or sister is ill-clad and short of daily food; if any of you 16 says to them, " Depart in peace ! Get warm, get food," without supplying their bodily needs, what use is that ? So faith, unless it has 17 deeds, is dead in itself. Someone 18 will object, ' And you claim to have faith ! ' Yes, and I claim to have deeds as well ; you show me your faith without any deeds, and I will show you by my deeds what faith is ! You believe in one God ? 19 Well and good. So do the devils, and they shudder. But will you 20 understand, you senseless fellow, that faith without deeds is dead ? When our father Abraham offered 21 his son Isaac on the altar, was he not justified by what he did? In his 22 case, you see, faith co-operated with deeds, faith was completed by deeds, and the scripture was ful- 23 filled : Abraham believed God, and this was counted to him as righteous- ness— he was called God's friend. You observe it is by what he does 24
I Restoring 4"'* to what seems to have been its original place.
287
JAMES III, IV
that a man is justified, not simply
25 by what he beUeves. So too with Rahab the harlot. Was she not justified by what she did, when she entertained the scouts and got them away by a different road?
26 For as the body without the
breath of life is dead, so faith is dead Avithout deeds. 17 Whoever, then, knows what is right to do and does not do it, that is a sin for him.*
3 Bkothers, do not swell the ranks of the teachers ; remember we teachers will be judged with special
2 strictness. We all make many a slip, but whoever avoids slips of speech is a perfect man ; he can bridle the whole of the body as well
8 as the tongue. We put bridles into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, and so, you see,t we can move the whole of their bodies.
4 Look at ships too ; for all their size and speed under stiff winds, they are turned by a tiny rudder wher- ever the mind of the steersman
5 chooses. So the tongue is a small member of the body, but it can boast of great exploits. What a forest is set ablaze by a little spark
6 of fire ! And the tongue is a fire, the tongue proves a very world of mischief among our members, staining the whole of the body and setting fire to the round circle of existence with a flame fed by hell.
7 For while every kind of beast and bird, of creeping animals and creatures marine, is tameable and
• This seems likely to have been the original position of 4*'.
t Reading with C P, the Syriac and Armenian versions, tSe ((Sou), instead of
(I Si.
288
has been tamed by mankind, no 8 man can tame the tongue — plague of disorder that it is, full of deadly venom ! With the tongue we bless 9 the Lord and Father, and with the tongue we curse men made in God's likeness; blessing and cursing 10: stream from the same lips ! My brothers, this ought not to be. Does a fountain pour out fresh 11 water and brackish from the same hole ? Can a fig tree, my brothers, 12 bear ohves? Or a vine, figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.
Who among you is wise and 13 learned? Let lum show by his good conduct, with the modesty of wisdom, what his deeds are. But if you are cherishing bitter 14 jealousy and rivalry in your hearts, do not pride yourselves on that — and be false to the truth. That is 15 not the wisdom which comes down from above, it is an earthly wis- dom, sensuous, devilish; for wher- 16 ever jealousy and rivalry exist, there disorder reigns and every evil. The wisdom from above is 17 first of all pure, then peaceable, forbearing, conciliatory, full of mercy and wholesome fruit, un- ambiguous, straightforward; and 18 the peacemakers who sow in peace reap righteousness. Where do 4 conflicts, where do wrangles come from, in your midst ? Is it not from these passions of yours that war among your members? You crave, and miss what you 2 want : you envy | and covet, but you cannot acquire : you wrangle and fight — you miss what you want because you do not ask God for it ; you do ask and you do not 3 get it, because you ask with the
X Accepting (pOoyure, the conjecture of Erasmus, for the ^oveuere of the MSS.
JAMJES V
wicked intention of spending it on
4 your pleasures. (Wanton creatures ! do you not know that the world's friendship means enmity to God ? Whoever, then, chooses to be the world's friend, turns enemy to
5 God. What, do you consider this
6 is an idle word of scripture ? — ' lie yearns jealously for the spirit he set within us.') Yet he gives grace more and more : thus it is said.
The hauglvty God opposes,
but to the humble he gives ^race.
7 Well then, submit yourselves to God;
resist the devil,
and he will fly from you :
8 draw near to God,
and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you
double-minded.
9 Lament and mourn and weep, let your laughter be turned to
mourning, and your joy to depression; 10 humble yourselves before the Lord, and then he will raise you up.
13 Come now, you who say, " To- day or to-morrow we are going to such and such a city ; we shall spend a year there trading and making
14 money " — you who know nothing about to-morrow ! For what is your life ? You are but a mist, which appears for a little and then
15 vanishes. You ought rather to say, " If the Lord will, we shall hve
16 to do this or that." But here you are, boasting in your proud preten- sions ! All such boasting is wicked.
OHAf.
5 Come now, you rich men, weep and shriek over your impending miseries !
You have been storing up trea- sure in the very last days ;* your wealth lies rotting, 2
and your clothes are moth- eaten ; your gold and silver lie rusted 3
over, and their rust will be evidence
against you, it will devour your flesh like
fire. See, tJie wages of which you have 4 defrauded the workmen who mowed your fields call out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts. You have revelled on earth and 5
plunged into dissipation ; you have fattened yourselves as
for the Day of slaughter ; you have condemned, you have 6 murdered the righteous — unresisting. Be patient, then, brothers, till 7 the arrival of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious crop of the land, biding his time patiently till he gets the autumn and the spring rahis ; have patience 8 yourselves, strengthen your hearts, for the arrival of the Lord is at hand. Do not murmur against 9 one another, brothers, lest you are judged ; look, the Judge is standing at the very door ! As an ex- 10 ample of fortitude and endurance, brothers, take the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord. See, loe call the stedfast 11 happy ; you have heard of the stedfastness of Job, and you have seen the end of the Lord with him, seen that the Lord is very com- passionate and pitiful. Above all, 12
* Transferring the last clause of ver. 3 to what appears to have b««n its original position.
289
JAMES V
my brothers, never swear an oath, either by heaven or by earth or by anything else ; let your " yes " be a plain " yes," your " no " a plain " no," lest you incur judgment.
13 Is anyone of you in trouble? let him pray. Is anyone thriving?
14 let hira sing praise. Is anyone ill ? let him summon the presbyters of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the
15 name of the Lord ; the prayer of faith will restore the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; even the sins he has committed will be
16 forgiven him. So confess your sins to one another and pray for one
another, that you may be healed; the prayers of the righteous have a powerful effect. Elijah was a man 17 with a nature just like our own ; but he offered prayer that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain ; then he 18 prayed again, and the sky yielded rain, the earth brought forth its fruit.
My brothers, if anyone of you 19 goes astray from the truth and some one brings him back, understand 20 that he who brings a sinner back from the error of his way saves his soul from death and hides a host of sins.
/
290
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF
PETER
CHIT.
1 Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the exiles of the Disper- sion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
2 Asia, and Bithynia, whom God the Father has predestined and chosen, by the consecration of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood : may grace and peace be multiplied to you.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a life of hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
4 the dead, born to an unscathed, inviolate, unfading inheritance; it
5 is kept in heaven for you, and the power of God protects you by faith till you do inherit the salvation which is all ready to be revealed
6 at the last hour. You will re- joice then, though for the passing moment you may need to suffer
7 various trials ; that is only to prove your faith is sterling (far more precious than gold which is perish- able and yet is tested by fire), and it redounds to your praise and glory and honour at the revelation of
8 Jesus Christ. You never knew him, but you love him ; for the moment you do not see him, but you be- lieve in him. and you will thrill with an unspeakable and glorious
9 joy to obtain the outcome of your faith in the salvation of your souls.
10 Even prophets have searched and inquired about that salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was meant for you;
the Spirit of messiah within them 11 foretold all the suffering of messiah and his after-glory, and they pon- dered when or how this was to come; to them it was revealed that 12 they got this intelligence * not for themselves but for you, regarding all that has now been disclosed to you by those who preached the gos- pel to you through the holy Spirit sent from heaven. The very angels long to get a glimpse of this !
Brace up your minds, then, 13 keep cool, and put your hope for good and all in the grace that is coming to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Be obedient chil- 14 dren, instead of moulding your- selves to the passions that once ruled the days of your ignorance; as He who called you is holy, so 15 you must be holy too in all your conduct — for it is written, You shall 16 be holy because I am holy. And as 17 you call upon a Father who judges everyone impartially by what he has done, be reverent in your conduct while you sojourn here below; you know it was not by 18 perishable silver or gold that you were ransomed from the futile tra- ditions of your past, but by the 19 precious blood of Christ, a lamb un- blemished and unstained. He was 20 predestined before the foundation
* On the beisis of Enoch i. 2 {ovk els r^v vvv yfv4av Sievoovfirjy a\\' iirl Tr6ppw olffay dyi) \a\w) Dr. Rendel Harris plausibly reads Stfvoovvro, as above, for tlie Si7}K6i'ovy of tha ordinary text.
201
I. PETER II
of the world and has appeared at the end of the ages for your
21 sake ; it is by him that you be- Heve in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory; and thus your faith means hope in God.
22 Now that your obedience to the Truth has purified your souls for a brotherly love that is sincere, love one another heartily and steadily.
23 You are born anew of immortal, not of mortal seed, by the living, lasting
24 word of God ; for
All flesh is like the grass,
and all its glory like the flower of grass :
the grass withers and the flower fades,
25 but the word of the Lord lasts for
ever — and that is the word of the gospel for 2 you. So off with all malice, all guile and insincerity and envy and
2 slander of every kind ! Like newly- born children, thirst for the pure, spiritual milk to make you grow up
3 to salvation. You have had a taste
4 of the kindness of the Lord : come to him then — come to that living Stone which men have rejected and God
5 holds choice and precious, come and, hke living stones yourselves, be built into a spiritual house, to form a consecrated priesthood for the offering of those spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through
6 Jesus Christ. For thus it stands in the scripture :
Here I lay a Stone in Sion, a choice, a precious corner- stone :
he who believes in him will never be disappointed.
7 Now you believe, you hold him ' precious,' but as for the unbehev- ing —
the very stone the builders rejected is now the cornerstone, 292
a stone over which men stumble and 8 a rock of o^ence ; they stumble over it in their disobedience to God's word. Such is their appointed doom. But you are the elect race, 9 the royal priesthood, the consecrated nation, the People who belong to Him, that you may proclaim the wondrous deeds of Him who has called you from darkness to his wonderful light — you who once were no people 10 and now are God's people, you who once were unpitied and now are pitied.
Beloved, as sojourners and exiles 11 I appeal to you to abstain from the passions of the flesh that wage war upon the soul. Conduct yourselves 12 properly before pagans ; so that for all their slander of you as bad characters, they may come to glorify God when you are put upon your trial, by what they see of your good deeds.
Submit for the Lord's sake to any 13 human authority; submit to the emperor as supreme, and to gover- 14 nors as deputed by him for the punishment of wrongdoers and the encouragement of honest people — for it is the will of God that by 15 your honest lives you should silence the ignorant charges of foolish persons. Live like free men, only 10 do not make your freedom a pre- text for misconduct; live like ser- vants of God. Do honour to all, 17 love the brotherhood, reverence God, honour the emperor.
