A cry was heard in Rama, weeping and sore lamentation ??Rachel weeping for her children, and inconsolable because they are no more.

He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet, will receive a prophet's reward; he who receives a good man because he is good, will receive a good man's reward.

And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, I tell you, he shall not lose his reward."

Then he proceeded to upbraid the towns where his many miracles had been performed, because they would not repent.

Some other seeds fell on stony soil where they had not much earth, and shot up at once because they had no depth of soil;

but when the sun rose they got scorched and withered away because they had no root.

He replied, "Because it is granted you to understand the open secrets of the Realm of heaven, but it is not granted to these people.

This is why I speak to them in parables, because for all their seeing they do not see and for all their hearing they do not hear or understand.

When Jesus noted this he said, "How little trust you have in me! Why all this talk, because you have brought no bread?

He said to them, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you truly, if you had faith the size of a grain of mustard-seed, you could say to this hill, 'Move from here to there,' and remove it would; nothing would be impossible for you."

Then his master summoned him and said, 'You scoundrel of a servant! I discharged all that debt for you, because you implored me.

'Because nobody hired us,' they said. He told them, 'You go into the vineyard too.'

Can I not do as I please with what belongs to me? Have you a grudge because I am generous?'

Jesus answered them, "You go wrong because you understand neither the scriptures nor the power of God.

(This was because they said, "He has an unclean spirit.")

some other seed fell on stony soil where it had not much earth, and it shot up at once because it had no depth of earth,

but when the sun rose it got scorched and withered away, because it had no root;

Whoever gives you a cup of water because you belong to Christ, I tell you truly, he shall not miss his reward.

Afterwards he appeared at table to the eleven themselves and reproached them for their unbelief and dulness of mind, because they had not believed those who saw him risen from the dead. [But they excused themselves, saying, "This age of lawlessness and unbelief lies under the sway of Satan, who will not allow what lies under the unclean spirits to understand the truth and power of God; therefore," they said to Christ, "reveal your righteousness now." Christ answered them, "The term of years for Satan's power has now expired, but other terrors are at hand. I was delivered to death on behalf of sinners, that they might return to the truth and sin no more, that they might inherit that glory of righteousness which is spiritual and imperishable in heaven."]

But you will be silent and unable to speak till the day this happens, because you have not believed what I told you; it will be accomplished, for all that, in due time."

some other seed dropped on the rock, but it withered away when it sprang up because it had no moisture;

John said to him, "Master, we saw a man casting out daemons in your name, but we stopped him because he is not a follower of ours."

but the people would not receive him because his face was turned in the direction of Jerusalem.

Only, do not rejoice because the spirits obey you: rejoice because your names are enrolled in heaven."

I tell you, though he will not get up and give you anything because you are a friend of his, he will at least rise and give you whatever you want, because you persist.

Then he said to them, "See and keep clear of covetousness in every shape and form, for a man's life is not part of his possessions because he has ample wealth."

But he replied to them, "Do you think, because they suffered this, that these Galileans were worse sinners than the rest of the Galileans?

The servant told him, 'Your brother has arrived, and your father has killed the fatted calf because he has got him back safe and sound.'

'Capital,' he said, 'you excellent servant! because you have proved trustworthy in a trifle, you are placed over ten towns.'

And they said, "Because the Lord needs it."

and raze you and your children within you to the ground, leaving not one stone upon another within you ??and all because you would not understand when God was visiting you."

Herod was greatly delighted to see Jesus; he had long wanted to see him, because he had heard about him and also because he hoped to see him perform some miracle.

Jesus answered, "You believe because I told you I had seen you under that fig tree? You shall see more than that."

And this is the sentence of condemnation, that the Light has entered the world and yet men have preferred darkness to light. It is because their actions have been evil;

And this was why the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did things like this on the sabbath.

But this only made the Jews more eager to kill him, because he not merely broke the sabbath but actually spoke of God as his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.

I can do nothing of my own accord; I pass judgment on men as I am taught by God, and my judgment is just, because my aim is not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

his word you have not kept with you, because you do not believe him whom he sent.

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly I tell you, it is not because you saw Signs that you are in quest of me, but because you ate these loaves and had your fill.

After this Jesus moved about in Galilee; he would not move in Judaea, because the Jews were trying to kill him.

the world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its deeds are evil.

but I know Him, because I have come from Him and He sent me."

So they tried to arrest him; but no one laid hands on him, because his time had not come yet.

(he meant by this the Spirit which those who believed in him were to receive: ??as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus had not been glorified yet).

Jesus replied to them, "Though I do testify to myself, my evidence is valid, because I know where I have come from and where I am going to ??whereas you do not know where I have come from or where I am going to.

and though I do judge, my judgment is true, because I am not by myself ??there is myself and the Father who sent me.

These words he spoke in the treasury, as he was teaching in the temple, but no one arrested him, because his time had not come yet.

Why do you not understand my speech? Because you are unable to listen to what I am saying.

