And turning to his disciples he said privately. "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!

"For I tell you that many prophets and kings have longed to see what you see, and have seen it; and to hear what you hear, and have heard it not.'

"But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him was moved with compassion.

She had a sister named Mary, who after seating herself at the Lord's feet was listening to his teaching.

So he said to them. "When you pray, say, "Father, hallowed be thy name; May thy kingdom come,

"So I say to you. "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you.

"Do you say that I am casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub? If I then am casting out demons by Beelzebub, by whom are your sons casting them out? They therefore shall be your judges.

When the crowd were beginning to throng about him he proceeded to say. "This is an evil generation! It seeks a sign, and there shall be no sign be given to it except the sign of Jonah;

"for as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so shall the Son of man be to this generation.

"When one lights a lamp he does not put it in a cellar nor under the bushel, but on a lamp-stand that those who enter may see the light.

When he had finished speaking a Pharisee asked him to dine with him; so he went in with him and reclined.

"So you are witnesses, and you consent to the actions of your ancestors. for they killed them, and you build their tombs.

"so that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required from this generation,

Meanwhile when myriads of the multitudes were thronging around him so that they trod one upon another, he began to say to his disciples, first of all. "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisee, which is hypocrisy.

"So that what you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light; and what you have whispered in the inner chambers shall be proclaimed from the housetops.

"But I say to you who are my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do.

"And when they are bringing you before the synagogues and the rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what you shall answer; or what you shall say;

"for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that hour what you ought to say."

And to the people he said, "Take heed and guard yourselves from all covetousness, for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses."

"So he debated with himself saying, 'What shall I do? for I have no place in which to store my crops.'

"'And I will say to my soul, "'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years! Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.'

"So is he that lays up treasures for himself and is not rich toward God."

Then he said to his disciples. "For this is the reason I say to you. Be not anxious for your life, what you shall eat; nor yet your body what shall you wear.

"Consider the ravens; they neither sow nor reap; they have no storehouse nor barn. And yet God feeds them. How much more are you worth than the birds?

"Consider the lilies how they grow! They toil not, neither do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

"Now if God so clothe the grass in the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

"So do not be asking what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, and be not of doubtful mind.

"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

"and be yourselves like men who are looking for the Lord, on his return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they may at once open the door for him.

"And whether it be in the second watch, or in the third, that he comes, and so finds them, happy are those slaves.

"Blessed is that slave whom his master on his coming shall find so doing.

"But if that slave should say to himself, 'My master delays his coming,' and should begin to beat the men and the maids, and to eat and drink and to get drunk,

"that slave's master will arrive on a day when he is not expecting him, and at an hour when he knows not, and will surely scourge him, and appoint him his portion with the unfaithful.

"The slave who knew his Lord's will, and made not ready, nor did according to his will, will be beaten with many lashes,

Then he said to the crowd also. "When you see a cloud rising in the west you at once say, 'There is going to be a shower,' and it comes to pass.

"And when you feel the south winds blowing you say, 'There will be a hot wind,' and it comes to pass.

So he said to the gardener. "'See, for years I have come looking for fruit on this tree, and found none. Cut it down. Why should it actually cumber the ground?'

This led him to say. "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?

So he went on his way through cities and villages,

"'depart from me, all of you, you evil-doers.' There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves cast out.

"Behold! Your house is left to you, desolate! I tell you that you shall never see me again until you say, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord,"

So Jesus questioned the lawyers and the Pharisees, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath Day or not?"

"When you are invited by any one to a marriage-feast, do not sit down in the best seat, lest a guest more distinguished than yourself has been invited, and your host come to you and say,

"But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when your host arrives he may say to you, 'My friend, come up higher.' Then you will be honored before the other guest.

"At dinnertime he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'

"And they all, without exception, proceeded to excuse themselves. The first told him. 'I have bought a field, and must needs go and see it. Pray have me excused.'

"So the slave came and presented all these answers to his master. Then the master of the house was indignant, and said to his slave. 'Go out, quickly, into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in hither the poor, the maimed, the blind, the lame.'

"Said the master to his slave. 'Go out into the roads and the hedges, and make them come in, so that my house may be filled.

"Which of you who is desirous of building a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, to see if he has the means to complete it?

"Lest it happen that after he has laid the foundations and is unable to complete it, all who see it shall begin to jeer at him saying,

"Just so any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

"I say to you that even so there shall be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, more than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance.

