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of man in heaven; and then will all the tribes of the land lament, and will see the Son of man coming on the clouds 31 of heaven, with great power and glory. And he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet; and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

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"But learn a parable from the fig-tree: When its branch is now tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that sum33 mer is near: so likewise when ye see all these things, know 34 ye that the Son of man is near, even at the door. Verily I

say unto you, This generation will not pass away till all 35 these things be accomplished. Heaven and earth will pass away; but my words cannot pass away.

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"But of that day and hour? none knoweth; no, not the 37 angels of heaven; but the Father 3 only. But as the days of Noah were, so will the appearance of the Son of man 38 also be. For as in the days which were before the flood,

they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in mar39 riage, until the day when Noah entered into the ark; and understood not, until the flood came, and destroyed them 40 all; so will the appearance of the Son of man also be. Then will two men be in the field; the one will be taken, and the 41 other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; the one will be taken, and the other left.

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"Watch therefore: for ye know not at what hour your 43 master cometh. But this ye know, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered 44 his house to be broken into". Wherefore be ye also ready; for in an hour of which ye think not, the Son of man cometh.

1 Or, messengers, apostles and first preachers of the gospel, Mark xiii. 27. Sn. and that hour, R. T. 3 my father, R. T. and N. 4 Gr. watch. 5 Gr. dug through.

* Or, messengers, i. e. prophets, Sn. The Vatican and Cambridge, together with some other manuscripts and versions of good repute, here insert "nor the Son," but these words are commonly believed to be interpolated from Mark xiii. 32. See Griesbach and Newcome's note.

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"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master hath placed over his household, to give them food 46 in due season? Happy is that servant whom his master, 47 when he cometh, shall find thus employed'. Verily I say 48 unto you, that he will place him over all that he hath. But if that servant, being evil, say in his heart, 'My master de49 layeth his coming;' and begin to strike his fellow-servants, 50 and eat and drink with the drunken; the master of that

servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and 51 in an hour of which he is not aware; and will discard him3, and appoint him his portion with the perfidious: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

CH. XXV. "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten vir

gins, who took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bride2 groom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps, and took with 4 them no oil: but the wise took oil in their vessels, together 5 with their lamps. And while the bridegroom tarried, they 6 all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry,

'Behold, the bridegroom cometh: go ye forth to meet him.' 7 Then all those virgins rose, and set their lamps in order. ` 8 And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us of your oil: for 9 our lamps are going out.' But the wise answered, saying,

'Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: 5 go ye 10 rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.' And, while they went to buy, the bridegroom came: and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage-feast; and 11 the door was shut. And afterward the other virgins also 12 come, saying, 'Sir, sir, open it for us.' But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.'

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"Watch therefore, for ye know not the day and hour. "For the Son of man is like one going into another coun

N. m. doing thus, N. t. 2 to eat and drink, R. T. 3 cut him asunder, N. See Pearce and Campbell, in loc. 4 hypocrites, N. See Pearce and Campbell, in loc. 5 but go, R.T. wherein the Son of man cometh, R. T.

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try, who called his servants, and delivered to them what he 15 had: and gave to one five talents, and to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his ability; and 16 immediately went into another country. Then he that

had received the five talents went and traded with them, 17 and made' of them other five talents. And in like manner 18 he that had received the two, he also gained other two. But

he that had received the one, went and digged in the ground, 19 and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master 20 of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. Then

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he that had received the five talents came near, and brought other five talents, saying, 'Sir, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: see, I have gained besides them five other ta21 lents.' His master said unto him, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter into the 22 joy of thy master.' Then he also that had received the two talents came near, and said, 'Sir, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: see, I have gained besides them two other ta23 lents.' His master said unto him, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter into the 24 joy of thy master.' Then he that had received the one talent came near, and said, 'Sir, I knew that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where 25 thou hast not scattered: and I was afraid, and went and hid 26 thy talent in the ground: see, thou hast what is thine.' Then his master answered, and said unto him, 'Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed 27 not? and gather where I scattered not? Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers; and then at my coming I should have received mine own with 28 increase. Take ye therefore the talent from him, and give

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1 and gained other, Mss. N. m. And his master said, R. T. 3 Or, joyful banquet, N. m. See Est, ix. 19. 4 Or, interest, N. m.

29 it unto him that hath the ten talents. For to every one that hath much, to him shall be given, and he shall abound: but from him that hath little shall be taken away even that which 30 he hath. And put forth the unprofitable' servant into the outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' "But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon the throne of 32 his glory and before him will be gathered all nations: and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd se33 parateth his sheep from the goats: and he will set the sheep 34 on his right hand, but the goats on his left. Then the king

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will say to them on his right hand, 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foun35 dation of the world. For I was hungry, and ye gave me food: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, 36 and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye took care of me: I was in prison, and ye came unto 37 me.' Then will the righteous answer him, saying, 'Lord,

when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or thirsty, and 38 gave thee drink? And when saw we thee a stranger, and 39 took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? And when saw 40 we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?' And the

king will answer and say unto them, 'Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my bre41 thren, ye did it unto me.' Then he will say unto them also on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his an42 gels*. For I was hungry and ye gave me no food: I was 43 thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye

1 worthless, N. Now when, W. 3 the holy angels, R. T.; or, messengers, Sn. 4 Some of the best authorities read, “which my Father hath prepared."

* "The devil means here the wicked, as xiii. 39; devil is vice personified. His angels are instruments of wickedness. The whole discourse from ver. 31 is about human beings; devil and his angels are used allegorically to denote human adversaries of Christianity, Rev. xii. 7, 12; xx. 2, 7, 8, 10.” Su. See Simpson's Ess. ii. p. 150.

took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in 44 prison, and ye took no care of me.' Then they also will answer', saying, 'Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and 45 did not minister unto thee?' Then he will answer them, saying, 'Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not 46 unto one of the least of these, ye did it not unto me.' And these shall go away into everlasting punishment *: but the righteous into everlasting life.”

CH. XXVI. And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended all these 2 words, that he said to his disciples, "Ye know that after two days will be the passover: and then the Son of man will be delivered up to be crucified."

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Then the chief-priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled together in the palace of the high4 priest, who was called Caiaphas; and consulted how they 5 might apprehend Jesus by craft, and kill him. But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be a disturbance. among the people."

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Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon 7 called the leper, a woman came near unto him, having an alabaster-box of most precious ointment, and poured it out 8 on his head as he was at table. But when [his] disciples saw 9 it, they had indignation, saying, "Why is this waste? For

this might have been sold for much, and have been given 10 to the poor." And Jesus knew this, and said unto them, "Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath done a good 11 deed to me. For ye have the poor with you always; but

1 answer him, R. T. 2 ointment, R. T. and N.

* The word here rendered punishment, properly signifies correction inflicted for the benefit of the offender. And the word translated everlasting, is often used to express a long but indefinite duration. Rom. xvi. 2; 2 Tim. i. 9; Philemon v. 15. This text, therefore, so far from giving countenance to the harsh doctrine of eternal misery, is rather favourable to the more pleasing, and more probable hypothesis, of the ultimate restitution of the wicked to virtue and to happiness. See Simpson's Essay on Future Punishments.

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