A Letter to the Romans 

Chapter 1

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, an Apostle by the selection of God, given authority as a preacher of the good news,

Of which God had given word before by his prophets in the holy Writings,

About his Son who, in the flesh, came from the family of David,

But was marked out as Son of God in power by the Holy Spirit through the coming to life again of the dead; Jesus Christ our Lord,

Through whom grace has been given to us, sending us out to make disciples to the faith among all nations, for his name:

Among whom you in the same way have been marked out to be disciples of Jesus Christ:

To all those who are in Rome, loved by God, marked out as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

First of all, I give praise to my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because news of your faith has gone into all the world.

For God is my witness, whose servant I am in spirit in the good news of his Son, that you are at all times in my memory and in my prayers,

And that I am ever making prayers that God will give me a good journey to you.

For I have a strong desire to see you, and to give you some grace of the spirit, so that you may be made strong;

That is to say, that all of us may be comforted together by the faith which is in you and in me.

You may be certain, my brothers, that it has frequently been in my mind to come to you (but till now I was kept from it), so that I might have some fruit from you in the same way as I have had it from the other nations.

I have a debt to Greeks and to the nations outside; to the wise and to those who have no learning.

For which reason I have the desire, as far as I am able, to give the knowledge of the good news to you who are in Rome.

For I have no feeling of shame about the good news, because it is the power of God giving salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first, and then to the Greek.

For in it there is the revelation of the righteousness of God from faith to faith: as it is said in the holy Writings, The man who does righteousness will be living by his faith.

For there is a revelation of the wrath of God from heaven against all the wrongdoing and evil thoughts of men who keep down what is true by wrongdoing;

Because the knowledge of God may be seen in them, God having made it clear to them.

For from the first making of the world, those things of God which the eye is unable to see, that is, his eternal power and existence, are fully made clear, he having given the knowledge of them through the things which he has made, so that men have no reason for wrongdoing:

Because, having the knowledge of God, they did not give glory to God as God, and did not give praise, but their minds were full of foolish things, and their hearts, being without sense, were made dark.

Seeming to be wise, they were in fact foolish,

And by them the glory of the eternal God was changed and made into the image of man who is not eternal, and of birds and beasts and things which go on the earth.

For this reason God gave them up to the evil desires of their hearts, working shame in their bodies with one another:

Because by them the true word of God was changed into that which is false, and they gave worship and honour to the thing which is made, and not to him who made it, to whom be blessing for ever. So be it.

For this reason God gave them up to evil passions, and their women were changing the natural use into one which is unnatural:

And in the same way the men gave up the natural use of the woman and were burning in their desire for one another, men doing shame with men, and getting in their bodies the right reward of their evil-doing.

And because they had not the mind to keep God in their knowledge, God gave them up to an evil mind, to do those things which are not right;

Being full of all wrongdoing, evil, desire for the goods of others, hate, envy, putting to death, fighting, deceit, cruel ways, evil talk, and false statements about others;

Hated by God, full of pride, without respect, full of loud talk, given to evil inventions, not honouring father or mother,

Without knowledge, not true to their undertakings, unkind, having no mercy:

Who, though they have knowledge of the law of God, that the fate of those who do these things is death, not only go on doing these things themselves, but give approval to those who do them.

Chapter 2

So you have no reason, whoever you are, for judging: for in judging another you are judging yourself, for you do the same things.

And we are conscious that God is a true judge against those who do such things.

But you who are judging another for doing what you do yourself, are you hoping that God’s decision will not take effect against you?

Or is it nothing to you that God had pity on you, waiting and putting up with you for so long, not seeing that in his pity God’s desire is to give you a change of heart?

But by your hard and unchanged heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of the revelation of God’s judging in righteousness;

Who will give to every man his right reward:

To those who go on with good works in the hope of glory and honour and salvation from death, he will give eternal life:

But to those who, from a love of competition, are not guided by what is true, will come the heat of his wrath,

Trouble and sorrow on all whose works are evil, to the Jew first and then to the Greek;

But glory and honour and peace to all whose works are good, to the Jew first and then to the Greek:

For one man is not different from another before God.

All those who have done wrong without the law will get destruction without the law: and those who have done wrong under the law will have their punishment by the law;

For it is not the hearers of the law who will be judged as having righteousness before God, but only the doers:

For when the Gentiles without the law have a natural desire to do the things in the law, they are a law to themselves;

Because the work of the law is seen in their hearts, their sense of right and wrong giving witness to it, while their minds are at one time judging them and at another giving them approval;

In the day when God will be a judge of the secrets of men, as it says in the good news of which I am a preacher, through Jesus Christ.

But as for you who have the name of Jew, and are resting on the law, and take pride in God,

And have knowledge of his desires, and are a judge of the things which are different, having the learning of the law,

In the belief that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those in the dark,

A teacher of the foolish, having in the law the form of knowledge and of what is true;

You who give teaching to others, do you give it to yourself? you who say that a man may not take what is not his, do you take what is not yours?

You who say that a man may not be untrue to his wife, are you true to yours? you who are a hater of images, do you do wrong to the house of God?

You who take pride in the law, are you doing wrong to the honour of God by behaviour which is against the law?

For the name of God is shamed among the Gentiles because of you, as it is said in the holy Writings.

It is true that circumcision is of use if you keep the law, but if you go against the law it is as if you had it not.

If those who have not circumcision keep the rules of the law, will it not be credited to them as circumcision?

And they, by their keeping of the law without circumcision, will be judges of you, by whom the law is broken though you have the letter of the law and circumcision.

The true Jew is not one who is only so publicly, and circumcision is not that which may be seen in the flesh:

But he is a Jew who is a secret one, whose circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.

Chapter 3

How then is the Jew better off? or what profit is there in circumcision?

Much in every way: first of all because the words of God were given to them.

And if some have no faith, will that make the faith of God without effect?

In no way: but let God be true, though every man is seen to be untrue; as it is said in the Writings, That your words may be seen to be true, and you may be seen to be right when you are judged.

But if the righteousness of God is supported by our wrongdoing what is to be said? is it wrong for God to be angry (as men may say)?

In no way: because if it is so, how is God able to be the judge of all the world?

But if, because I am untrue, God being seen to be true gets more glory, why am I to be judged as a sinner?

Let us not do evil so that good may come (a statement which we are falsely said by some to have made), because such behaviour will have its right punishment.

What then? are we worse off than they? In no way: because we have before made it clear that Jews as well as Greeks are all under the power of sin;

As it is said in the holy Writings, There is not one who does righteousness;

Not one who has the knowledge of what is right, not one who is a searcher after God;

They have all gone out of the way, there is no profit in any of them; there is not one who does good, not so much as one:

Their throat is like an open place of death; with their tongues they have said what is not true: the poison of snakes is under their lips:

Whose mouth is full of curses and bitter words:

Their feet are quick in running after blood;

Destruction and trouble are in their ways;

And of the way of peace they have no knowledge:

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Now, we have knowledge that what the law says is for those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and all men may be judged by God:

Because by the works of the law no man is able to have righteousness in his eyes, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

But now without the law there is a revelation of the righteousness of God, to which witness is given by the law and the prophets;

That is, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all those who have faith; and one man is not different from another,

For all have done wrong and are far from the glory of God;

And they may have righteousness put to their credit, freely, by his grace, through the salvation which is in Christ Jesus:

Whom God has put forward as the sign of his mercy, through faith, by his blood, to make clear his righteousness when, in his pity, God let the sins of earlier times go without punishment;

And to make clear his righteousness now, so that he might himself be upright, and give righteousness to him who has faith in Jesus.

What reason, then, is there for pride? It is shut out. By what sort of law? of works? No, but by a law of faith.

For this reason, then, a man may get righteousness by faith without the works of the law.

Or is God the God of Jews only? is he not in the same way the God of Gentiles? Yes, of Gentiles:

If God is one; and he will give righteousness because of faith to those who have circumcision, and through faith to those who have not circumcision.

Do we, then, through faith make the law of no effect? in no way: but we make it clear that the law is important.

Chapter 4

What, then, may we say that Abraham, our father after the flesh, has got?

For if Abraham got righteousness by works, he has reason for pride; but not before God.

But what does it say in the holy Writings? And Abraham had faith in God, and it was put to his account as righteousness.

Now, the reward is credited to him who does works, not as of grace but as a debt.

But to him who without working has faith in him who gives righteousness to the evil-doer, his faith is put to his account as righteousness.

As David says that there is a blessing on the man to whose account God puts righteousness without works, saying,

Happy are those who have forgiveness for their wrongdoing, and whose sins are covered.

Happy is the man against whom no sin is recorded by the Lord.

Is this blessing, then, for the circumcision only, or in the same way for those who have not circumcision? for we say that the faith of Abraham was put to his account as righteousness.

How, then, was it judged? when he had circumcision, or when he had it not? Not when he had it, but when he did not have it:

And he was given the sign of circumcision as a witness of the faith which he had before he underwent circumcision: so that he might be the father of all those who have faith, though they have not circumcision, and so that righteousness might be put to their account;

And the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who keep to the way of that faith which our father Abraham had before he underwent circumcision.

For God’s word, that the earth would be his heritage, was given to Abraham, not through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

For if they who are of the law are the people who get the heritage, then faith is made of no use, and the word of God has no power;

For the outcome of the law is wrath; but where there is no law it will not be broken.

For this reason it is of faith, so that it may be through grace; and so that the word of God may be certain to all the seed; not only to that which is of the law, but to that which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,

(As it is said in the holy Writings, I have made you a father of a number of nations) before him in whom he had faith, that is, God, who gives life to the dead, and to whom the things which are not are as if they were.

Who without reason for hope, in faith went on hoping, so that he became the father of a number of nations, as it had been said, So will your seed be.

And not being feeble in faith though his body seemed to him little better than dead (he being about a hundred years old) and Sarah was no longer able to have children:

Still, he did not give up faith in the undertaking of God, but was made strong by faith, giving glory to God,

And being certain that God was able to keep his word.

For which reason it was put to his account as righteousness.

Now, it was not because of him only that this was said,

But for us in addition, to whose account it will be put, if we have faith in him who made Jesus our Lord come back again from the dead,

Who was put to death for our evil-doing, and came to life again so that we might have righteousness.

Chapter 5

For which reason, because we have righteousness through faith, let us be at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;

Through whom, in the same way, we have been able by faith to come to this grace in which we now are; and let us have joy in hope of the glory of God.

And not only so, but let us have joy in our troubles: in the knowledge that trouble gives us the power of waiting;

And waiting gives experience; and experience, hope:

And hope does not put to shame; because our hearts are full of the love of God through the Holy Spirit which is given to us.

For when we were still without strength, at the right time Christ gave his life for evil-doers.

Now it is hard for anyone to give his life even for an upright man, though it might be that for a good man someone would give his life.

But God has made clear his love to us, in that, when we were still sinners, Christ gave his life for us.

Much more, if we now have righteousness by his blood, will salvation from the wrath of God come to us through him.

For if, when we were haters of God, the death of his Son made us at peace with him, much more, now that we are his friends, will we have salvation through his life;

And not only so, but we have joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we are now at peace with God.

For this reason, as through one man sin came into the world, and death because of sin, and so death came to all men, because all have done evil:

Because, till the law came, sin was in existence, but sin is not put to the account of anyone when there is no law to be broken.

But still death had power from Adam till Moses, even over those who had not done wrong like Adam, who is a picture of him who was to come.

But the free giving of God is not like the wrongdoing of man. For if, by the wrongdoing of one man death came to numbers of men, much more did the grace of God, and the free giving by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, come to men.

And the free giving has not the same effect as the sin of one: for the effect of one man’s sin was punishment by the decision of God, but the free giving had power to give righteousness to wrongdoers in great number.

For, if by the wrongdoing of one, death was ruling through the one, much more will those to whom has come the wealth of grace and the giving of righteousness, be ruling in life through the one, even Jesus Christ.

So then, as the effect of one act of wrongdoing was that punishment came on all men, even so the effect of one act of righteousness was righteousness of life for all men.

Because, as numbers of men became sinners through the wrongdoing of one man, even so will great numbers get righteousness through the keeping of the word of God by one man.

And the law came in addition, to make wrongdoing worse; but where there was much sin, there was much more grace:

That, as sin had power in death, so grace might have power through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Chapter 6

What may we say, then? are we to go on in sin so that there may be more grace?

In no way. How may we, who are dead to sin, be living in it any longer?

Or are you without the knowledge that all we who had baptism into Christ Jesus, had baptism into his death?

We have been placed with him among the dead through baptism into death: so that as Christ came again from the dead by the glory of the Father, we, in the same way, might be living in new life.

For, if we have been made like him in his death, we will, in the same way, be like him in his coming to life again;

Being conscious that our old man was put to death on the cross with him, so that the body of sin might be put away, and we might no longer be servants to sin.

Because he who is dead is free from sin.

But if we are dead with Christ, we have faith that we will be living with him;

Having knowledge that because Christ has come back from the dead, he will never again go down to the dead; death has no more power over him.

For his death was a death to sin, but his life now is a life which he is living to God.

Even so see yourselves as dead to sin, but living to God in Christ Jesus.

For this cause do not let sin be ruling in your body which is under the power of death, so that you give way to its desires;

And do not give your bodies to sin as the instruments of wrongdoing, but give yourselves to God, as those who are living from the dead, and your bodies as instruments of righteousness to God.

For sin may not have rule over you: because you are not under law, but under grace.

What then? are we to go on in sin because we are not under law but under grace? Let it not be so.

Are you not conscious that you are the servants of him to whom you give yourselves to do his desire? if to sin, the end being death, or if to do the desire of God, the end being righteousness.

But praise be to God that though you were the servants of sin, you have now given yourselves freely to that form of teaching under which you were placed;

And being made free from sin you have been made the servants of righteousness.

I am using words in the way of men, because your flesh is feeble: as you gave your bodies as servants to what is unclean, and to evil to do evil, so now give them as servants to righteousness to do what is holy.

When you were servants of sin you were free from righteousness.

What fruit had you at that time in the things which are now a shame to you? for the end of such things is death.

But now, being free from sin, and having been made servants to God, you have your fruit in that which is holy, and the end is eternal life.

For the reward of sin is death; but what God freely gives is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans Chapter 7

Is it not clear, my brothers (I am using an argument to those who have knowledge of the law), that the law has power over a man as long as he is living?

For the woman who has a husband is placed by the law under the power of her husband as long as he is living; but if her husband is dead, she is free from the law of the husband.

So if, while the husband is living, she is joined to another man, she will get the name of one who is untrue to her husband: but if the husband is dead, she is free from the law, so that she is not untrue, even if she takes another man.

In the same way, my brothers, you were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, even to him who came again from the dead, so that we might give fruit to God.

For when we were in the flesh, the evil passions which came into being through the law were working in our bodies to give the fruit of death.

But now we are free from the law, having been made dead to that which had power over us; so that we are servants in the new way of the spirit, not in the old way of the letter.

What then is to be said? is the law sin? in no way. But I would not have had knowledge of sin but for the law: for I would not have been conscious of desire if the law had not said, You may not have a desire for what is another’s.

But sin, taking its chance through that which was ordered by the law, was working in me every form of desire: because without the law sin is dead.

And there was a time when I was living without the law: but when the law gave its orders, sin came to life and put me to death;

And I made the discovery that the law whose purpose was to give life had become a cause of death:

For I was tricked and put to death by sin, which took its chance through the law.

But the law is holy, and its orders are holy, upright, and good.

Was then that which is good, death to me? In no way. But the purpose was that sin might be seen to be sin by working death to me through that which is good; so that through the orders of the law sin might seem much more evil.

For we are conscious that the law is of the spirit; but I am of the flesh, given into the power of sin.

And I have no clear knowledge of what I am doing, for that which I have a mind to do, I do not, but what I have hate for, that I do.

But, if I do that which I have no mind to do, I am in agreement with the law that the law is good.

So it is no longer I who do it, but the sin living in me.

For I am conscious that in me, that is, in my flesh, there is nothing good: I have the mind but not the power to do what is right.

For the good which I have a mind to do, I do not: but the evil which I have no mind to do, that I do.

But if I do what I have no mind to do, it is no longer I who do it, but the sin living in me.

So I see a law that, though I have a mind to do good, evil is present in me.

In my heart I take pleasure in the law of God,

But I see another law in my body, working against the law of my mind, and making me the servant of the law of sin which is in my flesh.

How unhappy am I! who will make me free from the body of this death?

I give praise to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So with my mind I am a servant to the law of God, but with my flesh to the law of sin.

Chapter 8

For this cause those who are in Christ Jesus will not be judged as sinners.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

For what the law was not able to do because it was feeble through the flesh, God, sending his Son in the image of the evil flesh, and as an offering for sin, gave his decision against sin in the flesh:

So that what was ordered by the law might be done in us, who are living, not in the way of the flesh, but in the way of the Spirit.

For those who are living in the way of the flesh give their minds to the things of the flesh, but those who go in the way of the Spirit, to the things of the Spirit.

For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace:

Because the mind of the flesh is opposite to God; it is not under the law of God, and is not able to be:

So that those who are in the flesh are not able to give pleasure to God.

You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God is in you. But if any man has not the Spirit of Christ he is not one of his.

And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

But if the Spirit of him who made Jesus come again from the dead is in you, he who made Christ Jesus come again from the dead will in the same way, through his Spirit which is in you, give life to your bodies which now are under the power of death.

So then, my brothers, we are in debt, not to the flesh to be living in the way of the flesh:

For if you go in the way of the flesh, death will come on you; but if by the Spirit you put to death the works of the body, you will have life.

And all those who are guided by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

For you did not get the spirit of servants again to put you in fear, but the spirit of sons was given to you, by which we say, Abba, Father.

The Spirit is witness with our spirit that we are children of God:

And if we are children, we have a right to a part in the heritage; a part in the things of God, together with Christ; so that if we have a part in his pain, we will in the same way have a part in his glory.

I am of the opinion that there is no comparison between the pain of this present time and the glory which we will see in the future.

For the strong desire of every living thing is waiting for the revelation of the sons of God.

For every living thing was put under the power of change, not by its desire, but by him who made it so, in hope

That all living things will be made free from the power of death and will have a part with the free children of God in glory.

For we are conscious that all living things are weeping and sorrowing in pain together till now.

And not only so, but we who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we have sorrow in our minds, waiting for the time when we will take our place as sons, that is, the salvation of our bodies.

For our salvation is by hope: but hope which is seen is not hope: for who is hoping for what he sees?

But if we have hope for that which we see not, then we will be able to go on waiting for it.

And in the same way the Spirit is a help to our feeble hearts: for we are not able to make prayer to God in the right way; but the Spirit puts our desires into words which are not in our power to say;

And he who is the searcher of hearts has knowledge of the mind of the Spirit, because he is making prayers for the saints in agreement with the mind of God.

And we are conscious that all things are working together for good to those who have love for God, and have been marked out by his purpose.

Because those of whom he had knowledge before they came into existence, were marked out by him to be made like his Son, so that he might be the first among a band of brothers:

And those who were marked out by him were named; and those who were named were given righteousness; and to those to whom he gave righteousness, in the same way he gave glory.

What may we say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

He who did not keep back his only Son, but gave him up for us all, will he not with him freely give us all things?

Who will say anything against the saints of God? It is God who makes us clear from evil;

Who will give a decision against us? It is Christ Jesus who not only was put to death, but came again from the dead, who is now at the right hand of God, taking our part.

Who will come between us and the love of Christ? Will trouble, or pain, or cruel acts, or the need of food or of clothing, or danger, or the sword?

As it is said in the holy Writings, Because of you we are put to death every day; we are like sheep ready for destruction.

But we are able to overcome all these things and more through his love.

For I am certain that not death, or life, or angels, or rulers, or things present, or things to come, or powers,

Or things on high, or things under the earth, or anything which is made, will be able to come between us and the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Chapter 16

And another time he said to the disciples, There was a certain man of great wealth who had a servant; and it was said to him that this servant was wasting his goods.

And he sent for him and said, What is this which is said about you? give me an account of all you have done, for you will no longer be the manager of my property.

And the servant said to himself, What am I to do now that my lord takes away my position? I have not enough strength for working in the fields, and I would be shamed if I made requests for money from people in the streets.

I have come to a decision what to do, so that when I am put out of my position they will take me into their houses.

And sending for every one who was in debt to his lord he said to the first, What is the amount of your debt to my lord?

And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said, Take your account straight away and put down fifty.

Then he said to another, What is the amount of your debt? And he said, A hundred measures of grain. And he said to him, Take your account and put down eighty.

And his lord was pleased with the false servant, because he had been wise; for the sons of this world are wiser in relation to their generation than the sons of light.

And I say to you, Make friends for yourselves through the wealth of this life, so that when it comes to an end, you may be taken into the eternal resting-places.

He who is true in a little, is true in much; he who is false in small things, is false in great.

If, then, you have not been true in your use of the wealth of this life, who will give into your care the true wealth?

And if you have not been true in your care of the property of other people, who will give you that which is yours?

