Rhyming Redsong: Matthew 19.1-12 (The Pharisees Test Jesus About Divorce)

When, Jesus saying all these things, complete,
he, Galilee, left and did then proceed,
Judea’s region, to, was his design,
and, of the Jordan, to its other side.
Large crowds, him, followed and he healed them there.
Some Pharisees, to him, came to, him, snare.
They asked, ‘Is, lawful, it, for, to, a man,
divorce his wife for any and each one,
all different reasons?” “Haven’t you, that, read,”
replying Jesus, “the Creator ‘made
(at the beginning) both them female, male,’
and said, ‘For reason, this, a man forsakes
his father, mother and he, to his wife,
united, is, the two become one flesh.
So they’re no longer two, but just one flesh.
Therefore what God together he has joined,
let no one separate.” They asked, “Why then
did Moses, to his wife, a man, command,
to give her a divorce certificate,
and her, away, send.” “Moses did permit,”
replying Jesus, “to divorce your wives,
you, ‘cause your hearts were hard. Contrariwise,
creation, from, it’s not how it was like.
I tell you that whoever would divorce his wife
‘cept, sexual, for, immorality,
and marries someone else, adultery,
commits.” Disciples, the, said to him, “If
this is the situation, them betwixt,
a husband, wife, it’s better for them to
not ever marry.” Jesus’ words ensued,
“Who can accept this word? Not everyone,
but only those to whom it has been giv’n.
For there are eunuchs who were born that way,
and there are eunuchs who, by others, they
were made that way, and some who, for the sake
of heaven’s kingdom chose to live that way,
as eunuchs. Whoe’er can incorporate
these concepts should accept these words I say.”

Rhyming Redsong: Matthew 18 (The Greatest in the Kingdom; Forgiveness; the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant)

At that time the disciples came to him,
to Jesus, they asked, “Who’s the greatest in
the kingdom of it, heav’n?” To him, he bade
a little child, and, them, amongst, he placed
the child. And he said: “Truly, you, I tell,
unless you change, become like children, li’l,
to heaven’s kingdom, enter, never, you’ll.
Therefore, whoever, the position takes,
the lowly one, this child’s, he is most great
in heaven’s kingdom. Whoe’er in my name
one such child, welcomes, welcomes me the same.

“If anyone would cause just one of these,
ones, little—those who do believe in me—
to stumble, it would, better, have, to, be,
a millstone, large, their neck, hung weightily,
around and be drowned in its depths, the sea’s.
Woe to the world ‘cause all the things that cause,
to stumble, people! Such things, then, come, must,
but woe to, persons, such, through, they come, whom.
If your hand or your foot, it causes you
to stumble, what it is that you should do:
cut it off and throw it, from you, away.
It’s better for you to, life enter, maimed
or crippled than to have two hands and feet,
and fire eternal, into it, thrown, be.
If your eye’d cause you stumbling, downwardly,
it, outwards gouge, and too, away, throw it.
It’s better for you to life, enter, with
a single eye than to have eyes, them, both,
and be, into the fire of hell, there, thrown.

“See that you don’t despise, not one of these,
ones, little. For I tell you that his face
is what it is their angels always see
in heav’n, my Father’s. What is it you think?
If he, a man owns them, a hundred sheep
and one of them would wander, will not he
upon the hills, the ninety-nine, there, leave,
and go look for the one gone wandering.
And if he finds it, I say certainly,
he’s happier about that single sheep
than ‘bout the ninety-nine that didn’t stray.
Your Father, who’s in heav’n, in the same way,
is willing, not, that any, little ones,
of these, should perish. If they, either, sin,
your brothers, sisters, go, their fault, out, point,
but do so, just the two of you, between.
If, listen, they, to you, you’ve, o’er them, won.
But if they will not listen take along
one or two others so that, matters, each
may ‘stablished, be, by witnesses, two, three,
their testimony. If they still refuse
to listen, then you, tell it to the church
and if they, even to the church, don’t choose,
to listen, then just treat them, you would, as
a pagan or collector of the tax.

“I tell you truly whate’er you on earth
would bind will be bound up in heaven, sure,
whate’er you loose on earth, in heaven, loosed.

“Again, I tell you truly, that if two
of you on earth ‘bout anything agree
they ask for, it, for them will certainly
be done by him, my Father, heavenly.
For where’er two or three would gather in
my name, there I am in, of them, the midst.

Then Peter came to Jesus, asked of him,
“How many times shall I forgive my kin,
my brother, sister, when they, ‘gainst me, sin?
Up to times, seven?” Answered, Jesus, this:
“I tell you, truly, it’s not seven times,
but seventy times seven. Therefore, like
a king, the kingdom, heaven, of, it is
who wished to settle all accounts of his
with servants, his. As he, the settlement
began, a man who, bags of gold, owed him,
ten thousand, was brought to him. Since he was
not able to pay, ordered, master, the
that he, his wife, his children, all he had,
so that the debt could be repaid, be sold.

