022:046 No one could say a word in reply, nor from that day did any
one venture again to put a question to Him.
023:001 Then Jesus addressed the crowds and His disciples.
023:002 "The Scribes," He said, "and the Pharisees sit in the chair of Moses.
023:003 Therefore do and observe everything that they command you;
but do not imitate their lives, for though they tell others
what to do, they do not do it themselves.
023:004 Heavy and cumbrous burdens they bind together and load men's
shoulders with them, while as for themselves, not with one
finger do they choose to lift them.
023:005 And everything they do they do with a view to being observed by men;
for they widen their phylacteries and make the tassels large,
023:006 and love the best seats at a dinner party or in the synagogues,
023:007 and like to be bowed to in places of public resort, and to be
addressed by men as `Rabbi.'
023:008 "As for you, do not accept the title of `Rabbi,' for one alone
is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.
023:009 And call no one on earth your Father, for One alone is your Father--
the Heavenly Father.
023:010 And do not accept the name of `leader,' for your Leader is
one alone--the Christ.
023:011 He who is the greatest among you shall be your servant;
023:012 and one who exalts himself shall be abased, while one who abases
himself shall be exalted.
023:013 "But alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you
lock the door of the Kingdom of the Heavens against men;
you yourselves do not enter, nor do you allow those to enter
who are seeking to do so.
023:014 []
023:015 "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you scour
sea and land in order to win one convert--and when he is gained,
you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves.
023:016 "Alas for you, you blind guides, who say, "`Whoever swears
by the Sanctuary it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold
of the Sanctuary, is bound by the oath.'
023:017 "Blind fools! Why, which is greater?--the gold, or the Sanctuary
which has made the gold holy?
023:018 And you say, "`Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing;
but whoever swears by the offering lying on it is bound
by the oath.'
023:019 "You are blind! Why, which is greater?--the offering,
or the altar which makes the offering holy?
023:020 He who swears by the altar swears both by it and by everything on it;
023:021 he who swears by the Sanctuary swears both by it and by Him
who dwells in it;
023:022 and he who swears by Heaven swears both by the throne of God
and by Him who sits upon it.
023:023 "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay
the tithe on mint, dill, and cumin, while you have neglected
the weightier requirements of the Law--just judgement, mercy,
and faithful dealing. These things you ought to have done,
and yet you ought not to have left the others undone.
023:024 You blind guides, straining out the gnat while you gulp
down the camel!
023:025 "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you
wash clean the outside of the cup or dish, while within they
are full of greed and self-indulgence.
023:026 Blind Pharisee, first wash clean the inside of the cup or dish,
and then the outside will be clean also.
023:027 "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are
just like whitewashed sepulchres, the outside of which pleases
the eye, though inside they are full of dead men's bones
and of all that is unclean.
023:028 The same is true of you: outwardly you seem to the human
eye to be good and honest men, but, within, you are full
of insincerity and disregard of God's Law.
023:029 "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you repair
the sepulchres of the Prophets and keep in order the tombs
of the righteous,
023:030 and your boast is, "`If we had lived in the time of our forefathers,
we should not have been implicated with them in the murder
of the Prophets.'
023:031 "So that you bear witness against yourselves that you are
descendants of those who murdered the Prophets.
023:032 Fill up the measure of your forefathers' guilt.
023:033 O serpents, O vipers' brood, how are you to escape
condemnation to Gehenna?
023:034 "For this reason I am sending to you Prophets and wise men
and Scribes. Some of them you will put to death--nay, crucify;
some of them you will flog in your synagogues and chase
from town to town;
023:035 that all the innocent blood shed upon earth may come on you,
from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah
the son of Berechiah whom you murdered between the Sanctuary
and the altar.
023:036 I tell you in solemn truth that all these things will come
upon the present generation.
023:037 "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 to me, just as a hen gathers
her chickens under her wings, and you would not come!
023:038 See, your house will now be left to you desolate!
023:039 For I tell you that you will never see me again until you say,
`Blessed be He who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
024:001 Jesus had left the Temple and was going on His way, when His
disciples came and called His attention to the Temple buildings.
024:002 "You see all these?" He replied; "in solemn truth I tell
you that there will not be left here one stone upon another
that will not be pulled down."
024:003 Afterwards He was on the Mount of Olives and was seated there
when the disciples came to Him, apart from the others,
and said, "Tell us when this will be; and what will be the sign
of your Coming and of the Close of the Age?"
024:004 "Take care that no one misleads you," answered Jesus;
024:005 "for many will come assuming my name and saying `I am the Christ;'
and they will mislead many.
024:006 And before long you will hear of wars and rumours of wars.
Do not be alarmed, for such things must be; but the End
is not yet.
024:007 For nation will rise in arms against nation, kingdom against kingdom,
and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places;
024:008 but all these miseries are but like the early pains of childbirth.
024:009 "At that time they will deliver you up to punishment and will
put you to death; and you will be objects of hatred to all
the nations because you are called by my name.
024:010 Then will many stumble and fall, and they will betray one
another and hate one another.
