if ye then, as wicked as ye are, know how to bestow proper gifts upon your children; how much more shall your heavenly father give good things to them that ask him?

At evening his disciples came to him, saying, this is a desert place, and dinner-time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go to buy themselves provisions in the villages.

thereupon his disciples said, if the case between man and wife be such, it is best not to marry.

and they took their post to watch him there.

but your doctrine is this, if any one shall tell his father or his mother, that what he could bestow for their relief, is corban, that is, to be given to the temple;

or what would not a man bestow to preserve himself?

When the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, after having bought aromatic drugs to embalm him,

all this power, said he, will I give thee, and the glory of them: for they are at my disposal, and where I please, I bestow them.

so no-body that has been drinking old wine, will immediately call for new: for 'tis his maxim, "the old is best."

you did not bestow any oil upon my head; but she has poured her rich perfume upon my feet.

who were just departing from him, when Peter said to Jesus, master, it is best for us to stay here: let us build three apartments, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing well what he said.

but the best and the most necessary concern is, what Mary has pitch'd upon, of which she shall never be deprived.

this will I do, said he, I will pull down my barns, and build greater: and there I will bestow all my rich product.

how many years have I serv'd you, without having ever disobey'd your orders? and yet you never bestow'd a kid upon me, to make merry with my friends:

and said to him, 'tis usual to present the best wine first, and afterwards the worse, when the guests have drank pretty freely: but you have reserved the best wine to the last.

if therefore God has bestow'd the same favour upon them, as on us, after we had believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I make any opposition to the divine will?

From Perga they went to Antioch in Pisidia, and going to the synagogue on the sabbath-day, they took their places,

who in past ages has let all Nations proceed in their own ways.

at length they pass'd thro' Pisidia, and came to Pamphilia:

many that believed came to confess, and give an account of their past actions.

'Tis true, you bear the name of a Jew, you depend upon the law, and boast of your worship:

whom God had ordained, thro' faith, to be the propitiatory victim by his blood, for the manifestation of his goodness, by patiently passing over their past transgressions: to manifest,

as you in times past did not obey God, yet have now obtained mercy upon the occasion of their disobedience:

O the depth of the divine goodness, wisdom, and contrivance! how impenetrable are his decrees, and his ways past finding out!

in business be not slothful, but of an active mind, making the best use of every incident.

Some make their boast as if I would not come to you.

Now as to the question you writ to me about; "whether it is best for a man not to marry?"

I answer, with regard to the licentious, it is best for a man, to have his wife; and for a woman to have her husband.

As to the unmarried and widows, I say, it is best for them to continue so, as I do.

I think therefore it is best, considering the present distress, I say, it is best, for a single person to continue so still.

it excuses all things, believes what is favourable, hopes for the best, and suffers the worst.

was this design therefore the effect of levity? or do I design first one thing, and then another, as it best suits my worldly interest?

) in this assurance, I say, I think it best to be quit of this body, and be present with the Lord.

for when I came to Macedonia, I had no respit from the trouble that beset me on every side: oppositions from without, and apprehensions within.

Pray then, dispatch this affair; as you readily undertook it, as readily perform it, to the best of your abilities.

for if the Macedonians should come with me, and find you unprepared, how shall I, not to say you, be ashamed for having had so little ground to boast of you?

I will not boast of any thing done without my province, but confine myself within that line by which God has mark'd out my bounds, and in which you are included.

it is the gift of God) but not by works, so that no man can boast:

and display to all the world that mysterious dispensation, which from all past ages has been conceal'd in the secret purpose of God, who created all things:

that being capable to distinguish what is best, you may remain stedfastly sincere until the day of Christ,

I am doubly press'd between my desire to depart, in order to be with Christ, which is by far the best for ME;

Be prudent in your conduct to those, who are not christians: and make the best of of every opportunity.

they have deserted the faith themselves, and debauch'd the faith of others, by maintaining, "the resurrection is already past."

God who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in time past to the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his SON,

now 'tis past dispute, he that is blessed is inferior to him that blesses:

'Twas likewise through faith that Sara, though barren, received the power of becoming pregnant, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

nor could they endure that threat, "if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned."

don't return evil for evil, nor calumny for calumny; on the contrary, bestow your benedictions, considering that your vocation obliges you thereto, as a means to obtain the divine blessing.

for the time past of your lives may suffice, to have liv'd in conformity to the Gentile customs, in impurity, licentiousness, sottishness, in dissolute festivals, and the criminal rites of idolaters.

but he that is destitute of them is blind or short-sighted, having forgot he was purified from his past sins.

however, it is really, in effect, a new commandment I write unto you, with respect to you: because the darkness is past, and things now appear in their true light.

One wo is past, and now two woes are to follow.

when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit, will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.

the second wo is past, and behold, the third wo soon follows.

Then I saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads, and ten horns; upon his horns were ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

and the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority.

and I saw one of his heads, as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world went wondring after the beast.

They worshipped the dragon which had given his power to the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, "who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?"

Then I beheld another beast coming out of the earth, it had two horns like a lamb, but it spake like a dragon.

he exercised all the power of the first beast by his authority, and caused the earth, and those who dwell therein, to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

and he deceived the inhabitants of the earth, by the prodigys which he had power to effect by the influence of the beast, by telling the inhabitants of the earth, that he had made an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, but yet did revive.

he had power likewise to animate the image made for the beast, so that the image was made to speak, and as many as would not worship the image were order'd to be killed.

that no body should buy or sell unless he had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

here is wisdom. let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred sixty six.

And a third angel followed them, crying with a loud voice, "if any man worship the beast, or his image, or receive his mark on his forehead, or in his hand,

the smoke of their torment shall ascend for ever and ever: they who worship the beast or his image, they who receive the mark of his name, shall have no rest either day or night."

and I saw as it were a sea of glass, mingled with fire; and those that had been victorious over the beast, and over his image, and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, with their divine harps in their hands.

Immediately the FIRST went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisom and grievous ulcer upon the men who had the mark of the beast, and upon those who worshipped his image.

And the FIFTH angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness, and they gnawed their tongues for pain.

and I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

so he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads, and ten horns.

and the angel said to me, wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystical meaning of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

the beast that thou sawest, was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, shall wonder when they behold the beast that was, and is not, but shall be.

the beast that was, and is not, is himself the eighth: he is of the seven, and shall be destroy'd.

the ten horns which you saw, are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings for a while with the beast.

they all agree in this, to give their power and strength to the beast.

the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, they shall hate the whore, they shall plunder, and strip her, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

for God hath put it in their hearts to execute his designs, in agreeing to give their kingdom to the beast, until the divine oracles shall be accomplished.

Then I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, with their armies assembled, to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

and the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles in his favour, by which he seduc'd those that had received the mark of the beast, and those that worshipped his image. these were both cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

I saw likewise thrones, where persons were seated, to whom the power of judging was given: and I saw the souls of those that were beheaded for the testimony they had given to Jesus, and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast, nor his image, nor had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

the devil that seduced them, shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.