The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (74 page)

True Greatness

46
 And an argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest.
⁴⁷
But when Jesus perceived the thought of their hearts, he took a child and put him by his side,
⁴⁸
and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me; for he who is least among you all is
the one who is great
."

Another Exorcist

49
 John answered, "Master, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he does not follow with us."
⁵⁰
But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him; for he that is not against you is for you."

A Samaritan Village Refusesto Receive Jesus

51
 When the days drew near for him
to be received up
,
 
*
he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
 
*
⁵²
And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of
the Samaritans
, to make ready for him;
⁵³
but the people would not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.
 
*
⁵⁴
And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to
bid fire come down
from heaven and consume them?"
^e
55
But he turned and rebuked them.
^f
56
And they went on to another village.

Would-Be Followers of Jesus

57
 As they were going along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
⁵⁸
And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head."
⁵⁹
To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and
bury my father
."
⁶⁰
But he said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
⁶¹
Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home."
⁶²
Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow
and looks back
is fit for the kingdom of God."

The Mission of the Seventy [
Map
]

10
  
After this the Lord
appointed seventy
^g
others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come.
²
And he said to them, "
The harvest
is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
³
Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
⁴
Carry
no purse, no bag, no sandals
; and salute no one on the road.
⁵
Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!'
⁶
And if a son of peace is there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, it shall return to you.
⁷
And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer
deserves his wages
; do not go from house to house.
⁸
Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you;
⁹
heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'
¹⁰
But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say,
¹¹
'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we
wipe off against you
; nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.'
¹²
I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

Woes to Unrepentant Cities

13
 "Woe to you,
Chora'zin! woe to you, Beth-sa'ida
! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Si'don, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
¹⁴
But it shall be more tolerable in the judgment for Tyre and Si'don than for you.
¹⁵
And you,
Caper'na-um
, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.

16
 "
He who hears you hears me
, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."

The Return of the Seventy

17
 The seventy
^g
returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!"
¹⁸
And he said to them, "
I saw Satan fall
like lightning from heaven.
 
*
¹⁹
Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you.
²⁰
Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are
written in heaven
."

Jesus Rejoices and Thanks the Father

21
 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
^h
22
All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one
knows who the Son
is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

23
 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see what you see!
²⁴
For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25
 And behold,
a lawyer
stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
²⁶
He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?"
²⁷
And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and
your neighbor as yourself
."
²⁸
And he said to him, "You have answered right; do this, and you will live."

29
 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
³⁰
Jesus replied, "
A man
was going down
from Jerusalem to Jericho
, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
³¹
Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.
³²
So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
³³
But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion,
³⁴
and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
³⁵
And the next day he took out
two denarii
ⁱ
and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.'
³⁶
Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?"
³⁷
He said, "The one who showed mercy on him." And Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

Jesus Visits Martha and Mary

38
 Now as they went on their way, he entered
a village
; and a woman named Martha received him into her house.
³⁹
And she had a sister called Mary, who sat
at the Lord's feet
and listened to his teaching.
⁴⁰
But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me."
⁴¹
But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things;
⁴²
one thing is needful
.
^j
Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her."

The Lord's Prayer

11
 
He was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."
²
And he said to them
, "When you pray, say:

"Father,
hallowed
be your name. Your kingdom come.
³
Give us each day our
daily bread
;
^k
4
and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive every one who is indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation."

Perseverance in Prayer

5
 And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves;
⁶
for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him';
⁷
and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything'?
⁸
I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his
importunity
he will rise and give him whatever he needs.
⁹
And I tell you, Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
¹⁰
For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
¹¹
What father among you, if his son asks for
^l
a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent;
¹²
or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
¹³
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit
to those who ask him!"

Jesus and Be-elzebul

14
 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled.
¹⁵
But some of them said, "
He casts out demons
by Be-el'zebul, the prince of demons";
¹⁶
while others, to test him, sought from him a sign from heaven.
¹⁷
But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and house falls upon house.
¹⁸
And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Be-el'zebul.
¹⁹
And if I cast out demons by Be-el'zebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.
²⁰
But if it is by
the finger of God
that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
²¹
When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace;
²²
but when
one stronger
than he assails him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoil.
²³
He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.

The Return of the Unclean Spirit