Part 6 (1/2)
XXI.
AND when they drew near to Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the mount of the Olives, Jesus sent forth two disciples, (2)saying to them: Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye will find an a.s.s tied, and a colt with her; loose and bring them to me.
(3)And if any one say aught to you, ye shall say: The Lord has need of them; and straightway he will send them.
(4)Now all this has been done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying:
(5)Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King comes to thee, Meek, and mounted upon an a.s.s, And upon a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.
(6)And the disciples, having gone and done as Jesus commanded them, (7)brought the a.s.s and the colt, and put on them their garments, and he sat thereon. (8)And most of the mult.i.tude spread their own garments in the way; and others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed in the way. (9)And the mult.i.tudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying: Hosanna[21:9] to the Son of David; Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. (10)And as he entered into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying: Who is this?
(11)And the mult.i.tudes said: This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth of Galilee.
(12)And Jesus entered into the temple of G.o.d, and cast out all that sold and bought in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of those who sold doves. (13)And he says to them: It is written,
My house shall be called a house of prayer; But ye make it a den of robbers.
(14)And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. (15)But the chief priests and the scribes, seeing the wonders that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, were much displeased, (16)and said to him: Dost thou hear what these say? And Jesus says to them: Yea; did ye never read: From the mouth of babes and sucklings thou preparedst praise?
(17)And leaving them, he went forth out of the city into Bethany, and lodged there.
(18)And in the morning, as he was returning into the city, he hungered. (19)And seeing a fig-tree by the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon but leaves only. And he says to it: Let there be no fruit from thee henceforward, forever. And immediately the fig-tree withered away. (20)And the disciples seeing it wondered, saying: How did the fig-tree immediately wither away? (21)And Jesus answering said to them: Verily I say to you, if ye have faith, and do not doubt, not only shall ye do what is done to the fig-tree, but even if ye say to this mountain, be thou taken up and cast into the sea, it shall be done. (22)And all things whatever ye ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
(23)And when he had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said: By what authority doest thou these things; and who gave thee this authority?
(24)And Jesus answering said to them: I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I too will tell you by what authority I do these things. (25)John's immersion, whence was it? From heaven, or from men?
And they reasoned among themselves, saying: If we say, From heaven, he will say to us: Why then did ye not believe him? (26)But if we say, From men, we fear the mult.i.tude; for all hold John as a prophet.
(27)And they answered Jesus, saying: We do not know. And he said to them: Neither do I say to you, by what authority I do these things.
(28)But what think ye? A man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said: Son, go work to-day in the vineyard. (29)And he answering said: I will not; but afterward he repented, and went. (30)And he came to the other[21:30], and said likewise. And he answering said: I will, sir; and went not. (31)Which of the two did the father's will? They say to him: The first[21:31]. Jesus says to them: Verily I say to you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of G.o.d before you. (32)For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and ye did not believe him; but the publicans and the harlots believed him; and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
(33)Hear another parable. There was a householder, who planted a vineyard, and put a hedge around it, and dug a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husband-men, and went abroad. (34)And when the season of fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, to receive his fruits. (35)And the husbandmen taking his servants, beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. (36)Again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did to them likewise. (37)And afterward he sent to them his son, saying: They will reverence my son. (38)But the husbandmen, seeing the son, said among themselves: This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and have his inheritance. (39)And taking him, they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. (40)When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those husbandmen? (41)They say to him: He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out the vineyard to other husbandmen, who will deliver over to him the fruits in their seasons. (42)Jesus says to them: Did ye never read in the Scriptures:
The stone which the builders disallowed, The same is become the head of the corner; This is from the Lord, And is wonderful in our eyes.
(43)Therefore I say to you, that the kingdom of G.o.d shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
(44)And he that falls upon this stone will be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
(45)And the chief priests and Pharisees, hearing his parables, knew that he spoke of them. (46)And they sought to lay hold of him, but feared the mult.i.tudes, since they held him as a prophet.
XXII.
AND Jesus answering spoke to them again in parables, saying:
(2)The kingdom of heaven is like to a certain king, who made a marriage for his son. (3)And he sent forth his servants to call those who were bidden to the wedding; and they would not come. (4)Again he sent forth other servants, saying: Tell those who are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready; come to the marriage. (5)But they made light of it, and went away, one to his farm, another to his merchandise. (6)And the rest laid hold of his servants, and ill-treated and slew them. (7)And the king, hearing it, was angry; and sending forth his armies, he destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. (8)Then he says to his servants: The wedding is ready, but they who were bidden were not worthy. (9)Go therefore into the thoroughfares, and as many as ye find, bid to the marriage. (10)And those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good; and the wedding was furnished with guests.
(11)And the king, coming in to view the guests, saw there a man not clothed with a wedding garment; (12)and he says to him: Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. (13)Then the king said to the attendants: Bind him hand and foot, and cast him forth into the outer darkness. There will be the weeping, and the gnas.h.i.+ng of teeth! (14)For many are called, but few are chosen.