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¹ IT came to pass on the sabbath, as Jesus walked through the wheat fields, his disciples plucked ears of wheat, and rubbed them in their hands and did eat.² But some of the men of the Pharisees said to them, Why are you doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath?³ Jesus answered and said to them, Have you not read this, what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry?⁴ He entered into the house of God, and took the bread that was on the table of the Lord and did eat it, and he gave it to those who were with him; that which was unlawful to eat but only for the priests.⁵ And he said to them, The Son of man is Lord of the sabbath.⁶ And it came to pass on another sabbath, he entered into the synagogue and taught; and there was there a man whose right hand was withered.⁷ And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see if he would heal on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him.⁸ But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man whose hand was withered, Rise up and come to the center of the synagogue. And when he came and stood up,⁹ Jesus said to them, I will ask you, What is lawful to do on the sabbath, that which is good or that which is bad? to save a life or to destroy it?¹⁰ And he looked at all of them, and said to him, Stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out; and his hand was restored like the other.¹¹ But they were filled with bitterness, and discussed with each other what to do with Jesus.

¹² It happened in those days, Jesus went out to a mountain to pray, and he remained all night in prayer to God.¹³ And at daybreak, he called his disciples; and he chose twelve from them, whom he called apostles;¹⁴ Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip and Bartholomew,¹⁵ And Matthew and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus and Simon who is called the Zealot,¹⁶ And Judas the son of James, and Judas of Iscariot, who became the traitor.¹⁷ And Jesus went down with them and stood up in the plain; and a large group of his disciples, and a large crowd of people, from all over Judaea, and from Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear his word, and to be healed of their diseases;¹⁸ And those who were suffering from unclean spirits were healed.¹⁹ And all the people wanted to touch him; because power proceeded from him, and he healed them all.

²⁰ And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said, Blessed are you poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.²² Blessed are you, when men hate you, and discriminate against you, and reproach you, and publish your names as bad, for the sake of the Son of man.²³ Be glad and rejoice in that day, for your reward is increased in heaven; for their fathers did the same to the prophets.²⁴ But woe to you, rich men! for you have already received your comforts.²⁵ Woe to you who are full! for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now! for you will weep and mourn.²⁶ Woe to you when men speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

²⁷ But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, and do good to those who hate you,²⁸ And bless those who curse you, and pray for those who compel you to carry burdens.²⁹ And he who strikes you on your cheek, offer him the other; and he who takes away your robe, do not refuse your shirt also.³⁰ Give to every one who asks you; and from him who takes away what is yours, do not demand it back again.³¹ Just as you want men to do to you. do to them likewise.³² For if you love those who love you, what is your favor? for even sinners love those who love them.³³ And if you do good only to those who do good to you, what is your favor? for sinners also do the same.³⁴ And if you lend only to him from whom you expect to be paid back, what is your favor? for sinners also lend to sinners, to be paid back likewise.³⁵ But love your enemies, and do good to them, and lend, and do not cut off any man''s hope; so your reward will increase, and you will become sons of the Highest; for he is gracious to the wicked and the cruel.³⁶ Be therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

³⁷ Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you; good measure shaken up and running over, they will pour into your robe.* For with the measure that you measure, it will be measured to you.³⁹ And he told them a parable, Can a blind man take care of a blind man? will they not both fall in a pit?⁴⁰ There is no disciple who is more important than his teacher; for every man who is well developed will be like his teacher.⁴¹ Why do you see the splinter in your brother''s eye, and do not see the beam in your own eye?⁴² Or how can you say to your brother, My brother, let me take out the splinter from your eye, when behold, you do not see the beam in your own eye? O hypocrites, first take out the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the splinter from your brother''s eye.⁴³ There is no good tree that bears bad fruits, nor a bad tree that bears good fruits.⁴⁴ For every tree is known by its own fruits. For they do not gather figs from thistles, nor gather grapes from a bramble bush.⁴⁵ A good man brings out good things from the good treasure of his heart; and a bad man from the bad treasure of his heart brings out bad things; for from the abundance of the heart the lips speak.⁴⁶ Why do you call me, My Lord, my Lord, and do not do what I say?⁴⁷ Every man who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like.⁴⁸ He is like a man who built a house, and dug deep, and laid its foundations upon the rock; and when the flood came, the flood beat upon that house, and could not shake it; for its foundation was laid upon a rock.⁴⁹ And he who hears and does not, is like a man who built his house on the earth without a foundation; and when the river beat against it, it fell immediately, and the fall of that house was great.