The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (15 page)

The Cross and Self-Denial

24
 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and
take up his cross
and follow me.
²⁵
For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
²⁶
For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? 
*
Or what shall a man give in return for his life? 
*
²⁷
For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done.
²⁸
Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."

The Transfiguration

17
  
And after six days
Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart.
²
And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light.
³
And behold, there appeared to them
Moses and Eli'jah
, talking with him.
⁴
And Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish,
I will make three booths
here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Eli'jah." 
*
⁵
He was still speaking, when behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is
my beloved Son
,
 
^w
with whom I am well pleased; listen to him."
⁶
When the disciples heard this, they
fell on their faces
, and were filled with awe.
⁷
But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and have no fear."
⁸
And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

9
 And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, "Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead."
¹⁰
And the disciples asked him, "Then why do the scribes say that first Eli'jah must come?"
¹¹
He replied, "Eli'jah does come, and he is
to restore all things
;
¹²
but I tell you that
Eli'jah has already come
, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of man will suffer at their hands."
¹³
Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

Jesus Cures an Epileptic Boy

14
 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and kneeling before him said,
¹⁵
"Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; for often he falls into the fire, and often into the water.
¹⁶
And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him."
¹⁷
And Jesus answered, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me."
¹⁸
And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly.
¹⁹
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"
²⁰
He said to them, "Because of
your little faith
. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you."
 
^x

Jesus Again Foretells His Deathand Resurrection

22
 As they were gathering
 
^y
in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men,
²³
and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day." And they were greatly distressed.

Jesus and the Temple Tax

24
 When they came to
Caper'na-um
, the collectors of the half-shekel tax went up to Peter and said, "Does not your teacher pay the tax?"
²⁵
He said, "Yes." And when he came home, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their sons or from others?"
²⁶
And when he said, "From others," Jesus said to him, "Then
the sons are free
.
²⁷
However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth
you will find a shekel
; take that and give it to them for me and for yourself."

True Greatness

18
  
At that time
the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "
Who is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven?"
²
And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them,
³
and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become
like children
, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
⁴
Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Temptations to Sin

5
 "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me;
⁶
but whoever causes one of these little ones
who believe in me
to sin,
 
^z
it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

7
 "Woe to the world for temptations to sin!
 
^a
For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the man by whom the temptation comes!
⁸
And if your hand
or your foot causes you to sin,
 
^z
cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.
⁹
And if your eye causes you to sin,
 
^z
pluck it out and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell
 
^b
*
of fire.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

10
 "See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven
their angels
always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.
 
^c
12
What do you think? If a man has
a hundred sheep
, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go in search of the one that went astray?
¹³
And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.
¹⁴
So it is not the will of my
 
^d
Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Binding and Loosing of Sins

15
 "
If your brother sins
against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
¹⁶
But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of
two or three witnesses
.
¹⁷
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to
the Church
; and if he refuses to listen even to the Church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
¹⁸
Truly, I say to you,
whatever you bind
on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 
*
¹⁹
Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
²⁰
For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

Repeated Forgiveness

21
 Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?"
²²
Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but
seventy times seven
.
 
^e

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

23
 "Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.
²⁴
When he began the reckoning, one was brought to him who owed him
ten thousand talents
;
 
^f
25
and as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.
²⁶
So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.'
²⁷
And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.
²⁸
But that same servant, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him
a hundred denarii
;
 
^g
and seizing him by the throat he said, 'Pay what you owe.'
²⁹
So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.'
³⁰
He refused and went and put him in prison till he should pay the debt.
³¹
When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place.
³²
Then his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me;
³³
and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?'
³⁴
And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers,
 
^h
till he should pay all his debt.
³⁵
So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not
forgive your brother
from your heart."

Teachings about Divorce

19
  
Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of
Judea beyond the Jordan
;
²
and large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3
 
And Pharisees came up
to him and
tested
him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?"
⁴
He answered, "
Have you not read
that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female,
⁵
and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one'?
 
^i
6
So they are no longer two but one.
 
ⁱ
What therefore
God has joined together
, let no man put asunder."
⁷
They said to him, "Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?"
⁸
He said to them, "For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
⁹
And I say to you
: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity,
 
^j
and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman, commits adultery."
 
^k
 
*