圣经-新约（天主教思高圣经）

不认识圣经，就是不认识基督，不认识基督，就是不认识基督所建立的天主教会。

 

新约·玛窦福音

 

共28章:

 

耶稣童年史(1、2)

第一章(25)

族谱
1:1 亚巴郎之子，达味之子耶稣基督的族谱：
1:2 亚巴郎生依撒格，依撒格生雅各伯，雅各伯生犹大和他的兄弟们；
1:3 犹大由塔玛尔生培勒兹和则辣黑，培勒兹生赫兹龙，赫兹龙生阿兰，
1:4 阿兰生阿米纳达布，阿米纳达布生纳赫雄，纳赫雄生撒耳孟，
1:5 撒耳孟由辣哈布生波阿次，波阿次由卢德生敖贝得，敖贝得生叶瑟，
1:6 叶瑟生达味王。达味由乌黎雅的妻子生撒罗满，
1:7 撒罗满生勒哈贝罕，勒哈贝罕生阿彼雅，阿彼雅生阿撒，
1:8 阿撒生约沙法特，约沙法特生约兰，约兰生乌齐雅，
1:9 乌齐雅生约堂，约堂生阿哈次，阿哈次生希则克雅，
1:10 希则克雅生默纳舍，默纳舍生阿孟，阿孟生约史雅，
1:11 约史雅在巴比伦流徙期间生耶苛尼雅和他的兄弟们。
1:12 流徙巴比伦以后，耶苛尼雅生沙耳提耳，沙耳提耳生则鲁巴贝耳，
1:13 则鲁巴贝耳生阿彼乌得，阿彼乌得生厄里雅金，厄里雅金生阿左尔。
1:14 阿左尔生匝多克，匝多克生阿歆，阿歆生厄里乌得，
1:15 厄里乌得生厄肋阿匝尔，厄肋阿匝尔生玛堂，玛堂生雅各伯，
1:16 雅各伯生若瑟、玛利亚的丈夫，玛利亚生耶稣，他称为基督。
1:17 所以从亚巴郎到达味共十四代，从达味到流徙巴比伦共十四代，从流徙巴比伦到基督共十四代。

生于童贞女　
1:18 耶稣基督的诞生是这样的：他的母亲玛利亚许配于若瑟后，在同居前，她因圣神有孕的事已显示出来。
1:19 她的丈夫若瑟，因是义人，不愿公开羞辱她，有意暗暗地休退她。
1:20 当他在思虑这事时，看，在梦中上主的天使显现给他说：「达味之子若瑟，不要怕娶你的妻子玛利亚，因为那在她内受生的，是出于圣神。
1:21 她要生一个儿子，你要给他起名叫耶稣，因为他要把自己的民族，由他们的罪恶中拯救出来。」
1:22 这一切事的发生，是为应验上主藉先知所说的话：
1:23 「看，一位贞女，将怀孕生子，人将称他的名字为厄玛奴耳，意思是：天主与我们同在。
1:24 若瑟从睡梦中醒来，就照上主的天使所嘱咐的办了，娶了他的妻子；
1:25 若瑟虽然没有认识她，她就生了一个儿子，给他起名叫耶稣。

 

 

第二章(23)

贤士来朝
2:1 当黑落德为王时，耶稣诞生在犹大的白冷；看，有贤士从东方来到耶路撒冷，说：
2:2 「才诞生的犹太人君王在哪里﹖我们在东方见到了他的星，特来朝拜他。」
2:3 黑落德王一听说，就惊慌起来，全耶路撒冷也同他一起惊慌。
2:4 他便召集了众司祭长和民间的经师，仔细考问他们：默西亚应当生在哪里。
2:5 他们对他说：「在犹大的白冷，因为先知曾这样记载：
2:6 『你犹大的白冷啊!你在犹大的群邑中，决不是最小的，因为将由你出来一位领袖，他将牧养我的百姓以色列。』
2:7 于是黑落德暗暗把贤士叫来，仔细询问他们那星出现的时间；
2:8 然后打发他们往白冷去，说：「你们去仔细寻访婴孩，几时找到了，给我报信，好让我也去朝拜他。」
2:9 他们听了王的话，就走了。看，他们在东方所见的那星，走在他们前面，直至来到婴孩所在的地方，就停在上面。
2:10 他们一见到那星，极其高兴欢喜。
2:11 他们走进屋内，看见婴儿和他的母亲玛利亚，遂俯伏朝拜了他，打开自己的宝匣，给他奉献了礼物，即黄金、乳香和没药。
2:12 他们在梦中得到指示，不要回到黑落德那里，就由另一条路返回自己的地方去了。

圣家逃往埃及　
2:13 他们离去后，看，上主的天使托梦显于若瑟说：「起来，带着婴孩和他的母亲逃往埃及去，住在那里，直到我再通知你，因为黑落德即将寻找这婴孩，要把他杀掉。」
2:14 若瑟便起来，星夜带了婴孩和他的母亲，退避到埃及去了。
2:15 留在那里，直到黑落德死去。这就应验了上主藉先知所说的话：「我从埃及召回了我的儿子。」

无罪婴孩遭屠杀　
2:16 那时，黑落德见自己受了贤士们的愚弄，就大发忿怒，依照他由贤士们所探得的时期，差人将白冷及其周围境内所有两岁及两岁以下的婴儿杀死，
2:17 于是应验了耶肋米亚先知所说的话：
2:18 「在辣玛听到了声音，痛哭哀号不止；辣黑耳痛哭她的子女，不愿受人的安慰，因为他们不在了。」

圣家回国　
2:19 黑落德死后，看，上主的天使在埃及托梦显于若瑟,
2:20 说：「起来，带着孩子和他的母亲，往以色列地去，因为那些谋杀孩子性命的人死了。」
2:21 他便起来，带了孩子和他的母亲，进了以色列地域；
2:22 但是一听说阿尔赫劳继他父亲黑落德作了犹太王，就害怕到那里去；梦中得到了指示后，便退避到加里肋亚境内，
2:23 去住在一座名叫纳匝肋的城中，如此应验了先知们所说的话：「他将称为纳匝肋人。」

 

 

耶稣传教史

宣布天国的福音

第三章(17)

若翰讲道施洗
3:1 那时，洗者若翰出现在犹太旷野宣讲说：
3:2 「你们悔改吧!因为天国临近了。」
3:3 这人便是那藉依撒依亚先知所预言的：「在旷野里有呼号者的声音：你们该当预备上主的道路，修直他的途径。」
3:4 这若翰穿著骆驼毛做的衣服，腰间束着皮带，他的食物是蝗虫和野蜜。
3:5 那时，耶路撒冷、全犹太以及全约但河一带的人，都出来到他那里去，
3:6 承认自己的罪过，并在约但河里受他的洗。
3:7 他见到许多法利塞人和撒杜塞人来受他的洗，就对他们说：「毒蛇的种类!谁指教你们逃避那即将来临的忿怒﹖
3:8 那么，就结与悔改相称的果实吧!
3:9 你们自己不要思念说：我们有亚巴郎为父。我给你们说：天主能从这些石头给亚巴郎兴起子孙来。
3:10 斧子已放在树根上了，凡不结好果子的树，必被砍倒，投入火中。
3:11 我固然用水洗你们，为使你们悔改；但在我以后要来的那一位，比我更强，我连提他的鞋也不配，他要以圣神及火洗你们。
3:12 他的簸箕已在他手中，他要扬净自己的禾场，将他的麦粒收入仓内，至于糠秕，却要用不灭的火焚烧。」

耶稣受洗　
3:13 那时，耶稣由加里肋亚来到约但河若翰那里，为受他的洗；
3:14 但若翰想要阻止他说：「我本来需要受你的洗，而你却来就我吗﹖」
3:15 耶稣回答他说：「你暂且容许吧!因为我们应当这样，以完成全义。」于是若翰就容许了他。
3:16 耶稣受洗后，立时从水里上来，忽然天为他开了。他看见天主圣神有如鸽子降下，来到他上面；
3:17 又有声音由天上说：「这是我的爱子，我所喜悦的」

 

 

第四章(25)

耶稣禁食三退魔诱
4:1 那时，耶稣被圣神领往旷野，为受魔鬼的试探。
4:2 他四十天四十夜禁食，后来就饿了。
4:3 试探者就前来对他说：「你若是天主子，就命这些石头变成饼吧!」
4:4 他回答说：「经上记载：『人生活不只靠饼，而也靠天主口中所发的一切言语。』」
4:5 那时，魔鬼引他到了圣城，把他立在圣殿顶上，
4:6 对他说：「你若是天主子，就跳下去，因经上记载：『他为你吩咐了自己的天使，他们要用手托着你，免得你的脚碰在石头上。』」
4:7 耶稣对他说：「经上又记载：『你不可试探上主，你的天主!』」
4:8 魔鬼又把他带到一座极高的山上，将世上的一切国度及其荣华指给他看。
4:9 对他说：「你若俯伏朝拜我，我必把这一切交给你。」
4:10 那时，耶稣就对他说：「去吧!撒殚!因为经上记载：『你要朝拜上主，你的天主，惟独事奉他!』」
4:11 于是魔鬼离开了他，就有天使前来伺候他。

在加里肋亚开始传道　
4:12 耶稣听到若翰被监禁以后，就退避到加里肋亚去了；
4:13 后又离开纳匝肋，来住在海边的葛法翁，即住在则步隆和纳斐塔里境内。
4:14 这应验了依撒依亚先知所说的话：
4:15 『则步隆地与纳斐塔里地，通海大路，约但河东，外方人的加里肋亚，
4:16 那坐在黑暗中的百姓，看见了浩光；那些坐在死亡阴影之地的人，为他们出现了光明。』
4:17 从那时起，耶稣开始宣讲说：「你们悔改吧!因为天国临近了。」

召收首批门徒　
4:18 耶稣沿加里肋亚海行走时，看见了两个兄弟：称为伯多禄的西满，和他的兄弟安德肋，在海里撒网，他们原是渔夫。
4:19 他就对他们说：「来，跟从我!我要使你们成为渔人的渔夫。」
4:20 他们立刻舍下网，跟随了他。
4:21 他从那里再往前行，看见了另外两个兄弟：载伯德的儿子雅各伯和他的弟弟若望，在船上同自己的父亲载伯德修理他们的网，就召叫了他们。
4:22 他们也立刻舍下了鱼船和自己的父亲，跟随了他。

在加里肋亚开始显奇迹　
4:23 耶稣走遍了全加里肋亚，在他们的会堂内施教，宣讲天国的福音，治好民间各种疾病，各种灾殃。
4:24 他的名声传遍了整个叙利亚。人就把一切有病的、受各种疾病痛苦煎熬的、附魔的,癫痫的，瘫痪的，都给他送来，他都治好了他们。
4:25 于是有许多群众从加里肋亚、「十城区」、耶路撒冷、犹太和约但河东岸来跟随了他。

 

 

山中圣训

第五章(48)

真福八端
5:1 耶稣一见群众，就上了山，坐下；他的门徒上他跟前来，
5:2 他遂开口教训他们说：
5:3 「神贫的人是有福的，因为天国是他们的。
5:4 哀恸的人是有福的，因为他们要受安慰。
5:5 温良的人是有福的，因为他们要承受土地。
5:6 饥渴慕义的人是有福的，因为他们要得饱饫。
5:7 怜悯人的人是有福的，因为他们要受怜悯。
5:8 心里洁净的人是有福的，因为他们要看见天主。
5:9 缔造和平的人是有福的，因为他们要称为天主的子女。
5:10 为义而受迫害的人是有福的，因为天国是他们的。
5:11 几时人为了我而辱骂迫害你们，捏造一切坏话毁谤你们，你们是有福的。
5:12 你们欢喜踊跃罢！因为你们在天上的赏报是丰厚的，因为在你们以前的先知，人也曾这样迫害过他们。」

基督徒与世界的关系　
5:13 「你们是地上的盐，盐若失了味，可用什么使它再咸呢﹖它再毫无用途，只好拋在外边，任人践踏罢了。
5:14 你们是世界的光；建在山上的城，是不能隐藏的。
5:15 人点灯，并不是放在斗底下，而是放在灯台上，照耀屋中所有的人。
5:16 照样，你们的光也当在人前照耀，好使他们看见你们的善行，光荣你们在天之父。」

新法律成全旧法律　
5:17 「你们不要以为我来是废除法律或先知；我来不是为废除，而是为成全。
5:18 我实在告诉你们：既使天地过去了，一撇或一画也决不会从法律上过去，必待一切完成。
5:19 所以，谁若废除这些诫命中最小的一条，也这样教训人，在天国里，他将称为最小的；但谁若实行，也这样教训人，这人在天国里将称为大的。
5:20 我告诉你们：除非你们的义德超过经师和法利塞人的义德，你们决进不了天国。
5:21 你们一向听过给古人说：『不可杀人!』谁若杀了人，应受裁判。
5:22 我却对你们说：凡向自己弟兄发怒的，就要受裁判，谁若向自己的弟兄说「傻子」，就要受议会的裁判；谁若说「疯子」，就要受火狱的罚。
5:23 所以，你若在祭坛前，要献你的礼物时，在那里想起你的弟兄有什么怨你的事，
5:24 就把你的礼物留在那里，留在祭坛前，先去与你的弟兄和好，然后再来献你的礼物。
5:25 当你和你的对头还在路上，赶快与他和解，免得对头把你交与判官，判官交给差役，把你投在狱里。
5:26 我实在告诉你。非到你还了最后的一文，决不能从那里出来。
5:27 你们一向听说过：『不可奸淫!』
5:28 我却对你们说：凡注视妇女，有意贪恋她的，他已在心里奸淫了她。
5:29 若是你的右眼使你跌倒，剜出它来，从你身上扔掉，因为丧失你一个肢体，比你全身投入地狱里，为你更好；
5:30 若你的右手使你跌倒，砍下它来，从你身上扔掉，因为丧失你一个肢体，比你全身投入地狱里，为你更好。
5:31 又说过『谁若休妻，就该给她休书。』
5:32 我却给你们说：除了姘居外，凡休自己的妻子的，便是叫她受奸污；并且谁若娶被休的妇人，就是犯奸淫。
5:33 你们又一向听过对古人说：『不可发虚誓，要向上主偿还你的誓愿！』
5:34 我却对你们说：你们总不可发誓：不可指天，因为天是天主的宝座；
5:35 不可指地，因为地是他的脚凳；不可指耶路撒冷，因为她是大王的城市；
5:36 也不可指你的头发誓，因为你不能使一根头发变白或变黑。
5:37 你们的话该当是：是就说是，非就说非；其它多余的便是出于邪恶。
5:38 你们一向听说过：『以眼还眼，以牙还牙。』
5:39 我却对你们说：不要抵抗恶人；而且，若有人掌击你的右颊，你把另一面也转给他。
5:40 那愿与你争讼，拿你的内衣的，你连外衣也让给他。
5:41 若有人强迫你走一千步，你就同他走两千步。
5:42 求你的，就给他；愿向你借贷的，你不要拒绝。
5:43 你们一向听说过：『你应爱你的近人，恨你的仇人!』
5:44 我却对你们说：你们当爱你们的仇人，当为迫害你们的人祈祷，
5:45 好使你们成为你们在天之父的子女，因为他使太阳上升，光照恶人，也光照善人；降雨给义人，也给不义的人。
5:46 你们若只爱那爱你们的人，你们还有什么赏报呢?税吏不是也这样作吗﹖
5:47 你们若只问候你们的弟兄，你们做了什么特别的呢？外邦人不是也这样做吗？
5:48 所以你们应当是成全的，如同你们的天父是成全的一样。」

 

 

第六章(34)

施舍祈祷和禁食的精神　
6:1 你们应当心，不要在人前行你们的仁义，为叫他们看见；若是这样，你们在天父之前，就没有赏报了。
6:2 所以，当你施舍时，不可在你们前面吹号，如同假善人在会堂及街市上所行的一样，为受人们的称赞；我实在告诉你们，他们已获得了他们的赏报。
6:3 当你施舍时，不要叫你左手知道你右手所行的，
6:4 好使你的施舍隐而不露，你父在暗中看见，必要报答你。
6:5 当你祈祷时，不要如同假善人一样，爱在会堂及十字街头立着祈祷，为显示给人；我实在告诉你们，他们已获得了他们的赏报。
6:6 至于你，当你祈祷时，要进入你的内室，关上门，向你在暗中之父祈祷；你的父在暗中看见，必要报答你。
6:7 你们祈祷时，不要唠唠叨叨，如同外邦人一样，因为他们以为只要多言，便可获得垂允。
6:8 你们不要跟他们一样，因为你们的父，在你们求他以前，已知道你们需要什么。
6:9 所以，你们应当这样祈祷：我们在天的父!愿你的名被尊为圣，
6:10 愿你的国来临，愿你的旨意承行于地，如在天上一样!
6:11 我们的日用粮，求你今天赐给我们；
6:12 宽免我们的罪债，犹如我们也宽免得罪我们的人；
6:13 不要让我们陷入诱惑，但救我们免于凶恶。
6:14 因为你们若宽免别人的过犯，你们的天父也必宽免你们的；
6:15 但你们若不宽免别人的，你们的父也必不宽免你们的过犯。
6:16 几时你们禁食，不要如同假善人一样，面带愁容；因为他们苦丧着脸，是为叫人看出他们禁食来。我实在告诉你们，他们已获得了他们的赏报。
6:17 至于你，当你禁食时，要用油抹你的头，洗你的脸，
6:18 不要叫人看出你禁食来，但叫你那在暗中之父看见；你的父在暗中看见，必要报答你。」

归向天主的纯洁之心　
6:19 「你们不要在地上为自己积蓄财宝，因为在地上有虫蛀，有锈蚀，在地上也有贼挖洞偷窃；
6:20 但该在天上为自己积蓄财宝，因为那里没有虫蛀，没有锈蚀，那里也没有贼挖洞偷窃。
6:21 因为你的财宝在那里，你的心也必在那里。
6:22 眼睛就是身体的灯。所以，你的眼睛若是康健，你的全身就都光明。
6:23 但是，如果你的眼睛有了病，你的全身就都黑暗。那么，你身上的光明如果成了黑暗，那该是多么黑暗!

惟独事奉主依恃主的照顾　
6:24 「没有人能事奉两个主人：他或是要恨这一个而爱那一个，或是依附这一个而轻忽那一个。你们不能事奉天主而又事奉钱财。
6:25 为此，我告诉你们：不要为你们的生命忧虑吃什么，或喝什么；也不要为你们的身体忧虑穿什么。难道生命不是贵于食物，身体不是贵于衣服吗﹖
6:26 你们仰观天空的飞鸟，它们不播种，也不收获，也不在粮仓里屯积，你们的天父还是养活它们；你们不比它们更贵重吗﹖
6:27 你们中谁能运用思虑，使自己的寿数增加一肘呢﹖
6:28 关于衣服，你们又忧虑什么﹖你们观察一下田间的百合花怎样生长：它们既不劳作，也不纺织；
6:29 可是我告诉你们：连撒罗满在他极盛的荣华时代所披戴的，也不如这些花中的一朵。
6:30 田里的野草今天还在，明天就投在炉中，天主尚且这样装饰，信德薄弱的人哪，何况你们呢﹖
6:31 所以，你们不要忧虑说：我们吃什么，喝什么，穿什么﹖
6:32 因为这一切都是外邦人所寻求的；你们的天父原晓得你们需要这一切。
6:33 你们先该寻求天主的国和它的义德，这一切自会加给你们。
6:34 所以你们不要为明天忧虑，因为明天有明天的忧虑：一天的苦足够一天受的了。」

 

 

第七章(28)

各种劝谕
7:1 你们不要判断人，免得你们受判断，
7:2 因为你们用什么判断来判断，你们也要受什么判断；你们用什么尺度量给人，也要用什么尺度量给你们。
7:3 为什么你只看见你兄弟眼中的木屑，而对自己眼中的大梁竟不理会呢﹖
7:4 或者，你怎么能对你的兄弟说：让我把你眼中的木屑取出来，而你眼中却有一根大梁呢﹖
7:5 假善人哪！先从你眼中取出大梁，然后你才看得清楚，取出你兄弟眼中的木屑。
7:6 你们不要把圣物给狗，也不要把你们的珠宝投在猪前，怕它们用脚践踏了珠宝，而又转过来咬伤你们。
7:7 你们求，必要给你们；你们找，必要找着；你们敲，必要给你们开，
7:8 因为凡是求的，就必得到；找的，就必找到；敲的，就必给他开。
7:9 或者，你们中间有那个人，儿子向他求饼，反而给他石头呢?
7:10 或者求鱼，反而给他蛇呢？
7:11 你们纵然不善，尚且知道把好的东西给你们的儿女，何况你们在天之父，岂不更将好的赐与求他的人?
7:12 所以，凡你们愿意人给你们做的，你们也要照样给人做：法律和先知即在于此。」

辨别真假好坏的训言　
7:13 「你们要从窄门进去，因为宽门和大路导入丧亡；但有许多的人从那里进去。
7:14 那导入生命的门是多么窄，路是多么狭!找到它的人的确不多。
7:15 你们要提防假先知!他们来到你们跟前，外披羊毛，内里却是凶残的豺狼。
7:16 你们可凭他们的果实辨别他们：荆棘上岂能收到葡萄?或者蒺藜上岂能收到无花果?
7:17 这样，凡是好树都结好果子；而坏树都结坏果子；
7:18 好树不能结坏果子，坏树也不能结好果子。
7:19 凡不结好果子的树必要砍倒，投入火中。
7:20 所以，你们可凭他们的果实辨别他们。
7:21 不是凡向我说『主啊!主啊!』的人，就能进入天国；而是那承行我在天之父旨意的人，才能进天国。
7:22 到那一天有许多人要向我说：『主啊!主啊!我们不是因你的名字说过预言，因你的名字驱过魔鬼，因你的名字行过许多奇迹吗?』
7:23 那时我必要向他们声明说：我从来不认识你们；你们这些作恶的人，离开我吧!

