They are like children sitting in the public square and calling out to one another, 'We have played the flute to you, and you have not danced: we have sung dirges, and you have not shown sorrow.'

In answer to his thoughts Jesus said to him, "Simon, I have a word to say to you." "Rabbi, say on," he replied.

"I suppose," replied Simon, "the one to whom he forgave most." "You have judged rightly," Jesus rejoined.

Those by the way-side are those who have heard, and then the Devil comes and carries away the Message from their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

Those on the rock are the people who on hearing the Message receive it joyfully; but they have no root: for a time they believe, but when trial comes they fall away.

That which fell among the thorns means those who have heard, but as they go on their way, the Message is stifled by the anxieties, wealth and gaieties of time, and they yield nothing in perfection.

When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, and said in a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of God Most High? Do not torture me, I beseech you."

Jesus heard the words and said to him, "Have no fear. Only believe, and she shall be restored to life."

And He commanded them, "Take nothing for your journey; neither stick nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have an extra under garment.

And Herod said, "John I have beheaded; but who is this, of whom I hear such reports?" And he sought for an opportunity of seeing Jesus.

"You yourselves," He said, "must give them food." "We have nothing," they replied, "but five loaves and a couple of fish, unless indeed we were to go and buy provisions for all this host of people."

Why, what benefit is it to a man to have gained the whole world, but to have lost or forfeited his own self.

For whoever shall have been ashamed of me and my teachings, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own and the Father's glory and in that of the holy angels.

I tell you truly that there are some of those who stand here who will certainly not taste death till they have seen the Kingdom of God."

"Rabbi," replied John, "we have seen a man making use of your name to expel demons; and we forbad him, because he does not come with us."

"The foxes have holes," said Jesus, "and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

"Alas for thee, Chorazin! Alas for thee, Bethsaida! For had the miracles been performed in Tyre and Sidon which have been performed in you, long ere now they would have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

"I have given you power to tread serpents and scorpions underfoot, and to trample on all the power of the Enemy; and in no case shall anything do you harm.

For I tell you that many Prophets and kings have desired to see the things you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the things you hear, and have not heard them."

"Which of those three seems to you to have acted like a fellow man to him who fell among the robbers?"

And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend and shall go to him in the middle of the night and say, "'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;

for a friend of mine has just come to my house from a distance, and I have nothing for him to eat'?

"When a foul spirit has left a man, it roams about in the Desert, seeking a resting-place; but, unable to find any, it says, 'I will return to the house I have left;"

As He thus spoke a woman in the crowd called out in a loud voice, "Blessed is the mother who carried you, and the breasts that you have sucked."

"But alas for you Pharisees! for you pay tithes on your mint and rue and every kind of garden vegetable, and are indifferent to justice and the love of God. These are the things you ought to have attended to, while not neglecting the others.

"Alas for you expounders of the Law! for you have taken away the key of knowledge: you yourselves have not entered, and those who wanted to enter you have hindered."

Whatever therefore you have said in the dark, will be heard in the light; and what you have whispered within closed doors will be proclaimed from the house-tops.

"And I tell you that every man who shall have acknowledged me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.

and he debated within himself, saying, "'What am I to do? for I have no place in which to store my crops.'

and I will say to my life, "'Life, you have ample possessions laid up for many years to come: take your ease, eat, drink, enjoy yourself.'

Observe the ravens. They neither sow nor reap, and have neither store-chamber nor barn. And yet God feeds them. How far more precious are you than the birds!

"Have your girdles on, and let your lamps be alight;

Of this be sure, that if the master of the house had known what time the robber was coming, he would have kept awake and not have allowed his house to be broken into.

But I have a baptism to undergo; and how am I pent up till it is accomplished!

Never, I tell you, will you get free till you have paid the last farthing."

So he said to the gardener, "'See, this is the third year I have come to look for fruit on this fig-tree and cannot find any. Cut it down. Why should so much ground be actually wasted?'

"But the gardener pleaded, "'Leave it, Sir, this year also, till I have dug round it and manured it.