“At this the servant fell down on his knees
before him. Begged, he, ‘Patient, be with me,
and I will pay back everything I owe.’
The master, pity, on the servant, showed.
The debt he canceled and he let him go.

“But when that servant went out he soon found
one of his fellow servants who, him, owed
a hundred silver coins. He then, him, seized,
and him, began to choke. ‘Pay back to me
what you owe!’ he demanded. To his knees,
his fellow servant fell and, of him, begged,
‘Be patient with me and I’ll, it, back, pay.’
But he refused. He went off and instead,
the man, had, thrown to prison till he had
paid back the debt, entirely, that he owed.

When what had happened, and the servants saw,
the others, they were outraged and they went
and told their master, had occurred, all what.

The other servants saw these happenings,
and when they did, they were outraged at him,
they went and, what occurred, the master, told.

“The master then, the servant, back in, called.
He said, ‘You are a servant, very wick’d.
I cancelled all of yours, your massive debt
because you begged me to. Shan’t you express
upon your fellow servant, mercy, just
the same as I had on you?’ Then, o’er as well,
the master, to the keeper of the jail,
the servant, handed, to be tortured till
he paid him back, all that he owed, in full.

“This how my Father in the heavenlies
the way how he, each one of you, will treat
unless you would forgive them in your heart,
your brother, sister, closest to you, start.”

Rhyming Redsong: Matthew 17 (The Transfiguration; The Temple Tax and the Fish)

Then, after six days, Jesus took with him
James, Peter, John (James’ brother, they were kin)
and led them up a mountain that was high,
and all, themselves, alone, how they were, by.
And, there before them, he, transfigured, was.
His face shone like the sun, became, his clothes
as white as light, the. Just then there appeared
before them, who, with Jesus, they conferred,
both Moses and Elijah. Peter said
to Jesus, “For us to be here, it’s good,
Lord. I’ll construct three shelters, if you would–
one each for you, Elijah, Moses, too.”

While he was speaking, still, a bright cloud came,
them, covered, and a voice from the cloud said,
“This is my Son, whom I love; with him, I’m
well-pleased. Now listen closely, you, to him!”

When the disciples heard this, facedown, fell,
they, to the ground, and terrified as well.

But Jesus came and said, as them, he touched,
“Get up. Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up
they saw him, Jesus, and nobody but.

The mountainside, as they were coming down
instructed Jesus, them, “Not anyone,
don’t tell them what it is that you have seen
until, raised from the dead, the Son of Man.”

Asked him, disciples, the, “Why then do they
the teachers of the law, that he, they say,
Elijah must be, to come, the first one?”

Replying Jesus, “To be sure, he comes
and will restore all things. But I tell you,
Elijah has already come, and they
did recognize him, not, but have done to
him everything they wished. In the same way
the Son of Man is going to suffer at
their hands.” Then the disciples understood
that he was talking to them, him, about,
the Baptist, John. When they came to the crowd,
to Jesus, did approach and knelt, a man,
before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,”
he said. “He, seizures, has, he greatly is,
and, suffering. Into, he often falls
the fire or also in the water, too.
I brought him to, disciples, the, who’re yours,
but they, heal him, could not.” “O you, perverse,
and, generation, filled with lack of faith,”
replying Jesus, “How long shall I stay
with you? How long will I put up with you?
Bring the boy, to me, here.” Jesus rebuked
the demon, and it came out of the boy,
and at that moment he was full-restored.

To Jesus, the disciples, how they came,
in private, and they asked him to explain,
“Why couldn’t we drive it out of the boy?”

Replied, he, “‘Cause there’s, in your faith, a void.
I tell you truly, if your faith is weighed,
as light as that, a single mustard seed,
this mountain, to, what you can say, words, these:
‘From here, move over there,’ and it will move.
For naught will be impossible for you.”

When they, together, came, in Galilee,
he said to them, “The Son of Man will be,
to wicked men’s hands, a delivery.
They will, him, kill and on the third day, he
will be raised back to life.” Disciples, the,
were filled up in their hearts with, great grief, a.

Once Jesus and disciples, his, arrived,
Capernaum, in, of the temple tax,
those who, for Rome, those drachmas, two, derived,
came up to Peter and, this, him, they asked,
“Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?”

“Yes, he does,” he replied. When Peter came
into the house, was Jesus, first who spake.
“What do you, Simon, think?” he asked. “From whom,
the kings of earth, do, taxes, they collect,
as duty, children, their, or others, from?
“From others,” Peter answered, what he said.

“Then children, the, exempted all are they,”
said Jesus to him. “But so that we may
not cause offense, go over to the lake,
the first fish after throwing out your line,
its mouth, up, open, you will find a coin,
four-drachma. Take it and give it to them
to pay my tax, it, for yours, also spend.”