山中圣训的结论　
7:24 「所以，凡听了我这些话而实行的，就好象一个聪明人，把自己的房屋建在磐石上：
7:25 雨淋，水冲，风吹，袭击那座房屋，它并不坍塌，因为基础是建在磐石上。
7:26 凡听了我这些话而不实行的，就好象一个愚昧人，把自己的房屋建在沙土上：
7:27 雨淋，水冲，风吹，袭击那座房屋，它就坍塌了，且坍塌的很惨。」
7:28 耶稣讲完了这些话，群众都惊奇他的教训，因为他教训他们，正像有权威的人，不像他们的经师。

 

 

建立天国的准备

耶稣行的奇迹

第八章(34)

治好癞病人
8:1 耶稣从山上下来，有许多群众跟随他。
8:2 看，有一个癞病人前来叩拜耶稣说：「主!你若愿意，就能洁净我。」
8:3 耶稣就伸手抚摸他说：「我愿意，你洁净了吧!」他的癞病立刻就洁净了。
8:4 耶稣对他说：「小心，不要对任何人说!但去叫司祭检验你，献上梅瑟所规定的礼物，给他们当做证据。」

治好百夫长的仆人　
8:5 耶稣进了葛法翁，有一位百夫长来到他跟前，求他说：
8:6 「主!我的仆人瘫痪了，躺在家里，疼痛的很厉害。」
8:7 耶稣对他说：「我去治好他。」
8:8 百夫长答说：「主!我不堪当你到舍下来，你只要说一句话，我的仆人就会好的。
8:9 因为我虽是属人权下的人，但是我也有士兵属我权下；我对这个说：你去，他就去；对另一个说：你来，他就来；对我的奴仆说：你作这个，他就作。」
8:10 耶稣听了，非常詑异，就对跟随的人说：「我实在告诉你们：在以色列我从未遇见过一个人，有这样大的信心。
8:11 我给你们说：将有许多人从东方和西方来，同亚巴郎、依撒格和雅各伯在天国里一起坐席；
8:12 本国的子民，反要被驱逐到外边黑暗里；那里要有哀号和切齿。」
8:13 耶稣遂对百夫长说：「你回去，就照你所信的，给你成就吧!」仆人就在那时刻痊愈了。

在伯多禄家中治好病人　
8:14 耶稣来到伯多禄家里，看见伯多禄的岳母躺着发烧，
8:15 就摸了她的手，热症就从她身上退了。她便起来伺候他。
8:16 到了晚上，人们给他送来了许多附魔的人，他一句话就驱逐了恶神；治好了一切有病的人。
8:17 这样，就应验了那藉依撒依亚先知所说的话：『他承受我们的脆弱，担荷了我们的疾病。』

跟随耶稣的条件　
8:18 耶稣看见许多群众围着自己，就吩咐往对岸去。
8:19 有一位经师前来，对他说：「师傅，你不论往那里去，我要跟随你。」
8:20 耶稣给他说：「狐狸有穴，天上的飞鸟有巢，但是人子却没有枕头的地方。」
8:21 门徒中有一个对他说：「主，请许我先去埋葬我的父亲。」
8:22 耶稣对他说：「你跟随我罢!任凭死人去埋葬他们的死人!」

平息风浪　
8:23 耶稣上了船，他的门徒跟随着他。
8:24 忽然海里起了大震荡，以致那船为浪所掩盖，耶稣却睡着了。
8:25 他们遂前来唤醒他说：「主!救命啊!我们要丧亡了。」
8:26 耶稣对他们说：「小信德的人啊!你们为什么胆怯﹖」就起来叱责风和海，遂大为平静。
8:27 那些人惊讶说：「这是怎样的一个人呢﹖竟连风和海也听从他!」

医好革辣撒两个附魔的人　
8:28 耶稣来到对岸加达辣人的地方，有两个附魔的人从坟墓里走出，向他走来；他们异常凶猛，以致没有人能从那条路上经过。
8:29 他们喊说：「天主子，我们与你有什么相干﹖时期还没有到，你就来这里苦害我们吗﹖」
8:30 离他们很远，有一大群猪正在牧放。
8:31 魔鬼恳求耶稣说：「你若驱逐我们，就赶我们进入猪群吧!」
8:32 耶稣对他们说：「去吧!」魔鬼就出来进入猪内；忽然全群猪从山崖上直冲入海，死在水里。
8:33 放猪的便逃走，来到城里，把这一切和附魔人的事都报告了。
8:34 全城的人就出来会见耶稣，一见了他，就求他离开他们的境界。

 

 

第九章(38)

治好瘫子　
9:1 耶稣上船过海，来到了自己的城。
9:2 看，有人给他送来一个躺在床上的瘫子，耶稣一见他们的信心，就对瘫子说：「孩子，你放心，你的罪赦了。」
9:3 经师中有几个人心里说：「这人说了亵渎的话。」
9:4 耶稣看透他们的心意，说：「你们为什么心里思念恶事呢﹖
9:5 什么比较容易呢﹖是说：你的罪赦了，或是说：起来行走吧？
9:6 为叫你们知道，人子在地上有赦罪的权柄──就对瘫子说：起来，拿起你的床，回家去吧!」
9:7 那人就起来，回家去了。
9:8 群众见了，就都害怕起来，遂归光荣于天主，因他赐给了人们这样大的权柄。

玛窦被召为徒　
9:9 耶稣从那里前行，看见一个人在税关那里坐着，名叫玛窦，对他说：「跟随我!」他就起来跟随了耶稣。
9:10 当耶稣在屋里坐席时，有许多税吏和罪人也来同耶稣和他的门徒一起坐席。
9:11 法利塞人看见，就对他的门徒说：」你们的老师为什么同税吏和罪人一起进食呢﹖」
9:12 耶稣听见了，就说：「不是健康的人须要医生，而是有病的人。
9:13 你们去研究一下：『我喜欢仁爱胜过祭献』是什么意思；我不是来召义人，而是来召罪人。」

禁食问题的冲突　
9:14 那时，若翰的门徒来到他跟前说：「为什么我们和法利塞人多次禁食，而你的门徒却不禁食呢﹖」
9:15 耶稣对他们说：「伴郎岂能当新郎与他们在一起的时候悲哀﹖但日子将要来到；当新郎从他们中被劫去时，那时他们就要禁食了。
9:16 没有人用未漂过的布作补钉，补在旧衣服上的，因为补上的必扯裂了旧衣，破绽就更加坏了。
9:17 也没有人把新酒装入旧皮囊里的，不然，皮囊一破裂，酒也流了，皮囊也坏了；而是应把新酒装在新皮囊里，两样就都得保全。」

治好患血漏的妇人复活雅依洛的女儿　
9:18 耶稣向他们说这话的时候，有一位首长前来跪拜他说：「我的女儿刚才死了，可是请你来，把你的手放在她身上，她必会活。」
9:19 耶稣起来跟他去了；他的门徒也跟了去。
9:20 看，有一个患血漏十二年的女人，从后面走近，摸了他的衣服繸头，
9:21 因为她心里想：「只要我一摸他的衣服，我就会好了。」
9:22 耶稣转过身来，看着她说：「女儿，放心吧!你的信德救了你。」从那时起，那女人就好了。
9:23 耶稣来到首长家里，看见吹笛的和乱哄哄的群众，
9:24 就说：「你们走开吧!女孩子没有死，只是睡着了。」他们都讥笑他。
9:25 把群众赶出去以后，耶稣就进去，拿起女孩子的手，小女孩就起来了。
9:26 这消息传遍了那整个地区。

使两个瞎子复明　
9:27 耶稣从那里前行，有两个瞎子跟着他喊说：「达味之子!可怜我们吧!」
9:28 他一来到家，瞎子便走到他跟前；耶稣对他们说：「你们信我能作这事吗？」他们对他说：「是，主！」
9:29 于是耶稣摸他们的眼说：「照你们的信德，给你们成就吧!」
9:30 他们的眼便开了。耶稣严厉警戒他们说：「你们当心，不要使任何人知道。」
9:31 但他们出去，就在那整个地区把他传扬开了。

治好附魔的哑吧　
9:32 他们出去后，看，有人给耶稣送来一个附魔的哑吧。
9:33 魔鬼一被赶出去，哑吧就说出话来。群众惊奇说：「在以色列从未出现过这样的事情。」
9:34 但法利塞人们却说：「他是仗赖魔王驱魔。」

庄稼多工人少　
9:35 耶稣周游各城各村，在他们的会堂内施教，宣讲天国的福音，治好一切疾病，一切灾殃。
9:36 他一见到群众，就对他们动了慈心，因为他们困苦流离，像没有牧人的羊。
9:37 于是对自己的门徒说：「庄稼固多，工人却少，
9:38 所以你们应当求庄稼的主人派遣工人，来收他的庄稼。」

 

 

教导宗徒传教

第十章(42)

首次派遣十二宗徒传教　
10:1 耶稣将他的十二门徒叫来，授给他们制伏邪魔的权柄，可以驱逐邪魔，医治各种病症，各种疾苦。
10:2 这是十二宗徒的名字：第一个是称为伯多禄的西满，和他的兄弟安德肋，载伯德的儿子雅各伯和他的弟弟若望，
10:3 斐理伯和巴尔多禄茂，多默和税吏玛窦，阿耳斐的儿子雅各伯和达陡，
10:4 热诚者西满和负卖耶稣的犹达斯依斯加略。
10:5 耶稣派遣这十二人，嘱咐他们说：「外邦人的路，你们不要走；撒玛利雅人的城，你们不要进；
10:6 你们宁可往以色列家迷失了的羊那里去。
10:7 你们在路上应宣讲说：天国临近了。
10:8 病人，你们要治好；死人，你们要复活；癞病人，你们要洁净；魔鬼，你们要驱逐，你们白白得来的，也要白白分施。
10:9 你不要在腰带里备下金、银、铜钱；
10:10 路上不要带口袋，也不要带两件内衣，也不要穿鞋，也不要带棍杖，因为工人自当有他的食物。
10:11 你们不论进了那一城或那一村，查问其中谁是当得起的，就住在那里，直到你们离去。
10:12 你们进那一家时，要向它请安。
10:13 倘若这一家是堪当的，你们的平安就必降临到这一家；倘若是不堪当的，你们的平安仍归于你们。
10:14 谁若不接待你们，也不听你们的话，当你们从那一家或那一城出来时，应把尘土由你们的脚上拂去。
10:15 我实在告诉你们：在审判的日子，索多玛和哈摩辣地所受的惩罚，比那座城所受的还要轻。
10:16 看，我派遣你们好像羊进入狼群中，所以你们要机警如同蛇，纯朴如同鸽子。
10:17 你们要提防世人，因为他们要把你们交给公议会，要在他们的会堂里鞭打你们；
10:18 并且你们要为我的缘故，被带到总督和君王前，对他们和外邦人作证。
10:19 当人把你们交出时，你们不要思虑：怎么说，或说什么，因为在那时刻，自会赐给你们应说什么。
10:20 因为说话的不是你们，而是你们父的圣神在你们内说话。
10:21 兄弟要将兄弟，父亲要将儿子置于死地，儿女也要起来反对父母，要将他们害死。
10:22 你们为了我的名字，要被众人所恼恨；唯独坚持到底的，才可得救。
10:23 但是，几时人们在这城迫害你们，你们就逃往另一城去；我实在告诉你们；直到人子来到时，你们还未走完以色列的城邑。
10:24 没有徒弟胜过师傅的，也没有仆人胜过他主人的；
10:25 徒弟能如他的师傅一样，仆人能如他的主人一样，也就够了。若人们称家主为「贝耳则步」，对他的家人更该怎样呢﹖
10:26 所以你们不要害怕他们；因为没有遮掩的事，将来不被揭露的；也没有隐藏的事，将来不被知道的。
10:27 我在暗中给你们所说的，你们要在光天化日之下报告出来；你们由耳语所听到的，要在屋顶上张扬出来。
10:28 你们不要害怕那杀害肉身，而不能杀害灵魂的；但更要害怕那能使灵魂和肉身陷于地狱中的。
10:29 两只麻雀不是卖一个铜钱吗﹖但若没有你们天父的许可，它们中连一只也不会掉在地上。
10:30 就是你们的头发，也都一一数过了。
10:31 所以，你们不要害怕；你们比许多麻雀还贵重呢！
10:32 凡在人前承认我的，我在我天上的父前也必承认他；
10:33 但谁若在人前否认我，我在我天上的父前也必否认他。
10:34 你们不要以为我来，是为把平安带到地上；我来不是为带平安，而是带刀剑，
10:35 因为我来，是为叫人脱离自己的父亲，女儿脱离自己的母亲，儿媳脱离自己的婆母；
10:36 所以，人的仇敌，就是自己的家人。
10:37 谁爱父亲或母亲超过我，不配是我的；谁爱儿子或女儿超过我，不配是我的。
10:38 谁不背起自己的十字架跟随我，不配是我的。
10:39 谁获得自己的性命，必要丧失性命；谁为我的缘故，丧失了自己的性命，必要获得性命。
10:40 谁接纳你们，就是接纳我；谁接纳我，就是接纳那派遣我来的。
10:41 谁接纳一位先知，因他是先知，将领受先知的赏报；谁接纳一位义人，因他是义人，将领受义人的赏报。
10:42 谁若只给这些小子中的一个，一杯凉水喝，因他是门徒，我实在告诉你们，他决失不了他的赏报。

 

 

天国的奥秘

第十一章(30)

若翰遣徒访问耶稣
11:1 耶稣嘱咐完了他的十二门徒，就从那里走了，为在他们的城里施教宣讲。
11:2 若翰在狱中听到了基督所行的，就派遣他的门徒去，
11:3 对他说：「你就是要来的那一位，或是我们还要等候另一位？」
11:4 耶稣回答他们说：「你们去，把你们所见所闻的报告给若翰：
11:5 瞎子看见，瘸子行走，癞病人得了洁净，聋子听见，死人复活，穷苦人得了喜讯。
11:6 凡不因我而绊倒的，是有福的!」

耶稣称赞若翰　
11:7 他们走后，耶稣就对群众论若翰说：「你们出去到荒野里，是为看什么呢﹖是为看风摇曳的芦苇吗﹖
11:8 你们出去到底是为看什么﹖为看一位穿细软衣服的人吗﹖啊!那穿细软衣服的人是在王宫里。
11:9 你们究竟为什么出去﹖为看一位先知吗﹖是的！我给你们说：而且他比先知还大。
11:10 关于这人，经上记载说：『看，我派我的使者在你面前，他要在你前面预备你的道路。』
11:11 我实在告诉你们：在妇女所生者中，没有兴起一位比洗者若翰更大的；但在天国里最小的，也比他大。
11:12 由洗者若翰的日子直到如今，天国是以猛力夺取的，以猛力夺取的人，就攫取了它，
11:13 因为众先知和法律讲说预言，直到若翰为止。
11:14 若是你们愿意接受，他就是那位要来的厄里亚。
11:15 有耳的，听吧!」

责斥同代的人　
11:16 「我可把这一代比作什么呢﹖它像坐在大街上的儿童，向其它的孩子喊叫，
11:17 说：我们给你们吹了笛，你们却不跳舞，我们唱了哀歌，你们却不捶胸。
11:18 若翰来了，也不吃，也不喝，他们便说：他附了魔；
11:19 人子来了，也吃也喝，他们却说：看哪!一个贪吃嗜酒的人，税吏和罪人的朋友!但智慧必藉自己的工程彰显自己的正义。」
11:20 那时，耶稣就开始谴责那曾看过他许多异能的城邑，因为她们没有悔改：
11:21 「苛辣匝因，你是有祸的!贝特赛达，你是有祸的!因为在你们那里所行的异能，如果行在提洛和漆冬，她们早己身披苦衣，头上撒灰做补赎了。
11:22 但是我给你们说：在审判的日子，提洛和漆冬所受的惩罚也要比你们容易忍受。
11:23 还有你，葛法翁!莫非你要被高举到天上吗?将来你必下到阴府里；因为在你那里所行的异能，如果行在索多玛，她必会存留到今天。
11:24 但是我给你们说：在审判的日子，索多玛地所受的惩罚也要比你们容易忍受。」

诚实人获得喜讯　
11:25 就在那时侯，耶稣发言说：「父啊!天地的主宰!我称谢你，因为你将这些事瞒住了智慧和明达的人，而启示给小孩子。
11:26 是的，父啊!你原来喜欢这样。
11:27 我父将一切交给了我；除了父外，没有人认识子；除了子和子所愿意启示的人外，也没有人认识父。
11:28 凡劳苦和负重担的，你们都到我跟前来，我要使你们安息。
11:29 你们背起我的轭，跟我学吧!因为我是良善心谦的：这样你们必要找得你们灵魂的安息，
11:30 因为我的轭是柔和的，我的担子是轻松的。」

 

 

第十二章(50)

安息日的主　
12:1 那时，耶稣在安息日由麦田中经过：他的门徒饿了，开始掐麦穗吃。
12:2 法利塞人一见，便对他说：「看，你的门徒作安息日不许作的事。」
12:3 耶稣对他们说：「你们没有念过：达味与那些同他一起的人，饥饿时，作了什么?
12:4 他怎进了天主的殿，吃了供饼？这供饼原是不准他吃，也不准同他在一起的人吃，而是只许司祭吃的。
12:5 或者你们在法律上没有念过：安息日，司祭在圣殿内违犯了安息日，也不算为罪过吗？
12:6 但我告诉你们：这里有比圣殿更大的。
12:7 假如你们了解『我喜欢仁爱胜过祭献』是什么，你们就决不会判断无罪的人了，
12:8 因为人子是安息日的主。」

安息日显奇迹恶党首次谋害耶稣　
12:9 耶稣就离开那里，进了他们的会堂。
12:10 看，那里有一个人，他的一只手干枯了，他们问耶稣说：「安息日许不许治病?」为的是要控告他。
12:11 耶稣对他们说：「你们中谁有一只羊，假如安息日掉在坑里，而不把它抓住，拉上来呢？
12:12 人比羊贵重得多了!所以，安息日是许可行善的。」
12:13 于是给那人说：「伸出你的手来!」那人一伸出来，手就完好如初，同另一只手一样。
12:14 法利塞人出去，商讨怎么陷害耶稣，怎样除灭他。

上主的仆人　
12:15 耶稣知道了，就离开那里；有许多人跟随他，他都治好了他们；
12:16 且警告他们不要将他传扬出去；
12:17 这是为应验那藉依撒意亚先知所说的话：
12:18 『看，我的仆人，他是我所拣选，我所钟爱的；他是我心灵所喜悦的；我要使我的神住在他身上，他必向外邦人传布真道。
12:19 他不争辩，也不喧嚷，在街市上没有人听到他的声音；
12:20 已压破的芦苇，他不折断；将熄灭的灯心，他不吹灭，直到他使真道胜利。
12:21 外邦人将要期待他的名字。』

耶稣驱魔受谤　
12:22 那时，有人给他领来一个又瞎又哑的附魔人，耶稣治好了他，以致这哑吧能说话，也能看见。
12:23 群众都惊奇说：「莫非这人是达味之子吗﹖」
12:24 法利塞人听了，说：「这人驱魔，无非是仗赖魔王贝耳则步。」
12:25 耶稣知道了他们的意念，就对他们说：「凡一国自相纷争，必成废墟；凡一城或一家自相纷争，必不得存立。
12:26 如果撒殚驱逐撒殚，是自相纷争，那么他的国如何能存立呢﹖
12:27 如果我仗赖贝耳则步驱魔，你们的子弟是仗赖谁驱魔﹖为此，他们将是你们的裁判者。
12:28 如果我仗赖天主的神驱魔，那么，天主的国己来到你们中间了。
12:29 或者，一个人如何能进入一个壮士的家，抢他的家具﹖除非先把壮士捆住，然后才抢他的家。
12:30 不随同我的，就是反对我；不与我收集的，就是分散。
12:31 为此，我告诉你们：一切罪过和亵渎，人都可得赦免；但是亵渎圣神的罪，必不得赦免；
12:32 凡出言干犯人子的，可得赦免；但出言干犯圣神的，在今世及来世，都不得赦免。」

由果实识别善恶　
12:33 你们或者说树好，它的果子也好；或者说树坏，它的果子也坏，因为由果子可认出树来。
12:34 毒蛇的种类哪!你们既是恶的，怎能说出善来﹖因为心里充满什么，口里就说什么。
12:35 善人从善库里，取出善来；恶人从恶库里，取出恶来。
12:36 但我告诉你们：人所说的每句废话，在审判之日，都要交账，
12:37 因为凭你的话，要定你为义人；也凭你的话，要定你为罪人。」

约纳的征兆　
12:38 那时，有几个经师和法利塞人对耶稣说：「师傅，我们愿意你显示一个征兆给我们看。」
12:39 他回答他们说：「邪恶淫乱的世代要求征兆，但除了约纳先知的征兆外，必不给它其它的征兆。
12:40 有如约纳曾在大鱼腹中三天三夜；同样，人子也要在地里三天三夜。
12:41 尼尼微人在审判时，将同这一代人起来，定他们的罪，因为尼尼微人因了约纳的宣讲而悔改了；看，这里有一位大于约纳的!
12:42 南方的女王，在审判时，将同这一代人起来，而定他们的罪，因为她从地极而来，听撒罗满的智慧，看，这里有一位大于撒罗满的!
12:43 邪魔由人身上出来以后，走遍干旱之地，寻找一个安息之所，却没有寻着；
12:44 他于是说：我要回到我出来的那间屋里去。他来到后，见里面空着，打扫干净，装饰整齐，
12:45 就去，另外带了七个比他更恶的魔鬼来，进去，住在那里；那人末后的处境就比以前的更坏了。对这邪恶的世代也必是这样。」

耶稣的真亲属　
12:46 耶稣还同群众说话的时候，看，他的母亲和他的兄弟，站在外边，想要同他说话。
12:47 有人告诉他说：「看！你的母亲同你的兄弟，站在外边，想要同你说话。」
12:48 他却回答那告诉他的人说：「谁是我的母亲﹖谁是我的兄弟﹖」
12:49 遂伸出他的手，指着自己的门徒说：「看!我的母亲，我的兄弟!
12:50 不拘谁遵行我在天之父的意旨，他就是我的兄弟、姊妹和母亲。」

 

 

天国的比喻

第十三章(58)

撒种的比喻
13:1 在那一天，耶稣从家里出来，坐在海边上，
13:2 有许多群众集合到他跟前，他只得上船坐下，群众都站在岸上。
13:3 他就用比喻给他们讲论了许多事，说：「看，有个撒种的出去撒种；
13:4 他撒种的时候，有的落在路旁，飞鸟来把它吃了。
13:5 有的落在石头地里，那里没有多少土壤，因为所有的土壤不深，即刻发了芽；
13:6 但太阳一出来，就被晒焦；又因为没有根，就枯干了。
13:7 有的落在荆棘中，荆棘长起来，便把它们窒息了。
13:8 有的落在好地里，就结了实：有一百倍的，有六十倍的，有三十倍的。
13:9 有耳的，听吧!」

耶稣讲比喻的用意　
13:10 门徒们前来对他说：「为什么你用比喻对他们讲话﹖」
13:11 耶稣回答他们说：「因为天国的奥妙，是给你们知道，并不是给他们知道。
13:12 因为凡有的，还要给他，使他富足；但是，没有的，连他所有的，也要由他夺去。
13:13 为此，我用比喻对他们讲话，是因为他们看，却看不见；听，却听不见，也不了解；
13:14 这样为他们正应验了依撒依亚先知的预言，说：『你们听是听，但不了解；看是看，但不明白，
13:15 因为这百姓的心迟纯了，耳朵难以听见；他们闭了眼睛，免得眼睛看见，耳朵听见，心里了解而转变，而要我医好他们。』
13:16 但你们的眼睛有福，因为看得见；你们的耳朵有福，因为听得见。
13:17 我实在告诉你们：有许多先知和义人，想看你们所看见的，而没有看到；想听你们所听见的，而没有听到。」

撒种比喻的解释　
13:18 「那么，你们听这撒种的比喻吧!
13:19 凡听天国的话，而不了解的，那恶者就来把撒在他心里的夺去；这是指那撒在路旁的。
13:20 那撒在石头地里的，即是指人听了话，立刻高兴接受；
13:21 但在心里没有根，不能持久，一旦为这话发生了艰难和迫害，就立刻跌倒了。
13:22 那撒在荆棘中的，即是指人听了话，却有世俗的焦虑和财富的迷惑，把话蒙往了，结不出果实。
13:23 那撒在好地里的，即是指那听了话而了解的人，他当然结实，有结一百倍的，有结六十倍的，有结三十倍的。」

莠子的比喻　
13:24 耶稣给他们另设了一个比喻说：「天国好象一个人，在自己田里撒了好种子；
13:25 但在人睡觉的时候，他的仇人来，在麦子中间撒上莠子，就走了。
13:26 苗长起来，抽出穗的时候，莠子也显出来了。
13:27 家主的仆人，就前来对他说：主人!你不是在你田地里撒了好种子吗﹖那么从哪里来了莠子﹖
13:28 家主对他们说：这是仇人做的。仆人对他说：那么，你愿我们去把莠子收集起来吗？
13:29 他却说：不，免得你们收集莠子，连麦子也拔了出来。
13:30 让两样一起长到收割的时候好了；在收割时，我要对收割的人说：你们先收集莠子，把莠子捆成捆，好燃烧，把麦子却收入我的仓里。」

芥子和酵母的比喻　
13:31 耶稣给他们另设一个比喻说：「天国好象一粒芥子，人把它撒在自己的田里。
13:32 它固然是各样种子里最小的，但当它长起来，却比各种蔬菜都大，竟成了树，甚至天上的飞鸟飞来，在它的枝上栖息。」
13:33 他又给他们讲了一个比喻：「天国好象酵母，女人取来藏在三斗面里，直到全部发了酵。」
13:34 耶稣用比喻给群众讲解了这一切，不用比喻就不给他们讲什么；
13:35 这样应验了先知所说的话：『我要开口说比喻，要说出由创世以来的隐密事。』

莠子比喻的解释　
13:36 那时，耶稣离开了群众，来到家里，他的门徒就前来对他说：「请把田间莠子的比喻给我们讲解一下!」
13:37 他就回答说：「那撒好种子的，就是人子；
13:38 田就是世界；好种子，即是天国的子民，莠子即是邪恶的子民；
13:39 那撒莠子的仇人，即是魔鬼；收获时期，即是今世的终结；收割者即是天使。
13:40 就如将莠子收集起来，用火焚烧；在今世终结时也将是如此：
13:41 人子要差遣他的天使，由他的国内，将一切使人跌倒的事，及作恶的人收集起来，
13:42 扔到火窑里；在那里要有哀号和切齿。
13:43 那时，义人要在他们父的国里，发光如同太阳。有耳的，听罢!」

宝贝和珍珠的比喻　
13:44 「天国好象是藏在地里的宝贝；人找到了，就把它藏起来，高兴地去卖掉他所有的一切，买了那块地。」
13:45 「天国又好象一个寻找完美珍珠的商人；
13:46 他一找到一颗宝贵的珍珠，就去，卖掉他所有的一切，买了它。」

