And Jesus said, "But when the son was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and threw his arms around him, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight, and am no more worthy to be called your son.’

"But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring here the fattened calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

"Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And the servant said unto him, ‘Your brother is come; and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him safe and sound.’ And the elder son was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and implored him.

"And the elder son answering said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years do I serve you, neither transgressed I at anytime your commandment: and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this your son was come, which has devoured your estate with harlots, you have killed for him the fattened calf.’

"And the Father said unto him, ‘Son, you are ever with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry, and be glad: for this your brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.’ "

And Jesus said also unto his disciples, "There was a certain rich man, who had a steward; and the steward was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And the rich man called the steward, and said unto him, ‘How is it that I hear this of you? Give an account of your stewardship; for you may be no longer steward.’

"Then the steward said within himself, ‘what shall I do? For my lord takes away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’

"So he called everyone of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, ‘how much owe you unto my lord?’

"And the debtor said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’

"And the steward said unto him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.’ Then said he to another, ‘And how much owe you?’

"And the other said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’

"And the steward said unto him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

"And the rich man commended the unjust steward, because he had done shrewdly: for the children of this world are in their generation shrewder than the children of light.

"And I say unto you, make to yourselves friends of the riches of unrighteousness; that, when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous riches, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?

"No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and riches."

And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they sneered at Jesus. And he said unto them, "You are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

"The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presses into it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one line of the law to fail.

"There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

"And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's arms: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his arms. And he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’

"But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and you are tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they, which would pass from here to you, cannot; neither can they pass to us that would come from there.’

"Then the rich man said, ‘I pray you therefore, father, that you would send Lazarus to my father's house: For I have five brothers; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’

"Abraham said unto him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’

"And the rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.’

"And Abraham said unto him, ‘If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.’ "

The Pharisees also came unto Jesus, testing him, and saying…, "Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?"

And Jesus answered and said unto them, "Have you not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, ‘For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cling to his wife: and they two shall be one flesh?’ Therefore they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together let not man put apart."

The Pharisees said unto Jesus, "Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?"

Jesus replied…, "Moses because of the hardness of your hearts permitted you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, whoever shall put away his wife, except it be for adultery, and shall marry another, commits adultery: and whoever marries her who is put away does commit adultery.

And in the house Jesus disciples asked him again of the same matter. And he said unto them, "Whoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, commits adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she commits adultery.

Jesus’ disciples said unto him, "If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry."

But Jesus said unto them, "All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it."

And when Jesus was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, "The kingdom of God comes not with observation: Neither shall they say, ‘Lo here!’ or, ‘lo there!’ for, look, the kingdom of God is within you."

And Jesus said unto the disciples, "The days will come, when you shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you shall not see it. And they shall say to you, ‘See here; or, see there’: go not after them, nor follow them. For as the lightning, that lightens out of the one part under heaven, shines unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

"And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

"In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

"I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left."

And they answered and said unto him, "Where, Lord?"

And he said unto them, "Wherever the body is, there will the eagles be gathered together."

And Jesus spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to give up; saying, "There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto the judge, saying, ‘Avenge me of my adversary.’ And the judge would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ "

And the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bears long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?"

And Jesus spoke this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: "Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector.

"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank you, that I am not as other men are, extortionists, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.’

"And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but struck upon his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner.’

"I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone that exalts himself shall be humbled; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.

REFERENCES

Luke 15:11a, 20-32; Luke 16:1-17; Luke 16: 19-31; Matthew 19:3-9; Mark 10:10-12; Matthew 19:10-12; Luke 17:20-37; Luke 18:1-14.

CHAPTER 80