The Jefferson Bible

The Life and Morals of Jesus

CHAPTER 13.

HEN spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
    2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
    3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not accordingly.
    4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
    5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and lengthen the fringes of their garments,
    6 And love the place of honour at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
    7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi.
    8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, and all ye are brethren.
    9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
    10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
    11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
    12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men:
    14 For ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
    15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
    16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is bound thereby!
    17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
    18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is bound thereby.
    19 Ye blind men: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
    20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
    21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
    22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
    23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and dill and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, without leaving the other undone.
    24 Ye blind guides, which strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel.
    25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
    26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
    27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
    28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
    29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
    30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
    31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
    32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
    33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the condemnation of hell?

And Jesus sat opposite the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
    35 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a penny.
    36 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:
    37 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
    39 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
    40 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
    41 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
    42 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his cloak.
    43 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
    44 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
    45 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
    46 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

Now learn a parable from the fig tree; When its branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
    48 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that he is near, even at the doors.
    49 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, not the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
    50 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
    51 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,
    52 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of man be.
    53 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
    54 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Watch therefore: for ye know not what day your Lord doth come.
    56 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken into.
    57 Therefore be ye also ready.
    58 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them their meat in due season?
    59 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
    60 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
    61 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
    62 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
    63 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
    64 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.