"And when she has found it, she calls together her woman friends and neighbors and say, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.'

"Even so I tell you there is joy in the presence of the angels for God over one sinner who repents."

"The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of your property which is coming to me.' So he divided his means among them.

"So he went and hired to one of the citizens of that land, who sent him out into the fields to feed swine.

"When he came to himself he said: "'How many of my father's hired men have bread enough and to spare, while I am perishing of hunger!

"'I will rise and go to my father, and say to him. "Father, I have sinned against Heaven and in your sight,

"So he arose and went to his father; but while he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.

"So they began to make merry. But his elder son was in the field, and as he drew near to the house he heard music and dancing,

"But he was angry and would not go in; so his father came out, and attempted to plead with him; but he said to his father.

"'All these years I have been slaving for you and never disobeyed a command of yours. Yet you never gave me even a kid so that I might make merry with my friends.

"'I know what I will do, so that when I am put out of my stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.'

"So he called to him each of his master's debtors and said to the first, 'How much money do you owe my master?'

"And to you I say, Use mammon, dishonest as it is, to make yourselves friends, so that when it shall fail they will welcome you to the eternal tabernacles.

"He was full of sores, and longingly desired to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. Yes! even the dogs came and licked his sores.

"But in the course of time the beggar died; and he was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom.

"The rich man also died, and was buried. And as he was tormented in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.

"But besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who want to cross from here to you cannot, nor can those who would cross from you to us.'

"It were well for him if a millstone were tied about his neck, and he were hurled into the sea, rather than he should cause one of these little ones to stumble.

"If your faith," answered Jesus, "were like a grain of mustard-seed, you would say to this tree, 'Tear yourself up and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

"But who of you who has a slave plowing or keeping sheep, will say to him, when he is come in from the field, 'Come at once, sit down to dinner,'

"Even so, you also, after you have done all the things that are commanded you, should say, 'We are but slaves, we have only done what it was our duty to do.'"

Now one of them, as he saw that he was cured, came back, glorifying God in a loud voice,

The Pharisees asked him when the kingdom of God was coming. He answered. "The kingdom of God does not come so that you can catch sight of it,

"nor will they say, 'Look here it is!' or 'See there!'??or the kingdom of God is now in your midst."

Then he said turning to his disciples. "The days will come when you shall long to see one of the days of the Son of man, you shall not see it.

"And they shall say to you, 'Lo there! Lo there!' But do not go away or follow them.

"For as the lightning when it lightens out of the one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so shall the Son of man be in his day.

"And this was in the time of Noah, so will it be in the time of the Son of man.

"Remember Lot's wife!

"And will not God see justice done to his elect who are crying unto him day and night, even if he seems to delay helping them?

"I tell you that he will quickly see justice done to his elect! Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith upon the earth?"

"But the tax-gatherer, standing far back, would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but kept beating his breast and saying, "'O God be merciful to me, the sinner!'

And they kept bringing their babies for him to touch them; but when his disciples saw it they began to rebuke them.

Then he took the twelve aside and told them. "See, we are on our way to Jerusalem, and all prophets regarding the son of Man will be fulfilled.

So Jesus stopped and ordered him to be brought to him. When he was come near to him he asked him

"What do you want me to do for you?" "Lord," he answered, "that I might see again."

Instantly he regained his sight and followed Jesus, giving glory to God; and all the people who saw it gave praise to God.

So he entered Jericho and was passing through the town.

And he kept trying to see what sort of a man Jesus was; but he could not see because he was short.

So he ran on before him and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him; for he was about to pass that way.

When they all saw it, they began to complain, saying "He has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner."

So he said: "A certain nobleman went abroad to receive for himself royal power and to return.

"But this fellow citizens hated him, and sent a deputation after him to say, 'We do not wish this man to become our king.'

"And upon his return after he had secured the royal power, he ordered the slaves to whom he had given the money to be called in, so that he might know what they had gained by trading.

"'For I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take what you did not sow.'

"He said to him, "'By your own words I will Judge you, you wicked slave. You knew, did you, that I was a hard man taking up what I did not lay down, reaping what I did not sow.

"'Then why did you not put my money into the bank, so that at my coming I might I might have gotten it back with interest?'

When he had so spoken he went on before, going up to Jerusalem.