Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Aram,

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

But I tell you, you must not swear any oath, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God,

nor shall you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.

A leper came up and knelt before him, saying, "If you only choose, sir, you can cleanse me";

saying, "Sir, my servant is lying ill at home with paralysis, in terrible agony."

The captain answered, "Sir, I am not fit to have you under my roof; only say the word, and my servant will be cured.

When he went indoors the blind men came up to him, and Jesus asked them, "Do you believe I can do this?" They said, "Yes, sir."

He spoke at some length to them in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow,

Now, listen to the parable of the sower.

So the servants of the owner went to him and said, 'Did you not sow good seed in your field, sir? How then does it contain weeds?'

"No, sir," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."

"Ah, sir," he said, "have pity on my son; he is an epileptic and he suffers cruelly, he often falls into the fire and often into the water.

he replied, 'I will go, sir,' but he did not go.

Woe to you, blind guides that you are! you say, 'Swear by the sanctuary, and it means nothing; but swear by the gold of the sanctuary, and the oath is binding.'

You say again, 'Swear by the altar, and it means nothing; but swear by the gift upon it, and the oath is binding.'

for there will be sore misery then, such as never has been from the beginning of the world till now ??no and never shall be.

so, whenever you see all this happen, you may be sure He is at hand, at the very door.

But be sure of this, that if the householder had known at what watch in the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the watch, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

Afterwards the rest of the maidens came and said, 'Oh sir, oh sir, open the door for us!'

Then the servant who had got the twelve hundred pounds came forward, bringing twelve hundred more; he said, 'You handed me twelve hundred pounds, sir; here I have gained another twelve hundred.'

Then the servant with the five hundred pounds came forward. He said, 'You handed me five hundred pounds, sir; here I have gained another five hundred.'

Then the servant who had got the two hundred and fifty pounds came forward. He said, 'I knew you were a hard man, sir, reaping where you never sowed and gathering where you never winnowed.

Again he denied it; he swore, "I do not know the man."

After a little the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "To be sure, you are one of them too. Why, your accent betrays you!"

and said, "We remember, sir, that when this impostor was alive he said, 'I will rise after three days.'

"Listen, a sower went out to sow,

The sower sows the word.

He swore to her, "I will give you whatever you want, were it the half of my realm."

She answered him, "No, sir, but under the table the dogs do pick up the children's crumbs."

so, whenever you see this happen, you may be sure He is at hand, at the very door.

But he denied it again. After a little the bystanders once more said to Peter, "To be sure, you are one of them. Why, you are a Galilean!"

Zechariah said to the angel, "But how am I to be sure of this? I am an old man myself, and my wife is advanced in years."

of the oath he swore to Abraham our father,

(This was the first census, and it took place when Quirinius was governor of Syria.)

When he was in one of their towns, there was a man full of leprosy who, on seeing Jesus, fell on his face and besought him, "If you only choose, sir, you can cleanse me."

So Jesus went with them. But he was not far from the house when the captain sent some friends to tell him, "Do not trouble yourself, sir, I am not fit to have you under my roof,

"A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the road and was trampled down, and the wild birds ate it up;

Be sure that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

But the man replied, 'Leave it for this year, sir, till I dig round about it and put in manure.

A man said to him, "Is it only a few, sir, who are saved?" So he said to them,

When the servant announced, 'Your order has been carried out, sir, but there is still room,'

He also told the following parable to certain persons who were sure of their own goodness and looked down upon everybody else.

The first came up saying, 'Your five pounds has made other fifty, sir.'

Then the second came and said, 'Your five pounds has made twenty-five, sir.'

Then the next came and said, 'Here is your five pounds, sir; I kept it safe in a napkin,

'Sir,' they said, 'he has fifty already!'

But whenever you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then be sure her desolation is not far away.

Woe to women with child and to women who give suck in those days, for sore anguish will come upon the land and Wrath on this people;

So, whenever you see all this happen, be sure the Reign of God is at hand.

Then rising from prayer he went to the disciples, only to find them asleep from sheer sorrow.

"Sir," said the woman, "you have nothing to draw water with, and it is a deep well; where do you get your 'living' water?

"Ah, sir," said the woman, "give me this water, so that I need not thirst or come all this road to draw water."

"Sir," said the woman, "I see you are a prophet.

The reaper is already getting his wages and harvesting for eternal life, so that the sower shares the reaper's joy.

The official said, "Come down, sir, before my boy is dead."

The invalid replied, "Sir, I have nobody to put me into the bath, when the water is disturbed; and while I am getting down myself, someone else gets in before me."

