Chapter 5

014:008 "When any one invites you to a wedding banquet, do not take the best seat, lest perhaps some more honoured guest than you may have been asked,

014:009 and the man who invited you both will come and will say to you, `Make room for this guest,' and then you, ashamed, will move to the lowest place.

014:010 On the contrary, when you are invited go and take the lowest place, that when your host comes round he may say to you, `My friend, come up higher.' This will be doing you honour in the presence of all the other guests.

014:011 For whoever uplifts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be uplifted.

014:012 Also to His host, who had invited Him, He said, "When you give a breakfast or a dinner, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbours, lest perhaps they should invite you in return and a requital be made you.

014:013 But when you entertain, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind;

014:014 and you will be blessed, because they have no means of requiting you, but there will be requital for you at the Resurrection of the righteous."

014:015 After listening to this teaching, one of His fellow guests said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall feast in God's Kingdom."

014:016 "A man once gave a great dinner," replied Jesus, "to which he invited a large number of guests.

014:017 At dinner-time he sent his servant to announce to those who had been invited, "`Come, for things are now ready.'

014:018 "But they all without exception began to excuse themselves. The first told him, "`I have purchased a piece of land, and must of necessity go and look at it. Pray hold me excused.'

014:019 "A second pleaded, "`I have bought five yoke of oxen, and am on my way to try them. Pray hold me excused.'

014:020 "Another said, "`I am just married. It is impossible for me to come.'

014:021 "So the servant came and brought these answers to his master, and they stirred his anger. "`Go out quickly,' he said, `into the streets of the city--the wide ones and the narrow. You will see poor men, and crippled, blind, lame: fetch them all in here.'

014:022 "Soon the servant reported the result, saying, "`Sir, what you ordered is done, and there is room still.'

014:023 "`Go out,' replied the master, `to the high roads and hedge-rows, and compel the people to come in, so that my house may be filled.

014:024 For I tell you that not one of those who were invited shall taste my dinner.'"

014:025 On His journey vast crowds attended Him, towards whom He turned and said,

014:026 "If any one is coming to me who does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes and his own life also, he cannot be a disciple of mine.

014:027 No one who does not carry his own cross and come after me can be a disciple of mine.

014:028 "Which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not sit down first and calculate the cost, asking if he has the means to finish it?--

014:029 lest perhaps, when he has laid the foundation and is unable to finish, all who see it shall begin to jeer at him,

014:030 saying, `This man began to build, but could not finish.'

014:031 Or what king, marching to encounter another king in war, does not first sit down and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand men to meet the one who is advancing against him with twenty thousand?

014:032 If not, while the other is still a long way off, he sends messengers and sues for peace.

014:033 Just as no one of you who does not detach himself from all that belongs to him can be a disciple of mine.

014:034 "Salt is good: but if even the salt has become tasteless, what will you use to season it?

014:035 Neither for land nor dunghill is it of any use; they throw it away. Listen, every one who has ears to listen with!"

015:001 Now the tax-gatherers and the notorious sinners were everywhere in the habit of coming close to Him to listen to Him;

015:002 and this led the Pharisees and the Scribes indignantly to complain, saying, "He gives a welcome to notorious sinners, and joins them at their meals!"

015:003 So in figurative language He asked them,

015:004 "Which of you men, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in their pasture and go in search of the lost one till he finds it?

015:005 And when he has found it, he lifts it on his shoulder, glad at heart.

015:006 Then coming home he calls his friends and neighbours together, and says, `Congratulate me, for I have found my sheep-- the one I had lost.'

015:007 I tell you that in the same way there will be rejoicing in Heaven over one repentant sinner--more rejoicing than over ninety-nine blameless persons who have no need of repentance.

015:008 "Or what woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully till she finds it?

015:009 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, and says, "`Congratulate me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.'

015:010 "I tell you that in the same way there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one repentant sinner."

015:011 He went on to say, "There was a man who had two sons.

015:012 The younger of them said to his father, "`Father, give me the share of the property that comes to me.' "So he divided his wealth between them.

015:013 No long time afterwards the younger son got all together and travelled to a distant country, where he wasted his money in debauchery and excess.

015:014 At last, when he had spent everything, there came a terrible famine throughout that country, and he began to feel the pinch of want.

015:015 So he went and hired himself to one of the inhabitants of that country, who sent him on to his farm to tend swine;

015:016 and he longed to make a hearty meal of the pods the swine were eating, but no one gave him any.

