The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (9 page)

7
 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sad'ducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
⁸
Bear fruit that befits repentance,
⁹
and do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
¹⁰
Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

11
 "
I baptize you
with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
¹²
His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

The Baptism of Jesus

13
 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
¹⁴
John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
¹⁵
But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for thus
it is fitting
for us to fulfil all
righteousness
." Then he consented. 
*
¹⁶
And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold,
the heavens
were opened
 
^g
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him;
¹⁷
and behold, a voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son,
 
^h
with whom I am well pleased."

The Temptation of Jesus

4
  
Then
Jesus was led
up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted
by the devil.
²
And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry.
³
And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."
⁴
But he answered, "It is written,

  
'Man shall not live by bread alone,

  
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'
 
"

⁵
Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple,
⁶
and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for
it is written
,

  
'He will give his angels charge of you,'

and

  
'On their hands they will bear you up,

  
lest you strike your foot against a stone.' "

⁷
Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.' "
⁸
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them;
⁹
and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."
¹⁰
Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan! for it is written,

  
'You shall worship the Lord your God

  
and him only shall you serve.' "

¹¹
Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.

Jesus Begins Preaching in Galilee

12
 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into
Galilee
;
¹³
and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Caper'na-um by the sea, in the territory of Zeb'ulun and Naph'tali,
¹⁴
that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

¹⁵
"
The land of Zeb'ulun
and the land of Naph'tali,

  
toward the sea, across the Jordan,

  
Galilee of the Gentiles—

¹⁶
the people who sat in darkness

  
have seen a great light,

  
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death

  
light has dawned."

¹⁷
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

18
 As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were
fishermen
.
¹⁹
And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
²⁰
Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
²¹
And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zeb'edee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.
²²
Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Jesus Ministers to Crowds of people

23
 And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their
synagogues
and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.
²⁴
So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them.
²⁵
And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the
Decap'olis
and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.

The Beatitudes

5
  
Seeing the crowds
, he went up
on the mountain
, and when he sat down his disciples came to him.
²
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

3
 "
Blessed
are
the poor in spirit
, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 "Blessed are
those who mourn
, for they shall be comforted.

5
 "Blessed are
the meek
, for they shall inherit the earth.

6
 "Blessed are
those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7
 "Blessed are
the merciful
, for they shall obtain mercy.

8
 "Blessed are
the pure in heart
, for they shall see God.

9
 "Blessed are
the peacemakers
, for they shall be called sons of God.

10
 "Blessed are
those who are persecuted
for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11
 "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
¹²
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Salt and Light

13
 "You are the
salt of the earth
; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.

14
 "You are the light of the world.
A city set on a hill
cannot be hidden.
¹⁵
Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
¹⁶
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to
your Father
who is in heaven.

The Fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets

17
 "Do not think that I have come to abolish
the law and the prophets
; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. 
*
¹⁸
For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not
an iota
, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.
¹⁹
Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
²⁰
For I tell you, unless
your righteousness
exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Concerning Anger

21
 "
You have heard
that it was said to the men of old, '
You shall not kill
; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.'
²²
But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother
 
ⁱ
shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults
 
^j
his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, '
You fool
!' shall be liable to the hell
 
^k
of fire.
²³
So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
²⁴
leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
²⁵
Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison;
²⁶
truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.

Concerning Adultery

27
 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit
adultery
.'
²⁸
But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
²⁹
If your right eye causes you to sin,
pluck it out
and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
 
^k
 
 
*
³⁰
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
 
^k

Concerning Divorce

31
 "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a
certificate of divorce
.'
³²
But I say to you that every one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, 
*
makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Concerning Swearing Oaths

33
 "Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall
not swear falsely
, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.'
³⁴
But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,
³⁵
or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
³⁶
And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
³⁷
Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from the Evil One.
 
^l