Part 5 (1/2)

011:041 But as to what is within, give alms, and instantly all is clean in you.

011:042 ”But alas for you Pharisees! for you pay t.i.thes on your mint and rue and every kind of garden vegetable, and are indifferent to justice and the love of G.o.d. These are the things you ought to have attended to, while not neglecting the others.

011:043 Alas for you Pharisees! for you love the best seats in the synagogues, and you like to be bowed to in places of public resort.

011:044 Alas for you! for you are like the tombs which lie hidden, and the people who walk over them are not aware of their existence.”

011:045 Hereupon one of the expounders of the Law exclaimed, ”Rabbi, in saying such things you reproach us also.”

011:046 ”Alas too for you expounders of the Law!” replied Jesus, ”for you load men with c.u.mbrous burdens which you yourselves will not touch with one of your fingers.

011:047 Alas for you! for you repair the tombs of the Prophets, whom your forefathers killed.

011:048 It follows that you bear testimony to the actions of your forefathers and that you fully approve thereof.

They slew, you build.

011:049 ”For this reason also the Wisdom of G.o.d has said, 'I will send Prophets and Apostles to them, of whom they will kill some and persecute others,'

011:050 so that the blood of all the Prophets, that is being shed from the creation of the world onwards, may be required from the present generation.

011:051 Yes, I tell you that, from the blood of Abel down to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the House, it shall all be required from the present generation.

011:052 ”Alas for you expounders of the Law! for you have taken away the key of knowledge: you yourselves have not entered, and those who wanted to enter you have hindered.”

011:053 After He had left the house, the Scribes and Pharisees commenced a vehement attempt to entangle Him and make Him give off-hand answers on numerous points, 011:054 lying in wait to catch some unguarded expression from His lips.

012:001 Meanwhile the people had come streaming towards Him by tens of thousands, so that they were trampling one another under foot.

And now He proceeded to say to His disciples first, ”Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is to say, beware of hypocrisy.

012:002 There is nothing that is covered up which will not be uncovered, nor hidden which will not become known.

012:003 Whatever therefore you have said in the dark, will be heard in the light; and what you have whispered within closed doors will be proclaimed from the house-tops.

012:004 ”But to you who are my friends I say, ”'Be not afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do nothing further.

012:005 I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who after killing has power to throw into Gehenna: yes, I say to you, fear him.

012:006 Are not five sparrows sold for a penny? and yet not one of them is a thing forgotten in G.o.d's sight.

012:007 But the very hairs on your heads are all counted. Away with fear: you are more precious than a mult.i.tude of sparrows.'

012:008 ”And I tell you that every man who shall have acknowledged me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of G.o.d.

012:009 But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of G.o.d.

012:010 ”Moreover every one who shall speak against the Son of Man, may obtain forgiveness; but he who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never obtain forgiveness.

012:011 And when they are bringing you before synagogues and magistrates and governors, do not anxiously ponder the manner or matter of your defence, nor what you are to say; 012:012 for the Holy Spirit shall teach you at that very moment what you must say.”

012:013 Just then a man in the crowd appealed to Him. ”Rabbi,” he said, ”tell my brother to give me a share of the inheritance.”

012:014 ”Man,” He replied, ”who has const.i.tuted me a judge or arbitrator over you?”

012:015 And to the people He said, ”Take care, be on your guard against all covetousness, for no one's life consists in the superabundance of his possessions.”

012:016 And He spoke a parable to them. ”A certain rich man's lands,”

He said, ”yielded abundant crops, 012:017 and he debated within himself, saying, ”'What am I to do?

for I have no place in which to store my crops.'

012:018 ”And he said to himself, ”'This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and in them I will store up all my harvest and my wealth; 012:019 and I will say to my life, ”'Life, you have ample possessions laid up for many years to come: take your ease, eat, drink, enjoy yourself.'

012:020 ”But G.o.d said to him, ”'Foolish man, this night your life is demanded from you; and these preparations--for whom shall they be?'

012:021 ”So is it with him who ama.s.ses treasure for himself, but has no riches in G.o.d.”

012:022 Then turning to His disciples He said, ”For this reason I say to you, 'Dismiss all anxious care for your lives, inquiring what you are to eat, and for your bodies, what you are to put on.'

012:023 For life is a greater gift than food, and the body is a greater gift than clothing.

012:024 Observe the ravens. They neither sow nor reap, and have neither store-chamber nor barn. And yet G.o.d feeds them.

How far more precious are you than the birds!

012:025 And which of you is able by anxious thought to add a moment to his life?

012:026 If then you are unable to do even a very little thing, why be over-anxious about other matters?

012:027 Observe the lilies, how they grow. They neither labour nor spin.

And yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was as beautifully dressed as one of these.

012:028 But if G.o.d so clothes the vegetation in the fields, that blooms to-day and to-morrow will be thrown into the oven, how much more certainly will He clothe you, you men of feeble faith!

012:029 ”Therefore, do not be asking what you are to eat nor what you are to drink; and do not waver between hope and fear.

012:030 For though the nations of the world pursue these things, as for you, your Father knows that you need them.

012:031 But make His Kingdom the object of your pursuit, and these things shall be given you in addition.

012:032 ”Dismiss your fears, little flock: your Father finds a pleasure in giving you the Kingdom.

012:033 Sell your possessions and give alms. Provide yourselves with purses that will never wear out, a treasure inexhaustible in Heaven, where no thief can come nor moth consume.

012:034 For where your wealth is stored, there also will your heart be.

012:035 ”Have your girdles on, and let your lamps be alight; 012:036 and be yourselves like men waiting for their master-- on the look-out till he shall return from the wedding feast-- that, when he comes and knocks, they may open the door instantly.