015:017 "But on coming to himself he said, "`How many of my father's hired men have more bread than they want, while I here am dying of hunger!

015:018 I will rise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you:

015:019 I no longer deserve to be called a son of yours: treat me as one of your hired men.'

015:020 "So he rose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and pitied him, and ran and threw his arms round his neck and kissed him tenderly.

015:021 "`Father,' cried the son, `I have sinned against Heaven and before you: no longer do I deserve to be called a son of yours.'

015:022 "But the father said to his servants, "`Fetch a good coat quickly-- the best one--and put it on him; and bring a ring for his finger and shoes for his feet.

015:023 Fetch the fat calf and kill it, and let us feast and enjoy ourselves;

015:024 for my son here was dead and has come to life again: he was lost and has been found.' "And they began to be merry.

015:025 "Now his elder son was out on the farm; and when he returned and came near home, he heard music and dancing.

015:026 Then he called one of the lads to him and asked what all this meant.

015:027 "`Your brother has come,' he replied; `and your father has had the fat calf killed, because he has got him home safe and sound.'

015:028 "Then he was angry and would not go in. But his father came out and entreated him.

015:029 "`All these years,' replied the son, `I have been slaving for you, and I have never at any time disobeyed any of your orders, and yet you have never given me so much as a kid, for me to enjoy myself with my friends;

015:030 but now that this son of yours is come who has eaten up your property among his bad women, you have killed the fat calf for him.'

015:031 "`You my dear son,' said the father, `are always with me, and all that is mine is also yours.

015:032 We are bound to make merry and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has come back to life, he was lost and has been found.'"

016:001 He said also to His disciples: "There was a rich man who had a steward, about whom a report was brought to him, that he was wasting his property.

016:002 He called him and said, "`What is this I hear about you? Render an account of your stewardship, for I cannot let you hold it any longer.'

016:003 "Then the steward said within himself, "`What am I to do? For my master is taking away the stewardship from me. I am not strong enough for field labour: to beg, I should be ashamed.

016:004 I see what to do, in order that when I am discharged from the stewardship they may give me a home in their own houses.'

016:005 "So he called all his master's debtors, one by one, and asked the first, `How much are you in debt to my master?'

016:006 "`A hundred firkins of oil,' he replied. "`Here is your account,' said the steward: `sit down quickly and change it into fifty firkins.'

016:007 "To a second he said, "`And how much do you owe?' "`A hundred quarters of wheat,' was the answer. "`Here is your account,' said he: `change it into eighty quarters.'

016:008 "And the master praised the dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for, in relation to their own contemporaries, the men of this age are shrewder than the sons of Light.

016:009 "But I charge you, so to use the wealth which is ever tempting to dishonesty as to win friends who, when it fails, shall welcome you to the tents that never perish.

016:010 The man who is honest in a very small matter is honest in a great one also; and he who is dishonest in a very small matter is dishonest in a great one also.

016:011 If therefore you have not proved yourselves faithful in dealing with the wealth that is tainted with fraud, who will entrust to you the true good?

016:012 And if you have not been faithful in dealing with that which is not your own, who will give you that which is your own?

016:013 "No servant can be in bondage to two masters. For either he will hate one and love the other, or else he will cling fast to one and scorn the other. You cannot be bondservants both of God and of gold."

016:014 To all this the Pharisees listened, bitterly jeering at Him; for they were lovers of money.

016:015 "You are they," He said to them, "who boast of their own goodness before men, but God sees your hearts; for that which holds a proud position among men is detestable in God's sight.

016:016 The Law and the Prophets continued until John came: from that time the Good News of the Kingdom of God has been spreading, and all classes have been forcing their way into it.

016:017 But it is easier for earth and sky to pass away than for one smallest detail of the Law to fall to the ground.

016:018 Every man who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and he who marries her when so divorced from her husband commits adultery.

016:019 "There was once a rich man who habitually arrayed himself in purple and fine linen, and enjoyed a splendid banquet every day,

016:020 while at his outer door there lay a beggar, Lazarus by name,

016:021 covered with sores and longing to make a full meal off the scraps flung on the floor from the rich man's table. Nay, the dogs, too, used to come and lick his sores.

016:022 "But in course of time the beggar died; and he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and had a funeral.

