The New Testament

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The New Testament Page 13

by Richmond Lattimore


  beached their boats and left everything and followed him.

  It happened that he was in one of the cities, and behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he flung himself down on his face and implored him, saying: Lord, if you wish you can make me clean. And he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying: I wish it; be clean. And immediately the leprosy left him. And he told him not to tell anyone; but go and show yourself to the priest, and bring him the gift for your purification that Moses ordained, in witness to these things. But the word went around all the more about him, and multitudes came together to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But he for a while was with­drawn into the desert, praying.

  And it happened on one of those days, he himself was teaching, and also there were Pharisees seated there and teachers of the law, who had come out from every village of Galilee and Judaea, and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was with him, to heal. And behold, men carry­ing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they tried to carry him inside and set him before Jesus. And failing to find any way to get him in through the crowd, they went up on top of the house and let him down, bed and all, between the tiles and into the middle, before Jesus. And he, seeing their faith, said: Fellow, your sins are forgiven you. Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to discuss this, saying: Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, except God alone? Jesus realized what they were saying to each other, and spoke forth and said to them: Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier, to say: Your sins are forgiven you, or to say: Arise and walk about? But so that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins-he said to the paralyzed man: I say to you, rise, take up your bed and go to your house. And at once he stood up before them all, and lifted up what he had been laid on, and went away to his house, glorifying God. And they were all transported, and they glorified God and were filled with fear and said: We have seen incredible things today.

  And after that he went forth and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tollhouse, and said to him: Fol­low me. And he left everything and got up and followed him. And Levi held a great reception for him in his house; and there was a throng of tax collectors and others who dined with them. Then the Pharisees and their scribes muttered to his disciples: Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? Jesus answered and said to them: The healthy do not need a physician but those who are in poor health. I did not come to summon the just to repentance, but the sinners. But they said to him: The disciples of John fast often and say prayers, and so like­wise do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink. But Jesus said to them: Surely you cannot make the members of the wedding party fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, and when the bride­groom is taken away from them, then in those days they will fast. And he told them a parable: No one tears a piece from a new coat to put on an old coat; if he does, he will be tearing the new one, and the patch from the new will not fit the old. And no one puts new wine into old skins; if he does, the new wine will break the skins and the wine will all be spilled and the skins will be destroyed; but new wine is to be put into new skins. And no one drinking old wine wants new; for he says: The old is good.

  •1 It happened on the sabbath he went walking through the sown fields, and his disciples picked and ate the ears of grain, rubbing them in their hands. And some of the Pharisees said: Why do you do what is forbidden on the sabbath? Jesus answered and said to them: Have you not read what David did when he was hungry and those with him? How he went into the house of God and took the show bread and ate it and gave it to those who were with him; which it is not lawful for any to eat except only the priests? And he said to them: The son of man is lord of the sabbath.

  And it happened that on another sabbath he went into the synagogue and taught; and there was a man there, and his right arm was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees were watching him to see whether he healed on the sabbath, so that they might find a charge to bring against him. But he read their thoughts and said to the man with the withered arm: Rise up and stand in our midst. And he rose and stood there. And Jesus said to them: I ask you, is it lawful to do good or evil on the sabbath, to save a life or destroy it? And he looked around at them all and said to the man: Stretch out your arm. And he did, and his arm became sound. They were filled with fury, and talked with each other about what they could do to Jesus.

  And it happened in those days that he went out to the mountain to pray, and he spent all the night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he summoned his disciples, and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John and Philip and Bartholomew, and Matthew and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus and Simon, who was called the zealot, and Judas the son of

  James, and Judas Iscariot, who turned traitor: and went down with them and stood in a place in the plain: and there was a great crowd of his disciples, and a great mul­titude of the people from all of Judaea and Jerusalem and the seaboard of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and be healed of their sicknesses: and those troubled with unclean spirits were cured of them: and all the mul­titude sought to touch him, because power went forth from him and he healed all. And he himself, raising his eyes to his disciples, said:

  Blessed are you who are poor, because yours is the Kingdom of God.

  Blessed are you who are hungry now, because you shall be fed.

  Blessed are you who weep now, because you shall laugh.

  Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they segregate you and blame you and cast out your name as wicked, because of the son of man. Rejoice on that day and frolic, for behold your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers treated the prophets.

  But woe to you who are rich, because you have had all your consolation.

  Woe to you who are filled now, because you shall be hungry.

  Woe to you who laugh now, because you shall mourn and weep.

  Woe when all men speak well of you, for in the same way their fathers treated the false prophets.

  But I say to you who hear me, love your enemies, do well by those who hate you, praise those who curse you, pray for those who revile you. When one strikes you on the cheek, offer him the other; if one seizes your coat, do not keep him from taking your shirt also. Give to any who asks you and from him who takes what is yours ask for nothing back. And as you wish men to do by you, so do by them. And if you love those who love you, what thanks do you have? For even the sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks do you have? For even the sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope for a return, what thanks do you have? Even sinners lend to sinners so they may get an equal return. But love your enemies and do good and lend without hope of return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Highest, because he is good to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be compassionate as your father is compassion­ate; and do not judge, and you shall not be judged; and do not condemn, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given you. They will pour into your lap good measure, pressed down, shaken down, running over. For by the measure by which you measured it will be measured back to you.

  And he told them a parable: Surely a blind man cannot guide a blind man? Will they not both fall into the pit? Nor is the disciple above the teacher, but every disciple will end by being like his teacher. Why do you look at the straw that is in the eye of your brother, and not perceive the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother: Brother, let me take out the straw that is in your eye? When you cannot see the log that is in your eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your eye, and then you can see to take the straw out of the eye of your brother. There is no good tree that bears rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tr
ee that bears good fruit. For every tree is known from its own fruit; men do not gather figs from thorns, or harvest grapes from brambles. The good man brings forth good from the good treasure house of his heart, and the bad brings forth bad from the bad. For out of the fullness of his heart his mouth speaks. Why do you call me Lord Lord and not do what I say? Whenever any man comes to me and listens to my words and does as I say, I will show you what that man is like. He is like a man building a house who dug deep down and placed his foundation upon the rock; and the flood came and the river burst out against that house, and could not shake it because it was well built. But the man who listens to me but does not do as I say is like a man who built his house on the ground, without any foundation, and the river burst forth against it, and at once it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.

  tl After he had completed all his discourse for the people to hear, he went to Capernaum. And the slave of a certain centurion, who was prized by him, was sick and about to die. When he heard about Jesus, he sent the elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and rescue his slave. When they came to Jesus they entreated him earnestly, saying: This man for whom you will do this is worthy of it, for he loves our people and he himself built our synagogue. And Jesus went along with them. And when he was no long way from the house, the centurion sent friends from the house saying to him: Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not fit to have you come under my roof. Therefore I did not take it upon myself to come to you. But say it in a word, and let my servant be healed. For I myself am a man set under orders, and I have soldiers under me, and I say to this man: Go, and he goes, and to another: Come, and he comes, and to my slave: Do this, and he does it. Jesus hearing this wondered at him, and turned about and said to the crowd that was following him: I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel. And those who had been sent to him returned to the house and found the slave in good health.

  And it happened after this that he went to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a great multitude went along with him. As he approached the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a good crowd from the city was with her. And when he saw her the Lord took pity on her and said to her: Weep no more. And he went up and laid hands on the coffin, and those who were carry­ing it stopped; and he said: Young man, I tell you, rise up. And the corpse sat up and began to talk, and he gave him to his mother. And fear seized all of them, and they glorified God, saying: A great prophet is risen among us, and: God has looked on his people. And the word about him went forth over all Judaea and all the land about.

  John's disciples brought him news about all these things. And John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord, saying: Are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another? And when the men reached him, they said: John the Baptist sent us to you, saying: Are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another? In that time he healed many from diseases and afflictions and evil spirits, and he gave to many who were blind the joy of sight. He answered them and said: Go and tell John what you have seen and heard. The blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are made clean and deaf- mutes hear, the dead rise up, beggars are told good news; and blessed is he who does not go wrong where I am concerned. When the messengers of John went away, he began to speak to the multitudes about John: What did you come out into the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you come out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are in splendid cloth­ing and luxury are in the houses of the kings. But what did you come out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he about whom it was written: Behold, I send forth my messenger before your face, who will make ready your way before you. I tell you, among men born of women there is none greater than John; but one who is a lesser one in the Kingdom of God is greater than he. (And all the people who listened, and the tax collectors, called God righteous, since they had been bap­tized with the baptism of John; but the Pharisees and the legalists rejected the will of God for themselves, since they had not been baptized by him.) To what shall I liken the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the public places who call to each other, who say: We played the flute for you and you did not dance; we lamented and you did not weep. For John came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say: He has a demon. The son of man came eating and drinking, and you say: See, this man is an eater and a wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. And wisdom is justified from all its children.

