Section XXXIII.

Section XXXIII.

[1] [Arabic, p. 125] ²²⁴¹And when evening came, Jesus went forth outside of the city, he and his [2] disciples.  ²²⁴²And as they passed in the morning, the disciples saw that fig tree [3] withered away from its root.  ²²⁴³And they passed by, and said, How did the fig tree dry [4] up immediately?  ²²⁴⁴And Simon remembered, and said unto him, My Master, behold, [5] that fig tree which thou didst curse hath dried up.  ²²⁴⁵And Jesus answered and said [6] unto them, Let there be in you the faith of God.  ²²⁴⁶Verily I say unto you, if ye believe, and doubt not in your hearts, and assure yourselves that that will be which [7] ye say, ye shall have what ye say.  ²²⁴⁷And if ye say to this mountain, Remove, and [8] fall²²⁴⁸ into the sea, it shall be.  ²²⁴⁹And all that ye ask God in prayer, and believe, he [9, 10] will give you.  ²²⁵⁰And the apostles²²⁵¹ said unto our Lord, Increase our²²⁵² faith.  ²²⁵³He 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.  [11] ²²⁵⁴Who of you hath a servant driving a yoke of oxen or tending sheep, and if he [12] come from the field, will say unto him straightway, Go and sit down?  ²²⁵⁵Nay,²²⁵⁶ 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.  [13] ²²⁵⁷Doth that servant haply, who did what he was bid, receive his praise?  I think [14] not.  ²²⁵⁸So 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.

[15] ²²⁵⁹For this reason I say unto you, Whatever ye pray and ask, believe that ye [16] [Arabic, p. 126] receive, and ye shall have.  ²²⁶⁰And when ye stand to pray, forgive what is in your heart against any man; and your Father which is in heaven will [17] forgive you also your wrong-doings.  ²²⁶¹But if ye forgive not men their wrong-doings, neither will your Father forgive you also your wrong-doings.

[18] ²²⁶²And he spake unto them a parable also, that they should pray at all times, and [19] not be slothful:  ²²⁶³There was a judge in a city, who feared not God, nor was ashamed [20] for men:  ²²⁶⁴and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, and said, [21] Avenge me of mine adversary.  ²²⁶⁵And 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; [22] ²²⁶⁶yet because this widow vexeth me, I will avenge her, that she come not at all times [23, 24] and annoy me.  ²²⁶⁷And our Lord said, Hear ye what the judge of injustice said.  ²²⁶⁸And shall not God still more do vengeance for his elect, who call upon him in the night [25] and in the day, and grant them respite?  ²²⁶⁹I 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] ²²⁷⁰And they came again to Jerusalem.  ²²⁷¹And it came to pass, on one of the days, as Jesus was walking in the temple, and teaching the people, and preaching the [28] gospel, ²²⁷²that the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came upon him, and said unto him, Tell us:  ²²⁷³By what power doest thou this? and who gave thee this [29] power to do that?  ²²⁷⁴And Jesus said unto them, I also will ask you one word, and if [30] ye tell me, I also shall tell you by what power I do that.  ²²⁷⁵The baptism of John, from [31] what place is it? from heaven or of men?  ²²⁷⁶Tell me.  ²²⁷⁷And they reflected within themselves, [Arabic, p. 127] and said, If we shall say unto him, From heaven; he will say unto [32] us, For what reason did ye not believe him?  ²²⁷⁸But²²⁷⁹ if we shall say, Of men; [33] we fear²²⁸⁰ that the people will stone us, all of them.  ²²⁸¹And all of them were holding²²⁸² [34] to John, that he was a true prophet.  ²²⁸³They answered and said unto him, We know [35] not.  ²²⁸⁴Jesus 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 [36] son, go to-day, and till in the vineyard.  ²²⁸⁵And he answered and said, I do not wish [37] to:  but finally he repented, and went.  ²²⁸⁶And he went to the other, and said unto [38] him likewise.  ²²⁸⁷And 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 [39] the kingdom of God.  ²²⁸⁸John 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.

[40] ²²⁸⁹Hear 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] ²²⁹⁰and gave it to husbandmen, and went to a distance for a long time.  ²²⁹¹So when the time of the fruits came, he sent his servants²²⁹² unto the husbandmen, that they might [43] send him of the produce²²⁹³ of his vineyard.  ²²⁹⁴And those husbandmen beat him, and [44] sent him away empty.  ²²⁹⁵And he sent unto them another servant also; and they [45] stoned him, and wounded²²⁹⁶ him, and sent him away with shameful handling.  ²²⁹⁷And he sent again another; and they slew him.  And he sent many other servants unto [46] them.  ²²⁹⁸And the husbandmen took his servants, and one they beat, and another they [47] stoned, and another they slew.  ²²⁹⁹So he sent again other servants more than the first; and [48] [Arabic, p. 128] they did likewise with them.  ²³⁰⁰So 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.  ²³⁰¹So at last he sent unto them his beloved son that he had.  ²³⁰²But the husbandmen, when they saw the son, said amongst themselves, This is the heir.  [51, 52] ²³⁰³And they said, We will slay him, and so the inheritance will be ours.  ²³⁰⁴So they took [53] him, and put him forth without the vineyard, and slew him.  ²³⁰⁵When then the lord [54] of the vineyard shall come, what will he do with those husbandmen?  ²³⁰⁶They said unto him, He will destroy them in the worst of ways,²³⁰⁷ and give the vineyard to [55] other husbandmen, who will give him fruit in its season.  ²³⁰⁸Jesus said unto them, Have ye never read in the scripture,

The stone which the builders declared to be base,

²³⁰⁹The same came to be at the head of the corner:

[56] ²³¹⁰From God was this,

And it is wonderful in our eyes?

[57] ²³¹¹Therefore I say unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and [58] given to a people that will produce fruit.  ²³¹²And whosoever falleth on this stone shall be broken in pieces:  but on whomsoever it falleth, it will grind him to [59] powder.  ²³¹³And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they [60] perceived that it was concerning them he spake.  ²³¹⁴And they sought to seize him; and they feared the multitude, because they were holding to him as the prophet.