撒网的比喻　
13:47 「天国又好象撒在海里的网，网罗各种的鱼。
13:48 网一满了，人就拉上岸来，坐下，拣好的，放在器皿里；坏的，扔在外面。
13:49 在今世的终结时，也将如此：天使要出去，把恶人由义人中分开，
13:50 把他们扔在火窑里；在那里要有哀号和切齿。
13:51 这一切你们都明白了吗?」他们说：「是的」。
13:52 他就对他们说：「为此，凡成为天国门徒的经师，就好象一个家主，从他的宝库里，提出新的和旧的东西。」
13:53 耶稣讲完了这些比喻，就从那里走了。

建立教会──天国的开端

耶稣不见容于家乡　
13:54 他来到自己的家乡，在会堂里教训人，以致人们都惊讶说：「这人从那里得了这样的智慧和奇能?
13:55 这人不是那木匠的儿子﹖他的母亲不是叫玛利亚，他的弟兄不是叫雅各伯，若瑟，西满和犹达吗?
13:56 他的姊妹不是都在我们这里吗﹖那么他的这一切是从那里来的呢?」
13:57 他们就对他起了反感。耶稣却对他们说：「先知除了在自己的本乡本家外，没有不受尊敬的。」
13:58 他在那里，因为他们不信，没有多行奇能。

 

 

第十四章(36)

若翰致命　
14:1 那时，分封侯黑落德听到耶稣的名声，
14:2 就对他的臣仆说：「这是洗者若翰，他由死者中复活了；为此，这些奇能才在他身上运行。」
14:3 原来，黑落德为了他兄弟裴理伯的妻子黑落狄亚的原故，逮捕了若翰，把他囚在监里，
14:4 因为若翰曾给他说：「你不可占有这个女人!」
14:5 黑落德本有意杀他，但害怕群众，因为他们都以若翰为先知。
14:6 到了黑落德的生日，黑落狄亚的女儿，在席间跳舞，中悦了黑落德；
14:7 为此，黑落德发誓许下，她无论求什么，都要给她。
14:8 她受了她母亲的唆使后，就说：「请就地把若翰的头放在盘子里给我!」
14:9 王十分忧郁，但为了誓言和同席的人，就下令给她。
14:10 遂差人在监里斩了若翰的头，
14:11 把头放在盘子里拿来，给了女孩；女孩便拿去给了她母亲。
14:12 若翰的门徒前来，领了尸身，埋藏了，然后去报告给耶稣。

耶稣首次增饼　
14:13 耶稣一听说这消息，就从那里上船，私下退到荒野地方；群众听说了，就从各城里步行跟了他去。
14:14 他一下船，看见一大伙群众，便对他们动了怜悯的心，治好了他们的病人。
14:15 到了傍晚，门徒到他跟前说：「这地方是荒野，时候已不早了，请你遣散群众罢!叫他们各自到村庄去买食物。」
14:16 耶稣却对他们说：「他们不必去，你们给他们吃的罢!」
14:17 门徒对他说：「我们这里什么也没有，只有五个饼和两条鱼。」
14:18 耶稣说：「你们给我拿到这里来!」
14:19 遂又吩咐群众坐在草地上，然后拿起那五个饼和两条鱼，望天祝福了；把饼掰开，递给门徒，门徒再分给群众。
14:20 众人吃了，也都饱了；然后他们把剩余的碎块收了满满十二筐。
14:21 吃的人数，除了妇女和小孩外，约有五千。

步行海面　
14:22 耶稣即刻催迫门徒上船，在他以先到对岸去；这其间，他遣散了群众。
14:23 耶稣遣散了群众以后，便私自上山祈祷去了。到了夜晚，他独自一个人在那里。
14:24 船已离岸几里了，受着波浪的颠簸，因为吹的是逆风。
14:25 夜间四更时分，耶稣步行海上，朝着他们走来。
14:26 门徒看见他在海上行走，就惊骇说：「是个妖怪。」并且吓得大叫起来。
14:27 耶稣立即向他们说道：「放心!是我。不必害怕!」
14:28 伯多禄回答说：「主!如果是你，就叫我在水面上步行到你那里罢!」
14:29 耶稣说：「来罢!」伯多禄遂从船上下来，走在水面上，往耶稣那里去。
14:30 但他一见风势很强，就害怕起来，并开始下沉，遂大叫说：「主，救我罢!」
14:31 耶稣立刻伸手拉住他，对他说：「小信德的人哪!你为甚么怀疑?」
14:32 他们一上了船，风就停了。
14:33 船上的人便朝拜他说：「你真是天主子。」
14:34 他们渡到对岸，来到革乃撒勒地方。
14:35 那地方的人一认出是耶稣，就打发人到周围整个地方，把一切患病的人，都带到耶稣跟前，
14:36 求耶稣让他们只摸摸他的衣边；凡摸着的，就痊愈了。

 

 

第十五章(39)

洁净与污秽的真谛　
15:1 那时，有法利塞人和经师，从耶路撒冷来到耶稣跟前说：
15:2 「你的门徒为什么违犯先人的传授？他们吃饭时竟不洗手。」
15:3 耶稣回答他们说：「你们为什么为了你们的传授，而违犯天主的诫命呢?
15:4 天主曾说过：『你要孝敬父亲和母亲。』又说过：『咒骂父亲和母亲的，应处以死刑。』
15:5 你们却说：谁若对父亲或母亲说：我所能供养你的，已成了献仪；
15:6 他就不必再孝敬父亲或母亲了。你们就为了你们的传授，废弃了天主的话。
15:7 假善人哪!依撒意亚论你们预言的真好，他说：
15:8 『这民族用嘴唇尊敬我，他们的心却是远离我；
15:9 他们恭敬我也是假的，因为他们所讲授的教义是人的规律。』」
15:10 耶稣便叫过群众来，对他们说：「你们听，且要明白：
15:11 不是入于口的，使人污秽；而是出于口的，才使人污秽。」
15:12 那时，门徒前来告诉耶稣说：「你知道法利塞人听了这话，起了反感吗﹖」
15:13 耶稣答说：「任何植物，凡不是我天父所种植的，必要连根拔除。
15:14 由他们罢!他们是瞎子，且是瞎子的领路人；但若瞎子领瞎子，两人必要掉在坑里。」
15:15 伯多禄遂应声对耶稣说：「请你给我们讲解这个比喻罢!」
15:16 耶稣说：「连你们也不明白吗?
15:17 你们不晓得：凡入于口的，先到肚腹内，然后排泄到厕所里去吗?
15:18 但那从口里出来的，都是由心里发出来的，这些才使人污秽，
15:19 因为由心里发出来的是恶念、凶杀、奸淫、邪淫、盗窃、妄证、毁谤。
15:20 这些都使人污秽，至于不洗手吃饭，并不能使人污秽。」

客纳罕妇人的信德　
15:21 耶稣离开那里，就退往提洛和漆冬一带去了。
15:22 看，有一个客纳罕妇人，从那地方出来喊说：「主，达味之子，可怜我罢!我的女儿被魔纠缠的好苦啊!」
15:23 耶稣却一句话也不回答她。他的门徒就上前求他说：「打发她走罢!因为她在我们后面不停地喊叫。」
15:24 耶稣回答说：「我被派遣，只是为了以色列家失迷的羊。」
15:25 那妇人却前来叩拜他说：「主，援助我罢!」
15:26 耶稣回答说：「拿儿女的饼扔给小狗，是不对的。」
15:27 但她说：「是啊!主，可是小狗也吃主人桌子上掉下来的碎屑。」
15:28 耶稣回答她说：「啊!妇人，你的信德真大，就如你所愿望的，给你成就罢!」从那时刻起，她的女儿就痊愈了。
15:29 耶稣离开了那里，来到加里肋亚海岸，上了山坐在那里。
15:30 于是有许多群众带着瘸子、残废、瞎子、哑吧、和许多其它的病人来到耶稣跟前，把他们放在他的足前，他便治好了他们；
15:31 致使群众见到哑吧说话，残废康复，瘸子行走，瞎子看见，都大为惊奇，颂扬以色列的天主。

耶稣二次增饼　
15:32 耶稣将自己的门徒召来说：「我很怜悯这群众，因为他们同我在一起已经三天，也没有什么可吃的；我不愿遣散他们空着肚子回去，怕他们在路上晕倒。」
15:33 门徒对他说：「在荒野里我们从那里得这么多的饼，使这么多的群众吃饱呢?」
15:34 耶稣对他们说：「你们有多少饼?」他们说：「七个，还有几条小鱼。」
15:35 耶稣就吩咐群众坐在地上，
15:36 拿起那七个饼和鱼来，祝谢了，掰开，递给门徒；门徒再分给群众。
15:37 众人都吃了，也都饱了，把剩下的碎块收集了满满七篮子。
15:38 吃的人数，除妇女和孩子外，约有四千人。
15:39 耶稣遣散了群众，就上船，来到玛加丹境内。

 

 

第十六章(28)

拒显天上征兆　
16:1 法利塞人和撒杜塞人，为试探耶稣，前来求他给他们显一个来自天上的征兆。
16:2 耶稣回答他们说：「到了晚上，你们说：天色发红，必要放晴。
16:3 早上，天色又红又黑，你们说：今日必有风雨；你们知道辨别天象，却不能辨别时期的征兆。
16:4 邪恶淫乱的世代要求征兆，但除了约纳先知的征兆外，必不给它其他的征兆。」耶稣遂离开他们走了。

提防法利塞人的酵母　
16:5 门徒往对岸去的时候，忘了带饼；
16:6 耶稣就对他们说：「你们应当谨慎防备法利塞人和撒杜塞人的酵母。」
16:7 他们便彼此议论说：「因为我们没有带饼罢!」
16:8 耶稣知道了就说：「小信德的人!你们为什么竟彼此议论你们没有带饼呢?
16:9 你们还不明白吗?你们不记得五个饼分给五千人，你们收拾了几筐?
16:10 七个饼分给四千人，你们又收拾了几篮﹖
16:11 怎么你们不明白，我不是指着饼向你们说的呢﹖你们应当防备法利塞人和撒杜塞人的酵母!」
16:12 他们这才明白耶稣不是说防备饼的酵母，而是说防备法利塞人和撒杜塞人的教训。

立伯多禄为教会的磐石　
16:13 耶稣来到了裴理伯的凯撒勒雅境内，就问门徒说：「人们说人子是谁?」
16:14 他们说：「有人说是洗者若翰；有人说是厄里亚；也有人说是耶肋米亚，或先知中的一位。」
16:15 耶稣对他们说：「你们说我是谁?」
16:16 西满伯多禄回答说：「你是默西亚，永生天主之子。」
16:17 耶稣回答他说：「约纳的儿子西满，你是有福的，因为不是肉和血启示了你，而是我在天之父。
16:18 我再给你说：你是伯多禄(磐石)，在这磐石上，我要建立我的教会，阴间的门决不能战胜她。
16:19 我要将天国的钥匙交给你：凡你在地上所束缚的，在天上也要被束缚；凡你在地上所释放的，在天上也要被释放。」
16:20 他遂即严禁门徒，不要对任何人说他是默西亚。

首次预言受难和复活　
16:21 从那时起，耶稣就开始向门徒说明：他必须上耶路撒冷去，要由长老、司祭长和经师们受到许多痛苦，并将被杀，但第三天要复活。
16:22 伯多禄便拉耶稣到一边，谏责他说：「主，千万不可!这事绝不会临到你身上!」
16:23 耶稣转身对伯多禄说：「撒殚，退到我后面去!你是我的绊脚石，因为你所体会的，不是天主的事，而是人的事。」

背十字架的必要　
16:24 于是，耶稣对门徒说：「谁若愿意跟随我，该弃绝自己，背着自己的十字架来跟随我，
16:25 因为谁若愿意救自己的性命，必要丧失性命；但谁若为我的原故，丧失自己的性命，必要获得性命。
16:26 人纵然赚得了全世界，却赔上了自己的灵魂，为他有什么益处?或者，人还能拿什么作为自己灵魂的代价?
16:27 因为将来人子要在他父的光荣中同他的天使降来，那时，他要按照每人的行为予以赏报。
16:28 我实在告诉你们：站在这里的人中，就有些人在未尝到死味以前，必要看见人子来到自己的国内。」

 

 

第十七章(27)

耶稣显圣容
17:1 六天以后，耶稣带着伯多禄，雅各伯和他的兄弟若望，单独带领他们上了一座高山，
17:2 在他们面前变了容貌：发光有如太阳，他的衣服洁白如光。
17:3 忽然，梅瑟和厄里亚也显现给他们，正在同耶稣谈论。
17:4 伯多禄就开口对耶稣说：「主啊!我们在这里真好!你若愿意，我就在这里张搭三个帐棚：一个为你，一个为梅瑟，一个为厄里亚。」
17:5 他还在说话的时候，忽有一片光耀的云彩遮蔽了他们，并且云中有声音说：「这是我的爱子，我所喜悦的，你们要听从他!」
17:6 门徒听了，就俯伏在地，非常害怕。
17:7 耶稣遂前来，抚摩他们说：「起来，不要害怕!」
17:8 他们举目一看，任谁都不见了，只有耶稣独自一人。
17:9 他们从山上下来的时候，耶稣嘱咐他们说：「非等人子由死者中复活，你们不要将所见的告诉任何人。」
17:10 门徒便问耶稣说：「那么，为什么经师说：厄里亚应该先来呢?」
17:11 耶稣回答说：「厄里亚的确要来，且要重整一切；
17:12 但我告诉你们：厄里亚已经来了，人们却不认识他，反而任意待了他；照样，人子也要受他们的磨难。」
17:13 门徒这才明白耶稣给他们所说的，是指的洗者若翰。

治好附魔的儿童　
17:14 当他们来到群众那里时，有一个人来到耶稣跟前，跪下，
17:15 说：「主啊，可怜我的儿子罢!他患癫痫病很苦，屡次跌在火中，又屡次跌在水里。
17:16 我把他带到你的门徒跟前，他们却不能治好他。」
17:17 耶稣回答说：「哎！无信败坏的世代，我同你们在一起要到几时呢?我容忍你们要到几时呢?把他给我带到这里来!」
17:18 耶稣遂叱责魔鬼，魔鬼就从孩子身上出去了；从那时刻，孩子就好了。
17:19 以后，门徒前来私下对耶稣说：「为什么我们不能逐出这魔鬼呢?」
17:20 耶稣对他们说：「由于你们缺少信德；我实在告诉你们：假如你们有像芥子那么大的信德，你们向这座山说：从这边移到那边去!它必会移过去的；为你们没有不可能的事。
17:21 『但这类魔鬼非用祈祷和禁食，是不能赶出去的。』

二次预言受难和复活　
17:22 当耶稣同门徒在加里肋亚周游时，耶稣对他们说：「人子将被交于人们手中。
17:23 他们要杀害他，第三天他必要复活。」门徒就非常忧郁。

缴纳殿税　
17:24 他们来到葛法翁时，收殿税的人来到伯多禄跟前说：「你们的师傅不纳殿税吗?」
17:25 伯多禄说：「自然纳的。」他一进到屋里，耶稣就先对他说：「西满!你以为怎样?地上的君王向谁征收关税或丁税呢?向自己的儿子，或是向外人?」
17:26 伯多禄说：「向外人。」耶稣对他说：「所以儿子是免税的了。
17:27 但是，为避免使他们疑怪，你往海边去垂钓，拿钓上来的第一条鱼，开了它的口，就会找到一块「斯塔特。」拿去交给他们，当作我和你的殿税。」

 

 

第十八章(35)

天国中谁最大
18:1 就在那时刻，门徒来到耶稣跟前说：「在天国里究竟谁是最大的?」
18:2 耶稣就叫一个小孩来，使他站在他们中间，
18:3 说：「我实在告诉你们：你们若不变成如同小孩一样，你们决不能进天国。
18:4 所以，谁若自谦自卑如同这一个小孩，这人就是天国中最大的。」

戒立恶表　
18:5 「无论谁因我的名字，收留一个这样的小孩，就是收留我；
18:6 但无论谁，使这些信我的小孩子中的一个跌倒，倒不如拿一块驴拉的磨石，系在他的颈上，沉在海的深处更好。
18:7 世界因了恶表是有祸的，恶表固然免不了要来，但立恶表的那人是有祸的。
18:8 为此，倘若你的手，或你的脚使你跌倒，砍下它来，从你身上扔掉，为你或残废或瘸进入生命，比有双手双脚而被投入永火中更好。
18:9 倘若你的眼使你跌倒，剜出它来，，从你身上扔掉，为你有一只眼进入生命，比有双眼而被投入永火中更好。
18:10 你们小心，不要轻视这些小子中的一个，因为我告诉你们：他们的天使在天上，常见我在天之父的面。
18:11 【因为人子来是为救那丧亡了的。】

亡羊喻　
18:12 你们以为如何?如果一个人有一百只羊，其中一只迷失了路，他岂不把那九十九只留在山上，而去寻找那只迷失了路的吗?
18:13 如果他幸运找着了，我实在告诉你们：他为这一只，比为那九十九只没有迷路的，更觉欢喜；
18:14 同样，使这些小子中的一个丧亡，决不是你们在天之父的意愿。」

兄弟规劝之道　
18:15 如果你的弟兄得罪了你，去，要在你和他独处的时候，规劝他；如果他听从了你，你便赚得了你的兄弟；
18:16 但他如果不听，你就另带上一个或两个人，为叫任何事情，凭两个或三个见证人的口供，得以成立。
18:17 若是他仍不听从他们，你要告诉教会；如果他连教会也不听从，你就将他看作外教教人或税吏。
18:18 我实在告诉你们：凡你们在地上所束縳的，在天上也要被束縳；凡你们在地上所释放的，在天上也要被释放。
18:19 我实在告诉你们：若你们中二人，在地上同心合意，无论为什么事祈祷，我在天之父，必要给他们成就，
18:20 因为那里有两个或三个人，因我的名字聚在一起，我就在他们中间。」

宽恕之道　
18:21 那时，伯多禄前来对耶稣说：「主啊!若我的弟兄得罪了我，我该宽恕他多少次?直到七次吗?」
18:22 耶稣对他说：「我不对你说：直到七次，而是到七十个七次。
18:23 为此天国好比一个君王，要同他的仆人算账。
18:24 他开始算账的时候，给他送来一个欠他一万「塔冷通」的，
18:25 因他没有可还的，主人就下令，要他把自己和妻子儿女，以及他所有的一切，都变卖来还债。
18:26 那仆人就俯伏在地叩拜他说：主啊!容忍我吧!一切我都要还给你。
18:27 那仆人的主人就动心把他释放了，并且也赦免了他的债。
18:28 但那仆人正出去时，遇见一个欠他一百「德纳」的同伴，他就抓住他，扼住他的喉咙说：还你欠的债!
18:29 他的同伴就俯伏在地哀求他说：容忍我吧!我必还给你。
18:30 可是他不愿意，且把他下在监里，直到他还清了欠债。
18:31 他的同伴见到所发生的事，非常悲愤，遂去把所发生的一切告诉了主人。
18:32 于是主人把那仆人叫来，对他说：恶仆!因为你哀求了我，我赦免了你那一切的债；
18:33 难道你不该怜悯你的同伴，如同我怜悯了你一样吗!
18:34 他的主人大怒，遂把他交给刑役，直到他还清所欠的一切。
18:35 如果你们不各自从心里宽恕自己的弟兄，我的天父也要这样对待你们。」

 

准备光荣的天国来临

第十九章(30)

婚姻与贞洁　
19:1 耶稣讲完这些话以后，就离开加里肋亚，来到约旦对岸的犹太境内。
19:2 有许多群众跟随他，他就在那里医好了他们。
19:3 有些法利塞人来到他跟前，试探他说：「许不许人为了任何缘故，休自己的妻子?」
19:4 他回答说：「你们没有念过：那创造者自起初就造了他们一男一女；
19:5 且说：『为此，人要离开父亲和母亲，依附自己的妻子，两人成为一体』的话吗?
19:6 这样，他们不是两个，而是一体了。为此，凡天主所结合的，人不可拆散。」
19:7 他们对他说：「那么，为什么梅瑟还吩咐人下休书休妻呢?」
19:8 耶稣对他们说：「梅瑟为了你们的心硬，才准许你们休妻，但起初并不是这样。
19:9 如今我对你们说：无论谁休妻，除非因为姘居，而另娶一个，他就是犯奸淫;凡娶被休的,也是犯奸淫。」
19:10 门徒对他说：「人同妻子的关系，如果是这样，倒不如不娶的好。」
19:11 耶稣对他们说：「这话不是人人所能领悟的，只有那些得了恩赐的人，才能领悟。
19:12 因为有些阉人，从母胎生来就是这样，有些阉人，是被人阉的；有些阉人，却是为了天国，而自阉的。能领悟的，就领悟吧!」

耶稣祝福儿童　
19:13 那时，有人给耶稣领来一些小孩子。要他给他们覆手祈祷，门徒却斥责他们。
19:14 耶稣说：「你们让小孩子来吧!不要阻止他们到我跟前来，因为天国正是属于这样的人。」
19:15 耶稣给他们覆了手，就从那里走了。

财帛的为害　
19:16 有一个人来到耶稣跟前说：师傅！我该行什么『善』为得永生?」
19:17 耶稣对他说：「你为什么问我关于『善?』善的只有一个。如果你愿意进入生命，就该遵守诫命。」
19:18 他对耶稣说：「什么诫命﹖」耶稣说：「就是：不可杀人，不可奸淫，不可偷盗，不可作假见证，
19:19 应孝敬父母，应爱你的近人，如爱你自己。」
19:20 那少年人对耶稣说：「这一切我都遵守了，还缺少什么?」
19:21 耶稣对他说：「你若愿意是成全的，去!变卖你所有的，施舍给穷人，你必有宝藏在天上；然后来跟随我。」
19:22 少年人一听这话，就忧闷的走了，因为他拥有许多产业。
19:23 于是，耶稣对门徒说：「我实在告诉你们：富人难进天国。
19:24 我再告诉你们：骆驼穿过针孔，比富人进天国还容易。」
19:25 门徒们听了，就非常惊异说：「这样，谁还能得救呢?」
19:26 耶稣注视他们说：「为人这是不可能的；但为天主，一切都是可能的。」
19:27 那时，伯多禄开口对他说：「看，我们舍弃了一切，跟随了你；那么，将来我们可得到什么呢?」
19:28 耶稣对他们说：「我实在告诉你们，你们这些跟随我的人，在重生的世代，人子坐在自己光荣的宝座上时，你们也要坐在十二宝座上，审判以色列十二支派；
19:29 并且，凡为我的名，舍弃了房屋、或兄弟、或姊妹、或父亲、或母亲、或妻子、或儿女、或田地的，必要领取百倍的赏报，并承受永生。
19:30 有许多在先的要成为在后的，在后的要成为在先的。」

 

 

第二十章(34)

雇工的比喻　
20:1 天国好象一个家主，清晨出去为自己的葡萄园雇工人。
20:2 他与工人议定一天一个「德纳」，就派他们到葡萄园里去了。
20:3 约在第三时辰，又出去，看见另有些人在街上闲立着，
20:4 就对他们说：你们也到我的葡萄园里去吧!凡照公义该给的，我必给你们。
20:5 他们就去了。约在第六和第九时辰，他又出去，也照样做了。
20:6 约在第十一时辰，他又出去，看见还有些人站在那里，就对他们说：为什么你们站在这里整天闲着？
20:7 他们对他说：因为没有人雇我们。他给他们说：你们也到我的葡萄园里去吧！
20:8 到了晚上，葡萄园的主人对他的管事人说：你叫工人来，分给他们工资，由最后的开始，直到最先的。
20:9 那些约在第十一时辰来的人，每人领了一个「德纳」。
20:10 那些最先雇的前来，心想自己必会多领，但他们也只领了一个「德纳」。
20:11 他们一领了，就抱怨家主，
20:12 说：这些最后雇的人，不过工作了一个时辰，而你竟把他们与我们这整天受苦受热的，同等看待。
20:13 他答复其中的一个说：朋友!我并没有亏负你，你不是和我议定了一个「德纳」吗?
20:14 拿你的走吧!我愿意给这最后来的和给你的一样。
20:15 难道不许我拿我所有的财物，行我所愿意的吗?或是因为我好，你就眼红吗?
20:16 这样，最后的，将成为最先的，最先的将会成为最后的。」