No man may be a servant to two masters: for he will have hate for the one and love for the other; or he will keep to the one and have no respect for the other. You may not be servants of God and of wealth.

And the Pharisees, who had a great love of money, hearing these things, were making sport of him.

And he said, You take care to seem right in the eyes of men, but God sees your hearts: and those things which are important in the opinion of men, are evil in the eyes of God.

The law and the prophets were till John: but then came the preaching of the kingdom of God, and everyone makes his way into it by force.

But heaven and earth will come to an end before the smallest letter of the law may be dropped out.

Everyone who puts away his wife and takes another, is a false husband: and he who is married to a woman whose husband has put her away, is no true husband to her.

Now there was a certain man of great wealth, who was dressed in fair clothing of purple and delicate linen, and was shining and glad every day.

And a certain poor man, named Lazarus, was stretched out at his door, full of wounds,

Desiring the broken bits of food which came from the table of the man of wealth; and even the dogs came and put their tongues on his wounds.

And in time the poor man came to his end, and angels took him to Abraham’s breast. And the man of wealth came to his end, and was put in the earth.

And in hell, being in great pain, lifting up his eyes he saw Abraham, far away, and Lazarus on his breast.

And he gave a cry and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he may put the end of his finger in water and put it on my tongue, for I am cruelly burning in this flame.

But Abraham said, Keep in mind, my son, that when you were living, you had your good things, while Lazarus had evil things: but now, he is comforted and you are in pain.

And in addition, there is a deep division fixed between us and you, so that those who might go from here to you are not able to do so, and no one may come from you to us.

And he said, Father, it is my request that you will send him to my father’s house;

For I have five brothers; and let him give them an account of these things, so that they may not come to this place of pain.

But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets; let them give ear to what they say.

And he said, No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, their hearts would be changed.

And he said to him, If they will not give attention to Moses and the prophets, they will not be moved even if someone comes back from the dead.

Chapter 17

And he said to his disciples, It is necessary for causes of trouble to come about, but unhappy is he by whom they come.

It would be well for him if a great stone was put round his neck and he was dropped into the sea, before he made trouble for any of these little ones.

Give attention to yourselves: if your brother does wrong, say a sharp word to him; and if he has sorrow for his sin, let him have forgiveness.

And if he does you wrong seven times in a day, and seven times comes to you and says, I have regret for what I have done; let him have forgiveness.

And the twelve said to the Lord, Make our faith greater.

And the Lord said, If your faith was only as great as a grain of mustard seed, you might say to this tree, Be rooted up and planted in the sea; and it would be done.

But which of you, having a servant who is ploughing or keeping sheep, will say to him, when he comes in from the field, Come now and be seated and have a meal,

Will he not say, Get a meal for me, and make yourself ready and see to my needs till I have had my food and drink; and after that you may have yours?

Does he give praise to the servant because he did what was ordered?

In the same way, when you have done all the things which are given you to do, say, There is no profit in us, for we have only done what we were ordered to do.

And it came about that when they were on the way to Jerusalem he went through Samaria and Galilee.

And when he went into a certain small town he came across ten men who were lepers, and they, keeping themselves at a distance,

Said, in loud voices, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

And when he saw them he said, Go, and let the priests see you. And, while they were going, they were made clean.

And one of them, when he saw that he was clean, turning back, gave praise to God in a loud voice;

And, falling down on his face at the feet of Jesus, he gave the credit to him; and he was a man of Samaria.

And Jesus said, Were there not ten men who were made clean? where are the nine?

Have not any of them come back to give glory to God, but only this one from a strange land?

And he said to him, Get up, and go on your way; your faith has made you well.

And when the Pharisees put questions to him about when the kingdom of God would come, he gave them an answer and said, The kingdom of God will not come through observation:

And men will not say, See, it is here! or, There! for the kingdom of God is among you.

And he said to his disciples, The time will come when you will have a great desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, but you will not see it.

And if they say to you, See, it is there! or, It is here! do not go away, or go after them.

For as in a thunderstorm the bright light is seen from one end of the sky to the other, so will the Son of man be when his time comes.

But first, he will have to undergo much and be put on one side by this generation.

And as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the day of the Son of man.

They were feasting and taking wives and getting married, till the day of the overflowing of the waters, when Noah went into the ark, and they all came to destruction.

In the same way, in the days of Lot; they were feasting and trading, they were planting and building;

But on the day when Lot went out of Sodom, fire came down from heaven and destruction came on them all.

So will it be in the day of the revelation of the Son of man.

On that day, if anyone is on the roof of the house, and his goods are in the house, let him not go down to take them away; and let him who is in the field not go back to his house.

Keep in mind Lot’s wife.

If anyone makes an attempt to keep his life, it will be taken from him, but if anyone gives up his life, he will keep it.

I say to you, In that night there will be two men sleeping in one bed, and one will be taken away and the other let go.

Two women will be crushing grain together; one will be taken away and the other let go.

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And they, answering him, said, Where, Lord? And he said to them, Where the body is, there will the eagles come together.

Chapter 18

And he made a story for them, the point of which was that men were to go on making prayer and not get tired;

Saying, There was a judge in a certain town, who had no fear of God or respect for man:

And there was a widow in that town, and she kept on coming to him and saying, Give me my right against the man who has done me wrong.

And for a time he would not: but later, he said to himself, Though I have no fear of God or respect for man,

Because this widow is a trouble to me, I will give her her right; for if not, I will be completely tired out by her frequent coming.

And the Lord said, Give ear to the words of the evil judge.

And will not God do right in the cause of his saints, whose cries come day and night to his ears, though he is long in doing it?

I say to you that he will quickly do right in their cause. But when the Son of man comes, will there be any faith on earth?

And he made this story for some people who were certain that they were good, and had a low opinion of others:

Two men went up to the Temple for prayer; one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-farmer.

The Pharisee, taking up his position, said to himself these words: God, I give you praise because I am not like other men, who take more than their right, who are evil-doers, who are untrue to their wives, or even like this tax-farmer.

Twice in the week I go without food; I give a tenth of all I have.

The tax-farmer, on the other hand, keeping far away, and not lifting up even his eyes to heaven, made signs of grief and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

I say to you, This man went back to his house with God’s approval, and not the other: for everyone who makes himself high will be made low and whoever makes himself low will be made high.

And they took their children to him, so that he might put his hands on them: but when the disciples saw it, they said sharp words to them

But Jesus sent for them, saying, Let the children come to me, and do not keep them away, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Truly I say to you, Whoever does not put himself under the kingdom of God like a little child, will not come into it at all.

And a certain ruler put a question to him, saying, Good Master, what have I to do so that I may have eternal life?

And Jesus said to him, Why do you say that I am good? No one is good, but only God.

You have knowledge of what the law says: Do not be untrue to your wife, Do not put anyone to death, Do not take what is not yours, Do not give false witness, Give honour to your father and mother.

And he said, All these things I have done from the time when I was a boy.

And Jesus, hearing it, said to him, One thing you still have need of; get money for your goods, and give it away to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven; and come after me.

But at these words he became very sad, for he had great wealth.

And Jesus, looking at him, said, How hard it is for those who have wealth to get into the kingdom of God!

It is simpler for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a man who has much money to come into the kingdom of God.

And those who were present said, Then who may have salvation?

But he said, Things which are not possible with man are possible with God.

And Peter said, See, we have given up what is ours to come after you.

And he said to them, Truly I say to you, There is no man who has given up house or wife or brothers or father or mother or children, because of the kingdom of God,

Who will not get much more in this time, and in the world to come, eternal life.

And he took with him the twelve and said to them, Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things which were said by the prophets will be done to the Son of man.

For he will be given up to the Gentiles, and will be made sport of and put to shame:

And he will be given cruel blows and put to death, and on the third day he will come back to life.

But they did not take in the sense of any of these words, and what he said was not clear to them, and their minds were not able to see it.

And it came about that when he got near Jericho, a certain blind man was seated by the side of the road, making requests for money from those who went by.

And hearing the sound of a great number of people going by, he said, What is this?

And they said to him, Jesus of Nazareth is going by.

And he said in a loud voice, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.

And those who were in front made protests and said to him, Be quiet: but he said all the more, O Son of David, have mercy on me.

And Jesus, stopping, gave orders that he was to come to him, and when he came near, he said to him,

What would you have me do for you? And he said, Lord, that I may be able to see again.

And Jesus said, See again: your faith has made you well.

And straight away he was able to see, and he went after him, giving glory to God; and all the people when they saw it gave praise to God.

Chapter 19

And he went into Jericho, and when he was going through it,

A man, named Zacchaeus, who was the chief tax-farmer, and a man of wealth,

Made an attempt to get a view of Jesus, and was not able to do so, because of the people, for he was a small man.

And he went quickly in front of them and got up into a tree to see him, for he was going that way.

And when Jesus came to the place, looking up, he said to him, Zacchaeus, be quick and come down, for I am coming to your house today.

And he came down quickly, and took him into his house with joy.

And when they saw it, they were all angry, saying, He has gone into the house of a sinner.

And Zacchaeus, waiting before him, said to the Lord, See, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone wrongly, I give him back four times as much.

And Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house, for even he is a son of Abraham.

For the Son of man came to make search for those who are wandering from the way, and to be their Saviour.

And while they were giving ear to these words, he made another story for them, because he was near Jerusalem, and because they were of the opinion that the kingdom of God was coming straight away.

So he said, A certain man of high birth went into a far-away country to get a kingdom for himself, and to come back.

And he sent for ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds and said to them, Do business with this till I come.

But his people had no love for him, and sent representatives after him, saying, We will not have this man for our ruler.

And when he came back again, having got his kingdom, he gave orders for those servants to whom he had given the money to come to him, so that he might have an account of what business they had done.

And the first came before him, saying, Lord, your pound has made ten pounds.

And he said to him, You have done well, O good servant: because you have done well in a small thing you will have authority over ten towns.

And another came, saying, Your pound has made five pounds.

And he said, You will be ruler over five towns.

And another came, saying, Lord, here is your pound, which I put away in a cloth;

Because I was in fear of you, for you are a hard man: you take up what you have not put down, and get in grain where you have not put seed.

He said to him, By the words of your mouth you will be judged, you bad servant. You had knowledge that I am a hard man, taking up what I have not put down and getting in grain where I have not put seed;

Why then did you not put my money in a bank, so that when I came I would get it back with interest?

And he said to the others who were near, Take the pound away from him, and give it to the man who has ten.

And they say to him, Lord, he has ten pounds.

And I say to you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

And as for those who were against me, who would not have me for their ruler, let them come here, and be put to death before me.

And when he had said this, he went on in front of them, going up to Jerusalem.

And it came about that when he got near Beth-phage and Bethany by the mountain which is named the Mountain of Olives, he sent two of the disciples,

Saying, Go into the little town in front of you, and on going in you will see a young ass fixed with a cord, on which no man has ever been seated; let him loose and take him.

And if anyone says to you, Why are you taking him? say, The Lord has need of him.

And those whom he sent went away, and it was as he said.

And when they were getting the young ass, the owners of it said to them, Why are you taking the young ass?

And they said, The Lord has need of him.

And they took him to Jesus, and they put their clothing on the ass, and Jesus got on to him.

And while he went on his way they put their clothing down on the road in front of him.

And when he came near the foot of the Mountain of Olives, all the disciples with loud voices gave praise to God with joy, because of all the great works which they had seen;

Saying, A blessing on the King who comes in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven and glory in the highest.

And some of the Pharisees among the people said to him, Master, make your disciples be quiet.

And he said in answer, I say to you, if these men keep quiet, the very stones will be crying out.

And when he got near and saw the town, he was overcome with weeping for it,

Saying, If you, even you, had knowledge today, of the things which give peace! but you are not able to see them.

For the time will come when your attackers will put a wall round you, and come all round you and keep you in on every side,

And will make you level with the earth, and your children with you; and there will not be one stone resting on another in you, because you did not see that it was your day of mercy.

And he went into the Temple and put out those who were trading there,

Saying to them, It has been said, My house is to be a house of prayer, but you have made it a hole of thieves.

And every day he was teaching in the Temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the rulers of the people were attempting to put him to death;

But they were not able to do anything, because the people all kept near him, being greatly interested in his words.

Chapter 20

And it came about on one of those days, when he was teaching the people in the Temple and preaching the good news,

That the chief priests and the scribes and the rulers of the people came to him and said, Make clear to us by what authority you do these things and who gave you this authority.

And in answer he said to them, I will put a question to you, and do you give me an answer:

The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men?

And they said among themselves, If we say, From heaven; he will say, Why did you not have faith in him?

But if we say, Of men; we will be stoned by the people, for they are certain that John was a prophet.

And they made answer that they had no idea where it came from.

And Jesus said, And I will not make clear to you by what authority I do these things.

And he gave the people this story: A man made a vine-garden and gave the use of it to some field-workers and went into another country for a long time.

And at the right time he sent a servant to the workers to get part of the fruit from the vines; but the workmen gave him blows and sent him away with nothing.

And he sent another servant, and they gave blows to him in the same way, and put shame on him, and sent him away with nothing.

And he sent a third, and they gave him wounds and put him out.

And the lord of the garden said, What am I to do? I will send my dearly loved son; they may give respect to him.

But when the workmen saw him, they said to one another, This is he who will one day be the owner of the property: let us put him to death and the heritage will be ours.

And driving him out of the garden they put him to death. Now what will the lord do to these workmen?

He will come and put them to destruction and give the garden to others. And when he said this, they said, May it not be so.

But he, looking on them, said, Is it not in the Writings, The stone which the builders put on one side, the same has become the chief stone of the building?

Everyone falling on that stone will be broken, but the man on whom the stone comes down will be crushed to dust.

And the chief priests and the scribes made attempts to get their hands on him in that very hour; and they were in fear of the people, for they saw that he had made up this story against them.

And they kept watch on him, and sent out secret representatives, who were acting the part of good men, in order that they might get something from his words, on account of which they might give him up to the government and into the power of the ruler.

And they put a question to him, saying, Master, we are certain that your teaching and your words are right, and that you have no respect for a man’s position, but you are teaching the true way of God:

Is it right for us to make payment of taxes to Caesar or not?

But he saw through their trick and said to them,

Let me see a penny. Whose image and name are on it? And they said, Caesar’s.

And he said, Then give to Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and to God the things which are God’s.

And they were not able to get anything from these words before the people: but they were full of wonder at his answer, and said nothing.

And some of the Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no coming back from the dead; and they said to him,

Master, Moses said that if a man’s brother comes to his end, having a wife, but no children, his brother is to take the wife, and get a family for his brother.

Now there were seven brothers, and the first had a wife and came to his end, having no children;

And the second;

And the third took her; and in the same way, all the seven, without having any children, came to their end.

And last of all, the woman came to her end.

When they come back from the dead, whose wife will she be? for all the seven had her.

And Jesus said to them, The sons of this world are married and have wives;

But those to whom is given the reward of the world to come, and to come back from the dead, have no wives, and are not married;

And death has no more power over them, for they are equal to the angels, and are sons of God, being of those who will come back from the dead.

But even Moses made it clear that the dead come back to life, saying, in the story of the burning thorn-tree, The Lord, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

Now he is not the God of the dead but of the living: for all men are living to him.

And some of the scribes, in answer to this, said, Master, you have said well.

And they had fear of putting any more questions to him.

And he said to them, Why do they say that the Christ is the son of David?

For David himself says in the book of Psalms, The Lord said to my Lord, Take your seat at my right hand,

Till I put under your feet all those who are against you.

David then gives him the name of Lord, so how is it possible for him to be his son?

And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples,

Keep away from the scribes, whose pleasure it is to go about in long robes, and to have words of respect said to them in the market-places, and to take the chief seats in the Synagogues and the first places at feasts;

Who take the property of widows and before the eyes of men make long prayers; they will get a greater punishment.

Chapter 11

And it came about that he was in prayer in a certain place, and when he came to an end, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, will you give us teaching about prayer, as John did to his disciples?

And he said to them, When you say your prayers, say, Father, may your name be kept holy and your kingdom come.

Give us every day bread for our needs.

May we have forgiveness for our sins, as we make free all those who are in debt to us. And let us not be put to the test.

And he said to them, Which of you, having a friend, would go to him in the middle of the night and say to him, Friend, let me have three cakes of bread;

Because a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I have nothing to put before him;

And he, from inside the house, would say in answer, Do not be a trouble to me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; it is not possible for me to get up and give to you?

I say to you, Though he will not get up and give to him, because he is his friend, still, if he keeps on making his request, he will get up and give him as much as he has need of.

And I say to you, Make requests, and they will be answered; what you are searching for, you will get; when you give the sign, the door will be open to you.

For to everyone who makes a request, it will be given; and he who is searching will get his desire; and to him who gives the sign, the door will be open.

And which of you, being a father, will give a stone to his son, who makes request for bread? or for a fish, will give him a snake?

Or for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

If, then, you who are evil are able to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who make request to him?

And he was sending an evil spirit out of a man who was without the power of talking. And it came about that when the spirit had gone the man had the power of talking; and the people were full of wonder.

But some of them said, He sends out evil spirits by Beelzebul, the ruler of evil spirits.

And others, testing him, were looking for a sign from heaven from him.

But he, having knowledge of their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom in which there is division is made waste; and a house in which there is division comes to destruction.

If, then, Satan is at war with himself, how will he keep his kingdom? because you say that I send evil spirits out of men by the help of Beelzebul.

And if I, by Beelzebul, send out evil spirits, by whose help do your sons send them out? so let them be your judges.

But if I, by the finger of God, send out evil spirits, then the kingdom of God has overtaken you.

When the strong man armed keeps watch over his house, then his goods are safe:

But when one who is stronger makes an attack on him and overcomes him, he takes away his instruments of war, in which he had put his faith, and makes division of his goods.

He who is not with me is against me, and he who will not give me help in getting people together is driving them away.

The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of a man, goes through dry places, looking for rest; and when he does not get it, he says, I will go back to my house from which I came.

And when he comes, he sees that it has been made fair and clean.

Then he goes and gets seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they go in, and take their places there: and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.

And it came about that when he said these things, a certain woman among the people said in a loud voice, Happy is the body which gave you birth, and the breasts from which you took milk.

But he said, More happy are they who give hearing to the word of God and keep it.

And when a great number of people came together to him, he said, This generation is an evil generation: it is looking for a sign and no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah.

For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of man be to this generation.

The queen of the South will come up on the day of judging and give her decision against the men of this generation: for she came from the ends of the earth to give ear to the wisdom of Solomon; and now something greater than Solomon is here.

The men of Nineveh will come up in the day of judging and give their decision against this generation: for they were turned away from their sins at the preaching of Jonah; but now something greater than Jonah is here.

No man, when the light has been lighted, puts it in a secret place, or under a vessel, but on its table, so that those who come in may see the light.

The light of the body is the eye: when your eye is true, all your body is full of light; but when it is evil, your body is dark.

So take care that the light which is in you is not dark.

If, then, all your body is light, with no part of it dark, it will be completely full of light, as when a flame with its bright shining gives you light.

Now, while he was talking, a Pharisee made a request that he would come to a meal with him; and he went in and took his seat at the meal.

And when the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised because he came to the meal without first washing himself.

And the Lord said to him, You Pharisees make the outside of the cup and the plate clean; but inside you are thieves and full of evil.

O you foolish ones! did not he who made the outside in the same way make the inside?

But if you give to the poor such things as you are able, then all things are clean to you.

But a curse is on you, Pharisees! for you make men give a tenth of every sort of plant, and give no thought to right and the love of God; but it is right for you to do these things, and not let the others be undone.

A curse is on you, Pharisees! for your desires are for the most important seats in the Synagogues and for words of respect said to you in the market-place.

A curse is on you! for you are like the resting-places of dead men, which are not seen, and men go walking over them without knowledge of it.

And one of the teachers of the law, answering, said to him, Master, in saying this, you give a bad name to us as to them.

And he said, A curse is on you, teachers of the law! for while other men are crushed under the weight of the rules you make for them, you yourselves do not put so much as one finger to them.

A curse is on you! for you make resting-places for the bodies of the prophets, but your fathers put them to death.

So you are witnesses and give approval to the work of your fathers; for they put them to death and you make their last resting-places.

For this reason the wisdom of God has said, I will send them prophets and teachers, and to some of them they will give death and cruel pains;

So that punishment may come on this generation for the blood of all the prophets which was given from the earliest days;

From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who was put to death between the altar and the Temple. Yes, I say to you, It will come on this generation.

A curse is on you, teachers of the law! for you have taken away the key of knowledge: you did not go in yourselves, and you got in the way of those who were going in.

And when he had come out of that place, the scribes and the Pharisees came round him angrily, questioning him about more things;

And watching him, for a chance to get something from his words which might be used against him.

Chapter 12

At that time, when thousands of the people had come together, in such numbers that they were crushing one another, he said first to his disciples, Have nothing to do with the leaven of the Pharisees, which is deceit.

But nothing is covered up, which will not come to light, or secret, which will not be made clear.

So, whatever you have said in the dark, will come to men’s hearing in the light, and what you have said secretly inside the house, will be made public from the house-tops.