016:023 And in Hades, being in torment, he looked and saw Abraham in the far distance, and Lazarus resting in his arms.

016:024 So he cried aloud, and said, "`Father Abraham, take pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.'

016:025 "`Remember, my child,' said Abraham, `that you had all your good things during your lifetime, and that Lazarus in like manner had his bad things. But, now and here, he is receiving consolation and you are in agony.

016:026 And, besides all this, a vast chasm is immovably fixed between us and you, put there in order that those who desire to cross from this side to you may not be able, nor any be able to cross over from your side to us.'

016:027 "`I entreat you then, father,' said he, `to send him to my father's house.

016:028 For I have five brothers. Let him earnestly warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'

016:029 "`They have Moses and the Prophets,' replied Abraham; `let them hear them.'

016:030 "`No, father Abraham,' he pleaded; `but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'

016:031 "`If they are deaf to Moses and the Prophets,' replied Abraham, `they would not be led to believe even if some one should rise from the dead.'"

017:001 Jesus said to His disciples, "It is inevitable that causes of stumbling should come; but alas for him through whom they come!

017:002 It would be well for him if, with a millstone round his neck, he were lying at the bottom of the sea, rather than that he should cause even one of these little ones to fall.

017:003 Be on your guard. "If your brother acts wrongly, reprove him; and if he is sorry, forgive him;

017:004 and if seven times in a day he acts wrongly towards you, and seven times turns again to you and says, `I am sorry,' you must forgive him."

017:005 And the Apostles said to the Lord, "Give us faith."

017:006 "If your faith," replied the Lord, "is like a mustard seed, you might command this black-mulberry-tree, `Tear up your roots and plant yourself in the sea,' and instantly it would obey you.

017:007 But which of you who has a servant ploughing, or tending sheep, will say to him when he comes in from the farm, `Come at once and take your place at table,'

017:008 and will not rather say to him, `Get my dinner ready, make yourself tidy, and wait upon me till I have finished my dinner, and then you shall have yours'?

017:009 Does he thank the servant for obeying his orders?

017:010 So you also, when you have obeyed all the orders given you, must say, "`There is no merit in our service: what we have done is only what we were in duty bound to do.'"

017:011 As they pursued their journey to Jerusalem, He passed through Samaria and Galilee.

017:012 And as He entered a certain village, ten men met Him who were lepers and stood at a distance.

017:013 In loud voices they cried out, "Jesus, Rabbi, take pity on us."

017:014 Perceiving this, He said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the Priests." And while on their way to do this they were made clean.

017:015 One of them, seeing that he was cured, came back, adoring and praising God in a loud voice,

017:016 and he threw himself at the feet of Jesus, thanking Him. He was a Samaritan.

017:017 "Were not all ten made clean?" Jesus asked; "but where are the nine?

017:018 Have none been found to come back and give glory to God except this foreigner?"

017:019 And He said to him, "Rise and go: your faith has cured you."

017:020 Being asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God was coming, He answered, "The Kingdom of God does not so come that you can stealthily watch for it.

017:021 Nor will they say, `See here!' or `See there!'--for the Kingdom of God is within you."

017:022 Then, turning to His disciples, He said, "There will come a time when you will wish you could see a single one of the days of the Son of Man, but will not see one.

017:023 And they will say to you, `See there!' `See here!' Do not start off and go in pursuit.

017:024 For just as the lightning, when it flashes, shines from one part of the horizon to the opposite part, so will the Son of Man be on His day.

017:025 But first He must endure much suffering, and be rejected by the present generation.

017:026 "And as it was in the time of Noah, so will it also be in the time of the Son of Man.

017:027 Men were eating and drinking, taking wives and giving wives, up to the very day on which Noah entered the Ark, and the Deluge came and destroyed them all.

017:028 The same was true in the time of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building;

017:029 but on the day that Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and brimstone from the sky and destroyed them all.

017:030 Exactly so will it be on the day that the veil is lifted from the Son of Man.

017:031 "On that day, if a man is on the roof and his property indoors, let him not go down to fetch it; and, in the same way, he who is in the field, let him not turn back.

017:032 Remember Lot's wife.

017:033 Any man who makes it his object to keep his own life safe, will lose it; but whoever loses his life will preserve it.

017:034 On that night, I tell you, there will be two men in one bed: one will be taken away and the other left behind.

