[Arabic, p. 125] And when evening came, Jesus went forth outside of the city, he and his disciples. And as they passed in the morning, the disciples saw that fig tree withered away from its root. And they passed by, and said, How did the fig tree dry up immediately? And Simon remembered, and said unto him, My Master, behold, that fig tree which thou didst curse hath dried up. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Let there be in you the faith of God. Verily I say unto you, if ye believe, and doubt not in your hearts, and assure yourselves that that will be which ye say, ye shall have what ye say. And if ye say to this mountain, Remove, and fall into the sea, it shall be. And all that ye ask God in prayer, and believe, he [9, 10] will give you. And the apostles said unto our Lord, Increase our faith. He said unto them, If there be in you faith like a grain of mustard, ye shall say to this fig tree, Be thou torn up, and be thou planted in the sea; and it will obey you. Who of you hath a servant driving a yoke of oxen or tending sheep, and if he come from the field, will say unto him straightway, Go and sit down? Nay, he will say unto him, Make ready for me wherewith I may sup, and gird thy waist, and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterwards thou shalt eat and drink also. Doth that servant haply, who did what he was bid, receive his praise? I think not. So ye also, when ye have done all that ye were bid, say, We are idle servants; what it was our duty to do, we have done.
For this reason I say unto you, Whatever ye pray and ask, believe that ye [Arabic, p. 126] receive, and ye shall have. And when ye stand to pray, forgive what is in your heart against any man; and your Father which is in heaven will forgive you also your wrong-doings. But if ye forgive not men their wrong-doings, neither will your Father forgive you also your wrong-doings.
And he spake unto them a parable also, that they should pray at all times, and not be slothful: There was a judge in a city, who feared not God, nor was ashamed for men: and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, and said, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a long time: but afterwards he said within himself, If of God I have no fear, and before men I have no shame; yet because this widow vexeth me, I will avenge her, that she come not at all times [23, 24] and annoy me. And our Lord said, Hear ye what the judge of injustice said. And shall not God still more do vengeance for his elect, who call upon him in the night and in the day, and grant them respite? I say unto you, He will do vengeance for them speedily. Thinkest thou the Son of man will come and find faith on the earth?
[26, 27] And they came again to Jerusalem. And it came to pass, on one of the days, as Jesus was walking in the temple, and teaching the people, and preaching the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came upon him, and said unto him, Tell us: By what power doest thou this? and who gave thee this power to do that? And Jesus said unto them, I also will ask you one word, and if ye tell me, I also shall tell you by what power I do that. The baptism of John, from what place is it? from heaven or of men? Tell me. And they reflected within themselves, [Arabic, p. 127] and said, If we shall say unto him, From heaven; he will say unto us, For what reason did ye not believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear that the people will stone us, all of them. And all of them were holding to John, that he was a true prophet. They answered and said unto him, We know not. Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you also by what power I work. What think ye? A man had two sons; and he went to the first, and said unto him, My son, go to-day, and till in the vineyard. And he answered and said, I do not wish to: but finally he repented, and went. And he went to the other, and said unto him likewise. And he answered and said, Yea, my lord: and went not. Which of these two did the will of his father? They said unto him, The first. Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, The publicans and harlots go before you into the kingdom of God. John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the publicans and harlots believed him; and ye, not even when ye saw, did ye repent at last, that ye might believe in him.
Hear another parable: A man was a householder, and planted a vineyard, and surrounded it with a hedge, and digged in it a winepress, and built in it a tower, [41, 42] and gave it to husbandmen, and went to a distance for a long time. So when the time of the fruits came, he sent his servants unto the husbandmen, that they might send him of the produce of his vineyard. And those husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. And he sent unto them another servant also; and they stoned him, and wounded him, and sent him away with shameful handling. And he sent again another; and they slew him. And he sent many other servants unto them. And the husbandmen took his servants, and one they beat, and another they stoned, and another they slew. So he sent again other servants more than the first; and [Arabic, p. 128] they did likewise with them. So the owner of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will see him and be [49, 50] ashamed. So at last he sent unto them his beloved son that he had. But the husbandmen, when they saw the son, said amongst themselves, This is the heir. [51, 52] And they said, We will slay him, and so the inheritance will be ours. So they took him, and put him forth without the vineyard, and slew him. When then the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do with those husbandmen? They said unto him, He will destroy them in the worst of ways, and give the vineyard to other husbandmen, who will give him fruit in its season. Jesus said unto them, Have ye never read in the scripture,
The stone which the builders declared to be base,
The same came to be at the head of the corner:
From God was this,
And it is wonderful in our eyes?
