Chapter 6

¹One Sabbath he happened to be passing through the wheat fields, and his disciples were picking the heads of wheat, and eating them, rubbing them in their hands. ²And some of the Pharisees said,

“Why do you do what it is against the Law to do on the Sabbath?”

³Jesus answered,

“Have you not read even what David did, when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴How he went into the house of God and took the Presentation Loaves, which it was against the Law for anyone but the priests to eat, and ate them with his companions?” ⁵And he said to them, “The Son of Man is master of the Sabbath.”

⁶On another Sabbath he happened to go to the synagogue and teach. There was a man there whose right hand was withered. ⁷And the scribes and the Pharisees were on the watch to see whether he would cure people on the Sabbath, in order to find a charge to bring against him. ⁸But he knew what they were thinking, and he said to the man with the withered hand,

“Get up and stand in front.”

And he got up and stood there. ⁹Jesus said to them,

“I want to ask you, Is it allowable on the Sabbath to do people good or to do them harm? to save life or to destroy it?”

¹⁰And he looked around at them all and said to the man,

“Hold out your hand!”

And he did so, and his hand was restored.

¹¹But they were perfectly furious, and discussed with one another what they could do to Jesus.

¹²It was in those days that he went up on the mountain to pray, and passed the whole night in prayer to God. ¹³When day came, he called his disciples to him, and chose twelve of them whom he named apostles: ¹⁴Simon, whom he named Peter, his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, ¹⁵Matthew, Thomas, James, the son of Alpheus, Simon, who was called the Zealot, ¹⁶Judas, the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who turned out a traitor. ¹⁷And he came down with them and took his stand on a level place with a great throng of his disciples, and a large number of people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and the seacoast district of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. ¹⁸And those who were troubled with foul spirits were cured. ¹⁹And all the people tried to touch him, because power went forth from him and cured them all. ²⁰Then he fixed his eyes on his disciples, and said,

“Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours!

²¹“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied!

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh!

²²“Blessed are you when people hate you and exclude you and denounce you and spurn the name you bear as evil, on account of the Son of Man. ²³Be glad when that happens, and leap for joy, for you will be richly rewarded in heaven, for that is the way their forefathers treated the prophets.

²⁴“But alas for you who are rich, for you have had your comfort!

²⁵“Alas for you who have plenty to eat now, for you will be hungry!

“Alas for you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep!

²⁶“Alas for you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is the way their forefathers treated the false prophets!

²⁷“But I tell you who hear me, love your enemies, treat those who hate you well, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹To the man that strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from the man who takes away your coat, do not keep back your shirt either. ³⁰Give to everyone that asks of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. ³¹And treat men just as you wish them to treat you. ³²If you love only those who love you, what merit is there in that? For even godless people love those who love them. ³³And if you help only those who help you, what merit is there in that? Even godless people act in that way. ³⁴And if you lend only to people from whom you expect to get something, what merit is there in that? Even godless people lend to godless people, meaning to get it back again in full. ³⁵But love your enemies, and help them and lend to them, never despairing, and you will be richly rewarded, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind even to the ungrateful and the wicked. ³⁶You must be merciful, just as your Father is. ³⁷Do not judge others, and they will not judge you. Do not condemn them, and they will not condemn you. Excuse others and they will excuse you. ³⁸Give, and they will give to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, they will pour into your lap. For the measure you use with others they in turn will use with you.”

³⁹And he used a figure saying,

“Can one blind man lead another? Will they not both fall into a hole? ⁴⁰A pupil is not better than his teacher, but every pupil when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. ⁴¹Why do you keep looking at the speck in your brother’s eye, and pay no attention to the beam that is in your own? ⁴²How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, just let me get that speck out of your eye,’ when you cannot see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First get the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see to get out the speck in your brother’s eye. ⁴³For sound trees do not bear bad fruit, nor bad trees sound fruit. ⁴⁴Every tree is known by its fruit. They do not pick figs off thorns, or gather grapes from brambles. ⁴⁵A good man, out of the good he has accumulated in his heart, produces good, and a bad man, out of what he has accumulated that is bad, produces what is bad. For his mouth says only what his heart is full of. ⁴⁶Why do you call me: ‘Lord! Lord!’ and not do what I tell you? ⁴⁷If anyone comes to me and listens to this teaching of mine and acts upon it, I will show you whom he is like. ⁴⁸He is like a man who was building a house, who dug deep and laid his foundation upon the rock, and when there was a flood the torrent burst upon that house and could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹But the man who listens to it, and does not act upon it, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation. The torrent burst upon it, and it collapsed at once, and the wreck of that house was complete.”