Servants, be submissive to your 18 masters with perfect respect, not simply to those who are kind and reasonable but to the surly as well — for it is a merit when from a sense 19 of God one bears the pain of unjust suffering. Where is the credit in 20 standing punishment for having done wrong? No, if you stand
I. PETER III
21 22
24
25
3
\ 2 3
suffering for having done right, that is what God counts a merit. It is your vocation ; for when Christ suffered for you, he left you an example, and you must follow his footsteps.
He committed no sin,
no guile was ever found upon his lips ;
he was reviled and made no retort, he suffered and never threat- ened, but left everything to Him who judges justly ; he bore our sins in his own body on the gibbet, that we might break with sin and live for righteousness; and by his wounds you have been healed. You were astray like sheep, but you have come back now to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
In the same way, you wives must be submissive to your hus- bands, so that even those who will not believe the Word may be won over without a word by the behav- iour of their wives, when they see how chaste and reverent you are. You are not to adorn yourselves on the outside with braids of hair and ornaments of gold and changes of dress, but inside, in the heart, with the immortal beauty of a gentle and modest spirit, which in the sight of God is of rare value. It was in this way long ago that the holy women who hoped in God adorned themselves. They were submissive to their husbands. Thus Sara obeyed Abraham by calling him ' lord '. And you are daughters of Sara if you do what is right and yield to no panic. * In the same way you husbands must be considerate
* Apparently an allusion to the fear of violence at the hands of their (pagan ?) husbands. The language, but not the idea, is that of Proverbs iii. 25.
in living with your wives, since they are the weaker sex ; you must honour them as heirs equally with yourselves of the grace of Life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
Lastly, you must all be united, 8 you must have sympathy, brotherly love, compassion, and humility, never paying back evil for evil, never 9 reviling when you are reviled, but on the contrary blessing. For this is your vocation, to bless and to inherit blessing ;
he who would love Life 10
and enjoy good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile : let him shun wrong and do 11 right, let him seek peace and make peace his aim. For the eyes of the Lord are on the 12 upright, and his ears are open to their cry ; hut the face of the Lord is set against wrongdoers. Yet who will wrong you if you 13 have a passion for goodness ? Even 14 supposing you have to suffer for the sake of what is right, still you are blessed. Have no fear of their threats, do not let that trouble you, but reverence Christ as Lord in 15 your own hearts. Always be ready with a reply for anyone who calls you to account for the hope you cherish, but answer gently and with a sense of reverence; see 16 that you have a clean conscience, so that, for all their slander of you, these libellers of your good Cihris- tian behaviour may be ashamed. For it is better to suffer for doing 17 right (if that should be the will of God) than for doing wrong.
293
I. PETER IV
18 Christ himself died for sins, once for all, a just man for unjust men, that he might bring us near to God ; in the flesh he was put to death but he came to life in the
19 Spirit. (It was in the Spirit that Enoch* also went and preached to
20 the imprisoned spirits who had disobeyed at the time when God's patience held out during the con- struction of the ark in the da3''s of Noah — the ark b}'^ which only a few souls, eight in all, were brought
21 safely through the water. Baptism, the counterpart of that, saves you to-day (not the mere washing of dirt from the flesh but the prayer for a clean conscience before God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
22 who is at God's right hand — for he went to heaven after angels, authori- ties, and powers celestial had been made subject to him.)
4 Well, as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, let this very con- viction that he who has suffered in the flesh gets quit of sin, nerve you
2 to spend the rest of your time in the flesh for the will of God and no
3 longer for human passions. It is quite enough to have done as pagans choose to do, during the time gone by ! You used to lead lives of sensuality, lust, carousing, revelry,
4 dissipation and illicit idolatry, and it astonishes them that you will not plunge with them still into the same flood of profligacy. They
5 abuse you, but they will have to answer for that to Him who is prepared to judge the living and the
6 dead (for this was why the gospel
* Accepting the emendation of Dr. Rendel Harris that 'Evtix has been omitted after iv ^ kuI (ENfiKAI [ENHX]), by "a scribe's blunder in dropping some re- peated letters." The story of this mission is told in the Book of Enoch (see above, p. 291). 294
was preached to the dead as well, that while they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live as God lives in the spirit).
Now the end of all is near. 7 Steady then, keep cool and pray ! Above all, be keen to love one 8 another, for love hides a host of sins. Be hospitable to each other, 9 and do not grudge it. You must 10 serve one another, each with the talent he has received, as efficient stewards of God's varied grace. If anyone preaches, he must preach 11 as one who utters the words of God; if anyone renders some service, it must be as one who is supplied by God with power, so that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. The glory and the dominion are his for ever and ever : Amen.
Beloved, do not be surprised at 12 the ordeal that has come to test you, as though some foreign ex- perience befell you. You are shar- 13 ing what Christ suffered ; so rejoice in it, that you may also rejoice and exult when his glory is revealed. If you are denounced for the sake of 14 Christ, you are blessed; for then the Spirit of glory and power, the Spirit of God himself, is resting on you. None of you must suffer as 15 a murderer or a thief or a bad character or a revolutionary; but 16 if a man suffers for being a Chris- tian, he must not be ashamed, he must rather glorify God for that. It is time for the Judgment to begin 17 Tvith the household of God;
and if it begins with us,
what will be the fate of those who refuse obedience to God's gospel?
If the just man is scarcely saved, 18 what will become of the impious and sinful ?
I. PETER V
19 So let those who are suffering by the will of God trust their souls to him, their faithful Creator, as they continue to do right.
5 Now I make this appeal to your presbyters (for I am a presbyter myself, I was a witness of what Christ suffered and I am to share
2 the glory that will be revealed), be shepherds to your flock of God; take charge of them -svillingly* instead of being pressed to it, not to make a base profit from it but
3 freely, not by way of lording it over your charges but proving a pattern
4 to the flock. Then you will receive the unfading crown of glory, when the chief Shepherd makes his ap-
5 pearance. You younger men must also submit to the presbyters. Indeed you must all put on the apron of humility to serve one another, for
the haughty God opposes,
hut to the humble he gives grace.
6 Humble yourselves under the strong hand of God then, so that
* Omitting KaTk e(6v.
when it is time, he may raise you ; let all your anxieties fall upon him, 7 for his interest is in you.
Keep cool, keep awake. Your 8 enemy the devil prowls like a roaring lion, looking out for some- one to devour. Resist him; keep 9 your foothold in the faith, and learn to pay the same tax of suffer- ing as the rest of your brotherhood throughout the world. Once you 10 have suffered for a little, the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, willf repair and recruit and strengthen you. The dominion is his for ever 11 and ever : Amen.
By the hand of Silvanus, a faith- 12 ful brother (in my opinion), I have written you these few lines of en- couragement, to testify that this is what the true grace of God means. Stand in that grace.
Your sister-church in Babylon, 13 elect like yourselves, salutes you. So does my son Mark. Salute one 14 another vnth. a kiss of love.
Peace be to you all who are in Christ [Jesus].
t Omitting eefifXitixrfi with A B, the Latin and Ethiopic versions.
296
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF
PETEE
1 Symeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have been allotted a faith of equal privilege with ours, by the equity of our God and saviour Jesus
2 Christ : grace and peace be multi- plied to you by the knowledge of *
3 our Lord. Inasmuch as his power divine has bestowed on us every requisite for life and piety by the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence —
4 bestowing on us thereby promises precious and supreme, that by means of them you may escape the corruption produced Avithin the world by lust, and participate in
5 the divine nature — for this very reason, do you contrive to make it your whole concern to furnish your faith -with resolution, resolu-
6 tion with intelligence, intelligence with self-control, self-control with stedfastness, stedfastness \\ath
7 piety, piety with brotherliness, brotherliness with Christian love.
8 For as these qualities exist and increase with you, they render you active and fruitful in the knowledge
9 of our Lord Jesus Christ; whereas he who has not these by him is blind, shortsighted, oblivious that he has been cleansed from his erst-
10 while sins. So be the more eager, brothers, to ratify your calling and election, for as you practise these qualities you will never make a slip ;
11 you will thus be richly furnished
* Omitting, with P and the Latin Vul- gate, Tov 6fov Kal 'lT]crov. 296
with the right of entry into the eternal realm of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.
Hence I mean to keep on remind- 12 ing you of this, although you are aware of it and are fixed in the Truth as it is ; so long as I am in this tent, 13 I deem it proper to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know my 14 tent must be folded up very soon — as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me. Yes, and I will see 15 to it that even when I am gone, you will keep this constantly in mind. For it was no fabricated fables 16 that we followed when we reported to you the power and advent of our Lord Jesus Christ; we were admitted to the spectacle of his sovereignty, when he was invested 17 ■with honour and glory by God the Father, and when the following voice was borne to him fromf the sublime Glory, " This is my son, the Beloved, in Avhom I delight." That voice borne from heaven we 18 heard, we who were beside him on the sacred hill, and thus we have 19 gained fresh confirmation of the prophetic word. Pray attend to that word; it shines like a lamp within a darksome spot, till the Day dawns and the daystar rises within your hearts — understanding 20 this, at the outset, that no pro- phetic scripture allows a man to interpret it by himself; for pro- 21 phecy never came by human im-
t Reading with the Syriac and Latin (Vulgate) versions airh instead of vit6.
II. PETER II
pulse, it was \\hen carried away by the holy Spirit that the* holy men of God spoke. 2 Still, false prophets did appear among the People, as among you also there will be false teachers, men who will insinuate destructive heresies, even disowning the Lord who ransomed them ; they bring rapid destruction on themselves,
2 and many will follow their immor- ality (thanks to them the true Way
3 ivill be maligned) ; in their lust thej'^ \vi\\ exploit you with cunning arguments — men whose doom comes apace from of old, and destruction is awake upon their
4 trail. For if God did not spare angels who had sinned, but com- mitting them to pits of the nether gloom in Tartarus, reserved them
5 under punishment f for doom : if he did not spare the ancient world but kept Noah, the herald of righteousness, safe with seven others, when he let loose the deluge
6 on the world of impious men : if he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorra to ashes when he sen- tenced them to devastation, and thus gave the impious J an example
7 of what was in store for them, but rescued righteous Lot who was sore burdened by the immoral
8 beha^nour of the lawless (for when that righteous man resided among them, by what he saw and heard his righteous soul was vexed day after day with their unlawful doings) —
9 then be sure the Lord knows how
* Reading ol aytoi 6fov ivOpwiroi with K A, the Latin version, etc.
t Reading with N A, the Latin and Egyptian versions, and SyrPWi Ko\a(ofift>ovi rrjpfiv instead of ryjpovnivovs.
