Read The Jewish Annotated New Testament Online
Authors: Amy-Jill Levine
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“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.
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He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on.
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He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’
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Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.
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But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.
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But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’
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Then the father
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said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
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But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”
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Then Jesus
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said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property.
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So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’
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Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.
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I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’
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So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
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He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’
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Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’
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And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.
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And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth
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so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.
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“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.
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If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth,
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who will entrust to you the true riches?
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And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?
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No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
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The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him.
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So he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God.
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“The law and the prophets were in effect until John came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone tries to enter it by force.
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But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one stroke of a letter in the law to be dropped.
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“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.
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“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
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And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
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who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores.
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The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham.
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The rich man also died and was buried.
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In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.
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He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’
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But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.
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Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’
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He said, ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house—
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for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’
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Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’
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He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
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He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
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Jesus
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said to his disciples, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come!
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It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble.
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Be on your guard! If another disciple
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sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive.
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And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.”
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The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
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The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a
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mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
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“Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’?
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Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’?
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Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded?
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So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”
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On the way to Jerusalem Jesus
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was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.
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As he entered a village, ten lepers
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approached him. Keeping their distance,
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they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
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When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean.
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Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.
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He prostrated himself at Jesus’
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feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan.
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Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?
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Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
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Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
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Once Jesus
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was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed;
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nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among
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you.”
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Then he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.
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They will say to you, ‘Look there!’ or ‘Look here!’ Do not go, do not set off in pursuit.
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For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.
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But first he must endure much suffering and be rejected by this generation.
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Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man.
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They were eating and drinking, and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them.
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Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,
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but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all of them
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—it will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
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On that day, anyone on the housetop who has belongings in the house must not come down to take them away; and likewise anyone in the field must not turn back.
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Remember Lot’s wife.
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Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it.
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I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.
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There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left.”
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Then they asked him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”