Thematic Bible: Ecclesiasticism


Thematic Bible



And be ye not called Rabbi: for one is your guide, Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call not your father upon earth: for one is your Father, which in the heavens. Nor be ye called leaders, for one is your Leader, Christ.

And it was he sitting at table in the house, and behold, many tax collectors and sinful, having come, sat at table with Jesus and his disciples. And the Pharisees, seeing, said to his disciples, Wherefore does your teacher eat with tax collectors and the sinful? And Jesus having heard, said to them, They being strong have no need of a physician, but they having evils. read more.
And having gone, learn what is this, I wish mercy, and not sacrifice: for I came not to call the just, but the sinful to repentance.

Saying, Upon Moses' seat sat the scribes and Pharisees. Therefore all whatever they say to you to keep, keep and do; and according to their works do not, for they say and do not. For they bind loads heavy and difficult to carry, and put upon men's shoulders; and with their fingers will they not move them.

Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye lock up the kingdom of the heavens before men: for ye come not in yourselves, neither those coming in, permit ye to come in. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for pretence, praying at great lengths; for this shall ye receive more distingnished judgment. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! for ye go about sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when he should become, ye make him the son of hell, twofold more than you. read more.
Woe to you blind guides, saying, Whoever should swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever should swear by the gold of the temple, he is indebted! Foolish and blind; for which is the greater, the gold, or the temple consecrating the gold? And, Whoever should swear by the altar, it is nothing; and whoever should swear by the gift above it, he is indebted. Foolish and blind: for which is the greater, the gift, or the altar, consecrating the gifts? Therefore, he having sworn by the altar, swears by it, and by all above it. And he having sworn by the temple, swears by it, and by him dwelling in it. And he having sworn by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him sitting above it. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye exact tenths and dill and cummin, and ye have left the weightier things of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith: these it was necessary to do, and not to let go those. Blind guides, straining a gnat, and swallowing down a camel. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup, and the side dish of sweet-meats, and within they are full of pillage and bad mixture. O blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, and side dish of sweetmeats, that also their outside might be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like whitewashed tombs, which without indeed appear beautiful, but within are full of the bones of the dead, and of all uncleanness. So also ye without truly appear just to men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye build the tombs of the prophets, and deck the monuments of the just, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we had not been their partakers in the blood of the prophets, Wherefore ye bear testimony to yourselves, that ye are the sons of those having slain the prophets. And fill ye up yourselves the measure of your fathers. Serpents, generations of vipers, how would ye flee from the judgment of hell? Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, and the wise, and scribes: and of them shall ye kill and crucify; and of them shall ye chastise in your assemblies, and drive out from city to city, So that all the just blood shed upon the earth might come upon you, from the blood of just Abel to the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye killed between the temple and altar.

For all shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt good: but if the salt be saltless, with what will ye prepare it? Have salt in yourselves, and live in peace one with another.


Then came to Jesus from Jerusalem the scribes and Pharisees, saying, Wherefore do thy disciples pass by the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. And he, having answered, said to them, Wherefore do ye also pass by the command of God by your tradition read more.
For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, he calumniating father or mother, in death let him die. And ye say, Whoever should say to father or mother, A gift, whatever thou shouldest be profited by me; And should not honour his father or his mother. And ye have annulled the command of God by your tradition. Hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draw near me with their mouth, and honour me with their lips; but their heart keeps off far from me. But they worship me in vain, teaching doctrines the commands of men. And having called the crowd, he said to them, Hear ye, and understand. Not that coming into the mouth pollutes the man; but that going forth out of the mouth, this pollutes the man. Then his disciples having come near, said to him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees, having heard the word, were scandalized? And having answered, he said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father has not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them go: they are blind guides of the blind. And if the blind guide the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. And Peter, having answered, said to him, Explain to us this parable. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet destitute of understanding? Do ye not yet understand, that everything going into the mouth proceeds to the belly, and is cast out in the privy? But the things going forth out of the mouth come from the heart, and these pollute the man. For from the heart come forth evil reflections, slaughters, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, defamations: These are the things polluting a man: but to eat with unwashed hands pollutes not a man.

