authorities

read unto you

men,

2 Or, age

bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against 30 me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. Therefore I say unto you, Every sin 31 1 Some ancient and blasphemy shall be forgiven 1unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whosoever shall speak a 32 word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come. Either make the tree good, and its 33 fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt for the tree is known by its fruit. Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, 34 speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. The good 35 man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. And I say 36 unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou 37 shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees 38 Or, Teacher answered him, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said 39 unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet: for as Jonah was three days and three 40 nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh 41 shall stand up in the judgement with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented "Gr. more than, at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a

4 Gr. seamonster.

42 greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgement with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom

of Solomon; and behold, 1a greater than Solo- 1Gr.morethan. 43 mon is here. But the unclean spirit, when "he Or, it is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not. 44 Then he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when he is come, 2he 45 findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven Or, itself other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. so shall it be also unto this evil generation. While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brethren stood 47 without, seeking to speak to him. And one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking to speak to 48 thee. But he answered and said unto him

46

Even

that told him, Who is my mother? and who 49 are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold, my 50 mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.

13 I

On that day went Jesus out of the house, and 2 sat by the sea side. And there were gathered unto him great multitudes, so that he entered into a boat, and sat; and all the multitude 3 stood on the beach. And he spake to them many things in parables, saying, Behold, the 4 sower went forth to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the birds 5 came and devoured them: and others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not

4

Some ancient mit ver. 47.

authorities

much earth and straightway they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth and 6 when the sun was risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And others fell upon the thorns; and 7 the thorns grew up, and choked them: and 8 others fell upon the good ground, and yielded fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some 1 Some ancient thirty. He that hath ears1, let him hear.

authorities

add here, and in ver. 43, to hear: as in Mark iv. 9; Luke viii. 8.

9

And the disciples came, and said unto him, 10 Why speakest thou unto them in parables? And he answered and said unto them, Unto you 11 it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and 12 he shall have abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath. Therefore speak I to them in 13 parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of 14 Isaiah, which saith,

By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no

wise understand;

And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no

wise perceive:

For this people's heart is waxed gross,

And their ears are dull of hearing,

And their eyes they have closed;

Lest haply they should perceive with their

eyes,

And hear with their ears,

And understand with their heart,

And should turn again,

And I should heal them.

15

But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and 16 your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto 17 you, that many prophets and righteous men de

sired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and to hear the things which ye 18 hear, and heard them not. Hear then ye the 19 parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one, and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart. This is he that was sown by the way side. 20 And he that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that heareth the word, and straight21 way with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while; and when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of 22 the word, straightway he stumbleth. And he that was sown among the thorns, this is he that heareth the word; and the care of the 'world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the 1Or, age 23 word, and he becometh unfruitful. And he that was sown upon the good ground, this is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; who verily beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

24

Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man 25 that sowed good seed in his field: but while

men slept, his enemy came and sowed 'tares 2 Or, darnel

26 also among the wheat, and went away.

But

when the blade sprang up, and brought forth

27 fruit, then appeared the tares also. And the

3 servants of the householder came and said unto Gr. bond. him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy servants. 28 field? whence then hath it tares? And he said unto them, 'An enemy hath done this. Gr. A man And the servants say unto him, Wilt thou then that is an 29 that we go and gather them up? But he saith, Nay; lest haply while ye gather up the tares, 30 ye root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the

enemy.

time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Another parable set he before them, saying, 31 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is less than all seeds; 32 but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof.

Another parable spake he unto them; The 33 kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which The word in a woman took, and hid in three 'measures of meal, till it was all leavened.

the Greek

denotes the

Hebrew seah,

taining nearly a peck and a

All these things spake Jesus in parables unto 34 a measure con- the multitudes; and without a parable spake he nothing unto them: that it might be fulfilled 35 2 Or, through which was spoken "by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables;

half.

• Many ancient authorities omit of the world.

'Or, the con

summation of the age

I will utter things hidden from the founda

tion of the world.

Then he left the multitudes, and went into the 36 house and his disciples came unto him, saying, Explain unto us the parable of the tares of the field. And he answered and said, He 37 that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; and the field is the world; and the good seed, 38 these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the 39 enemy that sowed them is the devil: and the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are angels. As therefore the tares 40 are gathered up and burned with fire; so shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of 41 man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that