三次预言受难和复活　
20:17 耶稣上耶路撒冷去，暗暗把十二个门徒带到一边，在路上对他们说：
20:18 「看，我们上耶路撒冷去，人子要被交于司祭和经师，他们要定他的死罪；
20:19 并且要把他交给外邦人戏弄、鞭打、钉死；但第三天，他要复活。」

载伯德二子母亲的要求　
20:20 那时，载伯德儿子的母亲，同自己的儿子前来，叩拜耶稣，请求他一件事。
20:21 耶稣对她说：「你要什么?」她回答说：「你叫我的这两个儿子，在你王国内，一个坐在你的右边，一个坐在你的左边。」
20:22 耶稣回答说：「你们不知道你们所求的是什么，你们能饮我将要饮的爵吗?」他们说：「我们能。」
20:23 耶稣对他们说：「我的爵你们固然要饮，但坐在右边或左边，不是我可以给的，而是我父给谁预备了，就给谁。」
20:24 那十个听了，就恼怒他们两兄弟。
20:25 耶稣叫过他们来说：「你们知道：外邦人有首长主宰他们，有大臣管辖他们。
20:26 在你们中却不可这样，谁若愿意在你们中成为大的，就当作你们的仆役；
20:27 谁若愿意在你们中为首，就当作你们的奴仆。
20:28 就如人子来不是受服事，而是服事人，并交出自己的生命，为大众作赎价。」

耶里哥的瞎子　
20:29 他们由耶里哥出来时，有许多群众跟随耶稣。
20:30 有两个瞎子坐在路旁，听说耶稣路过，就喊叫说：「主，达味之子，可怜我们吧!」民众斥责他们，
20:31 他们不要作声；他们反而更喊叫说：「主，达味之子，可怜我们吧！」
20:32 耶稣就站住，叫过他们来，说：「你们愿意我给你们做什么?」
20:33 他们回答说：「主，叫我们的眼睛开开吧!」
20:34 耶稣动了慈心，摸了摸他们的眼睛；他们就立刻看见了，也跟着他去了。

 

 

第二十一章(46)

默西亚荣进耶路撒冷
21:1 当他们临近耶路撒冷，来到靠近橄榄山的贝特法革时，耶稣就打发两个门徒，
21:2 对他们说：「你们往对面的村庄里去，立时会看见一匹栓着的母驴，和跟它在一起的驴驹。解开，给我牵来！
21:3 如果有人对你们说什么，你们就说：主要用它们。他们就会立刻放它们来」
21:4 这事发生，是为应验先知所说的：
21:5 「你们应向熙雍女子说：看，你的君王来到你这里，温和的骑在一匹驴上，一匹母驴的小驴驹上。」
21:6 门徒就去，照耶稣吩咐他们的做了。
21:7 他们牵了母驴和驴驹来，把外衣搭在它们的身上，扶耶稣坐在上面。
21:8 很多群众，把自己的外衣铺在路上，还有些人从树上砍下树枝来，撒在路上。
21:9 前行后随的群众喊说：「贺三纳于达味之子!因上主之名而来的，当受赞颂!贺三纳于至高之天！」
21:10 当耶稣进入耶路撒冷的时候，全城哄动，说：「这人是谁?」
21:11 群众说：「这是加里肋亚纳匝肋的先知耶稣。」

驱逐殿内商人　
21:12 耶稣进了圣殿，把一切在圣殿内的商人顾客赶出去，把钱庄的桌子和卖鸽子的凳子推翻，
21:13 向他们说：「经上记载：『我的殿宇，应称为祈祷之所。』你们竟把它做成了贼窝。」
21:14 在圣殿内的瞎子和瘸子来到他跟前，他都治好了他们。
21:15 司祭长及经师见了他所行的奇事，又听见了孩子们在圣殿内喊说：「贺三纳于达味之子!」就大发忿怒，
21:16 对耶稣说：「你听见他们所说的吗？」耶稣对他们说：「是的，你们从未读过：『你由婴儿和吃奶者的口中，备受赞美』这句话吗?」
21:17 于是便离开他们走出城外，到伯达尼去，在那里过夜。

咒诅无花果树　
21:18 早晨，他回城时，饿了，
21:19 见路旁有棵无花果树，就走到跟前，但在树上除了叶子外，什么也没找着，就对它说：「你永远不再结果子了!」那无花果树立即枯干了。
21:20 门徒一见就惊异说：「怎么这无花果树立即枯干了?
21:21 耶稣回答他们说：「我实在告诉你们：你们如果有信德，不疑惑，不但能对无花果树做这件事，即便你们对这座山说：起来，投到海中!也必要实现。
21:22 不论你们在祈祷时恳求什么，只要信，就必获得。」

耶稣权柄的由来　
21:23 他进了圣殿，正教训人时，司祭长和民间的长老来到他跟前说：「你凭什么权柄作这些事?谁给了你这种权柄?」
21:24 耶稣回答说：「我也问你们一句话：你们若答复我，我就告诉你们：我凭什么权柄作这些事。
21:25 若翰的洗礼，是从哪里来的？是从天上来的？还是从人来的？」他们心中思量说：如果我们说：是从天上来的，他必对我们说：你们为什么不信他？
21:26 如果我们说：是从人来的，我们害怕民众，因为众人都以若翰为一位先知。
21:27 他们便回答耶稣说：「我们不知道。」耶稣也对他们说：「我也不告诉你们：我凭什么权柄做这些事。」

二子的比喻　
21:28 你们以为怎样?从前有一个人，有两个儿子，他对第一个说：孩子!你今天到葡萄园里去工作吧!
21:29 他回答说：主，我去。但他却没有去。
21:30 他对第二个也说了同样的话，第二个却答应说：我不愿意。但后来悔悟过来，而又去了。
21:31 二人中哪一个履行了父亲的意愿?」他们说：「后一个。」耶稣对他们说：「我实在告诉你们：税吏和娼妓要在你们以先进入天国，
21:32 因为若翰来到你们这里履行了正义，你们仍不相信他。税吏和娼妓倒相信了；至于你们，见了后，仍不悔悟去相信他。」

园户的比喻　
21:33 「你们再听一个比喻吧!从前有一个家主，培植了一个葡萄园，周围围上篱笆，园内掘了一个榨酒池，筑了一个守望台，把它租给园户，就离开了本国。
21:34 快到收果子的时节，他打发仆人到园户那里去收果子。
21:35 园户拿住了仆人，将一个鞭打了，将一个杀了，将另一个用石头砸死了。
21:36 他再打发一些仆人去，人数比以前还多；园户也一样对待了他们，
21:37 最后他打发自己的儿子到他们那去，说：他们会敬重我的儿子。
21:38 但园户一看见是儿子，就彼此说：这是继承人；来！我们杀掉他，我们就能得到他的产业。
21:39 于是他们拿住他，把他推到园外杀了。
21:40 那么，当葡萄园的主人来时，他要怎样处置那些园户呢?」
21:41 他们回答说：「要凶恶地消灭那些凶恶的人，把葡萄园另租给按时给他缴纳出产的园户。」
21:42 耶稣对他们说：「匠人弃而不用的石头，反而成了屋角的基石；那是上主的所行所为，在我们眼中，神妙莫测』的这句经文，你们没有读过吗?
21:43 为此，我对你们说：天主的国，必由你们中夺去，而交给结果子的外邦人。
21:44 跌在这石头上的，必被撞碎；这石头落在谁身上，必要把他压踤。」
21:45 司祭长和法利塞人听了他的这些比喻，觉出他是指着他们说的，
21:46 就想逮住他；但害怕民众，因为他们以耶稣为一位先知。

 

 

第二十二章(46)

婚宴的比喻　
22:1 耶稣又开口用比喻对他们说：
22:2 「天国好比一个国王，为自己的儿子办婚宴。
22:3 他打发仆人去召被请的人来赴婚宴，他们却不愿意来。
22:4 又派其它的仆人去，说：你们对被请的人说：看，我已预备好了我的盛宴，我的公牛和肥畜都宰杀了，一切都齐备了，你们来赴婚宴吧!
22:5 他们却不理：有的往自己的田里去了，有的作自己的生意去了；
22:6 其余的竟拿住他的仆人，凌辱后杀死了。
22:7 国王于是动了怒，派自已军队消灭了那些杀人的凶手，焚毁了他们的城市。
22:8 然后对仆人说：婚宴已经齐备了，但是被请的人都不配。
22:9 如今你们到各路口去，凡是你们所遇到的，都请来赴婚宴。
22:10 那些仆人就出去到大路上，凡遇到的，无论坏人好人，都召集了来，婚宴上就满了坐席的人。
22:11 国王进来巡视坐席客人，看见在那里有一个没有穿婚宴礼服的人，
22:12 便对他说：朋友，你怎么到这里来，不穿婚宴礼服?那人默然无语。
22:13 国王遂对仆役说：你们捆起他的脚和手来，把他丢在外面的黑暗中；在那里要有哀号和切齿。
22:14 因为被召的人多，被选的人少。」

纳税的问题　
22:15 那时，法利塞人去商讨怎样在言谈上叫耶稣入圈套。
22:16 他们遂派自己的门徒和黑落德党人到他跟前说：「师傅，我们知道你是真诚的，按真理教授天主的道路，不顾忌任何人，因为你不看人的情面。
22:17 如今请你告诉我们：你以为如何?给凯撒纳税，可以不可以?」
22:18 耶稣看破他们的恶意，就说：「假善人，你们为什么要试探我?
22:19 拿一个税币给我看看!」他们便递给他一块「德纳」。
22:20 耶稣对他们说：「这肖像和名号是谁的?」
22:21 他们对他说：「凯撒的」。耶稣对他们说：「那么，凯撒的，就应归还凯撒；天主的，就应归还天主。」
22:22 他们听了大为惊异，遂离开他走了。

复活的问题　
22:23 在那一天，否认复活的撒杜塞人，来到他跟前，问他说：
22:24 「师傅，梅瑟说：谁若死了没有儿子，他的弟弟就应娶他的女人为妻，给他哥哥立嗣。
22:25 在我们中曾有兄弟七人：第一个娶了妻没有子嗣就死了，遗下了妻子给他的弟弟；
22:26 连第二个与第三个，直到第七个都是这样。
22:27 最后，那妇人也死了。
22:28 那么，在复活的时候，她是七人中那一个的妻子?因为都曾娶过她。」
22:29 耶稣回答他们说：「你们错了，不明了经书，也不明了天主的能力，
22:30 因为复活的时候，也不娶也不嫁，好象在天上的天使一样。
22:31 关于死人复活，你们不曾念过天主对你们所说
22:32 『我是亚巴郎的天主，依撒格的天主及雅各伯的天主』的话吗?他不是死人的，而是活人的天主。」
22:33 民众听了，就都惊讶他的道理。

最大诫命的问题　
22:34 法利塞人听说耶稣使撒杜塞人闭口无言，就聚集在一起；
22:35 他们中有一个法学士试探他，发问说：
22:36 「师傅，法律中那条诫命是最大的?」
22:37 耶稣对他说：「『你应全心，全灵，全意，爱上主你的天主。』
22:38 这是最大也是第一条诫命。
22:39 第二条与此相似：你应当爱近人如你自己。
22:40 全部法律和先知，都系于这两条诫命。」

默西亚为达味之子　
22:41 法利塞人聚集在一起时，耶稣问他们
22:42 说：「关于默西亚，你们以为如何?他是谁的儿子?」他们回答说：「达味的。」
22:43 耶稣对他们说：「怎么达味因圣神的感动，称他为主说：
22:44 『上主对我主说：你坐在我右边，等我把你的仇敌放在你的脚下？』
22:45 那么，如果达味称他为主，他怎会是达味的儿子？」
22:46 没有人能回答他一句话。从那天以后，没有谁再敢问他。

 

 

第二十三章(39)

痛斥经师和法利塞人
23:1 那时，耶稣对民众和他的门徒讲论说：
23:2 经师和法利塞人坐在梅瑟的讲座上：
23:3 凡他们对你们所说的，你们要行要守；但不要照他们的行为去做，因为他们只说不做。
23:4 他们把沉重而难以负荷的担子捆好，放在人的肩上，自己却不肯用一个指头动一下。
23:5 他们所做的一切工作都是为叫人看；为此，他们把经匣放宽，衣穗加长；
23:6 他们又喜爱筵席上的首位，会堂中的上座，
23:7 喜爱人在街市上向他们致敬，称他们为「辣彼」。
23:8 至于你们，却不要被称为「辣彼」，因为你们的师傅只有一位，你们众人都是兄弟；
23:9 也不要在地上称人为你们的父，因为你们的父只有一位，就是天上的父。
23:10 你们也不要被称为导师，因为你们的导师只有一位，就是默西亚。
23:11 你们中那最大的，该作你们的仆役。
23:12 凡高举自己的，必被贬抑；凡贬抑自己的，必被高举。

七祸哉　
23:13 祸哉，你们经师和法利塞假善人!因为你们给人封闭了天国：你们不进去，也不让愿意进去的人进去。
23:14 【祸哉，你们经师和法利塞假善人!因为你们吞没了寡妇的家产，而以长久的祈祷作掩饰，为此，你们必要遭受更重的处罚。】
23:15 祸哉，你们经师和法利塞假善人!因为你们走遍了海洋和陆地，为使一个人成为归依者；几时他成了，你们反而使他成为一个比你们加倍坏的『地狱之子』。
23:16 祸哉，你们瞎眼的响导!你们说：谁若指着圣所起誓，不算什么；但是谁若指着圣所的金子起誓，就该还愿。
23:17 又昏又瞎的人哪!究竟什么更贵重：是金子还是那使金子成圣的圣所?
23:18 还有：谁若指着全燔祭坛起誓，不算什么；但是谁若指着那上面的供物起誓，就该还愿。
23:19 瞎眼的人哪!究竟什么更贵重：是供物或是那使供物成圣的全燔祭坛?
23:20 所以，那指着全燔祭坛起誓的，是指着它和那上面的一切起誓；
23:21 那指着圣所起誓的，是指着它和那住在它内的而起誓；
23:22 那指着天起誓的，是指着天主的宝座和坐在上面的那位起誓。
23:23 祸哉，你们经师和法利塞假善人!因为你们捐献十分之一的薄荷、茴香和莳萝，却放过了法律上最重要的公义、仁爱与信义；这些固然该作，那些也不可放过。
23:24 瞎眼的响导!你们滤出蚊蚋，却吞下了骆驼。
23:25 祸哉，你们经师和法利塞假善人!因为你们洗擦杯盘的外面，里面却满是劫夺与贪欲。
23:26 瞎眼的法利塞人!你先应清洁杯的里面，好叫它外面也成为清洁的。
23:27 祸哉，你们经师和法利塞假善人!因为你们好象用石灰刷白的坟墓；外面看来倒华丽，里面却满是死者的骨骸和各样的污秽。
23:28 同样，你们外面叫人看来倒象义人，你们里面却满是虚伪和不法。
23:29 祸哉，你们经师和法利塞假善人!因为你们修建先知的坟，装饰义人的墓，
23:30 且说：假使我们生在我们祖先的时日，我们决不是他们流先知血的伙伴；
23:31 这样你们自己作证，你们是那些残杀先知者的子孙了。
23:32 你们就来补足你们祖先作恶的尺度吧！
23:33 蛇啊!毒蛇的种类，你们怎能逃避地狱的处罚？
23:34 为此，看!我打发先知、贤哲和经师到你们这里来，其中有的你们要杀死，有的你们要钉死，有的你们要在你们的会堂中鞭打，有的你们要由一城市追逼到另一城市，
23:35 好叫流在地上一切义人的血，自义人亚伯尔的血，直到你们曾在圣所与全燔祭坛间，所杀的贝勒基雅的儿子则加黎雅的血，都归到你们身上。
23:36 我实在告诉你们：这一切都要归到这一代人身上。

哀耶路撒冷　
23:37 耶路撒冷!耶路撒冷!你常残杀先知，用石头砸死那些派遣到你这里来的人。我多少次愿意聚集你的子女，有如母鸡把自己的幼雏聚集在翅膀底下，但你却不愿意!
23:38 你看吧!你们的房屋必给你们留下一片荒凉。
23:39 因为我告诉你们：自今以后，你们断不能再看见我，直到你们说：因上主之名而来的，当受赞颂!」

 

 

末世言论

第二十四章(51)

预言耶路撒冷和圣殿的毁灭　
24:1 耶稣由圣殿里出来前行，门徒前来把圣殿的建筑指给他看。
24:2 耶稣回答他们说：「你们不是看见这一切吗?我实在告诉你们：将来这里决没有一块石头，留在另一块石头上，而不被拆毁的。」
24:3 他在橄榄山上坐着的时候，门徒前来私下对他说：「请告诉我们：什么时候要发生这些事?又什么是你来临和时代穷尽的先兆?
24:4 耶稣回答说：「你们要谨慎，免得有人欺骗你们，
24:5 因为将有许多人假冒我的名字来说：我就是默西亚；他们要欺骗许多人。
24:6 你们要听到战争和战争的风声。小心，不要惊慌!因为这是必须发生的，但还不是结局，
24:7 因为民族要起来攻击民族，国家要起来攻击国家；并且到处要有饥荒、瘟疫和地震。
24:8 但是，这一切只是痛苦的开始。
24:9 那时，人要交付你们去受刑，要杀害你们；你们为了我的名字，要为各民族所憎恨。
24:10 那时，必有许多人要跌倒，互相出卖，互相仇恨；
24:11 许多假先知要起来，欺骗许多人；
24:12 由于罪恶的增加，许多人的爱情必要冷淡。
24:13 唯独坚持到底的，才可得救。
24:14 天国的福音必先在全世界宣讲，给万民作证，然后结局才会来到。
24:15 所以，几时你们见到达尼尔所说的『招致荒凉的可憎之物』已立于圣地，──读者应明白：
24:16 那时在犹太的，该逃往山中；
24:17 在屋顶上的，不要下来，从自己的屋里，取什么东西；
24:18 在田野里的，也不要回来取他的外衣。
24:19 在那些日子内，怀孕的和哺乳的，是有祸的。
24:20 你们当祈祷，不要叫你们的逃遁遇到冬天或安息日。

人子的来临　
24:21 因为那时必有大灾难，是从宇宙开始，直到如今从未有过的，将来也不会再有；
24:22 并且那些时日如不缩短，凡有血肉的，都不会得救；但为了那些被选的，那些时日，必将缩短。
24:23 那时，若有人对你们说：看，默西亚在这里，或说：在那里!你们不要相信，
24:24 因为将有假默西亚和假先知兴起，行大奇迹和异迹，以致如果可能，连被选的人也要被欺骗。
24:25 看，我预先告诉了你们。
24:26 为此，如果有人对你们说：看，他在旷野。你们不要出来。或说：看，在内室。你们也不要相信。
24:27 因为如同闪电从东方发出，直照到西方，人子的来临也要这样。
24:28 无论在那里有死尸，老鹰就聚集在那里。」

人子来临的先兆　
24:29 那些时日的灾难一过，立时太阳就要昏暗，月亮也不发光，星辰要从天上坠下，天上的万象也要动摇。
24:30 那时，人子的记号要出现天上；地上所有的种族，都要哀号，要看见人子带着威能和大光荣，乘着天上的云彩降来。
24:31 他要派遣他的天使，用发出洪声的号角，由四方，从天这边到天那边，聚集他所拣选的人。

无花果树的比喻　
24:32 你们应该由无花果取个比喻：几时它的枝条已经发嫩，叶子出生了，你们就知道夏天近了。
24:33 同样，你们几时看见这一切，你们就该知道他已近了，就在门口。
24:34 我实在告诉你们：非到这一切发生了，这一世代决不会过去。
24:35 天地要过去，但是我的话，决不会过去。」

醒寤的紧要　
24:36 至于那日子和那时刻，除父一个外，谁也不知道，连天上的天使都不知道。
24:37 就如在诺厄的时日怎样，人子的来临也要怎样。
24:38 因为就如在洪水以前的时日，人照常吃喝婚嫁，直到诺厄进入方舟的那一天，
24:39 仍然没有觉察；直到洪水来了，把他们都卷了去；人子的来临，也必要这样。
24:40 那时，两个人同在田间，一个被提去，一个却被遗弃；
24:41 两个女人同在磨旁推磨，一个被提去，一个却被遗弃。
24:42 所以，你们要醒寤，因为你们不知道：在那一天你们的主人要来。
24:43 这一点你们要明白：如果家主知道，盗贼几更天要来，他必要醒寤，不让自己的房屋被挖穿。
24:44 为此，你们应该准备，因为你们不料想的时辰，人子就来了。」

仆人等待主人的比喻　
24:45 究竟谁是那忠信聪明的仆人，主人派他管理自己的家仆，按时配给他们食粮呢?
24:46 主人来时，看见他如此行事，那仆人才是有福的。
24:47 我实在告诉你们：主人必要委派他管理自己的一切财产
24:48 如果那恶仆心里说：我主人必要迟延，
24:49 于是开始拷打自己的同伴，甚或同醉汉一起吃喝。
24:50 正在他不期待的日子，和想不到的时刻，那仆人的主人要来到，
24:51 铲除他，使他与假善人遭受同样的命运；在那里要有哀号和切齿。」

 

 

第二十五章(46)

十童女的比喻　
25:1 那时，天国好比十个童女，拿着自己的灯，出去迎接新郎。
25:2 她们中五个是糊涂的，五个是明智的。
25:3 糊涂的拿了灯，却没有随身带油；
25:4 而明智的拿了灯，并且在壶里带了油。
25:5 因为新郎迟延，她们都打盹睡着了。
25:6 半夜有人喊说：新郎来了，你们出来迎接吧!
25:7 那些童女遂都起来，装备她们的灯。
25:8 胡涂的对明智的说：把你们的油，分些给我们吧!因为我们的灯快要灭了!
25:9 明智的答说：怕为我们和你们都不够，更好你们到卖油的那里去，为自己买吧!
25:10 她们去买的时候，新郎到了，那准备好了的，就同他进去，共赴婚宴；门遂关上了。
25:11 末后，其余的童女也来了，说：主啊!主啊!给我们开门吧!
25:12 他却答说：我实在告诉你们：我不认识你们。
25:13 所以，你们该醒寤，因为你们不知道那日子，也不知道那时辰。

塔冷通的比喻　
25:14 天国又如一个要远行的人，将自己的仆人叫来，把财产托付给他们：
25:15 按照他们的才能，一个给了五个「塔冷通」，一个给了二个，一个给了一个；然后动身走了。
25:16 那领了五个「塔冷通」的，立刻去用来营业，另外赚了五个。
25:17 同样，那领了两个的，也赚了另外两个。
25:18 但是，那领了一个的，却去掘开地，把主人的银子藏了。
25:19 过了多时，仆人的主人回来了，便与他们算账。
25:20 那领了五个「塔冷通」的上前来，呈上另外五个「塔冷通」说：主啊!你曾交给我五个「塔冷通」，看，我赚了另外五个「塔冷通」。
25:21 主人对他说：好!善良忠信的仆人，你既在少许事上忠信，我必委派你管理许多大事：进入你主人的福乐吧!
25:22 那领了二个「塔冷通」的也前来说：主啊!你曾交给我两个「塔冷通」，看！我赚了另外两个「塔冷通」。
25:23 主人对他说：好!善良忠信的仆人，你既在少许事上忠信，我必委派你管理许多大事：进入你主人的福乐吧!
25:24 随后，那领了一个「塔冷通」的也前来说：主啊!我原知道你是个刻薄的人，在你没有下种的地方收割，在你没有散布的地方聚敛。
25:25 因为我害怕，所以我去把你的「塔冷通」藏在地下；看！你的仍还给你。
25:26 主人回答说：可恶懒惰的仆人!你既知道：我在没有下种的地方收割，在没有散布的地方聚敛；
25:27 那么，你就该把我的银子，交给钱庄里的人，待我回来时，把我的连本带利取回。
25:28 所以，你们把这个「塔冷通」从他手中夺过来，给那有了十个「塔冷通」的，
25:29 因为凡是有的，还要给他，叫他富裕；那没有的，连他所有的，也要由他手中夺去。
25:30 至于这无用的仆人，你们把他丢在外面的黑暗中，在那里必有哀号和切齿。」

