The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (77 page)

The Parable of the Lost Coin

8
 "Or what woman, having
ten silver coins
,
^t
if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?
⁹
And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.'
¹⁰
Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

The Parable of the Prodigal and His Brother

11
 And he said, "
There was a man
who had two sons;
¹²
and the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the
share of property
that falls to me.' And he divided his living between them.
¹³
Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living.
¹⁴
And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want.
¹⁵
So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to
feed swine
.
¹⁶
And he would gladly have fed on
^u
the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything.
¹⁷
But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger!
¹⁸
I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;
¹⁹
I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants."
 
'
²⁰
And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and
embraced him
and kissed him.
²¹
And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
^v
22
But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best
robe, and put it on him; and put a ring
on his hand, and shoes on his feet;
²³
and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry;
²⁴
for this my son
was dead, and is alive
again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to make merry.

25
 "Now his
elder son
was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
²⁶
And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant.
²⁷
And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.'
²⁸
But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him,
²⁹
but he answered his father, 'Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends.
³⁰
But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!'
³¹
And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
³²
It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.' "

The Parable of the Dishonest Steward

16
  
He also said
to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had
a steward
, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.
²
And he called him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'
³
And the steward said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.
⁴
I have decided what to do, so that people may receive me into their houses when I am put out of the stewardship.'
⁵
So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'
⁶
He said, 'A
hundred measures of oil
.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'
⁷
Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' He said, 'A
hundred measures of wheat
.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'
⁸
The master commended the dishonest steward for
his prudence
; for the sons of this world
^w
are wiser in their own generation than the sons of light.
 
*
⁹
And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous
mammon
, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations.

10
 "He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.
¹¹
If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you the true riches?
¹²
And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?
¹³
No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

The Law and the Kingdom of God

14
 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they scoffed at him.
¹⁵
But he said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

16
 "
The law and the prophets
were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and every one enters it violently.
¹⁷
But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for
one dot
of the law to become void.

18
 "Every
one who divorces
his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

19
 "
There was a rich man
, who was
clothed in purple
and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
²⁰
And at his gate lay a poor man named Laz'arus, full of sores,
²¹
who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
²²
The poor man died and was carried by the angels to
Abraham's bosom
. The rich man also died and was buried;
²³
and in
Hades
, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Laz'arus in his bosom.
²⁴
And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz'arus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.'
²⁵
But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Laz'arus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.
²⁶
And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.'
²⁷
And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house,
²⁸
for I have five brothers, so that
he may warn them
, lest they also come into this place of torment.'
²⁹
But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.'
³⁰
And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'
³¹
He said to him, 'If they do not hear
Moses and the prophets
, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.' "

Some Sayings of Jesus

17
  
And he said to his disciples, "Temptations to sin
^x
are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come!
²
It would be better for him if
a millstone
were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.
^y
3
Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him;
⁴
and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you
seven times
, and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive him."

5
 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
⁶
And the Lord said, "If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, 'Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

7
 "Will any one of you, who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down at table'?
⁸
Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and put on your apron and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterward you shall eat and drink'?
⁹
Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?
¹⁰
So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, 'We are
unworthy servants
; we have only done what was our duty.' "

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

11
 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Sama'ria and Galilee.
¹²
And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who
stood at a distance
¹³
and lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."
¹⁴
When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed.
¹⁵
Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;
¹⁶
and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.
¹⁷
Then said Jesus, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?
¹⁸
Was no one found to return and give praise to God except
this foreigner
?"
¹⁹
And he said to him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well."

The Coming of the Kingdom

20
 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed;
 
*
²¹
nor will they say, 'Behold, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is
in your midst
."
^z

22
 
And he said to the disciples
, "The days are coming when
you will desire to see
one of the days of the Son of man, and you will not see it.
²³
And they will say to you, 'Behold, there!' or 'Behold, here!' Do not go, do not follow them.
²⁴
For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of man be in his day.
^a
25
But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
²⁶
As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of man.
²⁷
They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
²⁸
Likewise as it was in the days of Lot—they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built,
²⁹
but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from heaven and destroyed them all—
³⁰
so will it be on the day when the Son of man is revealed.
³¹
On that day, let him who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away; and likewise let him who is in the field not turn back.
³²
Remember Lot's wife.
³³
Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.
³⁴
I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed; one will be
taken and the other left
.
³⁵
There will be two women grinding together; one will be taken and the other left."
^b
37
And they said to him, "Where, Lord?" He said to them, "
Where the body is
, there the eagles
^c
will be gathered together."