Part 9 (1/2)
(40)And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying to him: If thou wilt, thou canst cleanse me.
(41)And Jesus, moved with compa.s.sion, stretched forth his hand and touched him, and says to him: I will; be thou cleansed. (42)And immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.
(43)And sternly charging him, he forthwith sent him away; (44)and says to him: See thou say nothing to any one; but go, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing what Moses commanded, for a testimony to them. (45)But he, going forth, began to publish it much, and to spread abroad the report; so that he could no longer openly enter into a city, but was without in desert places. And they came to him from every quarter.
II.
AND again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was heard that he is in the house. (2)And straightway many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even at the door; and he spoke the word to them.
(3)And they come to him, bringing one that was palsied, borne by four.
(4)And not being able to come near him, on account of the mult.i.tude, they uncovered the roof where he was; and having broken it up, they let down the bed whereon the palsied man lay. (5)And Jesus, seeing their faith, says to the palsied man: Child, thy sins are forgiven.
(6)But there were some of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts: (7)Why does this man speak thus? He blasphemes. Who can forgive sins but one, G.o.d? (8)And Jesus, immediately perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said to them: Why reason ye these things in your hearts? (9)Which is easier, to say to the palsied man, Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? (10)But that ye may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, (he says to the palsied man,) (11)I say to thee, arise, take up thy bed, and go to thy house. (12)And he arose, and immediately taking up the bed went forth before all; so that all were amazed, and glorified G.o.d, saying: We never saw it thus.
(13)And he went forth again by the sea-side; and all the mult.i.tude came to him, and he taught them.
(14)And pa.s.sing along, he saw Levi the son of Alpheus sitting at the place of receiving custom, and said to him: Follow me. And rising up he followed him. (15)And it came to pa.s.s, as he reclined at table in his house, that many publicans and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many, and they followed him. (16)And the scribes and the Pharisees, seeing him eating with the sinners and publicans, said to his disciples: How is it that he eats and drinks with the sinners and the publicans? (17)And Jesus, hearing it, says to them: They who are well need not a physician, but they who are sick. I came not to call righteous men, but sinners.
(18)And the disciples of John, and the Pharisees, were fasting[2:18]; and they come and say to him: Why do the disciples of John and the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? (19)And Jesus said to them: Can the sons of the bridechamber fast[2:19], while the bridegroom is with them? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they can not fast. (20)But days will come, when the bridegroom will be taken from them; and then they will fast in that day. (21)No one sews a piece of unfulled cloth upon an old garment; else the new filling up of the old takes from it, and a worse rent is made. (22)And no one puts new wine into old skins; else the wine bursts the skins, and the wine is destroyed, and the skins[2:22].
(23)And it came to pa.s.s, that he went through the grain-fields on the sabbath; and his disciples began to go forward[2:23], plucking the ears of grain. (24)And the Pharisees said to him: Behold, why do they on the sabbath that which is not lawful? (25)And he said to them: Did ye never read what David did, when he had need and hungered, himself and they who were with him; (26)how he went into the house of G.o.d, in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the show-bread, which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to those who were with him? (27)And he said to them: The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. (28)So that the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
III.
AND he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there, having his hand withered. (2)And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath; that they might accuse him. (3)And he says to the man having the withered hand: Arise, and come into the midst.
(4)And he says to them: Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill? But they were silent. (5)And looking round on them with anger, being grieved for their hardness of heart, he says to the man: Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth; and his hand was restored.
(6)And going out, the Pharisees immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. (7)And Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea. And a great mult.i.tude from Galilee followed; and from Judaea, (8)and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from beyond the Jordan, and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great mult.i.tude, hearing what great things he did, came to him. (9)And he spoke to his disciples, that a small s.h.i.+p should wait on him because of the mult.i.tude, that they might not throng him. (10)For he healed many, so that they pressed upon him to touch him, as many as had plagues. (11)And the unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying: Thou art the Son of G.o.d. (12)And he strictly charged them that they should not make him known.
(13)And he goes up into the mountain, and calls to him whom he would; and they went to him. (14)And he appointed twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, (15)and to have authority to heal sicknesses, and to cast out demons. (16)And Simon he surnamed Peter; (17)and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder; (18)and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus, and Simon the Cananite[3:18], (19)and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
And they come into the house. (20)And the mult.i.tude comes together again, so that they could not even eat bread. (21)And hearing of it, his kinsmen went out to lay hold of him; for they said: He is beside himself.
(22)And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said: He has Beelzebul, and through the prince of the demons he casts out the demons. (23)And calling them to him, he said to them in parables: How can Satan cast out Satan? (24)And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom can not stand. (25)And if a house be divided against itself, that house can not stand. (26)And if Satan rose up against himself, and is divided, he can not stand, but has an end.
(27)No one can enter into a strong man's house, and plunder his goods, except he first bind the strong man; and then he will plunder his house. (28)Verily I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and the blasphemies wherewith they shall blaspheme. (29)But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness forever, but is guilty of eternal sin; (30)because they said: He has an unclean spirit.
(31)And his brothers and his mother come; and standing without they sent to him, calling him. (32)And a crowd was sitting about him; and they say to him: Behold, thy mother and thy brothers without are seeking thee. (33)And he answered them, saying: Who is my mother, or my brothers? (34)And looking round on those who sat about him, he said: Behold my mother, and my brothers! (35)For whoever shall do the will of G.o.d, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.
IV.
AND he began again to teach by the sea-side. And there was gathered to him a very great mult.i.tude, so that he entered into a s.h.i.+p, and sat down in the sea; and all the mult.i.tude was by the sea on the land.
(2)And he taught them many things in parables, and said to them in his teaching:
(3)Hearken; behold, the sower went forth to sow. (4)And it came to pa.s.s, as he sowed, one fell by the way-side, and the birds came and devoured it. (5)And another fell on the rocky ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had not depth of earth. (6)But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had not root, it withered away. (7)And another fell among the thorns; and the thorns came up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. (8)And another fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, thirty, and sixty, and a hundredfold. (9)And he said: He that has ears to hear, let him hear.
(10)And when he was alone, they who were about him with the twelve asked him concerning the parables. (11)And he said to them: To you is given the mystery of the kingdom of G.o.d, but to those who are without, all things are done in parables; (12)that seeing they may see, and not perceive, and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest haply they should turn, and be forgiven. (13)And he says to them: Know ye not this parable? And how will ye know all the parables?