X Reading aaf^4aiv (B P Syr^) or rois aa-f$f(Tiv (sah boh) instead of l.a-fkf'if- As Weizsacker renders it, " ein Vorbild des Kommenden gebend fiir die Gottlosen."
to rescue pious folk from trial, and how to keep the unrighteous under punishment till the day of doom, particularly those who fall in with 10 the polluting appetite of the flesh and despise the Powers celestial. Daring, presumptuous creatures I they are not afraid to scoff at the an- gelic Glories ; whereas even angels, 11 superior in might and power, lay no scoffing charge against these before the Lord. But those people ! — 12 like irrational animals, creatures of mere instinct, born for capture and corruption, they scoff at what they are ignorant of; and like animals they will suffer corruption and ruin, done out of § the profits 13 of their evil-doing. Pleasure for them is revelling in open daylight — spots and blots, with their dissipated revelling, as they carouse in your midst! — their eyes are full of 14 harlotry, insatiable for sin ; their own hearts trained to lust, they beguile unsteady souls. Accursed generation ! they have gone wrong 15 by leaving the straight road, by following the road of Balaam son of Bosor, who liked the profits of evil-doing — but he got reproved 16 for his malpractice : a dumb ass spoke with human voice and checked the prophet's infatuation. These people are waterless foun- 17 tains and mists driven by a squall, for whom the nether gloom of dark- ness || is reserved. By talking arro- 18 gant futilities they beguile with the sensual lure of fleshly passion those who are just escaping from the company of misconduct — promising 19 them freedom, when they are them- selves enslaved to corruption (for a man is the slave of whatever
§ Reading, with K* B P SyrPJ^U arm ah- Koififpoi instead of Kofxiovntvoi, II Omitting [<ts alUva.].
297
II. PETER III
20 overpowers him). After escaping the pollutions of the world by the knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, if they get entangled and overpowered again, the last state is worse for them than the
21 first. Better had they i\ever known the Way of righteousness, than to know it and then tuin back from the holy commandment which was
22 committed to them. They verify the truth of the proverb :
" The dog turns hack to what he has
vomited,
the sow when washed will
wallow in the mire."
3 This is the second letter I have
already written to you, beloved,
stirring up your pure mind* by way
2 of reminder, to have you recollect the words spoken by the holy prophets beforehand and the com- mand given by your apostles from
3 the Lord and saviour. To begin with, you know that mockers will come with their mockeries in the last days, men who go by their own
4 passions, asking, " Where is His promised advent? Since the day our fathers fell asleep, things re- main exactly as they were from the
5 beginning of creation." They wil- fully ignore the fact that heavens existed long ago, and an earth which the word of God formed of
6 water and by water. By water the then-existing world was deluged
7 and destroyed, but the present heavens and earth are treasured up by the same word for fire, re- served for the day when the im- pious are doomed and destroyed.
8 Beloved, you must not ignore this one fact, that with the Lord a single day is like a thousand years, and a
* A difficult phrase, referring perhaps to freedom from the contamination of heresies. Reuss renders, " votre sain jugement." 298
thousand years are like a single day. The Lord is not slow with what 9 he promises, according to certain people's idea of slowness; no, he is longsuffering for your sake,! he does not wish any to perish but all to betake them to repentance. The day of the Lord will come like 10 a thief, when the heavens will vanish with crackling roar, the stars will be set ablaze and melt, the earth and all its works will dis- appear. J Now as all things are 11 thus to be dissolved, what holy and pious men ought you to be in your behaviour, you who expect and 12 hasten the advent of the Day of God, which dissolves the heavens in fire and makes the stars blaze and melt ! It is new heavens and a 13 new earth that we expect, as He has promised, and in them dwells righteousness. Then, beloved, as 14 you are expecting this, be eager to be found by him unspotted and unblemished in serene assurance. And consider that the longsuffering 15 of our Lord means salvation; as indeed our beloved brother Paul has written to you out of the wis- dom vouchsafed to him, speaking 16 of this as he has done in all his letters — letters containing some knotty points, which ignorant and unsteady souls twist (as they do the rest of the scriptures) to their own destruction. Now, beloved, you 17 are forewarned : mind you are not carried away by the error of the law- less and so lose your proper footing ; but grow in the grace and know- 18 ledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory now and to the day of eternity : Amen.
t Reading 5t' with X A Lat. syr. sah., etc. { Adding ovx before tvptditaeTai with the Sahidic version.
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF
JOHN
CHAP.
1 It is of what existed from the very beginning, of what we heard, of what we saw, of what we wit- nessed and touched with our own hands, it is of the Logos of Life
2 (the Life has appeared ; we saw it, we testify to it, we bring you word of that eternal Life which existed with the Father and was disclosed
3 to us) — it is of what we heard and saw that we bring you word, so that you may share our fellowship ; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus
4 Christ. We are writing this to you that our own joy may be complete.
5 Here is the message we learned from him and announce to you : ' God is light and in him there is
6 no darkness, none.' If we say, ' We have fellowship with him,' when we live and move in darkness, then we are lying, we are not
7 practising the truth ; but if we live and move within the light, as he is within the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses
8 us from every sin. If we say, ' We are not guilty,' we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us ;
9 if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, he forgives our sins and
10 cleanses us from all iniquity; if
twe say, " We have not sinned," we make him a liar and his word is 2 not within us. My dear chil-
dren, I am writing this to you that you may not sin ; but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with
the Father in Jesus Christ the just ; he is himself the propitiation for 2 our sins, though not for ours alone but also for the whole world.
This is how we may be sure we 3 know him, by obeying his com- mands. He who says, ' I know 4 him,' but does not obey his com- mands, is a liar and the truth is not in him ; but whoever obeys his word, 5 in him love to God is really complete. This is how we may be sure we are in him: he who says he 'remains 6 in him ' ought to live as he lived.
Beloved, I am not writing you 7 any new command, but an old command which you have had from the very beginning : the old com- mand is the word you have heard. And yet it is a new command I am 8 writing to you — realized in him and also in yourselves, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. He 9 who says he is ' in the light ' and hates his brother, is in darkness still. He who loves his brother remains 10 in the light — and in the light there is no pitfall; but he who hates his 11 brother is in darkness, he walks in darkness and does not know where he is going, for the darkness has blinded his eyes.
My dear children, I am writing 12 to you, because your sins are forgiven for his sake :
fathers, I am writing to you, 13 because you know him who is from the very beginning : 299
I. JOHN III
young men, I am writing to you, because you have conquered the evil One. children, I have written to you, because you know the Father :
14 fathers, I have written to you,
because you know him who is from the very beginning : young men, I have written to you,
because you are strong, and the word of God remains within you, and you have conquered the evil One.
15 Love not the world, nor yet what is in the world; if anyone loves the world, love for the Father is
16 not in him. For all that is in the world, the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the proud glory of life, belongs not to
17 the Father but to the world ; and the "world is passing away with its desire, while he who does the will of God remains for ever.
18 Children, it is the last hour. You have learned that ' Antichrist is coming.' Well, but many anti- christs have appeared — which makes us sure it is the last hour.
19 They withdrew from us, but they did not belong to us ; had they belonged to us, they would have remained with us, but they with- drew to make it plain that they
20 are none of us. Now, you have been anointed by the holy One,
21 and you all possess knowledge. I am not writing to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and know that no lie has any connexion with the truth.
22 Who is the real liar ?
who but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? 300
This is ' antichrist,'
he who disowns the Father and the Son.
No one who disowns the Son can 23 possess the Father :
he who confesses the Son pos- sesses the Father as well. Let that remain in you which 24 you learned from the very begin- ning; if what you learned from the verj' beginning remains with you, then 5^ou will remain in the Son and in the Father.
Now this is what he has prom- 25 ised you,* eternal life. I am writing 26 to you in this way about those who would deceive you, but the unction 27 you received from him remains within you, and you really need no teaching from anyone ; simply re- main in him, for his unction teaches you about everything and is true and is no lie — remain in him, as it has taught you to do. Remain with- 28 in him now, my dear children, so that when he appears, we may have confidence instead of shrinking from him in shame at his arrival. As you know he is just, be sure 29 that everyone who practises right- eousness is born of him. ' Born 3 of him ! ' Think what a love the Father has for us, in letting us be called ' children of God ! ' That is what we are. The world does not recognize us ? That is simpl}^ because it did not recognize him. We are children of God now, 2 beloved ; what we are to be is not apparent yet, but we do know that when he appears, we are to be like him — for we are to see him as he is. And everyone who rests this hope 3 on him, purifies himself as he is pure. Everyone who commits sin com- 4 mits lawlessness : sin is lawlessness, and you know he appeared to take 5 * Beading {ffuv instead of ji/uv.
I. JOHN IV
[our] sins away. In him there is
6 no sin ; anyone who remains in him does not sin — anyone who sins has neither seen nor known him. Let
7 no one deceive you, my dear chil- dren : he who practises righteous-
8 ness is just, as He is just; he who commits sin belongs to the devil, for the devil is a sinner from the very beginning. (This is why the Son of God appeared, to destroy
9 the deeds of the devil.) Anyone who is born of God does not commit sin, for the offspring of God remain in Him, and they cannot sin, be-
10 cause they are born of God. Here is how the children of God and the children of the devil are recognized ; anyone who does not practise righteousness does not belong to God, and neither does he Mho has
11 no love for his brother. For this is the message you have learned from the very beginning, that we
12 are to love one another : we are not to be like Cain, who belonged to the evil One and slew his brother. And why did he slay him? Be- cause his own deeds were evil and
13 his brother's just. Do not wonder, brothers, that the world hates you.
14 We know we have crossed from death to life, because we love the brotherhood ; he who has no love [for his brother] remains in death.
15 Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know no mur- derer has eternal life remaining
16 within him. We know what love is by this, that He laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for the brotherhood.
17 But whoever possesses this world's goods, and notices his brother in need, and shuts his heart against him, how can love to God re-
18 main in him? My dear children, let us put our love not into words
or into talk but into deeds, and
make it real.
Thus it is that we may be sure we 19 belong to the truth and reassure ourselves whenever our heart con- 20 demns us ; for God is greater than our heart, and he knows all. If 21 our heart does not condemn us, beloved, then we have confidence in approaching God, and we get 22 from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight. Now 23 this is what he commands, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as he has commanded us to do ; he who 24 obeys his commands remains within him — and He remains ^vithin him. And this is how we may be sure he remains within us, by means of the Spirit he has given us. Do not 4 believe every spirit, beloved, but test the spirits to see if they come from God ; for many false prophets have emerged in the world. You 2 can recognize the Spirit of God by this : every spirit which confesses Jesus as the Christ incarnate comes from God, and every spirit which 8 does not confess Jesus [incarnate] does not come from God. This latter is the spirit of antichrist; you were told it was coming, and here it is already in the world. My 4 dear children, you belong to God, and you have conquered all such, for He who is within you is greater than he who is in the world.
They belong to the world, 5
therefore they speak as in- spired by the world,
and the world listens to them : we belong to God — 6
he who knows God listens to us,
he who does not belong to God does not listen to us.
301
I. JOHN V
This is how we recognize the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love belongs to God, and every- one who loves is born of God and
8 knows God ; he who does not love, does not know God, for God is love.
9 This is how the love of God has appeared for us, by God sending his only Son into the world, so that by
10 him we might live. Love lies in this, not in our love for him but in his love for us — ^in the sending of his Son to be the propitiation for our
11 sins. Beloved, if God had such love for us, we ought to love one an-
12 other. God no one has ever seen; but if we love one another, then God remains within us, and love for him
13 is complete in us. This is how we may be sure we remain in him and he in us, because he has given us a
14 share in his own Spirit ; and we have seen, we can testify, that the Father has sent the Son as the Saviour of
15 the world. Whoever confesses that ' Jesus is the Son of God,' in him God remains, and he remains in
16 God; well, we do know, we have beheved, the love God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God
17 remains in him. Love is complete with us when we have absolute con- fidence about the day of judgment, since in this world we are living as
18 He lives. Love has no dread in it ; no, love in its fulness drives all dread away, for dread has to do \vith punishment — anyone who has dread, has not reached the fulness of
19 love. We love, because He loved
20 us first. If anyone declares, ' I love God,' and yet hates his brother, he is a liar ; for he who will not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot possibly love the God whom he
21 has never seen. And we get this
302
command from him, that he who loves God is to love his brother as well.
