"Where is the new-born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and have come to do homage to him."

And, sending them to Bethlehem, he said: "Go and make careful inquiries about the child, and, as soon as you have found him, bring me word, that I, too, may go and do homage to him."

The people who were dwelling in darkness Have seen a great Light, And, for those who were dwelling in the shadow-land of Death, A Light has risen!'

Blessed are those who have been persecuted in the cause of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to do away with them, but to complete them.

You have heard that to our ancestors it was said--'Thou shalt not commit murder,' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to answer for it to the Court.'

I tell you, you will not come out until you have paid the last penny.

You have heard that it was said--'Thou shalt not commit adultery.'

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.

Again, you have heard that to our ancestors it was said--'Thou shalt not break an oath, but thou shall keep thine oaths as a debt due to the Lord.'

You have heard that it was said--'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'

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

You have heard that it was said--'Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy.'

For, if you love only those who love you, what reward will you have? Even the tax-gatherers do this!

Therefore, when you do acts of charity, do not have a trumpet blown in front of you, as hypocrites do in the Synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. There, I tell you, is their reward!

And forgive us our wrong-doings, as we have forgiven those who have wronged us;

Jesus was surprised to hear this, and said to those who were following him: "Never I tell you, in any Israelite have I met with such faith as this!

"Foxes have holes," answered Jesus, "and wild birds their roosting-places, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

Suddenly they shrieked out: "What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before our time?"

Cure the sick, raise the dead, make the lepers clean, drive out demons. You have received free of cost, give free of cost.

But, when they persecute you in one town, escape to the next; for, I tell you, you will not have come to the end of the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Do not imagine that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring, not peace, but the sword.

For I have come to set--'a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

From the time of John the Baptist to this very hour, the Kingdom of Heaven has been taken by force, and men using force have been seizing it.

'We have played the flute for you, but you have not danced; We have wailed, but you have not mourned.'

"Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For, if the miracles which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

And you, Capernaum! Will you 'exalt yourself to Heaven'? 'You shall go down to the Place of Death.' For, if the miracles which have been done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing to this day.

"Have not you read," replied Jesus, "what David did, when he and his companions were hungry--

And have not you read in the law that, on the Sabbath, the priest in the Temple break the Sabbath and yet are not guilty?

And had you learned the meaning of the words--'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned those who are not guilty.

And there he saw a man with a withered hand. Some people asked Jesus whether it was allowable to work a cure on the Sabbath- -so that they might have a charge to bring against him.

For, to all who have, more will be given, and they shall have abundance; but, from all who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.

That is why I speak to them in parables, because, though they have eyes, they do not see, and though they have ears, they do not hear or understand.

And in them is being fulfilled that prophecy of Isaiah which says--'You will hear with your ears without ever understanding, And, though you have eyes, you will see without ever perceiving,

For the mind of this nation has grown dense, And their ears are dull of hearing, Their eyes also have they closed; Lest some day they should perceive with their eyes, And with their ears they should hear, And in their mind they should understand, and should turn--And I should heal them.'

For I tell you that many Prophets and good men have longed for the sight of the things which you are seeing, yet never saw them, and to hear the things which you are hearing, yet never heard them.

Have you understood all this?" Jesus asked. "Yes," they answered.

For John had said to him 'You have no right to be living with her.'

"We have nothing here," they said, "except five loaves and two fishes."

But you say 'Whenever any one says to his father or mother "Whatever of mine might have been of service to you is 'Given to God,'"

He is in no way bound to honor his father.' In this way you have nullified the words of God on account of your traditions.

Afterwards Jesus called his disciples to him, and said: "My heart is moved at the sight of all these people, for they have already been with me three days and they have nothing to eat; and I am unwilling to send them away hungry, for fear that they should break down on the way."

"How many loaves have you?" said Jesus. "Seven," they answered, "and a few small fish."

I tell you, some of those who are standing here will not know death till they have seen the Son of Man coming into his Kingdom."

And I tell you that Elijah has already come, and people have not recognized him, but have treated him just as they pleased. In the same way, too, the Son of Man is destined to undergo suffering at men's hands."

"O faithless and perverse generation!" Jesus exclaimed, "how long must I be among you? how long must I have patience with you? Bring the boy here to me."

"Because you have so little faith," he answered; "for, I tell you, if your faith were only like a mustard-seed, you could say to this mountain 'Move from this place to that!' and it would be moved; and nothing would be impossible to you."

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.

If your Brother does wrong, go to him and convince him of his fault when you and he are alone. If he listens to you, you have won your Brother.

For where two or three have come together in my Name, I am present with them."

Thereupon the servant threw himself down on the ground before him and said 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.'

Thereupon his fellow-servant threw himself on the ground and begged for mercy. 'Have patience with me,' he said, 'and I will pay you.'

