Section XXXIII

Section XXXIII.

[Arabic, p. 125] [1]And when evening came, Jesus went forth outside of the city, he and his disciples. [2]And as they passed in the morning, the disciples saw that fig tree withered away from its root. [3]And they passed by, and said, How did the fig tree dry up immediately? [4]And Simon remembered, and said unto him, My Master, behold, that fig tree which thou didst curse hath dried up. [5]And Jesus answered and said unto them, Let there be in you the faith of God. [6]Verily I say unto you, if ye believe, and doubt not in your hearts, and assure yourselves that that will be which ye say, ye shall have what ye say. [7]And if ye say to this mountain, Remove, and fall[8] into the sea, it shall be. [9]And all that ye ask God in prayer, and believe, he [9, 10] will give you. [10]And the apostles[11] said unto our Lord, Increase our[12] faith. [13]He said unto them, If there be in you faith like a grain of mustard, ye shall say to this fig tree, Be thou torn up, and be thou planted in the sea; and it will obey you. [14]Who of you hath a servant driving a yoke of oxen or tending sheep, and if he come from the field, will say unto him straightway, Go and sit down? [15]Nay,[16] he will say unto him, Make ready for me wherewith I may sup, and gird thy waist, and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterwards thou shalt eat and drink also. [17]Doth that servant haply, who did what he was bid, receive his praise? I think not. [18]So ye also, when ye have done all that ye were bid, say, We are idle servants; what it was our duty to do, we have done.

[19]For this reason I say unto you, Whatever ye pray and ask, believe that ye [Arabic, p. 126] receive, and ye shall have. [20]And when ye stand to pray, forgive what is in your heart against any man; and your Father which is in heaven will forgive you also your wrong-doings. [21]But if ye forgive not men their wrong-doings, neither will your Father forgive you also your wrong-doings.

[22]And he spake unto them a parable also, that they should pray at all times, and not be slothful: [23]There was a judge in a city, who feared not God, nor was ashamed for men: [24]and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, and said, Avenge me of mine adversary. [25]And he would not for a long time: but afterwards he said within himself, If of God I have no fear, and before men I have no shame; [26]yet because this widow vexeth me, I will avenge her, that she come not at all times [23, 24] and annoy me. [27]And our Lord said, Hear ye what the judge of injustice said. [28]And shall not God still more do vengeance for his elect, who call upon him in the night and in the day, and grant them respite? [29]I say unto you, He will do vengeance for them speedily. Thinkest thou the Son of man will come and find faith on the earth?

[26, 27] [30]And they came again to Jerusalem. [31]And it came to pass, on one of the days, as Jesus was walking in the temple, and teaching the people, and preaching the gospel, [32]that the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came upon him, and said unto him, Tell us: [33]By what power doest thou this? and who gave thee this power to do that? [34]And Jesus said unto them, I also will ask you one word, and if ye tell me, I also shall tell you by what power I do that. [35]The baptism of John, from what place is it? from heaven or of men? [36]Tell me. [37]And they reflected within themselves, [Arabic, p. 127] and said, If we shall say unto him, From heaven; he will say unto us, For what reason did ye not believe him? [38]But[39] if we shall say, Of men; we fear[40] that the people will stone us, all of them. [41]And all of them were holding[42] to John, that he was a true prophet. [43]They answered and said unto him, We know not. [44]Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you also by what power I work. What think ye? A man had two sons; and he went to the first, and said unto him, My son, go to-day, and till in the vineyard. [45]And he answered and said, I do not wish to: but finally he repented, and went. [46]And he went to the other, and said unto him likewise. [47]And he answered and said, Yea, my lord: and went not. Which of these two did the will of his father? They said unto him, The first. Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, The publicans and harlots go before you into the kingdom of God. [48]John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the publicans and harlots believed him; and ye, not even when ye saw, did ye repent at last, that ye might believe in him.

[49]Hear another parable: A man was a householder, and planted a vineyard, and surrounded it with a hedge, and digged in it a winepress, and built in it a tower, [41, 42] [50]and gave it to husbandmen, and went to a distance for a long time. [51]So when the time of the fruits came, he sent his servants[52] unto the husbandmen, that they might send him of the produce[53] of his vineyard. [54]And those husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. [55]And he sent unto them another servant also; and they stoned him, and wounded[56] him, and sent him away with shameful handling. [57]And he sent again another; and they slew him. And he sent many other servants unto them. [58]And the husbandmen took his servants, and one they beat, and another they stoned, and another they slew. [59]So he sent again other servants more than the first; and [Arabic, p. 128] they did likewise with them. [60]So the owner of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will see him and be [49, 50] ashamed. [61]So at last he sent unto them his beloved son that he had. [62]But the husbandmen, when they saw the son, said amongst themselves, This is the heir. [51, 52] [63]And they said, We will slay him, and so the inheritance will be ours. [64]So they took him, and put him forth without the vineyard, and slew him. [65]When then the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do with those husbandmen? [66]They said unto him, He will destroy them in the worst of ways,[67] and give the vineyard to other husbandmen, who will give him fruit in its season. [68]Jesus said unto them, Have ye never read in the scripture,

The stone which the builders declared to be base,

[69]The same came to be at the head of the corner:

[70]From God was this,

And it is wonderful in our eyes?

[71]Therefore I say unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a people that will produce fruit. [72]And whosoever falleth on this stone shall be broken in pieces: but on whomsoever it falleth, it will grind him to powder. [73]And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that it was concerning them he spake. [74]And they sought to seize him; and they feared the multitude, because they were holding to him as the prophet.