And I say to you, my friends, Have no fear of those who may put the body to death, and are able to do no more than that.

But I will make clear to you of whom you are to be in fear: of him who after death has power to send you to hell; yes, truly I say, Have fear of him.

Are not five sparrows given in exchange for two farthings? and God has every one of them in mind.

But even the hairs of your head are numbered. Have no fear: you are of more value than a flock of sparrows.

And I say to you that to everyone who gives witness to me before men, the Son of man will give witness before the angels of God.

But if anyone says before men that he has no knowledge of me, I will say that I have no knowledge of him before the angels of God.

And if anyone says a word against the Son of man, he will have forgiveness: but for him who says evil words against the Holy Spirit, there will be no forgiveness.

And when they take you before the Synagogues and the authorities and the rulers, take no thought about what answers you will give, or what you will say:

For the Holy Spirit will make clear to you in that very hour what to say.

And one of the people said to him, Master, give an order to my brother to make division of the heritage with me.

But he said, Man, who made me a judge or a maker of decisions for you?

And he said to them, Take care to keep yourselves free from the desire for property; for a man’s life is not made up of the number of things which he has.

And he said to them, in a story, The land of a certain man of great wealth was very fertile:

And he said to himself, What is to be done? for I have no place in which to put all my fruit.

And he said, This I will do: I will take down my store-houses and make greater ones, and there I will put all my grain and my goods.

And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have a great amount of goods in store, enough for a number of years; be at rest, take food and wine and be happy.

But God said to him, You foolish one, tonight I will take your soul from you, and who then will be the owner of all the things which you have got together?

So that is what comes to the man who gets wealth for himself, and has not wealth in the eyes of God.

And he said to his disciples, For this reason I say to you, Take no thought for your life, about what food you will take, or for your body, how it may be clothed.

Is not life more than food, and the body than its clothing?

Give thought to the ravens; they do not put seeds into the earth, or get together grain; they have no store-houses or buildings; and God gives them their food: of how much greater value are you than the birds!

And which of you by taking thought is able to make himself any taller?

If, then, you are not able to do even that which is least, why are you troubled about the rest?

Give thought to the flowers: they do no work, they make no thread; and still I say to you, Even Solomon, in all his glory, was not clothed like one of these.

But if God gives such clothing to the grass in the field, which today is living, and tomorrow will be burned in the oven, how much more will he give clothing to you, O men of little faith?

And do not give overmuch thought to your food and drink, and let not your mind be full of doubts.

For the nations of the world go in search of all these things: but your Father has knowledge that you have need of them.

But let your chief care be for his kingdom, and these other things will be given to you in addition.

Have no fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Give what property you have in exchange for money, and give the money to the poor; make for yourselves money-bags which will not get old, wealth stored up in heaven which will be yours for ever, where thieves will not come nor worms put it to destruction.

For where your wealth is, there will your heart be.

Be ready, dressed as for a journey, with your lights burning.

And be like men who are looking for their lord, when he comes back from the bride-feast; so that when he comes to the door, it will be open to him quickly.

Happy are those servants who are watching when the lord comes; truly I say to you, he will make himself their servant and, placing them at the table, he will come out and give them food.

And if he comes in the second division of the night or in the third, and they are watching for him, happy are those servants.

But be certain of this, that if the master of the house had had knowledge of the time when the thief was coming, he would have been watching, and would not have let his house be broken into.

So be ready: for the Son of man is coming at a time when you are not looking for him.

And Peter said to him, Lord, are these words said to us only, or to all men?

And the Lord said, Who then is the wise and responsible servant whom his lord will put in control of his family, to give them their food at the right time?

Happy is that servant who, when his lord comes, is doing so.

Truly I say to you, he will put him in control of all his goods.

But if that servant says to himself, My lord is a long time coming; and goes about giving blows to the men-servants and the women-servants, feasting and taking overmuch wine;

The lord of that servant will come at a time when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not ready for him, and he will have him cut in two and will give him his part in the fate of those who have no faith;

And the servant who had knowledge of his lord’s desires and was not ready for him and did not do as he was ordered, will be given a great number of blows;

But he who, without knowledge, did things for which punishment is given, will get only a small number of blows. The man to whom much is given, will have to give much; if much is given into his care, of him more will be requested.

I came to send a fire on the earth, and it may even now have been lighted.

But there is a baptism which I have to undergo; and how am I kept back till it is complete!

Is it your opinion that I have come to give peace on earth? I say to you, No, but division:

For from this time, a family of five in one house will be on opposite sides, three against two and two against three.

They will be at war, the father against his son, and the son against his father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.

Then he said to the people, When you see a cloud coming up in the west, straight away you say, There will be rain; and so it is.

And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, There will be heat; and so it is.

O false ones! the face of the earth and the heaven is clear to you; how is it that the signs of these times are not as clear to you?

And why are you, in your hearts, unable to be judges of what is right?

For if anyone has a cause at law against you, and you are going with him before the ruler, make an attempt, on the way, to come to an agreement with him, for if you do not, he may take you before the judge and the judge will give you up to the police, and they will put you in prison.

I say to you, You will not come out of it till you have made payment to the very last farthing.

Chapter 13

Now some people who were there at that time, gave him an account of how the blood of some Galilaeans had been mixed by Pilate with their offerings.

And he, in answer, said to them, Are you of the opinion that these Galilaeans were worse than all other Galilaeans, because these things were done to them?

I say to you, It is not so: but if your hearts are not changed, you will all come to the same end.

Or those eighteen men who were crushed by the fall of the tower of Siloam, were they worse than all the other men living in Jerusalem?

I say to you, It is not so: but if your hearts are not changed, you will all come to an end in the same way.

And he made up this story for them: A certain man had a fig-tree in his garden, and he came to get fruit from it, and there was no fruit.

And he said to the gardener, See, for three years I have been looking for fruit from this tree, and I have not had any: let it be cut down; why is it taking up space?

And he said, Lord, let it be for this year, and I will have the earth turned up round it, and put animal waste on it, to make it fertile:

And if, after that, it has fruit, it is well; if not, let it be cut down.

And he was teaching in one of the Synagogues on the Sabbath.

And there was a woman who had had a disease for eighteen years; she was bent, and was not able to make herself straight.

And when Jesus saw her, he said to her, Woman, you are made free from your disease.

And he put his hands on her, and she was made straight, and gave praise to God.

And the ruler of the Synagogue was angry because Jesus had made her well on the Sabbath, and he said to the people, There are six days in which men may do work: so come on those days to be made well, and not on the Sabbath.

But the Lord gave him an answer and said, O you false men! do you not, every one of you, on the Sabbath, let loose his ox and his ass and take it to the water?

And is it not right for this daughter of Abraham, who has been in the power of Satan for eighteen years, to be made free on the Sabbath?

And when he said these things, those who were against him were shamed, and all the people were full of joy because of the great things which were done by him.

Then he said, What is the kingdom of God like? what comparison may I make of it?

It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and put in his garden, and it became a tree, and the birds of heaven made their resting-places in its branches.

And again he said, What is the kingdom of God like?

It is like leaven, which a woman put into three measures of meal, and it was all leavened.

And he went on his way, through towns and country places, teaching and journeying to Jerusalem.

And someone said to him, Lord, will only a small number have salvation? And he said to them,

Do your best to go in by the narrow door, for I say to you, A number will make the attempt to go in, but will not be able to do so.

When the master of the house has got up, and the door has been shut, and you, still outside, give blows on the door, saying, Lord, let us in; he will make answer and say, I have no knowledge of where you come from.

Then you will say, We have taken food and drink with you, and you were teaching in our streets.

But he will say, Truly, I have no knowledge of you or where you come from; go away from me, you workers of evil.

There will be weeping and cries of sorrow when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are shut outside.

And they will come from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, and take their places in the kingdom of God.

And the last will be first, and the first will be last.

At that time, certain Pharisees came to him and said, Go away from this place, because Herod’s purpose is to put you to death.

And he said, Go and say to that fox, I send out evil spirits and do works of mercy today and tomorrow, and on the third day my work will be complete.

But I have to go on my way today and tomorrow and the third day, for it is not right for a prophet to come to his death outside Jerusalem.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, putting to death the prophets, and stoning those who were sent to her! again and again would I have taken your children to myself, as a bird takes her young ones under her wings, but you would not!

Now see, your house is waste, and I say to you, You will not see me again till you say, A blessing on him who comes in the name of the Lord.

Chapter 14

And it came about that when he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees on the Sabbath, to have a meal, they were watching him.

And a certain man was there who had a disease.

And Jesus, answering, said to the scribes and Pharisees, Is it right to make people well on the Sabbath or not?

But they said nothing. And he made him well and sent him away.

And he said to them, Which of you, whose ox or ass has got into a water-hole, will not straight away get him out on the Sabbath?

And they had no answer to that question.

And he gave teaching in the form of a story to the guests who came to the feast, when he saw how they took the best seats; saying to them,

When you get a request to come to a feast, do not take the best seat, for a more important man than you may be coming,

And then the giver of the feast will come to you and say, Give your place to this man; and you, with shame, will have to take the lowest seat.

But when you come, go and take the lowest seat, so that when the giver of the feast comes, he may say to you, Friend, come up higher; and then you will have honour in the eyes of all the others who are there.

For every man who gives himself a high place will be put down, but he who takes a low place will be lifted up.

And he said to the master of the house, When you give a feast, do not send for your friends and your brothers and your family or your neighbours who have wealth, for they may give a feast for you, and so you will get a reward.

But when you give a feast, send for the poor and the blind and those who are broken in body:

And you will have a blessing, because they will not be able to give you any payment, and you will get your reward when the upright come back from the dead.

And, hearing these words, one of those who were at table with him said to him, Happy is the man who will be a guest in the kingdom of God.

And he said to them, A certain man gave a great feast, and sent word of it to a number of people.

And when the time had come, he sent his servants to say to them, Come, for all things are now ready.

And they all gave reasons why they were not able to come. The first said to him, I have got a new field, and it is necessary for me to go and see it: I am full of regret that I am unable to come.

And another said, I have got some cattle, and I am going to make a test of them: I am full of regret that I am unable to come.

And another said, I have been married, and so I am not able to come.

And the servant came back and gave his master an account of these things. Then the master of the house was angry and said to the servant, Go out quickly into the streets of the town and get the poor, the blind, and those who are broken in body.

And the servant said, Lord, your orders have been done, and still there is room.

And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the roads and the fields, and make them come in, so that my house may be full.

For I say to you that not one of those who were requested to come will have a taste of my feast.

Now a great number of people went with him.

And turning round, he said to them, If any man comes to me, and has not hate for his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and even for his life, he may not be my disciple.

Whoever does not take up his cross and come after me may not be my disciple.

For which of you, desiring to put up a tower, does not first give much thought to the price, if he will have enough to make it complete?

For fear that if he makes a start and is not able to go on with it to the end, all who see it will be laughing at him,

And saying, This man made a start at building and is not able to make it complete.

Or what king, going to war with another king, will not first take thought if he will be strong enough, with ten thousand men, to keep off him who comes against him with twenty thousand?

Or while the other is still a great distance away, he sends representatives requesting conditions of peace.

And so whoever is not ready to give up all he has may not be my disciple.

For salt is good, but if the taste goes from it, of what use is it?

It is no good for the land or for the place of waste; no one has a use for it. He who has ears, let him give ear.

Chapter 15

Now all the tax-farmers and sinners came near to give ear to him.

And the Pharisees and scribes were angry, saying, This man gives approval to sinners, and takes food with them.

And he made a story for them, saying,

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if one of them gets loose and goes away, will not let the ninety-nine be in the waste land by themselves, and go after the wandering one, till he sees where it is?

And when he has got it again, he takes it in his arms with joy.

And when he gets back to his house, he sends for his neighbours and friends, saying to them, Be glad with me, for I have got back my sheep which had gone away.

I say to you that even so there will be more joy in heaven when one sinner is turned away from his wrongdoing, than for ninety-nine good men, who have no need of a change of heart.

Or what woman, having ten bits of silver, if one bit has gone from her hands, will not get a light, and go through her house, searching with care till she sees it?

And when she has it again, she gets her friends and neighbours together, saying, Be glad with me, for I have got back the bit of silver which had gone from me.

Even so, I say to you, There is joy among the angels of God, when one sinner is turned away from his wrongdoing.

And he said, A certain man had two sons:

And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me that part of your property which will be mine. And he made division of his goods between them.

And not long after, the younger son got together everything which was his and took a journey into a far-away country, and there all his money went in foolish living.

And when everything was gone, there was no food to be had in that country, and he was in need.

And he went and put himself into the hands of one of the people of that country, and he sent him into his fields to give the pigs their food.

And so great was his need that he would have been glad to take the pigs’ food, and no one gave him anything.

But when he came to his senses, he said, What numbers of my father’s servants have bread enough, and more, while I am near to death here through need of food!

I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have done wrong, against heaven and in your eyes:

I am no longer good enough to be named your son: make me like one of your servants.

And he got up and went to his father. But while he was still far away, his father saw him and was moved with pity for him and went quickly and took him in his arms and gave him a kiss.

And his son said to him, Father, I have done wrong, against heaven and in your eyes: I am no longer good enough to be named your son.

But the father said to his servants, Get out the first robe quickly, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet:

And get the fat young ox and put it to death, and let us have a feast, and be glad.

For this, my son, who was dead, is living again; he had gone away from me, and has come back. And they were full of joy.

Now the older son was in the field: and when he came near the house, the sounds of music and dancing came to his ears.

And he sent for one of the servants, questioning him about what it might be.

And he said to him, Your brother has come; and your father has had the young ox put to death because he has come back safely.

But he was angry and would not go in; and his father came out and made a request to him to come in.

But he made answer and said to his father, See, all these years I have been your servant, doing your orders in everything: and you never gave me even a young goat so that I might have a feast with my friends:

But when this your son came, who has been wasting your property with bad women, you put to death the fat young ox for him.

And he said to him, Son, you are with me at all times, and all I have is yours.

But it was right to be glad and to have a feast; for this your brother, who was dead, is living again; he had gone away and has come back.

Chapter 8

And it came about, after a short time, that he went through town and country giving the good news of the kingdom of God, and with him were the twelve,

And certain women who had been made free from evil spirits and diseases, Mary named Magdalene, from whom seven evil spirits had gone out,

And Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s chief house-servant, and Susanna and a number of others, who gave him of their wealth for his needs.

And when a great number of people came together, and men from every town went out to him, he gave them teaching in the form of a story:

A man went out to put in seed, and while he was doing it, some was dropped by the wayside and it was crushed under foot, and was taken by the birds of heaven.

And some went on the rock, and when it came up it became dry and dead because it had no water.

And some went among thorns, and the thorns came up with it and it had no room for growth.

And some falling on good earth, came up and gave fruit a hundred times as much. And with these words he said in a loud voice, He who has ears, let him give ear.

And his disciples put questions to him about the point of the story.

And he said, To you is given knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to the others, they are given in stories, so that seeing, they may not see, and though they give hearing, the sense will not be clear to them.

Now this is the point of the story: The seed is the word of God.

Those by the side of the road are those who have given hearing; then the Evil One comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not have faith and get salvation.

And those on the rock are those who with joy give hearing to the word; but having no root, they have faith for a time, and when the test comes they give up.

And those which went among thorns are those who have given hearing, and go on their way, but they are overcome by cares and wealth and the pleasures of life, and they give no fruit.

And those in the good earth are those who, having given ear to the word, keep it with a good and true heart, and in quiet strength give fruit.

No man, when the light is lighted, puts a cover over it, or puts it under a bed, but he puts it on its table, so that those who come in may see the light.

For nothing is put out of view which will not be made clear, and nothing is secret of which the knowledge will not come to light.

So take care how you give hearing, for to him who has will be given, and from him who has not will be taken even what he seems to have.

And his mother and his brothers came to him, and they were not able to get near him because of the great number of people.

And someone said to him, Your mother and your brothers are outside desiring to see you.

But he said to them in answer, My mother and my brothers are those who have knowledge of the word of God and do it.

Now it came about on one of those days that he got into a boat with his disciples; and he said to them, Let us go over to the other side of the water: and they put out the boat.

But while they were sailing he went to sleep: and a storm of wind came down on the sea, and the boat became full of water and they were in danger.

Then they came to him and, awaking him out of his sleep, said, Master, Master, destruction is near. And he, when he was awake, gave orders to the wind and the rolling waves, and the storm came to an end, and all was calm.

And he said to them, Where is your faith? And fear and wonder overcame them, and they said to one another, Who then is this, who gives orders even to the winds and the water and they do what he says?

And they came to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.

And when he had come to the land, there came to him a certain man from the town who had evil spirits; and for a long time he had had no clothing on, and was not living in a house but in the place of the dead.

And when he saw Jesus, he gave a loud cry and went down on the earth before him and in a loud voice said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Do not be cruel to me.

For he gave an order to the evil spirit to come out of the man. For frequently it would take a grip of him: and he was kept under control, and prisoned with chains; but parting the chains in two, he would be sent by the driving of the evil spirit into waste places.

And Jesus said to him, What is your name? And he said, Legion; for a number of spirits had gone into him.

And they made a request to him that he would not give them an order to go away into the deep.

Now there was a great herd of pigs in that place, getting food on the mountain: and the evil spirits made a request to him that he would let them go into the pigs, and he let them.

And the evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs: and the herd went rushing down a sharp slope into the water and came to destruction.

And when the men who took care of them saw what had come about, they went quickly and gave news of it in the town and the country.

And they went out to see what had taken place, and they came to Jesus and saw the man out of whom the evil spirits had gone, seated, clothed and with full use of his senses, at the feet of Jesus; and fear came on them.

And those who had seen it gave them an account of how the man who had the evil spirits was made well.

And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes made a request to him to go away from them; for they were in great fear: and he got into a boat and went back.

But the man from whom the evil spirits had gone out had a great desire to be with him, but he sent him away, saying,

Go back to your house and let them have news of all the great things which God has done for you. And he went away, giving word through all the town of the great things which Jesus had done for him.

And when Jesus went back, the people were glad to see him, for they were all waiting for him.

Then there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler in the Synagogue: and he went down at the feet of Jesus, desiring him to come to his house;

For he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was near to death. But while he was on his way, the people were pushing to be near him.

And a woman, who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had given all her money to medical men, and not one of them was able to make her well,

Came after him and put her hand on the edge of his robe, and straight away the flowing of her blood was stopped.

And Jesus said, Who was touching me? And when they all said, It is not I, Peter and those who were with him said, Master, the people are pushing round you on every side.

But Jesus said, Someone was touching me, for I had the feeling that power had gone out from me.

And when the woman saw that she was not able to keep it secret, she came, shaking with fear, and falling down before him she made clear before all the people the reason for her touching him, and how she was made well straight away.

And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.

While he was still talking, someone came from the house of the ruler of the Synagogue, saying, Your daughter is dead; do not go on troubling the Master.

But Jesus at these words said to him, Have no fear, only have faith, and she will be made well.

And when he came to the house he did not let any man go in with him, but only Peter and John and James, and the father of the girl and her mother.

And all the people were weeping and crying for her; but he said, Do not be sad, for she is not dead, but sleeping.

And they were laughing at him, being certain that she was dead.

But he, taking her hand, said to her, My child, get up.

And her spirit came back to her and she got up straight away: and he gave orders that food was to be given to her.

And her father and mother were full of wonder, but he gave orders to them to say nothing about it to anyone.

Chapter 9

And getting the twelve together, he gave them power and authority over all evil spirits and over diseases, to make them well.

And he sent them out to be preachers of the kingdom of God, and to make well those who were ill.

And he said to them, Take nothing for your journey, no stick or bag or bread or money, and do not take two coats.

And if you go into a house, let that house be your resting-place till you go away.

And if any people will not take you in, when you go away from that town, put off its dust from your feet for a witness against them.

And they went away, journeying through all the towns, preaching the good news and making people free from diseases in all places.

Now Herod the king had news of all these things: and he was in doubt, because it was said by some people that John had come back from the dead;

And by some, that Elijah had come; and by others, that one of the old prophets had come back to life.

And Herod said, I put John to death: but who is this, of whom such stories are given to me? And he had a desire to see him.

And the twelve, when they came back, gave him an account of what they had done. And he took them with him and went away from the people to a town named Beth-saida.

But the people, getting news of it, went after him: and he was pleased to see them, and gave them teaching about the kingdom of God, and made those well who were in need of it.

And the day went on; and the twelve came to him and said, Send these people away so that they may go into the towns and the country round about and get resting-places and food for themselves, for we are in a waste place.

But he said, Give them food yourselves. And they said, We have only five cakes of bread and two fishes, if we do not go and get food for all these people.

For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them be seated in groups, about fifty to a group.

And they did so, and made them all be seated.

And he took the five cakes of bread and the two fishes and, looking up to heaven, he said words of blessing over them, and when they had been broken, he gave them to the disciples to give to the people.

And they all took the food and had enough; and they took up of the broken bits which were over, twelve baskets full.

And it came about that when he was in prayer, by himself, and the disciples were with him, he put a question to them, saying, Who do the people say I am?

