And he said: There was a man who had two sons. And
the younger of them said to his father: Father, give me my appropriate share of the property. And the father divided his substance between them. And not many days afterward the younger son gathered everything together and left the country for a distant land, and there he squandered his substance in riotous living. And after he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need. And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him out into the fields to feed the pigs. And he longed to be nourished on the nuts that the pigs ate, and no one would give to him. And he went and said to himself: How many hired servants of my father have plenty of bread while I am dying of hunger here. I will rise up and go to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants. And he rose up and went to his father. And when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. The son said to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But his father said to his slaves: Quick, bring the best clothing and put it on him, and have a ring for his hand and shoes for his feet, and bring the fatted calf, slaughter him, and let us eat and make merry because this man, my son, was a dead man and came to life, he was lost and he has been found. And they began to make merry. His older son was out on the estate, and as he came nearer to the house he heard music and dancing, and he called over one of the servants and asked what was going on. He told him: Your brother is here, and your father slaughtered the fatted calf, because he got him back in good health. He was angry and did not want to go in. But his father came out and entreated him. But he answered and said to his father: Look, all these years I have been your slave and never neglected an order of yours, but you never gave me a kid so that I could make merry with my friends. But when this son of yours comes back, the one who ate up your livelihood in the company of whores, you slaughtered the fatted calf for him. But he said to him: My child, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours; but we had to make merry and rejoice, because your brother was a dead man and came to life, he was lost and has been found.
t| And he said to his disciples: There was a rich man who had a steward, and this steward was accused to his master of wasting the property. And he called him and said to him: What is this I hear about you? Give the statement of your stewardship, since you can no longer be the steward. And the steward said to himself: What shall I do now that my master has taken away my stewardship from me? I am not strong enough to dig, I am ashamed to beg. Now I have seen what to do, so that I can be removed from my stewardship but people will still take me into their houses. And he called in each one of his master's debtors, and he said to the first one: How much do you owe my master? And he said: A hundred measures of oil. He said to him: Take your note and sit down quickly and write fifty. Then he said to another: And how much do you owe? He said: A hundred measures of grain. He said to him: Take your note and write eighty. And the master praised the steward for his dishonesty because he had acted prudently; because the sons of this age are wiser than the sons of light for this generation that is theirs. And
I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of the mammon of dishonesty, so that when it gives out they may receive you into everlasting tabernacles. He who is trustworthy in the least matter is also trustworthy in the great one, and he who is dishonest in the least matter is also dishonest in the great one. If then you were not trustworthy in the dishonest mammon, who will entrust the true to you? And if you were not trustworthy in what belonged to others, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. For he will either hate the one and love the other, or he will cling to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
The Pharisees, who are fond of money, heard all this and they sneered at him. He said to them: You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts; because what is exalted among men is an abomination in the eyes of God. Until John, it was the law and the prophets; but from then on, the good news of the Kingdom of God is announced, and everyone tries to force his way into it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one letter end of the law to fail. Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another is committing adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband is committing adultery.
There was a certain rich man, and he would put on purple and fine linen and feast in his splendor day after day. And a beggar, Lazarus by name, would throw himself down at his door, covered with sores, and longing to eat of the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. And the very dogs would come out and lick his sores. And it happened that the beggar died, and he was transported by angels to recline close by Abraham; and the rich man died and was buried. And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and from far away he could see Abraham, and Lazarus reclining close by him. And he called out and said: Father Abraham, have pity and send Lazarus to dip his fingertip in water and refresh my tongue, because I ^ in agony in this flame. But Abraham said: My child, remember that you got your share of good things in your life, and Lazarus likewise his misfortunes. But now he is thus comforted and you are in pain. And in any case, there is a great chasm fixed between us and you, so that those who wish to cross over to you are not able to, nor can they cross from there to us. Then he said: I beg you then, father, to send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, to warn them so that they may not come into this place of torment. But Abraham said: They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them. But he said: No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. But he said to him: If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded though one rise from the dead.
