And as they led him away, they seized on a certain Simon of Cyrene who was on his way in from the country, and loaded him with the cross to carry behind Jesus. And a great multitude of the people followed him and women who mourned and lamented for him. And Jesus turned to them and said: Daughters of Jerusalem, do not cry for me, but for yourselves and your children, because, behold, the days are corning when they will say: Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that did not breed and the breasts that did not nurse. Then they will begin to say to the mountains: Fall upon us; and to the hills: Cover us. For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?
Two others also, who were malefactors, were led along with him to be put to death. And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him and the malefactors, one on the right and one on the left. And Jesus said: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. They divided up his clothing and cast lots for it. And the people stood there watching. But the chief men sneered at him, saying: He saved others, let him save himself, if this is the anointed of God, the chosen one. And also the soldiers came up to him and mocked him, offering him vinegar and saying: If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself. There was also an inscription above him, saying: This is the King of the Jews. And one of the malefactors hanging there reviled him and said: Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the other answered, reproving him, and said: Do you not fear God because you share his sentence? And we are justly punished, for we are getting what we deserve for what we have done; but he has done nothing out of the way. And he said: Jesus, remember me when you enter upon your kingdom. He said to him: Truly I tell you, this day you will be with me in paradise. And now it was about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole earth until the ninth hour, with the sun eclipsed, and the veil of the temple was split down the middle. And Jesus cried out in a great voice and said: Father, into your hands I give my spirit; and when he had said this he breathed his last. And when the company commander saw what happened, he glorified God, saying: Truly this was a righteous man. And all those crowds who had gathered together for this spectacle, when they had watched what happened, beat their breasts and went away. But those who were known to him stood at a distance, and also the women who had followed him from Galilee, watching all this.
And behold, there was a man named Joseph who was one of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not agreed with the council and their action. He was from Arimathaea, a city of the Jews; and he was expecting the Kingdom of God. He came to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, and he took it down and wrapped it in fine linen, and laid him in a tomb cut in the rock, where no one had ever been buried. It had been the Day of Preparation and the sabbath was beginning to dawn. And the women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how the body was placed there. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.
t And for the sabbath they rested, according to the commandment; but on the first day after the sabbath just before daylight they came bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, and they went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened that as they were at a loss about this, behold, two men stood before them in radiant clothing. And as the women were full of fear and bowed their faces toward the ground, the men said: Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, he has wakened. Remember how he talked to you when he was still in Galilee, saying that the son of man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and rise again on the third day. And they remembered his words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these matters to the eleven and all the others. The women were Mary the Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; and the other women who were with them told the apostles the same story. And to them these words seemed to be madness, and they did not believe the women. But Peter started up and ran to the tomb, and stooped and saw only the linen bindings, and came back to them marveling over what had happened.
And behold, on the same day, two of them were making their way toward a village named Emmaus sixty furlongs away, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had occurred. And it happened that during their talk and discussion Jesus himself came up and went along with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. And he said to them: What is this you are talking about, tossing it back and forth as you go? And they stopped, frowning. And one, whose name was Cleopas, answered and said to him: Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know what happened in it during these days? He said: What things? They said: The story of Jesus of Nazareth, who was a powerful prophet in act and word before God and all the people, and how our high priests and those who rule over us gave him over to the judgment of death and crucified him. We had been hoping that he was the one who was going to liberate Israel. But with all that, this is now the third day since these things happened to him. But also some women of our group astonished us. They went at dawn to the tomb and did not find his body, and came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who say that he is alive. And some of those who were with us went back to the tomb, and found it as the women had said, but did not see him. And he said to them: О mindless and slow in the heart to believe all that the prophets have told you. Did not the Christ have to suffer this and enter into his glory? And beginning from Moses, and through the prophets, he expounded to them all that was in the scriptures concerning himself. And they approached the village they were making for, and he pretended to be going on farther. And they pressed him, saying: Stay with us, because it is nearly night and the sun is already set. And he went in to stay with them. And it happened that as he took his place to eat with them he took a loaf and blessed it and broke it and gave some to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him. But he himself vanished from their sight. And they said to each other: Were our hearts not burning when he talked with us on the road, when he unfolded the scriptures to us? And they rose up in that same hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and their companions assembled and saying that truly the Lord had awakened and been seen by Simon. And they described what had happened on the road and how he had been recognized by them in the breaking of the bread. While they were saying these things he himself stood in their midst and said to them: Peace be with you. They were startled and full of fear and thought they were looking at a ghost. And he said to them: Why are you shaken, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet and see that I am myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. And as he said this he showed them his hands and his feet. And when they still could not believe for joy, and were full of wonder, he said to them:
Do you have anything to eat here? And they gave him a portion of cooked fish; and he took it and ate it in their presence.