And they, answering, said, John the Baptist; but others say Elijah; and others, that one of the old prophets has come back.

And he said, But who do you say that I am? And Peter, answering, said, The Christ of God.

But he gave them special orders, not to say this to any man;

Saying, The Son of man will undergo much and be put on one side by the rulers and the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and be put to death, and on the third day he will come back to life.

And he said to them all, If any man has a desire to come after me, let him give up all, and take up his cross every day, and come after me.

For whoever has a desire to keep his life will have it taken from him, but whoever gives up his life because of me, will keep it.

For what profit will a man have if he gets all the world, but undergoes loss or destruction himself?

For if any man has a feeling of shame because of me or of my words, the Son of man will have shame because of him when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

But truly I say to you, Some of those who are here now will have no taste of death till they see the kingdom of God.

And about eight days after he had said these things, he took Peter and John and James with him and went up into the mountain for prayer.

And while he was in prayer, his face was changed and his clothing became white and shining.

And two men, Moses and Elijah, were talking with him;

Who were seen in glory and were talking of his death which was about to take place in Jerusalem.

Now Peter and those who were with him were overcome with sleep: but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who were with him.

And when they were about to go away from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah: having no knowledge of what he was saying.

And while he said these things, the shade of a cloud came over them, and they were full of fear when they went into the cloud.

And there was a voice from the cloud saying, This is my Son, the man of my selection; give ear to him.

And after the voice was gone they saw that Jesus was by himself. And they kept quiet, and said nothing at that time to anyone of the things which they had seen.

And on the day after, when they came down from the mountain, a great band of people came to him.

And a man from among them, crying out, said, Master, I make a request to you, give a thought to my son, for he is my only child:

And see, a spirit takes him, and suddenly he gives a cry, twisted in pain and streaming at the lips, and when it goes away from him at last, he is marked as from blows.

And I made a request to your disciples to send it out of him, but they were not able to do it.

And Jesus said, O generation without faith and false in heart, how long will I have to be with you and put up with you? let your son come here.

And while he was coming, he was pushed violently down and twisted by the evil spirit. But Jesus gave sharp orders to the unclean spirit, and made the boy well, and gave him back to his father.

And they were full of wonder at the great power of God. But while they were all wondering at all the things which he did, he said to his disciples,

Let these words go deep into your ears, for the Son of man will be given up into the hands of men.

But this saying was not clear to them and its sense was kept secret from them so that they were not able to see it: and they had fear of questioning him about it.

Now there was a discussion among them about which of them would be the greatest.

But when Jesus saw the reasoning of their hearts, he took a small child and put him by his side,

And said to them, Whoever gives honour to this child in my name, gives honour to me: and whoever gives honour to me, gives honour to him who sent me: for whoever is least among you all, that man is great.

And John, answering, said, Master, we saw a man driving out evil spirits in your name, and we did not let him do it, because he was not one of us.

But Jesus said to him, Let him do it, for he who is not against you is for you.

And it came about that when the days were near for him to be taken up, his face was turned to go to Jerusalem,

And he sent men before: and they came to a small town of Samaria to make ready for him.

But they would not have him there, because he was clearly going to Jerusalem.

And when his disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, Lord, may we send fire from heaven and put an end to them?

But turning round he said sharp words to them.

And they went to another small town.

And when they were on the way, a certain man said to him, I will come after you wherever you go.

And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have resting-places, but the Son of man has nowhere to put his head.

And he said to another, Come after me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and give the last honours to my father.

But he said to him, Let the dead take care of their dead; it is for you to go and give news of the kingdom of God.

And another man said, I will come with you, Lord, but first let me say a last good-day to those who are at my house.

But Jesus said, No man, having put his hand to the plough and looking back, is good enough for the kingdom of God.

Chapter 10

Now after these things, the Lord made selection of seventy others and sent them before him, two together, into every town and place where he himself was about to come.

And he said to them, There is much grain ready to be cut, but not enough workers: so make prayer to the Lord of the grain-fields that he will send workers to get in the grain.

Go on your way: see, I send you out like lambs among wolves.

Take no bag for money or for food, and no shoes; say no word to any man on the way.

And whenever you go into a house, first say, Peace be to this house.

And if a son of peace is there, your peace will be with him: but if not, it will come back to you again.

And keep in that same house, taking what food and drink they give you: for the worker has a right to his reward. Do not go from house to house.

And into whatever town you go, if they take you in, take whatever food is given to you:

And make well those in it who are ill and say to them, The kingdom of God is near to you.

But if you go into a town where they will not have you, go out into the streets of it and say,

Even the dust of your town, which is on our feet, we put off as a witness against you; but be certain of this, that the kingdom of God is near.

I say to you, It will be better in that day for Sodom than for that town.

A curse is on you, Chorazin! A curse is on you, Beth-saida! For if such works of power had been done in Tyre and Sidon as have been done in you, they would have been turned from their sins, in days gone by, seated in the dust.

But it will be better for Tyre and Sidon, in the day of judging, than for you.

And you, Capernaum, were you not lifted up to heaven? you will go down to hell.

Whoever gives ear to you, gives ear to me; and whoever is against you, is against me; and whoever is against me, is against him who sent me.

And the seventy came back with joy, saying, Lord, even the evil spirits are under our power in your name.

And he said, I was watching for Satan, falling from heaven like a star.

See, I have given you power to put your feet on snakes and evil beasts, and over all the strength of him who is against you: and nothing will do you damage.

Do not be glad, however, because you have power over spirits, but because your names are recorded in heaven.

In that same hour he was full of joy in the Holy Spirit and said, I give praise to you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have kept these things secret from the wise and the men of learning, and have made them clear to little children: for so, O Father, it was pleasing in your eyes.

All things have been given to me by my Father: and no one has knowledge of the Son, but only the Father: and of the Father, but only the Son, and he to whom the Son will make it clear.

And, turning to the disciples, he said privately, Happy are the eyes which see the things you see:

For I say to you that numbers of prophets and kings have had a desire to see the things which you see, and have not seen them, and to have knowledge of the things which have come to your ears, and they had it not.

And a certain teacher of the law got up and put him to the test, saying, Master, what have I to do so that I may have eternal life?

And he said to him, What does the law say, in your reading of it?

And he, answering, said, Have love for the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and for your neighbour as for yourself.

And he said, You have given the right answer: do this and you will have life.

But he, desiring to put himself in the right, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

And Jesus, answering him, said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he got into the hands of thieves, who took his clothing and gave him cruel blows, and when they went away, he was half dead.

And by chance a certain priest was going down that way: and when he saw him, he went by on the other side.

And in the same way, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, went by on the other side.

But a certain man of Samaria, journeying that way, came where he was, and when he saw him, he was moved with pity for him,

And came to him and put clean linen round his wounds, with oil and wine; and he put him on his beast and took him to a house and took care of him.

And the day after he took two pennies and gave them to the owner of the house and said, Take care of him; and if this money is not enough, when I come again I will give you whatever more is needed.

Which of these three men, in your opinion, was neighbour to the man who came into the hands of thieves?

And he said, The one who had mercy on him. And Jesus said, Go and do the same.

Now, while they were on their way, he came to a certain town; and a woman named Martha took him into her house.

And she had a sister, by name Mary, who took her seat at the Lord’s feet and gave attention to his words.

But Martha had her hands full of the work of the house, and she came to him and said, Lord, is it nothing to you that my sister has let me do all the work? Say to her that she is to give me some help.

But the Lord, answering, said to her, Martha, Martha, you are full of care and troubled about such a number of things:

Little is needed, or even one thing only: for Mary has taken that good part, which will not be taken away from her.

Chapter 5

Now it came about that while the people came pushing to be near him, and to have knowledge of the word of God, he was by a wide stretch of water named Gennesaret;

And he saw two boats by the edge of the water, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

And he got into one of the boats, the property of Simon, and made a request to him to go a little way out from the land. And being seated he gave the people teaching from the boat.

And when his talk was ended, he said to Simon, Go out into deep water, and let down your nets for fish.

And Simon, answering, said, Master, we were working all night and we took nothing: but at your word I will let down the nets.

And when they had done this, they got such a great number of fish that it seemed as if their nets would be broken;

And they made signs to their friends in the other boat to come to their help. And they came, and the two boats were so full that they were going down.

But Simon, when he saw it, went down at the knees of Jesus and said, Go away from me, O Lord, for I am a sinner.

For he was full of wonder and so were all those who were with him, at the number of fish which they had taken;

And so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were working with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Have no fear; from this time forward you will be a fisher of men.

And when they had got their boats to the land, they gave up everything and went after him.

And it came about that while he was in one of the towns, there was a leper there: and when he saw Jesus he went down on his face in prayer to him, saying, Lord, if it is your pleasure, you have power to make me clean.

And he put out his hand to him and said, It is my pleasure; be clean. And straight away his disease went from him.

And he gave him orders: Say nothing to any man, but let the priest see you and give an offering so that you may be made clean, as the law of Moses says, and for a witness to them.

But news of him went out all the more, in every direction, and great numbers of people came together to give hearing to his words and to be made well from their diseases.

But he went away by himself to a waste place for prayer.

And it came about that on one of these days he was teaching; and some Pharisees and teachers of the law were seated there, who had come from every town of Galilee and Judaea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was with him, to make those who were ill free from their diseases.

And some men had with them, on a bed, a man who was ill, without power of moving; and they made attempts to get him in and put him before Jesus.

And because of the mass of people, there was no way to get him in; so they went up on the top of the house and let him down through the roof, on his bed, into the middle in front of Jesus.

And seeing their faith he said, Man, you have forgiveness for your sins.

And the scribes and Pharisees were having an argument, saying, Who is this, who has no respect for God? who is able to give forgiveness for sins, but God only?

But Jesus, who had knowledge of their thoughts, said to them, Why are you reasoning in your hearts?

Which is the simpler: to say, You have forgiveness for your sins; or to say, Get up and go?

But so that you may see that on earth the Son of man has authority for the forgiveness of sins, (he said to the man who was ill .) I say to you, Get up, and take up your bed, and go into your house.

And straight away he got up before them, and took up his bed and went away to his house giving praise to God.

And wonder overcame them all, and they gave glory to God; and they were full of fear, saying, We have seen strange things today.

And after these things he went out, and saw Levi, a tax-farmer, seated at the place where taxes were taken, and said to him, Come after me.

And giving up his business, he got up and went after him.

And Levi made a great feast for him in his house: and a great number of tax-farmers and others were seated at table with them.

And the Pharisees and their scribes made protests against his disciples, saying, Why do you take food and drink with tax-farmers and sinners?

And Jesus, answering, said to them, Those who are well have no need of a medical man, but those who are ill.

I have come, not to get the upright, but sinners, so that they may be turned from their sins.

And they said to him, The disciples of John frequently go without food, and make prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees; but your disciples take food and drink.

And Jesus said, Are you able to make the friends of the newly-married man go without food when he is with them?

But the days will come when he will be taken away from them, and then they will go without food.

And he said to them, in a story, No man takes a bit of cloth from a new coat and puts it on to an old coat, for so the new coat would be damaged and the bit from the new would not go well with the old.

And no man puts new wine into old wine-skins, for fear that the skins will be burst by the new wine, and the wine be let out, and the skins come to destruction.

But new wine has to be put into new wine-skins.

And no man, having had old wine, has any desire for new, for he says, The old is better.

Chapter 6

Now it came about that on the Sabbath he was going through the fields of grain, and his disciples took the heads of the grain for food, crushing them in their hands.

But some of the Pharisees said, Why do you do what it is not right to do on the Sabbath?

And Jesus said, Have you not seen in the Writings what David did when he was in need of food, he, and those who were with him;

How he went into the house of God and took for food the holy bread, which only the priests may take, and gave it to those who were with him?

And he said, The Son of man is lord even of the Sabbath.

And it came about, on another Sabbath, that he went into the Synagogue and was teaching there. And a man was there whose right hand was dead.

And the scribes and Pharisees were watching him to see if he would make him well on the Sabbath, so that they might be able to say something against him.

But he had knowledge of their thoughts; and he said to the man whose hand was dead, Get up and come into the middle. And he got up and came forward.

And Jesus said, I put the question to you, Is it right to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil? to give life or to take it away?

And looking round on all of them, he said to him, Put out your hand. And he did so: and his hand was made well.

But they were full of wrath, and were talking together about what they might do to Jesus.

And it came about in those days that he went out to the mountain for prayer; and he was all night in prayer to God.

And the day came and, turning to his disciples, he made a selection from among them of twelve, to whom he gave the name of Apostles;

Simon, to whom he gave the name of Peter, and Andrew, his brother, and James and John and Philip and Bartholomew

And Matthew and Thomas and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was named the Zealot,

And Judas, the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, he who was false to him.

And he came down with them to a level place, and a great band of his disciples, and a very great number of people from all Judaea and Jerusalem and from the parts of Tyre and Sidon by the sea, came to give hearing to him, and to be made well from their diseases;

And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were made well.

And all the people were desiring to be touched by him, for power came from him and made them all well.

And turning his eyes to his disciples he said, Happy are you who are poor: for the kingdom of God is yours.

Happy are you who are in need of food now: for you will be made full. Happy are you who are weeping now; for you will be glad.

Happy are you, when men have hate for you, and put you away from among them and say angry words to you, turning away in disgust at your name, because of the Son of man.

Be glad in that day, and be lifted up for joy, for your reward in heaven will be great: for their fathers did these same things to the prophets.

But unhappy are you who have wealth: for you have been comforted now.

Unhappy are you who are full of food now: for you will be in need. Unhappy are you who are laughing now: for you will be crying in sorrow.

Unhappy are you when all men give you their approval: for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

But I say to you who give ear to me, Have love for those who are against you, do good to those who have hate for you,

Give blessing to those who give you curses, say prayers for those who are cruel to you.

If a man gives you a blow on one side of your face, then let the other side be turned to him; from him who takes away your coat, do not keep back your robe.

Give to everyone who comes with a request, and if a man takes away your property, make no attempt to get it back again.

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

If you have love for those who have love for you, what credit is it to you? for even sinners have love for those who have love for them.

And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is it to you? for even sinners do the same.

And if you let those have the use of your money, from whom you are hoping to get it back, what credit is it to you? even sinners do so to sinners, hoping to get back as much as they gave.

But be loving to those who are against you and do them good, and give them your money, not giving up hope, and your reward will be great and you will be the sons of the Most High: for he is kind to evil men, and to those who have hard hearts.

Be full of pity, even as your Father is full of pity.

Be not judges of others, and you will not be judged: do not give punishment to others, and you will not get punishment yourselves: make others free, and you will be made free:

Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, crushed down, full and running over, they will give to you. For in the same measure as you give, it will be given to you again.

And he gave them teaching in the form of a story, saying, Is it possible for one blind man to be guide to another? will they not go falling together into a hole?

The disciple is not greater than his master, but everyone whose learning is complete will be like his master.

And why do you take note of the grain of dust in your brother’s eye, but take no note of the bit of wood which is in your eye?

How will you say to your brother, Brother, let me take the grain of dust out of your eye, when you yourself do not see the bit of wood in your eye? O false one! first take the wood out of your eye and then you will see clearly to take the dust out of your brother’s eye.

For no good tree gives bad fruit, and no bad tree gives good fruit.

For every tree is judged by its fruit. Men do not get figs from thorns, or grapes from blackberry plants.

The good man, out of the good store of his heart, gives good things; and the evil man, out of his evil store, gives evil: for out of the full store of the heart come the words of the mouth.

Why do you say to me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Everyone who comes to me and gives ear to my words and does them, I will make clear to you what he is like:

He is like a man building a house, who went deep and put the base of it on a rock; and when the water came up and the river was driving against that house, it was not moved, because the building was good.

But he who gives hearing, without doing, is like a man building a house on the earth without a base for it; and when the force of the river came against it, straight away it came down; and the destruction of that house was great.

Chapter 7

After he had come to the end of all his words in the hearing of the people, he went into Capernaum.

And a certain captain had a servant who was very dear to him; this servant was ill and near to death.

And when news of Jesus came to his ears, he sent to him rulers of the Jews, requesting that he would come and make his servant well.

And they, when they came to Jesus, made their request warmly, saying,

It is right for you to do this for him, because he is a friend to our nation, and himself has put up a Synagogue for us.

And Jesus went with them. And when he was not far from the house, the man sent friends to him, saying, Lord, do not give yourself trouble: for I am not important enough for you to come into my house:

And I had the feeling that I was not even good enough to come to you: but say the word only, and my servant will be well.

For I, myself, am a man under authority, having men under me; and I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it.

And when these things were said to Jesus, he was surprised, and, turning to the mass of people coming after him, said, I have not seen such great faith, no, not in Israel.

And when those who were sent came back to the house they saw that the servant was well.

And it came about, after a little time, that he went to a town named Nain; and his disciples went with him, and a great number of people.

Now when he came near the door of the town, a dead man was being taken out, the only son of his mother, who was a widow: and a great number of people from the town were with her.

And when the Lord saw her, he had pity on her and said to her, Be not sad.

And he came near, and put his hand on the stretcher where the dead man was: and those who were moving it came to a stop. And he said, Young man, I say to you, Get up.

And the dead man got up, and words came from his lips. And he gave him to his mother.

And fear came on all, and they gave praise to God, saying, A great prophet is among us: and, God has given thought to his people.

And this story about him went through all Judaea and the places round about.

And the disciples of John gave him an account of all these things.

Then John sent two of his disciples to the Lord, saying, Are you he who is to come, or are we waiting for another?

And when the men came to him they said, John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, Are you he who is to come, or are we waiting for another?

At that time, he made a number of people free from their diseases and their pains, and from evil spirits; and to others who were blind he gave back the use of their eyes.

And answering them he said, Go back and give news to John of what you have seen, and the things which have come to your ears; the blind now see, those who had no power in their legs are walking, lepers are made clean, those who had no hearing now have their ears open, dead men come to life again, and the poor have the good news given to them.

And a blessing will be on him who has no doubts about me.

And when the men who were sent by John had gone away, he said to the people, about John, What did you go out into the waste land to see? a tall stem moving in the wind?

But what did you go out to see? a man in soft clothing? See now, those who have beautiful clothing and delicate food are in kings’ houses.

But what did you go out to see? a prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.

This is he of whom it has been said, See, I send my servant before your face, who will make ready your way before you.

I say to you, Among all the sons of women, not one is greater than John: but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

(And all the people, and the tax-farmers, to whom John had given baptism, when they had knowledge of these things, gave glory to God.

But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were against the purpose of God for themselves, not having had his baptism.)

What comparison am I to make of the men of this generation? what are they like?

They are like children who are seated in the market-place, crying out to one another, and saying, We made music for you, but you did not take part in the dance; we gave cries of sorrow, but you were not sad.

For John the Baptist came, taking no food or drink, and you say, He has an evil spirit.

The Son of man came feasting, and you say, Here is a lover of food and wine, a friend of tax-farmers and sinners.

But wisdom is judged to be right by all her children.

And one of the Pharisees made a request that he would take a meal with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his seat at the table.

And there was a woman in the town who was a sinner; and when she had news that he was a guest in the Pharisee’s house, she took a bottle of perfume,

And went in and took her place at the back of him, near his feet, weeping, so that his feet were washed with the drops from her eyes, and with her hair she made them dry, and kissing his feet she put the perfume on them.

Now when the Pharisee in whose house he was saw it, he said to himself, This man, if he was a prophet, would be conscious what sort of woman this is who has put her hands on him, that she is a sinner.

And Jesus, answering, said, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he said, Master, say on.

And he said, Two men were in debt to a certain man of business: one had a debt of five hundred pence, and the other of fifty.

When they were unable to make payment, he made the two of them free of their debts. Which of them, now, will have the greater love for him?

Simon, in answer, said, It seems he whose debt was greater. And he said, Your decision is right.

And turning to the woman he said to Simon, You see this woman? I came into your house; you did not give me water for my feet: but she has been washing my feet with the drops from her eyes, and drying them with her hair.

You did not give me a kiss: but she, from the time when I came in, has gone on kissing my feet.

You put no oil on my head: but she has put perfume on my feet.

And so I say to you, She will have forgiveness for her sins which are great in number, because of her great love: but he who has small need of forgiveness gives little love.

And he said to her, You have forgiveness for your sins.

And those who were seated at table with him said to themselves, Who is this who even gives forgiveness of sins?

And he said to the woman, By your faith you have salvation; go in peace.

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Chapter 1

As a number of attempts have been made to put together in order an account of those events which took place among us,

As they were handed down to us by those who saw them from the first and were preachers of the word,

It seemed good to me, having made observation, with great care, of the direction of events in their order, to put the facts in writing for you, most noble Theophilus;

So that you might have certain knowledge of those things about which you were given teaching.

In the days of Herod, king of Judaea, there was a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the order of Abijah; and he had a wife of the family of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

They were upright in the eyes of God, keeping all the rules and orders of God, and doing no wrong.

And they were without children, because Elisabeth had never given birth, and they were at that time very old.

Now it came about that in his turn he was acting as priest before God,

And as was the way of the priests, he had to go into the Temple to see to the burning of perfumes.