公审判　
25:31 当人子在自己的光荣中，与众天使一同降来时，那时，他要坐在光荣的宝座上，
25:32 一切的民族，都要聚在他面前；他要把他们彼此分开，如同牧人分开绵羊和山羊一样：
25:33 把绵羊放在自己的右边，山羊在左边。
25:34 那时，君王要对那些在他右边的说：我父所祝福的，你们来吧!承受自创世以来，给你们预备了的国度吧!
25:35 因为我饿了，你们给了我吃的；我渴了，你们给了我喝的；我作客，你们收留了我；
25:36 我赤身露体，你们给了我穿的；我患病，你们看顾了我；我在监里，你们来探望了我。
25:37 那时，义人回答他说：主啊!我们什么时候见了你饥饿而供养了你，或口渴而给了你喝的?
25:38 我们什么时候见了你作客，而收留了你，或赤身露体而给了你穿的?
25:39 我们什么时候见你患病，或在监里而来探望过你?
25:40 君王便回答他门说：我实在告诉你们：凡你们对我这些最小兄弟中的一个所做的，就是对我做的。
25:41 然后他又对那些在他左边的说：可咒骂的，离开我，到那给魔鬼和他的使者预备的永火里去吧!
25:42 因为我饿了，你们没有给我吃的；我渴了，你们没有给我喝的；
25:43 我作客，你们没有收留我；我赤身露身，你们没有给我穿的；我患病或在监里，你们没有来探望我。
25:44 那时，他们也要回答说：主啊!我们几时见了你饥饿，或口渴，或作客，或赤身露体，或有病，或坐监，而我们没有给你效劳?
25:45 那时君王回答他们说：我实在告诉你们：凡你们没有给这些最小中的一个做的，便是没有给我做。
25:46 这些人要进入永罚，而那些义人却要进入永生。」

 

 

耶稣受难史

第二十六章(75)

公议会的阴谋　
26:1 耶稣讲完了这一切话，便对他的门徒说：
26:2 「你们知道：两天以后就是逾越节，人子要被解送，被钉在十字架上。」
26:3 那时，司祭长和民间长老，都聚集在名叫盖法的大司祭的庭院内，
26:4 共同议决要用诡计捉拿耶稣，加以杀害。
26:5 但是他们说：「不可在庆节期内，免得民间发生暴动」。

伯达尼晚宴　
26:6 耶稣正在伯达尼癞病人西满家里时，
26:7 有一个女人拿着一玉瓶贵重的香液来到耶稣跟前，倒在正坐席的耶稣的头上。
26:8 门徒们见了就不满意说：「为什么这样浪费﹖
26:9 这香液原可卖得许多钱，施舍给穷人。」
26:10 耶稣知道了，就对他们说：「你们为什么叫这个女人难受?她在我身上原是作了一件善事。
26:11 你们常有穷人同你们在一起，至于我，你们却不常有。
26:12 她把这香液倒在我身上，原是为安葬我而作的。
26:13 我实在告诉你们：将来在全世界，这福音无论传到那里，必要述说她所作的事，来记念她。」

犹达斯通敌卖主　
26:14 随后，那十二人中之一，名叫犹达斯依斯加略的，去见司祭长，
26:15 说：「我把他交给你们，你们愿意给我什么?」他们约定给他三十块银钱。
26:16 从此他便寻找机会，要把耶稣交出。

最后晚餐　
26:17 无酵节的第一天，门徒前来对耶稣说：「你愿意我们在那里，给你预备吃逾越节晚餐?」
26:18 耶稣说：「你们进城去见某人，对他说：师傅说：我的时候近了，我要与我的门徒在你那里举行逾越节。」
26:19 门徒就照耶稣吩咐他们的作了，预备了逾越节晚餐。
26:20 到了晚上，耶稣与十二门徒坐席。
26:21 他们正吃晚餐的时候，耶稣说：我实在告诉你们：你们中有一个人要出卖我。」
26:22 他们非常忧闷，开始各自对他说：「主，难道是我吗?」
26:23 耶稣回答说：「那同我一起把手蘸在盘子里的人，要出卖我。
26:24 人子固然要按照指着他所记载的而去，但是出卖人子的那人却是有祸的！那人若是没有生，为他更好。」
26:25 那要出卖他的犹达斯也开口问耶稣说：「辣彼，难道是我吗?」耶稣对他说：「你说的是。」

建立圣体圣事　
26:26 他们正吃晚餐的时候，耶稣拿起饼来，祝福了，掰开递给门徒说：「你们拿去吃吧!这是我的身体。」
26:27 然后，又拿起杯来，祝谢了，递给他们说：「你们都由其中喝吧!
26:28 因为这是我的血，新约的血，为大众倾流，以赦免罪过。
26:29 我告诉你们：从今以后，我不再喝这葡萄汁了，直到在我父的国里那一天，与你们同喝新酒。」

预言门徒逃散和伯多禄背主　
26:30 他们唱了圣咏，就出来往橄榄山去。
26:31 那时，耶稣对他们说：「今夜你们都要为我的缘故跌倒，因为经上记载：『我要打击牧人，羊群就要四散。』
26:32 但是我复活后，要在你们以先到加里肋亚去。」
26:33 伯多禄却回答他说：「既便众人都为你的缘故跌倒，我决不会跌倒。」
26:34 耶稣对他说：「我实在告诉你：今夜鸡叫以前，你要三次不认我。」
26:35 伯多禄对他说：「即便我该同你一起死，我也决不会不认你。」众门徒也都这样说了。

山园祈祷　
26:36 随后，耶稣同他们来到一个名叫革责玛尼的庄园里，便对门徒说：「你们坐在这里，等我到那边去祈祷。」
26:37 遂带了伯多禄和载伯德的两个儿子同去，开始忧闷恐怖起来，
26:38 对他们说：「我的心灵忧闷得要死，你们留在这里同我一起醒寤吧!」
26:39 他稍微前行，就俯首至地祈祷说：「我父，若是可能，就让这杯离开我吧!但不要照我，而要照你所愿意的。」
26:40 他来到门徒那里，见他们睡着了，便对伯多禄说：「你们竟不能同我醒寤一个时辰吗?
26:41 醒寤祈祷吧!免陷于诱惑；心神固然切愿，但肉体却软弱。」
26:42 他第二次再去祈祷说：「我父!如果这杯不能离去，非要我喝不可，就成全你的意愿吧!」
26:43 他又回来，见他们仍然睡着，因为他们的眼睛很是沉重。
26:44 他再离开他们，第三次去祈祷，又说了同样的话。
26:45 然后回到门徒那里，对他们说：「你们睡下去吧!休息吧!看，时候到了，人子就要被交于罪人手里。
26:46 起来，我们去吧!看，那出卖我的已来近了。」

耶稣被捕宗徒逃散　
26:47 他还在说话的时候，看！那十二人中之一的犹达斯来了；同他一起的，还有许多带着刀剑棍棒的群众，是由司祭长和民间的长老派来的。
26:48 那出卖耶稣的给了他们一个暗号说：「我口亲谁，谁就是，你们拿住他。」
26:49 犹达斯一来到耶稣跟前，就说：「辣彼，你好。」就口亲了他。
26:50 耶稣却对他说：「朋友，你来做的事就做吧!」于是他们上前，向耶稣下手，拿住了他。
26:51 有同耶稣在一起的一个人，伸手拔出自己的剑，砍了大司祭的仆人一剑，削去了他的一个耳朵。
26:52 耶稣遂对他说：「把你的剑放回原处；因为凡持剑的，必死在剑下。
26:53 你想我不能要求我父，即刻给我调动十二军以上的天使吗?
26:54 若这样，怎能应验经上所载应如此成就的事呢?」
26:55 在那时，耶稣对群众说：「你们带着刀剑棍棒出来拿我，如同对付强盗。我天天坐在圣殿内施教，你们没有拿我。」
26:56 这一切都发生了，是为应验先知所记载的。于是门徒都撇下他逃跑了。

盖法初审耶稣　
26:57 那些拿住耶稣的人，将耶稣带到大司祭盖法前；经师和长老已聚集在那里。
26:58 伯多禄远远跟着耶稣，直到大司祭的庭院，他也进到里面，坐在差役中观看结局。
26:59 司祭长和全公议会寻找相反耶稣的假证据，要把他处死。
26:60 虽然有许多假见证出庭，但没有找出什么。最后有两个人上前来，说：
26:61 「这人曾经说过：我能拆毁天主的圣殿，在三天内我能把它重建起来。」
26:62 大司祭就站起来，对他说：「这些人作证反对你的事，你什么也不回答吗?」
26:63 耶稣却不出声。于是大司祭对他说：「我因生活的天主，起誓命你告诉我们：你是不是默西亚，天主之子?」
26:64 耶稣对他说：「你说的是。并且，我告诉你们：从此你们将要看见人子坐在大能者的右边，乘着天上的云彩降来。」
26:65 大司祭遂撕裂自己衣服说：「他说了亵渎的话。何必还需要见证呢?你们刚才听到了这亵渎的话，
26:66 你们以为该怎样?」他们回答说：「他该死。」
26:67 众人遂即向他脸上吐唾沬，用拳头打他；另有一些人也用巴掌打他，说：
26:68 「默西亚，你猜猜是谁打你?」

伯多禄三次背主　
26:69 伯多禄在外面庭院里坐着，有一个使女来到他跟前说：「你也是同那加里肋亚人耶稣一起的。」
26:70 他当着众人否认说：「我不知道你说的是什么。」
26:71 他出去到了门廊，另有一个使女看见他，就对那里的人说：「这人是同那纳匝肋人耶稣一起的。」
26:72 他又发誓否认说：「我不认识这个人。」
26:73 过了一会，站在那里的人前来对伯多禄说：「的确，你也是他们中的一个，因为你的口音把你露出来了。」
26:74 伯多禄就开始诅咒发誓说：「我不认识这个人。」立时鸡就叫了。
26:75 伯多禄就想起耶稣所说的话来：「鸡叫以前，你要三次不认我。」他一到了外面，就伤心痛哭起来。

 

 

第二十七章(66)

耶稣被解往比拉多前
27:1 到了早晨，众司祭长和民间的长老就决议陷害耶稣，要把他处死，
27:2 遂把他捆绑了，解送给总督比拉多。

犹达斯的结局　
27:3 这时，那出卖耶稣的犹达斯见他已被判决，就后悔了，把那三十块银钱，退还给司祭长和长老
27:4 说：「我出卖了无辜的血，犯了罪了!」他们却说：「这与我们何干?是你自己的事!」
27:5 于是他把那些银钱扔在圣所里，就退出来，上吊死了。
27:6 司祭长拿了那些银钱说：「这是血价，不可放入献仪箱内。」
27:7 他们商议后，就用那银钱买了陶工的田地，作为埋葬外乡人用。
27:8 为此，直到今日称那块田地为「血田」。
27:9 这就应验了耶肋米亚先知所说的话：『他们拿了三十块银钱，即以色列子民为被卖的人所估定的价钱，
27:10 用这钱买了陶工的那块田，如上主所吩咐我的。』

耶稣在比拉多前　
27:11 耶稣站在总督面前，总督便审问他说：「你是犹太人的君王吗?」耶稣回答说：「你说的是。」
27:12 当司祭长和长老控告他时，他什么也不回答。
27:13 于是比拉多对他说：「你没有听见，他们提出多少证据告你吗?」
27:14 耶稣连一句话也没有回答他，以至总督大为惊异。
27:15 每逢节日，总督惯常给民众释放一个他们愿意释放的囚犯。
27:16 那时，正有一个出名的囚犯，名叫巴辣巴。
27:17 当他们聚集在一起时，比拉多对他们说：「你们愿意我给你们释放那一个?巴辣巴，或是那称为默西亚的耶稣?」
27:18 原来他知道，他们是由于嫉妒才把他解送来的。
27:19 比拉多正坐堂时，他的妻子差人到他跟前说：「你千万不要干涉那义人的事，因为我为他，今天在梦中受了许多苦。」
27:20 司祭长和长老却说服了民众，叫他们要求巴辣巴，而除掉耶稣。
27:21 总督又向他们发言说：「这两个人中，你们愿意我给你们释放那一个?」他们说：「巴辣巴。」
27:22 比拉多对他们说：「那么，对于那称为默西亚的耶稣我该怎么办?」众人答说：「该钉他在十字架上。」
27:23 总督问说：「他究竟做了什么恶事?」他们越发喊说：「该钉他在十字架上。」
27:24 比拉多见事毫无进展，反到更为混乱，就拿水，当着民众洗手说：「对这义人的血，我是无罪的，你们自己负责吧！」
27:25 全体百姓回答说：「他的血归在我们和我们的子孙身上!」
27:26 于是比拉多给他们释放了巴辣巴；至于耶稣，把他鞭打了以后，交给人钉在十字架上。

受人戏弄　
27:27 那时，总督的兵士把耶稣带到总督府内，召集了全队围着他，
27:28 脱去了他的衣服，给他披上一件紫红色的外氅；
27:29 又用荆棘编了一个茨冠，戴在他头上，拿一根芦苇放在他右手里；然后跪在他前，戏弄他说：「犹太人的君王，万岁!」
27:30 随后向他吐唾沬，拿起芦苇来敲他的头。

上山受钉　
27:31 戏弄完了，就给他脱去外氅，又给他穿上他自己的衣服，带他去钉在十字架上。
27:32 他们出来时，遇见一个基勒乃人，名叫西满，就强迫他背耶稣的十字架。
27:33 到了一个名叫哥耳哥达的地方，即称为「髑髅」的地方，
27:34 他们就拿苦艾调和的酒给他喝；他只尝了尝，却不愿意喝。
27:35 他们把他钉在十字架上以后，就拈阄分了他的衣服；
27:36 然后坐在那里看守他。
27:37 在他的头上安放了他的罪状牌，写着说：「这是耶稣，犹太人的君王。」
27:38 当时与他一起被钉在十字架上的，还有两个强盗：一个在右边，一个在左边。

身悬十字架上　
27:39 路过的人都摇头辱骂他说：
27:40 「你这拆毁圣殿而三日内重建起来的，救你自己吧!如果你是天主子，从十字架上下来吧!」
27:41 司祭长和经师与长老们也同样戏弄说：
27:42 「他救了别人，却救不了自己；他既是以色列君王：如今从十架上下来吧!我们就信他。
27:43 他信赖天主，天主如喜欢他，如今就该救他，因为他说过：我是天主子。」
27:44 同他一起被钉在十字架上的强盗，也这样讥诮他。
27:45 从第六时辰起，直到第九时辰，遍地都黑暗了。
27:46 约莫第九时辰，耶稣大声喊说：「厄里！厄里，肋玛撒巴黑塔尼!」就是说：「我的天主，我的天主！你为什么舍弃了我?」
27:47 站在那里的人中，有几个听见了就说：「这人呼唤厄里亚呢!」
27:48 他们中遂有一个立刻跑去，拿了海绵，浸满醋，绑在芦苇上，递给他喝。
27:49 其余的却说：「等一等，我们看，是否厄里亚来救他!」

死时和死后的异象　
27:50 耶稣又大喊一声，遂交付了灵魂。
27:51 看，圣所的帐幔，从上到下分裂为二，大地震动，岩石崩裂，
27:52 坟墓自开，许多长眠的圣者的身体复活了。
27:53 在耶稣复活后，他们由坟墓出来，进入圣城，发显给许多人。
27:54 百夫长和同他一起看守耶稣的人，一见地动和所发生的事，就非常害怕说：「这人真是天主子！」
27:55 有许多妇女在那里从远处观望，她们从加里肋亚就跟随了耶稣为服事他。
27:56 其中有玛利亚玛达肋纳，雅各伯和若瑟的母亲玛利亚与载伯德儿子的母亲。

卸下圣尸葬于坟墓　
27:57 到了傍晚，来了一个阿黎玛特雅的富人，名叫若瑟，他也是耶稣的门徒。
27:58 这人去见比拉多，请求耶稣的遗体；比拉多就下令交给他。
27:59 若瑟领了耶稣的遗体，就用洁白的殓布将他包好，
27:60 安放在为自己于岩石间所凿的新墓穴内；并把一块大石头滚到墓口，就走了。
27:61 在那里还有玛利亚玛达肋纳和另外一个玛利亚，对着坟墓坐着。

派兵把守　
27:62 第二天，即预备日以后的那天，司祭长和法利塞人同来见比拉多说：
27:63 「大人，我们记得那个骗子活着的时候曾说过：三天以后我要复活。
27:64 为此，请你下令，把守坟墓直到第三天；怕他的门徒来了，把他偷去，而对百姓说：他从死人中复活了。那最后的骗局就比先前的更坏了!」
27:65 比拉多对他们说：「你们可得一队卫兵；你们去，照你们所知道的，好好看守。」
27:66 他们就去，在石上加了封条，派驻卫兵把守坟墓。

 

 

复活与显现

第二十八章(20)

天使报告耶稣复活
28:1 安息日既过，一周的第一日，天快亮时，玛利亚玛达肋纳和另一个玛利亚来看坟墓。
28:2 忽然发生了大地震，因为上主的天使从天降来，上前把石头滚开，坐在上面。
28:3 他的容貌好象闪电，他的衣服洁白如雪。
28:4 看守的人由于怕他，吓得打颤，变得好象死人一样。
28:5 天使对妇女说道：「你们不要害怕!我知道你们寻找被钉死的耶稣。
28:6 他不在这里，因为他已经照他所说的复活了。你们来看看那安放过他的地方；
28:7 并且快去对他的门徒说：他已经由死者中复活了。看！他在你们以先往加里肋亚去，在那里你们要看见他。看！我已经告诉了你们。」
28:8 她们赶快离开坟墓，又恐惧又异常喜乐，跑去报告他的门徒。

耶稣显现给妇女　
28:9 忽然，耶稣迎上她们说：「愿你们平安!」她们遂上前抱住耶稣的脚，朝拜了他。
28:10 耶稣对她们说：「不要害怕!你们去，报告我的兄弟，叫他们往加里肋亚去，他们要在那里看见我。」

司祭长编造谎言　
28:11 当妇女离去的时候，有几个看守的兵士来到城里，把所发生的事，全告诉了司祭长。
28:12 司祭长就同长老聚会商议之后，给了兵士许多钱，
28:13 嘱咐他们说：「你们就说：我们睡觉的时候，他的门徒夜间来了，把他偷去了。
28:14 如果这事为总督听见，有我们说好话，保管你们无事。」
28:15 兵士拿了银钱，就照他们所嘱咐的做了。这消息就在犹太人间传扬开了，一直到今天。

显现给十一门徒派他们往训万民　
28:16 十一个门徒就往加里肋亚，到耶稣给他们所指定的山上去了。
28:17 他们一看见他，就朝拜了他，虽然有人还心中疑惑。
28:18 耶稣便上前对他们说：「天上地下的一切权柄都交给了我，
28:19 所以你们要去使万民成为门徒，因父及子及圣神之名给他们授洗，
28:20 教训他们遵守我所吩咐你们的一切。看！我同你们天天在一起，直到今世的终结。」

BOOK ENDS. Seraphim, April 2009.

JB MATTHEW Chapter 1

 

1. THE BIRTH AND INFANCY OF JESUS

 

The ancestry of Jesus

1:1 A genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham:[*a]

1:2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

1:3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, Tamar being their mother, Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram,

1:4 Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,

1:5 Salmon was the father of Boaz, Rahab being his mother, Boaz was the father of Obed, Ruth being his mother, Obed was the father of Jesse;

1:6 and Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

1:7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa,

1:8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Azariah,

1:9 Azariah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

1:10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah;

1:11 and Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers. Then the deportation to Babylon took place.

1:12 After the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

1:13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor,

1:14 Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud,

1:15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob;

1:16 and Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary; of her was born Jesus who is called Christ.

1:17 The sum of generations is therefore: fourteen from Abraham to David; fourteen from David to the Babylonian deportation; and fourteen from the Babylonian deportation to Christ.

 

The virginal conception of Christ

1:18 This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph;[*b] but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.

1:19 Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally.

1:20 He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit.

1:21 She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save[*c] his people from their sins.’

1:22 Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

1:23 ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel,[*d] a name which means ‘God-is-with-us’.

1:24 When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home

1:25 and, though he had not had intercourse with her, she gave birth to a son; and he named him Jesus.

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 2

 

The visit of the Magi

2:1 After Jesus had been born at Bethlehem in Judaea during the reign of King Herod,[*a] some wise men came to Jerusalem from the east.

2:2 ‘Where is the infant king of the Jews?’ they asked. ‘We saw his star as it rose[*b] and have come to do him homage.’

2:3 When King Herod heard this he was perturbed, and so was the whole of Jerusalem.

2:4 He called together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, and enquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

2:5 ‘At Bethlehem in Judaea,’ they told him ‘for this is what the prophet wrote:

2:6 And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means least among the leaders of Judah, for out of you will come a leader who will shepherd my people Israel’.[*c]

2:7 Then Herod summoned the wise men to see him privately. He asked them the exact date on which the star had appeared,

2:8 and sent them on to Bethlehem. ‘Go and find out all about the child,’ he said ‘and when you have found him, let me know, so that I too may go and do him homage.’

2:9 Having listened to what the king had to say, they set out. And there in front of them was the star they had seen rising; it went forward, and halted over the place where the child was.

2:10 The sight of the star filled them with delight,

2:11 and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.[*d]

2:12 But they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, and returned to their own country by a different way.

 

The flight into Egypt. The massacre of the Innocents

2:13 After they had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him’.

2:14 So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt,

2:15 where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: I called my son out of Egypt.[*e]

2:16 Herod was furious when he realised that he had been outwitted by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or under, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men.

2:17 It was then that the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah were fulfilled:

2:18 A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loudly lamenting: it was Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted because they were no more.[*f]

 

From Egypt to Nazareth

2:19 After Herod’s death, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt

2:20 and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you and go back to the land of Israel, for those who wanted to kill the child are dead’.

2:21 So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, went back to the land of Israel.

2:22 But when he learnt that Archelaus[*g] had succeeded his father Herod as ruler of Judaea he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he left for the region of Galilee.[*h]

2:23 There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way the words spoken through the prophets were to be fulfilled: ‘He will be called a Nazarene.’

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 3

 

1. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN PROCLAIMED

 

A. NARRATIVE SECTION

 

The preaching of John the Baptist

3:1 In due course John the Baptist appeared; he preached in the wilderness of Judaea and this was his message:

3:2 ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven[*a] is close at hand’.

3:3 This was the man the prophet Isaiah spoke of when he said: A voice cries in the wilderness: Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.[*b]

3:4 This man John wore a garment made of camel-hair with a leather belt round his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

3:5 Then Jerusalem and all Judaea and the whole Jordan district made their way to him,

3:6 and as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins.

3:7 But when he saw a number of Pharisees and Sadducees[*c] coming for baptism he said to them,

3:8 ‘Brood of vipers, who warned you to fly from the retribution that is coming? But if you are repentant, produce the appropriate fruit,

3:9 and do not presume to tell yourselves, “We have Abraham for our father”, because, I tell you, God can raise children for Abraham from these stones.

3:10 Even now the axe is laid to the roots of the trees, so that any tree which fails to produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire.

3:11 I baptise you in water for repentance, but the one who follows me is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to carry his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

3:12 His winnowing-fan is in his hand; he will clear his threshing-floor and gather his wheat into the barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out.’

 

Jesus is baptised

3:13 Then Jesus appeared: he came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John.

3:14 John tried to dissuade him. ‘It is I who need baptism from you’ he said ‘and yet you come to me!’

3:15 But Jesus replied, ‘Leave it like this for the time being; it is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that righteousness demands’. At this, John gave in to him.

3:16 As soon as Jesus was baptised he came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him.

3:17 And a voice spoke from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him’.

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 4

 

Temptation in the wilderness

4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

4:2 He fasted for forty days and forty nights, after which he was very hungry,

4:3 and the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves’.

4:4 But he replied, ‘Scripture says: Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’.[*a]

4:5 The devil then took him to the holy city and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple.

4:6 ‘If you are the Son of God’ he said ‘throw yourself down; for scripture says: He will put you in his angels’ charge, and they will support you on their hands in case you hurt your foot against a stone’.[*b]

4:7 Jesus said to him, ‘Scripture also says: You must not put the Lord your God to the test’.[*c]

4:8 Next, taking him to a very high mountain, the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour.

4:9 ‘I will give you all these’ he said, ‘if you fall at my feet and worship me.’

4:10 Then Jesus replied, ‘Be off, Satan! For scripture says: You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.'[*d]

4:11 Then the devil left him, and angels appeared and looked after him.

 

Return to Galilee

4:12 Hearing that John had been arrested he went back to Galilee,

4:13 and leaving Nazareth he went and settled in Capernaum, a lakeside town on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali.