And he said to them: These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that there must be fulfillment of all that was written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms about me. Then he opened their minds to the understanding of the scriptures. And he said to them that thus it was written for the Christ to suffer, and rise from the dead on the third day, and for the preaching in his name of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, to all the nations; beginning from Jerusalem; of these things you are witnesses. And behold, I send forth the promise of my father to you. And do you rest in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.
And he led them out as far as Bethany, and raised his hands and blessed them. And it happened that in the act of blessing he departed from them and was carried up to heaven. And they did obeisance to him and turned back to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were constantly in the temple praising God.
JOHN
J
ohn is probably not the apostle, but a follower or disciple of his. The gospel is now generally thought to have been written between A.D. 80 and 120.
fl IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning, with God. Everything came about through him, and without him not one thing came about. What came about in him was life, and the life was the light of mankind; and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it.
There was a man sent from God; his name was John. This man came for testimony, to testify concerning the light, so that all should believe through him. He was not the light, but was to testify concerning the light. The light was the true light, which illuminates every person who comes into the world. He was in the world, and the world came about through him, and the world did not know him. He went to his own and his own people did not accept him. Those who accepted him, he gave them power to become children of God, to those who believed in his name, who were born not from blood or from the will of the flesh or from the will of man, but from God.
And the word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of a single son from his father, full of grace and truth. John bears witness concerning him, and he cried out, saying (for it was he who was speaking): He who is coming after me was before me, because he was there before I was; because we have all received from his fullness, and grace for grace. Because the law was given through Moses; the grace and the truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only-born God who is in the bosom of his father, it is he who told of him.
And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him: Who are you? And he confessed, and made no denial, but confessed: I am not the Christ. And they asked him: What then? Are you Elijah? And he said: I am not. Aie you the prophet? And he answered: No. Then they said to him: Who are you? So that we can give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? He said: I ^ the voice of one crying in the desert: Make straight the way of the Lord; as Isaiah the prophet said. Now they had been sent by the Pharisees. And they questioned him and said to him: Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, or Elijah or the prophet? John answered them saying: I baptize with water; but in your midst stands one whom you do not know, who is coming after me, and I ^ not fit to untie the fastening of his shoe. All this happened in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said: See, the lamb of God who takes away the sinfulness of the world. This is the one of whom I said: A man is coming after me who was before me, because he was there before I was. And I did not know him. But so that he might be made known to Israel, this was why I came baptizing with water. And John bore witness, saying: I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove from the sky, and it remained upon him; and I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water was the one who said to me: That one, on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen, and I have borne witness that this is the son of God.
The next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he saw Jesus walking about and said: See, the lamb of God. His two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned about and saw them following him and said: What are you seeking? They said to him: Rabbi (which translated means master), where are you staying? He said to them: Come and see. So they came, and saw where he was staying, and stayed with him for that day. It was about the tenth hour. Andrew, one of the two who heard Jesus and followed him, was the brother of Simon Peter. He went first and found his brother Simon and said to him: We have found the Messiah (which is, translated, the Christ). He took him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said: You are Simon, the son of John. You shall be called Cephas (which means Peter).
