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ducees to silence, they were gathered together for the same 35 purpose'. Then one of them, who was a teacher of the law, 36 asked him a question, trying him, and saying, "Master, 37 which is the great commandment in the law?" And Jesus

said unto him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.' 38 This is the first and great commandment. And the second 39 is like it; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' On 40 these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."

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Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus 42 asked them, saying, "What think ye of the Christ *? whose 43 son is he?" They say unto him, "The son of David." He

saith unto them, "How then doth David by the spirit call 44 him Lord, saying, 'Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit thou on 45 my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?' If 46 David then call him Lord †, how is he his son ??' And no

man was able to answer him a word; nor durst any man from that day ask him any further question.

CH. XXIII. Then spake Jesus to the multitudes, and to his dis2 ciples, saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in the 3 seat of Moses: all things therefore whatsoever they com

mand you to observe, observe and do; but do not according 4 to their works: for they say and do not. For they bind heavy burthens, and hard to be borne, and lay them on the shoulders of men: but they themselves will not move them 5 with their own finger. And all their works they do in order to be seen by men; and make broad their phylacteries, and 6 enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the chief 7 place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and 1 W. in the same place, N.

* of Christ, N. Here it is clearly an appellation of office, not a proper name. Sn. See Campbell's Diss. v. 4.

+ See Psalm cx. 1. The Psalmist, transported in vision to the age of the Messiah, speaks as if he were contemporary with him. This mode of writing was not unusual with the prophets. See Isaiah liii. John viii, 56.

salutations in the market-places, and to be called by men 8 Rabbi, Rabbi'. But be not ye called Rabbi1: for one is 9 your Leader; and all ye are brethren. And call not any man your father upon earth: for one is your Father, that 10 is in heaven. Nor be ye called Leaders: for one is your 11 Leader, even the Christ. But he that is greatest among 12 you, shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself, shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself, shall be exalted.

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“But alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither enter in yourselves, nor suffer those that are entering 15 in to enter *. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye traverse sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becometh such, ye make him twofold more a 16 son of hell than yourselves. Alas for you, ye blind guides! who say, 'Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, 17 he is bound by his oath.' Ye fools, and blind! for which is greater; the gold, or the temple which sanctifieth the gold? 18 And Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing: but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, he is 19 bound by his oath.' Ye fools, and blind! for which is greater; 20 the gift, or the altar which sanctifieth the gift? He there

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fore who sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all 21 things thereon. And he who sweareth by the temple, swear22 eth by it, and by Him who dwelleth therein. And he who sweareth by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and 23 by Him who sitteth thereon. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithes of mint and anise and

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1 Master, Master, N. Teacher, Mss. even the Christ, R.T.
Italics have the appearance of a marginal gloss, as in ver. 8. N.

3 The words in

* Ver. 14. "Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation." R.T. This verse is interpolated from Mark xii, 40; Luke xx. 47. N. See Griesbach,

cummin, and omit the weightier matters of the law, justice, and pity, and faithfulness: now' these things ought ye to 24 have done, and not to leave the other undone : ye blind 25 guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel'! Alas

for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the dish; but within they 26 are filled by rapine and injustice. Thou blind Pharisee, first make clean the inside of the cup [and the dish]; and 27 then their outside also will be clean. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye resemble whited sepulchres, which outwardly indeed appear beautiful, but within 28 are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. In

like manner ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, 29 but within are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and adorn the sepulchres of the 30 righteous; and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the 31 blood of the prophets.' Wherefore ye bear witness to yourselves, that ye are the sons of those who slew the prophets. 32 Fill ye up therefore the measure of your fathers. Ye ser33 pents, ye offspring of vipers, how can ye escape the judge34 ment of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you pro

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phets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye will kill and crucify and some of them ye will scourge in your 35 synagogues, and persecute from city to city: so that upon you will come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zachariah, son of Barachiah", whom ye slew between the temple 36 and the altar. Verily I say unto you, that all these things shall come upon this generation.

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"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the prophets, and

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1 R. T. omits now. 2 intemperance, R. T. 3 generation, N. Gr. that upon you may come, N. m. 5 son of Barachiah. The words are omitted by Luke, and are probably an interpolation. See N. and Griesbach. 6 that, omitted in R. T.

stonest those that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth 38 her chickens under her wings; but ye would not! Behold, 39 your habitation shall be left by you desolate. For I say

unto you, Ye shall not see me hereafter, till ye shall say, 'Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord." " CH. XXIV. And Jesus went out, and was departing from the temple: and his disciples came near, to show him the build2 ings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them," See ye [not] all these things? Verily I say unto you, There will not be left here one stone upon another, which will not be thrown down."

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And as he was sitting on the mount of Olives, the disciples came near to him privately, saying, "Tell us when will these things be? and what will be the sign of thy ap4 pearance, and of the end of the age?" Then Jesus answered,

and said unto them, "Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ';' 6 and will deceive many. And ye will soon hear of wars, and

rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these 7 things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, 8 in many places. But all these things are the beginning of

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sorrows.

Then will men deliver you up to affliction, and will kill you: : and ye will be hated by all nations because of my 10 name. And then many will fall away, and will deliver up 11 one another, and will hate one another. And many false 12 prophets will rise, and will deceive many. And because iniquity will be multiplied, the affection of many will be13 come cold. But whosoever endureth to the end, he shall be 14 preserved. And these glad tidings of my kingdom will be

1 I am Christ, N. 2 Gr. will be scandalized, N. m. 3 love toward, N.

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preached in all the world, for a witness to all nations; and then the end will come.

"When therefore ye see the desolating abomination', spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing on holy ground, 16 (let him who readeth consider,) then let those that are in 17 Judea flee to the mountains: let not him that is on the 18 house-top go down to take things out of his house: nor let 19 him that is in the field turn back to take his garments. But

alas for them that are with child, and for them that give 20 suck, in those days! And pray ye that your flight be not in 21 winter, nor on the sabbath. For then will be great afflic

tion, such as hath not been since the beginning of the world 22 to this time, no, nor ever will be. And unless those days should be shortened, no man3 could be preserved: but because of the elect those days will be shortened.

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“Then if any man say unto you, 'Lo, here is the Christ, 24 or there;' believe him not. For false Christs and false prophets will rise, and will propose* great signs and wonders, so 25 as to deceive, if it were possible, even the elect. Lo, I have 26 foretold you this. Wherefore, if men say unto you, 'Be

hold, Christ is in the desert;' go not forth: Behold, he is 27 in the secret chambers,' believe them not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth to the west; so will 28 the appearance of the Son of man [also] be. For wheresoever the carcase is, thither the eagles will be gathered together.

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"Now soon after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens 30 will be shaken *. And then will appear the sign of the Son

1 Gr. abomination of desolation, i, e. the Roman armies, N. 2 any thing, R. T. and N. 3 Gr. flesh. 4 W. show, N. promise, Sn. See Raphelius, Pearce, Bowyer, Parkhurst, Schleusner, &c.

"This is the strong language of prophecy, to denote that the Jewish rulers, their temple worship and state, should be destroyed," Isaiah xxxiv. 4. N. To be exalted then to heaven, or above the host of heaven, may signify nothing more than to be made superior to the Jewish hierarchy.

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