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Section X.

iv.iii.x1,626 words

Section X.

[1] [Arabic, p. 38] 753No man can serve two masters; and that because it is necessary that he hate one of them and love the other, and honour one of them and despise the [2] other.  754Ye cannot serve God and possessions.  And because of this I say unto you, Be not anxious for yourselves,755 what ye shall eat and what ye shall drink; neither for your bodies, what ye shall put on.  Is not the life better than the food, and the body [3] than the raiment?  756Consider the birds of the heaven, which sow not, nor reap, nor store in barns; and yet your Father which is in heaven feedeth them.  Are not ye [4] better than they?  757Who of you when he trieth is able to add to his stature one [5] cubit?  758If then ye are not able for a small thing, why are ye anxious about the [6, 7] rest?  759Consider the wild lily, how it grows, although it toils not, nor spins; 760and I say unto you that Solomon in the greatness of his glory was not clothed like one of [8] them.  761And if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow [9] is cast762 into the oven, how much more shall be unto you, O ye of little faith!  763Be not anxious, so as to say, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With [10] what shall we be clothed?  764Neither let your minds be perplexed in this:  765all these things the nations of the world seek; and your Father which is in heaven knoweth [11] your need of all these things.  766Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; [12] [Arabic, p. 39] and all these shall come to you as something additional for you.  767Be not anxious for the morrow; for the morrow shall be anxious for what belongs to it.  Sufficient unto the day is its evil.

[13] 768Judge not, that ye be not judged:  769condemn770 not, that ye be not condemned: [14] 771forgive, and it shall be forgiven you:  release, and ye shall be released:  give, that ye may be given unto; with good measure, abundant, full, they shall thrust772 into your [15] bosoms.  773With what measure ye measure it shall be measured to you.  See to it what ye hear:  with what measure ye measure it shall be measured to you; and ye [16] shall be given more.  774I say unto those that hear, He that hath shall be given unto; and he that hath not, that which he regards775 as his shall be taken from him.

[17] 776And he spake unto them a parable, Can a blind man haply guide a blind man? [18] shall777 they not both fall into a hollow?  778A disciple is not better than his master; [19] every perfect man shall be as his master.  779Why lookest thou at the mote which is in the eye of thy brother, but considerest not the column that is in thine own eye?  [20] 780Or how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, I will take out the mote from thine eye; and the column which is in thine eye thou seest not?  Thou hypocrite, take out first the column from thine eye; and then shalt thou see to take out the mote from the eye of thy brother.

[21] 781Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine, lest they trample them with their feet, and return and wound you.

[22] 782And he said unto them, Who of you, that hath a friend, goeth to him at midnight, [23] and saith unto him, My friend, lend me three loaves; 783for a friend hath come [24] to me from a journey, and I have nothing to offer to him:  784and that friend shall [Arabic, p. 40] answer him from within, and say unto him, Trouble me not; for the door is shut, and my children are with me in bed, and I cannot rise and give thee?  [25] 785And verily I say unto you, If he will not give him because of friendship, yet because [26] of his importunity he will rise and give him what he seeketh.  786And I also say unto you, Ask, and ye shall be given unto; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be [27] opened unto you.  787Every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and [28] he that knocketh, it shall be opened to him.  788What father of you, shall his son ask for bread—will he, think you, give him a stone? 789and if he ask of him a fish, will he, [29] think you, 790instead of the fish give him a serpent? and if he ask him for an egg, will [30] he, think you, extend to him a scorpion?  791If ye then, although being evil, know the gifts which are good, and give them to your children, how much more shall your [31] Father which is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?  792Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them:  this is the law and the prophets.

[32] 793Enter794 ye by the narrow gate; for the wide gate and the broad way lead to destruction, [33] and many they be which go therein.  795How narrow is the gate and straitened the way leading to life! and few be they that find it.

