Luke:6
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Now on the second-first Sabbath while He was passing through the wheatfields ,
His disciples were plucking the ears and rubbing them with their hands to eat the grain .
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And some of the Pharisees asked , »
Why are you doing what the Law forbids on the Sabbath ?«
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Have you never read so much as this ,«
answered Jesus – »
what David did when he and his followers were hungry ;
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how he entered the house of God and took and ate the Presented Loaves and gave some to his followers –
loaves which none but the Priests are allowed to eat ?«
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The Son of Man ,«
He added , »
is Lord of the Sabbath also .«
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On another Sabbath He had gone to the synagogue and was teaching there ;
and in the congregation was a man whose right arm was withered .
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The Scribes and the Pharisees were on the watch to see whether He would cure him on the Sabbath that they might be able to bring an accusation against Him .
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He knew their thoughts ,
and said to the man with the withered arm , »
Rise ,
and stand there in the middle .«
And he rose and stood there .
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Then Jesus said to them , »
I put it to you all whether we are allowed to do good on the Sabbath ,
or to do evil ;
to save a life ,
or to destroy it .«
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And looking round upon them all He said to the man , »
Stretch out your arm .«
He did so ,
and the arm was restored .
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But they were filled with madness ,
and began to discuss with one another what they should do to Jesus .
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About that time He went out on one occasion into the hill country to pray ;
and He remained all night in prayer to God .
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When it was day ,
He called His disciples ;
and He selected from among them twelve ,
whom He also named Apostles .
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These were Simon ,
to whom also He had given the name of Peter ,
and Andrew his brother ;
James and John ;
Philip and Bartholomew ;
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Matthew and Thomas ;
James the son of Alphaeus and Simon called the Zealot ;
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James '
s relative Judas ,
and Judas Iscariot who proved to be a traitor .
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With these He came down till He reached a level place ,
where there was a great crowd of His disciples ,
and a multitude of people from every part of Judaea ,
from Jerusalem ,
and from the sea-side district of Tyre and Sidon ,
who came to hear Him and to be cured of their diseases ;
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and those who were tormented by foul spirits were cured .
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The whole crowd were eager to touch Him ,
because power went forth from him and cured every one .
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Then fixing His eyes upon His disciples ,
Jesus said to them , »
Blessed are you poor ,
because the Kingdom of God is yours .
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Blessed are you who hunger now ,
because your hunger shall be satisfied .«
Blessed are you who now weep aloud ,
because you shall laugh .
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Blessed are you when men shall hate you and exclude you from their society and insult you ,
and spurn your very names as evil things ,
for the Son of Man '
s sake .«
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Be glad at such a time ,
and dance for joy ;
for your reward is great in Heaven ;
for that is just the way their forefathers behaved to the Prophets !«
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But alas for you rich men ,
because you already have your consolation !«
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Alas for you who now have plenty to eat ,
because you will be hungry !«
Alas for you who laugh now ,
because you will mourn and weep aloud !
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Alas for you when men shall all have spoken well of you ;
for that is just the way their forefathers behaved to the false Prophets !«
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But to you who are listening to me I say ,
Love your enemies ;
seek the welfare of those who hate you ;«
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bless those who curse you ;
pray for those who revile you .
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To him who gives you a blow on one side of the face offer the other side also ;
and to him who is robbing you of your outer garment refuse not the under one also .
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To every one who asks ,
give ;
and from him who takes away your property ,
do not demand it back .
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And behave to your fellow men just as you would have them behave to you .
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If you love those who love you ,
what credit is it to you ?
Why ,
even bad men love those who love them .«
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And if you are kind to those who are kind to you ,
what credit is it to you ?
Even bad men act thus .
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And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive ,
what credit is it to you ?
Even bad men lend to their fellows so as to receive back an equal amount .
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Nevertheless love your enemies ,
be beneficent ;
and lend without hoping for any repayment .
Then your recompense shall be great ,
and you will be sons of the Most High ;
for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked .
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Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate .
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Judge not ,
and you shall not be judged ;
condemn not ,
and you shall not be condemned ;
pardon ,
and you shall be pardoned ;«
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give ,
and gifts shall be bestowed on you .
Full measure ,
pressed ,
shaken down ,
and running over ,
shall they pour into your laps ;
for with the same measure that you use they shall measure to you in return .«
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He also spoke to them in figurative language . »
Can a blind man lead a blind man ?«
He asked ; »
would not both fall into the ditch ?
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There is no disciple who is superior to his teacher ;
but every one whose instruction is complete will be like his teacher .
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And why look at the splinter in your brother '
s eye instead of giving careful attention to the beam in your own ?«
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How can you say to your brother , `
Brother ,
let me take that splinter out of your eye ,'
when all the while you yourself do not see the beam in your own eye ?
Vain pretender !
take the beam out of your own eye first ,
and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother '
s eye .
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There is no good tree that yields unsound fruit ,
nor again any unsound tree that yields good fruit .«
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Every tree is known by its own fruit .
It is not from thorns that men gather figs ,
nor from the bramble that they can get a bunch of grapes .
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A good man from the good stored up in his heart brings out what is good ;
and an evil man from the evil stored up brings out what is evil ;
for from the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks .
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And why do you all call me `
Master ,
Master '
and yet not do what I tell you ?«
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Every one who comes to me and listens to my words and puts them in practice ,
I will show you whom he is like .
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He is like a man building a house ,
who digs and goes deep ,
and lays the foundation on the rock ;
and when a flood comes ,
the torrent bursts upon that house ,
but is unable to shake it ,
because it is securely built .
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But he who has heard and not practised is like a man who has built a house upon the soft soil without a foundation ,
against which the torrent bursts ,
and immediately it collapses ,
and terrible is the wreck and ruin of that house .«