The Gospels

by Sarah Ruden

  31 Then he went down to the town of Kafarnaoum in Galilaia,*53 and he was teaching them on the sabbata. 32 And they were amazed at his teaching, because what he said was full of authority.

  33 And in the synagogue was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon in him, and he screamed in a very loud voice, 34 “No! What’s your business with us, Iēsous the Nazarēnos! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: god’s holy one.” 35 And Iēsous took him to task, saying, “Put a muzzle on it and come out of him!” And the demon threw him down among them and came out of him without hurting him at all. 36 And they were all overcome with awe, and were talking with each other and saying, “What kind of speech is this? With authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37 And news of him went out to every locale in the surrounding region.

  38 Then he got up and left the synagogue and entered the house of Simōn. But Simōn’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her. 39 And standing over her, he took the fever to task, and it left her. And then and there she stood up and started waiting on them.

  40 When the sun was setting, everyone who had people who were debilitated by all kinds of diseases brought them to him, and he placed his hands on each one of them and healed them. 41 Demons came out of many of them, screaming and saying, “You’re god’s son!” But he berated them and wouldn’t let them speak, because they knew he was the anointed one.

  42 When day came, he left and traveled to a deserted place. But the crowds were looking for him, and they caught up with him and tried to stop him from traveling away from them. 43 But he said to them, “I need to bring the good news of god’s kingdom to other towns too, because this is the purpose for which I was sent.” 44 And he kept on announcing the news in the synagogues of Ioudaia.

  Chapter 5

  1 Now it happened that, with the crowd shoving up against him and listening to god’s words while he was standing by the lake Gennēsaret,*54 2 he saw two boats standing by the lake; the fishermen had climbed out of them and were washing the nets. 3 He boarded one of the boats, which belonged to Simōn, and he asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat and taught the crowds from the boat.

  4 And when he’d finished speaking, he said to Simōn, “Put out to the deep water, and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 But Simōn answered by saying, “Boss, we worked hard the entire night but took in nothing. But I’ll take your word for it and let down the nets.” 6 And once they did this, they closed them around a huge mass of fish, and their nets were starting to rip. 7 So they gestured to their companions in the other boat to come help them; and they came, and they filled both boats until they began to sink. 8 And when he saw this, Simōn Petros fell down at Iēsous’ knees, saying, “Get away from me, because I’m a wrongdoer, master!” 9 He and all the others with him were naturally overcome with awe because of the fish they’d caught and taken in, 10 and so were Iakōbos and Iōannēs, the sons of Zebedaios, who were partners with Simōn. Then Iēsous said to Simōn, “Don’t be afraid! From now on, you’ll be capturing human beings—so that they don’t die!”*55 11 And they brought the boats ashore, left everything behind, and followed him.

  12 And it happened that he was in one of the towns, and look, there was a man covered with leprosy, and once he saw Iēsous, he fell facedown and begged him, saying, “Master, if you want to, you can cleanse me!” 13 And he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I do want to. Be cleansed!” and right away the leprosy left him. 14 And he ordered him to tell nobody, but to “go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering for your cleansing that Mōüsēs set out in the law, as proof for them.”*56 15 But now the news about him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to listen to him and to be cured of their infirmities. 16 But he kept withdrawing into the wasteland and praying.

  17 And it happened on one of these days that he was teaching, and sitting there were Farisaioi and teachers of the law, who had come out of every village of Galilaia and Ioudaia, and out of Ierousalēm; and the power of the lord was with him to heal. 18 And look, men were carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed, and they were trying to bring him indoors and put [him] down in front of him. 19 But they couldn’t find a way to bring him in, because of the crowd, so they climbed up onto the roof and lowered him down through the tiles, little stretcher and all, right into the middle of the crowd and in front of Iēsous. 20 And when he saw the trust they had, he said, “You there! You’re pardoned from your offenses.” 21 And the scholars and the Farisaioi started to work through it, saying, “Who is this who’s uttering blasphemies? Who can pardon people from their offenses, unless it’s god alone?” 22 But Iēsous, perceiving that they were working through it, responded by saying to them, “Why are you working through this in your hearts? 23 What’s easier, to say, ‘You’re pardoned from your offenses,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?*57 24 But so that you know that the son of mankind has the authority on earth to pardon people from their offenses”—he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, pick up that little stretcher of yours, and make your way home.” 25 And then and there, in front of them, he picked up the thing he’d been lying on and went home, glorifying god. 26 And they were all beside themselves, and they glorified god, and they were filled with reverent fear and said, “Today we’ve seen what we never expected to.”