Therefore I say unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a people that will produce fruit. And whosoever falleth on this stone shall be broken in pieces: but on whomsoever it falleth, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that it was concerning them he spake. And they sought to seize him; and they feared the multitude, because they were holding to him as the prophet.
Section XXXIV
Then went the Pharisees and considered how they might ensnare him in a word, and deliver him into the power of the judge, and into the power of the ruler. And they sent unto him their disciples, with the kinsfolk of Herod; and they said unto him, [Arabic, p. 129] Teacher, we know that thou speakest the truth, and teachest the way of God with equity, and art not lifted up by any man: for thou actest not so as to be seen of any man. Tell us now, What is thy opinion? Is it lawful that we should pay the tribute to Cæsar, or not? shall we give, or shall we not give? But Jesus knew their deceit, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the penny of the tribute. So they brought unto him a penny. Jesus said unto them, To whom belongeth this image and inscription? They said unto him, To Cæsar. [7, 8] He said unto them, Give what is Cæsar’s to Cæsar, and what is God’s to God. And they could not make him slip in a single word before the people; and they marvelled at his word, and refrained.
And on that day came the Sadducees, and said unto him, There is no life for the dead. And they asked him, and said unto him, Teacher, Moses said unto us, If a man die, not having children, let his brother take his wife, and raise up seed for his brother. Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children; and the second took his wife, and died without children; and the third also took her; and in like manner the seven of them also, and they [14, 15] died without leaving children. And last of them all the woman died also. At the resurrection, then, which of these seven shall have this woman? for all of them took her. Jesus answered and said unto them, Is it not for this that ye have erred, because ye know not the scriptures, nor the power of God? And the sons of this world take wives, and the women become the men’s; but those that have become worthy of that world, and the resurrection from among the dead, do not take [Arabic, p. 130] wives, and the women also do not become the men’s. Nor is it possible that they should die; but they are like the angels, and are the children of God, because they have become the children of the resurrection. For in the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read in the book of Moses, how from the bush God said unto him, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? And God is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all of them are alive with him. And ye have erred greatly.
[22, 23] And when the multitudes heard, they were wondering at his teaching. And some of the scribes answered and said unto him, Teacher, thou hast well said. But the rest of the Pharisees, when they saw his silencing the Sadducees on this point, gathered against him to contend with him.
And one of the scribes, of those that knew the law, when he saw the excellence of his answer to them, desired to try him, and said unto him, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? and, Which of the commandments is greater, and has precedence in the law? Jesus said unto him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy thought, and with all thy [29, 30] strength. This is the great and preëminent commandment. And the second, which is like it, is, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. And another commandment greater than these two there is not. On these two commandments, then, are hung the [Arabic, p. 131] law and the prophets. That scribe said unto him, Excellent! my Master; thou hast said truly that he is one, and there is no other outside of him: and that a man should love him with all his heart, and with all his thought, and with all his soul, and with all his strength, and that he should love his neighbour as himself, is better than all savours and sacrifices. And Jesus saw him that he had answered wisely; and he answered and said unto him, Thou art not far from the [35, 36] kingdom of God. Thou hast spoken rightly: do this, and thou shalt live. And he, as his desire was to justify himself, said unto him, And who is my neighbour? Jesus said unto him, A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and the robbers fell upon him, and stripped him, and beat him, his life remaining in him but little, and went away. And it happened that there came down a certain priest that way; and he saw him, and passed by. And likewise a Levite also came and reached that place, and saw him, and passed by. And a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to the place where he was, and saw him, and had compassion on him, and came near, and bound up his strokes, and poured on them wine and oil; and he set him on the ass, and brought him to the inn, and expended his care upon him. And on the morrow of that day he took out two pence, and gave them to the innkeeper, and said unto him, Care for him; and if thou spendest upon him more, when I return, I shall give thee. Who of these three now, thinkest thou, is nearest to him that fell among the robbers? And he said unto him, He that had compassion [Arabic, p. 132] on him. Jesus said unto him, Go, and do thou also likewise. And no man dared afterwards to ask him anything.
And he was teaching every day in the temple. But the chief priests and scribes and the elders of the people sought to destroy him: and they could not find what they should do with him; and all the people were hanging upon him to hear him. And many of the multitude believed on him, and said, The Messiah, when he cometh, can it be that he will do more than these signs that this man doeth? And the Pharisees heard the multitudes say that of him; and the chief priests sent officers to seize him. And Jesus said unto them, I am with you but a short time yet, and I go to him that sent me. And ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I shall be, ye shall not be able to come. The Jews said within themselves, Whither hath this man determined to go that we shall not be able to find him? can it be that he is determined to go to the regions of the nations, and teach the heathen? What is this word that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, ye cannot come?