•1 And he said to his disciples: It is impossible that there should come no causes to make man go astray; but woe to him through whom they come. It is better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to go astray. Watch yourselves. If your brother does wrong, charge him with it, and if he repents, forgive him. And if he does you wrong seven times in a day and seven times turns to you and says: I repent, you shall forgive him. The apostles said to the Lord: Give us more faith. But the Lord said: If you have faith the size of a grain of mustard, you could have said to this sycamine tree: Be uprooted and grow in the sea; and it would have obeyed you. Or which of you has a slave who plows or herds the flocks and will say to him when he comes in from the fields: Come now and eat with me? Will he not rather say: Prepare me something to dine on, and tuck yourself up and wait on me while I eat and drink, and after that you eat and drink? Surely he does not feel thankful to the slave because he has done as he was told? So you, when you have done all that you were told to, should say: We are worthless slaves. What we have done was what we were obliged to do.
And it happened on his journey to Jerusalem that he passed between Samaria and Galilee. And as he went into a certain village ten men who were lepers met him, and they stood at a distance, and raised their voices, saying: Jesus, master, pity us. And when he saw them he said: Go and show yourselves to the priests. And it happened that as they went they became clean. And one of them, seeing that he was healed, turned, glorifying God in a great voice, and fell on his face at his feet, thanking him. And this man was a Samaritan. Jesus answered him and said: Were not all ten made clean? Where are the nine? Were none found turning back and glorifying God except only this alien? And he said to him: Rise and go. Your faith has saved you.
When he was asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God was to come, he answered them and said: The Kingdom of God is not coming in an observable way, nor will they say: Look, it is here; or: There. For see, the Kingdom of God i
s inside you. And he said to his disciples: Days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the son of man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you: Look, it is there; or: See, this way. Do not follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up, from one side to the other, what is under the sky, such will be the son of man. But first he must suffer much and be rejected by this generation. And as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the son of man. They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day when Noah went into the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. Or as it was in the days of Lot. They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built houses. But on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from the sky and destroyed them all. It will be the same way on the day when the son of man is revealed. On that day, if one is on his roof and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them up: and so likewise let him who is in the field not turn back. Think of Lot's wife. He who tries to preserve his life will lose it, and he who loses it will bring it to life. I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed, and one will be taken and the other left; there will be two women grinding at the same place, and one will be taken and the other left. And they answered and said to him: Where, Lord? He said to them: Where the body is, there will the eagles be gathered.
tl And he told them a parable about the need to be always praying and not weakening, saying: In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor heeded man. But there was a widow in that city and she kept going to him and saying: Vindicate me against my adversary. And for a time he would not, but later he said to himself: Even though I neither fear God nor heed man, because this widow gives me trouble I will vindicate her, so that she may not end by wearing me out with her visits. And the
Lord said: Hear what this judge of injustice says. Will God not accomplish the vindication of his chosen ones who cry out to him day and night? Will he be patient in their case? I tell you that he will accomplish their vindication with speed. But when the son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?
And he told this parable against those who were confident that they were righteous and despised all others: Two men went out to the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. And the Pharisee stood and prayed thus within himself: О God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of mankind-rapacious, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I pay a tithe on all I have. But the tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even raise his eyes to the sky, but beat his breast and said: О God, have mercy upon sinful me. I tell you, this man went back to his house justified as compared with the other; because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
They brought him even their babies for him to touch. And seeing this the disciples scolded them. But Jesus called them to him and said: Let the children come to me and do not prevent them: for of such is the Kingdom of God. Truly I tell you, he who does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child may not enter into it.
And an official questioned him, saying: Good master, what must I do to inherit life everlasting: Jesus said to him: Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother. But he said: I have kept all these from my youth. Hearing this Jesus said to him: You have one thing missing. Sell all you have and give it to the poor, and you shall have a treasury in heaven; and come and follow me. He was greatly pained when he heard this, for he was very rich. Watching him, Jesus said: How hard it is for those with money to enter the Kingdom of God. For it is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. But his listeners said: And who can be saved? He said: What is impossible for men is possible for God. But Peter said: See, we have given up all that was our own and followed you. But he said to them: Truly I tell you, there is no one who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the Kingdom of God who will not receive many times as much in this time, and in the age to come life everlasting.