  27 And after these things he went out and observed a tax-collector by the name of Leui, sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And he got up, left everything, and followed him. 29 Then Leui prepared a great banquet for him in his house, and there was a large crowd of tax-collectors and others who were reclining at the table with them. 30 And the Farisaioi and the scholars attached to them were griping to his disciples, saying, “What’s the reason you’re all eating and drinking with tax-collectors and other wrongdoers?”*58 31 And Iēsous answered by telling them, “Healthy people have no need of a doctor, but those who are unwell do! 32 I haven’t come to call on upright people to change their purpose, but rather on wrongdoers.”

  33 But they said to him, “The students of Iōannēs often fast and offer prayers to god for what they need, and so do the students of the Farisaioi, but yours just eat and drink.” 34 And Iēsous said to them, “You can’t make the sons of the bridal hall fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? 35 But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then, in those days, they’ll fast.”

  36 Then he told them, by way of analogy, “No one rips a patch from a new cloak and patches an old cloak. Otherwise, he’ll rip the new one, and the patch from the new one will clash with the old one. 37 And no one puts young wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the young wine will break the skins, and it will run out, and the skins will be ruined. 38 Instead, young wine is for putting into new wineskins. 39 [But] no one who’s drinking the old wants the young; of course he says, “The old kind is good.”*59

  Chapter 6

  1 And it happened that on the sabbaton he was making his way through fields of grain, and his students were plucking off the heads of grain and eating them, rubbing away the husks with their hands. 2 Then some of the Farisaioi said, “Why are you all doing what’s not allowed on the sabbata?” 3 And Iēsous answered them, saying “Haven’t you even read what David did when he was starving, and those [who were] with him were too? 4 [How] he entered the house of god, and took the loaves of presentation and ate them, and gave some to those with him, even though no one but the priests is allowed to eat them?” 5 And he said to them, “The ruler of the sabbaton is the son of mankind.”

  6 And it happened that on another sabbaton he had entered a synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scholars and the Farisaioi were watching him closely to see whether he would heal people on the sabbaton, so that they could come up with a charge to lay against him. 8 But he knew how t
hey were calculating, and he said to the man with the withered hand: “Get up and stand in the center.” And he stood up and stood there. 9 And Iēsous said to them, “I’m asking you if it’s permitted to do good on the sabbaton or to do evil, to save a life or destroy it?”*60 10 And he looked around at all of them and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did, and his hand was cured. 11 And they were filled with fury and discussed with each other what they could do to Iēsous.

  12 It happened that during those days he went out onto a mountain to pray, and he stayed up all night as he prayed to god. 13 And when it was day, he called his students to him, and he chose twelve from among them, whom he named “envoys.” 14 There was Simōn, whom he named Petros,*61 and Andreas his brother, and Iakōbos and Iōannēs and Filippos and Bartholomaios, 15 and Maththaios and Thōmas and Iakōbos the son of Alfaios, and Simōn who was called “zealot” 16 and Ioudas the son of Iakōbos, and Ioudas Iskariōth, who turned out to be a traitor.*62

  17 And he climbed down with them and stood on a level spot, and a large crowd of his students was there too, as well as a great mass of people from the whole of Ioudaia and Ierousalēm and the coast of Turos and Sidōn,*63 18 who had come to hear him and be cured of their illnesses. And those who were troubled by crowds of unclean spirits were cured, 19 and the whole crowd*64 was trying to touch him, because power went out of him and healed everybody.

  20 Then he raised his eyes to his students and said,

  “Happy are you, the destitute,

  Because god’s kingdom is yours.

  21 Happy are you who are starving now,

  Because you’ll have as much as you can eat.

  Happy are you who are crying now,

  Because you’ll laugh.

  22 “Happy are you when people hate you, and when they shut you out, and revile and reject your name as evil because of the son of mankind. 23 Be joyful on that day, and dance with glee, because, look, your wages in the sky will be generous, because their ancestors treated the prophets the same way.

  24 “But you have it coming, you rich people,

  Because you’ve had all the comfort you’re going to get.

  25 You have it coming, all you who couldn’t eat more now,

  Because you’re going to starve.

  You have it coming, all you who are laughing now,

  Because you’ll mourn and cry.

  26 “You have it coming when everyone speaks well of you, because their ancestors treated the false prophets the same way.

  27 “On the contrary, I tell all those who are listening: love your enemies, treat well those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, 28 pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone hits you on the cheek, offer him the other one, and if someone takes away your cloak, don’t keep back your tunic. 30 If anybody asks for something, give it to him, and if someone takes from you what’s yours, don’t ask for it back.”*65

  31 “And however you want people to treat you, treat them the same way. 32 If you love only those who love you, what credit is that to you?*66 Even criminals love those who love them! 33 If you [in fact] treat well only those who treat you well, what credit is that to you? Even criminals do the same. 34 And if you lend only to those from whom you hope to get the loan back, what kind of credit [is] it to you? Even criminals lend to other criminals, meaning to get back an equal amount.*67 35 No, love your enemies and be helpful and lend without the hope of getting anything back. Then your payment will be generous, and you’ll be sons of the highest one, because he’s gracious to the ungrateful and to those full of mischief.

