In the mean time, when {Greek: the myriads of.}the many thousands of the multitude were gathered together, insomuch that they trod one upon another, he began to {Or, say unto his disciples, First of all beware ye}say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
But there is nothing covered up, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
Wherefore whatsoever ye have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light; and what ye have spoken in the ear in the inner chambers shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
But I will warn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, who after he hath killed hath {Or, authority}power to cast into {Greek: Gehenna.}hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
Are not five sparrows sold for two pence? and not one of them is forgotten in the sight of God.
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
And I say unto you, Every one who shall confess {Greek: in me.}me before men, {Greek: in him.}him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
but he that denieth me in the presence of men shall be denied in the presence of the angels of God.
And every one who shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven.
And when they bring you before the synagogues, and the rulers, and the authorities, be not anxious how or what ye shall answer, or what ye shall say:
for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in that very hour what ye ought to say.
And one out of the multitude said unto him, Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me.
But he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?
And he said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness: {Or, for even in a man's abundance his life is not from the things which he possesseth}for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
and he reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have not where to bestow my fruits?
And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my grain and my goods.
And I will say to my {Or, life}soul, {Or, life}Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry.
But God said unto him, Thou foolish one, this night {Greek: they require thy soul.}is thy {Or, life}soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be?
So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your {Or, soul}life, what ye shall eat; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.
For the {Or, soul}life is more than the food, and the body than the raiment.
Consider the ravens, that they sow not, neither reap; which have no store-chamber nor barn; and God feedeth them: of how much more value are ye than the birds!
And which of you by being anxious can add a cubit unto {Or, his stature}the measure of his life?
If then ye are not able to do even that which is least, why are ye anxious concerning the rest?
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin; yet I say unto you, Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
But if God doth so clothe the grass in the field, which to-day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more shall he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
And seek not ye what ye shall eat, and what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: but your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
Yet seek ye {Many ancient authorities read the kingdom of God.}his kingdom, and these things shall be added unto you.
Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Sell that which ye have, and give alms; make for yourselves purses which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief draweth near, neither moth destroyeth.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning;
and be ye yourselves like unto men looking for their lord, when he shall return from the marriage feast; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may straightway open unto him.
Blessed are those {Greek: bondservants.}servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them.
And if he shall come in the second watch, and if in the third, and find them so, blessed are those servants.
{Or, But this ye know}But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not have left his house to be {Greek: digged through.}broken through.
Be ye also ready: for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.
And Peter said, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even unto all?
And the Lord said, Who then is {Or, the faithful steward, the wise man whom &c.}the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall set over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?
Blessed is that {Greek: bondservant.}servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Of a truth I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath.
But if that {Greek: bondservant.}servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
the lord of that {Greek: bondservant.}servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall {Or, severely scourge him}cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the unfaithful.
And that {Greek: bondservant.}servant, who knew his lord's will, and made not ready, nor did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes;
but he that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. And to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required: and to whom they commit much, of him will they ask the more.
I came to cast fire upon the earth; and {Or, how would I that it were already kindled!}what do I desire, if it is already kindled?
But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!
Think ye that I am come to give peace in the earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:
for there shall be from henceforth five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.
They shall be divided, father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against her mother; mother in law against her daughter in law, and daughter in law against her mother in law.
And he said to the multitudes also, When ye see a cloud rising in the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it cometh to pass.
And when ye see a south wind blowing, ye say, There will be a {Or, hot wind}scorching heat; and it cometh to pass.
Ye hypocrites, ye know how to {Greek: prove.}interpret the face of the earth and the heaven; but how is it that ye know not how to {Greek: prove.}interpret this time?
And why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?
For as thou art going with thine adversary before the magistrate, on the way give diligence to be quit of him; lest haply he drag thee unto the judge, and the judge shall deliver thee to the {Greek: exactor.}officer, and the {Greek: exactor.}officer shall cast thee into prison.
I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou have paid the very last mite.
Querverweise zu Lukas 12,58 Lk 12,58
Go not forth hastily to strive, {Or, Lest it be said in the end thereof, What will thou do? When &c.}Lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof,When thy neighbor hath put thee to shame.
Or what king, as he goeth to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
Strive to enter in by the narrow door: for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be {Or, able, when once}able.
When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are;
then shall ye begin to say, We did eat and drink in thy presence, and thou didst teach in our streets;
and he shall say, I tell you, I know not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
There shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and yourselves cast forth without.
And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay that which was due.
Debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself, {Or, But}And disclose not the secret of another;
Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and asketh conditions of peace.
But thou {Or, hast filled up}art full of the judgment of the wicked:Judgment and justice take hold on thee.
in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison,
If therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee,
leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art with him in the way; lest haply the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge {Some ancient authorities omit deliver thee.}deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou have paid the last farthing.
And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the field of Edom.
And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye say unto my lord Esau: Thus saith thy servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now:
and I have oxen, and asses, and flocks, and men-servants, and maid-servants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in thy sight.
And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and moreover he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed: and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies;
and he said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the company which is left shall escape.
And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Jehovah, who saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good:
{Hebrew: I am less than all &c.}I am not worthy of the least of all the lovingkindnesses, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two companies.
Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, the mother with the children.
And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
And he lodged there that night, and took of that which he had with him a present for Esau his brother:
two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals.
And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.
And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?
then thou shalt say They are thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, he also is behind us.
And he commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him;
and ye shall say, Moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept me.
So the present passed over before him: and he himself lodged that night in the company.
And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven children, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok.
And he took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had.
And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was strained, as he wrestled with him.
And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but {That is, He who striveth with God, or, God striveth.}Israel: for thou hast {Or, had power with}striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
{Or, Because there is wrath, beware lest thou be led away by the sufficiency}For let not wrath stir thee up against chastisements;Neither let the greatness of the ransom turn thee aside.
And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two {Or, skins}bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched grain, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.
And she said unto her young men, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.
And it was so, as she rode on her ass, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that, behold, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them.
Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath returned me evil for good.
God do so {The Syriac and some editions of Septuagint version have, unto David.}unto the enemies of David, and more also, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light so much as one man-child.
And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and alighted from her ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground.
And she fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me be the iniquity; and let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine ears, and hear thou the words of thy handmaid.
Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this worthless fellow, even Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; {That is, Fool.}Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thy handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
Now therefore, my lord, as Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing Jehovah hath withholden thee {Hebrew: from coming into blood.}from bloodguiltiness, and from {Hebrew: thine own hand saving thee.}avenging thyself with thine own hand, now therefore let thine enemies, and them that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.
And now this {Hebrew; blessing.}present which thy servant hath brought unto my lord, let it be given unto the young men that follow my lord.
Forgive, I pray thee, the trespass of thy handmaid: for Jehovah will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fighteth the battles of Jehovah; and evil shall not be found in thee all thy days.
And though men be risen up to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of {Or, the living}life with Jehovah thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as from the hollow of a sling.
And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee prince over Israel,
that this shall be no {Hebrew: cause of staggering.}grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, {Or, so that thou shouldest shed &c.}either that thou hast shed blood without cause, or that my lord hath avenged himself. And when Jehovah shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid.
And David said to Abigail, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me:
and blessed be thy discretion, and blessed be thou, that hast kept me this day from bloodguiltiness, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
For in very deed, as Jehovah, the God of Israel, liveth, who hath withholden me from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light so much as one man-child.
So David received of her hand that which she had brought him: and he said unto her, Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.
Now consider this, ye that forget God,Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver:
Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: {Or,as otherwise read, Thereby shall thine increase be good.}Thereby good shall come unto thee.
There the upright might reason with him;So should I be delivered for ever from my judge.
For this let every one that is godly pray unto thee {Or, in the time of finding out sin}in a time when thou mayest be found:Surely when the great waters overflow they shall not reach unto him.
My son, if thou art become surety for thy neighbor,If thou hast stricken {Or, thy hand with a stranger}thy hands for a stranger;
Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth,Thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself,Seeing thou art come into the hand of thy neighbor:Go, {Or, bestir}humble thyself, and importune thy neighbor;
Give not sleep to thine eyes,Nor slumber to thine eyelids;
Deliver thyself as a {Or, gazelle}roe from the hand of the hunter,And as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near:
(for he saith, {Isaiah 49:8.}At an acceptable time I hearkened unto thee,And in a day of salvation did I succor thee:behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation):
Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit saith, {Psalm 95:7 ff.}To-day if ye shall hear his voice,
Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation,Like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness,
{Or, Wherewith}Where your fathers tried me by proving me,And saw my works forty years.
Wherefore I was displeased with this generation,And said, They do always err in their heart:But they did not know my ways;
{Or, So}As I sware in my wrath, {Greek: If they shall enter.}They shall not enter into my rest.
Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God:
but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called To-day; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin: