When, however, John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to receive his baptism, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who has prompted you to seek refuge from the coming judgment?

"Come and follow me," Jesus said, "and I will set you to fish for men."

Be ready to make friends with your opponent, even when you meet him on your way to the court; for fear that he should hand you over to the judge, and the judge to his officer, and you should be thrown into prison.

If your right eye is a snare to you, take it out and throw it away. It would be best for you to lose one part of your body, and not to have the whole of it thrown into the Pit.

And, if your right hand is a snare to you, cut it off and throw it away. It would be best for you to lose one part of your body, and not to have the whole of it go down to the Pit.

And, when any one wants to go to law with you, to take your coat, let him have your cloak as well;

And, if any one compels you to go one mile, go two miles with him.

Be on your guard against your fellow men, for they will betray you to courts of law, and scourge you in their Synagogues;

And asked--" Are you 'The Coming One,' or are we to look for someone else?"

But Jesus said: "They need not go away, it is for you to give them something to eat."

If your hand or your foot is a snare to you, cut it off, and throw it away. It would be better for you to enter the Life maimed or lame, than to have both hands, or both feet, and be thrown into the aeonian fire.

If your eye is a snare to you, take it out, and throw it away. It would be better for you to enter the Life with only one eye, than to have both eyes and be thrown into the fiery Pit.

Then Peter came up, and said to Jesus: "Master, how often am I to forgive my Brother when he wrongs me? As many as seven times?"

"Moses, owing to the hardness of your hearts," answered Jesus, "permitted you to divorce your wives, but that was not so at the beginning.

"What is it that you want?" he asked. "I want you to say," she replied, "that in your Kingdom these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right, and the other on your left."

After Jesus had come into the Temple Courts, the Chief Priests and the Councillors of the Nation came up to him as he was teaching, and said: " What authority have you to do these things? Who gave you this authority?"

When that time comes, they will give you up to persecution, and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations on account of my Name.

But while they were on their way to buy it, the bridegroom came; and the bridesmaids who were ready went in with him to the banquet, and the door was shut.

When did we see you a stranger, and take you to our homes? Or naked, and clothe you?

It was then that one of the Twelve, named Judas Iscariot, made his way to the Chief Priests,

On the first day of the Festival of the Unleavened Bread, the disciples came up to Jesus, and said: "Where do you wish us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"

And, when they had left off mocking him, they took off the military cloak, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to be crucified.

"Come and follow me," Jesus said, "and I will set you to fish for men."

"My little daughter," he said, "is at the point of death; I beg you to come and place your hands on her, that her life may be spared."

But Jesus answered: "It is for you to give them something to eat." "Are we to go and buy twenty pounds' worth of bread," they asked, "to give them to eat?"

And if I send them away to their homes hungry, they will break down on the way; and some of them have come a long distance."

So he left them to themselves, and, getting into the boat again, went away to the opposite shore.

If your hand proves a snare to you, cut it off. It would be better for you to enter the Life maimed, than to have both your hands and go into the Pit, into the inextinguishable fire.

If your foot proves a snare to you, cut it off. It would be better for you to enter the Life lame, than to have both your feet and be thrown into the Pit.

If your eye proves a snare to you, tear it out. It would be better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye, than to have both eyes and be thrown into the Pit,

James and John, the two sons of Zebediah, went to Jesus, and said: "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask."

"What authority have you to do these things?" they said. "Who gave you the authority to do them?"

See to yourselves! They will betray you to courts of law; and you will be taken to Synagogues and beaten; and you will be brought up before governors and kings for my sake, that you may bear witness before them.

They were glad to hear what he said, and promised to pay him. So he looked for a way to betray Jesus opportunely.

And John said to the crowds that went to be baptized by him: "You brood of vipers! who has prompted you to seek refuge from the coming judgment?

"What are we to do then?" the people asked.

Even tax-gatherers came to be baptized, and said to John: "Teacher, what are we to do?"

And when some soldiers on active service asked "And we--what are we to do?" he said: "Never use violence, or exact anything by false accusation; and be content with your pay."

Every one who comes to me and listens to my teaching and acts upon it--I will show you to whom he may be compared.

So he summoned two of them, and sent them to the Master to ask--"Are you 'The Coming One,' or are we to look for some one else?"

When these men found Jesus, they said: "John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask--'Are you 'The Coming One,' or are we to look for somebody else?'"

The day was drawing to a close, when the twelve came up to him, and said: "Send the crowd away, so that they may make their way to the villages and farms round about, and find themselves lodgings and provisions, for we are in a lonely spot here."

But Jesus said: "It is for you to give them something to eat." "We have not more than five loaves and two fishes," they answered; "unless indeed we are to go and buy food for all these people."

And just then a man in the crowd shouted out: "Teacher, I entreat you to look at my son, for he is my only child;

And they made their way to another village.

When, for instance, you are going with your opponent before a magistrate, on your way to the court do your best to be quit of him; for fear that he should drag you before the judge, when the judge will hand you over to the bailiff of the court, and the bailiff throw you into prison.

They all with one accord began to ask to be excused. The first man said to the servant 'I have bought a field and am obliged to go and look at it. I must ask you to consider me excused.'

The next said 'I have bought five pairs of bullocks, and I am on my way to try them. I must ask you to consider me excused';

'What am I to do,' the steward asked himself, 'now that my master is taking the steward's place away from me? I have not strength to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.

'Then, Father,' he said, 'I beg you to send Lazarus to my father's house--

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus passed between Samaria and Galilee.

Before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you, and they will betray you to Synagogues and put you in prison, when you will be brought before kings and governors for the sake of my Name.

You will be betrayed even by your parents and brothers and relations and friends, and they will cause some of you to be put to death,

I have sent you to reap that on which you have spent no labor; others have labored, and you have entered upon the results of their labor."

Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have been resting your hopes.

Looking up, and noticing that a great crowd was coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip: "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?"

"How," they asked, "are we to do the work that God would have us do?"

He who takes my flesh for his food, and drinks my blood, remains united to me, and I to him.

"Did not I myself choose you to be the Twelve?" replied Jesus; "and yet, even of you, one is playing the 'Devil's' part."

"You must be possessed by a demon!" the people exclaimed. "Who is seeking to put you to death?"

"I have still much that concerns you to speak of and to pass judgment on; yet he who sent me may be trusted, and I speak to the world only of the things which I have heard from him."

Upon this the Chief Priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the High Council, and said: "What are we to do, now that this man is giving so many signs?

On the following day great numbers of people who had come to the Festival, hearing that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, took palm-branches,

And, since I go and prepare a place for you, I shall return and take you to be with me, so that you may be where I am;

And you know the way to the place where I am going."

It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you, and I appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that should remain, so that the Father might grant you whatever you ask in my Name.

His answer was: "It is not for you to know times or hours, for the Father has reserved these for his own decision;

"What are we to do to these men?" they asked one another. "That a remarkable sign has been given through them is obvious to every one living in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

The passage of Scripture which he was reading was this--'Like a sheep, he was led away to slaughter, and as a lamb is dumb in the hands of its shearer, so he refrains from opening his lips.

But, when the Brethren found this out, they took him down to Caesarea, and sent him on his way to Tarsus.

While Peter was still perplexed as to the meaning of the vision that he had seen, the men sent by Cornelius, having enquired the way to Simon's house, came up to the gate,

The men replied: "Our captain, Cornelius, a pious man who reverences God and is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, has been instructed by a holy angel to send for you to his house, and to listen to what you have to say."

Peter signed to them with his hand to be silent, and then told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison, adding: "Tell James and the Brethren all this." Then he left the house, and went away to another place.

And, when Herod had made further search for him and failed to find him, he closely questioned the Guard, and ordered them away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to stay at Caesarea.

From there we made our way to Philippi, which is the principal city of that part of Macedonia, and also a Roman Settlement. In that city we spent several days.

One day, as we were on our way to the Place of Prayer, we were met by a girl possessed by a divining spirit, who made large profits for her masters by fortune-telling.

This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, calling: "These men are servants of the most high God, and they are bringing you news of a way to Salvation."

She had been doing this for several days, when Paul, much vexed, turned and said to the spirit within her: "In the Name of Jesus Christ I command you to leave her." That very moment the spirit left her.

Immediately upon that, the Brethren sent Paul off on his way to the sea coast, but both Silas and Timothy stayed behind in Beroea.

That they might search for God, if by any means they might feel their way to him and find him. And yet he is not really far from any one of us;

Sometime after these events Paul resolved to go through Macedonia and Greece, and then make his way to Jerusalem. "And after I have been there," he said, "I must visit Rome also."

And now, under spiritual constraint, I am here on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,

And now I commend you to the Lord and to the Message of his Love--a Message which has the power to build up your characters, and to give you your place among all those who have become Christ's People.

"No," said Paul, "I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of a city of some note; and I beg you to give me permission to speak to the people."

And to that the High Priest himself and all the Council can testify. For I had letters of introduction from them to our fellow Jews at Damascus, and I was on my way to that place, to bring those whom I might find there prisoners to Jerusalem for punishment.

Then I said 'What am I to do, Lord?' 'Get up and go into Damascus,' The Lord said to me, 'and there you shall be told all that you have been appointed to do.'

Then he said 'The God of our ancestors has appointed you to learn his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear words from his lips;

But Jesus said to me 'Go; for I will send you to the Gentiles far away'."

But just as they had tied him up to be scourged, Paul said to the Captain standing near: "Is it legal for you to scourge a Roman citizen, unconvicted?"

"The Jews have agreed," answered the lad, "to ask you to bring Paul down before the Council to-morrow, on the plea of your making further inquiry into his case.

Except as to the one sentence that I shouted out as I stood among them--'It is about the resurrection of the dead that I am on my trial before you to-day'."

There the Roman Officer found an Alexandrian ship on her way to Italy, and put us on board of her.

So I urge you to take something to eat; your safety depends upon it, for not one of you will lose even a hair of his head."

This, then, is my reason for urging you to come to see me and talk with me; because it is for the sake of the Hope of Israel that I am here in chains."

I want you to know, Brothers, that I have many times intended coming to see you-but until now I have been prevented-that I might find among you some fruit of my labors, as I have already among the other nations.

Or do you think lightly of his abundant kindness, patience, and forbearance, not realizing that his kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

What then, it may be asked, are we to say about Abraham, the ancestor of our nation?

What are we to say, then? Are we to continue to sin, in order that God's loving-kindness may be multiplied?

Therefore do not let Sin reign in your mortal bodies and compel you to obey its cravings.

What follows, then? Are we to sin because we are living under the reign of Love and not of Law? Heaven forbid!