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so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

Another parable he spake unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of 34 meal, till the whole was leavened.* All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto 35 them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of 36 the world. Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Explain unto us the parable 37 of the tares of the field. He answered and

said unto them, He that soweth the good seed 38 is the Son of man; the field is the world;

the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked 39 one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world ;* and the 40 reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares

are gathered and burnt in the fire; so shall it 41 be in the end of this world; the Son of man

shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and 42 them who do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire there shall be wailing 43 and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righ

* Some of these parables have reference to the rapid pro gress of Christianity in the heathen world.

Or the conclusion of the Jewish state.

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teous shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear let him hear.*

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; which, when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto 46 a merchant-man seeking goodly pearls: Who when he had found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it. 47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto

a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered 48 of every kind: Which, when it was full, they

drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the 49 good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from 50 among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire there shall be wailing and 51 gnashing of teeth. Then Jesus saith unto them,

Have ye understood all these things? They 52 say unto him, Yea, Lord. Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, is like unto a man that is an householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.

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And it came to pass, that when Jesus had

* The doctrine contained in this parable is most solemu and impressive. Here we are taught that Christ will finally judge the world in righteousness, and render to every one according to their deeds.

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finished these parables, he departed thence. 54 And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty 55 works? Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary ? and his brethren, 56 James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas ?* and

his sisters are they not all with us? whence 57 then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in 58 his own country, and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.†

* These persons were not strictly speaking the brethren of Jesus, but his relatives: and such were generally called a man's brethren by the Jews. Some critics suppose, for Joses, we should read John or Joseph, which in the original are spelled very much alike.

† But some are ready to assert that unbelief, being involuntary, deserves greater evidence for its conviction. Where unbelief is absolutely unavoidable, this may be the case. But not, where it is owing to a disposition hostile to truth and to unreasonable prejudices. It then does not deserve more proof, nor would it yield to an increase of evidence. With infidels generally in Christian countries, it is owing, not to want of evidence, that they refuse to acknowledge Jesus Christ as a divine Teacher; but for want of attention, or of good dispositions, and honesty to own what they believe at heart. Like the Jews of old, they ask for some new evidence when there is much already given, as remarkable as what they demand.

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CHAP. XIV.

AT that time Herod the tetrarch heard of 2 the fame of Jesus, and said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist : he has risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works are. manifested by him.*

3 For Herod had taken John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his 4 brother Philip's wife.t For John said unto

him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. 5 And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they esteem6 ed him as a prophet. But when Herod's birth-" day was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced 7 before them and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath, to give her whatso8 ever she should ask. And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John 9 Baptist's head in a charger. And the king was sorry; nevertheless, for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he comman10 ded it to be given her. And he sent and be11 headed John in the prison. And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel : 12 and she brought it to her mother. And his

Then Herod believed it possible one might rise from the dead. It is indeed no uncommon thing for infidels to believe strange things, and even to be superstitious.

What dissoluteness of manners! What cruelty mingled with their pleasures!

Certainly it would be better to violate a rash and wicked oath than to do an action evidently cruel and vicious. But we should be careful how we make premises or vows.

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disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.

When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place, apart; and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him 14 on foot out of the cities. And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he - healed their sick.

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And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past, send the multitude away that they may go into the villages, and 16 buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto

them, They need not depart : give ye them 17 to eat. And they say unto him, We have 18 here but five loaves and two fishes. He said, 19 Bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and he took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed,* and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the 20 disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat and were filled and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. 21 And they that had eaten were about five

thousand men, besides women and children. 22 And immediately Jesus constrained his

disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the 23 multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain

He blessed God or gave thanks.

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