23 by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him who sitteth thereon. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithes of the mint, and the dill, and the cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the Law, justice, and mercy, and faith; these ought ye to have done, and 24 not to leave those undone. Blind guides! who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel. 25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but 26 within they are full of robbery and licentiousness. Blind Pharisee! cleanse first the inside of the cup, that its outside also may become clean. 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like whited sepulchres, which outwardly indeed appear beautiful, but within are full of dead men's bones, 28 and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the 30 tombs of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with 31 them in the blood of the prophets. So that ye bear wit ness against yourselves, that ye are the sons of those who 32 killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your 33 fathers! Serpents, brood of vipers! how can ye escape the punishment of hell? 34 Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; some of them ye will kill and crucify, and some of them ye will scourge in your synagogues, and 35 persecute from city to city; that on you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly do I say to you, All these things will come upon this generation. 37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth those who are sent to her! How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth 38 her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Lo! 39 your house is left to you desolate. For I say to you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. XXIV. And Jesus went out, and was going from the temple; and his disciples came to him, to show him the build2 ings of the temple. And he answering said to them, See ye not all these? Truly do I say to you, There will not be left here one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down. 3 And as he was sitting upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things be? and what will be the sign of thy coming, 4 and of the end of the world? And Jesus answering said 5 to them, See that no one deceive you. For many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and will de6 ceive many. And ye are to hear of wars, and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled; for these things must 7 come to pass; but not yet is the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there 8 will be famines and earthquakes in divers places. But all 9 these things are the beginning of travail-pains. Then will they deliver you up to distress, and will kill you; and ye 10 will be hated by all nations on account of my name. And then will many fall away; and will deliver up one another, 11 and will hate one another. And many false prophets will Ver. 37-39. See Luke xiii. 34, 35. Chap. XXIV. Comp. Mark xiii.; Luke xxi. 5–36. 12 arise, and will deceive many. And because iniquity shall 13 abound, the love of the many will wax cold. But he that 14 endureth to the end will be saved. And these glad tidings 15 of the kingdom will be published throughout the whole world for a testimony to all the nations; and then will come the end. When, therefore, ye see the abomination of desolation, spoken of through Daniel the prophet,* standing in 16 the holy place, (let him that readeth understand,) then let 17 those who are in Judæa flee to the mountains; let not him that is on the house-top go down to take away the things 18 belonging to his house; and let not him that is in the field 19 turn back to take his garment. And woe to the women with child, and to those with children at the breast, in those 20 days! And pray that your flight be not in winter, nor on 21 a sabbath. For there will then be great distress, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world to this 22 time; no, nor shall ever be. And were not those days to be shortened, no flesh would be saved; but, for the sake 23 of the chosen, those days will be shortened. Then if any one say to you, Lo! here is the Christ; or there, believe 24 him not. For there will rise up false Christs, and false prophets, and will show great signs and wonders, so that, 25 if possible, even the chosen will be deceived. Lo! I have 26 told you beforehand. If therefore they say to you, Lo! he is in the wilderness; go not forth; lo! he is in the 27 private chambers; believe them not. For as the lightning cometh from the east, and shineth even to the west, 28 so will be the coming of the Son of man. Wherever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 29 And immediately after the distress of those days will the Ver. 17, 18. See Luke xvii. 31. Ver. 23, 26, 27. See Luke xvii. 23, 24. * See Dan. ix. 27, xi. 31, xii. 11. sun be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heav30 ens will be shaken. And then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and will see the Son of man coming upon the clouds 31 of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather his chosen from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 32 And from the fig-tree learn its parable. When its branch hath now become tender, and putteth forth its 33 leaves, ye know that summer is near. So also, when ye see all these things, know ye that he is near, at the 34 doors. Truly do I say to you, This generation will not 35 pass away, till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 36 But that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the 37 angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. But as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the 38 Son of man. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in mar39 riage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and knew not, until the flood came, and took them all away, so 40 also will be the coming of the Son of man. Then will two men be in the field; one will be taken, and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be 42 taken, and one left. Watch, therefore, for ye know not 43 on what day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would 44 not have suffered his house to be broken through. There Ver. 37-39. See Luke xvii. 26, 27. Ver. 41. See Luke xvii. 35. fore be ye also ready; for at an hour when ye think not, 45 the Son of man cometh. Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord placed over his household, to 46 give them their food in due season? Happy is that servant 47 whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Truly do I say to you, that he will place him in charge of all his 48 substance. But if the bad servant say in his heart, My 49 lord is tarrying long; and begin to beat his fellow-ser50 vants, and eat and drink with the drunken, the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for it, 51 and at an hour when he is not aware; and will cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. XXV. Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bride2 groom. And five of them were foolish, and five wise. 3 For the foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with 4 them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their 5 lamps. And as the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered 6 and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, Lo! the 7 bridegroom! go out to meet him. Then all those virgins 8 arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are going out. 9 But the wise answered, saying, Perhaps there will not be enough for us and you; go rather to those who sell, and 10 buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bride groom came; and they who were ready went in with him 11 to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward came 12 also the other virgins, saying, Lord, lord, open to us. But he answering said, Truly do I say to you, I know you not. 13 Watch, therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour. 14 For it will be as when a man going abroad called his Chap. XXV. 14-30. Comp. Luke xix. 11–27. |