Section XXXIII.
1 96 And when evening came, Jesus went forth outside of the city, he and his disciples. 2 97 And as they passed in the morning, the disciples saw that fig tree withered away from its root. 3 98 And they passed by, and said, How did the fig tree dry up immediately? 4 99 And Simon remembered, and said unto him, My Master, behold, that fig tree which thou didst curse hath dried up. 5 100 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Let there be in you the faith of God. 6 101 Verily I say unto you, if ye believe, and doubt not in your hearts, and assure yourselves that that will be which ye say, ye shall have what ye say. 7 102 And if ye say to this mountain, Remove, and fall into the sea, it shall be. 8 104 And all that ye ask God in prayer, and believe, he will give you. 9 105 And the apostles said unto our Lord, Increase our faith. 10 108 He said unto them, If there be in you faith like a grain of mustard, ye shall say to this fig tree, Be thou torn up, and be thou planted in the sea; and it will obey you. 11 109 Who of you hath a servant driving a yoke of oxen or tending sheep, and if he come from the field, will say unto him straightway, 12 110 Go and sit down? Nay, he will say unto him, Make ready for me wherewith I may sup, and gird thy waist, and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterwards thou shalt eat and drink also. 13 112 Doth that servant haply, who did what he was bid, receive his praise? I think not. 14 113 So ye also, when ye have done all that ye were bid, say, We are idle servants; what it was our duty to do, we have done.
15 114 For this reason I say unto you, Whatever ye pray and ask, believe that ye receive, and ye shall have. 16 115 And when ye stand to pray, forgive what is in your heart against any man; and your Father which is in heaven will forgive you also your wrong-doings. 17 116 But if ye forgive not men their wrong-doings, neither will your Father forgive you also your wrong-doings.
18 117 And he spake unto them a parable also, that they should pray at all times, and not be slothful: 19 118 There was a judge in a city, who feared not God, nor was ashamed for men: 20 119 and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, and said, Avenge me of mine adversary. 21 120 And he would not for a long time: but afterwards he said within himself, If of God I have no fear, and before men I have no shame; yet because this widow vexeth me, 22 121 I will avenge her, that she come not at all times and annoy me. 23 122 And our Lord said, Hear ye what the judge of injustice said. 24 123 And shall not God still more do vengeance for his elect, who call upon him in the night and in the day, and grant them respite? I say unto you, He will do vengeance for them speedily. 25 124 Thinkest thou the Son of man will come and find faith on the earth? 26 125 And they came again to Jerusalem. 27 126 And it came to pass, on one of the days, as Jesus was walking in the temple, and teaching the people, and preaching the gospel , that the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came upon him, and said unto him, Tell us: 28 127 By what power doest thou this? and who gave thee this power to do that? 29 128 And Jesus said unto them, I also will ask you one word, and if ye tell me, I also shall tell you by what power I do that. 30 129 The baptism of John, from what place is it? from heaven or of men? Tell me. 31 130 And they reflected within them- selves, and said, If we shall say unto him, From heaven; he will say unto us, 32 131 For what reason did ye not believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear that the people will stone us, all of them. 33 134 And all of them were holding to John, that he was a true prophet. 34 136 They answered and said unto him, We know not. 35 137 Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you also by what power I work. What think ye? A man had two sons; and he went to the first, and said unto him, My son, go to-day, and till in the vineyard. 36 138 And he answered and said, I do not wish to: but finally he repented, and went. 37 139 And he went to the other, and said unto him likewise. 38 140 And he answered and said, Yea, my lord: and went not. Which of these two did the will of his father? They said unto him, The first. Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, The publicans and harlots go before you into the kingdom of God. 39 141 John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the publicans and harlots believed him; and ye, not even when ye saw, did ye repent at last, that ye might believe in him.
40 142 Hear another parable: A man was a householder, and planted a vineyard, and surrounded it with a hedge, 41 143 and digged in it a winepress, and built in it a tower, and gave it to husbandmen, and went to a distance for a long time. 42 144 So when the time of the fruits came, he sent his servants unto the husbandmen, that they might send him of the produce of his vineyard. 43 147 And those husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. 44 148 And he sent unto them another servant also; and they stoned him, and wounded him, and sent him away with shameful handling. 45 150 And he sent again another; and they slew him. And he sent many other servants unto them. 46 151 And the husbandmen took his servants, and one they beat, and another they stoned, and another they slew. 47 152 So he sent again other servants more than the first; and they did likewise with them. 48 153 So the owner of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will see him and be ashamed. 49 154 So at last he sent unto them his beloved son that he had. 50 155 But the husbandmen, when they saw the son, said amongst themselves, This is the heir. 51 156 And they said, We will slay him, and so the inheritance will be ours. 52 157 So they took him, and put him forth without the vineyard, and slew him. 53 158 When then the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do with those husbandmen? 54 159 They said unto him, He will destroy them in the worst of ways, and give the vineyard to other husbandmen, who will give him fruit in its season. 55 161 Jesus said unto them, Have ye never read in the scripture,
The stone which the builders declared to be base, The same came to be at the head of the corner: 56 162 From God was this, And it is wonderful in our eyes?
57 163 Therefore I say unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a people that will produce fruit. 58 164 And whosoever falleth on this stone shall be broken in pieces: but on whomsoever it falleth, it will grind him to powder. 59 165 And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that it was concerning them he spake. 60 166 And they sought to seize him; and they feared the multitude, because they were holding to him as the prophet.