they hear;* and they do not understand, and in them is fulfilled 14 this prophesy of Esaias, which saith, "Hearing you shall hear,

though you may not understand, and seeing you shall see, 15 though you may not perceive; for the heart of this people is

callous, and their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes, that for a while they may not see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and 16 return that I may heal them.+" But blessed are your eyes, be17 cause they see, and your ears, because they hear. For verily

I say to you, "Many prophets and righteous men have earnestly desired to see what you see, and have not seen them; 18 and to hear what you hear and have not heard them. Hear 19 then the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the doc

trine of the kingdom and doth not mind it, the evil one cometh and snatcheth away what was sown in his heart. This is 20 the meaning of that sown on the highway. And that sown on rocky ground denoteth him, who, upon hearing the word, re21 ceiveth it at first with joy, but not having it rooted in him, it is only temporary; and when tribulation and persecution cometh on account of the word, he is immediately stumbled.

22

And that sown among thorns denoteth him, who heareth the word, but worldly care and the delusion of riches choak 23 the word and it becometh unfruitful. But that sown on good ground denoteth him who heareth and mindeth the word, and who beareth fruit and bringeth forth, one a hundred, and another sixty, and another thirty fold.

24

Another parable he stated to them, saying, The reign of the heavens may be compared to a man sowing good seed in 25 his field. But when the men were asleep; his enemy came and 26 sowed darnel among the wheat, and went away. And when the

blade sprang up and put forth the ear, then the darnel appear27 ed. Whereupon the servants of the householder came and said

to him, Master, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? 28 Whence then hath it darnel? And he said to them, An enemy hath done this. Then the servants said to him, Is it thy plea

not.

*Literally, because, seeing they see not; and, hearing, they hear + Es. 6. 9.

29 sure then that we go and weed it out? And he said, No. Perhaps in weeding out the darnel you may pull up the wheat 30 with it. Let them both grow together till the harvest. And at the season for reaping I will say to the reapers, Gather the darnel first and bind it in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat into my barn.

31

Another parable he stated to them, saying, The reign of the heavens is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field, which is indeed the smallest of all seeds, 32 but which, when grown, is the largest of the herbs and be cometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and take shelter among the branches.

33

34

Another parable he stated to them, saying, The reign of the heavens is like leaven which a woman took and covered up in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

All these things Jesus spake to them in parables, and did 35 not speak to them without a parable, so that there was a full accomplishment of that which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth with parables, I will utter things kept hid from the foundation of the world.*

36

Then Jesus dismissed the multitude and went into the house, and his disciples came to him and said, Explain to us 37 the parable of the darnel in the field. And he answering, said 38 to them, He who soweth the good seed is the son of man.

The field is the world. The good seed are the children of the 39 kingdom, and the darnel are the children of the evil one. The enemy who sowed it is the devil. The harvest is the conclusion 40 of the age, and angels are the reapers. As the darnel therefore

is gathered and burned with fire, so shall it be at the conclusion 41 of this age. The son of man will send his angels, and they will

gather out of his kingdom all the stumbling blocks, and the workers of iniquity, and cast them into the fiery furnace. 42 Weeping and gnashing of teeth will be there. Then shall the 43 righteous shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. Whoever hath ears to hear, let him hear.

44

Again the kingdom of the heavens is like treasure hid in

45

the field, which, when a man found, he concealed, and for joy thereof goeth away and selleth all that he hath, and purchaseth that field.

Again the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant in 46 quest of fine pearls, who, having met with one of great va lue, went and sold all that he had and purchased it.

47 Again the kingdom of the heavens is like a sweep net cast 48 into the sea, which enclosed fishes of every kind, which, when it was full, they dragged to the shore; and then sitting down, 49 gathered the good into vessels and threw the bad away. So shall it be at the conclusion of this age. The angels will go forth and sever the wicked from among the righteous and cast 50 them into the fiery furnace. Weeping and gnashing of teeth will be there.

51 Jesus saith to them, Have you understood all these? They 52 say to him, Yes, Master. Then he said to them, Every Scribe then who is instructed for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a family who bringeth out of his treasury things new and old.