  36 “Be compassionate, as your father is compassionate [as well]. 37 And don’t give verdicts, and you’ll never have verdicts given on you; and don’t give guilty verdicts, and guilty verdicts will never be given on you. Pardon, and you’ll be pardoned. 38 Give, and things will be given to you. They’ll measure out a good amount, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing, and put it into the front of your tunic for you to take away. Your own means of measurement will in fact be used to measure for you in turn.”*68

  39 Then he gave them an analogy as well: “Is there any way a blind man can guide another blind man? Won’t both of them fall into a pit? 40 A student isn’t above the teacher. But when fully prepared, every one will be like his teacher.

  41 “Why are you looking at a speck of straw in your brother’s eye, but not noticing a log in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, just let me take out that speck that’s in your eye,’ when you yourself don’t see the log in your own eye? You play-actor, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you’ll be able to see clearly enough to take out the speck that’s in your brother’s eye.

  43 “There’s no such thing as a good tree that produces low-quality fruit; neither, on the other hand, is there a low-quality tree that produces good fruit. 44 Each tree is of course known by its own fruit. People don’t gather figs from acanthus plants, or pick grapes from thornbushes. 45 An excellent person brings out what’s excellent from the excellent storehouse of his heart, but a useless person brings out from his useless one what’s useless. His mouth speaks what overflows from his heart.

  46 “Why do you call me ‘master’ time after time, but don’t do what I say? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears what I’m saying and acts accordingly—I’ll show you what he’s like. 48 He’s like a man building a house, who dug down and hollowed out and put the foundation on solid rock. And there was a flood, and the river crashed against that house but didn’t have the power to shake it, because it had been built so well. 49 But whoever hears me but doesn’t act accordingly is like a man who built his house straight on the ground, without a foundation; and the river crashed against it, and right away it fell to pieces, and the crash of that house was a massive one.”

  Chapter 7

  1 Once he had finished saying these things for the people to hear, he went to Kafarnaoum.

  2 A certain centurion’s slave, greatly valued by him, was unwell and about to die. 3 Having heard about Iēsous, the centurion sent elders of the Ioudaioi to him, asking him to come and bring his slave safely through the illness. 4 When they reached Iēsous, they urged him earnestly, saying, “He deserves this favor from you. 5 He loves our nation, in fact, and he personally built a synagogue for us.” 6 And Iēsous made the journey back with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Sir, don’t take the trouble: I’m really not a fit person to have you come under my roof. 7 That’s why I didn’t consider myself worthy to come to you either. But just say the word, and let my boy be healed. 8 I understand, because I myself, in fact, am a person deployed under other people’s authority, and I have soldiers under me, and I say to this one, ‘Get on the road,’ and he gets on the road, and to another one, ‘Come here,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9 When he heard these things, Iēsous was amazed at him, and turned to the crowd following him and said, “I tell you, even in Israēl, I haven’t found so much trust.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave healthy.*69

  11 And it happened soon afterward that he was traveling to a town called Naïn,*70 and his students were traveling with him, along with a large crowd. 12 And when they came near the town gates, look, a dead man was being carried out for burial—his mother’s only son, and she was a widow, and a sizable crowd from the city was with her. 13 And seeing her, the master was wrenched with pity for her,*71 and he said to her, “Don’t cry,” 14 and he went up and touched the bier, while those who were carrying it stood still, and he said, “Young man, I tell you, rise!” 15 And the body sat up and began to speak, and Iēsous presented him to his mother. 16 But everyone there was overcome by reverent fear, and glorified god, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us,” and “God has looked with favor on his people.” 17 And this stor
y about him went out to the whole of Ioudaia and to all the surrounding region.*72

  18 Then the students of Iōannēs reported to him about all these things, and Iōannēs called a certain pair of his students in 19 and sent them to the master with instructions to say, “Are you the one who is coming, or should we wait for someone else?” 20 When the two men reached him, they said, “Iōannēs the baptizer sent us to you to say: Are you the one who is coming, or should we wait for someone else?” 21 On that occasion, Iēsous had cured many people of diseases and other scourges and freed them from troublesome spirits, and had given sight to many blind people. 22 So in answer, he said to them, “Be on your way, and report back to Iōannēs what you’ve seen and heard:

  “ ‘The blind see again, the crippled walk,

  Lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear,