Then, when He noticed that the invited guests chose the best seats, He used this as an illustration and said to them,

Also to His host, who had invited Him, He said, "When you give a breakfast or a dinner, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbours, lest perhaps they should invite you in return and a requital be made you.

After listening to this teaching, one of His fellow guests said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall feast in God's Kingdom."

"Another said, "'I am just married. It is impossible for me to come.'

"So the servant came and brought these answers to his master, and they stirred his anger. "'Go out quickly,' he said, 'into the streets of the city--the wide ones and the narrow. You will see poor men, and crippled, blind, lame: fetch them all in here.'

On His journey vast crowds attended Him, towards whom He turned and said,

The younger of them said to his father, "'Father, give me the share of the property that comes to me.' "So he divided his wealth between them.

"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!

"But the father said to his servants, "'Fetch a good coat quickly--the best one--and put it on him; and bring a ring for his finger and shoes for his feet.

"'You my dear son,' said the father, 'are always with me, and all that is mine is also yours.

He said also to His disciples: "There was a rich man who had a steward, about whom a report was brought to him, that he was wasting his property.

He called him and said, "'What is this I hear about you? Render an account of your stewardship, for I cannot let you hold it any longer.'

"Then the steward said within himself, "'What am I to do? For my master is taking away the stewardship from me. I am not strong enough for field labour: to beg, I should be ashamed.

"'A hundred firkins of oil,' he replied. "'Here is your account,' said the steward: 'sit down quickly and change it into fifty firkins.'

"To a second he said, "'And how much do you owe?' "'A hundred quarters of wheat,' was the answer. "'Here is your account,' said he: 'change it into eighty quarters.'

"You are they," He said to them, "who boast of their own goodness before men, but God sees your hearts; for that which holds a proud position among men is detestable in God's sight.

So he cried aloud, and said, "'Father Abraham, take pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.'

"'Remember, my child,' said Abraham, 'that you had all your good things during your lifetime, and that Lazarus in like manner had his bad things. But, now and here, he is receiving consolation and you are in agony.

"'I entreat you then, father,' said he, 'to send him to my father's house.

Jesus said to His disciples, "It is inevitable that causes of stumbling should come; but alas for him through whom they come!

And the Apostles said to the Lord, "Give us faith."

Perceiving this, He said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the Priests." And while on their way to do this they were made clean.

And He said to him, "Rise and go: your faith has cured you."

Then, turning to His disciples, He said, "There will come a time when you will wish you could see a single one of the days of the Son of Man, but will not see one.

"In a certain town," He said, "there was a judge who had no fear of God and no respect for man.

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

And the Lord said, "Hear those words of the unjust judge.

"Two men went up to the Temple to pray," He said; "one being a Pharisee and the other a tax-gatherer.

Jesus however called the infants to Him. "Let the little children come to me," He said; "do not hinder them; for it is to those who are childlike that the Kingdom of God belongs.

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."

Jesus saw his sorrow, and said, "With how hard a struggle do the possessors of riches ever enter the Kingdom of God!

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

Then He drew the Twelve to Him and said, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything written in the Prophets which refers to the Son of Man will be fulfilled.

"Recover your sight," said Jesus: "your faith has cured you."

As soon as Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for I must stay at your house to-day."

When they all saw this, they began to complain with indignation. "He has gone in to be the guest of a notorious sinner!" they said.

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."

So He said to them, "A man of noble family travelled to a distant country to obtain the rank of king, and to return.

"So the first came and said, "'Sir, your pound has produced ten pounds more.'

"The second came, and said, "'Your pound, Sir, has produced five pounds.'

"So he said to this one also, "'And you, be the governor of five towns.'

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

"And he said to those who stood by, "'Take the pound from him and give it to him who has the ten pounds.'

("They said to him, "`Sir, he already has ten pounds.')

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

"I also will put a question to you, "He said;

"Nor will I tell you," said Jesus, "by what authority I do these things."

Then He proceeded to speak a parable to the people. "There was a man," He said, "who planted a vineyard, let it out to vine-dressers, and went abroad for a considerable time.

Then the owner of the vineyard said, "'What am I to do? I will send my son--my dearly-loved son: they will probably respect him.'