4:14 In this way the prophecy of Isaiah was to be fulfilled:

4:15 ‘Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali! Way of the sea on the far side of Jordan, Galilee of the nations!

4:16 The people that lived in darkness has seen a great light; on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death a light has dawned.'[*e]

4:17 From that moment Jesus began his preaching with the message, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand’.

 

The first four disciples are called

4:18 As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast in the lake with their net, for they were fishermen.

4:19 And he said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men’.

4:20 And they left their nets at once and followed him.

4:21 Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them.

4:22 At once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.

 

Jesus preaches and heals the sick

4:23 He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness among the people.

4:24 His fame spread throughout Syria,[*f] and those who were suffering from diseases and painful complaints of one kind or another, the possessed, epileptics, the paralysed, were all brought to him, and he cured them.

4:25 Large crowds followed him, coming from Galilee, the Decapolis,[*g] Jerusalem, Judaea and Transjordania.

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 5

 

1. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT[*a]

 

The Beatitudes

5:1 Seeing the crowds, he went up the hill. There he sat down and was joined by his disciples.

5:2 Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them:

5:3 ‘How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

5:4 Happy the gentle:[*b] they shall have the earth for their heritage.

5:5 Happy those who mourn: they shall be comforted.

5:6 Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right: they shall be satisfied.

5:7 Happy the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them.

5:8 Happy the pure in heart: they shall see God.

5:9 Happy the peacemakers: they shall be called sons of God.

5:10 Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right: theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

5:11 ‘Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account.

5:12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.

 

Salt of the earth and light of the world

5:13 ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men.

5:14 ‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden.

5:15 No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house.

5:16 In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.

 

The fulfilment of the Law

5:17 ‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them.

5:18 I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved.

5:19 Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.

 

The new standard higher than the old

5:20 ‘For I tell you, if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.

5:21 ‘You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill;[*c] and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court.

5:22 But I say this to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a man calls his brother “Fool”[*d] he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin;[*e] and if a man calls him “Renegade”[*f] he will answer for it in hell fire.

5:23 So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,

5:24 leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering.

5:25 Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison.

5:26 I tell you solemnly, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.

5:27 ‘You have learnt how it was said: You must not commit adultery[*g].

5:28 But I say this to you: if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

5:29 If your right eye should cause you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of you than to have your whole body thrown into hell.

5:30 And if your right hand should cause you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of you than to have your whole body go to hell.

5:31 ‘It has also been said: Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a writ of dismissal.[*h]

5:32 But I say this to you: everyone who divorces his wife, except for the case of fornication, makes her an adulteress; and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

5:33 ‘Again, you have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not break your oath, but must fulfil your oaths to the Lord.[*i]

5:34 But I say this to you: do not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God’s throne;

5:35 or by the earth, since that is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the great king.

5:36 Do not swear by your own head either, since you cannot turn a single hair white or black.

5:37 All you need say is “Yes” if you mean yes, “No” if you mean no; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

5:38 ‘You have learnt how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.[*j]

5:39 But I say this to you: offer the wicked man no resistance. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well;

5:40 if a man takes you to law and would have your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

5:41 And if anyone orders you to go one mile, go two miles with him.

5:42 Give to anyone who asks, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.

5:43 ‘You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy.[*k]

5:44 But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you;

5:45 in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike.

5:46 For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors[*l] do as much, do they not?

5:47 And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not?

5:48 You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 6

 

Almsgiving in secret

6:1 ‘Be careful not to parade your good deeds before men to attract their notice; by doing this you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven.

6:2 So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win men’s admiration. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward.

6:3 But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing;

6:4 your almsgiving must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.

 

Prayer in secret

6:5 ‘And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them; I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward.

6:6 But when you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray[*a] to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.

 

How to pray. The Lord’s Prayer

6:7 In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard.

6:8 Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

6:9 So you should pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be held holy,

6:10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

6:11 Give us today our daily bread.

6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.

6:13 And do not put us to the test, but save us from the evil one.

6:14 Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours;

6:15 but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.

 

Fasting in secret

6:16 ‘When you fast do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they pull long faces to let men know they are fasting. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward.

6:17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

6:18 so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.

 

True treasures

6:19 ‘Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and woodworms destroy them and thieves can break in and steal.

6:20 But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworms destroy them and thieves cannot break in and steal.

6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

 

The eye, the lamp of the body

6:22 ‘The lamp of the body is the eye. It follows that if your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light.

6:23 But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be all darkness. If then, the light inside you is darkness, what darkness that will be!

 

God and money

6:24 ‘No one can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.

 

Trust in Providence

6:25 ‘That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and how you are to clothe it. Surely life means more than food, and the body more than clothing!

6:26 Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are we not worth much more than they are?

6:27 Can any of you, for all his worrying, add one single cubit to his span of life?

6:28 And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin;

6:29 yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his regalia was robed like one of these.

6:30 Now if that is how God clothes the grass in the field which is there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you men of little faith?

6:31 So do not worry; do not say, “What are we to eat? What are we to drink? How are we to be clothed?”

6:32 It is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all.

6:33 Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will be given you as well.

6:34 So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 7

 

Do not judge

7:1 ‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged;

7:2 because the judgements you give are the judgements you will get, and the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given.

7:3 Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own?

7:4 How dare you say to your brother, “Let me take the splinter out of your eye”, when all the time there is a plank in your own?

7:5 Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye.

 

Do not profane sacred things

7:6 ‘Do not give dogs what is holy;[*a] and do not throw your pearls in front of pigs, or they may trample them and then turn on you and tear you to pieces.

 

Effective prayer

7:7 ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

7:8 For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him.

7:9 Is there a man among you who would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread?

7:10 Or would hand him a snake when he asked for a fish?

7:11 If you, then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

 

The golden rule

7:12 ‘So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets.

 

The two ways

7:13 ‘Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to perdition is wide and spacious, and many take it;

7:14 but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

 

False prophets

7:15 ‘Beware of false prophets[*b] who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves.

7:16 You will be able to tell them by their fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?

7:17 In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit.

7:18 A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit.

7:19 Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire.

7:20 I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits.

 

The true disciple

7:21 ‘It is not those who say to me, “Lord, Lord”, who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven.

7:22 When the day[*c] comes many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?”

7:23 Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men!’

7:24 ‘Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock.

7:25 Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock.

7:26 But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand.

7:27 Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!’

 

The amazement of the crowds

7:28 Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, and his teaching made a deep impression on the people

7:29 because he taught them with authority, and not like their own scribes.[*d]

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 8

 

III. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS PREACHED

 

1. NARRATIVE SECTION: TEN MIRACLES

 

Cure of a leper

8:1 After he had come down from the mountain large crowds followed him.

8:2 A leper now came up and bowed low in front of him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘if you want to, you can cure me.’

8:3 Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’ And his leprosy was cured at once.

8:4 Then Jesus said to him, ‘Mind you do not tell anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering prescribed by Moses, as evidence for them’.

 

Cure of the centurion’s servant

8:5 When he went into Capernaum a centurion came up and pleaded with him.

8:6 ‘Sir,’ he said ‘my servant is lying at home paralysed, and in great pain.’

8:7 ‘I will come myself and cure him’ said Jesus.

8:8 The centurion replied, ‘Sir, I am not worthy to have you under my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured.

8:9 For I am under authority myself, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: Go, and he goes; to another: Come here, and he comes; to my servant: Do this, and he does it.’

8:10 When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those following him, ‘I tell you solemnly, nowhere in Israel have I found faith like this.

8:11 And I tell you that many will come from east and west to take their places with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven;

8:12 but the subjects of the kingdom[*a] will be turned out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’

8:13 And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go back, then; you have believed, so let this be done for you’. And the servant was cured at that moment.

 

Cure of Peter’s mother-in-law

8:14 And going into Peter’s house Jesus found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with fever.

8:15 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

 

A number of cures

8:16 That evening they brought him many who were possessed by devils. He cast out the spirits with a word and cured all who were sick.

8:17 This was to fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah: He took our sicknesses away and carried our diseases for us.[*b]

 

Hardships of the apostolic calling

8:18 When Jesus saw the great crowds all about him he gave orders to leave for the other side.[*c]

8:19 One of the scribes then came up and said to him, ‘Master, I will follow you wherever you go’.

8:20 Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head’.

8:21 Another man, one of his disciples, said to him, ‘Sir, let me go and bury my father first’.

8:22 But Jesus replied, ‘Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead’.

 

The calming of the storm

8:23 Then he got into the boat followed by his disciples.

8:24 Without warning a storm broke over the lake, so violent that the waves were breaking right over the boat. But he was asleep.

8:25 So they went to him and woke him saying, ‘Save us, Lord, we are going down!’

8:26 And he said to them, ‘Why are you so frightened, you men of little faith?’ And with that he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and all was calm again.

8:27 The men were astounded and said, ‘Whatever kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him.’

 

The demoniacs of Gadara

8:28 When he reached the country of the Gadarenes on the other side, two demoniacs came towards him out of the tombs – creatures so fierce that no one could pass that way.

8:29 They stood there shouting, ‘What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the time?'[*d]

8:30 Now some distance away there was a large herd of pigs feeding,

8:31 and the devils pleaded with Jesus, ‘If you cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs’.

8:32 And he said to them, ‘Go then’, and they came out and made for the pigs; and at that the whole herd charged down the cliff into the lake and perished in the water.

8:33 The swineherds ran off and made for the town, where they told the whole story, including what had happened to the demoniacs.

8:34 At this the whole town set out to meet Jesus; and as soon as they saw him they implored him to leave the neighbourhood.

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 9

 

Cure of a paralytic

9:1 He got back in the boat, crossed the water and came to his own town.[*a]

9:2 Then some people appeared, bringing him a paralytic stretched out on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Courage, my child, your sins are forgiven’.

9:3 And at this some scribes said to themselves, ‘This man is blaspheming’.

9:4 Knowing what was in their minds Jesus said, ‘Why do you have such wicked thoughts in your hearts?

9:5 Now, which of these is easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Get up and walk”?

9:6 But to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,’ – he said to the paralytic – ‘get up, and pick up your bed and go off home’.

9:7 And the man got up and went home.

9:8 A feeling of awe came over the crowd when they saw this, and they praised God for giving such power to men.

 

The call of Matthew

9:9 As Jesus was walking on from there he saw a man named Matthew[*b] sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me’. And he got up and followed him.

 

Eating with sinners

9:10 While he was at dinner in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners[*c] came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples.

9:11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?’

9:12 When he heard this he replied, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick.

9:13 Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice.[*d] And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.’

 

A discussion on fasting

9:14 Then John’s[*e] disciples came to him and said, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’

9:15 Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

9:16 No one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth on to an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.

9:17 Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost. No; they put new wine into fresh skins and both are preserved.'[*f]

 

Cure of the woman with a haemorrhage. The official’s daughter raised to life

9:18 While he was speaking to them, up came one of the officials, who bowed low in front of him and said, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and her life will be saved’.

9:19 Jesus rose and, with his disciples, followed him.

9:20 Then from behind him came a woman, who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years, and she touched the fringe of his cloak,

9:21 for she said to herself, ‘If I can only touch his cloak I shall be well again’.

9:22 Jesus turned round and saw her; and he said to her, ‘Courage, my daughter, your faith has restored you to health’. And from that moment the woman was well again.

9:23 When Jesus reached the official’s house and saw the flute-players, with the crowd making a commotion[*g] he said,

9:24 ‘Get out of here; the little girl is not dead, she is asleep’. And they laughed at him.

9:25 But when the people had been turned out he went inside and took the little girl by the hand; and she stood up.

9:26 And the news spread all round the countryside.

 

Cure of two blind men

9:27 As Jesus went on his way two blind men followed him shouting, ‘Take pity on us, Son of David’.

9:28 And when Jesus reached the house the blind men came up with him and he said to them, ‘Do you believe I can do this?’ They said, ‘Sir, we do’.

9:29 Then he touched their eyes saying, ‘Your faith deserves it, so let this be done for you’.

9:30 And their sight returned. Then Jesus sternly warned them, ‘Take care that no one learns about this’.

9:31 But when they had gone, they talked about him all over the countryside.

 

Cure of a dumb demoniac

9:32 They had only just left when a man was brought to him, a dumb demoniac.

9:33 And when the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed. ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel’ they said.

9:34 But the Pharisees said, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts out devils’.

 

The distress of the crowds

9:35 Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness.

9:36 And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.

9:37 Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest’.

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 10

 

1. THE INSTRUCTION OF THE APOSTLES

 

The mission of the Twelve

10:1 He summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness.

10:2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;

10:3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;

10:4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the one who was to betray him.

10:5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows: ‘Do not turn your steps to pagan territory, and do not enter any Samaritan town;

10:6 go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.

10:7 And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.

10:8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. You received without charge, give without charge.

10:9 Provide yourselves with no gold or silver, not even with a few coppers for your purses,

10:10 with no haversack for the journey or spare tunic or footwear or a staff, for the workman deserves his keep.

10:11 ‘Whatever town or village you go into, ask for someone trustworthy and stay with him until you leave.

10:12 As you enter his house, salute it,

10:13 and if the house deserves it, let your peace descend upon it; if it does not, let your peace come back to you.

10:14 And if anyone does not welcome you or listen to what you have to say, as you walk out of the house or town shake the dust from your feet.

10:15 I tell you solemnly, on the day of Judgement it will not go as hard with the land of Sodom and Gomorrah as with that town.

10:16 Remember, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as serpents and yet as harmless as doves.

 

The missionaries will be persecuted[*a]

10:17 ‘Beware of men: they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues.

10:18 You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans.

10:19 But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes;

10:20 because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you.

10:21 ‘Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.

10:22 You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved.

10:23 If they persecute you in one town, take refuge in the next; and if they persecute you in that, take refuge in another. I tell you solemnly, you will not have gone the round of the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

10:24 ‘The disciple is not superior to his teacher, nor the slave to his master.

10:25 It is enough for the disciple that he should grow to be like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, what will they not say of his household?

 

Open and fearless speech

10:26 ‘Do not be afraid of them therefore. For everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear.

10:27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops.

10:28 ‘Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell.

10:29 Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing.

10:30 Why, every hair on your head has been counted.

10:31 So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.

10:32 ‘So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven.

10:33 But the one who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.

 

Jesus, the cause of dissension

10:34 ‘Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword.

10:35 For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

10:36 A man’s enemies will be those of his own household.[*b]

 

Renouncing self to follow Jesus

10:37 ‘Anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me.

10:38 Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me.

10:39 Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.

 

Conclusion

10:40 Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and those who welcome me welcome the one who sent me.

10:41 Anyone who welcomes a prophet will have a prophet’s reward; and anyone who welcomes a holy man will have a holy man’s reward.

10:42 ‘If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.’

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 11

 

1. THE MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

 

1. NARRATIVE SECTION

11:1 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.[*a]

 

The Baptist’s question. Jesus commends him

11:2 Now John in his prison had heard what Christ was doing and he sent his disciples to ask him,

11:3 ‘Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else?’

11:4 Jesus answered, ‘Go back and tell John what you hear and see;

11:5 the blind see again, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised to life and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor;[*b]

11:6 and happy is the man who does not lose faith in me’.

11:7 As the messengers were leaving, Jesus began to talk to the people about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the breeze? No?

11:8 Then what did you go out to see? A man wearing fine clothes? Oh no, those who wear fine clothes are to be found in palaces.

11:9 Then what did you go out for? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet:

11:10 he is the one of whom scripture says: Look, I am going to send my messenger before you; he will prepare your way before you.[*c]

11:11 ‘I tell you solemnly, of all the children born of women, a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is.

11:12 Since John the Baptist came, up to this present time, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence and the violent are taking it by storm.

11:13 Because it was towards John that all the prophecies of the prophets and of the Law were leading;

11:14 and he, if you will believe me, is the Elijah who was to return.[*d]

11:15 If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen!

 

Jesus condemns his contemporaries

11:16 ‘What description can I find for this generation? It is like children shouting to each other as they sit in the market place:

11:17 “We played the pipes for you, and you wouldn’t dance; we sang dirges, and you wouldn’t be mourners”.

11:18 ‘For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He is possessed”.

11:19 The Son of Man came, eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners”. Yet wisdom has been proved right by her actions.’

 

Lament over the lake-towns

11:20 Then he began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked, because they refused to repent.

11:21 ‘Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

11:22 And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard on Judgement day with Tyre and Sidon as with you.

11:23 And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be exalted as high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell.[*e] For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet.

11:24 And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard with the land of Sodom on Judgement day as with you.’

 

The Good News revealed to the simple. The Father and the Son

11:25 At that time Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children.

11:26 Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do.

11:27 Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

 

The gentle mastery of Christ

11:28 ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.

11:29 Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.[*f]

11:30 Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 12

 

Picking corn on the sabbath

12:1 At that time Jesus took a walk one sabbath day through the cornfields. His disciples were hungry and began to pick ears of corn and eat them.

12:2 The Pharisees noticed it and said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath’.

12:3 But he said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry –

12:4 how he went into the house of God and how they ate the loaves of offering which neither he nor his followers were allowed to eat, but which were for the priests alone?

12:5 Or again, have you not read in the Law that on the sabbath day the Temple priests break the sabbath without being blamed for it?

12:6 Now here, I tell you, is something greater than the Temple.

12:7 And if you had understood the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless.

12:8 For the Son of Man is master of the sabbath.’

 

Cure of the man with a withered hand

12:9 He moved on from there and went to their synagogue,

12:10 and a man was there at the time who had a withered hand. They asked him, ‘Is it against the law to cure a man on the sabbath day?’ hoping for something to use against him.

12:11 But he said to them, ‘If any one of you here had only one sheep and it fell down a hole on the sabbath day, would he not get hold of it and lift it out?

12:12 Now a man is far more important than a sheep, so it follows that it is permitted to do good on the sabbath day.’

12:13 Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand’. He stretched it out and his hand was better, as sound as the other one.

12:14 At this the Pharisees went out and began to plot against him, discussing how to destroy him.

 

Jesus the ‘servant of Yahweh’

12:15 Jesus knew this and withdrew from the district. Many followed him and he cured them all,

12:16 but warned them not to make him known.

12:17 This was to fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah:

12:18 Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, the favourite of my soul. I will endow him with my spirit, and he will proclaim the true faith to the nations.

12:19 He will not brawl or shout, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

12:20 He will not break the crushed reed, nor put out the smouldering wick till he has led the truth to victory:

12:21 in his name the nations will put their hope.[*a]

 

Jesus and Beelzebul

12:22 Then they brought to him a blind and dumb demoniac; and he cured him, so that the dumb man could speak and see.

12:23 All the people were astounded and said, ‘Can this be the Son of David?’

12:24 But when the Pharisees heard this they said, ‘The man casts out devils only through Beelzebul,[*b] the prince of devils’.

12:25 Knowing what was in their minds he said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin; and no town, no household divided against itself can stand.

12:26 Now if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; so how can his kingdom stand?

12:27 And if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through whom do your own experts cast them out? Let them be your judges, then.

12:28 But if it is through the Spirit of God that I cast devils out, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you.

12:29 ‘Or again, how can anyone make his way into a strong man’s house and burgle his property unless he has tied up the strong man first? Only then can he burgle his house.

12:30 ‘He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.

12:31 And so I tell you, every one of men’s sins and blasphemies will be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

12:32 And anyone who says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but let anyone speak against the Holy Spirit and he will not be forgiven either in this world or in the next.

 

Words betray the heart

12:33 ‘Make a tree sound and its fruit will be sound; make a tree rotten and its fruit will be rotten. For the tree can be told by its fruit.

12:34 Brood of vipers, how can your speech be good when you are evil? For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart.

12:35 A good man draws good things from his store of goodness; a bad man draws bad things from his store of badness.

12:36 So I tell you this, that for every unfounded word men utter they will answer on Judgement day,

12:37 since it is by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words condemned.’

 

The sign of Jonah

12:38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees spoke up. ‘Master,’ they said ‘we should like to see a sign[*c] from you.’

12:39 He replied, ‘It is an evil and unfaithful generation that asks for a sign! The only sign it will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah.

12:40 For as Jonah was in the belly of the sea-monster for three days and three nights,[*d] so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

12:41 On Judgement day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented; and there is something greater than Jonah here.

12:42 On Judgement day the Queen of the South will rise up with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.

 

The return of the unclean spirit

12:43 ‘When an unclean spirit goes out of a man it wanders through waterless country looking for a place to rest, and cannot find one.

12:44 Then it says, “I will return to the home I came from”. But on arrival, finding it unoccupied, swept and tidied,

12:45 it then goes off and collects seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and set up house there, so that the man ends up by being worse than he was before. That is what will happen to this evil generation.’

 

The true kinsmen of Jesus

12:46 He was still speaking to the crowds when his mother and his brothers[*e] appeared; they were standing outside and were anxious to have a word with him.

12:48 But to the man who told him this Jesus replied, ‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’

12:49 And stretching out his hand towards his disciples he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers.

12:50 Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.’

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 13

 

1. THE SERMON OF PARABLES

 

Introduction

13:1 That same day, Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside,

13:2 but such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The people all stood on the beach,

13:3 and he told them many things in parables.

 

Parable of the sower

He said, ‘Imagine a sower going out to sow.

13:4 As he sowed, some seeds fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate them up.

13:5 Others fell on patches of rock where they found little soil and sprang up straight away, because there was no depth of earth;

13:6 but as soon as the sun came up they were scorched and, not having any roots, they withered away.

13:7 Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.

13:8 Others fell on rich soil and produced their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

13:9 Listen, anyone who has ears!’

 

Why Jesus speaks in parables

13:10 Then the disciples went up to him and asked, ‘Why do you talk to them in parables?’

13:11 ‘Because’ he replied ‘the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are revealed to you, but they are not revealed to them.

13:12 For anyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

13:13 The reason I talk to them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding.

13:14 So in their case this prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled: You will listen and listen again, but not understand, see and see again, but not perceive.

13:15 For the heart of this nation has grown coarse, their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes, for fear they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and be converted and be healed by me.[*a]

13:16 ‘But happy are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear!

13:17 I tell you solemnly, many prophets and holy men longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.

 

The parable of the sower explained

13:18 ‘You, therefore, are to hear the parable of the sower.

13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the evil one comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the man who received the seed on the edge of the path.

13:20 The one who received it on patches of rock is the man who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy.

13:21 But he has no root in him, he does not last; let some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, and he falls away at once.

13:22 The one who received the seed in thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this world and the lure of riches choke the word and so he produces nothing.

13:23 And the one who received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word and understands it; he is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.’

 

Parable of the darnel

13:24 He put another parable before them, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

13:25 While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off.

13:26 When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, the darnel appeared as well.

13:27 The owner’s servants went to him and said, “Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?”

13:28 “Some enemy has done this” he answered. And the servants said, “Do you want us to go and weed it out?”

13:29 But he said, “No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it.

13:30 Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn.”‘

 

Parable of the mustard seed

13:31 He put another parable before them, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field.

13:32 It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the biggest shrub of all and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and shelter in its branches.’

 

Parable of the yeast

13:33 He told them another parable, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through’.

 

The people are taught only in parables

13:34 In all this Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables; indeed, he would never speak to them except in parables.

13:35 This was to fulfil the prophecy: I will speak to you in parables and expound things hidden since the foundation of the world.[*b]

 

The parable of the darnel explained

13:36 Then, leaving the crowds, he went to the house; and his disciples came to him and said, ‘Explain the parable about the darnel in the field to us’.

13:37 He said in reply, ‘The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man.

13:38 The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the evil one;

13:39 the enemy who sowed them, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels.

13:40 Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time.

13:41 The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil,

13:42 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.

13:43 Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.[*c] Listen, anyone who has ears!

 

Parables of the treasure and of the pearl

13:44 ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.

13:45 ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls;

13:46 when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.

 

Parable of the dragnet

13:47 ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea that brings in a haul of all kinds.

13:48 When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in a basket and throw away those that are no use.

13:49 This is how it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the just

13:50 to throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.

 

Conclusion

13:51 ‘Have you understood all this?’ They said, ‘Yes’.

13:52 And he said to them, ‘Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old’.[*d]

 

1. THE CHURCH, FIRST-FRUITS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

 

1. NARRATIVE SECTION

 

A visit to Nazareth

13:53 When Jesus had finished these parables he left the district;

13:54 and, coming to his home town,[*e] he taught the people in their synagogue in such a way that they were astonished and said, ‘Where did the man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?

