And it came to pass when Jesus had finished commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and preach in their cities.
Now when John heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent by his disciples
and said unto him, Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and tell John the things which ye hear and see:
the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have {Or, the gospel}good tidings preached to them.
And blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me.
And as these went their way, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to behold? a reed shaken with the wind?
But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft raiment are in kings' houses.
{Many ancient authorities read But what went ye out to see? A prophet? }But wherefore went ye out? to see a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.
This is he, of whom it is written,
{Malachi 3:1}Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
Who shall prepare thy way before thee.
Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is {Greek: lesser.}but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force.
For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
And if ye are willing to receive {Or, him}it, this is Elijah, that is to come.
He that hath ears {Some ancient authorities omit to hear.}to hear, let him hear.
But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the marketplaces, who call unto their fellows
and say, We piped unto you, and ye did not dance; we wailed, and ye did not {Greek: beat the beast.}mourn.
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a demon.
The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold, a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of {See marginal note on chapter 5:46.}publicans and sinners! And wisdom {Or, was}is justified by her {Many ancient authorities read children: as in Luke 7:35.}works.
Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his {Greek: powers.}mighty works were done, because they repented not.
Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the {Greek: powers.}mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for you.
And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt {Many ancient authorities read be brought down.}go down unto Hades: for if the {Greek: powers.}mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in thee, it would have remained until this day.
But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.
At that season Jesus answered and said, I {Or, praise}thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes:
yea, Father, {Or, that}for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight.
All things have been delivered unto me of my Father: and no one knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Querverweise zu Matthäus 11,23 Mt 11,23
and leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali:
And thou saidst in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit upon the mount of congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.
Yet thou shalt be brought down to Sheol, to the uttermost parts of the pit.
Now the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against Jehovah exceedingly.
And when he was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger!He hath cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel,And hath not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.
Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven;
And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received the {Greek: didrachma. Compare marginal note on Luke 15:8.}half-shekel came to Peter, and said, Doth not your teacher pay the {Greek: didrachma. Compare marginal note on Luke 15:8.}half-shekel?
Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou sealest up the {Or, measure Or, pattern}sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
Thou wast in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the {Or, ruby}sardius, the topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the {Or, carbuncle}emerald, and the {Or, emerald}carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was in thee; in the day that thou wast created they were prepared.
Thou wast the anointed cherub that covereth: and I set thee, so that thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till unrighteousness was found in thee.
By the abundance of thy traffic they filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore have I cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; and I have destroyed thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I have cast thee to the ground; I have laid thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
By the multitude of thine iniquities, in the unrighteousness of thy traffic, thou hast profaned thy sanctuaries; therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of thee; it hath devoured thee, and I have turned thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
All they that know thee among the peoples shall be astonished at thee: thou art become {Or, a destruction Hebrew: terrors.}a terror, and thou shalt nevermore have any being.
and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
And he said unto them, Doubtless ye will say unto me this parable, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in thine own country.
I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with them that descend into the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the nether parts of the earth.
As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away {Or, when I saw it}as I saw good.
He came therefore again unto Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain {Or, king's officer}nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.
When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judæa into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son; for he was at the point of death.
Jesus therefore said unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will in no wise believe.
The {Or, king's officer}nobleman saith unto him, {Or, Lord}Sir, come down ere my child die.
Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. The man believed the word that Jesus spake unto him, and he went his way.
And as he was now going down, his {Greek: bondservants}servants met him, saying, that his son lived.
So he inquired of them the hour when he began to amend. They said therefore unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.
So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.
This is again the second sign that Jesus did, having come out of Judæa into Galilee.
They also went down into Sheol with him unto them that are slain by the sword; yea, they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the nations.
Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, having in like manner with these given themselves over to fornication and gone after strange flesh, are set forth {Or, as an example of eternal fire, suffering punishment}as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire.
Though thou mount on high as the eagle, and though thy nest be set among the stars, I will bring thee down from thence, saith Jehovah.
And their {Greek: carcase.}dead bodies lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.
For every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
For if God spared not angels when they sinned, but {Or, cast them into dungeons}cast them down to {Greek: Tartarus.}hell, and committed them to {Some ancient authorities read chains. Compare Wisd. 17:17.}pits of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
and spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, {Greek: a herald.}a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, having made them an example unto those that should live ungodly;
and delivered righteous Lot, sore distressed by the lascivious life of the wicked
(for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, {Greek: tormented.}vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their lawless deeds):
the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment unto the day of judgment;