  One of the Pharisees asked him to dine with him; and he went into the house of the Pharisee and reclined for dinner. And behold, there was a woman of the town who was a sinner; and when she learned that he was dining in the house of the Pharisee, she brought a jar of ointment and stood behind by his feet, weeping, and with her tears she began to wash his feet, and dried them with her hair and kissed his feet and anointed him with the ointment.

  The Pharisee who had invited him saw this and said to himself: If this were a prophet, he would have known who she was and what sort of woman is handling him, that she is a sinner. Jesus spoke forth and said to him: Simon, I have something to say to you. He said: Speak, master. There were two who were in debt to a certain lender. One owed him five hundred denarii, the other fifty. When they could not repay him, he forgave both. Then which of them will love him more? Simon answered and said: I suppose the one whom he forgave the greater amount. He said: You judge rightly. Then turning to the woman he said to Simon: Do you see this woman? I came into your house, you did not give me water for my feet. But she washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss. But she from the time when I came in did not leave off kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil; but she anointed my feet with ointment. In thanks for which, I tell you, her sins are forgiven, which are many, because she loved much. But one who is forgiven little loves little. And he said to her: Your sins are forgiven. And those who were dining with him began to say among themselves: Who is this who even forgives sins? But he said to the woman: Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.

  •1 And it happened after this that he was traveling, city by city and village by village, preaching and bringing the good news of the Kingdom of God; both himself and the twelve with him, and there were certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses, Mary who was called the Magdalene, from whom seven demons had been driven, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's stew­ard, and Susannah and many others. These ministered to them from their own possessions. And when a great multitude gathered and the people of the city came out also, he spoke to them through a parable: The sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed it, some fell beside the way, and it was trodden down and the birds of the sky ate it. And some fell on the rock, and after growing it withered because it had no moisture. And some fell in the midst of thorns, and the thorns grew together and stifled it. And some fell upon good soil and grew and bore fruit, a hundredfold. When he had told them this, he said: He who has ears to hear, let him hear. His disciples asked him what that parable was. And he said: To you it is given to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables, so that though they have sight they may not see and though they have hearing they may not understand. But this is the parable. The seed is the word of God. Those who fall beside the way are those who hear, and then the devil comes and plucks the word from their heart, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are those who when they hear the word ac­cept it with joy, and these have no root, who believe for the time and in the time of trial give way. What falls among the thorns, that means those who listened, and then as they go along they are stifled by concerns and money and the pleasures of life, and bring nothing to fulfillment. And what falls on the good soil, that means those w
ho when they hear the word keep it fast in their good and worthy hearts, and bear fruit for their steadfastness.

  No one lights a lamp and covers it with stuff or puts it under a bed, but one puts it on a stand, so that those who come in may see the light. For there is nothing hidden which will not be manifest, and nothing obscure which will not be known and come to light. Look to it how you listen. For when a man has, it will be given him, and if one has not, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.

  His mother and his brothers came to see him, and they could not reach him because of the crowd. Word was brought to him: Your mother and your brothers are stand­ing outside, and wish to see you. He answered and said to them: My mother and my brothers are these people, who listen to the word of God and perform it.

  It happened on one of these days that he went aboard a ship, he and his disciples, and said to them: Let us cross to the other side of the lake. And they put out, and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a great wind storm descended upon the lake, and they were filling, and in peril. They went to him and woke him, saying: Master, master, we are lost. But he woke, and reproved the wind and the waves on the water, and they stopped, and it fell calm. And he said to them: Where is your faith? And they were afraid, and wondered, saying to each other: Who is this who gives orders even to the winds and the water, and they obey him?

 

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