024:011 Many false prophets will rise up and lead multitudes astray;
024:012 and because of the prevalent disregard of God's law the love
of the great majority will grow cold;
024:013 but those who stand firm to the End shall be saved.
024:014 And this Good News of the Kingdom shall be proclaimed throughout
the whole world to set the evidence before all the Gentiles;
and then the End will come.
024:015 "When you have seen (to use the language of the Prophet Daniel)
the `Abomination of Desolation', standing in the Holy Place"--
let the reader observe those words--
024:016 "then let those who are in Judaea escape to the hills;
024:017 let him who is on the roof not go down to fetch what is
in his house;
024:018 nor let him who is outside the city stay to pick up
his outer garment.
024:019 And alas for the women who at that time are with child
or have infants!
024:020 "But pray that your flight may not be in winter, nor on the Sabbath;
024:021 for it will be a time of great suffering, such as never has
been from the beginning of the world till now, and assuredly
never will be again.
024:022 And if those days had not been cut short, no one would escape;
but for the sake of God's own People those days will be cut short.
024:023 "If at that time any one should say to you, `See, here is
the Christ!' or `Here!' give no credence to it.
024:024 For there will rise up false Christs and false prophets,
displaying wonderful signs and prodigies, so as to deceive,
were it possible, even God's own People.
024:025 Remember, I have forewarned you.
024:026 If therefore they should say to you, `See, He is in the Desert!'
do not go out there: or `See, He is indoors in the room!'
do not believe it.
024:027 For just as the lightning flashes in the east and is seen
to the very west, so will be the Coming of the Son of Man.
024:028 Wherever the dead body is, there will the vultures flock together.
024:029 "But immediately after those times of distress the sun will
be darkened, the moon will not shed her light, the stars
will fall from the firmament, and the forces which control
the heavens will be disordered and disturbed.
024:030 Then will appear the Sign of the Son of Man in the sky;
and then will all the nations of the earth lament, when they
see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with great
power and glory.
024:031 And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet-blast,
and they will bring together His own People to Him from north,
south, east and west--from one extremity of the world
to the other.
024:032 "Now learn from the fig-tree the lesson it teaches.
As soon as its branches have now become soft and it is bursting
into leaf, you all know that summer is near.
024:033 So you also, when you see all these signs, may be sure that He
is near--at your very door.
024:034 I tell you in solemn truth that the present generation will
certainly not pass away without all these things having
first taken place.
024:035 Earth and sky will pass away, but it is certain that my words
will not pass away.
024:036 "But as to that day and the exact time no one knows--not even
the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
024:037 `For as it was in the time of Noah, so it will be at the Coming
of the Son of Man.
024:038 At that time, before the Deluge, men were busy eating and drinking,
taking wives or giving them, up to the very day when Noah
entered the Ark,
024:039 nor did they realise any danger till the Deluge came and swept
them all away; so will it be at the Coming of the Son of Man.
024:040 Then will two men be in the open country: one will be taken away,
and one left behind.
024:041 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken away,
and one left behind.
024:042 Be on the alert therefore, for you do not know the day on
which your Lord is coming.
024:043 But of this be assured, that if the master of the house had known
the hour at which the robber was coming, he would have kept awake,
and not have allowed his house to be broken into.
024:044 Therefore you also must be ready; for it is at a time when you
do not expect Him that the Son of Man will come.
024:045 "Who therefore is the loyal and intelligent servant to whom
his master has entrusted the control of his household to give
them their rations at the appointed time?
024:046 Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes shall
find so doing!
024:047 In solemn truth I tell you that he will give him the management
of all his wealth.
024:048 But if the man, being a bad servant, should say in his heart,
`My master is a long time in coming,'
024:049 and should begin to beat his fellow servants, while he eats
and drinks with drunkards;
024:050 the master of that servant will arrive on a day when he is not
expecting him and at an hour of which he has not been informed;
024:051 he will treat him with the utmost severity and assign him
a place among the hypocrites: there will be the weeping
and the gnashing of teeth.
025:001 "Then will the Kingdom of the Heavens be found to be like
ten bridesmaids who took their torches and went out to
meet the bridegroom.
025:002 Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
025:003 For the foolish, when they took their torches, did not provide
themselves with oil;
025:004 but the wise, besides their torches, took oil in their flasks.
025:005 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, so that meanwhile
they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
025:006 But at midnight there is a loud cry, "`The bridegroom!
Go out and meet him!'
025:007 "Then all those bridesmaids roused themselves and
trimmed their torches.
025:008 "`Give us some of your oil,' said the foolish ones to the wise,
`for our torches are going out.'
025:009 "`But perhaps,' replied the wise, `there will not be enough for all
of us. Go to the shops rather, and buy some for yourselves.'
025:010 "So they went to buy. But meanwhile the bridegroom came;
those bridesmaids who were ready went in with him to the
wedding banquet; and the door was shut.
025:011 "Afterwards the other bridesmaids came and cried, "`Sir, Sir,
open the door to us.'