Everyone who believes Jesus is 6 the Christ, is born of God; and everyone who loves the Father, loves the sons * born of him. This 2 is how we are sure that we love God's children, by loving God and obeying his commands (for love to 3 God means keeping his commands). And his commands are not irksome, for whatever is born of God con- 4 quers the world. Our faith, that is the conquest which conquers the world. Who is the world's con- 5 queror but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? Jesus 6 Christ, he it is who came by water and blood — not by the water alone, but by the water and the blood. The Spirit is the witness to this, 7 i for the Spirit is truth. The wit- 8 nesses are three, the Spirit and the water and the blood, and the three of them are in accord. If we 9 accept human testimony, God's testimony is greater; for God's testimony consists in his testimony to his Son. He who believes in the 10 Son of God possesses that testimony within himself; he who will not believe God, has made God a liar by refusing to believe the testimony wliich God has borne to his Son. And the testimony is, that God 11 gave us life eternal and this life is in his Son.
He who possesses the Son pos- 12 sesses life :
he who does not possess the Son does not possess life.
I have written in this way to 13 you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may be sure
• The Greek word is singular. It may be taken strictly, as meaning " the Son," or generically as above (see the nest verse).
I. JOHN V
14
15
16
17
you have life eternal. Now the confidence we have in liim is this, that he listens to us whenever we ask anything in accordance with his will ; and if we know he hstens to whatever we ask, we know we obtain the requests we have made to him. If anyone notices his brother committing a sin which is not deadly, he wU ask and ob- tain life for him — for anyone who does not commit a deadly sin. There is such a thing as deadly sin ; I do not mean he is to pray for that. All iniquity is sin, but there are sins which are not deadlv.
18
We know that anyone who is born of God does not sin ; He who was born of God preserves him, and the evil One never catches him.
We know that we belong to God, 19 and that the whole world hes in the power of the evil One.
We know that the Son of God 20 has come, and has given us insight to know Him who is the Real God ; and we are in Him who is real, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the real God, this is life eternal. My dear children, keep clear of 21 idols.
303
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF
JOHN
1 The presbyter, to the elect Lady and her children whom I love in the Truth (and not only I but all who
2 know the Truth) for the sake of the Truth which remains within us
3 and will be with us for ever : grace, mercy, peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
4 I was overjoyed to find some of your children leading the true Life, as we were commanded to do by
5 the Father. And now I entreat you. Lady — not as though I were writing you any new command, it is the command which we have had from the very beginning — let us
6 love one another. To live by his commands, that is what love means : and the command is, live in love as you have learned to do from the
7 very beginning. I say this, be- cause a number of impostors have emerged in the world, men who will not acknowledge the coming
of Jesus Christ in the flesh; that marks the real ' impostor ' and 'antichrist.' Watch yourselves; 8 you must not lose what you have been working for, but gain a full reward. Anyone who is ' advanced ' 9 and will not remain by the doctrine of Christ, does not possess God : he who remains by the doctrine of Christ possesses both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to 10 you and does not bring this doc- trine, do not admit him to the house — do not even greet him, for 11 he who greets him shares in his wicked work.
I have a great deal to write to 12 you, but I do not mean to use ink and paper; I hope to visit you and have a talk with you, so that your * joy may be unimpaired.
The children of your elect Sister IS greet you.
* Reading with A B and sevaral versions, tifi&i', instead of riiiiv.
S04
THE THIRD EPISTLE OF
JOHN
1 The presbyter, to the beloved Gaius whom I love in the Truth.
2 Beloved, I pray you may prosper in every way and keep well — as indeed your soul is keeping well.
3 For I was overjoyed when some brothers arrived and testified to the truth of your life, as indeed you
4 do lead the true Life; I have no greater joy than to hear of my
5 cliildren living in the Truth. Be- loved, you are acting loyally in rendering any service to the bro- thers and especially to strangers;
6 they have testified to your love before the church. Pray speed them on their journey worthily of
7 God; they have started out for his sake and declined to take any-
8 thing from pagans ; hence we are bound to support such men, to prove ourselves allies of the Truth.
9 I have written to the church; only, Diotrephes, who likes to take
the lead among them, repudiates me. So when I come, I will bring 10 up what he is doing, babbling against me with wicked words — and, not satisfied with words, he refuses to welcome the brothers, checks those who want to welcome them, and excommunicates them from the church. Beloved, do 11 not imitate evil but good ; he who does good belongs to God, he who does evil has never seen God.
Everybody testifies to Deme- 12 trius, and so does the Truth itself : I testify to him too, and you know my testimony is true.
I had a great deal to write to 13 you, but I do not want to write to you with ink and pen; I am 14 hoping to see you soon, and we will have a talk.
Peace to you ! The friends 15 salute you : salute the friends one by one.
305
THE EPISTLE OF
JUDAS (JUDE)
1 Judas, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, to those who have been called, who are beloved by God the Father and
2 kept by Jesus Christ : mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you.
3 Beloved, my whole concern was to write to you on the subject of our common salvation, but I am forced to write you an appeal to defend the faith which has once for all been committed to the
4 saints ; for certain persons have slipped in by stealth (their doom has been predicted long ago), im- pious creatures who pervert the grace of our God into immorality and disown our sole liege and Lord,
5 Jesus Christ. Now I want to remind you of what you are per- fectly aware, that though the Lord once * brought the People safe out of Egypt, he subsequently de-
6 stroyed the unbelieving, while the angels who abandoned their own domain, instead of preserving their proper rank, are reserved by him within the nether gloom, in chains eternal, for the doom of the great
7 Day — just as Sodom and Gomorra and the adjacent cities, which similarly glutted themselves with vice and sensual perversity, are exhibited as a warning of the ever- lasting fire they are sentenced to
8 suffer. Despite it all, these vision- aries pollute their flesh, scorn the
* aira| must be connected, as in the Syriac and Egyptian versions, with inixTas, not with flSdras as in most manuscripts.
S06
Powers celestial, and scoff at the angelic Glories, Now the very arch- 9 angel Michael, when he disputed the body of Moses with Satan, did not dare to condemn him with scoffs ; what he said was, The Lord rebuke you ! But these people 10 scoff at anything they do not un- derstand; and whatever they do understand, like irrational animals, by mere instinct, that proves their ruin. Woe to them ! they go the 11 road of Cain, rush into Balaam's error for what it brings them, and perish in Korah's rebelHon. These 12 people are stains on 5^our love- feasts ; they have no qualms about carousing in your midst, they look after none hut themselves — rainless clouds, swept along by the wind, trees in autumn without fruit, doubly dead and so uprooted, wild 13 waves foaming out their own shame, wandering stars for whom the nether gloom of darkness has been reserved eternally. It was of 14 these, too, that Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied, when he said.
Behold the Lord comes with my- riads of his holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, 15
and to convict all the impious of all the impious deeds they have
committed,
and of all the harsh things said
against him by impious sinners.
For these people are murmurers, 16
grumbling at their lot in life — they
fall in with their own passions, their
JUDAS (JUDE)
talk is arrogant, they pay court to men to benefit themselves.
17 Now, beloved, j'^ou must re- member the words of the apostles
18 of our Lord Jesus Christ ; they told you beforehand, " At the end of things there will be mockers who go by their own impious passions."
19 These are the people who set up divisions and distinctions, sensuous creatures, destitute of the Spirit.
20 But do you, beloved, build up your- selves on your most holy faith and
21 pray in the holy Spirit, so keeping yourselves within the love of God and waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that ends in life
eternal. Snatch some from the fire, 22 and have mercy on the waverers, 23 ♦trembling as you touch them, with loathing for the garment which the flesh has stained.
Now to him who is able to keep 24 you from slipping and to make you stand unblemished and exultant before his glory — to the only God, 25 our saviour through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power and authority, before all time and now and for all time : Amen.
* Reading nal ots /Mev ex wphs aprd^ert, SLaKpivofifvovs S« 4\(aT«, with SyrPli" Clement and Jerome.
307
THE KEVELATION
OF ST. JOHN
1 A REVELATION by Jesus Christ, which God granted him for his servants, to show them what must come to pass very soon ; he dis- closed it by sending it through his
2 angel to his servant John, who now testifies to what is God's word and Jesus Christ's testimony — to what
3 he saw. Blessed is he who reads aloud, blessed they who hear the words of this prophecy and lay to heart what is written in it ; for the time is near.
4 John to the seven churches in Asia : grace be to you and peace from HE WHO IS and was and is COMING, and from the seven Spirits
5 before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first- born from the dead, and the prince over the kings of earth ; to him who loves us and has loosed us from
6 our sins by shedding his blood — he has made us a realm of priests for his God and Father, — to him be glory and dominion for ever and
7 ever : Amen. Lo, he is coming on the clouds, to he seen by every eye, even by those who impaled him, and all the tribes of earth will wail because of him : even
8 so, Amen. " / am the alpha and the omega," saith the Lord God, who is and was and is coming, the almighty.
9 I John, your brother and your companion in the distress and realm and patient endurance which Jesus brings, found myself in the island called Patmos, for adhering to God's word and the testimony of Jesus.
308
On the Lord's day I found myself 10 rapt in the Spirit, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet calling, " Write your vision in a 11 book, and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamum and Thyatira and Sardis and Philadelphia and Lao- dicea." So I turned to see whose 12 voice it was that spoke to me ; and on turning round I saw seven golden lampstands and in the middle 13 of the lampstands One who re- sembled a human being, with a long robe, and a belt of gold round his breast; his head and hair were 14 white as wool, white as snow ; his eyes flashed like fire, his feet glowed 15 like burnished bronze, his voice sounded like many waves, in his 16 right hand he held seven stars, a sharp sword with a double edge issued from his mouth, and his face shone like the sun in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet 17 like a dead man; but he laid his hand on me, saying, " Do not be afraid ; I am the First and the Last,* I was dead and here I am 18 alive for evermore, holding the keys that unlock death and Hades. Write down your vision of what is 19 and what is to be hereafter. As for 20 the secret symbol of the seven stars which you have seen in my right hand, and of the seven golden lamp- stands — the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and
* The words ' and the living One ' {koI 6 Ca>v) have been added as a gloss from the next verse.