As soon as the Master of the house shall have risen and shut the door, and you have begun to stand outside and knock at the door and say, "'Sir, open the door for us' --"'I do not know you,' He answers; 'you are no friends of mine.'

"Then you will plead, "'We have eaten and drunk in your company and you have taught in our streets.'

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou who murderest the Prophets and stonest those who have been sent to thee, how often have I desired to gather thy children just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not come!

Then He turned to them and said, "Which of you shall have a child or an ox fall into a well on the Sabbath day, and will not immediately lift him out?"

"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,

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."

"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.'

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

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.'

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.

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.'

"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!

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

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

"'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;

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.'

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?

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?

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.

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

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

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'?

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.'"

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

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

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

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."

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

Zacchaeus however stood up, and addressing the Lord said, "Here and now, Master, I give half my property to the poor, and if I have unjustly exacted money from any man, I pledge myself to repay to him four times the amount."

"'Well done, good servant,' he replied; 'because you have been faithful in a very small matter, be in authority over ten towns.'

"The next came. "'Sir,' he said, 'here is your pound, which I have kept wrapt up in a cloth.

why then did you not put my money into a bank, that when I came I might have received it back with interest?

"It is written," He said, "'And My house shall be the House of Prayer,' but you have made it a robbers' cave."

But as for those who shall have been deemed worthy to find a place in that other age and in the Resurrection from among the dead, the men do not marry and the women are not given in marriage.

Then some of the Scribes replied, "Rabbi, you have spoken well."

Until I have made thy foes a footstool under they feet.'

For from what they could well spare they have all of them contributed to the offerings, but she in her need has thrown in all she had to live on."

"Alas for the women who at that time are with child or who have infants; for there will be great distress in the land, and anger towards this People.

They will fall by the sword, or be carried off into slavery among all the Gentiles. And Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles, till the appointed times of the Gentiles have expired.

As soon as they have shot out their leaves, you know at a glance that summer is now near.

"You will no sooner have entered the city," He replied, "than you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house to which he goes,

He said to them, "Earnestly have I longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;

You however have remained with me amid my trials;

"Simon, Simon, I tell you that Satan has obtained permission to have all of you to sift as wheat is sifted.

But *I* have prayed for *you* that your faith may not fail, and you, when at last you have come back to your true self, must strengthen your brethren."

"I tell you, Peter," said Jesus, "that the cock will not crow to-day till you have three times denied that you know me."

Then Jesus said to the High Priests and Commanders of the Temple and Elders, who had come to arrest Him, "Have you come out as if to fight with a robber, with swords and cudgels?

"What need have we of further evidence?" they said; "for we ourselves have heard it from his own lips."

"We have found this man," they said, "an agitator among our nation, forbidding the payment of tribute to Caesar, and claiming to be himself an anointed king."

"You have brought this man to me on a charge of corrupting the loyalty of the people. But, you see, I have examined him in your presence and have discovered in the man no ground for the accusations which you bring against him.

A third time he appealed to them: "Why, what crime has the man committed? I have discovered in him nothing that deserves death. I will therefore give him a light punishment and release him."

For a time is coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the women who never bore children, and the breasts which have never given nourishment.'

And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving due requital for what we have done. But He has done nothing amiss."

Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered, "Are you a stranger lodging alone in Jerusalem, that you have known nothing of the things that have lately happened in the city?"

And, besides, some of the women of our company have amazed us. They went to the tomb at daybreak,

"O dull-witted men," He replied, "with minds so slow to believe all that the Prophets have spoken!

See my hands and my feet--it is my very self. Feel me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see I have."

But, while they still could not believe it for joy and were full of astonishment, He asked them, "Have you any food here?"

But all who have received Him, to them--that is, to those who trust in His name--He has given the privilege of becoming children of God;

For He it is from whose fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

I did not yet know Him; but that He may be openly shown to Israel is the reason why I have come baptizing in water."

John also gave testimony by stating: "I have seen the Spirit coming down like a dove out of Heaven; and it remained upon Him.

"This I have seen, and I have become a witness that He is the Son of God."