"But when the vine-dressers saw him, they discussed the matter with one another, and said, "'This is the heir: let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'

He looked at them and said, "What then does that mean which is written, "'The Stone which the builders rejected has been made the cornerstone'?

So they put a question to Him. "Rabbi," they said, "we know that you say and teach what is right and that you make no distinctions between one man and another, but teach God's way truly.

"Show me a shilling; whose likeness and inscription does it bear?" "Caesar's," they said.

There was nothing here that they could lay hold of before the people, and marvelling at His answer they said no more.

Why, David himself says in the Book of Psalms, "'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand

Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to the disciples,

and He said, "In truth I tell you that this widow, so poor, has thrown in more than any of them.

When some were remarking about the Temple, how it was embellished with beautiful stones and dedicated gifts, He said,

Then He said to them, "Nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

And He spoke a parable to them. "See," He said, "the fig-tree and all the trees.

Jesus sent Peter and John with instructions. "Go," He said, "and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it."

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

Then, having received the cup and given thanks, He said, "Take this and share it among yourselves;

He gave them the cup in like manner, when the meal was over. "This cup," He said, "is the new Covenant ratified by my blood which is to be poured out on your behalf.

But He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles are their masters, and those who exercise authority over them are called Benefactors.

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

"But now," said He, "let the one who has a purse take it, and he who has a bag must do the same. And let him who has no sword sell his outer garment and buy one.

But when He arrived at the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not come into temptation."

"Why are you sleeping?" He said; "stand up; and pray that you may not come into temptation."

"Judas," said Jesus, "are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"

"Permit me thus far," said Jesus. And He touched the ear and healed it.

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?

when a maidservant saw him sitting by the fire, and, looking fixedly at him, she said, "This man also was with him."

Shortly afterwards a man saw him and said, "You, too, are one of them." "No, man, I am not," said Peter.

The Master turned and looked on Peter; and Peter recollected the Master's words, how He had said to him, "This very day, before the cock crows, you will disown me three times."

or blindfolded Him, and then challenged Him. "Prove to us," they said, "that you are a prophet, by telling us who it was that struck you."

And they said many other insulting things to Him.

"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."

Pilate said to the High Priests and to the crowd, "I can find no crime in this man."

But they violently insisted. "He stirs up the people," they said, "throughout all Judaea with His teaching--even from Galilee (where He first started)

Then calling together the High Priests and the Rulers and the people, Pilate said,

Then the whole multitude burst out into a shout. "Away with this man," they said, "and release Barabbas to us"

But Jesus turned towards them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

and the people stood looking on. The Rulers, too, repeatedly uttered their bitter taunts. "This fellow," they said, "saved others: let him save himself, if he is God's Anointed, the Chosen One."

But the other, answering, reproved him. "Do you also not fear God," he said, "when you are actually suffering the same punishment?

And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come in your Kingdom."

and Jesus cried out in a loud voice, and said, "Father, to Thy hands I entrust my spirit." And after uttering these words He yielded up His spirit.

The women were terrified; but, as they stood with their faces bowed to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you search among the dead for Him who is living?

"What things?" He asked. "The things about Jesus the Nazarene," they said, "who was a Prophet powerful in work and word before God and all the people;

and, finding that His body was not there, they came and declared to us that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive.

Thereupon some of our party went to the tomb and found things just as the women had said; but Jesus Himself they did not see."

But they pressed Him to remain with them. "Because," said they, "it is getting towards evening, and the day is nearly over." So He went in to stay with them.

"Were not our hearts," they said to one another, "burning within us while He talked to us on the way and explained the Scriptures to us?"

So they rose and without an hour's delay returned to Jerusalem, and found the Eleven and the rest met together, who said to them,

While they were thus talking, He Himself stood in their midst and said, "Peace be to you!"

but He said to them, "Why such alarm? And why are there such questionings in your minds?

And He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you--that everything must be fulfilled that is written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and the Psalms concerning me."

and He said, "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise again from among the dead;

John gave testimony concerning Him and cried aloud, saying, "This is He of whom I said, 'He who is coming after me has been put before me,' for He was before me."