And all the people were offering prayers outside, at the time of the burning of perfumes.

And he saw an angel of the Lord in his place on the right side of the altar.

And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear came on him.

But the angel said, Have no fear, Zacharias, for your prayer has come to the ears of God, and your wife Elisabeth will have a son, and his name will be John.

And you will be glad and have great delight; and numbers of people will have joy at his birth.

For he will be great in the eyes of the Lord; he will not take wine or strong drink; and he will be full of the Spirit of God from his birth.

And through him great numbers of the children of Israel will be turned to the Lord their God.

And he will go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, turning the hearts of fathers to their children, and wrongdoers to the way of righteousness; to make ready a people whose hearts have been turned to the Lord.

And Zacharias said to the angel, How may I be certain of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is far on in years.

And the angel, answering, said, I am Gabriel, whose place is before God; I have been sent to say these words to you and to give you this good news.

Now, see, you will be without voice or language till the day when these things come about, because you had not faith in my words, which will have effect at the right time.

And the people were waiting for Zacharias and were surprised because he was in the Temple for such a long time.

And when he came out he was not able to say anything, and they saw that he had seen a vision in the Temple; and he was making signs to them without words.

And when the days of his work in the Temple were ended, he went back to his house.

After that time, Elisabeth, being certain that she was to become a mother, kept herself from men’s eyes for five months, saying,

The Lord has done this to me, for his eyes were on me, to take away my shame in the eyes of men.

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee, named Nazareth,

To a virgin who was to be married to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary.

And the angel came in to her and said, Peace be with you, to whom special grace has been given; the Lord is with you.

But she was greatly troubled at his words, and said to herself, What may be the purpose of these words?

And the angel said to her, Have no fear, Mary, for you have God’s approval.

And see, you will give birth to a son, and his name will be Jesus.

He will be great, and will be named the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his father:

He will have rule over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

And Mary said to the angel, How may this be, because I have had no knowledge of a man?

And the angel in answer said to her, The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will come to rest on you, and so that which will come to birth will be named holy, Son of God.

Even now Elisabeth, who is of your family, is to be a mother, though she is old: and this is the sixth month with her who was without children.

For there is nothing which God is not able to do.

And Mary said: I am the servant of the Lord; may it be to me as you say. And the angel went away.

Then Mary got up and went quickly into the high lands, to a town of Judah;

And went into the house of Zacharias and took Elisabeth in her arms.

And when the voice of Mary came to the ears of Elisabeth, the baby made a sudden move inside her; then Elisabeth was full of the Holy Spirit,

And she said with a loud voice: May blessing be on you among women, and a blessing on the child of your body.

How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me?

For, truly, when the sound of your voice came to my ears, the baby in my body made a sudden move for joy.

Happy will she be who had faith that the things which the Lord has said to her will be done.

And Mary said: My soul gives glory to God;

My spirit is glad in God my Saviour.

For he has had pity on his servant, though she is poor and lowly placed: and from this hour will all generations give witness to the blessing which has come to me.

For he who is strong has done great things for me; and holy is his name.

His mercy is for all generations in whom is the fear of him.

With his arm he has done acts of power; he has put to flight those who have pride in their hearts.

He has put down kings from their seats, lifting up on high the men of low degree.

Those who had no food he made full of good things; the men of wealth he sent away with nothing in their hands;

His help he has given to Israel, his servant, so that he might keep in mind his mercy to Abraham and his seed for ever,

As he gave his word to our fathers.

And Mary was with her for about three months and then went back to her house.

Now it was time for Elisabeth to give birth, and she had a son.

And it came to the ears of her neighbours and relations that the Lord had been very good to her, and they took part in her joy.

And on the eighth day they came to see to the circumcision of the child, and they would have given him the name of Zacharias, his father’s name;

But his mother made answer and said, No, his name is John.

And they said, Not one of your relations has that name.

And they made signs to his father, to say what name was to be given to him.

And he sent for writing materials and put down: His name is John; and they were all surprised.

And straight away his mouth was open and his tongue was free and he gave praise to God.

And fear came on all those who were living round about them: and there was much talk about all these things in all the hill-country of Judaea.

And all who had word of them kept them in their minds and said, What will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.

And his father, Zacharias, was full of the Holy Spirit, and with the voice of a prophet said these words:

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and made them free,

Lifting up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,

(As he said, by the mouth of his holy prophets, from the earliest times .)

Salvation from those who are against us, and from the hands of those who have hate for us;

To do acts of mercy to our fathers and to keep in mind his holy word,

The oath which he made to Abraham, our father,

That we, being made free from the fear of those who are against us, might give him worship,

In righteousness and holy living before him all our days.

And you, child, will be named the prophet of the Most High: you will go before the face of the Lord, to make ready his ways;

To give knowledge of salvation to his people, through the forgiveness of sins,

Because of the loving mercies of our God, by which the dawn from heaven has come to us,

To give light to those in dark places, and in the shade of death, so that our feet may be guided into the way of peace.

And the child became tall, and strong in spirit; and he was living in the waste land till the day when he came before the eyes of Israel.

Chapter 2

Now it came about in those days that an order went out from Caesar Augustus that there was to be a numbering of all the world.

This was the first numbering, which was made when Quirinius was ruler of Syria.

And all men went to be numbered, everyone to his town.

And Joseph went up from Galilee, out of the town of Nazareth, into Judaea, to Beth-lehem, the town of David, because he was of the house and family of David,

To be put on the list with Mary, his future wife, who was about to become a mother.

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

And she had her first son; and folding him in linen, she put him to rest in the place where the cattle had their food, because there was no room for them in the house.

And in the same country there were keepers of sheep in the fields, watching over their flock by night.

And an angel of the Lord came to them, and the glory of the Lord was shining round about them: and fear came on them.

And the angel said, Have no fear; for truly, I give you good news of great joy which will be for all the people:

For on this day, in the town of David, a Saviour has come to birth, who is Christ the Lord.

And this is the sign to you: you will see a young child folded in linen, in the place where the cattle have their food.

And suddenly there was with the angel a great band of spirits from heaven, giving praise to God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on the earth peace among men with whom he is well pleased.

And when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the keepers of the sheep said to one another, Let us go now to Beth-lehem, and see this thing which has come about, which the Lord has made clear to us.

And they came quickly, and saw Mary and Joseph, and the child in the place where the cattle had their food.

And when they saw it, they gave them an account of the things which had been said to them about the child.

And all those to whose ears it came were full of wonder at the things said by the keepers of the sheep.

But Mary kept all these words in her heart, and gave much thought to them.

Then the keepers of the sheep went back, giving glory and praise to God for all the things which had come to their ears and which they had seen, as it had been said to them.

And when, after eight days, the time came for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name which the angel had given to him before his birth.

And when the necessary days for making them clean by the law of Moses had come to an end, they took him to Jerusalem to give him to the Lord

(As it says in the law of the Lord, Every mother’s first male child is to be holy to the Lord),

And to make an offering, as it is ordered in the law of the Lord, of two doves or other young birds.

And there was then in Jerusalem a man whose name was Simeon; and he was an upright man, fearing God and waiting for the comfort of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was on him.

And he had knowledge, through the Holy Spirit, that he would not see death till he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

And full of the Spirit he came into the Temple; and when the father and mother came in with the child Jesus, to do with him what was ordered by the law,

Then he took him in his arms and gave praise to God and said,

Now you are letting your servant go in peace, O Lord, as you have said;

For my eyes have seen your salvation,

Which you have made ready before the face of all nations;

A light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.

And his father and mother were full of wonder at the things which were said about him.

And Simeon gave them his blessing and said to Mary, his mother, See, this child will be the cause of the downfall and the lifting up of great numbers of people in Israel, and he will be a sign against which hard words will be said;

(And a sword will go through your heart;) so that the secret thoughts of men may come to light.

And there was one, Anna, a woman prophet, the daughter of Phanuel, of the family of Asher (she was very old, and after seven years of married life

She had been a widow for eighty-four years); she was in the Temple at all times, worshipping with prayers and going without food, night and day.

And coming up at that time, she gave praise to God, talking of him to all those who were waiting for the freeing of Jerusalem.

And when they had done all the things which were ordered by the law of the Lord, they went back to Galilee, to Nazareth, the town where they were living.

And the child became tall and strong and full of wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

And every year his father and mother went to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover.

And when he was twelve years old, they went up, as their way was, to the feast;

And when the days of the feast came to an end and they were going back, the boy Jesus was still in Jerusalem, but they had no knowledge of it:

And in the belief that he was with some of their number, they went a day’s journey; and after looking for him among their relations and friends,

And seeing that he was not there, they went back to Jerusalem, to make search for him.

And after three days they came across him in the Temple, seated among the wise men, giving ear to their words and putting questions to them.

And all to whose ears it came were full of wonder at his knowledge and the answers which he gave.

And when they saw him they were surprised, and his mother said to him, Son, why have you done this to us? see, your father and I have been looking for you with sorrow.

And he said to them, Why were you looking for me? was it not clear to you that my right place was in my Father’s house?

And his words seemed strange to them.

And he went down with them and came to Nazareth; and did as he was ordered: and his mother kept all these words in her heart.

And Jesus was increasing in wisdom and in years, and in grace before God and men.

Chapter 3

Now in the fifteenth year of the rule of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being ruler of Judaea, and Herod being king of Galilee, his brother Philip king of the country of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias king of Abilene,

When Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the waste land.

And he came into all the country round about Jordan, preaching baptism as a sign of forgiveness of sin for those whose hearts were changed.

As it says in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight.

Every valley will be lifted up, and all the mountains and hills made low, and the twisted will be made straight, and the rough ways smooth;

And all flesh will see the salvation of God.

So he said to the people who went out to him for baptism: You offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come?

Make clear by your acts that your hearts have been changed; and do not say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father: for I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children of Abraham.

And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; and every tree which does not have good fruit will be cut down and put into the fire.

And the people put questions to him, saying, What have we to do?

And he made answer and said to them, He who has two coats, let him give to him who has not even one; and he who has food, let him do the same.

Then tax-farmers came to him for baptism and said to him, Master, what have we to do?

And he said to them, Do not make an attempt to get more money than the right amount.

And men of the army put questions to him, saying, And what have we to do? And he said to them, Do no violent acts to any man, and do not take anything without right, and let your payment be enough for you.

And while the people were waiting, and all men were questioning in their hearts about John, if he was the Christ or not,

John made answer, saying to them all, Truly, I give you baptism with water, but one is coming who is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo: he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit, and with fire:

In whose hand is the instrument with which he will make clean his grain; he will put the good grain in his store, but the waste will be burned in the fire which will never be put out.

And so comforting them with these and other words, he gave the good news to the people;

But Herod the king, because John had made a protest on account of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and other evil things which Herod had done,

Did this most evil thing of all, and had John shut up in prison.

Now it came about that when all the people had been given baptism, Jesus, having had baptism with them, was in prayer, when, the heaven being open,

The Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove, and a voice came from heaven, saying, You are my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

And Jesus at this time was about thirty years old, being the son (as it seemed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,

The son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,

The son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,

The son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda,

The son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,

The son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,

The son of Jesus, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,

The son of Symeon, the son of Judas, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,

The son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,

The son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,

The son of Amminadab, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,

The son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,

The son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,

The son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,

The son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,

The son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

Chapter 4

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, came back from the Jordan, and was guided by the Spirit in the waste land

For forty days, being tested by the Evil One. And he had no food in those days; and when they came to an end, he was in need of food.

And the Evil One said to him, If you are the Son of God, give orders to this stone to become bread.

And Jesus made answer to him, It has been said in the Writings, Bread is not man’s only need.

And he took him up and let him see all the kingdoms of the earth in a minute of time.

And the Evil One said, I will give you authority over all these, and the glory of them, for it has been given to me, and I give it to anyone at my pleasure.

If then you will give worship to me, it will all be yours.

And Jesus in answer said to him, It has been said in the Writings, Give worship to the Lord your God, and be his servant only.

And he took him to Jerusalem and put him on the highest point of the Temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, let yourself go down from here; for it is said in the Writings,

He will give his angels orders to take care of you:

And, In their hands they will keep you up, so that your foot may not be crushed against a stone.

And Jesus made answer and said to him, It is said in the Writings, You may not put the Lord your God to the test.

And when all these tests were ended the Evil One went away from him for a time.

And Jesus came back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news of him went through all the country round about.

And he was teaching in their Synagogues and all men gave him praise.

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been as a child, and he went, as his way was, into the Synagogue on the Sabbath, and got up to give a reading.

And the book of the prophet Isaiah was given to him and, opening the book, he came on the place where it is said,

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make well those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go, and the blind will see, and to make the wounded free from their chains,

To give knowledge that the year of the Lord’s good pleasure is come.

And shutting the book he gave it back to the servant and took his seat: and the eyes of all in the Synagogue were fixed on him.

Then he said to them, Today this word has come true in your hearing.

And they were all giving witness, with wonder, to the words of grace which came from his mouth: and they said, Is not this the son of Joseph?

And he said to them, Without doubt you will say to me, Let the medical man make himself well: the things which to our knowledge were done at Capernaum, do them here in your country.

And he said to them, Truly I say to you, No prophet is honoured in his country.

Truly I say to you, There were a number of widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months and there was no food in the land;

But Elijah was not sent to one of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

And there were a number of lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and not one of them was made clean, but only Naaman the Syrian.

And all who were in the Synagogue were very angry when these things were said to them.

And they got up and took him out of the town to the edge of the mountain on which their town was, so that they might send him down to his death.

But he came through them and went on his way.

And he came down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee; and he was giving them teaching on the Sabbath.

And they were surprised at his teaching, for his word was with authority.

And there was a man in the Synagogue who had an unclean spirit; and he gave a loud cry and said,

Let us be! what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? have you come to put an end to us? I have knowledge who you are, the Holy One of God.

And Jesus said to him, Be quiet, and come out of him. And when the evil spirit had put him down on the earth in the middle of them, he came out of him, having done him no damage.

And wonder came on them all and they said to one another, What are these words? for with authority and power he gives orders to the evil spirits and they come out.

And there was much talk about him in all the places round about.

And he got up and went out of the Synagogue and went into the house of Simon. And Simon’s wife’s mother was very ill with a burning heat; and in answer to their prayers for her

He went near her, and with a sharp word he gave orders to the disease and it went away from her; and straight away she got up and took care of their needs.

And at sundown all those who had anyone ill with any sort of disease, took them to him, and he put his hands on every one of them and made them well.

And evil spirits came out of a number of them, crying out and saying, You are the Son of God. But he gave them sharp orders not to say a word, because they had knowledge that he was the Christ.

And when it was day, he came out and went to a waste place; and great numbers of people came looking for him, and they came to him and would have kept him from going away.

But he said to them, I have to give the good news of the kingdom of God in other towns, because that is why I was sent.

And he was teaching in the Synagogues of Galilee.

Chapter 12

And a great sign was seen in heaven: a A woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

And she was with child; and she gave a cry, in the pains of childbirth.

And there was seen another sign in heaven; a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns.

And his tail was pulling a third part of the stars of heaven down to the earth, and the dragon took his place before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when the birth had taken place he might put an end to her child.

And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who was to have rule over all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was taken up to God and to his high seat.

And the woman went in flight to the waste land, where she has a place made ready by God, so that there they may give her food a thousand, two hundred and sixty days.

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels going out to the fight with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels made war,

And they were overcome, and there was no more place for them in heaven.

And the great dragon was forced down, the old snake, who is named the Evil One and Satan, by whom all the earth is turned from the right way; he was forced down to the earth, and his angels were forced down with him.

And a great voice in heaven came to my ears, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: because he who says evil against our brothers before our God day and night is forced down.

And they overcame him through the blood of the Lamb and the word of their witness; and loving not their lives they freely gave themselves up to death.

Be glad then, O heavens, and you who are in them. But there is trouble for the earth and the sea: because the Evil One has come down to you, being very angry, having the knowledge that he has but a short time.

And when the dragon saw that he was forced down to the earth, he made cruel attacks on the woman who gave birth to the male child.

And there were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, so that she might go in flight into the waste land, to her place, where she is given food for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the snake.

And the snake sent out of his mouth after the woman a river of water, so that she might be taken away by the stream.

And the earth gave help to the woman, and with open mouth took up the river which the dragon sent out of his mouth.

And the dragon was angry with the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her seed, who keep the orders of God, and the witness of Jesus:

Chapter 13

And he took his place on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads unholy names.

And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority.

And I saw one of his heads as if it had been given a death-wound; and his death-wound was made well: and all the earth was wondering at the beast.

And they gave worship to the dragon, because he gave authority to the beast; and worshipping the beast, they said, Who is like the beast? and who is able to go to war with him?

And there was given to him a mouth to say words of pride against God; and there was given to him authority to go on for forty-two months.

And his mouth was open to say evil against God, and against his name and his Tent, even against those who are in heaven.

And it was given to him to make war on the saints and to overcome them: and there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and language and nation.

And all who are on the earth will give him worship, everyone whose name has not been from the first in the book of life of the Lamb who was put to death.

If any man has ears, let him give ear.

If any man sends others into prison, into prison he will go: if any man puts to death with the sword, with the sword will he be put to death. Here is the quiet strength and the faith of the saints.

And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and his voice was like that of a dragon.

And he makes use of all the authority of the first beast before his eyes. And he makes the earth and those who are in it give worship to the first beast, whose death-wound was made well.

And he does great signs, even making fire come down from heaven on the earth before the eyes of men.

And those who are on the earth are turned from the true way by him through the signs which he was given power to do before the beast; giving orders to those who are on the earth to make an image to the beast, who was wounded by the sword, and came to life.

And he had power to give breath to the image of the beast, so that words might come from the image of the beast, and that he might have all those who did not give worship to the image of the beast put to death.

And he gives to all, small and great, the poor and those who have wealth, the free and those who are not free, a mark on their right hand or on their brows;

So that no man might be able to do trade but he who has the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. He who has knowledge let him get the number of the beast; because it is the number of a man: and his number is Six hundred and sixty-six.

Chapter 14

And I saw the Lamb on the mountain of Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, marked on their brows with his name and the name of his Father.

And a voice from heaven came to my ears, like the sound of great waters, and the sound of loud thunder: and the voice which came to me was like the sound of players, playing on instruments of music.

And they made as it seemed a new song before the high seat, and before the four beasts and the rulers: and no man might have knowledge of the song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, even those from the earth whom God has made his for a price.

These are they who have not made themselves unclean with women; for they are virgins. These are they who go after the Lamb wherever he goes. These were taken from among men to be the first fruits to God and to the Lamb.

And in their mouth there was no false word, for they are untouched by evil.

And I saw another angel in flight between heaven and earth, having eternal good news to give to those who are on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and language and people,

Saying with a loud voice, Have fear of God and give him glory; because the hour of his judging is come; and give worship to him who made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of water.

And a second angel came after, saying, Destruction has come to Babylon the great, which gave to all the nations the wine of the wrath of her evil ways.

And a third angel came after them, saying with a loud voice, If any man gives worship to the beast and his image, and has his mark on his brow or on his hand,

To him will be given of the wine of God’s wrath which is ready unmixed in the cup of his wrath and he will have cruel pain, burning with fire before the holy angels and before the Lamb:

And the smoke of their pain goes up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, who give worship to the beast and his image, and have on them the mark of his name.

Here is the quiet strength of the saints, who keep the orders of God, and the faith of Jesus.

And a voice from heaven came to my ears, saying, Put in writing, There is a blessing on the dead who from now on come to their end in the Lord: yes, says the Spirit, that they may have rest from their troubles; for their works go with them.

And I saw a white cloud, and on the cloud I saw one seated, like a son of man, having on his head a crown of gold, and in his hand a sharp curved blade.

And another angel came out from the house of God, crying with a loud voice to him who was seated on the cloud, Put in your blade, and let the grain be cut: because the hour for cutting it is come; for the grain of the earth is over-ready.

And he who was seated on the cloud sent in his blade on the earth; and the grain of the earth was cut.

And another angel came out from the house of God which is in heaven, having a sharp curved blade.

And another angel came out from the altar, who has power over fire; and he gave a loud cry to him who had the sharp curved blade, saying, Put in your sharp blade, and let the grapes of the vine of the earth be cut; for her grapes are fully ready.

And the angel sent his blade into the earth, and the vine of the earth was cut, and he put it into the great wine-crusher of the wrath of God.

And the grapes were crushed under foot outside the town, and blood came out from them, even to the head-bands of the horses, two hundred miles.

Chapter 15

And I saw another sign in heaven, great and strange; seven angels having the seven last punishments, for in them the wrath of God is complete.

And I saw a sea which seemed like glass mixed with fire; and those who had overcome the beast and his image and the number of his name, were in their places by the sea of glass, with God’s instruments of music in their hands.

And they give the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and full of wonder are your works, O Lord God, Ruler of all; true and full of righteousness are your ways, eternal King.

What man is there who will not have fear before you, O Lord, and give glory to your name? because you only are holy; for all the nations will come and give worship before you; for your righteousness has been made clear.