[34] 796Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s797 clothing, while within [35] they are ravening wolves.  798But by their fruits ye shall know them.  799For every tree is known by its fruit.  For figs are not gathered800 of thorns, neither are grapes plucked of [36] briers.  801Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but the evil tree bringeth [37] [Arabic, p. 41] forth evil fruit.  802The good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can the [38] evil tree bring forth good fruit.  803The good man from the good treasures that are in his heart bringeth forth good things; and the evil man from the evil treasures that are in his heart bringeth forth evil things:  and from the overflowings of the [39] heart the lips speak.  804Every tree that beareth not good fruit is cut down and cast [40, 41] into the fire.  805Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them.  806Not all that say unto me, My Lord, my Lord, shall enter the kingdom of the heavens; but he that doeth [42] the will of my Father which is in heaven.  807Many shall say unto me in that day, My Lord, my Lord, did we not prophesy in thy name, and in thy name cast out [43] devils, and in thy name do many powers?  808Then shall I say unto them, I never [44] knew you:  depart from me, ye servants of iniquity.  809Every man that cometh unto [45] me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to what he is like:  810he is like the wise man which built a house, and digged and went deep, and laid the [46] foundations on a rock:  811and the rain came down, and the rivers overflowed, and the winds blew, and shook that house, and it fell not:  for its foundation was laid on [47] rocks.  812And every one that heareth these my words, and doeth them not, is like [48] the foolish man which built his house on sand, without foundation:  813and the rain descended, and the rivers overflowed, and the winds blew, and smote upon that house, and it fell:  and the fall of it was great.

Footnotes

  1. 753

    Matt. vi. 24.

  2. 754

    Matt. vi. 25.

  3. 755

    Or, your souls; or, your lives.

  4. 756

    Matt. vi. 26.

  5. 757

    Matt. vi. 27.

  6. 758

    Luke xii. 26.

  7. 759

    Matt. vi. 28.

  8. 760

    Matt. vi. 29.

  9. 761

    Matt. vi. 30.

  10. 762

    Lit. falleth (cf. Syriac).

  11. 763

    Matt. vi. 31.

  12. 764

    Luke xii. 29b.

  13. 765

    Matt. vi. 32.

  14. 766

    Matt. vi. 33.

  15. 767

    Matt. vi. 34.

  16. 768

    Matt. vii. 1.

  17. 769

    Luke vi. 37b.

  18. 770

    The word means to contend successfully, but is used throughout by our translator in the sense of condemn.

  19. 771

    Luke vi. 38.

  20. 772

    This is the reading adopted by Ciasca in his Latin version.  The diacritical points in the Arabic text, as he has printed it (perhaps a misprint), give second person plural passive instead of third plural active.

  21. 773

    Mark iv. 24b.

  22. 774

    Mark iv. 25.

  23. 775

    cf. Luke viii. 18b.  Our translator uses the same word in § 50, 5=Luke xxiii. 8b; and in both cases it represents the same word in the Syriac versions.

  24. 776

    Luke vi. 39.

  25. 777

    Or, Do.

  26. 778

    Luke vi. 40.

  27. 779

    Luke vi. 41.

  28. 780

    Luke vi. 42.

  29. 781

    Matt. vii. 6.

  30. 782

    Luke xi. 5.

  31. 783

    Luke xi. 6.

  32. 784

    Luke xi. 7.

  33. 785

    Luke xi. 8.

  34. 786

    Luke xi. 9.

  35. 787

    Luke xi. 10.

  36. 788

    Luke xi. 11.

  37. 789

    The Arabic might also be rendered, What father of you whom his son asketh for bread, will (think you) give him a stone?  But as the Peshitta preserves the confused construction of the Greek, it is probably better to render as above.

  38. 790

    Luke xi. 12.

  39. 791

    Luke xi. 13.

  40. 792

    Matt. vii. 12.

  41. 793

    Matt. vii. 13.

  42. 794

    There is nothing about striving.  The verb is walaga, which means enter (cf. § 11, 48).

  43. 795

    Matt. vii. 14.

  44. 796

    Matt. vii. 15.

  45. 797

    Or, lambs’.

  46. 798

    Matt. vii. 16a.

  47. 799

    Luke vi. 44.

  48. 800

    The verbs might be singular active, but not plural as in Syriac versions (cf., however, § 38, 43, note, end).  In the Borg. ms. the nouns are in the accusative.

  49. 801

    Matt. vii. 17.

  50. 802

    Matt. vii. 18.

  51. 803

    Luke vi. 45.

  52. 804

    Matt. vii. 19.

  53. 805

    Matt. vii. 20.

  54. 806

    Matt. vii. 21.

  55. 807

    Matt. vii. 22.

  56. 808

    Matt. vii. 23.

  57. 809

    Luke vi. 47.

  58. 810

    Luke vi. 48.

  59. 811

    Matt. vii. 25.

  60. 812

    Matt. vii. 26.

  61. 813

    Matt. vii. 27.