Ought not you, also, to have shown mercy to your fellow- servant, just as I showed mercy to you?'

"Have not you read," replied Jesus, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,'

"It is not every one," replied Jesus, "who can accept this teaching, but only those who have been enabled to do so.

Some men, it is true, have from birth been disabled for marriage, while others have been disabled by their fellow men, and others again have disabled themselves for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let him accept it who can."

"I have observed all these," said the young man. "What is still wanting in me?"

"If you wish to be perfect," answered Jesus, "go and sell your property, and give to the poor, and you shall have wealth in Heaven; then come and follow me."

"But we--we left everything, and followed you; what, then, shall we have?"

When he went out about five, he found some other men standing there, and said to them 'Why have you been standing here all day long, doing nothing?'

'These last,' they said, 'have done only one hour's work, and yet you have put them on the same footing with us, who have borne the brunt of the day's work, and the heat.'

Have not I the right to do as I choose with what is mine? Are you envious because I am liberal?'

"I tell you," replied Jesus, "if you have faith, without ever a doubt, you will do what not only what has been done to the fig tree, but, even if you should say to this hill 'Be lifted up and hurled into the sea!' it would be done.

And whatever you ask for in your prayers will, if you have faith, be granted you."

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?"

"I, too," said Jesus in reply, "will ask you one question; if you will give me an answer to it, then I, also, will tell you what authority I have to act as I do.

So the answer they gave Jesus was--"We do not know." "Then I," he said, "refuse to tell you what authority I have to do these things.

Then Jesus added: "Have you never read in the Scriptures?-- 'The very stone which the builders despised--Has now itself become the corner-stone; This corner-stone has come from the Lord, And is marvelous in our eyes.'

A second time he sent some servants, with orders to say to those who had been invited 'I have prepared my breakfast, my cattle and fat beasts are killed and everything is ready; come to the banquet.'

As to the resurrection of the dead, have you not read these words of God--

and like to have the place of honor at dinner, and the best seats in the Synagogues,

But do not allow yourselves to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Father, the heavenly Father.

Nor must you allow yourselves to be called 'Leaders,' for you have only one Leader, the Christ.

Alas for you, Teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You pay tithes on mint, fennel, and caraway seed, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law--justice, mercy, and good faith. These last you ought to have put into practice, without neglecting the first.

It is the same with you. Outwardly, and to others, you have the look of religious men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and sin.

and say 'Had we been living in the days of our ancestors, we should have taken part in their murder of the Prophets!

Jerusalem! Jerusalem! She who slays the Prophets and stones the messengers sent to her--Oh, how often have I wished to gather your children round me, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not came!

Remember, I have told you beforehand.

I tell you, even the present generation will not pass away, till all these things have taken place.

But this you do know, that, had the owner of the house known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have been on the watch, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

The man who had received the three thousand pounds came up and brought three thousand more. 'Sir,' he said, 'you entrusted me with three thousand pounds; look, I have made another three thousand!'

'Well done, good, trustworthy servant!' said his master. 'You have been trustworthy with a small sum; now I will place a large one in your hands; come and share your master's joy!'

Then the one who had received the twelve hundred pounds came up and said 'Sir, you entrusted me with twelve hundred pounds; look, I have made another twelve hundred!'

'Well done, good, trustworthy servant!' said his master. 'You have been trustworthy with a small sum; now I will place a large one in your hands; come and share your master's joy!'

The man who had received the six hundred pounds came up, too, and said 'Sir, I knew that you were a hard man; you reap where you have not sown, and gather up where you have not winnowed;

'You lazy, worthless servant!' was his master's reply. 'You knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather up where I have not winnowed?

Then you ought to have placed my money in the hands of bankers, and I, on my return, should have received my money, with interest.

For, to him who has, more will be given, and he shall have abundance; but, as for him who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away from him.

"It could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to poor people."

You always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.

True, the Son of Man must go, as Scripture says of him, yet alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is being betrayed! For that man 'it would be better never to have been born!'"

But, after I have risen, I shall go before you into Galilee."

On which Jesus said to him: "Friend, do what you have come for." Thereupon the men went up, seized Jesus, and arrested him.

Jesus at the same time said to the crowds: "Have you come out, as if after a robber, with swords and clubs, to take me? I have sat teaching day after day in the Temple Courts, and yet you did not arrest me."

Then the High Priest stood up, and said to Jesus: "Have you no answer? What is this evidence which these men are giving against you?"

Then the High Priest tore his robes. "This is blasphemy!" he exclaimed. "Why do we want any more witnesses? You have just heard his blasphemy!

While he was still on the Bench, his wife sent this message to him--"Do not have anything to do with that good man, for I have been very unhappy to-day in a dream on account of him."

The Roman Captain, and the men with him who were watching Jesus, on seeing the earthquake and all that was happening, became greatly frightened and exclaimed: "This must indeed have been God's Son!"