REVELATION II
the seven lampstands are the seven 2 churches. To the angel of the
church at Ephesus write thus : — These are the words of hi m who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who moves among the seven golden
2 lampstands : I know^ your doings, your hard work and your patient endurance ; I know that you cannot bear wicked men, and that you have tested those who style them- selves apostles (no apostles they !) and detected them to be liars;
3 I know that you are enduring patiently and have borne up for my sake and have not wearied.
4 But I have this against you : you have given up loving one another
5 as you did at first. Now, remem- ber the height from which you have fallen ; repent and act as you did at first. If not, I will come to j'ou [very soon] and remove your lamp-
6 stand, unless you repent. Still, you have this in your favour : you hate the practices of thcNicolaitans,
7 and I hate them too. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches : ' The conqueror I will allow to eat from the tree of Life which is within the
8 paradise of God.^ Then to the angel of the church at Smyrna write thus : — These are the words of the First and Last, who was dead
9 and came to life : I know your * distress and your poverty (but you are rich!); I know how you are being slandered by those who style themselves Jews (no Jews are they, but a mere synagogue of
10 Satan !). Have no fear of what you are to suffer. The devil indeed is going to put some of you in prison, that you may be tested ; you will have a distressful ten days. Be faithful, though you have to die * Omitting [to tpya (col].
for it, and I will give you the crown of Life. Let anyone who has an 11 ear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches : ' The conqueror shall not be injured by the second death.' Then to the angel of the 12 church at Pergamum write thus : — These are the words of him who wields the sharp sword with the double edge : I know where you 13 dwell, where Satan sits enthroned, and yet you adhere to my Name, you have not renounced your faith in me even during the days when my witness, my faithful Antipas, was martyred in your midst — where Satan dwells. But I have 14 one or two things against you : you have some adherents there of the tenets of Balaam, who taught Balak how to set a pitfall before the sons of Israel by making them eat food which had been sacrificed to idols and give zvay to sexual vice. So even with you; you likewise 15 have some adherents of the tenets of the Nicolaitans. Repent; if 16 not, I will very soon come to you and make war upon them with the sword of my mouth. Let anyone 17 who has an ear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches : ' The conqueror / will allow to share the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, unknown to any except him who receives it.' Then to the 18 angel of the church at Thyatira write thus : — These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes flash like fire and whose feet glow like bronze. I know your doings, your 19 love and loyalty and service and patient endurance; I know you are doing more than you did at first. Still I have this against you : 20 you are tolerating that Jezebel of a woman who styles herself a
309
REVELATION III
prophetess and seduces my servants by teaching them to give way to sexual vice and to eat food which has
21 been sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent, but she refuses
22 to repent of her sexual vice. Lo, I will lay her on a sickbed, and bring her paramours into sore distress, if they do not repent of her prac-
23 tices ; and her children I will ex- terminate. So shall all the churches know that I am the searcher of the inmost heart ; I zvill requite each of you according to zvhat you have done.
24 But for the rest of you at Thyatira, for all who do not hold these tenets, for those who have not (in their phrase) 'fathomed the deep mj^s- teries of Satan ' — for j^ou this is my word : I impose no fresh burden
25 on you ; only hold to what you have, till such time as I come. ' And the
26 conqueror, he who till the end lays to heart what I enjoin, I will give him authority over the nations —
27 aye, he will shepherd them ivith an
iron flail, shattering them like a 'potter's jars — as I myself have received authority
28 from my Father; also I will grant him to see the Morning-star.' Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
3 Then to the angel of the church at Sardis write thus : — These are the Avords of him who holds the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars : I know j'-our doings, you have the name of being alive, but
2 you are dead. Wake up, rally what is still left to you, though it is on the very point of death ; for I find nothing you have done is complete
8 in the eyes of my God. Now
remember what you received and
heard, hold to it and repent. If
yon will not wake up, I will come
310
like a thief ; you will not know at what hour I come upon you. Still, you have a few souls at Sardis 4 who have not soiled their raiment ; they will walk beside me in white, for they deserve to. ' The conqueror 5 will be clad in white raiment; I will never erase his name from the hook of Life, but will own him openly before my Father and before his angels.' Let anyone who has 6 an ear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Then to the 7 angel of the church at Philadelphia write thus : — These are the words of the true Holy One, who holds the key of David, tvho opens and none shall shut, who shuts and none shall open.* Lo, I have set a door open 8 before you which no one is able to shut; for though your strength is small, you have kept my word, you have not renounced my Name. Lo, I will make those who belong 9 to that synagogue of Satan, who style themselves Jews (no Jews are they, but liars !) — lo, I will have them come and do homage before your feet and learn that / did love you. Because you have kept the 10 word of my patient endurance, I will keep you safe through the hour of trial which is coming upon the whole world to test the dwellers on earth. I am coming very soon : 1 1 hold to what you have, in case j^our crown is taken from you. ' As for 12 the conqueror, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God (nevermore will he leave it), and I will inscribe on him the name of my God, the name of the city of my God (the new Jerusalem which descends out of heaven from my
* Omitting (with Primasius) oZ5a aov to fpya, * I know your doings,' a hannonistio gloss which interrupts the connexion of thought.
REVELATION IV
God), and my own new name.^
13 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit says to the
14 churches. Then to the angel of the church at Laodicea write thus : These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the
15 origin of God's creation. I know your doings, you are neither cold nor hot — would you were either
16 cold or hot ! So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my
17 mouth. You declare, ' I am rich, / aw well off, I lack nothing ! ' — not knowing you are a miserable creature, pitiful, poor, blind, naked.
18 I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fu'c, that you may be rich, white raiment to clothe you and prevent the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to rub on your eyes, that you
19 may see. / reprove and discipline those whom I love ; so be in warm
20 earnest and repent. Lo, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and sup with him,
21 and he with me. 'The conqueror I will allow to sit beside me on my throne, as I myself have con- quered and sat down beside my
22 Father on his throne.' Let any- one who has an ear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches."
4 After this I looked, and there was a door standing open in heaven ! And the first voice I had heard talking with me like a trumpet said, " Come up here, and I will show you what must come to pass after
2 this." At once I found myself rapt in the Spirit ; and lo a Throne stood in heaven with One seated on
3 the throne — the seated One re-
sper and
throne a
raid in
hrone
d on
enty
clad
'golden
sembled in»appearan
sardius — and rou0ii. ^Hfj^ throne a 4 rainbow resembli appearance; also r four and twenty these thrones f Presbyters seated^ in white raimen
crowns upon their heads. From 5 the throne issue flashes of lightning and loud blasts and peals of thunder. And in front of the throne seven 6 torches of fire burn (they are the seven Spirits of God) ; also in front of the throne there is like a sea of glass, resembling crystal. And on each side of the throne, all round it, four living Creatures full of eyes inside and outside; the first living 7 Creature resembling a lion, the second living Creature resembling an ox, the third living Creature with a face like a man''s, the fourth li ving Creature like a flying eagle. The 8 four living Creatures, each with six wings apiece, are full of eyes all over their bodies and under their wings, and day and night they never cease the chant,
" Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God almighty,
who was and is and is coming." And whenever the living Creatures 9 render glory and honour and thanksgiving to him who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, the four and twenty 10 Presbyters fall down before him who is seated on the throne, wor- shipping him who lives for ever and ever, and casting their crowns before the throne, with the cry, " Thou deservest, our Lord and 11
God,* to receive glory and
honour and power, for it was thou who didst create
all things :
* Omitting [6 0710^].
311
•^flpf
REVELATION V, VI
they existed and were created by thy will."
5 Then I saw lying on the right hand of him who was seated on the throne, a scroll with writing on the back as well as inside, sealed with
2 seven seals. And I saw a strong angel exclaiming with a loud voice, " Who is fit to open the scroll, to
3 break the seals of it ? " But no one was fit, either in heaven or on earth or underneath the earth, to open the scroll or look into it.
4 So I began to weep bitterly because no one had been found fit to open the scroll or look into
5 it ; but one of the Presbyters told me, " Weep not ; lo, the Lion of Judah^s tribe, the Scion of David, he has won * the power of opening the scroll and its seven seals."
6 Then I noticed a Lamb standing in the midst of the throne and the four living Creatures and the Presbyters; it seemed to have been slain, but it had seven heads and seven eyes (they are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all
7 the earth), and it went and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.
8 And when it took the scroll, the four living Creatures and the four and twenty Presbyters fell down before the Lamb, each wdth his harp and with golden bowls full of incense (that is, full of the prayers
9 of the saints), singing a new song : " Thou deservest to take the scroll
and open its seals, for thou wast slain and by shedding thy blood hast ran- somed for God men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation ;
* Literally, " has conquered (see iii. 21), BO that he can open." 312
thou hast made them kings and 10 priests for our God, and they shall reign on earth." Then I looked, and I heard the 11 voice of many angels round the throne and of the living Creatures and of the Presbyters, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, crying aloud, " The 12 slain Lamb deserves to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing." And I heard every 13 creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth crying, " Bless- ing and honour and glory and dominion for ever and ever, to him who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb!" " Amen," 14 said the four living Creatures, and the Presbyters fell down and wor- shipped.
And when the Lamb opened one 6 of the seven seals, I looked, and I heard one of the four li\'ing Crea- tures calhng like thunder, "Come."t So I looked, and there was a white 2 horse, its rider holding a bow; he was given a crown, and away he rode conquering and to conquer.
And when he opened the second 3 seal, I heard the second living Creature calling, " Come." And 4 away went another red horse ; its rider was allowed to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other; he was given a huge sword.
And when he opened the third 5 seal, I heard the third living Creature calling, " Come." So I looked and there was a black horse ; its rider held a pair of scales in his hand, and I heard like a voice in 6 the midst of the four living Crea- tures saying, " A shilling for a
t Addressed either to the seer or, more prob- ably, to the mounted figures.
REVELATION VII
quart of wheat, a shilling for three quarts of barley; but harm not oil and wine ! "
7 And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth
8 living Creature calling, "Come." So I looked, and there was a livid horse ; its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. They were given power over the fourth part of the earth, to kill men with sword and famine and plague and by the wild beasts of the earth.
9 And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain for adhering to God's word and to the testimony which they
10 bore ; and they cried aloud, " O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long wilt thou refrain from charging and avenging our blood upon those
1 1 ivho dwell on earth ? ' ' But they were each given a white robe, and told to remain quiet for a little longer, initil their number was completed by their fellow-servants and their brothers who were to be killed like themselves.
12 And when he opened the sixth seal, I looked; and a great earth- quake took place, the sun turned black as sackcloth, the full moon
13 turned like blood, the stars of the sky dropped to earth as a fig tree shaken by a gale sheds her unripe
14 figs, the sky was swept aside like a scroll being folded up, and every mountain and island was moved
15 out of its place. Then the kings of the earth, the magnates, the generals, the rich, the strong, slaves and freemen everyone of them, hid in caves and among the
16 rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and the rocks, " Fall upon us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on
the throne and from the anger of the Lamb ; for the great Day of their 17 anger has come, and who can stand it?"
After that I saw four angels 7 standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds from blowing on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. And I saw 2 another angel rise up from the east, with the seal of the living God; he shouted aloud to the four angels who were allowed to injure the earth and sea, " Do no 3 harm to earth or sea or trees, until we seal the servants of our God upon their foreheads." And I heard 4 what was the number of the sealed — a hundred and forty-four thou- sand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel, twelve thousand 5 sealed from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand from the 7 tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand from the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand from the tribe 8 of Zebulun, twelve thousand from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand fromthetribeof Benjamin * [twelve thousand from the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand from the tribe of 6 Asher, twelve thousand from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand sealed from the tribe of Manasseh.]
After that 1 looked, and there 9 was a great host whom no one could count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing f before the throne and before the Lamb, clad in white robes, with palm-branches in their
* The simple transposition of 5c- 6 to a place after 8, as Dr. G. B. Gray has pointed out {Encyclo-paedia Biblica 5209), yields a fat more normal list of the tribes.
t In contrast to the dread of vi. 17, and in line with the thought of Luke xxi. 36.
