¶ Now at the same time there were present some who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with that of their sacrifices.
And he answering said to them, Think ye that these Galileans were sinners beyond all the Galileans because they suffered such things?
No, I say to you, but if ye repent not, ye shall all perish in the same manner.
Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, think ye that *they* were debtors beyond all the men who dwell in Jerusalem?
No, I say to you, but if ye repent not, ye shall all perish in like manner.
And he spoke this parable: A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit upon it and did not find any.
And he said to the vinedresser, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree and find none: cut it down; why does it also render the ground useless?
But he answering says to him, Sir, let it alone for this year also, until I shall dig about it and put dung,
and if it shall bear fruit—but if not, after that thou shalt cut it down.
¶ And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.
And lo, there was a woman having a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bent together and wholly unable to lift her head up.
And Jesus, seeing her, called to her, and said to her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
And he laid his hands upon her; and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus healed on the sabbath, answering said to the crowd, There are six days in which people ought to work; in these therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.
The Lord therefore answered him and said, Hypocrites! does not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the manger and leading it away, water it?
And this woman, who is a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, lo, these eighteen years, ought she not to be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?
And as he said these things, all who were opposed to him were ashamed; and all the crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things which were being done by him.
¶ And he said, To what is the kingdom of God like? and to what shall I liken it?
It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and cast into his garden; and it grew and became a great tree, and the birds of heaven lodged in its branches.
And again he said, To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?
It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.
¶ And he went through one city and village after another, teaching, and journeying to Jerusalem.
And one said to him, Sir, are such as are to be saved few in number? But he said unto them,
Strive with earnestness to enter in through the narrow door, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in and will not be able.
From the time that the master of the house shall have risen up and shall have shut the door, and ye shall begin to stand without and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he answering shall say to you, I know you not whence ye are:
then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten in thy presence and drunk, and thou hast taught in our streets;
and he shall say, I tell you, I do not know you whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
There shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves cast out.
And they shall come from east and west, and from north and south, and shall lie down at table in the kingdom of God.
And behold, there are last who shall be first, and there are first who shall be last.
¶ The same hour certain Pharisees came up, saying to him, Get out, and go hence, for Herod is desirous to kill thee.
And he said to them, Go, tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons and accomplish cures to-day and to-morrow, and the third day I am perfected;
but I must needs walk to-day and to-morrow and the day following, for it must not be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those that are sent unto her, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen her brood under her wings, and ye would not.
Behold, your house is left unto you; and I say unto you, that ye shall not see me until it come that ye say, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.