And after these things I saw, and the house of the Tent of witness in heaven was open:

And the seven angels who had the seven punishments came out from the house of God, clothed with linen, clean and bright and with bands of gold about their breasts.

And one of the four beasts gave to the seven angels seven gold vessels full of the wrath of God, who is living for ever and ever.

And the house of God was full of smoke from the glory of God, and from his power, and no one was able to go into the house of God, till the seven punishments of the seven angels were ended.

Chapter 16

And a great voice out of the house of God came to my ears, saying to the seven angels, Go, and let that which is in the seven vessels of the wrath of God come down on the earth.

And the first went, and let what was in his vessel come down on the earth; and it became an evil poisoning wound on the men who had the mark of the beast, and who gave worship to his image.

And the second let what was in his vessel come out into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea came to an end.

And the third let what was in his vessel come out into the rivers and the fountains of water; and they became blood.

And the voice of the angel of the waters came to my ears, saying, True and upright is your judging, O Holy One, who is and was from all time:

For they made the blood of saints and prophets come out like a stream, and blood have you given them for drink; which is their right reward.

And a voice came from the altar, saying, Even so, O Lord God, Ruler of all, true and full of righteousness is your judging.

And the fourth let what was in his vessel come out on the sun; and power was given to it that men might be burned with fire.

And men were burned with great heat: and they said evil things against the name of the God who has authority over these punishments; and they were not turned from their evil ways to give him glory.

And the fifth let what was in his vessel come out on the high seat of the beast; and his kingdom was made dark; and they were biting their tongues for pain.

And they said evil things against the God of heaven because of their pain and their wounds; and they were not turned from their evil works.

And the sixth let what was in his vessel come out on the great river Euphrates; and it became dry, so that the way might be made ready for the kings from the east.

And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, like frogs.

For they are evil spirits, working signs; who go out even to the kings of all the earth, to get them together to the war of the great day of God, the Ruler of all.

(See, I come as a thief. Happy is he who is watching and keeps his robes, so that he may not go unclothed, and his shame be seen.)

And they got them together into the place which is named in Hebrew Armageddon.

And the seventh let what was in his vessel come out on the air; and there came out a great voice from the house of God, from the high seat, saying, It is done.

And there were flames and voices and thunders; and there was a great earth-shock so that never, from the time when men were on the earth, had there been so great an earth-shock, so full of power.

And the great town was cut into three parts, and the towns of the nations came to destruction: and Babylon the great came into mind before God, to be given the cup of the wine of his wrath.

And every island went in flight, and the mountains were seen no longer.

And great drops of ice, every one about the weight of a talent, came down out of heaven on men: and men said evil things against God because of the punishment of the ice-drops; for it is very great.

Chapter 17

And one of the seven angels who had the seven vessels came and said to me, Come here, so that you may see the judging of the evil woman who is seated on the great waters;

With whom the kings of the earth made themselves unclean, and those who are on the earth were full of the wine of her evil desires.

And he took me away in the Spirit into a waste land: and I saw a woman seated on a bright red beast, full of evil names, having seven heads and ten horns,

And the woman was clothed in purple and bright red, with ornaments of gold and stones of great price and jewels; and in her hand was a gold cup full of evil things and her unclean desires;

And on her brow was a name, SECRET, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE EVIL WOMEN AND OF THE UNCLEAN THINGS OF THE EARTH.

And I saw the woman overcome as with the wine of the blood of the saints, and the blood of those put to death because of Jesus. And when I saw her, I was overcome with a great wonder.

And the angel said to me, Why were you surprised? I will make clear to you the secret of the woman, and of the beast on which she is seated, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.

The beast which you saw was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the great deep, and to go into destruction. And those who are on the earth, whose names have not been put in the book of life from the first, will be full of wonder when they see the beast, that he was, and is not, and still will be.

Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman is seated:

And they are seven kings; the five have come to an end, the one is, the other has not come; and when he comes, he will have to go on for a little time.

And the beast which was, and is not, is himself the eighth, and is of the seven; and he goes into destruction.

And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, which still have been given no kingdom; but they are given authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour.

These have one mind, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

These will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because he is the Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with him are named, marked out, and true.

And he said to me, The waters which you saw, where the evil woman is seated, are peoples, and armies, and nations and languages.

And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will be turned against the evil woman, and will make her waste and uncovered, and will take her flesh for food, and will have her burned with fire.

Because God has put it in their hearts to do his purpose, and to be of one mind, giving their kingdom to the beast, till the words of God have effect and are complete.

And the woman whom you saw is the great town, which is ruling over the kings of the earth.

Chapter 18

After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was bright with his glory.

And he gave a loud cry, saying, Babylon the great has come down from her high place, she has come to destruction and has become a place of evil spirits, and of every unclean spirit, and a hole for every unclean and hated bird.

For through the wine of the wrath of her evil desires all the nations have come to destruction; and the kings of the earth made themselves unclean with her, and the traders of the earth had their wealth increased by the power of her evil ways.

And another voice from heaven came to my ears, saying, Come out of her, my people, so that you may have no part in her sins and in her punishments.

For her sins have gone up even to heaven, and God has taken note of her evil-doing.

Give to her as she gave, even an increased reward for her works; in the cup which was mixed by her, let there be mixed as much again for herself.

As she gave glory to herself, and became more evil in her ways, in the same measure give her pain and weeping: for she says in her heart, I am seated here a queen, and am no widow, and will in no way see sorrow.

For this reason in one day will her troubles come, death and sorrow and need of food; and she will be completely burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who is her judge.

And the kings of the earth, who made themselves unclean with her, and in her company gave themselves up to evil, will be weeping and crying over her, when they see the smoke of her burning,

Watching from far away, for fear of her punishment, saying, Sorrow, sorrow for Babylon, the great town, the strong town! for in one hour you have been judged.

And the traders of the earth are weeping and crying over her, because no man has any more desire for their goods,

Gold, and silver, and stones of great price, and jewels, and delicate linen, and robes of purple and silk and red; and perfumed wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of fair wood, and of brass, and iron, and stone;

And sweet-smelling plants, and perfumes, and wine, and oil, and well crushed grain, and cattle and sheep; and horses and carriages and servants; and souls of men.

And the fruit of your soul’s desire has gone from you, and all things delicate and shining have come to an end and will never again be seen.

The traders in these things, by which their wealth was increased, will be watching far off for fear of her punishment, weeping and crying;

Saying, Sorrow, sorrow for the great town, she who was clothed in delicate linen, and purple, and red; with ornaments of gold and stones of great price and jewels!

For in one hour such great wealth has come to nothing. And every shipmaster, and all who are sailing on the sea, and sailors and all who get their living by the sea, were watching from far away,

And crying out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What town is like the great town?

And they put dust on their heads, and were sad, weeping and crying, and saying, Sorrow, sorrow for the great town, in which was increased the wealth of all who had their ships on the sea because of her great stores! for in one hour she is made waste.

Be glad over her, heaven, and you saints, and Apostles, and prophets; because she has been judged by God on your account.

And a strong angel took up a stone like the great stone with which grain is crushed, and sent it into the sea, saying, So, with a great fall, will Babylon, the great town, come to destruction, and will not be seen any more at all.

And the voice of players and makers of music will never again be sounding in you: and no worker, expert in art, will ever again be living in you; and there will be no sound of the crushing of grain any more at all in you;

And never again will the shining of lights be seen in you; and the voice of the newly-married man and the bride will never again be sounding in you: for your traders were the lords of the earth, and by your evil powers were all the nations turned out of the right way.

And in her was seen the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been put to death on the earth.

Chapter 19

After these things there came to my ears a sound like the voice of a great band of people in heaven, saying, Praise to the Lord; salvation and glory and power be to our God:

For true and upright are his decisions; for by him has the evil woman been judged, who made the earth unclean with the sins of her body; and he has given her punishment for the blood of his servants.

And again they said, Praise to the Lord. And her smoke went up for ever and ever.

And the four and twenty rulers and the four beasts went down on their faces and gave worship to God who was seated on the high seat, saying, Even so, praise to the Lord.

And a voice came from the high seat, saying, Give praise to our God, all you his servants, small and great, in whom is the fear of him.

And there came to my ears the voice of a great army, like the sound of waters, and the sound of loud thunders, saying, Praise to the Lord: for the Lord our God, Ruler of all, is King.

Let us be glad with delight, and let us give glory to him: because the time is come for the Lamb to be married, and his wife has made herself ready.

And to her it was given to be clothed in delicate linen, clean and shining: for the clean linen is the righteousness of the saints.

And he said to me, Put in the book, Happy are the guests at the bride-feast of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true words of God.

And I went on my face before his feet to give him worship. And he said to me, See you do it not: I am a brother-servant with you and with your brothers who keep the witness of Jesus: give worship to God: for the witness of Jesus is the spirit of the prophet’s word.

And the heaven was open; and I saw a white horse, and he who was seated on it was named Certain and True; and he is judging and making war in righteousness.

And his eyes are a flame of fire, and crowns are on his head; and he has a name in writing, of which no man has knowledge but himself.

And he is clothed in a robe washed with blood: and his name is The Word of God.

And the armies which are in heaven went after him on white horses, clothed in delicate linen, white and clean.

And out of his mouth comes a sharp sword, with which he overcomes the nations: and he has rule over them with a rod of iron: and he is crushing with his feet the grapes of the strong wrath of God the Ruler of all.

And on his robe and on his leg is a name, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

And I saw an angel taking his place in the sun; and he was crying with a loud voice, saying to all the birds in flight in the heavens, Come together to the great feast of God;

So that you may take for your food the flesh of kings, and of captains, and of strong men, and of horses and of those who are seated on them, and the flesh of all men, free and unfree, small and great.

And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, come together to make war against him who was seated on the horse and against his army.

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who did the signs before him, by which they were turned from the true way who had the mark of the beast, and who gave worship to his image: these two were put living into the sea of ever-burning fire.

And the rest were put to death with the sword of him who was on the horse, even the sword which came out of his mouth: and all the birds were made full with their flesh.

Chapter 20

And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the great deep and a great chain in his hand.

And he took the dragon, the old snake, which is the Evil One and Satan, and put chains on him for a thousand years,

And put him into the great deep, and it was shut and locked over him, so that he might put the nations in error no longer, till the thousand years were ended: after this he will be let loose for a little time.

And I saw high seats, and they were seated on them, and the right of judging was given to them: and I saw the souls of those who were put to death for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and those who did not give worship to the beast, or to his image, and had not his mark on their brows or on their hands; and they were living and ruling with Christ a thousand years.

The rest of the dead did not come to life again till the thousand years were ended. This is the first coming back from the dead.

Happy and holy is he who has a part in this first coming: over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will be ruling with him a thousand years.

And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be let loose out of his prison,

And will go out to put in error the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to get them together to the war, the number of whom is like the sands of the sea.

And they went up over the face of the earth, and made a circle about the tents of the saints, and the well loved town: and fire came down out of heaven for their destruction.

And the Evil One who put them in error was sent down into the sea of ever-burning fire, where the beast and the false prophet are, and their punishment will go on day and night for ever and ever.

And I saw a great white seat, and him who was seated on it, before whose face the earth and the heaven went in flight; and there was no place for them.

And I saw the dead, great and small, taking their places before the high seat; and the books were open, and another book was open, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged by the things which were in the books, even by their works.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and Hell gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man by his works.

And death and Hell were put into the sea of fire. This is the second death, even the sea of fire.

And if anyone’s name was not in the book of life, he went down into the sea of fire.

Chapter 21

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were gone; and there was no more sea.

And I saw the holy town, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, like a bride made beautiful for her husband.

And there came to my ears a great voice out of the high seat, saying, See, the Tent of God is with men, and he will make his living-place with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them, and be their God.

And he will put an end to all their weeping; and there will be no more death, or sorrow, or crying, or pain; for the first things have come to an end.

And he who is seated on the high seat said, See, I make all things new. And he said, Put it in the book; for these words are certain and true.

And he said to me, It is done. I am the First and the Last, the start and the end. I will freely give of the fountain of the water of life to him who is in need.

He who overcomes will have these things for his heritage; and I will be his God, and he will be my son.

But those who are full of fear and without faith, the unclean and takers of life, those who do the sins of the flesh, and those who make use of evil powers or who give worship to images, and all those who are false, will have their part in the sea of ever-burning fire which is the second death.

And one of the seven angels who had the seven vessels in which were the seven last punishments, came and said to me, Come here, and see the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

And he took me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and let me see the holy town Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

Having the glory of God: and her light was like a stone of great price, a jasper stone, clear as glass:

She had a wall great and high, with twelve doors, and at the doors twelve angels; and names on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.

And on the east were three doors; and on the north three doors; and on the south three doors; and on the west three doors.

And the wall of the town had twelve bases, and on them the twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.

And he who was talking with me had a gold measuring-rod to take the measure of the town, and of its doors, and its wall.

And the town is square, as wide as it is long; and he took the measure of the town with the rod, one thousand and five hundred miles: it is equally long and wide and high.

And he took the measure of its wall, one hundred and forty-four cubits, after the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.

And the building of its wall was of jasper, and the town was clear gold, clear as glass.

The bases of the wall of the town had ornaments of all sorts of beautiful stones. The first base was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;

The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.

And the twelve doors were twelve pearls; every door was made of one pearl; and the street of the town was clear gold, as clear as glass.

And I saw no Temple there; because the Lord God, the Ruler of all, and the Lamb are its Temple.

And the town has no need of the sun, or of the moon, to give it light: for the glory of God did make it light, and the light of it is the Lamb.

And the nations will go in its light: and the kings of the earth will take their glory into it.

And the doors of it will never be shut by day (for there is no night there):

And the glory and honour of the nations will come into it:

And nothing unclean may come into it, or anyone whose works are cursed or false; but only those whose names are in the Lamb’s book of life.

Chapter 22

And I saw a river of water of life, clear as glass, coming out of the high seat of God and of the Lamb,

In the middle of its street. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, having twelve sorts of fruits, giving its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree give life to the nations.

And there will be no more curse: and the high seat of God and of the Lamb will be there; and his servants will be worshipping him;

And they will see his face; and his name will be on their brows.

And there will be no more night; and they have no need of a light or of the shining of the sun; for the Lord God will give them light: and they will be ruling for ever and ever.

And he said to me, These words are certain and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to make clear to his servants the things which are now to come about.

See, I come quickly. A blessing on him who keeps the words of this book of the prophet.

And I, John, am he who saw these things and to whose ears they came. And when I had seen and given ear, I went down on my face to give worship at the feet of the angel who made these things clear to me.

And he said to me, See you do it not; I am a brother-servant with you and with your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book: give worship to God.

And he said to me, Let not the words of this prophet’s book be kept secret, because the time is near.

Let the evil man go on in his evil: and let the unclean be still unclean: and let the upright go on in his righteousness: and let the holy be holy still.

See, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man the outcome of his works.

I am the First and the Last, the start and the end.

A blessing on those whose robes are washed, so that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may go in by the doors into the town.

Outside are the dogs, and those who make use of evil powers, those who make themselves unclean, and the takers of life, and those who give worship to images, and everyone whose delight is in what is false.

I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give witness to you of these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star.

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him who gives ear, say, Come. And let him who is in need come; and let everyone desiring it take of the water of life freely.

For I say to every man to whose ears have come the words of this prophet’s book, If any man makes an addition to them, God will put on him the punishments which are in this book:

And if any man takes away from the words of this book, God will take away from him his part in the tree of life and the holy town, even the things which are in this book.

He who gives witness to these things says, Truly, I come quickly. Even so come, Lord Jesus.

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. So be it.

Chapter 1

The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him so that his servants might have knowledge of the things which will quickly take place: and he sent and made it clear by his angel to his servant John;

Who gave witness of the word of God, and of the witness of Jesus Christ, even of all the things which he saw.

A blessing be on the reader, and on those who give ear to the prophet’s words, and keep the things which he has put in the book: for the time is near.

John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and was and is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his high seat;

And from Jesus Christ, the true witness, the first to come back from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who had love for us and has made us clean from our sins by his blood;

And has made us to be a kingdom and priests to his God and Father; to him let glory and power be given for ever and ever. So be it.

See, he comes with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those by whom he was wounded; and all the tribes of the earth will be sorrowing because of him. Yes, so be it.

I am the First and the Last, says the Lord God who is and was and is to come, the Ruler of all.

I, John, your brother, who have a part with you in the trouble and the kingdom and the quiet strength of Jesus, was in the island which is named Patmos, for the word of God and the witness of Jesus.

I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and a great voice at my back, as of a horn, came to my ears,

Saying, What you see, put in a book, and send it to the seven churches; to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamos and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.

And turning to see the voice which said these words to me, I saw seven gold vessels with lights burning in them;

And in the middle of them one like a son of man, clothed with a robe down to his feet, and with a band of gold round his breasts.

And his head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

And his feet like polished brass, as if it had been burned in a fire; and his voice was as the sound of great waters.

And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword: and his face was like the sun shining in its strength.

And when I saw him, I went down on my face at his feet as one dead. And he put his right hand on me, saying, Have no fear; I am the first and the last and the Living one;

And I was dead, and see, I am living for ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hell.

Put in writing, then, the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will be after these;

The secret of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and of the seven gold vessels with burning lights. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven lights are the seven churches.

Chapter 2

To the angel of the church in Ephesus say: These things says he who has the seven stars in his right hand, who is walking in the middle of the seven gold lights:

I have knowledge of your doings, and of your hard work and long waiting, and that you will not put up with evil men, and have put to the test those who say they are Apostles and are not, and have seen that they are false;

And you have the power of waiting, and have undergone trouble because of my name, without weariness.

But I have this against you, that you are turned away from your first love.

So keep in mind where you were at first, and be changed in heart and do the first works; or I will come to you, and will take away your light from its place, if your hearts are not changed.

But at least you have the credit of hating the works of the Nicolaitans, as I do.

He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give of the fruit of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.

And to the angel of the church in Smyrna say: These things says the first and the last, who was dead and is living:

I have knowledge of your troubles and how poor you are (but you have true wealth), and the evil words of those who say they are Jews, and are not, but are a Synagogue of Satan.

Have no fear of the things which you will have to undergo: see, the Evil One will send some of you into prison, so that you may be put to the test; and you will have great trouble for ten days. Be true till death, and I will give you the crown of life.

He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not come under the power of the second death.

And to the angel of the church in Pergamos say: These things says he who has the sharp two-edged sword:

I have knowledge that your living-place is where Satan has his seat: and you are true to my name, and were not turned away from your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my true witness, who was put to death among you, where Satan has his place.

But I have some things against you, because you have with you those who keep the teaching of Balaam, by whose suggestion Balak made the children of Israel go out of the right way, taking food which was offered to false gods, and going after the desires of the flesh.

And you have those who keep the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

See, then, that you have a change of heart; or I will come to you quickly, and will make war against them with the sword of my mouth.

He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give of the secret manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name, of which no one has knowledge but he to whom it is given.

And to the angel of the church in Thyatira say: These things says the Son of God, whose eyes are like a flame of fire, and his feet like polished brass:

I have knowledge of your works, and your love and faith and help and strength in trouble, and that your last works are more than the first.

But I have this against you, that you let the woman Jezebel say she is a prophet and give false teaching, making my servants go after the desires of the flesh and take food offered to false gods.

And I gave her time for a change of heart, but she has no mind to give up her unclean ways.

See, I will put her into a bed, and those who make themselves unclean with her, into great trouble, if they go on with her works.

And I will put her children to death; and all the churches will see that I am he who makes search into the secret thoughts and hearts of men: and I will give to every one of you the reward of your works.

But to you I say, to the rest in Thyatira, even to those who have not this teaching, and have no knowledge of the secrets of Satan, as they say; I put on you no other weight.

But what you have, keep safe till I come.

He who overcomes, and keeps my works to the end, to him I will give rule over the nations,

And he will be ruling them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of the potter they will be broken, even as I have power from my Father:

And I will give him the morning star.

He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Chapter 3

And to the angel of the church in Sardis say: These things says he who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: I have knowledge of your works, that you seem to be living but are dead.

Be on the watch, and make strong the rest of the things which are near to death; because as judged by me your works have not come up to God’s measure.

Keep in mind, then, the teaching which was given to you, and be ruled by it and have a change of heart. If then you do not keep watch, I will come like a thief, and you will have no knowledge of the hour when I will come on you.

But you have some names in Sardis who have kept clean their robes; and as a reward they will go in white with me.

He who overcomes will be dressed in white, and I will not take his name from the book of life, and I will give witness to his name before my Father, and before his angels.

He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches.

And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia say: These things says he who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, opening the door so that it may be shut by no one, and shutting it so that it may be open to no one.

I have knowledge of your works (see, I have put before you an open door which may be shut by no one), and that you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have been true to my name.

See, I will make those of the Synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews, and are not, but say what is false; I will make them come and give worship before your feet, and see my love for you.

Because you have kept my word in quiet strength, I will keep you from the hour of testing which is coming on all the world, to put to the test those who are on earth.

I come quickly: keep that which you have, so that no one may take your crown.

Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the house of my God, and he will go out no more: and I will put on him the name of my God, and the name of the town of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my new name.

He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches.

And to the angel of the church in Laodicea say: These things says the true and certain witness, the head of God’s new order:

I have knowledge of your works, that you are not cold or warm: it would be better if you were cold or warm.

So because you are not one thing or the other, I will have no more to do with you.

For you say, I have wealth, and have got together goods and land, and have need of nothing; and you are not conscious of your sad and unhappy condition, that you are poor and blind and without clothing.

If you are wise you will get from me gold tested by fire, so that you may have true wealth; and white robes to put on, so that your shame may not be seen; and oil for your eyes, so that you may see.

To all those who are dear to me, I give sharp words and punishment: then with all your heart have sorrow for your evil ways.

See, I am waiting at the door and giving the sign; if my voice comes to any man’s ears and he makes the door open, I will come in to him, and will take food with him and he with me.

To him who overcomes I will give a place with me on my high seat, even as I overcame, and am seated with my Father on his high seat.

He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Chapter 4

After these things I saw a door open in heaven, and the first voice came to my ears, like the sound of a horn, saying, Come up here, and I will make clear to you the things which are to come.

Straight away I was in the Spirit: and I saw a high seat in heaven, and one was seated on it;

And to my eyes he was like a jasper and a sardius stone: and there was an arch of light round the high seat, like an emerald.

And round about the high seat were four and twenty seats: and on them I saw four and twenty rulers seated, clothed in white robes; and on their heads crowns of gold.

And out of the high seat came flames and voices and thunders. And seven lights of fire were burning before the high seat, which are the seven Spirits of God;

And before the high seat there was, as it seemed, a clear sea of glass; and in the middle of the high seat, and round about it, four beasts full of eyes round about.

And the first beast was like a lion, and the second like an ox, and the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like an eagle in flight.

And the four beasts, having every one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and inside: and without resting day and night, they say, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, Ruler of all, who was and is and is to come.

And when the beasts give glory and honour to him who is seated on the high seat, to him who is living for ever and ever,

The four and twenty rulers go down on their faces before him who is seated on the high seat, and give worship to him who is living for ever and ever, and take off their crowns before the high seat, saying,

It is right, our Lord and our God, for you to have glory and honour and power: because by you were all things made, and by your desire they came into being.

Chapter 5

And I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the high seat, a book with writing inside it and on the back, shut with seven stamps of wax.

And I saw a strong angel saying in a loud voice, Who is able to make the book open, and to undo its stamps?

And no one in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to get the book open, or to see what was in it.

And I was very sad, because there was no one able to get the book open or to see what was in it.

And one of the rulers said to me, Do not be sad: see, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome, and has power to undo the book and its seven stamps.

And I saw in the middle of the high seat and of the four beasts, and in the middle of the rulers, a Lamb in his place, which seemed as if it had been put to death, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.

And he came and took it out of the right hand of him who was seated on the high seat.

And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four and twenty rulers went down on their faces before the Lamb, having every one an instrument of music, and gold vessels full of perfumes, which are the prayers of the saints.

And their voices are sounding in a new song, saying, It is right for you to take the book and to make it open: for you were put to death and have made an offering to God of your blood for men of every tribe, and language, and people, and nation,

And have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are ruling on the earth.

And I saw, and there came to my ears the sound of a great number of angels round about the high seat and the beasts and the rulers; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

Saying with a great voice, It is right to give to the Lamb who was put to death, power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing.

And to my ears came the voice of everything in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and of all things which are in them, saying, To him who is seated on the high seat, and to the Lamb, may blessing and honour and glory and power be given for ever and ever.

And the four beasts said, So be it. And the rulers went down on their faces and gave worship.

Chapter 6

And I saw when the Lamb undid one of the stamps, and the voice of one of the four beasts came to my ears, saying as with a voice of thunder, Come and see.

And I saw a white horse, and he who was seated on it had a bow; and there was given to him a crown: and he went out with power to overcome.

And when the second stamp was undone, the voice of the second beast came to my ears, saying, Come and see.

And another horse came out, a red horse; and it was given to him who was seated on it to take peace from the earth, so that people might put one another to death: and there was given to him a great sword.

And when the third stamp was undone, the voice of the third beast came to my ears, saying, Come and see. And I saw a black horse; and he who was seated on it had scales in his hand.

And a voice came to my ears, from the middle of the four beasts, saying, A measure of grain for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny: and see that you do no damage to the oil and the wine.

And when the fourth stamp was undone, the voice of the fourth beast came to my ears, saying, Come and see.

And I saw a grey horse, and the name of him who was seated on it was Death; and Hell came after him. And there was given to them authority over the fourth part of the earth, to put to destruction by the sword, and by taking away their food, and by death, and by the beasts of the earth.

And when the fifth stamp was undone, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been put to death for the word of God, and for the witness which they kept.

And they gave a great cry, saying, How long will it be, O Ruler, holy and true, before you take your place as judge and give punishment for our blood to those on the earth?

And there was given to every one a white robe, and they were ordered to take their rest for a little time, till the number was complete of the other servants, their brothers, who would be put to death, even as they had been.

And I saw when the sixth stamp was undone, and there was a great earth-shock; and the sun became black as haircloth, and all the moon became as blood;

And the stars of heaven were falling to the earth, like green fruit from a tree before the force of a great wind.

And the heaven was taken away like the roll of a book when it is rolled up; and all the mountains and islands were moved out of their places.

And the kings of the earth, and the rulers, and the chief captains, and the men of wealth, and the strong, and every servant and free man, took cover in the holes and the rocks of the mountains;

And they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Come down on us, covering us from the face of him who is seated on the high seat, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

For the great day of their wrath is come, and who may keep his place?

Chapter 7

After this I saw four angels in their places at the four points of the earth, keeping back the four winds in their hands, so that there might be no moving of the wind on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.

And I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the mark of the living God: and he said with a great voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to do damage to the earth and the sea,

Do no damage to the earth, or the sea, or the trees, till we have put a mark on the servants of our God.

And there came to my ears the number of those who had the mark on their brows, a hundred and forty-four thousand, who were marked out of every tribe of the people of Israel.

Of the tribe of Judah were marked twelve thousand: of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand: of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand:

Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand: of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand: of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand:

Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand: of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand: of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand:

Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand: of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand: of the tribe of Benjamin were marked twelve thousand.

After these things I saw a great army of people more than might be numbered, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and languages, taking their places before the high seat and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, and with branches in their hands,

Saying with a loud voice, Salvation to our God who is seated on the high seat, and to the Lamb.

And all the angels were round about the high seat, and about the rulers and the four beasts; and they went down on their faces before the high seat, and gave worship to God, saying,

So be it. Let blessing and glory and wisdom and praise and honour and power and strength be given to our God for ever and ever. So be it.

And one of the rulers made answer, saying to me, These who have on white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?

And I said to him, My lord, you have knowledge. And he said to me, These are they who came through the great testing, and their robes have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.

This is why they are before the high seat of God; and they are his servants day and night in his house: and he who is seated on the high seat will be a tent over them.

They will never be in need of food or drink: and they will never again be troubled by the burning heat of the sun:

For the Lamb who is on the high seat will be their keeper and their guide to fountains of living water: and God will make glad their eyes for ever.

Chapter 8

And when the seventh stamp was undone there was quiet in heaven for about half an hour.

And I saw the seven angels who had their place before God; and seven horns were given to them.

And another angel came and took his place at the altar, having a gold vessel for burning perfume; and there was given to him much perfume, so that he might put it with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar which was before the high seat.

And the smoke of the perfume, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand.

And the angel took the vessel; and he made it full of the fire of the altar, and sent it down on the earth: and there came thunders and voices and flames and a shaking of the earth.

And the seven angels who had the seven horns made ready for sounding them.

And at the sounding of the first, a rain of ice and fire, mixed with blood, was sent on the earth: and a third part of the earth, and of the trees, and all green grass was burned up.

And at the sounding of the second angel, it was as if a great mountain burning with fire was sent into the sea: and a third part of the sea became blood,

And destruction came on a third part of the living things which were in the sea, and on a third part of the ships.

And at the sounding of the third angel, there went down from heaven a great star, burning like a flame, and it came on a third part of the rivers, and on the fountains of water.

And the name of the star is Wormwood: and a third part of the waters became bitter; and a number of men came to their end because of the waters, for they were made bitter.

And at the sounding of the fourth angel, a third part of the sun, and of the moon, and of the stars was made dark, so that there was no light for a third part of the day and of the night.

And there came to my ears the cry of an eagle in flight in the middle of heaven, saying with a great voice, Trouble, trouble, trouble, to all on the earth, because of the other voices of the horns of the three angels, whose sounding is still to come.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ

Chapter 9

And at the sounding of the fifth angel I saw a star falling from heaven to the earth: and there was given to him the key of the great deep.

And he made the great deep open and a smoke went up from it, like the smoke of a great oven; and the sun and the air were made dark because of the smoke.

And from the smoke locusts came out on the earth; and power was given them, like the power of scorpions.

And they were ordered to do no damage to the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only to such men as have not the mark of God on their brows.

And orders were given them not to put them to death, but to give them great pain for five months: and their pain was as the pain from the wound of a scorpion.

And in those days men will be hoping for death, and it will not come to them; and they will have a great desire for death, and death will go in flight from them.

And the forms of the locusts were like horses made ready for war; and on their heads they had crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

And they had breastplates like iron, and the sound of their wings was as the sound of carriages, like an army of horses rushing to the fight.

And they have pointed tails like scorpions; and in their tails is their power to give men wounds for five months.

They have over them as king the angel of the great deep: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek language Apollyon.

The first Trouble is past: see, there are still two Troubles to come.

And at the sounding of the sixth angel a voice came to my ears from the horns of the gold altar which is before God,

Saying to the sixth angel who had the horn, Make free the four angels who are chained at the great river Euphrates.

And the four angels were made free, who were ready for the hour and day and month and year, that they might put to death a third part of men.

And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand: the number of them came to my ears.

And so I saw the horses in the vision, and those who were seated on them, having breastplates of fire and glass and of burning stone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire and smoke and a smell of burning.

By these evils a third part of men was put to death, by the fire, and the smoke, and the burning smell which came out of their mouths.

For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails: because their tails are like snakes, and have heads, and with them they give wounds.

And the rest of the people, who were not put to death by these evils, were not turned from the works of their hands, but went on giving worship to evil spirits, and images of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood which have no power of seeing or hearing or walking:

And they had no regret for putting men to death, or for their use of secret arts, or for the evil desires of the flesh, or for taking the property of others.

Chapter 10

And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and an arch of coloured light was round his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire;

And he had in his hand a little open book: and he put his right foot on the sea, and his left on the earth;

And he gave a loud cry, like the angry voice of a lion: and at his cry the voices of the seven thunders were sounding.

And when the seven thunders had given out their voices, I was about to put their words down: and a voice from heaven came to my ears, saying, Keep secret the things which the seven thunders said, and do not put them in writing.

And the angel which I saw taking his position on the sea and on the earth, put up his right hand to heaven,

And took his oath by him who is living for ever and ever, who made the heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there would be no more waiting:

But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when the sound of his horn is about to come, then will the secret of God be complete, of which he gave the good news to his servants the prophets.

And the voice came to me again from heaven, saying, Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who has his place on the sea and on the earth.

And I went to the angel, and said to him, Give me the little book. And he said to me: Put it in your mouth; and it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.

And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and did as he said; and it was sweet as honey in my mouth: and when I had taken it, my stomach was made bitter.

And they said to me, You are to give word again of what is coming in the future to the peoples and nations and languages and kings.

Chapter 11

And there was given to me a measuring rod: and one said, Go up and take the measure of the house of God, and the altar, and the worshippers in it.

But do not take the measure of the space outside the house; because it has been given to the nations: and the holy town will be under their feet for forty-two months.

And I will give orders to my two witnesses, and they will be prophets for a thousand, two hundred and sixty days, clothed with haircloth.

These are the two olive-trees and the two lights, which are before the Lord of the earth.

And if any man would do them damage, fire comes out of their mouth and puts an end to those who are working against them: and if any man has a desire to do them damage, in this way will he be put to death.

These have the power to keep the heaven shut, so that there may be no rain in the days when they are prophets: and they have power over the waters to make them into blood, and to send every sort of disease on the earth as their pleasure is.

And when they have come to the end of their witness, the beast which comes up out of the great deep will make war on them and overcome them and put them to death.

And their dead bodies will be in the open street of the great town, which in the spirit is named Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was put to death on the cross.

And the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will be looking on their dead bodies three days and a half, and will not let their dead bodies be put in the earth.

And those who are on the earth will have pleasure and delight over them; and they will send offerings one to another because these two prophets gave great trouble to all on the earth.

And after three days and a half the breath of life from God went into them, and they got up on their feet; and great fear came on those who saw them.

And a great voice from heaven came to their ears, saying to them, Come up here. And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and were seen by those desiring their death.

And in that hour there was a great earth-shock and a tenth part of the town came to destruction; and in the earth-shock seven thousand persons came to their end: and the rest were in fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

The second Trouble is past: see, the third Trouble comes quickly.

And at the sounding of the seventh angel there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he will have rule for ever and ever.

And the four and twenty rulers, who are seated before God on their high seats, went down on their faces and gave worship to God, saying,

We give you praise, O Lord God, Ruler of all, who is and who was; because you have taken up your great power and are ruling your kingdom.

And the nations were angry, and your wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and the time of reward for your servants, the prophets, and for the saints, and for those in whom is the fear of your name, small and great, and the time of destruction for those who made the earth unclean.

And the house of God which is in heaven was open; and the ark of his agreement was seen in his house, and there were flames and voices and thunders and an earth-shock and a rain of ice.

Chapter 9

Now the first agreement had its rules of worship, and a holy order.

For the first Tent was made ready, having in it the vessels for the lights and the table and the ordering of the bread; and this is named the holy place.

And inside the second veil was the place which is named the Holy of holies;

Having a vessel of gold in it for burning perfumes, and the ark of the agreement, which was covered with gold and which had in it a pot made of gold for the manna, and Aaron’s rod which put out buds, and the stones with the writing of the agreement;

And over it were the winged ones of glory with their wings covering the mercy-seat; about which it is not possible now to say anything in detail.

Now while these things were in existence, the priests went into the first Tent at all times, for prayer and the making of offerings.

But only the high priest went into the second, once a year, not without making an offering of blood for himself and for the errors of the people:

The Holy Spirit witnessing by this that the way into the holy place had not at that time been made open, while the first Tent was still in being;

And this is an image of the present time; when the offerings which are given are not able to make the heart of the worshipper completely clean,

Because they are only rules of the flesh, of meats and drinks and washings, which have their place till the time comes when things will be put right.

But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things of the future, through this greater and better Tent, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this world,

And has gone once and for ever into the holy place, having got eternal salvation, not through the blood of goats and young oxen, but through his blood.

For if the blood of goats and oxen, and the dust from the burning of a young cow, being put on the unclean, make the flesh clean:

How much more will the blood of Christ, who, being without sin, made an offering of himself to God through the Holy Spirit, make your hearts clean from dead works to be servants of the living God?

And for this cause it is through him that a new agreement has come into being, so that after the errors under the first agreement had been taken away by his death, the word of God might have effect for those who were marked out for an eternal heritage.

Because where there is a testament, there has to be the death of the man who made it.

For a testament has effect after death; for what power has it while the man who made it is living?

So that even the first agreement was not made without blood.

For when Moses had given all the rules of the law to the people, he took the blood of goats and young oxen, with water and red wool and hyssop, and put it on the book itself and on all the people,

Saying, This blood is the sign of the agreement which God has made with you.

And the blood was put on the Tent and all the holy vessels in the same way.

And by the law almost all things are made clean with blood, and without blood there is no forgiveness.

For this cause it was necessary to make the copies of the things in heaven clean with these offerings; but the things themselves are made clean with better offerings than these.

For Christ did not go into a holy place which had been made by men’s hands as the copy of the true one; but he went into heaven itself, and now takes his place before the face of God for us.

And he did not have to make an offering of himself again and again, as the high priest goes into the holy place every year with blood which is not his;

For then he would have undergone a number of deaths from the time of the making of the world: but now he has come to us at the end of the old order, to put away sin by the offering of himself.

And because by God’s law death comes to men once, and after that they are judged;

So Christ, having at his first coming taken on himself the sins of men, will be seen a second time, without sin, by those who are waiting for him, for their salvation.

Chapter 10

For the law, being only a poor copy of the future good things, and not the true image of those things, is never able to make the people who come to the altar every year with the same offerings completely clean.

For if this had been possible, would there not have been an end of those offerings, because the worshippers would have been made completely clean and would have been no longer conscious of sins?

But year by year there is a memory of sins in those offerings.

Because it is not possible for the blood of oxen and goats to take away sins.

So that when he comes into the world, he says, You had no desire for offerings, but you made a body ready for me;

You had no joy in burned offerings or in offerings for sin.

Then I said, See, I have come to do your pleasure, O God (as it is said of me in the roll of the book).

After saying, You had no desire for offerings, for burned offerings or offerings for sin (which are made by the law) and you had no pleasure in them,

Then he said, See, I have come to do your pleasure. He took away the old order, so that he might put the new order in its place.

By that pleasure we have been made holy, by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for ever.

And every priest takes his place at the altar day by day, doing what is necessary, and making again and again the same offerings which are never able to take away sins.

But when Jesus had made one offering for sins for ever, he took his place at the right hand of God;

And has been waiting there from that time, till all who are against him are made a foot-rest for his feet.

Because by one offering he has made complete for ever those who are made holy.

And the Holy Spirit is a witness for us: for after he had said,

This is the agreement which I will make with them after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws in their hearts, writing them in their minds; he said,

And I will keep no more memory of their sins and of their evil-doings.

Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no more offering for sin.

So then, my brothers, being able to go into the holy place without fear, because of the blood of Jesus,

By the new and living way which he made open for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

And having a great priest over the house of God,

Let us go in with true hearts, in certain faith, having our hearts made free from the sense of sin and our bodies washed with clean water:

Let us keep the witness of our hope strong and unshaking, for he is true who has given his word:

And let us be moving one another at all times to love and good works;

Not giving up our meetings, as is the way of some, but keeping one another strong in faith; and all the more because you see the day coming near.

For if we do evil on purpose after we have had the knowledge of what is true, there is no more offering for sins,

But only a great fear of being judged, and of the fire of wrath which will be the destruction of the haters of God.

A man who has gone against the law of Moses is put to death without pity on the word of two or three witnesses:

But will not the man by whom the Son of God has been crushed under foot, and the blood of the agreement with which he was washed clean has been taken as an unholy thing, and who has had no respect for the Spirit of grace, be judged bad enough for a very much worse punishment?

For we have had experience of him who says, Punishment is mine, I will give reward. And again, The Lord will be judge of his people.

We may well go in fear of falling into the hands of the living God.

But give thought to the days after you had seen the light, when you went through a great war of troubles;

In part, in being attacked by angry words and cruel acts, before the eyes of everyone, and in part, in being united with those who were attacked in this way.

For you had pity on those who were in prison, and had joy in the loss of your property, in the knowledge that you still had a better property and one which you would keep for ever.

So do not give up your hope which will be greatly rewarded.

For, having done what was right in God’s eyes, you have need of waiting before his word has effect for you.

In a very little time he who is coming will come; he will not be slow.

But the upright man will be living by his faith; and if he goes back, my soul will have no pleasure in him.

But we are not of those who go back to destruction; but of those who have faith even to the salvation of the soul.

Chapter 11

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the sign that the things not seen are true.

For by it our fathers had God’s approval.

By faith it is clear to us that the order of events was fixed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made from things which only seem to be.

By faith Abel made a better offering to God than Cain, and he had witness through it of his righteousness, God giving his approval of his offering: and his voice still comes to us through it though he is dead.

By faith Enoch was taken up to heaven so that he did not see death; he was seen no longer, for God took him away: for before he was taken, witness had been given that he was well-pleasing to God:

And without faith it is not possible to be well-pleasing to him, for it is necessary for anyone who comes to God to have the belief that God is, and that he is a rewarder of all those who make a serious search for him.

By faith Noah, being moved by the fear of God, made ready an ark for the salvation of his family, because God had given him news of things which were not seen at the time; and through it the world was judged by him, and he got for his heritage the righteousness which is by faith.

By faith Abraham did as God said when he was ordered to go out into a place which was to be given to him as a heritage, and went out without knowledge of where he was going.

By faith he was a wanderer in the land of the agreement, as in a strange land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who had a part with him in the same heritage:

For he was looking for the strong town, whose builder and maker is God.

And by faith Sarah herself had power to give birth, when she was very old, because she had faith in him who gave his word;

So that from one man, who was near to death, came children in number as the stars in heaven, or as the sand by the seaside, which may not be numbered.

All these came to their end in faith, not having had the heritage; but having seen it with delight far away, they gave witness that they were wanderers and not of the earth.

For those who say such things make it clear that they are searching for a country for themselves.

And truly if they had kept in mind the country from which they went out, they would have had chances of turning back.