313
REVELATION VIII
10 hands ; and they cried with a loud voice, " Saved by our God who is seated on the throne, and by the
] 1 Lamb ! " And all the angels sur- rounded the throne and the Presby- ters and the four living Crertures, and fell on their faces before the
12 throne, worshipping ,God and cry- ing, " Even so ! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God for ever ajid ever :
13 Amen ! " Then one of the Presby- ters addressed me, saying, " Who are these, clad in white robes ?
14 where have they come from? " I said to him, " You know, my lord." So he told me, " These are the people who have come out of the great Distress, xvho washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 For this they are now before
the throne of God, serving* him day and night
within his temple, and he zvho is seated on the throne
shall overshadow them.
16 Never again ivill they hunger,
never again will they thirst, never shall tfie sun strike them, nor any scorching heat ;
17 for the Lamb in the midst of the
throne will be their shepherd, guiding them to fountains of
living water ; and God xvill wipe every tear
from their eyes."
CHAP.
8 And when he opened the seventh seal, silence reigned in heaven for
2 about half-an-hour. Then I saw seven tiiampcts being given to the seven angels who stand before God.
3 And another angel went and stood at the altar with a golden censer;
* In the sense of vorship, as in xxii. 3. 314
he was given abundant incense, to be laid with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar in front of the throne ; and the smoke 4 of the incense with the prayers of all the saints rose up from the angel's hand before God. And the angel 5 took tlie censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and poured it on the earth ; then followed peals of thunder, loud blasts, flashes of light- ning, and an earthquake. And 6 the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow their blasts. The first blew, and there 7 came hail and fire mixed with blood, falling on the earth ; a third of the earth was burnt up, a third of the trees were burnt up, and all the green grass was burnt up. The 8 second angel blew, and xvhat looked like a huge mountain on fire was hurled into the sea ; a third of the sea turned blood, a third of the 9 creatures in the sea — the li\'ing creatures — perished, and a third of the ships were destroyed. The 10 third angel blew, and a huge star blazing like a torch dropped out of the sky, dropped on a third of the rivers and on the fountains (the 11 name of the star is Wormwood); a third of the waters became worm- wood, and many people died of the waters, because they had turned bitter. The fourth angel blew; 12 and a stroke fell on a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so as to darken one third of them, withdrawing light from a third of the day and likewise of the night.
Then I looked, and I heard an 13 eagle flying in mid-heaven with a loud cry, " Woe, woe, woe to the dwellers on earth, for the rest of the trumpet-blasts that the three angels are about to blow ! "
REVELATION IX, X
9 The fifth angel blew, and I saw a Star which had dropped from heaven to earth; he was given the
2 key of the pit of the abyss, and he opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke poured out of the pit, like the smoke of a huge furnace, till the sun and the air were darkened
3 by the smoke from the pit. And out of the smoke came locusts on the earth ; they were granted power like the power wielded by scorpions
4 on earth, but they were told not to harm the grass on earth nor any green thing nor any tree, only such human beings as had not the seal
5 of God upon their foreheads ; these they were allowed, not to kill but to torture, for five months — and their torture was like the torture of a scorpion when it stings a man.
6 In those days men will seek death,
hut they will not find it : they will long to die,
but death flies from them.
7 The appearance of the locusts resembled horses armed for battle ; on their heads were sort of crowns like gold ; their faces were like
8 human faces, their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions'' fangs ;
9 they had scales like iron coats of mail; the whirring of their wings was like the noise of many chariots
10 rushing to battle ; their tails and their stings were like scorpions', and their power of hurting men for five months lay in their tails ;
11 they had a king over them, the angel of the abyss — his Hebrew name is Abaddon, but in Greek he is called Apollyon.
12 The first woe has passed : two woes are still to come.
13 Then the sixth angel blew ; and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before
God, telling the sixth angel with 14 the trumpet, " Let loose the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." So the four 15 angels were unloosed, who had been kept ready for that hour and day and month and year, to kill the third of men. And the number 16 of the troops of their cavalry was two hundred millions (I heard what was their number). And 17 this is how the horses and their riders looked in my vision : they wore coats of mail red as fire, dark-blue as jacinth and yellow as smoke; the horses' heads were like lions' heads, and from their mouths poured fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three 18 plagues the third of men were killed, by the fire, the smoke, and the brimstone, that poured out of their mouths ; for the power of 19 the hoi-ses lies in their mouths — and also in their tails (their tails are like serpents, they have heads, and it is with their heads that they hurt). But the rest of man- 20 kind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands and give up wor- shipping daemons and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which cannot either see or hear or stir ; nor did they repent of their 21 murders or of their magic spells or of their sexual vice or of their thefts.
CHAP.
Then I saw another * strong angel 10 descend from heaven ; he was clad in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, his face like the sun, his feet like columns of fire, and a 2 small scroll open in his hand. He set his right foot on the sea, his
• Referring to v. 2, in all probability; but it may simply mean, " another angel, a Btrong one."
315
REVELATION XI
3 left upon the earth, and shouted aloud like a lion roaring; and at his shout the seven thunders
4 gave voice. After the seven thunders had spoken, I was going to write it down; but I heard a voice from heaven saying, " Seal up what the seven thunders have
5 said, do not write it." Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and the earth raised his right hand
6 to heaven and sxvore by Him zcho lives for ever and ever, who created the heaven and ivhat is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, " There shall be
7 no more delay ; in the days of the seventh angel's voice, when he now blows his blast, then shall the secret purpose of God be fulfilled, as he assured his servants the
8 prophets." Then the voice I had heard from heaven again talked to me, saying, " Go and take the small scroll which lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing
9 on the sea and the earth." So I went to the angel, saying, " Give me the small scroll." " Take it," said he, " and swalloiv it ; it will ta^te sweet as honey, but it \\\\\ be
10 bitter to digest." Then I took the small scroll from the hand of the angel and swallowed it ; it did taste sweet, like honey, but when I had eaten it, it was bitter to
11 digest. Then I was told, "Fom must prophesy again of many peoples and nations and languages and kings."
11 And I was given a reed like a rod, and told, " Rise up and measure the temple of God and the altar,
2 numbering the worshippers ; but omit the court outside the temple, do not measure that, for it has been given over to the Gentiles ; and the city will be under their heel for
3 two and forty months. But 1 will
316
6
8
allow my two witnesses to prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clad in sackcloth (they are the two olive-trees and the two lamp- stands which stand before the Lord of the earth) :
whoever tries to harm them, fire will issue from their mouth and consume their enemies ;
whoever should try to harm them, so must he be killed." They have power to shut up the sky, so that no rain falls during the days when they are prophesy- ing ; and they hav^e power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and also to smite the earth with all manner of plagues as often as they choose. But, when they have finished their testimony, the Beast that ascends from the abyss will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their corpses will lie in the streets of that great City whose mystical name is Sodom and Egypt — where their Lord also was crucified. For three days and 9 a half, men from all peoples and tribes and tongues and nations look at their corpses, refusing to let their corpses be buried ; and the 10 dwellers on earth will gloat over them and rejoice, sending presents to congratulate one another — for these two prophets were a torment to the dwellers on earth. But 11 after three days and a half the breath of life from God entered them; they stood on their feet {terror fell on those who saw them) and heard a loud voice from heaven 12 telling them, " Come up here." So up to heaven they Avent in a cloud, before the eyes of their enemies. At that hour a great earthquake 13 took place, a tenth of the City was destroyed, and seven thousand souls perished in the earthquake :
REVELATION XII
the rest were awestruck, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed : the third woe soon is coming.
15 Then the seventh angel blew; and loud voices followed in heaven, crying, " The rule of the world has passed to our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and
16 ewr." Then the four and twenty Presbyters who are seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying,
17 " We thank thee. Lord God
almighty, who art and wast, that thou hast assumed thy great power and begun to reign ;
18 the nations were enraged, but thine anger has come ;
the time has come for the dead to be judged,
the time for rewarding thy ser- vants the prophets,
and the saints who reverence thy name, both low and high,
the time for destroying the de- stroyers of the earth."
19 Then the temple of God in heaven was thrown open, and the ark of his covenant was seen inside his temple ; there were flashes of lightning, loud blasts, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a hail-
12 storm. And a great portent was seen in heaven, a woman clad in the sun — with the moon under her feet, and a tiara of twelve stars
2 on her head ; she was with child, crying in the pangs of travail, in
3 anguish for her delivery. Then another portent was seen in heaven ! There was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and seven horns and
4 seven diadems upon his heads ; his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and flung them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was on
the point of being delivered, to devour her child as soon as it was born. She gave birth to a son, a 5 male child, who is to shepherd all the nations ivith an iron flail ; her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and she herself fled to 6 the desert, where a place has been prepared for her by God, in which she is to be nourished for twelve hundred and siyXj days. And war 7 broke out in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting with the dragon ; the dragon and his angels also fought, but he failed, and there 8 was no place for them in heaven any longer. So the huge dragon 9 was thrown down — that old serpent called the Devil and Satan, the seducer of the whole world — thrown down to the earth, and his angels thrown down along with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven 10 saying, " Now it has come, the salvation and power, the reign of our God and the authority of his Christ! — for the Accuser of our brothers is thrown down, who accused them before God day and night. But they have conquered 11 him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they had to die for it, but they did not cling to life. Rejoice for this, 12 O heavens and ye that dwell in them ! But woe to earth and sea ! The devil has descended to you in fierce anger, knowing that his time is short." And when the 13 dragon found himself thrown down to earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child ; but the woman was given 14 the two wings of a great eagle for her flight to the desert, to her appointed place, where she is nourished for a Time, tivo Times, and half a Time, safe from the
317
REVELATION XIII
15 serpent. Then from his mouth the serpent poured water after the woman like a river, to sweep
16 her away with a flood ; but the earth came to the rescue of the woman, the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had poured out of his
17 mouth. So, enraged at the woman, the dragon went off to wage war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep God's commandments and hold the testimony of Jesus.
18 Then I stood on the sand of the 13 sea, and I saw a Beast rising out
of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, ten diadems * on his horns, and blasphemous titles on his
2 heads. The Beast I saw resembled a leopard, his feet were like a beards, and his mouth like a lion's. To him the dragon gave his own power and his own throne and great authority.
3 One of his heads looked as if it had been slain and killed, but the deadly wound was healed, and the whole earth went after him in wonder, worshipping the dragon for having given authority to the Beast, and
4 worshipping the Beast with the cry, " Who is hke the Beast ?
Who can fight with him ? "
5 He was allowed to utter loud and blasphemous vaunts, and allowed to exert authority for two and forty
6 months ; so he opened his mouth for blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name and his dwell- ing (that is, the dwellers in heaven).
7 He was allowed to wage war on the saints and to conquer them, and given authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation ;
8 and all the dwellers on earth will be his worshippers, everyone whose
* Here, as in xii. 3, an assumption of the royal power which really belonged to God (see ziz. 12). .318
name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of Life.^ Let anyone who has 9 an ear listen : —
Whoever is destined for captivity, 10 to captivity he goes :
whoever kills zvith the sword, by the sxvord must he be killed. This is what shows the patience and the faith of the saints.
