Section XVI

¹¹¹⁴² Then answered certain of the scribes and Pharisees, that they might tempt him,² and said, Teacher, we desire to see a sign from thee.¹¹⁴³ He answered and said, This evil and adulterous generation¹¹⁴⁴ seeketh a sign; and it shall not be given a sign,³ except the sign of Jonah the prophet.¹¹⁴⁵ And as Jonah was a sign to the inhabitants⁴ of Nineveh, so shall the Son of man also be to this generation.¹¹⁴⁶ And as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man⁵ be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.¹¹⁴⁷ The queen of the south shall rise in the judgement with the people of this generation, and condemn¹¹⁴⁸ them: for she came from the ends of the earth that she might hear the wisdom of Solomon;⁶ [Arabic, p. 62] and behold, here is a better than Solomon.¹¹⁴⁹ The men of Nineveh shall stand in the judgement with this generation, and condemn it: for they repented at⁷ the preaching of Jonah; and behold, here is a greater than Jonah.¹¹⁵⁰ The unclean spirit, when he goeth out of the man, departeth, and goeth about through places wherein are no waters, that he may find rest for himself; and when he findeth it not, he⁸ saith, I will return to my house whence I came out.¹¹⁵¹ And if he come and find it⁹ adorned and set in order,¹¹⁵² then he goeth, and associateth with himself seven other spirits worse than himself; and they enter and dwell in it: and the end of that man¹⁰ shall be worse than his beginning.¹¹⁵³ Thus shall it be unto this evil generation.

¹¹¹¹⁵⁴ And while he was saying that, a woman from the multitude lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the breasts that nursed¹² thee.¹¹⁵⁵ But he said unto her, Blessed is he that heareth the word of God, and keepeth it.

¹³¹¹⁵⁶ And while he was speaking unto the multitude, there came unto him his mother¹⁴ and his brethren, and sought to speak with him;¹¹⁵⁷ and they were not able, because of¹⁵ the multitude; and they stood without and sent, calling him unto them.¹¹⁵⁸ A man said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren are standing without, and seek to¹⁶ speak with thee.¹¹⁵⁹ But he answered unto him that spake unto him, Who is my¹⁷ mother? and who are my brethren?¹¹⁶⁰ And he beckoned with his hand, stretching it out towards his disciples, and said, Behold, my mother! and behold, my brethren!¹⁸¹¹⁶¹ And every man that shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven is my brother, and my sister, and my mother.

¹⁹¹¹⁶² And after that, Jesus was going about in the cities and in the villages, and proclaiming [Arabic, p. 63] and preaching the kingdom of God, and his¹¹⁶³ twelve with him,²⁰¹¹⁶⁴ and the women which had been healed of diseases and of evil spirits, Mary²¹ that was called Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven devils,¹¹⁶⁵ and Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, who were ministering to them of their substance.

²²¹¹⁶⁶ And after that, Jesus went out of the house, and sat on the sea shore.¹¹⁶⁷ And there²³ gathered unto him great multitudes. And when the press of the people was great upon him, he went up and sat in the boat; and all the multitude was standing on the²⁴ shore of the sea.¹¹⁶⁸ And he spake to them much in parables, and said, The sower²⁵ went forth to sow: and when he sowed,¹¹⁶⁹ some fell on the beaten highway; and it was²⁶ trodden upon, and the birds ate it.¹¹⁷⁰ And other fell on the rocks: and some, where there was not much earth; and straightway it sprang up, because it had no depth in²⁷ the earth:¹¹⁷¹ and when the sun rose, it withered; and because it had no root, it dried²⁸ up.¹¹⁷² And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it;²⁹ and it yielded no fruit.¹¹⁷³ And other fell into excellent and good¹¹⁷⁴ ground; and it came up, and grew, and brought forth fruit, some thirty, and some sixty, and some³⁰ a hundred.¹¹⁷⁵ And when he said that, he cried, He that hath ears that hear, let him³¹ hear.¹¹⁷⁶ And when they were alone, his disciples came, and asked him, and said unto³² him, What is this parable? and why spakest thou unto them in parables?¹¹⁷⁷ He [Arabic, p. 64] answered and said unto them, Unto you is given the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God; but it is not given unto them that are³³ without.¹¹⁷⁸ He that hath shall be given unto, and there shall be added; and he that³⁴ hath not, that which he hath shall be taken from him also.¹¹⁷⁹ For this cause therefore I speak unto them in parables; because they see, and see not; and hear, and hear³⁵ not, nor understand.¹¹⁸⁰ And in them is being fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, who said,

Hearing they shall hear, and shall not understand;

And seeing they shall see, and shall not perceive:

³⁶¹¹⁸¹ The heart of this people is waxed gross,

And their hearing with their ears is become heavy,

And they have closed their eyes;

Lest they should see with their eyes,

And hear with their ears,

And understand with their hearts,

And should return,

And I should heal them.

[37, 38]¹¹⁸² But ye, blessed are your eyes, which see; and your ears, which hear.¹¹⁸³ Blessed³⁹ are the eyes which see what ye see.¹¹⁸⁴ Verily I say unto you, Many of the prophets and the righteous longed to see what ye see, and saw not; and to hear what ye⁴⁰ hear, and heard not.¹¹⁸⁵ When ye know not this parable, how shall ye know all parables? [41, 42]¹¹⁸⁶ Hear ye the parable of the sower.¹¹⁸⁷ The sower which sowed, sowed the word⁴³ of God.¹¹⁸⁸ Every one who heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, the evil one cometh and snatcheth away the word that hath been sown in his⁴⁴ heart: and this is that which was sown on the middle of the highway.¹¹⁸⁹ But that which was sown on the rocks is he that heareth the word, and straightway receiveth [45, 46] [Arabic, p. 65] it with joy;¹¹⁹⁰ only, it hath no root in his soul, but his belief in it is for a time;¹¹⁹¹ and whenever there is distress or persecution because of a¹¹⁹² word, he⁴⁷ stumbleth¹¹⁹³ quickly.¹¹⁹⁴ And that which was sown among the thorns is he that heareth the word;¹¹⁹⁵ and the care of this world, and the error of riches, and the rest of the⁴⁸ other lusts enter, and choke the word, and it becometh without fruit.¹¹⁹⁶ And that which was sown in good ground is he that heareth my word in a pure and good heart, and understandeth it, and holdeth to it, and bringeth forth fruit with patience,¹¹⁹⁷ and produceth either a hundredfold or sixtyfold or thirty.

⁴⁹¹¹⁹⁸ And he said, So is the kingdom of God, like a man who casteth seed into the⁵⁰ earth, and sleepeth and riseth by night and day,¹¹⁹⁹ and the seed groweth and cometh⁵¹ up, whence¹²⁰⁰ he knoweth not.¹²⁰¹ And the earth bringeth it to the fruit; and first it⁵² will be blade, and after it ear, and at last perfect wheat in the ear:¹²⁰² and whenever the fruit ripeneth,¹²⁰³ he bringeth immediately the sickle, for the harvest hath come.