But now their desire is for a better country, that is to say, for one in heaven; and so it is no shame to God to be named their God; for he has made ready a town for them.

By faith Abraham made an offering of Isaac, when he was tested: and he with whom the agreement had been made gave up as an offering the only son of his body,

Of whom it had been said, From Isaac will your seed take their name:

Judging that God was able to give life even to the dead; and because of this he did get him back as if from death.

By faith Isaac, blessing Jacob and Esau, gave news of things to come.

By faith Jacob gave a blessing to the two sons of Joseph, when he was near to death; and gave God worship, supported by his stick.

By faith Joseph, when his end was near, said that the children of Israel would go out of Egypt; and gave orders about his bones.

By faith Moses was kept secretly by his father and mother for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a fair child; and they had no fear of the king’s orders.

By faith Moses, when he became a man, had no desire to be named the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;

Feeling that it was better to undergo pain with the people of God, than for a short time to have a taste of the pleasures of sin;

Judging a part in the shame of Christ to be better than all the wealth of Egypt; for he was looking forward to his reward.

By faith he went out of Egypt, not being turned from his purpose by fear of the wrath of the king; for he kept on his way, as seeing him who is unseen.

By faith he kept the Passover, and put the sign of the blood on the houses, so that the angel of destruction might not put their oldest sons to death.

By faith they went through the Red Sea as if it had been dry land, though the Egyptians were overcome by the water when they made an attempt to do the same.

By faith the walls of Jericho came down, after they had been circled for seven days.

By faith Rahab, the loose woman, was not put to death with those who had gone against God’s orders, because she had taken into her house in peace those sent to see the land.

What more am I to say? For there would not be time to give the stories of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets:

Who through faith overcame kingdoms, did righteousness, got their reward, kept the mouths of lions shut,

Put out the power of fire, got safely away from the edge of the sword, were made strong when they had been feeble, became full of power in war, and put to flight the armies of the nations.

Women had their dead given back to them living; others let themselves be cruelly attacked, having no desire to go free, so that they might have a better life to come;

And others were tested by being laughed at or by blows, and even with chains and prisons:

They were stoned, they were cut up with knives, they were tested, they were put to death with the sword, they went about in sheepskins and in goatskins; being poor and in pain and cruelly attacked,

Wandering in waste places and in mountains and in holes in the rocks; for whom the world was not good enough.

And not one of these got the good things of the agreement, though they all had a good record through faith,

Because God had kept some better thing for us, so that it was not possible for them to become complete without us.

Chapter 12

For this reason, as we are circled by so great a cloud of witnesses, putting off every weight, and the sin into which we come so readily, let us keep on running in the way which is marked out for us,

Having our eyes fixed on Jesus, the guide and end of our faith, who went through the pains of the cross, not caring for the shame, because of the joy which was before him, and who has now taken his place at the right hand of God’s seat of power.

Give thought to him who has undergone so much of the hate of sinners against himself, so that you may not be tired and feeble of purpose.

Till now you have not given your blood in your fight against sin:

And you have not kept in mind the word which says to you as to sons, My son, do not make little of the Lord’s punishment, and do not give up hope when you are judged by him;

For the Lord sends punishment on his loved ones; everyone whom he takes as his son has experience of his rod.

It is for your training that you undergo these things; God is acting to you as a father does to his sons; for what son does not have punishment from his father?

But if you have not that punishment of which we all have our part, then you are not true sons, but children of shame.

And again, if the fathers of our flesh gave us punishment and had our respect, how much more will we be under the authority of the Father of spirits, and have life?

For they truly gave us punishment for a short time, as it seemed good to them; but he does it for our profit, so that we may become holy as he is.

At the time all punishment seems to be pain and not joy: but after, those who have been trained by it get from it the peace-giving fruit of righteousness.

For this cause let the hands which are hanging down be lifted up, and let the feeble knees be made strong,

And make straight roads for your feet, so that the feeble may not be turned out of the way, but may be made strong.

Let your desire be for peace with all men, and to be made holy, without which no man may see the Lord;

Looking with care to see that no man among you in his behaviour comes short of the grace of God; for fear that some bitter root may come up to be a trouble to you, and that some of you may be made unclean by it;

And that there may not be any evil liver, or any man without respect for God, like Esau, who let his birthright go for a plate of food.

For you have knowledge that even long after, when he was desiring the blessing for his heritage, he was turned away, though he made his request frequently and with weeping; because the past might not be changed.

You have not come to a mountain which may be touched, and is burning with fire, and to a black cloud, and a dark smoke, and a violent wind,

And to the sound of a horn, and the voice of words, the hearers of which made request that not a word more might be said to them:

For the order which said, If the mountain is touched even by a beast, the beast is to be stoned, seemed hard to them;

And the vision was so overpowering that even Moses said, I am shaking and full of fear.

But you have come to the mountain of Zion, to the place of the living God, to the Jerusalem which is in heaven, and to an army of angels which may not be numbered,

To the great meeting and church of the first of those who are named in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of good men made complete,

And to Jesus by whom the new agreement has been made between God and man, and to the sign of the blood which says better things than Abel’s blood.

See that you give ear to his voice which comes to you. For if those whose ears were shut to the voice which came to them on earth did not go free from punishment, what chance have we of going free if we give no attention to him whose voice comes from heaven?

Whose voice was the cause of the shaking of the earth; but now he has made an oath, saying, There will be still one more shaking, not only of the earth, but of heaven.

And the words, Still one more, make it clear that there will be a taking away of those things which are shaking, as of things which are made, so that there may be only those things of which no shaking is possible.

If then, we have a kingdom which will never be moved, let us have grace, so that we may give God such worship as is pleasing to him with fear and respect:

For our God is an all-burning fire.

Chapter 13

Go on loving your brothers in the faith.

Take care to keep open house: because in this way some have had angels as their guests, without being conscious of it.

Keep in mind those who are in chains, as if you were chained with them, and those who are in trouble, as being yourselves in the body.

Let married life be honoured among all of you and not made unclean; for men untrue in married life will be judged by God.

Be free from the love of money and pleased with the things which you have; for he himself has said, I will be with you at all times.

So that we say with a good heart, The Lord is my helper; I will have no fear: what is man able to do to me?

Keep in mind those who were over you, and who gave you the word of God; seeing the outcome of their way of life, let your faith be like theirs.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.

Do not be turned away by different strange teachings, because it is good for your hearts to be made strong by grace, and not by meats, which were of no profit to those who took so much trouble over them.

We have an altar from which those priests who are servants in the Tent may not take food.

For the bodies of the beasts whose blood is taken into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin are burned outside the circle of the tents.

For this reason Jesus was put to death outside the walls, so that he might make the people holy by his blood.

Let us then go out to him outside the circle of the tents, taking his shame on ourselves.

For here we have no fixed resting-place, but our search is for the one which is to come.

Let us then make offerings of praise to God at all times through him, that is to say, the fruit of lips giving witness to his name.

But go on doing good and giving to others, because God is well-pleased with such offerings.

Give ear to those who are rulers over you, and do as they say: for they keep watch over your souls, ready to give an account of them; let them be able to do this with joy and not with grief, because that would be of no profit to you.

Make prayers for us, for we are certain that our hearts are free from the sense of sin, desiring the right way of life in all things.

I make this request more strongly, in the hope of coming back to you more quickly.

Now may the God of peace, who made that great keeper of his flock, even our Lord Jesus, come back from the dead through the blood of the eternal agreement,

Make you full of every good work and ready to do all his desires, working in us whatever is pleasing in his eyes through Jesus Christ; and may the glory be given to him for ever and ever. So be it.

But, brothers, take kindly the words which I have said for your profit; for I have not sent you a long letter.

Our brother Timothy has been let out of prison; and if he comes here in a short time, he and I will come to you together.

Give words of love from me to those who are rulers over you, and to all the saints. Those who are in Italy send you their love.

May grace be with you all.

Chapter 1

In times past the word of God came to our fathers through the prophets, in different parts and in different ways;

But now, at the end of these days, it has come to us through his Son, to whom he has given all things for a heritage, and through whom he made the order of the generations;

Who, being the outshining of his glory, the true image of his substance, supporting all things by the word of his power, having given himself as an offering making clean from sins, took his seat at the right hand of God in heaven;

Having become by so much better than the angels, as the name which is his heritage is more noble than theirs.

To which of the angels did God say at any time, You are my Son, this day I have given you being? or, I will be his Father, and he will be my Son?

And again, when he is sending his only Son into the world, he says, Let all the angels of God give him worship.

And of the angels he says, Who makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire:

But of the Son he says, Your seat of power, O God, is for ever and ever; and the rod of your kingdom is a rod of righteousness.

You have been a lover of righteousness and a hater of evil; and so God, your God, has put the oil of joy on your head more than on the heads of those who are with you.

You, Lord, at the first did put the earth on its base, and the heavens are the works of your hands:

They will come to their end; but you are for ever; they will become old as a robe;

They will be rolled up like a cloth, even like a robe, and they will be changed: but you are the same and your years will have no end.

But of which of the angels has he said at any time, Take your seat at my right hand till I put all those who are against you under your feet?

Are they not all helping spirits, who are sent out as servants to those whose heritage will be salvation?

Chapter 2

For this reason there is the more need for us to give attention to the things which have come to our ears, for fear that by chance we might be slipping away.

Because if the word which came through the angels was fixed, and in the past every evil act against God’s orders was given its full punishment;

What will come on us, if we do not give our minds to such a great salvation? a salvation of which our fathers first had knowledge through the words of the Lord, and which was made certain to us by those to whom his words came;

And God was a witness with them, by signs and wonders, and by more than natural powers, and by his distribution of the Holy Spirit at his pleasure.

For he did not make the angels rulers over the world to come, of which I am writing.

But a certain writer has given his witness, saying, What is man, that you keep him in mind? what is the son of man, that you take him into account?

You made him a little lower than the angels; you gave him a crown of glory and honour, and made him ruler over all the works of your hands:

You put all things under his feet. For in making man the ruler over all things, God did not put anything outside his authority; though we do not see everything under him now.

But we see him who was made a little lower than the angels, even Jesus, crowned with glory and honour, because he let himself be put to death so that by the grace of God he might undergo death for all men.

Because it was right for him, for whom and through whom all things have being, in guiding his sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation complete through pain.

For he who makes holy and those who are made holy are all of one family; and for this reason it is no shame for him to give them the name of brothers,

Saying, I will give the knowledge of your name to my brothers, I will make a song of praise to you before the church.

And again he says, I will put my faith in him. And again, See, I am here, and the children which God has given to me.

And because the children are flesh and blood, he took a body himself and became like them; so that by his death he might put an end to him who had the power of death, that is to say, the Evil One;

And let those who all their lives were in chains because of their fear of death, go free.

For, truly, he does not take on the life of angels, but that of the seed of Abraham.

Because of this it was necessary for him to be made like his brothers in every way, so that he might be a high priest full of mercy and keeping faith in everything to do with God, making offerings for the sins of the people.

For having been put to the test himself, he is able to give help to others when they are tested.

Chapter 3

For this reason, holy brothers, marked out to have a part in heaven, give thought to Jesus the representative and high priest of our faith;

Who kept faith with God who gave him his place, even as Moses did in all his house.

And it was right for this man to have more honour than Moses, even as the builder of a house has more honour than the house.

For every house has a builder; but the builder of all things is God.

And Moses certainly kept faith as a servant, in all his house, and as a witness of those things which were to be said later;

But Christ as a son, over his house; whose house are we, if we keep our hearts fixed in the glad and certain hope till the end.

And so, as the Holy Spirit says, Today if you let his voice come to your ears,

Be not hard of heart, as when you made me angry, on the day of testing in the waste land,

When your fathers put me to the test, and saw my works for forty years.

So that I was angry with this generation, and I said, Their hearts are in error at all times, and they have no knowledge of my ways;

And being angry I made an oath, saying, They may not come into my rest.

My brothers, take care that there is not by chance in any one of you an evil heart without belief, turning away from the living God:

But give comfort to one another every day as long as it is still Today; so that no one among you may be made hard by the deceit of sin:

For if we keep the substance of the faith which we had at the start, even till the end, we have a part with Christ;

As it is said, Today if you will let his voice come to your ears, be not hard of heart, as when you made him angry.

Who made him angry when his voice came to them? was it not all those who came out of Egypt with Moses?

And with whom was he angry for forty years? was it not with those who did evil, who came to their deaths in the waste land?

And to whom did he make an oath that they might not come into his rest? was it not to those who went against his orders?

So we see that they were not able to go in because they had no belief.

Chapter 4

Let us then, though we still have God’s word that we may come into his rest, go in fear that some of you may be unable to do so.

And, truly, the good news came to us, even as it did to them; but the hearing of the word did them no good, because they were not united in faith with the true hearers.

For those of us who have belief come into his rest; even as he has said, As I said in my oath when I was angry, They may not come into my rest: though the works were done from the time of the making of the world.

For in one place he has said of the seventh day, And God had rest from all his works on the seventh day;

And in the same place he says again, They will not come into my rest.

So that as it is clear that some have to go in, and that the first hearers of the good news were not able to go in because they went against God’s orders,

After a long time, again naming a certain day, he says in David, Today (as he had said before), Today if you will let his voice come to your ears, be not hard of heart,

For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have said anything about another day.

So that there is still a Sabbath-keeping for the people of God.

For the man who comes into his rest has had rest from his works, as God did from his.

Because of this, let us have a strong desire to come into that rest, and let no one go after the example of those who went against God’s orders.

For the word of God is living and full of power, and is sharper than any two-edged sword, cutting through and making a division even of the soul and the spirit, the bones and the muscles, and quick to see the thoughts and purposes of the heart.

And there is nothing made which is not completely clear to him; there is nothing covered, but all things are open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Having then a great high priest, who has made his way through the heavens, even Jesus the Son of God, let us be strong in our faith.

For we have not a high priest who is not able to be touched by the feelings of our feeble flesh; but we have one who has been tested in all points as we ourselves are tested, but without sin.

Then let us come near to the seat of grace without fear, so that mercy may be given to us, and we may get grace for our help in time of need.

Chapter 5

Every high priest who is taken from among men is given his position to take care of the interests of men in those things which have to do with God, so that he may make offerings for sins.

He is able to have feeling for those who have no knowledge and for those who are wandering from the true way, because he himself is feeble;

And being feeble, he has to make sin-offerings for himself as well as for the people.

And no man who is not given authority by God, as Aaron was, takes this honour for himself.

In the same way Christ did not take for himself the glory of being made a high priest, but was given it by him who said, You are my Son, this day I have given you being:

As he says in another place, You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

Who in the days of his flesh, having sent up prayers and requests with strong crying and weeping to him who was able to give him salvation from death, had his prayer answered because of his fear of God.

And though he was a Son, through the pain which he underwent, the knowledge came to him of what it was to be under God’s orders;

And when he had been made complete, he became the giver of eternal salvation to all those who are under his orders;

Being named by God a high priest of the order of Melchizedek.

Of whom we have much to say which it is hard to make clear, because you are slow of hearing.

And though by this time it would be right for you to be teachers, you still have need of someone to give you teaching about the first simple rules of God’s revelation; you have become like babies who have need of milk, and not of solid food.

For everyone who takes milk is without experience of the word of righteousness: he is a child.

But solid food is for men of full growth, even for those whose senses are trained by use to see what is good and what is evil.

Chapter 6

For this reason let us go on from the first things about Christ to full growth; not building again that on which it is based, that is, the turning of the heart from dead works, and faith in God,

The teaching of baptisms, and of the putting on of hands, and of the future life of the dead, and of the judging on the last day.

Now we will do this, if God lets us.

As for those who at one time saw the light, tasting the good things from heaven, and having their part in the Holy Spirit,

With knowledge of the good word of God, and of the powers of the coming time,

And then let themselves be turned away, it is not possible for their hearts to be made new a second time; because they themselves put the Son of God on the cross again, openly shaming him.

For a land, drinking in the frequent rain and producing good plants for those for whom it is worked, has a blessing from God:

But if it sends up thorns and evil plants, it is of no use and is ready to be cursed; its only end is to be burned.

But, my loved ones, though we say this, we are certain that you have better things in you, things which go with salvation;

For God is true, and will not put away from him the memory of your work and of your love for his name, in the help which you gave and still give to the saints.

And it is our desire that you may all keep the same high purpose in certain hope to the end:

So that you may not be slow in heart, but may take as your example those to whom God has given their heritage, because of their faith and their long waiting.

For when God made his oath to Abraham, because there was no greater oath, he made it by himself,

Saying, Be certain that I will give you my blessing, and make your numbers very great.

And so, when he had been waiting calmly for a long time, God’s word to him was put into effect.

For men at all times make their oaths by what is greater; and any argument is ended by the decision of the oath.

So that when it was God’s desire to make it specially clear to those who by his word were to have the heritage, that his purpose was fixed, he made it more certain with an oath;

So that we, who have gone in flight from danger to the hope which has been put before us, may have a strong comfort in two unchanging things, in which it is not possible for God to be false;

And this hope is like a strong band for our souls, fixed and certain, and going in to that which is inside the veil;

Where Jesus has gone before us, as a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

Chapter 7

For this Melchizedek, the king of Salem, a priest of the Most High God, who gave Abraham his blessing, meeting him when he came back after putting the kings to death,

And to whom Abraham gave a tenth part of everything which he had, being first named King of righteousness, and then in addition, King of Salem, that is to say, King of peace;

Being without father or mother, or family, having no birth or end to his life, being made like the Son of God, is a priest for ever.

Now see how great this man was, to whom our father Abraham gave a tenth part of what he had got in the fight.

And it is true that by the law, those of the sons of Levi who have the position of priests may take a tenth part of the people’s goods; that is to say, they take it from their brothers though these are the sons of Abraham.

But this man, who was not of their family, took the tenth from Abraham, and gave a blessing to him to whom God had given his undertaking.

But there is no doubt that the less gets his blessing from the greater.

Now at the present time, men over whom death has power take the tenth; but then it was taken by one of whom it is witnessed that he is living.

And we may say that in Abraham, even Levi, who has a right to take the tenth part, gave it;

Because he was still in his father’s body when Melchizedek came to him.

Now if it was possible for things to be made complete through the priests of the house of Levi (for the law was given to the people in connection with them), what need was there for another priest who was of the order of Melchizedek and not of the order of Aaron?

Because if the priests are changed, it is necessary to make a change in the law.

For he of whom these things are said comes of another tribe, of which no man has ever made offerings at the altar.

Because it is clear that our Lord comes out of Judah, and Moses said nothing about priests from that tribe.

And this is even more clear if a second priest has come up who is like Melchizedek,

That is to say, not made by a law based on the flesh, but by the power of a life without end:

For it has been witnessed of him, You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

So the law which went before is put on one side, because it was feeble and without profit.

(Because the law made nothing complete), and in its place there is a better hope, through which we come near to God.

And as this is not without the taking of an oath

(For those were made priests without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by him who says of him, The Lord gave his oath, which he will not take back, that you are a priest for ever);

By so much is it a better agreement which we have through Jesus.

And it is true that there have been a great number of those priests, because death does not let them go on for ever;

But this priest, because his life goes on for ever, is unchanging.

So that he is fully able to be the saviour of all who come to God through him, because he is ever living to make prayer to God for them.

It was right for us to have such a high priest, one who is holy and without evil, doing no wrong, having no part with sinners, and made higher than the heavens:

Who has no need to make offerings for sins every day, like those high priests, first for himself, and then for the people; because he did this once and for ever when he made an offering of himself.

The law makes high priests of men who are feeble; but the word of the oath, which was made after the law, gives that position to a Son, in whom all good is for ever complete.

Chapter 8

Now of the things we are saying this is the chief point: We have such a high priest, who has taken his place at the right hand of God’s high seat of glory in heaven,

As a servant of the holy things and of the true Tent, which was put up by God, not by man.

Now every high priest is given authority to take to God the things which are given and to make offerings; so that it is necessary for this man, like them, to have something for an offering.

If he had been on earth he would not have been a priest at all, because there are other priests who make the offerings ordered by the law;

Being servants of that which is a copy and an image of the things in heaven, as Moses, when he was about to make the Tent, had special orders from God: for, See, he said, that you make everything like the design which you saw in the mountain.

But now his position as priest is higher. because through him God has made a better agreement with man, based on the giving of better things.

For if that first agreement had been as good as possible, there would have been no place for a second.

For, protesting against them, he says, See, the days are coming when I will make a new agreement with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah;

Not like the agreement which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand, to be their guide out of the land of Egypt; for they did not keep the agreement with me, and I gave them up, says the Lord.

For this is the agreement which I will make with the people of Israel after those days: I will put my laws into their minds, writing them in their hearts: and I will be their God, and they will be my people:

And there will be no need for every man to be teaching his brother, or his neighbour, saying, This is the knowledge of the Lord: for they will all have knowledge of me, great and small.

And I will have mercy on their evil-doing, and I will not keep their sins in mind.

When he says, A new agreement, he has made the first agreement old. But anything which is getting old and past use will not be seen much longer.