Then I saw another Beast rising 11 from the land ; he had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exerts the full author- 12 ity of the fii'st Beast in his presence, causing the earth and its inhabit- ants to worship the first Beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs amazing miracles, 13 even making fire descend from heaven on earth in the sight of men, and by dint of the miracles 14 he is allowed to perform in presence of the Beast, he seduces the dwellers on earth; he bids the dwellers on earth erect a statue to the Beast who lived after being wounded by the sword, and to this statue of the 15 Beast he was allowed to impart the breath of life, so that the statue of the Beast should actually speak. He has everyone put to death who will not worship the status of the Beast, and he obliges all men, 16 low and high, rich and poor, freemen and slaves alike, to have a mark put upon their right hand or their forehead, so that no one 17 can buy or sell unless he bears the mark, that is the name of the Beast or the cipher of his name. Now for the gift of interpretation ! 18 Let the discerning calculate the cipher of the Beast ; it is the cipher
t The words " of the Lamb slain " (rov apviov rod i(T<payfjL4vov) are probably a gloss from xxi. 27. The book of Life elsewhere appears without any auch addition.
REVELATION XIV
of a man, and the figures are six hundred and sixty-six.
OHAF.
14 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb standing on mount Sion, and along with him a hundred and forty-four thousand bearing his name and the name of his Father
2 written on their foreheads/ And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waves and the sound of loud thmider; the voice I heard was like harpists playing
3 on their harps ; they were singing * a new song before the throne and before the four living Creatures and the Presbjrters, and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been ransomed from earth.
4 They have not been defiled by intercourse with women — they are celibates; they follow the Lamb wherever he goes ; they have been ransomed from among men, as the first to be reaped for God and the
5 Lamb. And on their lips no lie was ever detected -f; they are stainless.
6 Then I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven with an eternal gospel for the inhabitants of the earth, for every nation and tribe and
7 tongue and people ; he cried aloud, " Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come ; worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of
8 water." And another, a second angel followed, crying, " Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who made all nations drink the wine of the
9 passion of her vice ! " They were followed by another, a third angel, crying aloud, " Whoever worships
♦ Omitting [iy].
t The thought and phraseology of the whole passage should be compared and contrasted with 1 Pet. ii. 21-22.
the Beast and his statue, and lets his forehead or hand be marked, he shall drink the wine of God's 10 passion, poured out untempered in the cup of his anger, and shall be tortured with fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb : the smoke of their 11 torture rises for ever and ever, and they get no rest from it, day and night, these worshippers of the Beast and his statue, and all who are marked with his name." This 12 is what shows the patience of the saints — they who keep God's com- mands and the faith of Jesus.
Then I heard a voice from heaven 18 saying, " Write this : — ' Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth ! Even so, it is the voice of the Spirit — blessed in resting from their toils ; for what they have done goes with them.' "
Then / looked, and there was a 14 white cloud, and seated on the cloud One resembling a human being, a golden crown upon his head and a sharp siclde in his hand. And another angel came out of the 15 temple shouting aloud to him who sat upon the cloud, " Thrust your sickle in and reap,
the time has come to reap,
the harvest of earth is ripe and ready." So he who sat upon the cloud 16 swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then 17 another angel came out of the temple, he too with a sharp sickle ; and another angel came from the 18 altar — he who has power over fire — and called loudly to the one who had the sharp sickle, " Thrust Tjour sharp sickle in,
cull the clusters from the Vine of earth,
for its grapes are fully ripe."
319
REVELATION XV, XVI
19 So the angel swung his sickle on the earth and culled the clusters from the Vine of earth, flinging the grapes into the great winepress
20 of God's anger ; outside the City was the winepress trodden, and blood gushed out of the winepress as high as a horse's bridle for the space of two hundred miles.
15 Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and marvellous : seven angels with seven plagiies — the last plagues, for they complete
2 the wrath of God. And I saw what was like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and, standing beside the sea of glass, those who came off conquerors from the Beast and his statue and the cipher of his
3 name ; they had harps of God and they were singing the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb —
" Great and marvellous are thy deeds. Lord God almighty ! Just and true thy ways, 0 King of nations !
4 Who shall not fear, 0 Lord, and
glorify thy name ? for thou alone art holy. Yea, all nations shall come and worship before thee, forthy judgments are disclosed."
5 After that * I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in
6 heaven was thrown open, and out of the temple came the seven angels with tlie seven plagues, robed in pure dazzling linen, their breasts
7 encircled with golden belts. Then one of the four living Creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God
* That is, after the interlude of 2^. The words always denote a fresh phrase or stage of the yisioD. 320
who lives for ever and ever; and 8 ths temple was filled zvith smoke from th£ glory of God and from his might, nor could anyone enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were over. Then I heard a loud voice from 16 tl^ie temple telling the seven angels, " Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God on earth." So 2 the first went off and poured his bowl upon the land ; and noisome, painful ulcers broke out on those who bore the mark of the Beast and worshipped his statue. The 3 second poured out his bowl upon the sea ; it turned blood like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing within the sea perisJied. The 4 third poured out his bowl upon the rivers and fountains of water, and they turned blood. Then I 5 heard the angel of the waters cry, " 0 holy One, who art and wast, just art thou in this thy sentence. They poured out the blood of saints 6 and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink f They deserve it ! " And I heard the altar cry, 7 " Even so. Lord God almighty: true and fust are thy sentences of doom." The fourth angel poured out his 8 bowl upon the sun ; and the sun was allowed to scorch men with fire, till men, scorched by the 9 fierce heat, blasphemed the name of the God who had control of these plagues; yet they would not repent and give him glory. The fifth poured out his bowl upon 10 the throne of the Beast ; his realm was darkened, and men gnawed their tongues in anguish, blasphem- 11 ing the God of heaven for their pains and their ulcers, but refusing to repent of their doings. The sixth 12 poured out his bo\d on the great
REVELATION XVII
river Euphrates, and its waters were dried up to prepare the way
13 for the kings from the east. Then I saw issuing from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the Beast and from the mouth of the false Prophet, three foul
14 spirits like jrogs — demon-spirits performing miracles, who come out to muster the kings of the whole world for battle on the great Day
lis of almighty God. (Lo, I am coming Hke a tliief; blessed be he who keeps awake and holds his raiment fast, not to go naked and have the
16 shame of exposure !) * And they were mustered at the spot called
17 (in Hebrew) Harmagedon. The seventh angel poured out his bowl in the air; then came a loud voice out of the temple of heaven from the throne, crying, " All is over ! "
18 followed by flashes of lightning, loud blasts, peals of thunder, and a mighty earthquake, the like of which never was since man lived on earth, such a mighty earthquake
19 it was ; the great City was shattered in three parts, the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered to give Babylon the great the cup of the wine of the passion of his
>0 anger. Every island fled away, il the mountains disappeared, and huge hailstones fell from heaven on men, till men blasphemed God for the plague of the hail— for the plague of it was fearful.
HAP.
^7 Then came one of the seven angels with the seven plagues and spoke to me, saying, " Come and I will show you the doom of the great Harlot who is seated on
2 many waters, with whom the kings
* Ver. 15 interrupts the sequence of thought; it is either a gloss or misplaced, perhaps from the third chapter.
of earth have committed vice, and the dwellers on earth have been drunk with the wine of her vice." 3 So he bore me away rapt in the Spirit to the desert, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet Beast covered with blasphemous titles; it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was clad in purple and scarlet, her ornaments were of gold and precious stones and pearls, in her hand was a golden cup full of all abominations and the impurities of her vice, and on her 5 forehead a name was written by way of symbol, " Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of all abominations on earth." Then 6 I saw the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses of Jesus; and as I looked at her I marvelled greatly. But the angel said to 7 me, " Wliy marvel ? I will ex- plain to you the mystery of the woman, and of the Beast with the seven heads and the ten horns who carries her. The Beast you 8 have seen was, is not, but is to rise from the abyss — yet to perdition he shall go — and the dwellers on earth will wonder (all whose names have not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of Life), when they see that the Beast was, is not, but is coming. Now for the interpreta- 9 tion of the discerning mind ! The seven heads are seven hills, on which the woman is seated : also, 10 they are seven kings, of whom five have fallen, one is living, and the other has not arrived yet — and when he does arrive, he can only stay a little while. As for 11 the Beast which was and is not, he is an eighth head; he belongs to the seven, and to perdition he
321
REVELATION XVIII
12 shall go. As for the ten horns you have seen, they are ten kings who have no royal power as yet, but receive royal authority for an
13 hour along with the Beast ; they are of one mind, and they confer their power and authority upon
14 the Beast. They will wage war on the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings — the Lamb and the elect, the chosen, the faithful who are with him."
15 He also told me, " The waters you saw, on which the woman is seated, are peoples and hosts, nations and
16 tongues. As for the ten horns you have seen, they and the Beast will hate the harlot, lay her waste, and strip her naked ; they will devour her flesh and bum her with
17 fire, for God has put it into their hearts to execute his purpose, by having one mind and by conferring their royal power upon the Beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
18 As for the woman you have seen, she is the great City which reigns over the kings of the earth J'^ *
18 After that I saw another angel descend from heaven, great in might; his radiance lit up the 2 earth, and he shouted aloud with a strong voice, '''Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, now she is a haunt of demons, the den of all foul spirits, a cage for every foul and loath- some bird : 8 for all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her vice, the kings of the earth have com- mitted vice with her, and by the wealth of her wanton- ness earth's traders have grown rich."
• Possibly xii. 9-10 ("The angel also. . .") originally came at this place in the narrative. 322
And I heard another voice from heaven crying,
" Come out of her, 0 my people, that you share not her sins, that you partake not of her
plagues : for high as heaven her sins are 5
heaped, and God calls her misdeeds to
the reckoning. Render to her what she rendered 6
to others, aye, double the doom for all she
has done; mix her the draught double in
the cup she mixed for others. As she gloried and played the 7
wanton, so give her like measure of
torture and tears. Since in her heart she vaunts,
""A queen I sit, no widow I, tears I will never know,^ so shall her plagues fall in a S
single day, pestilence, tears, and famine : she shall be burnt with fire — for strong is God the Lord her judge. And the kings of the earth, who 9 committed vice and Avantoned with her will weep and wail over her, as they watch the smoke of her burning; for fear of her torture 10 they will stand far off, crying, " ' Woe and alas, thou great city I thou strong city of Babylon ! In one brief hour thy doom has come.' And the traders of earth will weep 11 and wail over her; for now there is none to buy their freights, freights of gold, silver, jewels, 12 pearls, fine Unen, purples, silk, scarlet stuff, all sorts of citron wood and ivory wares, all articles of costly wood, of bronze, of iron and of marble, with cinnamon, 13 balsam, spices, myrrh, frankin-
REVELATION XIX
15
20
21
22
cense, wines, olive-oil, fine flour
and wheat, with cattle, sheep,
horses, carriages, slaves, and the
souls of men.* The traders in these
wares, who made rich profits from
her, will stand far off for fear of her
torture, weeping and wailing :
*Woe and alas, for the great
city,
robed in linen, in purple and
scarlet, her ornaments of gold, of jewels
and pearl ! And all this splendour gone in one brief hour ! ' And all shipmasters and sea- faring folk, sailors and all whose business lies upon the sea, stood far off as they watched the smoke of her burning, crying, ' What city was like the great City ? ' They threw dust on their heads and cried, OS they wept and wailed, * Woe and alas for the great City, where all shipmen made rich
profit by her treasures ! Gone, gone in one brief hour ! ' O heaven, rejoice over her ! Saints, apostles, prophets, re- joice ! For God has avenged you on her now." Then a strong angel lifted a boulder like a huge millstone and flung it into the sea, crying, *' So shall the great city, Babylon, be hurled down, hurtUng, and never be seen any more : and the sound of harpists and minstrels and fluteplayers and trumpeters shall never be heard in thee
more : and craftsmen of any craft shall never be found in more :
thee
♦ Ver. 14 has been misplaced from its original position in the middle of ver. 23.
and the sound of tJie millstone shall never be heard in thee
more : and tJie liglit of a lamp 23
shall never be seen in thee
more: and the voice of the bridegroom
and bride shall never be heard in thee
more. Vanished the ripe fruit of thy 14
soul's desire ! Perished thy luxury and splen- dour ! Never again to be seen. For the magnates of earth were 28
thy traders ; all nations were seduced by thy
magic spells. And in her was found the blood 24
of prophets and saints, of all who were slain upon earth." f
CHAP.
