this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard, 24 they said, This man does not cast out the demons but by Beelzebul prince of the demons. And he knew their 25 thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. And if Satan 26 casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebul cast out 27 the demons, by whom do your sons cast out? therefore they themselves shall be your judges. But if I cast out 28 the demons by God's Spirit, then the kingdom of God is already come unto you. Or how can one enter into 29 the strong man's house, and seize his goods, except he shall have first bound the strong man? and then will he thoroughly plunder his house. He that is not with me is 30 against me; and he that gathers not with me scatters. Wherefore I say unto you, every sin and blasphemy will 31 be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whosoever shall speak 32 a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him: but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in that to come. Either make the tree good and its fruit good; or make the 33 tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by the fruit. Brood of vipers, how can ye, being evil, 34 speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man out of the good 35 treasure sends forth the good things: and the evil man out of the evil treasure sends forth evil things. But I 36 say unto you, that of every idle word which men shall speak, they will give account in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou wilt be justified, and by thy words 37 thou wilt be condemned.

Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, 38 saying, Teacher, we desire to see a sign from thee. But 39 he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and no sign will be given to it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as 40

Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so will the Son of man be three days and three 41 nights in the heart of the earth. Men of Nineveh will rise in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah; 42 and, behold, more than Jonah is here. A queen of the south will be raised in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, more 43 than Solomon is here. But when the unclean spirit is gone

out of the man, it goes through dry places, seeking rest, 44 and finds it not. Then it says, I will return into my house whence I came out. And having come it finds it 45 empty and swept and garnished. Then it goes, and takes with itself seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter in and dwell there, and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. So will it be also unto this evil generation.

46 While he yet spake to the multitudes, behold, his mother and brethren had stood without, seeking to speak 47 to him. [And one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and

thy brethren have been standing without seeking to speak 48 to thee.] But he answered and said unto him that told 49 him, Who is my mother, and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth the hand towards his disciples and said, 50 Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall have done the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother.

CH. XIII.

In that day Jesus went forth out of the house and 2 was sitting by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship and sat; and all the multitude was standing on the shore. 3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, 4 Behold, the sower went forth to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured them. And others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth, and immediately sprung 6 up, because they had no depth of earth: and when the

sun rose they were scorched, and were withered because they had no root. And others fell upon the thorns; and 7 the thorns came up and choked them. But others fell upon 8 the good earth, and yielded fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He that has ears let him hear. 9

And the disciples came up and said unto him, Why 10 speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and 11 said, Because it has been given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whosoever has, to him will be given, and he 12 will have abundance: but whosoever has not, even what he has will be taken from him. Therefore speak I to them in 13 parables because, seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is 14 fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, By hearing ye will hear, and will not understand, and seeing ye will see, and will not perceive: for this people's heart became 15 gross, and with their ears they became dull of hearing, and their eyes they closed; lest they should see with the eyes, and hear with the ears, and understand with the heart and should turn, and I should heal them. But blessed 16 are your eyes, that they see; and your ears, that they hear. Verily I say unto you, that many prophets 17 and righteous men longed to see those things which ye behold, and did not see them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and did not hear. Hear ye there- 18 fore the parable of him that sowed. When any one hears 19 the word of the kingdom and understands not, the evil one comes and seizes that which has been sown in his heart. This is he that was sown by the way side. But he that was sown upon the rocky places, the same 20 is he that hears the word, and straightway with joy receives it yet has he not a root in himself, but con- 21 tinues only for a while; and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, straightway he is offended. But he that was sown into the thorns, the same 22 is he that hears the word, and the anxiety of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he

23 becomes unfruitful. But he that was sown upon the good earth, the same is he that hears the word, and understands; who now bears fruit, and brings forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

24 Another parable he put forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven was likened unto a man who sowed 25 good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and oversowed tares among the wheat, and went 26 away. And when the grain budded, and brought forth 27 fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the household came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? whence then has it tares? 28 And he said unto them, An enemy did this. And the servants say unto him, Wilt thou then that we go away and 29 gather them together? But he says, Nay; lest while ye gather the tares together, ye root out the wheat along with 30 them. Leave both to grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather first the tares together, and bind them into bundles to burn 31 them but bring the wheat together into my barn. Another parable he put forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took 32 and sowed in his field: which indeed is less than all the seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and 33 lodge in the branches thereof. Another parable spake he unto them: The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of meal, till the whole was leavened.

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All these things spake Jesus in parables unto the multitudes; and without a parable was he speaking nothing 35 unto them; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet Isaiah, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been hidden from the foundation.

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Then he sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. And his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare 37 unto us the parable of the tares of the field. And he

answered and said, He that sows the good seed is the Son of man, and the field is the world; the good seed, these 38 are the sons of the kingdom; but the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy that sowed them is the devil; 39 but the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are angels. As therefore the tares are gathered together and 40 burned with fire, so will it be in the end of the world. The 41 Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather together out of his kingdom all the stumbling-blocks, and them that do iniquity, and will cast them into the furnace 42 of fire: there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Then will the righteous shine forth as the sun in the king- 43 dom of their Father. He that has ears let him hear. The 44 kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in the field; which when a man found he hid, and for his joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the 45 kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls; and when he found one pearl of great 46 price, he went away, sold all that he had and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was 47 cast into the sea and brought together of every kind: which, when it was full, they drew up on the shore, and 48 sat down, and gathered the good together into vessels, but cast the corrupt out. So will it be in the end of the world: 49 the angels will come forth and separate the evil from among the righteous, and will cast them into the furnace of fire: 50 there will be the weeping, and the gnashing of teeth. Have 51 ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea. And he said unto them, Therefore every scribe instructed in 52 the kingdom of heaven is like unto an householder, who brings forth out of his treasure new and old.

And it came to pass when Jesus finished these para- 53 bles he removed thence. And he came into his own 54 country, and was teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom and the mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's 55 son? Is not his mother called Mary; and his brethren, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judah? And his 56