The next day Jesus wished to go out to Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him: Follow me. Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him: We have found the one of whom Moses wrote in the law, and the prophets: Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth. And Nathanael said to him: Can anything good come from Nazareth? Philip said to him: Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him: See, a true son of Israel, in whom there is no guile. Nathanael said to him: How is it that you know me? Jesus answered and said to him: I saw you when you were under the fig tree, before Philip called you. Nathanael answered: Master, you are the son of God, you are the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said to him: Because I told you I saw you under the fig tree, you believe? You will see greater things than that. And he said to him: Truly truly I tell you, you will see the heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending to the son of man.
tl And on the third day a wedding took place at Cana, in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and Jesus also, and his disciples, had been invited to the wedding. And when the wine gave out, Jesus' mother said to him: They have no wine. Jesus said to her: What is that to you and me, madam? My time has not yet come. His mother said to the servants: Do whatever he tells you. Now there were six stone water jars set by for the lustration, which is the custom of the Jews, each holding two or three measures. Jesus said to them: Fill the jars with water. And they filled them to the brim. And he said to them: Now pour it out and take it to the master of the feast. And they took it to him. When the master of the feast tasted the water that had turned into wine—and did not know where it came from, but the servants who had poured it knew—the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him: Everybody first puts out the good wine and the poorer wine after they have drunk well; but you kept the good wine until now. This was the first of his miracles Jesus performed, at Cana in Galilee, and displayed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
After this he went down to Capernaum, himself and his
mother and his brothers and disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.
And the Passover of the Jews drew near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And in the temple he found people selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting there; and he made a scourge out of ropes and drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep and the oxen, and he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables, and to the sellers of doves he said: Take these things out of here; stop making the house of my father a house of business. His disciples remembered that it is written: Jealous concern for your house consumes me. The Jews spoke forth and said to him: What sign do you give us that you can do this? Jesus answered and said to them: Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again. But the Jews said: This temple was built in forty-six years; and you will raise it up in three days? But he had been speaking of the temple of his body. Thus when he rose from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and believed in the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. But when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, at the festival, many believed in his name, seeing the miracles he performed. But Jesus himself did not entrust himself to them, because he knew them all, and knew that he had no need for anyone to tell him about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
tl There was a man ^ong the Pharisees, Nicodemus by name, a councillor of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to him: Master, we know that you came as a teacher from God; for no one could perform the miracles you perform if God were not with him. Jesus answered and said to him: Truly truly I tell you, if one is not born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him: How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter his mother's womb a second time and be born? Jesus answered: Truly truly I tell you, if one is not born from water and spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. What is born from
the flesh is flesh, and what is born from the spirit is spirit. Do not wonder because I told you: You must be born from above. The wind blows where it will, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born from the spirit. Nicodemus answered and said to him: How can this happen? Jesus answered and said to him: You are the teacher of Israel and do not understand this? Truly truly I tell you that we tell you what we know, and testify to what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. If I tell you of earthly matters and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you of heavenly matters? And no one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the son of man. And as Moses raised up the snake in the desert, so must the son of man be raised up, so that everyone who believes in him may have everlasting life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be destroyed but may have everlasting life. For God did not send his son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world could be saved through him. He who believes in him is not judged. He who does not believe in him has already been judged, because he did not believe in the name of the only son of God. This is the judgment, because the light came into the world and people loved the darkness more than the light because their actions were wicked. For everyone who does bad things hates the light and does not come toward the light, lest his actions be discovered; but he who accomplishes the truth comes toward the light, so that it may be made clear that his actions were with God.
After this Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judaea, and there he spent some time with them and baptized. And John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there were many waters there, and the people c^e to him and were baptized. For John had not yet been thrown into prison. Now there was a dispute between the disciples of John and a Jew about lustration. And they came to John and said to him: Master, the one who was with you beyond Jordan, to whom you testified, see, he is baptizing and all come to ^m. John answered and said: A man cannot receive anything unless it is given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear witness that I said: I am not the Christ. But I said: I am sent before him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, rejoices with a joy that comes from the voice of the bridegroom. This is my joy which is fulfilled. He must increase, and I must be diminished. He who comes from above is above all. He who comes from the earth is of the earth and speaks from the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. What he testifies to is what he has seen and heard, and no one accepts his testimony. He who accepts his testimony proves that God is true. For he whom God sent speaks the words of God, for there is no measure to what the spirit gives. The father loves the son and has given all things into his hand. He who believes in the son has everlasting life; but he who disbelieves in the son will not see life, but the anger of God remains upon him.
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