After that I heard what was 19 like the shout of a great host in heaven, crying,
" Hallelujah ! salvation and glory and power are our God's ! True and just are his sentences of 2 doom ; he has doomed the great Harlot who destroyed earth with her vice, he has avenged on her tlie blood of his servants." Again they repeated, 3
" Hallelujah ! And the smoke of her goes up for ever and ever ! " Then the four and twenty Presby- 4 ters and the four living Creatures fell down and worshipped God who is seated on the throne, crying, " So be it, hallelujah ! " And a voice 5 came from the throne, " Extol our God, all ye his servant*,
t Ver. 24, like ver. 20, links xviL 6 to the outburst of xix. 2.
323
REVELATION XX
ye who reverence him, low and high!"
6 Then I heard a cry like the shout of a great host and the sound of many waves and the roar of heavy thunder —
" Hallelujah ! now the Lord our God almighty reigns /
7 Let us rejoice and triumph, let us give him the glory !
For now comes the marriage of
the Lamb; his bride has arrayed herself,
8 Yea, she is allowed to put on
fine linen, dazzling white " (the white linen is the righteous
9 conduct of the saints). Then 1 was told, " Write this : — ' Blessed are those who have been called to the marriage-banquet of the Lamb ! ' " The angel also told me, " These
10 are genuine words of God." Then I fell before his feet to worship him ; but he said to me, " No, not that ! lam but a servant like your- self and your brothers, who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God " (for the testimony borne by Jesus is the breath of all prophecy).
11 Then I saw heaven open wide — and there was a white horse : his rider was called ' Faithful *
and ' True,' yea, just are his judgments and his warfare.
12 His eyes are a flame of fire,
on his head are many diadems, he bears a ^vritten name which none knows but himself.
13 He is clad in a robe dipped in
blood (his name is called the logos OF god),
14 and the troops of heaven follow
him on white horses, arrayed in pure white linen. 324
A sharp sword issues jrom his 15
lips, wherewith to smite the
nations ; he will shepherd* them with an
iron flail, and trample the winepress of the
passion of the anger of God
almighty. And on his robe, upon his thigh, 16
his name is written,
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Then I saw an angel standing in 17 the sun, who shouted aloud to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, " Come, gather for the great banquet of God, to devour the flesh of kings, 18 the flesh of generals, the flesh of the strong, the flesh of horses and their riders, the flesh of all men free and slaves, low and high alike." And I saw the Beast and the kings 19 of earth and their troops mustered to wage war on him who was seated on the horse and on his troops. But the Beast was seized, together 20 with the false Prophet who had performed in his presence the miracles by means of which he seduced those who received the mark of the Beast and worshipped his statue ; both of them were flung alive into the lake of fire that blazes with brimstone, while 21 the rest were killed by the sword of him who is seated on the horse, by the sword that issues from his lips. And all the birds were glutted with their flesh.
Then I saw an angel descend 20 from heaven with the key of the abyss and a huge chain in his hand ; he gripped the dragon, 2 that old serpent (who is the devil
* The verb had really come to mean no more than " rule " by this time ; but the literal rendering may be retained for the sake of the antithesis in vii. 17.
REVELATION XXI
and Satan), and bound him for |8 a thousand years, flinging Mm into the abyss and shutting and sealing it on the top of him, to prevent him seducing the nations again until the thousand years were completed — after which he has to be released for a little while.
4 And / saw thrones with people sitting on them, who were allowed to judge — saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and God's word, those who would not worship the Beast or his statue, and who would not receive his mark on their forehead or hand ; they came to life and reigned along with the
5 Christ for a thousand years. As for the rest of the dead, they did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is
6 the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection ; over such the second death has no power, they will be priests of God and the Christ, and reign along with him during the
7 thousand years. But when the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison,
8 and he will emerge to seduce the nations at the four corners of the earth, even Gog and Magog, muster- ing them for the fray. Their number was like the sand of the sea,
9 and they swarmed over the broad earth, encircling the leaguer of the saints and the beloved City ; but fire descended from heaven and con-
io sumed them, and their seducer, the devil, was flung into the lake of fu'e and brimstone, where the Beast and the false Prophet also lie, to be tortured day and night for ever and ever.
11 Then I saw a great white throne, and One who was seated thereon ;
from his presence earth and sky fled,
no more to be found. And I saw the dead, high and low, 12
standing before the throne, and books rvere opened — also another book, the book of Life, was opened — and the dead were judged by what was written in these books, by what they had done. The sea gave up its corpses, 13
Death and Hades gave up their dead, and all were judged by what each had done. Then Death and Hades were 14
flung into the lake of fire, and whoever was not found en- 15 rolled in the book of Life was flung into the lake of
fire — which is the second death, the lake of fire.* Then I saw the nexv heaven and 21 the new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away; and the sea is no more. And I saw the holy City, the new 2 Jerusalem, descending from God out of heaven, all ready like a bride arrayed for her husband. And 3 I heard a loud voice out of the throne, crying,
" Lo, God's dzvelling-place is with men, with men will he dwell ; they will be his people, and God will himself he with
them : he will ivipe every tear from 4
their eyes, and death shall be no more —
* Unless this line is to be omitted altogether, it must be placed thus after ver. 15, not after 14 (as in the ordinary text), since there is no question of a second death except for human beings.
325
REVELATION XXI
no more wailing or crying or pain, for the first things have passed away."
5 Then he who was seated on the throne said, " Lo, I make all things new.*' And he said, " Write this : ' these words are trustworthy and
6 genuine.' " Then he said, " All is over ! I am the alpha and the omega, the First and the Last. I will let the thirsty drink of the fountain of the water of Life without
7 price. The conqueror will obtain this, and / will be his God, and he
8 shall be my son ; but as for the craven, the faithless, the abomin- able, as for the murderers, the immoral, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and liars of all kinds — ^their lot is the lake that blazes with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues ; and he spoke to me thus, " Come, and I will show you the Bride,
10 the wife of the Lamb." So he carried me off, rapt in the Spirit, to a huge, high mountain, where he showed me the City, the holy Jerusalem, descending from God
11 out of heaven, with the glory of God. The sheen of it resembled some rare jewel like jasper, clear as
12 crystal ; it has a huge, high wall with twelve gates, twelve angels at the twelve gates, and names in- scribed thereon which are the names of the tzvelve tribes of the sons of
13 Israel, three gates on tlie east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on tJie
14 west. And the wall of the City has twelve foundation-stones, bear- ing the twelve names of the
15 twelve apostles of the Lamb. He who talked to me had a golden 326
wand by way of a measuring-rod. to measure the City and its gates and wall; the City lies foursquare, 16 the length the same as the breadth, and he measured fifteen hundred miles with his rod for the City, for its breadth and length and height alike ; he made the measure of tJie 17 wall seventy-two yards, by human, that is, by angelic reckoning. The material of tJie zvall is jasper, 18 but the City is made of pure gold, transparent like glass. TJie found- 19 ation-stones of the city-wall are adorned with all sorts of precious stones, the first foundation-stone being of jasper, the second of sapphire, the third of agate, the fourth of emerald, the fifth of 20 onyx, the sixth of sardius, the seventh of chrysolite, the eighth of beryl, the ninth of topaz, the tenth of chrysoprase, the eleventh of jacinth, the twelfth of amethyst. The twelve gates are twelve pearls, 21 each gate made of a single pearl ; and the streets of the City are pure gold, clear as crystal. But I saw 22 no temple in the City, for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb. And the City needs 23 no sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God illumines it, and the Lamb lights it up.
By its light will the nations walk ; 24
and into it will the kings of earth bring their glories
{the gates of it icill never be shut 25 by day,
and night there shall be none),
tJiey will bring to it ih€ glories 26 and treasures of the nations.
Nothing profane, none who prac- 27 tises abomination or falsehood shall enter,
but those alone whose names are written in the Lamb's book of Life.
REVELATION XXII
\0, Then he showed me the river oj the water of Life, bright as crystal, fioxving from the throne of Giod and
2 of the Lamb through the streets of the City; on both sides of the river grew the tree of Life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, each month having its oxen fruit ; and the leaves served to heal the nations.
3 None who is accursed will be
there ;
but the throne of God and the Lamb will be within it,
his servants will serve and wor- ship him,
4 they will see his face,
and his name will be on their foreheads.
5 Night there shall be none ;
they will need no lamp or sun
to shine upon them, for the Lord God will illumine
them; and they will reign for ever and
ever.
6 And the angel said to me, " These words are trustworthy and genuine, for the Lord (Jod of the spirits of the prophets has sent his angel to show his servants what must
7 very soon come to pass. Lo, I am coming very soon ; blessed is he who lays to heart the words of the prophecy of this book ! "
8 I John saw and heard all this ; and when I heard and saw it, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who had shown me
9 it all. But he said to me, " No, not that ! I am but a servant like yourself and your brothers the prophets, who lay to heart the words
10 of this book. Worship God." Then he said, " Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near :
11 Let the wicked still be wicked, let the filthy still be filthy,
let the righteous still do right,
let the holy still be holy !
Lo, I am coming very soon, with 12
my reward, to requite everyone for what he has
done. I am the alpha and the omega, 13 the First and the Last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their 14 robes,* that theirs may be the right to the tree of Life, the right to enter the gates of the City! Begone, 15 you dogs, you sorcerers, you vicious men, you murderers, you idolaters, you who love and practise false- hood, every one of you ! "
" I Jesus have sent my angel to 16 give you this testimony for the churches ; I am the Scion and offspring of David, the bright star of the Morning."
" Come," say the Spirit and the 17 Bride : let the hearer too say, " Come " ; and let the thirsty come, let anyone who desires it, take the water of Life without price. I adjure all who hear the words 18 of the prophecy of this book : " If anyone adds to them,
God will add to him the plagues described in this book ; and if anyone removes any words 19 written in this book, God will remove his share in the tree of Life and in the holy City described in this book." He who bears this testimony 20 says, " Even &o : I am coming very soon." Amen, Lord Jesus, come !
The grace of the Lord Jesus 21 Christ be with you all.f Amen.
* Reading irKvvovrts ras aroKiiS ainwp with N A, Primsisius, the Vulgate, eta I Reading iriyruv or irayTwv v/xdv
327
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BS195.5 .IVI69 1913
The New Testament ; a new translation
Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library
1 1012 00049 7224
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