Then taking the twelve aside he said to them: Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all that has been written by the prophets about the son of man will be fulfilled. He will be given over to the Gentiles, and he will be mocked and outraged and spit upon, and they will flog him and kill him, and on the third day he will rise. And they understood nothing of all this, and this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know what was being said.
And it happened as he drew near Jericho there was a blind man sitting by the road, begging. And when he heard the crowd going through he asked what was going on; and they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried out, saying: Jesus, son of David, have pity on me. Those who were escorting him scolded the man, to silence him, but he screamed all the harder: Son of David, have pity on me. Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought before him. And as he approached he asked him: What do you want me to do for you? He said: Lord, let me see again. And Jesus said to him: See again; your faith has saved you. And immediately he could see again, and he followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, seeing this, gave praise to God.
Ц And he entered Jericho and was passing through it. And behold, there was a man called Zacchaeus, and he was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he was trying to see which one was Jesus and could not see him from the crowd, because he was short of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed a sycamore tree so that he could see him, because he was going to pass by it. And as he came to the place Jesus looked up and said to him: Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay in your house today. And he hastened and came down, and welcomed him with joy. And when they saw this everybody muttered, saying: He has gone in to stay with a sinful man. But Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said: See, Lord, I am giving half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have made anything dishonestly at someone's expense, I give it back fourfold. Jesus said to him: Salvation has come to this house today, because this man also is a son of Abraham; for the son of man came to seek out and save the lost.
As they were listening to him, he told an additional parable because he was close to Jerusalem and they thought that the Kingdom of God would appear very soon. So he said: A certain highborn man went on a journey to a far country to get a kingdom for himself and then return. And he summoned ten slaves who belonged to him and gave them ten minas and told them: Engage in business until I come. But his citizens hated him, and they sent an embassy after him, saying: We do not want this man to be king over us. And it happened on his return, after he had got the kingdom, he ordered those slaves to whom he had given the money to be summoned, so that he might learn what business they had got done. And the first appeared, and said: Master, your mina has earned ten more minas. And he said: Well done. Good slave, because in the least matter you were trustworthy, know that you now have power over ten cities. And the second one came and said: Master, your mina has made five minas. And to this one also he said: Know that you are set over five cities. And the other one came and said: Master, here is your mina which I kept hidden away in a napkin. For I was afraid of you because you are a severe man, who pick up what you did not put down and harvest what you did not sow. He said to him: Out of your own mouth I judge you, bad slave. You knew that I am a severe man, who pick up what I did not put down and harvest what I did not sow? Then why did you not put out my money to the bankers? Then when I returned I could have taken it out with interest. And to those who were standing by he said: Take his mina away and give it to the one who has ten minas-and they said to him: Master, he has ten minas— I tell you that to everyone who has it shall be given, and from him who does not have even what he has shall be taken away. But those enemies of mine, who did not want me to be king over th
em, bring them here and slaughter them in my presence.
And when Jesus had said this he went on with his journey up to Jerusalem.
And it happened that when he came near Bethphage and Bethany, near the hill which is called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples ahead, saying to them:
Go into the village that lies before you, and as you go in you will find a colt tethered, on which no man has ever ridden. And when you have untied him bring him. And if anybody asks you: Why are you untying him? answer thus: His master needs him. And those whom he had sent on this errand went and found it as he had said they would. And as they were untying the colt his masters said to them: Why are you untying the colt? And they said: His master needs him. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothing upon him and mounted Jesus on him; and as he went on they strewed their clothing in the road. And as he approached the descent from the Mount of Olives, all the multitude of his disciples, rejoicing, began to praise God in a great voice for all the powers they had seen displayed, saying: Blessed is he who comes, the King, in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him: Master, reprove your disciples. And he answered and said: I tell you, if these are silent, the stones will cry out.
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