017:035 There will be two women turning the mill together: one will be taken away and the other left behind."

017:036 []

017:037 "Where, Master?" they inquired. "Where the dead body is," He replied, "there also will the vultures flock together."

018:001 He also taught them by a parable that they must always pray and never lose heart.

018:002 "In a certain town," He said, "there was a judge who had no fear of God and no respect for man.

018:003 And in the same town was a widow who repeatedly came and entreated him, saying, "`Give me justice and stop my oppressor.'

018:004 "For a time he would not, but afterwards he said to himself, "`Though I have neither reverence for God nor respect for man,

018:005 yet because she annoys me I will give her justice, to prevent her from constantly coming to pester me.'"

018:006 And the Lord said, "Hear those words of the unjust judge.

018:007 And will not God avenge the wrongs of His own People who cry aloud to Him day and night, although He seems slow in taking action on their behalf?

018:008 Yes, He will soon avenge their wrongs. Yet, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?"

018:009 And to some who relied on themselves as being righteous men, and looked down upon all others, He addressed this parable.

018:010 "Two men went up to the Temple to pray," He said; "one being a Pharisee and the other a tax-gatherer.

018:011 The Pharisee, standing erect, prayed as follows by himself: "`O God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people-- I am not a thief nor a cheat nor an adulterer, nor do I even resemble this tax-gatherer.

018:012 I fast twice a week. I pay the tithe on all my gains.'

018:013 "But the tax-gatherer, standing far back, would not so much as lift his eyes to Heaven, but kept beating his breast and saying, "`O God, be reconciled to me, sinner that I am.'

018:014 "I tell you that this man went home more thoroughly absolved from guilt than the other; for every one who uplifts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be uplifted."

018:015 On one occasion people also brought with them their infants, for Him to touch them; but the disciples, noticing this, proceeded to find fault with them.

018:016 Jesus however called the infants to Him. "Let the little children come to me," He said; "do not hinder them; for it is to those who are childlike that the Kingdom of God belongs.

018:017 I tell you in solemn truth that, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will certainly not enter it."

018:018 The question was put to Him by a Ruler: "Good Rabbi, what shall I do to inherit the Life of the Ages?"

018:019 "Why do you call me good?" replied Jesus; "there is no one good but One, namely God.

018:020 You know the Commandments: `Do not commit adultery;' `Do not murder;' `Do not steal;' `Do not lie in giving evidence;' `Honour thy father and thy mother.'"

018:021 "All of those," he replied, "I have kept from my youth."

018:022 On receiving this answer Jesus said to him, "There is still one thing wanting in you. Sell everything you possess and give the money to the poor, and you shall have wealth in Heaven; and then come, follow me."

018:023 But on hearing these words he was deeply sorrowful, for he was exceedingly rich.

018:024 Jesus saw his sorrow, and said, "With how hard a struggle do the possessors of riches ever enter the Kingdom of God!

018:025 Why, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God."

018:026 "Who then can be saved?" exclaimed the hearers.

018:027 "Things impossible with man," He replied, "are possible with God."

018:028 Then Peter said, "See, we have given up our homes and have followed you."

018:029 "I solemnly tell you," replied Jesus, "that there is no one who has left house or wife, or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of God's Kingdom,

018:030 who shall not certainly receive many times as much in this life, and in the age that is coming the Life of the Ages."

018:031 Then He drew the Twelve to Him and said, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything written in the Prophets which refers to the Son of Man will be fulfilled.

018:032 For He will be given up to the Gentiles, and be mocked, outraged and spit upon.

018:033 They will scourge Him and put Him to death, and on the third day He will rise to life again."

018:034 Nothing of this did they understand. The words were a mystery to them, nor could they see what He meant.

018:035 As Jesus came near to Jericho, there was a blind man sitting by the way-side begging.

018:036 He heard a crowd of people going past, and inquired what it all meant.

018:037 "Jesus the Nazarene is passing by," they told him.

018:038 Then, at the top of his voice, he cried out, "Jesus, son of David, take pity on me."

018:039 Those in front reproved him and tried to silence him; but he continued shouting, louder than ever, "Son of David, take pity on me."

018:040 At length Jesus stopped and desired them to bring the man to Him; and when he had come close to Him He asked him,

018:041 "What shall I do for you?" "Sir," he replied, "let me recover my sight."

018:042 "Recover your sight," said Jesus: "your faith has cured you."