13:55 This is the carpenter’s son, surely? Is not his mother the woman called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Jude?

13:56 His sisters, too, are they not all here with us? So where did the man get it all?’

13:57 And they would not accept him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is only despised in his own country and in his own house’,

13:58 and he did not work many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 14

 

Herod and Jesus

14:1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the reputation of Jesus,

14:2 and said to his court, ‘This is John the Baptist himself; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him’.

 

John the Baptist beheaded

14:3 Now it was Herod who had arrested John, chained him up and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s[*a] wife:.

14:4 For John had told him, ‘It is against the Law for you to have her’.

14:5 He had wanted to kill him but was afraid of the people, who regarded John as a prophet.

14:6 Then, during the celebrations for Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias[*b] danced before the company, and so delighted Herod

14:7 that he promised on oath to give her anything she asked.

14:8 Prompted by her mother she said, ‘Give me John the Baptist’s head, here, on a dish’.

14:9 The king was distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he ordered it to be given her,

14:10 and sent and had John beheaded in the prison.

14:11 The head was brought in on a dish and given to the girl who took it to her mother.

14:12 John’s disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went off to tell Jesus.

 

First miracle of the loaves

14:13 When Jesus received this news he withdrew by boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves. But the people heard of this and, leaving the towns, went after him on foot.

14:14 So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them and healed their sick.

14:15 When evening came, the disciples went to him and said, ‘This is a lonely place, and the time has slipped by; so send the people away, and they can go to the villages to buy themselves some food’.

14:16 Jesus replied, ‘There is no need for them to go: give them something to eat yourselves’.

14:17 But they answered ‘All we have with us is five loaves and two fish’.

14:18 ‘Bring them here to me’ he said.

14:19 He gave orders that the people were to sit down on the grass; then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven and said the blessing. And breaking the loaves handed them to his disciples who gave them to the crowds.

14:20 They all ate as much as they wanted, and they collected the scraps remaining; twelve baskets full.

14:21 Those who ate numbered about five thousand men, to say nothing of women and children.

 

Jesus walks on the water and, with him, Peter

14:22 Directly after this he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he would send the crowds away.

14:23 After sending the crowds away he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,

14:24 while the boat, by now far out on the lake, was battling with a heavy sea, for there was a head-wind.

14:25 In the fourth watch of the night[*c] he went towards them, walking on the lake,

14:26 and when the disciples saw him walking on the lake they were terrified. ‘It is a ghost’ they said, and cried out in fear.

14:27 But at once Jesus called out to them, saying, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.’

14:28 lt was Peter who answered. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘if it is you, tell me to come to you across the water.’

14:29 ‘Come’ said Jesus. Then Peter got out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus across the water,

14:30 but as soon as he felt the force of the wind, he took fright and began to sink. ‘Lord! Save me!’ he cried.

14:31 Jesus put out his hand at once and held him. ‘Man of little faith,’ he said ‘why did you doubt?’

14:32 And as they got into the boat the wind dropped.

14:33 The men in the boat bowed down before him and said, ‘Truly, you are the Son of God’.

 

Cures at Gennesaret

14:34 Having made the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret.

14:35 When the local people recognised him they spread the news through the whole neighbourhood and took all that were sick to him,

14:36 begging him just to let them touch the fringe of his cloak. And all those who touched it were completely cured.

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 15

 

The traditions of the Pharisees

15:1 Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem then came to Jesus and said,

15:2 ‘Why do your disciples break away from the tradition of the elders?[*a] They do not wash their hands when they eat food.’

15:3 ‘And why do you’ he answered ‘break away from the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

15:4 For God said: Do your duty to[*b] your father and mother and: Anyone who curses father or mother must be put to death.[*c]

15:5 But you say, “If anyone says to his father or mother: Anything I have that I might have used to help you is dedicated to God”,

15:6 he is rid of his duty to father or mother.[*d] In this way you have made God’s word null and void by means of your tradition.

15:7 Hypocrites! It was you Isaiah meant when he so rightly prophesied:

15:8 This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me.

15:9 The worship they offer me is worthless; the doctrines they teach are only human regulations.'[*e]

 

On clean and unclean

15:10 He called the people to him and said, ‘Listen, and understand.

15:11 What goes into the mouth does not make a man unclean; it is what comes out of the mouth that makes him unclean.’

15:12 Then the disciples came to him and said, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees were shocked when they heard what you said?’

15:13 He replied, ‘Any plant my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.

15:14 Leave them alone. They are blind men leading blind men; and if one blind man leads another, both will fall into a pit.’

15:15 At this, Peter said to him, ‘Explain the parable for us’.

15:16 Jesus replied, ‘Do even you not yet understand?

15:17 Can you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes through the stomach and is discharged into the sewer?

15:18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and it is these that make a man unclean.

15:19 For from the heart come evil intentions: murder, adultery, fornication, theft, perjury, slander.

15:20 These are the things that make a man unclean. But to eat with unwashed hands does not make a man unclean.’

 

The daughter of the Canaanite woman healed

15:21 Jesus left that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

15:22 Then out came a Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting, ‘Sir, Son of David, take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil.’

15:23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples went and pleaded with him. ‘Give her what she wants,’ they said ‘because she is shouting after us.’

15:24 He said in reply, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel’.

15:25 But the woman had come up and was kneeling at his feet. ‘Lord,’ she said ‘help me.’

15:26 He replied, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs’.

15:27 She retorted, ‘Ah yes, sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table’.

15:28 Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.’ And from that moment her daughter was well again.

 

Cures near the lake

15:29 Jesus went on from there and reached the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and he went up into the hills. He sat there,

15:30 and large crowds came to him bringing the lame, the crippled, the blind, the dumb and many others; these they put down at his feet, and he cured them.

15:31 The crowds were astonished to see the dumb speaking, the cripples whole again, the lame walking and the blind with their sight, and they praised the God of Israel.

 

Second miracle of the loaves

15:32 But Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me for three days now and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them off hungry, they might collapse on the way.’

15:33 The disciples said to him, ‘Where could we get enough bread in this deserted place to feed such a crowd?’

15:34 Jesus said to them, ‘How many loaves have you?’ ‘Seven’ they said ‘and a few small fish.’

15:35 Then he instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground,

15:36 and he took the seven loaves and the fish, and he gave thanks and broke them and handed them to the disciples who gave them to the crowds.

15:37 They all ate as much as they wanted, and they collected what was left of the scraps, seven baskets full.

15:38 Now four thousand men had eaten, to say nothing of women and children.

15:39 And when he had sent the crowds away he got into the boat and went to the district of Magadan.

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 16

 

The Pharisees ask for a sign from heaven

16:1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked if he would show them a sign from heaven.

16:2 He replied, ‘In the evening you say, “It will be fine; there is a red sky”,

16:3 and in the morning, “Stormy weather today; the sky is red and overcast”. You know how to read the face of the sky, but you cannot read the signs of the times.

16:4 It is an evil and unfaithful generation that asks for a sign! The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah.’ And leaving them standing there, he went away.

 

The yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

16:5 The disciples, having crossed to the other shore, had forgotten to take any food.

16:6 Jesus said to them, ‘Keep your eyes open, and be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees’.

16:7 And they said to themselves, ‘It is because we have not brought any bread’.

16:8 Jesus knew it, and he said, ‘Men of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread?

16:9 Do you not yet understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand and the number of baskets you collected?

16:10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and the number of baskets you collected?

16:11 How could you fail to understand that I was not talking about bread? What I said was: Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’

16:12 Then they understood that he was telling them to be on their guard, not against the yeast for making bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.[*a]

 

Peter’s profession of faith; his pre-eminence

16:13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’

16:14 And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets’.

16:15 ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’

16:16 Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said ‘the Son of the living God’.

16:17 Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.

16:18 So I now say to you: You are Peter[*b] and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld[*c] can never hold out against it.

16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.'[*d]

16:20 Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

 

First prophecy of the Passion

16:21 From that time Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day.

16:22 Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. ‘Heaven preserve you, Lord;’ he said ‘this must not happen to you’.

16:23 But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.’

 

The condition of following Christ

16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.

16:25 For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.

16:26 What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?

16:27 ‘For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his behaviour.

16:28 I tell you solemnly, there are some of these standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming with his kingdom.'[*e]

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 17

 

The transfiguration

17:1 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone.

17:2 There in their presence he was transfigured: his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light.

17:3 Suddenly Moses and Elijah[*a] appeared to them; they were talking with him.

17:4 Then Peter spoke to Jesus. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘it is wonderful for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’

17:5 He was still speaking when suddenly a bright cloud covered them with shadow, and from the cloud there came a voice which said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.’

17:6 When they heard this the disciples fell on their faces overcome with fear.

17:7 But Jesus came up and touched them. ‘Stand up,’ he said ‘do not be afraid.’

17:8 And when they raised their eyes they saw no one but only Jesus.

 

The question about Elijah

17:9 As they came down from the mountain Jesus gave them this order, ‘Tell no one about the vision until the Son of Man has risen from the dead’.

17:10 And the disciples put this question to him, ‘Why do the scribes say then that Elijah has to come first?’

17:11 ‘True;’ he replied ‘Elijah is to come to see that everything is once more as it should be;

17:12 however, I tell you that Elijah has come already and they did not recognise him but treated him as they pleased; and the Son of Man will suffer similarly at their hands.’

17:13 The disciples understood then that he had been speaking of John the Baptist.

 

The epileptic demoniac

17:14 As they were rejoining the crowd a man came up to him and went down on his knees before him.

17:15 ‘Lord,’ he said ‘take pity on my son: he is a lunatic and in a wretched state; he is always falling into the fire or into the water.

17:16 I took him to your disciples and they were unable to cure him.’

17:17 ‘Faithless and perverse generation!’ Jesus said in reply ‘How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.’

17:18 And when Jesus rebuked it the devil came out of the boy who was cured from that moment.

17:19 Then the disciples came privately to Jesus. ‘Why were we unable to cast it out? they asked.

17:20 He answered, ‘Because you have little faith. I tell you solemnly, if your faith were the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, “Move from here to there”, and it would move; nothing would be impossible for you.’

 

Second prophecy of the Passion

17:22 One day when they were together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men;

17:23 they will put him to death, and on the third day he will be raised to life again’. And a great sadness came over them.

 

The Temple tax paid by Jesus and Peter

17:24 When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the half shekel[*b] came to Peter and said, ‘Does your master not pay the half-shekel?’

17:25 ‘Oh yes’ he replied, and went into the house. But before he could speak, Jesus said, ‘Simon, what is your opinion? From whom do the kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their sons or from foreigners?’

17:26 And when he replied, ‘From foreigners’, Jesus said, ‘Well then, the sons are exempt.

17:27 However, so as not to offend these people, go to the lake and cast a hook; take the first fish that bites, open its mouth and there you will find a shekel; take it and give it to them for me and for you.’

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 18

 

1. THE DISCOURSE ON THE CHURCH

 

Who is the greatest?

18:1 At this time the disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’

18:2 So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them.

18:3 Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

18:4 And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

 

On leading others astray

18:5 ‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.

18:6 But anyone who is an obstacle to bring down one of these little ones who have faith in me would be better drowned in the depths of the sea with a great millstone round his neck.

18:7 Alas for the world that there should be such obstacles! Obstacles indeed there must be, but alas for the man who provides them!

18:8 ‘If your hand or your foot should cause you to sin, cut it off and throw it away: it is better for you to enter into life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.

18:9 And if your eye should cause you to sin, tear it out and throw it away: it is better for you to enter into life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the hell of fire.

18:10 ‘See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.[*a]

 

The lost sheep

18:12 ‘Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray?

18:13 I tell you solemnly, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all.

18:14 Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.

 

Brotherly correction

18:15 ‘If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, is between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.

18:16 If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge.

18:17 But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community;[*b] and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a pagan or a tax collector.

18:18 ‘I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.

 

Prayer in common

18:19 ‘I tell you solemnly once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven.

18:20 For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.’

 

Forgiveness of injuries

18:21 Then Peter went up to him and said, ‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?’

18:22 Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.

 

Parable of the unforgiving debtor

18:23 ‘And so the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants.

18:24 When the reckoning began, they brought him a man who owed ten thousand talents;[*c]

18:25 but he had no means of paying, so his master gave orders that he should be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, to meet the debt.

18:26 At this, the servant threw himself down at his master’s feet. “Give me time” he said “and I will pay the whole sum.”

18:27 And the servant’s master felt so sorry for him that he let him go and cancelled the debt.

18:28 Now as this servant went out, he happened to meet a fellow servant who owed him one hundred denarii;[*d] and he seized him by the throat and began to throttle him. “Pay what you owe me” he said.

18:29 His fellow servant fell at his feet and implored him, saying, “Give me time and I will pay you”.

18:30 But the other would not agree; on the contrary, he had him thrown into prison till he should pay the debt.

18:31 His fellow servants were deeply distressed when they saw what had happened, and they went to their master and reported the whole affair to him.

18:32 Then the master sent for him. “You wicked servant,” he said “I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me.

18:33 Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?”

18:34 And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt.

18:35 And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.’

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 19

 

1. THE APPROACHING ADVENT OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

 

1. NARRATIVE SECTION

 

The question about divorce

19:1 Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, and he left Galilee and came into the part of Judaea which is on the far side of the Jordan.

19:2 Large crowds followed him and he healed them there.

19:3 Some Pharisees approached him, and to test him they said, ‘Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?’

19:4 He answered, ‘Have you not read that the creator from the beginning made them male and female

19:5 and that he said: This is why a man must leave father and mother, and cling to his wife, and the two become one body?

19:6 They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide’.

19:7 They said to him, ‘Then why did Moses command that a writ of dismissal should be given in cases of divorce?’

19:8 ‘It was because you were so unteachable’ he said ‘that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not like this from the beginning.

19:9 Now I say this to you: the man who divorces his wife – I am not speaking of fornication – and marries another, is guilty of adultery.’

 

Continence

19:10 The disciples said to him, ‘If that is how things are between husband and wife, it is not advisable to marry’.

19:11 But he replied, ‘It is not everyone who can accept what I have said, but only those to whom it is granted.

19:12 There are eunuchs born that way from their mother’s womb, there are eunuchs made so by men and there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.’

 

Jesus and the children

19:13 People brought little children to him, for him to lay his hands on them and say a prayer. The disciples turned them away,

19:14 but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children alone, and do not stop them coming to me; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs’.

19:15 Then he laid his hands on them and went on his way.

 

The rich young man

19:16 And there was a man who came to him and asked, ‘Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?’

19:17 Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one alone who is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’

19:18 He said, ‘Which?’ ‘These:’ Jesus replied ‘You must not kill. You must not commit adultery. You must not bring false witness.

19:19 Honour your father and mother, and: you must love your neighbour as yourself'[*a]

19:20 The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?’

19:21 Jesus said, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me’.

19:22 But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.

 

The danger of riches

19:23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you solemnly, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

19:24 Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.’

19:25 When the disciples heard this they were astonished. ‘Who can be saved, then?’ they said.

19:26 Jesus gazed at them. ‘For men’ he told them ‘this is impossible; for God everything is possible.’

 

The reward of renunciation

19:27 Then Peter spoke. ‘What about us?’ he said to him ‘We have left everything and followed you. What are we to have, then?’

19:28 Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you solemnly, when all is made new and the Son of Man sits on his throne of glory, you will yourselves sit on twelve thrones to judge[*b] the twelve tribes of Israel.

19:29 And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred times over, and also inherit eternal life.

19:30 ‘Many who are first will be last, and the last, first.

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 20

 

Parable of the vineyard labourers

20:1 ‘Now the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner going out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard.

20:2 He made an agreement with the workers for one denarius a day, and sent them to his vineyard.

20:3 Going out at about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place

20:4 and said to them, “You go to my vineyard too and I will give you a fair wage”.

20:5 So they went. At about the sixth hour and again at about the ninth hour, he went out and did the same.

20:6 Then at about the eleventh hour he went out and found more men standing round, and he said to them, “Why have you been standing here idle all day?”

20:7 “Because no one has hired us” they answered. He said to them, “You go into my vineyard too”.

20:8 In the evening, the owner of the vineyard said to his bailiff, “Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last arrivals and ending with the first”.

20:9 So those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came forward and received one denarius each.

20:10 When the first came, they expected to get more, but they too received one denarius each.

20:11 They took it, but grumbled at the landowner.

20:12 “The men who came last” they said “have done only one hour, and you have treated them the same as us, though we have done a heavy day’s work in all the heat.”

20:13 He answered one of them and said, “My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius?

20:14 Take your earnings and go. I choose to pay the last comer as much as I pay you.

20:15 Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why be envious because I am generous?”

20:16 Thus the last will be first, and the first, last.’

 

Third prophecy of the Passion

20:17 Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, and on the way he took the Twelve to one side and said to them,

20:18 ‘Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn him to death

20:19 and will hand him over to the pagans to be mocked and scourged and crucified; and on the third day he will rise again.’

 

The mother of Zebedee’s sons makes her request

20:20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came with her sons to make a request of him, and bowed low;

20:21 and he said to her, ‘What is it you want?’ She said to him, ‘Promise that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your kingdom’.

20:22 ‘You do not know what you are asking’ Jesus answered. ‘Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?’ They replied, ‘We can’.

20:23 ‘Very well,’ he said ‘you shall drink my cup[*a], but as for seats at my right hand and my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted by my Father.’

 

Leadership with service

20:24 When the other ten heard this they were indignant with the two brothers.

20:25 But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that among the pagans the rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt.

20:26 This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant,

20:27 and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave,

20:28 just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’

 

The two blind men of Jericho

20:29 As they left Jericho a large crowd followed him.

20:30 Now there were two blind men sitting at the side of the road. When they heard that it was Jesus who was passing by, they shouted, ‘Lord! Have pity on us, Son of David.’

20:31 And the crowd scolded them and told them to keep quiet, but they only shouted more loudly, ‘Lord! Have pity on us, Son of David.’

20:32 Jesus stopped, called them over and said, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’

20:33 They said to him, ‘Lord, let us have our sight back’.

20:34 Jesus felt pity for them and touched their eyes, and immediately their sight returned and they followed him.

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 21

 

The Messiah enters Jerusalem

21:1 When they were near Jerusalem and had come in sight of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,

21:2 saying to them, ‘Go to the village facing you, and you will immediately find a tethered donkey and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.

21:3 If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, “The Master needs them and will send them back directly”.’

21:4 This took place to fulfil the prophecy:

21:5 Say to the daughter of Zion: Look, your king comes to you; he is humble, he rides on a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.[*a]

21:6 So the disciples went out and did as Jesus had told them.

21:7 They brought the donkey and the colt, then they laid their cloaks on their backs and he sat on them.

21:8 Great crowds of people spread their cloaks on the road, while others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in his path.

21:9 The crowds who went in front of him and those who followed were all shouting: ‘Hosanna[*b] to the Son of David! Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord![*c] Hosanna in the highest heavens!’

21:10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil. ‘Who is this?’ people asked,

21:11 and the crowds answered, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee’.

 

The expulsion of the dealers from the Temple

21:12 Jesus then went into the Temple and drove out all those who were selling and buying there; he upset the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who were selling pigeons.[*d]

21:13 ‘According to scripture’ he said ‘my house will be called a house of prayer[*e]; but you are turning it into a robbers’ den'[*f].

21:14 There were also blind and lame people who came to him in the Temple, and he cured them.

21:15 At the sight of the wonderful things he did and of the children shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’ in the Temple, the chief priests and the scribes were indignant.

21:16 ‘Do you hear what they are saying?’ they said to him. ‘Yes,’ Jesus answered ‘have you never read this: By the mouths of children, babes in arms, you have made sure of praise?'[*g]

21:17 With that he left them and went out of the city to Bethany where he spent the night.

 

The barren fig tree withers. Faith and prayer

21:18 As he was returning to the city in the early morning, he felt hungry.

21:19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it and found nothing on it but leaves. And he said to it, ‘May you never bear fruit again’; and at that instant the fig tree withered.

21:20 The disciples were amazed when they saw it. ‘What happened to the tree’ they said ‘that it withered there and then?’

21:21 Jesus answered, ‘I tell you solemnly, if you have faith and do not doubt at all, not only will you do what I have done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, “Get up and throw yourself into the sea”, it will be done.

21:22 And if you have faith, everything you ask for in prayer you will receive.’

 

The authority of Jesus is questioned

21:23 He had gone into the Temple and was teaching, when the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him and said, ‘What authority have you for acting like this? And who gave you this authority?’

21:24 ‘And I’ replied Jesus ‘will ask you a question, only one; if you tell me the answer to it, I will then tell you my authority for acting like this.

21:25 John’s baptism: where did it come from: heaven or man?’ And they argued it out this way among themselves, ‘If we say from heaven, he will retort, “Then why did you refuse to believe him?”;

21:26 but if we say from man, we have the people to fear, for they all hold that John was a prophet’.

21:27 So their reply to Jesus was, ‘We do not know’. And he retorted, ‘Nor will I tell you my authority for acting like this.

 

Parable of the two sons

21:28 ‘What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He went and said to the first, “My boy, you go and work in the vineyard today”.

21:29 He answered, “I will not go”, but afterwards thought better of it and went.

21:30 The man then went and said the same thing to the second who answered, “Certainly, sir”, but did not go.

21:31 Which of the two did the father’s will?’ ‘The first’ they said. Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you.

21:32 For John came to you, a pattern of true righteousness, but you did not believe him, and yet the tax collectors and prostitutes did. Even after seeing that, you refused to think better of it and believe in him.

 

Parable of the wicked husbandmen

21:33 ‘Listen to another parable. There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug a winepress in it and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad.

21:34 When vintage time drew near he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his produce.

21:35 But the tenants seized his servants, thrashed one, killed another and stoned a third.

21:36 Next he sent some more servants, this time a larger number, and they dealt with them in the same way.

21:37 Finally he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son” he said.

21:38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take over his inheritance.”

21:39 So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

21:40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’

21:41 They answered, ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him when the season arrives’.

21:42 Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures: It was the stone rejected by the builders that became the keystone. This was the Lord’s doing and it is wonderful to see?[*h]

21:43 I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.’

21:45 When they heard his parables, the chief priests and the scribes realised he was speaking about them,

21:46 but though they would have liked to arrest him they were afraid of the crowds, who looked on him as a prophet.

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 22

 

Parable of the wedding feast

22:1 Jesus began to speak to them in parables once again,

22:2 ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding.

22:3 He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come.

22:4 Next he sent some more servants. “Tell those who have been invited” he said “that I have my banquet all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding.”

22:5 But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business,

22:6 and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them.

22:7 The king was furious. He despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town.

22:8 Then he said to his servants, “The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy,

22:9 go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding”.

22:10 So these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

22:11 When the king came in to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing a wedding garment,

22:12 and said to him, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And the man was silent.

22:13 Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth”.

22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.’

 

On tribute to Caesar

22:15 Then the Pharisees went away to work out between them how to trap him in what he said.

22:16 And they sent their disciples to him, together with the Herodians,[*a] to say, ‘Master, we know that you are an honest man and teach the way of God in an honest way, and that you are not afraid of anyone, because a man’s rank means nothing to you.

22:17 Tell us your opinion, then. Is it permissible to pay taxes to Caesar or not?’

22:18 But Jesus was aware of their malice and replied, ‘You hypocrites! Why do you set this trap for me?

22:19 Let me see the money you pay the tax with.’ They handed him a denarius,

22:20 and he said, ‘Whose head is this? Whose name?’

22:21 ‘Caesar’s’ they replied. He then said to them, ‘Very well, give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar – and to God what belongs to God’.

22:22 This reply took them by surprise, and they left him alone and went away.

 

The resurrection of the dead

22:23 That day some Sadducees – who deny that there is a resurrection – approached him and they put this question to him,

22:24 ‘Master, Moses said that if a man dies childless, his brother is to marry the widow, his sister-in-law to raise children for his brother.

22:25 Now we had a case involving seven brothers; the first married and then died without children, leaving his wife to his brother;

22:26 the same thing happened with the second and third and so on to the seventh,

22:27 and then last of all the woman herself died.

22:28 Now at the resurrection to which of those seven will she be wife, since she had been married to them all?’

22:29 Jesus answered them, ‘You are wrong, because you understand neither the scriptures nor the power of God.

22:30 For at the resurrection men and women do not marry; no, they are like the angels in heaven.

22:31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you never read what God himself said to you:

22:32 I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?[*b] God is God, not of the dead, but of the living.’

22:33 And his teaching made a deep impression on the people who heard it.