"Ah, sir," they said to him, "give us that bread always."

She said, "No one, sir." Jesus said, "Neither do I; be off, and never sin again."]

The Jews said to him, "Now we are sure you are mad. Abraham is dead, and so are all the prophets; and you declare, 'If anyone holds to what I say, he will never taste death'!

"Who is that, sir?" said the man, "tell me, that I may believe in him."

"Where have you laid him?" he asked. They answered, "Come and see, sir."

they came to Philip of Bethsaida in Galilee and appealed to him, saying, "Sir, we want to see Jesus."

No, your heart is full of sorrow at what I have told you.

Truly, truly I tell you, you will be wailing and lamenting while the world is rejoicing; you will be sorrowful, but then your sorrow will be changed into joy.

So with you. Just now you are in sorrow, but I shall see you again and your heart will rejoice ??with a joy that no one can take from you.

Now we are sure you know everything, and need no one to put questions to you. This makes us believe you have come forth from God."

for I have given them the words thou gavest me, and they have received them; they are now sure that I came from thee and believe that thou didst send me.

"Woman," said Jesus, "why are you sobbing? Who are you looking for?" Supposing he was the gardener, she said, "Oh, sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you put him, and I will remove him."

The church sped them on their journey, and they passed through both Phoenicia and Syria informing the brothers, to the great joy of all, that the Gentiles were turning to God.

They conveyed the following letter. "The apostles and the presbyters of the brotherhood to the brothers who belong to the Gentiles throughout Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: greeting.

He made his way through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

After waiting on for a number of days Paul said goodbye to the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. (As the latter was under a vow, he had his head shaved at Cenchreae.)

where he spent three months. Just as he was on the point of sailing for Syria, the Jews laid a plot against him. He therefore resolved to return through Macedonia.

After sighting Cyprus and leaving it on our left, we sailed for Syria, landing at Tyre, where the ship was to unload her cargo.

What is to be done? They will be sure to hear you have arrived.

Be sure of this, then, that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen to it."

His faith never quailed, even when he noted the utter impotence of his own body (for he was about a hundred years old) or the impotence of Sara's womb;

when I say that I am in sore pain. I suffer endless anguish of heart.

For when God said, I will come about this time and Sara shall have a son, that was a word of promise.

(Not a day but I am at death's door! I swear it by my pride in you, brothers, through Christ Jesus our Lord.)

Well then, my beloved brothers, hold your ground, immovable; abound in work for the Lord at all times, for you may be sure that in the Lord your labour is never thrown away.

So the very reason I wrote was that I might not come only to be pained by those who ought to give me joy; I relied on you all, I felt sure that my joy would be a joy for everyone of you.

For I wrote you in sore distress and misery of heart, with many a tear ??not to pain you but to convince you of my love, my special love for you.

sure that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise me too with Jesus and set me at your side in his presence.

since I am sure that once so covered I shall not be 'naked' at the hour of death.

in case any Macedonians accompany me and find you are not ready ??which would make me (not to speak of yourselves) ashamed of having been so sure.

He who furnishes the sower with seed and with bread to eat will supply seed for you and multiply it; he will increase the crop of your charities ??11 you will be enriched on all hands, so that you can be generous on all occasions, and your generosity, of which I am the agent, will make men give thanks to God;

Look at this obvious fact. So-and-so is perfectly sure he 'belongs to Christ'? Well then, let him understand, on second thoughts, that I 'belong to Christ' as much as he does.

(I am writing you the sheer truth, I swear it before God!)

Then I went to the districts of Syria and of Cilicia.

(It was in consequence of a revelation that I went up at all.) I submitted the gospel I am in the habit of preaching to the Gentiles, submitting it privately to the authorities, to make sure that my course of action would be and had been sound.

Be sure of this, that no one guilty of sexual vice or impurity or lust (that is, an idolater) possesses any inheritance in the realm of Christ and God.

Be sure that everyone, slave or free, will be paid back by the Lord and Master for the good he has done.

And as for you masters, act by your servants in the same way, and stop threatening them; be sure that they and you have a Lord and Master in heaven, and there is no partiality about him.

I am sure it is, and so I know I shall remain alive and serve you all by forwarding your progress and fostering the joy of your faith.

And he was ill, nearly dead with illness. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me, to save me from having one sorrow upon another.

However, the Lord is faithful; he will be sure to strengthen you and protect you from the Evil one.

It is a sure word, it deserves all praise, that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners"; and though I am the foremost of sinners,

It is a sure word, it deserves all praise,