53

Now when Jesus had finished these parables he departed thence; and being come into his own country, he taught them 54 in their synagogues, so that they were astonished, and said,

Whence hath this man this wisdom and these miraculous 55 powers? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother

called Mary, and his brethren, James and Joses and Simon 56 and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all among us?

Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were 57 stumbled at him. Thereupon Jesus said to them, A prophet

is not without honour save in his own country and in his own family. So he did not perform many miracles there because of their unbelief.

XIV. At that time Herod the tetrarch* hearing of the fame 2 of Jesus, said to his servants, This is John the Baptist. He is 3 raised from the dead, and therefore miracles are performed by

*Tetrarch, the governor of a fourth part of a country. The kingdom of Herod the great being divided into four parts, this son, called Herod Antipas, had one of those parts.

him. (For Herod had apprehended John and bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his bro4 ther Philip for John had said to him, It is not lawful for thee 5 to have her. Upon which Herod would have put him to death,

but he was afraid of the people, because they looked upon 6 him as a prophet. But when Herod's birth day was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased 7 Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her 8 whatever she would ask. And she at the instigation of her

mother, said, Give me here in a basin the head of John the Bap9 tist. Though the king was sorry, yet from a regard to the 10 oath and the guests, he ordered it to be given her. So he sent 11 and beheaded John in the prison. And his head was brought

in a basin and given to the damsel, who carried it to her mo12 ther. And his disciples went and took up the body, and 13 buried it, and came and told Jesus.) When Jesus heard this he

departed thence, in a vessel, privately, to a desert place; and the people, being informed, followed him by land out of the 14 cities. And when Jesus landed he saw a great multitude, and 15 had compassion on them, and healed their sick. And towards

evening his disciples accosted him, saying, This is a desert place and the hour* is now past, dismiss the multitude that 16 they may go to the villages and buy themselves victuals. And

Jesus said to them, They need not go. Give them, ye your17 selves, something to eat. And they said, We have here only 18 five loaves and two fishes. Whereupon he said, Bring them

hither to me. Then he ordered the multitude to arrange them-19 selves, as at table, on the grass. And having taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven and pronounced a blessing. Then he brake and gave the loaves to the disciples and the disciples [distributed] them to the mul20 titudes. And they all ate and were satisfied. And there were

carried away twelve panniers full of the fragments which re21 mained. Now they who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

*Meaning the ninth hour answering to our three o'clock in the afternoon, the time of offering the evening sacrifice.

Then Jesus immediately constrained his disciples to embark, and cross over to the other side before him, while he 23 dismissed the multitudes. And when he had dismissed the

multitudes he went up, by himself, to the mountain, to pray. 24 And in the course of the eve, he was there alone, and the ves

sel was now in the midst of the sea tossed by the waves, for 25 the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch* of the night, 26 Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. When the disciples

saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said it 27 is an apparition, and cried out for fear. Thereupon Jesus im

mediately spake to them, saying, Take courage: it is I: be 28 not afraid. In reply to which Peter said, Master, if it be thou, 29 bid me come to thee on the water. And Jesus said, Come.

So Peter having gone down from the vessel, walked on the 30 waves to go to Jesus. But perceiving the wind strong, he was

afraid, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Master, save 31 me. And Jesus immediately stretched forth his hand and took

hold of him, saying, Distrustful man, why didst thou doubt? 32 And when they were come into the vessel the wind ceased. 33 And they who were in the vessel came and bowed down to 34 him, saying, Thou art indeed Son of God. And when they had crossed over, they landed in the territory of Gennesaret. 35 And the men of that place, knowing him, sent to all the country around, and they brought to him all that were sick, and intreated him that they might only touch the tuft of his mantle. And as many as touched were perfectly cured.

XV. Then some Scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem ac2 costed Jesus, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the doctrine of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when 3 they eat bread. In reply to which he said to them, Why do - you transgress the commandment of God, from a regard to 4 your doctrines? For God commanded saying, "Honour thy father and thy mother" and "whosoever revileth father or 5 mother let him be put to death:" but you say, "Whoever shall say to his father or to his mother, Let that by which thou mightest be benefited by me, be dedicated," must not honour either his

*The day from sun rise to sun set, was divided into twelve hours, and the night into four watches.