 

The greatest commandment of all

22:34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees they got together

22:35 and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question,

22:36 ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’

22:37 Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

22:38 This is the greatest and the first commandment.

22:39 The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself.

22:40 On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’

 

Christ not only son but also Lord of David

22:41 While the Pharisees were gathered round, Jesus put to them this question,

22:42 ‘What is your opinion about the Christ? Whose son is he?’ ‘David’s’ they told him.

22:43 ‘Then how is it’ he said ‘that David, moved by the Spirit, calls him Lord, where he says:

22:44 The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand and I will put your enemies under your feet?[*c]

22:45 ‘If David can call him Lord, then how can he be his son?’

22:46 Not one could think of anything to say in reply, and from that day no one dared to ask him any further questions.

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 23

 

The scribes and Pharisees: their hypocrisy and vanity

23:1 Then addressing the people and his disciples Jesus said,

23:2 ‘The scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses.

23:3 You must therefore do what they tell you and listen to what they say; but do not be guided by what they do: since they do not practise what they preach.

23:4 They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they!

23:5 Everything they do is done to attract attention, like wearing broader phylacteries and longer tassels[*a],

23:6 like wanting to take the place of honour at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues,

23:7 being greeted obsequiously in the market squares and having people call them Rabbi.

23:8 ‘You, however, must not allow yourselves to be called Rabbi, since you have only one master, and you are all brothers.

23:9 You must call no one on earth your father, since you have only one Father, and he is in heaven.

23:10 Nor must you allow yourselves to be called teachers, for you have only one Teacher, the Christ.

23:11 The greatest among you must be your servant.

23:12 Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will exalted.

 

The sevenfold indictment of the scribes and Pharisees

23:13 ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who shut up the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces, neither going in yourselves nor allowing others to go in[*b] who want to.

23:15 ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when you have him you make him twice as fit for hell as you are.

23:16 ‘Alas for you, blind guides! You who say, “If a man swears by the Temple, it has no force; but if a man swears by the gold of the Temple, he is bound”.

23:17 Fools and blind! For which is of greater worth, the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred?

23:18 Or else, “If a man swears by the altar it has no force; but if a man swears by the offering that is on the altar, he is bound”.

23:19 You blind men! For which is of greater worth, the offering or the altar that makes the offering sacred?

23:20 Therefore, when a man swears by the altar he is swearing by that and by everything on it.

23:21 And when a man swears by the Temple he is swearing by that and by the One who dwells in it.

23:22 And when a man swears by heaven he is swearing by the throne of God and by the One who is seated there.

23:23 ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who pay your tithe of mint and dill and cummin[*c] and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law – justice, mercy, good faith! These you should have practised, without neglecting the others.

23:24 You blind guides! Straining out gnats and swallowing camels!

23:25 ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who clean the outside of cup and dish and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance.

23:26 Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of cup and dish first so that the outside may become clean as well.

23:27 ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who are like whitewashed tombs that look handsome on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of corruption.

23:28 In the same way you appear to people from the outside like good honest men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

23:29 ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who build the sepulchres of the prophets and decorate the tombs of holy men,

23:30 saying, “We would never have joined in shedding the blood of the prophets, had we lived in our fathers’ day”.

23:31 So! Your own evidence tells against you! You are the sons of those who murdered the prophets!

23:32 Very well then, finish off the work that your fathers began.

 

Their crimes and approaching punishment

23:33 ‘Serpents, brood of vipers, how can you escape being condemned to hell?

23:34 This is why, in my turn, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes: some you will slaughter and crucify, some you will scourge in your synagogues and hunt from town to town;

23:35 and so you will draw down on yourselves the blood of every holy man that has been shed on earth, from the blood of Abel the Holy to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah[*d] whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

23:36 I tell you solemnly, all of this will recoil on this generation.

 

Jerusalem admonished

23:37 ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I longed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you refused!

23:38 So be it! Your house will be left to you desolate,

23:39 for, I promise, you shall not see me any more until you say: Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!'[*e]

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 24

 

1. THE SERMON ON THE END

 

Introduction

24:1 Jesus left the Temple, and as he was going away his disciples came up to draw his attention to the Temple buildings.

24:2 He said to them in reply, ‘You see all these? I tell you solemnly, not a single stone here will be left on another: everything will be destroyed.’

24:3 And when he was sitting on the Mount of Olives the disciples came and asked him privately, ‘Tell us, when is this going to happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world?’

 

The beginning of sorrows

24:4 And Jesus answered them, ‘Take care that no one deceives you;

24:5 because many will come using my name and saying, “I am the Christ”, and they will deceive many.

24:6 You will hear of wars and rumours of wars; do not be alarmed, for this is something that must happen, but the end will not be yet.

24:7 For nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes here and there.

24:8 All this is only the beginning of the birthpangs.

24:9 ‘Then they will hand you over to be tortured and put to death; and you will be hated by all the nations on account of my name.

24:10 And then many will fall away; men will betray one another and hate one another.

24:11 Many false prophets will arise; they will deceive many,

24:12 and with the increase of lawlessness, love in most men will grow cold;

24:13 but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved.

24:14 ‘This Good News of the kingdom will be proclaimed to the whole world[*a] as a witness to all the nations. And then the end[*b] will come.

 

The great tribulation of Jerusalem

24:15 ‘So when you see the disastrous abomination, of which the prophet Daniel spoke, set up in the Holy Place (let the reader understand),

24:16 then those in Judaea must escape to the mountains;

24:17 if a man is on the housetop, he must not come down to collect his belongings;

24:18 if a man is in the fields, he must not turn back to fetch his cloak.

24:19 Alas for those with child, or with babies at the breast, when those days come!

24:20 Pray that you will not have to escape in winter or on a sabbath.

24:21 For then there will be great distress such as, until now, since the world began, there never has been, nor ever will be again.

24:22 And if that time had not been shortened, no one would have survived; but shortened that time shall be, for the sake of those who are chosen.

24:23 ‘If anyone says to you then, “Look, here is the Christ” or, “He is there”, do not believe it;

24:24 for false Christs and false prophets will arise and produce great signs and portents, enough to deceive even the chosen, if that were possible.

24:25 There; I have forewarned you.

 

The coming of the Son of Man will be evident

24:26 ‘If, then, they say to you, “Look, he is in the desert”, do not go there; “Look, he is in some hiding place”, do not believe it;

24:27 because the coming of the Son of Man will be like lightning striking in the east and flashing far into the west.

24:28 Wherever the corpse is, there will the vultures gather.

 

The universal significance of this coming

24:29 ‘Immediately after the distress of those days[*c] the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of heaven will be shaken.

24:30 And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven; then too all the peoples of the earth will beat their breasts; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.[*d]

24:31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet to gather his chosen from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

 

The time of this coming

24:32 ‘Take the fig tree as a parable: as soon as its twigs grow supple and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.

24:33 So with you when you see all these things: know that he is near, at the very gates.

24:34 I tell you solemnly, before this generation has passed away all these things will have taken place.[*e]

24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

24:36 But as for that day and hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, no one but the Father only.

 

Be on the alert

24:37 ‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it be when the Son of Man comes.

24:38 For in those days before the Flood people were eating, drinking, taking wives, taking husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark,

24:39 and they suspected nothing till the Flood came and swept all away. It will be like this when the Son of Man comes.

24:40 Then of two men in the fields one is taken, one left;

24:41 of two women at the millstone grinding, one is taken, one left.

24:42 ‘So stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming.

24:43 You may be quite sure of this that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house.

24:44 Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

 

Parable of the conscientious steward

24:45 ‘What sort of servant, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their food at the proper time?

24:46 Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds him at this employment.

24:47 I tell you solemnly, he will place him over everything he owns.

24:48 But as for the dishonest servant who says to himself, “My master is taking his time”,

24:49 and sets about beating his fellow servants and eating and drinking with drunkards,

24:50 his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know.

24:51 The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 25

 

Parable of the ten bridesmaids

25:1 ‘Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this: Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.

25:2 Five of them were foolish and five were sensible:

25:3 the foolish ones did take their lamps, but they brought no oil,

25:4 whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps.

25:5 The bridegroom was late, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep.

25:6 But at midnight there was a cry, “The bridegroom is here! Go out and meet him.”

25:7 At this, all those bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps,

25:8 and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, “Give us some of your oil: our lamps are going out”.

25:9 But they replied, “There may not be enough for us and for you; you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves”.

25:10 They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed.

25:11 The other bridesmaids arrived later. “Lord, Lord,” they said “open the door for us.”

25:12 But he replied, “I tell you solemnly, I do not know you”.

25:13 So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.

 

Parable of the talents

25:14 ‘It is like a man on his way abroad who summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them.

25:15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third is one; each in proportion to his ability. Then he set out.

25:16 The man who had received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and made five more.

25:17 The man who had received two made two more in the same way.

25:18 But the man who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

25:19 Now a long time after, the master of those servants came back and went through his accounts with them.

25:20 The man who had received the five talents came forward bringing five more. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with five talents; here are five more that I have made.”

25:21 His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s happiness”.

25:22 Next the man with the two talents came forward. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with two talents; here are two more that I have made.”

25:23 His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s happiness”.

25:24 Last came forward the man who had the one talent. “Sir,” said he “I had heard you were a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered;

25:25 so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground. Here it is; it was yours, you have it back.”

25:26 But his master answered him, “You wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered?

25:27 Well then, you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have recovered my capital with interest.

25:28 So now, take the talent from him and give it to the man who has the five talents.

25:29 For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

25:30 As for this good-for-nothing servant, throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.”

 

The Last Judgement

25:31 ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory.

25:32 All the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate men one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats.

25:33 He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left.

25:34 Then the King will say to those on his right hand, “Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world.

25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome;

25:36 naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.”

25:37 Then the virtuous will say to him in reply, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or thirsty and give you drink?

25:38 When did we see you a stranger and make you welcome; naked and clothe you;

25:39 sick or in prison and go to see you?”

25:40 And the King will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me”.

25:41 Next he will say to those on his left hand, “Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

25:42 For I was hungry and you never gave me food; I was thirsty and you never gave me anything to drink;

25:43 I was a stranger and you never made me welcome, naked and you never clothed me, sick and in prison and you never visited me.”

25:44 Then it will be their turn to ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or in prison, and did not come to your help?”

25:45 Then he will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me”.

25:46 And they will go away to eternal punishment, and the virtuous to eternal life.’

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 26

 

VII. PASSION AND RESURRECTION

 

The conspiracy against Jesus

26:1 Jesus had now finished all he wanted to say, and he told his disciples,

26:2 ‘It will be Passover, as you know, in two days’ time, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified’.

26:3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,

26:4 and made plans to arrest Jesus by some trick and have him put to death.

26:5 They said, however, ‘It must not be during the festivities; there must be no disturbance among the people’.

 

The anointing at Bethany

26:6 Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, when

26:7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of the most expensive ointment, and poured it on his head as he was at table.

26:8 When they saw this, the disciples were indignant; ‘Why this waste?’ they said.

26:9 ‘This could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.’

26:10 Jesus noticed this. ‘Why are you upsetting the woman?’ he said to them. ‘What she has done for me is one of the good works[*a] indeed!

26:11 You have the poor with you always, but you will not always have me.

26:12 When she poured this ointment on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.

26:13 I tell you solemnly, wherever in all the world this Good News is proclaimed, what she has done will be told also, in remembrance of her.’

 

Judas betrays Jesus

26:14 Then one of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said,

26:15 ‘What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?’

26:16 They paid him thirty silver pieces[*b], and from that moment he looked for an opportunity to betray him.

 

Preparations for the Passover supper

26:17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread[*c] the disciples came to Jesus to say, ‘Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the passover?’

26:18 ‘Go to so-and-so in the city’ he replied ‘and say to him, “The Master says: My time is near. It is at your house that I am keeping Passover with my disciples.”‘

26:19 The disciples did what Jesus told them and prepared the Passover.

 

The treachery of Judas foretold

26:20 When evening came he was at table with the twelve disciples.

26:21 And while they were eating he said ‘I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me’

26:22 They were greatly distressed and started asking him in turn, ‘Not I, Lord, surely?’

26:23 He answered, ‘Someone who has dipped his hand into the dish with me, will betray me.

26:24 The Son of Man is going to his fate, as the scriptures say he will, but alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had never been born!’

26:25 Judas, who was to betray him; asked in his turn, ‘Not I, Rabbi, surely?’ ‘They are your own words’ answered Jesus.

 

The institution of the Eucharist

26:26 Now as they were eating[*d], Jesus took some bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to the disciples. ‘Take it and eat;’ he said ‘this is my body.’

26:27 Then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks he gave it to them. ‘Drink all of you from this,’ he said

26:28 ‘for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

26:29 From now on, I tell you, I shall not drink wine until the day I drink the new wine with you in the kingdom of my Father.’

 

Peter’s denial foretold

26:30 After psalms had been sung[*e] they left for the Mount of Olives.

26:31 Then Jesus said to them, ‘You will all lose faith in me this night,[*f] for the scripture says: I shall strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered,[*g]

26:32 but after my resurrection I shall go before you to Galilee’.

26:33 At this, Peter said, ‘Though all lose faith in you, I will never lose faith’.

26:34 Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you solemnly, this very night, before the cock crows, you will have disowned me three times’.

26:35 Peter said to him, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you’. And all the disciples said the same.

 

Gethsemane

26:36 Then Jesus came with them to a small estate called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, ‘Stay here while I go over there to pray’.

26:37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him. And sadness came over him, and great distress.

26:38 Then he said to them, ‘My soul is sorrowful to the point of death. Wait here and keep awake with me.’

26:39 And going on a little further he fell on his face and prayed. ‘My Father,’ he said ‘if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it.’

26:40 He came back to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, ‘So you had not the strength to keep awake with me one hour?

26:41 You should be awake, and praying not to be put to the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’

26:42 Again, a second time, he went away and prayed: ‘My Father,’ he said ‘If this cup cannot pass by without my drinking it, your will be done!’

26:43 And he came back again and found them sleeping, their eyes were so heavy.

26:44 Leaving them there, he went away again and prayed for the third time, repeating the same words.

26:45 Then he came back to the disciples and said to them, ‘You can sleep on now and take your rest. Now the hour has come when the Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners.

26:46 Get up! Let us go! My betrayer is already close at hand.’

 

The arrest

26:47 He was still speaking when Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared, and with him a large number of men armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and elders of the people.

26:48 Now the traitor had arranged a sign with them. ‘The one I kiss,’ he had said ‘he is the man. Take him in charge.’

26:49 So he went straight up to Jesus and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi’, and kissed him.

26:50 Jesus said to him, ‘My friend, do what you are here for’. Then they came forward, seized Jesus and took him in charge.

26:51 At that, one of the followers of Jesus grasped his sword and drew it; he struck out at the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear.

26:52 Jesus then said, ‘Put your sword back, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.

26:53 Or do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father who would promptly send more than twelve legions of angels to my defence?

26:54 But then, how would the scriptures be fulfilled that say this is the way it must be?’

26:55 It was at this time that Jesus said to the crowds, ‘Am I a brigand, that you had to set out to capture me with swords and clubs? I sat teaching in the Temple day after day and you never laid hands on me.’

26:56 Now all this happened to fulfil the prophecies in scripture. Then all the disciples deserted him and ran away.

 

Jesus before the Sanhedrin

26:57 The men who had arrested Jesus led him off to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.

26:58 Peter followed him at a distance, and when he reached the high priest’s palace, he went in and sat down with the attendants to see what the end would be.

26:59 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus, however false, on which they might pass the death-sentence.

26:60 But they could not find any, though several lying witnesses came forward. Eventually two stepped forward

26:61 and made a statement, ‘This man said, “I have power to destroy the Temple of God and in three days build it up”‘

26:62 The high priest then stood up and said to him, ‘Have you no answer to that? What is this evidence these men are bringing against you?’

26:63 But Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him, ‘I put you on oath by the living God to tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God’.

26:64 ‘The words are your own’ answered Jesus. ‘Moreover, I tell you that from this time onward you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.’

26:65 At this, the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘He has blasphemed. What need of witnesses have we now? There! You have just heard the blasphemy.

26:66 What is your opinion?’ They answered, ‘He deserves to die’.

26:67 Then they spat in his face and hit him with their fists; others said as they struck him,

26:68 ‘Play the prophet, Christ! Who hit you then?’

 

Peter’s denials

26:69 Meanwhile Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came up to him and said, ‘You too were with Jesus the Galilean’.

26:70 But he denied it in front of them all. ‘I do not know what you are talking about’ he said.

26:71 When he went out to the gateway another servant-girl saw him and said to the people there, ‘This man was with Jesus the Nazarene’.

26:72 And again, with an oath, he denied it, ‘I do not know the man’.

26:73 A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, ‘You are one of them for sure! Why, your accent gives you away.’

26:74 Then he started calling down curses on himself and swearing, ‘I do not know the man’. At that moment the cock crew,

26:75 and Peter remembered what Jesus had said, ‘Before the cock crows you will have disowned me three times’. And he went outside and wept bitterly.

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 27

 

Jesus is taken before Pilate

27:1 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people met in council to bring about the death of Jesus.

27:2 They had him bound, and led him away to hand him over to Pilate[*a], the governor.

 

The death of Judas

27:3 When he found that Jesus had been condemned, Judas his betrayer was filled with remorse and took the thirty silver pieces back to the chief priests and elders.

27:4 ‘I have sinned;’ he said ‘I have betrayed innocent blood’ ‘What is that to us?’ they replied ‘That is your concern.’

27:5 And flinging down the silver pieces in the sanctuary he made off and hanged himself;

27:6 The chief priests picked up the silver pieces and said, ‘It is against the Law to put this into the treasury; it is blood-money’.

27:7 So they discussed the matter and bought the potter’s field with it as a graveyard for foreigners,

27:8 and this is why the field is called the Field of Blood today.

27:9 The words of the prophet Jeremiah[*b] were then fulfilled: And they took the thirty silver pieces, the sum at which the precious One was priced by children of Israel,

27:10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, just as the Lord directed me.

 

Jesus before Pilate

27:11 Jesus, then, was brought before the governor, and the governor put to him this question, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Jesus replied, ‘It is you who say it’.

27:12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and the elders he refused to answer at all.

27:13 Pilate then said to him, ‘Do you not hear how many charges they have brought against you?’

27:14 But to the governor’s complete amazement, he offered no reply to any of the charges.

27:15 At festival time it was the governor’s practice to release a prisoner for the people, anyone they chose.

27:16 Now there was at that time a notorious prisoner whose name was Barabbas.

27:17 So when the crowd gathered, Pilate said to them, ‘Which do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?’

27:18 For Pilate knew it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over.

27:19 Now as he was seated in the chair of judgement, his wife sent him a message, ‘Have nothing to do with that man; I have been upset all day by a dream I had about him’.

27:20 The chief priests and the elders, however, had persuaded the crowd to demand the release of Barabbas and the execution of Jesus.

27:21 So when the governor spoke and asked them, ‘Which of the two do you want me to release for you?’ they said, ‘Barabbas’.

27:22 ‘But in that case,’ Pilate said to them ‘what am I to do with Jesus who is called Christ?’ They all said, ‘Let him be crucified!’

27:23 ‘Why?’ he asked ‘What harm has he done?’ But they shouted all the louder, ‘Let him be crucified!’

27:24 Then Pilate saw that he was making no impression, that in fact a riot was imminent. So he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd and said, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood. It is your concern.’

27:25 And the people, to a man, shouted back, ‘His blood be on us and on our children!’

27:26 Then he released Barabbas for them. He ordered Jesus to be first scourged[*c] and then handed over to be crucified.

 

Jesus is crowned with thorns

27:27 The governor’s soldiers took Jesus with them into the Praetorium and collected the whole cohort round him.

27:28 Then they stripped him and made him wear a scarlet cloak,

27:29 and having twisted some thorns into a crown they put this on his head and placed a reed in his right hand. To make fun of him they knelt to him saying, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’

27:30 And they spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head with it.

27:31 And when they had finished making fun of him, they took off the cloak and dressed him in his own clothes and led him away to crucify him.

 

The crucifixion

27:32 On their way out, they came across a man from Cyrene, Simon by name, and enlisted him to carry his cross.

27:33 When they had reached a place called Golgotha[*d], that is, the place of the skull,

27:34 they gave him wine to drink mixed with gall, which he tasted but refused to drink.

27:35 When they had finished crucifying him they shared out his clothing by casting lots,

27:36 and then sat down and stayed there keeping guard over him.

27:37 Above his head was placed the charge against him; it read: ‘This is Jesus, the King of the Jews’.

27:38 At the same time two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left.

 

The crucified Christ is mocked

27:39 The passers-by jeered at him; they shook their heads

27:40 and said, ‘So you would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days! Then save yourself! If you are God’s son, come down from the cross!’

27:41 The chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him in the same way.

27:42 ‘He saved others;’ they said ‘he cannot save himself. He is the king of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.

27:43 He puts his trust in God; now let God rescue him if he wants him. For he did say, “I am the son of God”.’

27:44 Even the robbers who were crucified with him taunted him in the same way.

 

The death of Jesus

27:45 From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour[*e].

27:46 And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you deserted me?'[*f]

27:47 When some of those who stood there heard this, they said, ‘The man is calling on Elijah’,

27:48 and one of them quickly ran to get a sponge which he dipped in vinegar[*g] and, putting it on a reed, gave it him to drink.

27:49 ‘Wait!’ said the rest of them ‘and see if Elijah will come to save him.’

27:50 But Jesus, again crying out in a loud voice, yielded up his spirit.

27:51 At that, the veil of the Temple[*h] was torn in two from top to bottom; the earth quaked; the rocks were split;

27:52 the tombs opened and the bodies of many holy men rose from the dead,

27:53 and these, after his resurrection, came out of the tombs, entered the Holy City and appeared to a number of people.

27:54 Meanwhile the centurion, together with the others guarding Jesus, had seen the earthquake and all that was taking place, and they were terrified and said, ‘In truth this was a son of God.’

27:55 And many women were there, watching from a distance, the same women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and looked after him.

27:56 Among them were Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

 

The burial

27:57 When it was evening, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, called Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus.

27:58 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate thereupon ordered it to be handed over.

27:59 So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean shroud

27:60 and put it in his own new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a large stone across the entrance of the tomb and went away.

27:61 Now Mary of Magdala and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the sepulchre.

 

The guard at the tomb

27:62 Next day, that is, when Preparation Day[*i] was over, the chief priests and the Pharisees went in a body to Pilate

27:63 and said to him, ‘Your Excellency, we recall that this impostor said, while he was still alive, “After three days I shall rise again”.

27:64 Therefore give the order to have the sepulchre kept secure until the third day, for fear his disciples come and steal him away and tell the people, “He has risen from the dead”. This last piece of fraud would be worse than what went before.’

27:65 ‘You may have your guard’ said Pilate to them. ‘Go and make all as secure as you know how.’

27:66 So they went and made the sepulchre secure, putting seals on the stone and mounting a guard.

 

JB MATTHEW Chapter 28

 

The empty tomb. The angel’s message

28:1 After the sabbath, and towards dawn on the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary went to visit the sepulchre.

28:2 And all at once there was a violent earthquake, for the angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled away the stone and sat on it.

28:3 His face was like lightning, his robe white as snow.

28:4 The guards were so shaken, so frightened of him, that they were like dead men.

28:5 But the angel spoke; and he said to the women, ‘There is no need for you to be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.

28:6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said he would. Come and see the place where he lay,

28:7 then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has risen from the dead and now he is going before you to Galilee; it is there you will see him”. Now I have told you.’

28:8 Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell the disciples.

 

Appearance to the women

28:9 And there, coming to meet them, was Jesus. ‘Greetings’ he said. And the women came up to him and, falling down before him, clasped his feet.

28:10 Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee; they will see me there’.

 

Precautions taken by the leaders of the people

28:11 While they were on their way, some of the guard went off into the city to tell the chief priests all that had happened.

28:12 These held a meeting with the elders and, after some discussion, handed a considerable sum of money to the soldiers

28:13 with these instructions, ‘This is what you must say, “His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep”.

28:14 And should the governor come to hear of this, we undertake to put things right with him ourselves and to see that you do not get into trouble.’

28:15 The soldiers took the money and carried out their instructions, and to this day that is the story among the Jews.

 

Appearance in Galilee. The mission to the world

28:16 Meanwhile the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them.

28:17 When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated.

28:18 Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

28:19 Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,[*a]

28:20 and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.’

 

END OF JB MATTHEW [28 Chapters].