Matthew 11-13

Matthew 11

¹And it came to pass, when Jesus ended directing his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.

²And John having heard in the prison the works of the Christ, having sent two of his disciples,

³said to him, ‘Art thou He who is coming, or for another do we look?'

⁴And Jesus answering said to them, ‘Having gone, declare to John the things that ye hear and see,

⁵blind receive sight, and lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and deaf hear, dead are raised, and poor have good news proclaimed,

⁶and happy is he who may not be stumbled in me.'

⁷And as they are going, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, ‘What went ye out to the wilderness to view? -- a reed shaken by the wind?

⁸‘But what went ye out to see? -- a man clothed in soft garments? lo, those wearing the soft things are in the kings' houses.

⁹‘But what went ye out to see? -- a prophet? yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet,

¹⁰for this is he of whom it hath been written, Lo, I do send My messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.

¹¹Verily I say to you, there hath not risen, among those born of women, a greater than John the Baptist, but he who is least in the reign of the heavens is greater than he.

¹²‘And, from the days of John the Baptist till now, the reign of the heavens doth suffer violence, and violent men do take it by force,

¹³for all the prophets and the law till John did prophesy,

¹⁴and if ye are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who was about to come;

¹⁵he who is having ears to hear -- let him hear.

¹⁶‘And to what shall I liken this generation? it is like little children in market-places, sitting and calling to their comrades,

¹⁷and saying, We piped unto you, and ye did not dance, we lamented to you, and ye did not smite the breast.

¹⁸‘For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a demon;

¹⁹the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Lo, a man, a glutton, and a wine-drinker, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners, and wisdom was justified of her children.'

²⁰Then began he to reproach the cities in which were done most of his mighty works, because they did not reform.

²¹‘Wo to thee, Chorazin! wo to thee, Bethsaida! because, if in Tyre and Sidon had been done the mighty works that were done in you, long ago in sackcloth and ashes they had reformed;

²²but I say to you, to Tyre and Sidon it shall be more tolerable in a day of judgment than for you.

²³‘And thou, Capernaum, which unto the heaven wast exalted, unto hades shalt be brought down, because if in Sodom had been done the mighty works that were done in thee, it had remained unto this day;

²⁴but I say to you, to the land of Sodom it shall be more tolerable in a day of judgment than to thee.'

²⁵At that time Jesus answering said, ‘I do confess to Thee, Father, Lord of the heavens and of the earth, that thou didst hide these things from wise and understanding ones, and didst reveal them to babes.

²⁶Yes, Father, because so it was good pleasure before Thee.

²⁷‘All things were delivered to me by my Father, and none doth know the Son, except the Father, nor doth any know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son may wish to reveal Him.

²⁸‘Come unto me, all ye labouring and burdened ones, and I will give you rest,

²⁹take up my yoke upon you, and learn from me, because I am meek and humble in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls,

³⁰for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.'

Matthew 12

¹At that time did Jesus go on the sabbaths through the corn, and his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck ears, and to eat,

²and the Pharisees having seen, said to him, ‘Lo, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do on a sabbath.'

³And he said to them, ‘Did ye not read what David did, when he was hungry, himself and those with him --

⁴how he went into the house of God, and the loaves of the presentation did eat, which it is not lawful to him to eat, nor to those with him, except to the priests alone?

⁵‘Or did ye not read in the Law, that on the sabbaths the priests in the temple do profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

⁶and I say to you, that a greater than the temple is here;

⁷and if ye had known what is: Kindness I will, and not sacrifice -- ye had not condemned the blameless,

⁸for the son of man is lord even of the sabbath.'

⁹And having departed thence, he went to their synagogue,

¹⁰and lo, there was a man having the hand withered, and they questioned him, saying, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the sabbaths?' that they might accuse him.

¹¹And he said to them, ‘What man shall be of you, who shall have one sheep, and if this may fall on the sabbaths into a ditch, will not lay hold on it and raise it?

¹²How much better, therefore, is a man than a sheep? -- so that it is lawful on the sabbaths to do good.'

¹³Then saith he to the man, ‘Stretch forth thy hand,' and he stretched it forth, and it was restored whole as the other.

¹⁴And the Pharisees having gone forth, held a consultation against him, how they might destroy him,

¹⁵and Jesus having known, withdrew thence, and there followed him great multitudes, and he healed them all,

¹⁶and did charge them that they might not make him manifest,

¹⁷that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,

¹⁸‘Lo, My servant, whom I did choose, My beloved, in whom My soul did delight, I will put My Spirit upon him, and judgment to the nations he shall declare,

¹⁹he shall not strive nor cry, nor shall any hear in the broad places his voice,

²⁰a bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench, till he may put forth judgment to victory,

²¹and in his name shall nations hope.'