You belong to your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires; he was a slayer of men from the very beginning, and he has no place in the truth because there is no truth in him: when he tells a lie, he is expressing his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

It is because I tell the truth, that you do not believe me.

He who belongs to God listens to the words of God; you do not listen to them, because you do not belong to God."

(His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed him to be Christ should be excommunicated.

When he has brought all his sheep outside, he goes in front of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice;

they will not follow a stranger, they will run from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers."

just because he is a hired man, who has no interest in the sheep.

This is why my Father loves me, because I lay down my life to take it up again.

because you do not belong to my sheep.

The Jews retorted, "We mean to stone you, not for a good deed, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, make yourself God."

If the Law said they were gods, to whom the word of God came ??and scripture cannot be broken ??36 do you mean to tell me, whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am God's Son'?

(Not that he cared for the poor; he said this because he was a thief, and because he carried the money-box and pilfered what was put in.)

and that was why the crowd went out to meet him, because they heard he had performed this Sign.

(Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke of him.)

Believe me, I am in the Father and the Father is in me: ??or else, believe because of the deeds themselves.

even the Spirit of truth: the world cannot receive him, because it neither sees nor knows him, but you know him, because he remains with you and will be within you.

A little while longer and the world will see me no more; but you will see me, because I am living and you will be living too.

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who remains in me, as I in him, bears rich fruit (because apart from me you can do nothing).

I call you servants no longer, because a servant does not know what his master is doing: I call you friends, because I have imparted to you all that I have learned from my Father.

If you belonged to the world, the world would love what it owned; it is because you do not belong to the world, because I have chosen you from the world, that the world hates you.

They will do all this to you on account of my name, because they know not him who sent me.

This they will do to you, because they have not known the Father nor me.

I have told you all this, so that when the time for it arrives, you may remember what I said to you. I did not tell you about this at the beginning, because I was with you then;

of sin, because they do not believe in me;

of righteousness, because I go to the Father and you see me no more;

of judgment, because the Prince of this world has been judged.

for the Father loves you himself, because you have loved me and believed that I came forth from God.

I have given them thy word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.

Father, it is my will that these, thy gift to me, may be beside me where I am, to behold my glory which thou hast given me, because thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

The Jews retorted, "But we have a Law, and by [our] Law he is bound to die, because he has made himself out to be God's Son."

"Woman," they said to her, "why are you sobbing?" She said, "Because they have taken away my master, and I do not know where they have put him!"

Jesus said to him, "You believe because you have seen me? Blessed be those who believe though they have never seen me."

because thou wilt not forsake my soul in the grave, nor let thy holy one suffer decay.

They attached themselves to him because he had dazzled them with his skill in magic for a considerable time.

and in a moment an angel of the Lord struck him, because he had not given due glory to God; he was eaten up by worms and so expired.

Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also came across him. Some said, "Whatever does the fellow mean with his scraps of learning'?" Others said, "He looks like a herald of foreign deities" (this was because he preached 'Jesus' and 'the Resurrection').

This was because Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, to avoid any loss of time in Asia; he wanted to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.

sorrowing chiefly because he told them they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.

because it is not more than twelve days, as you can easily ascertain, since I went up to worship at Jerusalem.

This is my reason for asking to see you and have a word with you. I am wearing this chain because I share Israel's hope."

First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because the report of your faith is over all the world.

a tutor for the foolish, a teacher of the simple, because in the Law you have the embodiment of knowledge and truth ??21 well then, do you ever teach yourself, you teacher of other people? You preach against stealing; do you steal?

What follows, then? Are we 'to sin, because we live under grace, not under law'? Never!

(Because, as it is written, For thy sake we are being killed all the day long, we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.)

they are not all children of Abraham because they are descended from Abraham. No, it is through Isaac that your offspring shall be reckoned ??8 meaning that instead of God's children being the children born to him by natural descent, it is the children of the Promise who are reckoned as his true offspring.

And why? Simply because Israel has relied not on faith but on what they could do. They have stumbled over the stone that makes men stumble ??33 as it is written, Here I lay a stone in Sion that will make men stumble, even a rock to trip them up; but he who believes in Him will never be disappointed.

They would not surrender to the righteousness of God, because they were ignorant of his righteousness and therefore essayed to set up a righteousness of their own.

If your brother is being injured because you eat a certain food, then you are no longer living by the rule of love. Do not let that food of yours ruin the man for whom Christ died.

Or is he speaking purely for our sakes? Assuredly for our sakes. This word was written for us, because the ploughman needs to plough in hope, and the thresher to thresh in the hope of getting a share in the crop.

If the foot were to say, 'Because I am not the hand, I do not belong to the body,' that does not make it no part of the body.

If the ear were to say, 'Because I am not the eye, I do not belong to the body,' that does not make it no part of the body.

my spirit could not rest, because I did not find Titus my brother there; so I said goodbye and went off to Macedonia.