LUKE VII-JESUS ANOINTED

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speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind?

25 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in king's courts.

26 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I you, and much more than a prophet.

say unto

27 This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.i

28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

29 And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.

30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.

31 And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?

32 They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.

33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.

34 The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and

sinners!

35 But wisdom is justified of all her children.

36¶And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. 37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,

38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.

40 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.

41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.

42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?

Mal. 3, 1 and 4, 5.

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LUKE VIII—PARABLE OF THE SOWER

43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forAnd he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.

gave most.

44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.

45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.

46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment..

47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

49 And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?

50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

Chapter 8

3 Women minister unto Christ of their substance. 4 Christ, after he had preached from place to place, attended with his apostles, propoundeth the parable of the sower, 16 and of the candle: 21 declareth who are his mother, and brethren: 22 rebuketh the winds: 26 casteth the legion of devils out of the man into the herd of swine: 37 is rejected of the Gadarenes: 43 healeth the woman of her bloody issue, 49 and raiseth from death Jairus' daughter.

ND it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,

2 And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, 3 And Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance. 4¶ And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:

5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, withered away, because it lacked moisture.

it

7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up with it, and choked it.

8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? 10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

12 Those by the way side are they that hear: then cometh the

The Pool of Bethesda

BY J. JAMES TISSOT. BY COURTESY OF THE TISSOT

PICTURE SOCIETY OF NEW YORK.

+

"For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had."-John, 5, 4.

S

OMEWHERE about this time, that is after Jesus

had been preaching for nearly a year in Galilee, He visited Jerusalem again, probably to be present at the annual feast of the passover, as before. But he could not come now as on the previous year, a man unnoted amid the crowd. He was now famous; His name, His works were the wonder of all Palestine. Moreover the priesthood had learned to look on Him with doubt. They had heard that He claimed to forgive sins, a blasphemy. It was certain that He consorted with men of the poorer classes, and that He stirred the people to intense excite

ment.

Wishing to avoid such tumult as He might, Jesus came quietly to Jerusalem. He appeared, unknown, at the pool of Bethesda. Now this pool was reputed to be miraculous. The verse of the Bible quoted above says positively that it was so, but this verse has been said to be an interpolation in the text. The waters had certainly at intervals a curative effect, strongly felt by whosoever entered them at the moment of their agitation. Hence there was always a crowd of invalids about the pool "waiting for the moving of the water."