²²Then was brought to him a demoniac, blind and dumb, and he healed him, so that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.

²³And all the multitudes were amazed, and said, ‘Is this the Son of David?'

²⁴but the Pharisees having heard, said, ‘This one doth not cast out demons, except by Beelzeboul, ruler of the demons.'

²⁵And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said to them, ‘Every kingdom having been divided against itself is desolated, and no city or house having been divided against itself, doth stand,

²⁶and if the Adversary doth cast out the Adversary, against himself he was divided, how then doth his kingdom stand?

²⁷‘And if I, by Beelzeboul, do cast out the demons, your sons -- by whom do they cast out? because of this they -- they shall be your judges.

²⁸‘But if I, by the Spirit of God, do cast out the demons, then come already unto you did the reign of God.

²⁹‘Or how is one able to go into the house of the strong man, and to plunder his goods, if first he may not bind the strong man? and then his house he will plunder.

³⁰‘He who is not with me is against me, and he who is not gathering with me, doth scatter.

³¹Because of this I say to you, all sin and evil speaking shall be forgiven to men, but the evil speaking of the Spirit shall not be forgiven to men.

³²And whoever may speak a word against the Son of Man it shall be forgiven to him, but whoever may speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this age, nor in that which is coming.

³³‘Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad, for from the fruit is the tree known.

³⁴‘Brood of vipers! how are ye able to speak good things -- being evil? for out of the abundance of the heart doth the mouth speak.

³⁵The good man out of the good treasure of the heart doth put forth the good things, and the evil man out of the evil treasure doth put forth evil things.

³⁶‘And I say to you, that every idle word that men may speak, they shall give for it a reckoning in a day of judgment;

³⁷for from thy words thou shalt be declared righteous, and from thy words thou shalt be declared unrighteous.'

³⁸Then answered certain of the scribes and Pharisees, saying, ‘Teacher, we will to see a sign from thee.'

³⁹And he answering said to them, ‘A generation, evil and adulterous, doth seek a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet;

⁴⁰for, as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

⁴¹‘Men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, for they reformed at the proclamation of Jonah, and lo, a greater than Jonah here!

⁴²‘A queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and lo, a greater than Solomon here!

⁴³‘And, when the unclean spirit may go forth from the man, it doth walk through dry places seeking rest, and doth not find;

⁴⁴then it saith, I will turn back to my house whence I came forth; and having come, it findeth it unoccupied, swept, and adorned:

⁴⁵then doth it go, and take with itself seven other spirits more evil than itself, and having gone in they dwell there, and the last of that man doth become worse than the first; so shall it be also to this evil generation.'

⁴⁶And while he was yet speaking to the multitudes, lo, his mother and brethren had stood without, seeking to speak to him,

⁴⁷and one said to him, ‘Lo, thy mother and thy brethren do stand without, seeking to speak to thee.'

⁴⁸And he answering said to him who spake to him, ‘Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?'

⁴⁹And having stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, he said, ‘Lo, my mother and my brethren!

⁵⁰for whoever may do the will of my Father who is in the heavens, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.'

Matthew 13

¹And in that day Jesus, having gone forth from the house, was sitting by the sea,

²and gathered together unto him were many multitudes, so that he having gone into the boat did sit down, and all the multitude on the beach did stand,

³and he spake to them many things in similes, saying: ‘Lo, the sower went forth to sow,

⁴and in his sowing, some indeed fell by the way, and the fowls did come and devour them,

⁵and others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth, and immediately they sprang forth, through not having depth of earth,

⁶and the sun having risen they were scorched, and through not having root, they withered,

⁷and others fell upon the thorns, and the thorns did come up and choke them,

⁸and others fell upon the good ground, and were giving fruit, some indeed a hundredfold, and some sixty, and some thirty.

⁹He who is having ears to hear -- let him hear.'

¹⁰And the disciples having come near, said to him, ‘Wherefore in similes dost thou speak to them?'

¹¹And he answering said to them that -- ‘To you it hath been given to know the secrets of the reign of the heavens, and to these it hath not been given,

¹²for whoever hath, it shall be given to him, and he shall have overabundance, and whoever hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken from him.

¹³‘Because of this, in similes do I speak to them, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor understand,

¹⁴and fulfilled on them is the prophecy of Isaiah, that saith, With hearing ye shall hear, and ye shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and ye shall not perceive,

¹⁵for made gross was the heart of this people, and with the ears they heard heavily, and their eyes they did close, lest they might see with the eyes, and with the ears might hear, and with the heart understand, and turn back, and I might heal them.

¹⁶‘And happy are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear,

¹⁷for verily I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men did desire to see that which ye look on, and they did not see, and to hear that which ye hear, and they did not hear.

¹⁸‘Ye, therefore, hear ye the simile of the sower:

¹⁹Every one hearing the word of the reign, and not understanding -- the evil one doth come, and doth catch that which hath been sown in his heart; this is that sown by the way.

²⁰‘And that sown on the rocky places, this is he who is hearing the word, and immediately with joy is receiving it,

²¹and he hath not root in himself, but is temporary, and persecution or tribulation having happened because of the word, immediately he is stumbled.

²²‘And that sown toward the thorns, this is he who is hearing the word, and the anxiety of this age, and the deceitfulness of the riches, do choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

²³‘And that sown on the good ground: this is he who is hearing the word, and is understanding, who indeed doth bear fruit, and doth make, some indeed a hundredfold, and some sixty, and some thirty.'

²⁴Another simile he set before them, saying: ‘The reign of the heavens was likened to a man sowing good seed in his field,

²⁵and, while men are sleeping, his enemy came and sowed darnel in the midst of the wheat, and went away,

²⁶and when the herb sprang up, and yielded fruit, then appeared also the darnel.

²⁷‘And the servants of the householder, having come near, said to him, Sir, good seed didst thou not sow in thy field? whence then hath it the darnel?

²⁸And he saith to them, A man, an enemy, did this; and the servants said to him, Wilt thou, then, that having gone away we may gather it up?

²⁹‘And he said, No, lest -- gathering up the darnel -- ye root up with it the wheat,

³⁰suffer both to grow together till the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the darnel, and bind it in bundles, to burn it, and the wheat gather up into my storehouse.'

³¹Another simile he set before them, saying: ‘The reign of the heavens is like to a grain of mustard, which a man having taken, did sow in his field,

³²which less, indeed, is than all the seeds, but when it may be grown, is greatest of the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven do come and rest in its branches.'

³³Another simile spake he to them: ‘The reign of the heavens is like to leaven, which a woman having taken, hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.'

³⁴All these things spake Jesus in similes to the multitudes, and without a simile he was not speaking to them,

³⁵that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through the prophet, saying, ‘I will open in similes my mouth, I will utter things having been hidden from the foundation of the world.'

³⁶Then having let away the multitudes, Jesus came to the house, and his disciples came near to him, saying, ‘Explain to us the simile of the darnel of the field.'

³⁷And he answering said to them, ‘He who is sowing the good seed is the Son of Man,

³⁸and the field is the world, and the good seed, these are the sons of the reign, and the darnel are the sons of the evil one,

³⁹and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is a full end of the age, and the reapers are messengers.

⁴⁰‘As, then, the darnel is gathered up, and is burned with fire, so shall it be in the full end of this age,

⁴¹the Son of Man shall send forth his messengers, and they shall gather up out of his kingdom all the stumbling-blocks, and those doing the unlawlessness,

⁴²and shall cast them to the furnace of the fire; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.

⁴³‘Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the reign of their Father. He who is having ears to hear -- let him hear.

⁴⁴‘Again, the reign of the heavens is like to treasure hid in the field, which a man having found did hide, and from his joy goeth, and all, as much as he hath, he selleth, and buyeth that field.

⁴⁵‘Again, the reign of the heavens is like to a man, a merchant, seeking goodly pearls,

⁴⁶who having found one pearl of great price, having gone away, hath sold all, as much as he had, and bought it.

⁴⁷‘Again, the reign of the heavens is like to a net that was cast into the sea, and did gather together of every kind,

⁴⁸which, when it was filled, having drawn up again upon the beach, and having sat down, they gathered the good into vessels, and the bad they did cast out,

⁴⁹so shall it be in the full end of the age, the messengers shall come forth and separate the evil out of the midst of the righteous,

⁵⁰and shall cast them to the furnace of the fire, there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.'

⁵¹Jesus saith to them, ‘Did ye understand all these?' They say to him, ‘Yes, sir.'

⁵²And he said to them, ‘Because of this every scribe having been discipled in regard to the reign of the heavens, is like to a man, a householder, who doth bring forth out of his treasure things new and old.'

⁵³And it came to pass, when Jesus finished these similes, he removed thence,

⁵⁴and having come to his own country, he was teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and were saying, ‘Whence to this one this wisdom and the mighty works?

⁵⁵is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

⁵⁶and his sisters -- are they not all with us? whence, then, to this one all these?'

⁵⁷and they were stumbled at him. And Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, and in his own house:'

⁵⁸and he did not there many mighty works, because of their unbelief.