And having seen some of his disciples with common hands, that is, unwashed, eating loaves, they rebuked. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they vigorously wash hands, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And from the market-place, except they be immersed, they eat not. And there are many other things which they received to hold; the immersion of cups, and of measures, and of brazen vases, and of chairs.) read more.
Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Wherefore do not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands? And he having answered, said to them, That Esaias prophesied well concerning you, as it has been written, This people honour me with lips, and their heart keeps far from me. And in vain they revere me, teaching doctrines the commands of men. For having left the command of God, ye hold firmly to the tradition of men, the immersion of measures and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said to them, Well do ye abrogate the command of God, that ye might keep your tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and he reviling father or mother, in death let him die: And ye say, If a man say to father or mother, Corban, which is, a gift, whatever thou be profited by me; And ye permit him to do nothing more for his father or his mother Abrogating the word of God by your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things ye do. And having called all the crowd, he said to them, Hear me, all ye, and do ye understand: There is nothing from without a man, entering into him, which can defile him: but things coming out from him, these are the things polluting the man. If any have ears to hear, let him hear. And when he came into the house from the crowd, his disciples asked him of the parable. And he says, So are ye also without understanding? Do ye not perceive, that anything from without entering into a man, cannot pollute him For it goes not into the heart, but into the belly, and goes forth into the privy, purging all food And he said, That going out of a man, that pollutes a man. For within, out of the heart of men, go forth evil reflections, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, overreaching, deceit, licentiousness, an evil eye, defamation, pride, foolishness: All these evils go out from within, and pollute a man.


And having seen one fig tree by the way, he came to it, and found nothing on it, except leaves only; and he says to it, Let no more fruit be from thee forever. And instantly the fig tree was dried up. And the disciples, seeing, wondered, saying, How suddenly was the fig tree dried up!

But what seems to you A man had two children; and having come to the first, he said, Child, retire to-day, work in my vineyard. And he, having answered, said, I will not; but afterward, having felt regret, he departed. And having come to the second, he said likewise. And he, having answered, said, I, Lord: and he departed not. read more.
Which of the two did the father's will? They say to him, The first. Jesus says to them, Truly I say to you, that publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of justice, and ye believed him not: and the publicans and harlots believed him; and ye, seeing, repented not afterwards, to believe him. Hear another parable: A certain man was master of a house, who planted a vineyard, and put a hedge around it, and digged in it a winepress, and let it out to farmers, and went abroad: And when the time of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive his parts. And the farmers having taken his servants, truly one they stripped, and one they killed, and one they stoned. Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did to them likewise. And afterwards he sent to them his son, saying, They will be changed by my son. And the farmers, seeing the son, said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and possess his inheritance. And having taken, they cast out of the vineyard, and killed. When, therefore, the lord of the vineyard should come, what will he do to those farmers? They say to him, He will miserably destroy these wicked, and let out the vineyard to other farmers, who will give back to him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus says to them, Have ye never read in the writings, The stone which the builders disapproved of, this was for the head of the corner? This was from the Lord, and it was wonderful in your eyes. For this I say to you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a nation doing its fruits. And he falling upon this stone shall be crushed: but upon whomsoever it should fall, it shall winnow him.


For they bind loads heavy and difficult to carry, and put upon men's shoulders; and with their fingers will they not move them.

And the Pharisees, seeing, said to him, Behold, thy disciples do what is not lawful to do in the sabbath. And he said to them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was hungry, and they with him; How he went into the house of God, and ate the loaves of setting up, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor those with him, but for the priests alone? read more.
Or have ye not read in the law, that in the sabbaths, the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are innocent? But I say to you, That he here is greater than the temple. And if ye knew what it is, I will mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the innocent.