Rhyming Redsong: Matthew 16 (Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees; Peter’s Declaration and Rebuke of Jesus; Jesus Predicts His Death)

The Pharisees and Sadducees both came
to Jesus and they tested him this way:
they asked, a sign from heav’n, he’d demonstrate.

Replied, he, “When, comes evening, then you say
‘Fair weather we will have, the sky is red,’
and in the morning, ‘Storms what we expect,
while overcast, the red sky tells us why.’
Interpret the appearance of the sky,
you know how to, but you cannot, the signs,
interpret those prevailing of the times.
A generation, ‘dulterous and wick’d,
looks for a sign, none will be given it,
except for Jonah’s sign, a giant fish.”
Then Jesus left them and he went away.

When they left to go back across the lake,
disciples, the, forgot, some bread, to take.

“Be careful,” that, what Jesus to them spake.
“Be on your guard against their wretched yeast,
that of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Among themselves, these things, what they discussed
and said, “It’s, we forgot the bread, because.”

Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked,
“Of little faith, you, why, amongst yourselves
do you talk ‘bout not having bread. You still
don’t understand? Think of the basketfuls
you gathered after all of them were fed,
don’t you remember the five loaves of bread
for the five thousand? Or the seven loaves
for the four thousand, and the basketfuls,
how many, gathered, you? How is it you
don’t understand, I wasn’t talking to
you, bread, about? But on your guard, you, be,
against that of the Pharisees, their yeast,
and too the leaven of the Sadducees.”
Then, understood, they, he did not refer
to guarding ‘gainst the yeast, to bread, you stir
but ‘gainst the crooked things they sought to teach,
both them, the Pharisees and Sadducees.

The region, Caesarea Phillippi,
when Jesus came there, he asked his discip’es,
“The Son of Man, who does the people say
he is?” Replying to him, this way, they,
“Some John the Baptist; too, Elijah, say;
and Jeremiah others speculate;
or one, a prophet from a former age.”

“But what about you?” of them, he inquired.
“Who is it that you say,” he asked, “am I?”

Then answered Simon Peter, what he said:
“You’re the Messiah of the living God,
his Son.” Replying Jesus, “Simon, blessed,
you are, the son of Jonah, for, you, this,
was not revealed to you by blood and flesh,
but by my Father in the heavenlies.
As “Petras,” it is your identity,
and on this rock, my church, build solidly.
The gates of Hades it won’t e’er subsume.
The keys of heaven, what I give to you.
Whate’er you bind on earth is bound in heav’n.
Whate’er you loose on earth is loosed in heav’n.”

Then, ordered, he, to not, disciples, his
tell anyone, Messiah, the, he was.

Then Jesus started to, as time progressed,
explain to his disciples that he must
go to Jerusalem, how many things,
the elders’ hands, by them, his sufferings,
the chief priests and those who, the law, they teach,
that he must, killed, be, and on the day, third,
again be raised to life and disinterred.

Aside, where Peter took him and began
rebuking him. “Lord, never!” what he said.
“This, to you, shall ne’er happen!” Jesus turned
and, “Satan, get behind me!” said to Pete.
“A stumbling block is what you are to me.
You don’t, in mind, have them, concerns of God,
but merely human ones, by them, enthralled.”

To his disciples, Jesus, words, said these,
“Whoever, my disciple, wants to be,
deny, themselves, must, and their cross, up, heave
and follow me. For whoe’er wants to save
their life will lose it, but whoever would,
their life, lose for me, it, what they will find.
What good will it be for someone to gain
the whole world yet, their soul, what, forfeit, they’d?
Or what can anyone give in exchange
for their own soul? For he, the Son of Man
will with his angels, come, his glory, in
that of his Father, God, who is in heav’n
and, to, all persons, he’ll reward them then,
according, what each one of them has done.

“I tell you truly, who’re here standing, some,
will not taste death before they see the Son
of Man, who’s coming in his kingdom soon.”

Rhyming Redsong: Matthew 15 (Pharisees test Jesus; the Canaanite Woman; Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand)

Then Pharisees, the law, of, teachers, some,
to Jesus, came, out from Jerusalem
and asked him, “Why do your disciples break
that of the elders, their tradition? They,
to eat, don’t wash their hands, that special way!”

Replying Jesus, “Why is it you break
commandments, God’s, for your tradition’s sake?
For God said, ‘Honor, father, your, and her,
your mother,’ and too, ‘Anyone who’d curse
their father, mother, should be put to death.’
But you say that if someone would express
that what might have been used to otherwise
help father, mother, their, devoted, is
to God, they’re not ‘to honor them’ with it,
‘their mother, father’. Thus you nullify
God’s word, so, your tradition’s satisfied.
You hypocrites! Isaiah, he was right
about you, when these words he prophesied:

“‘These people, honor, give me, with their lips
but, far from me, their hearts, they veer and list.
They worship me in vain; their teachings are
mere human rules.’” The crowd, then, Jesus called
to him, and he, ‘Now listen, understand.
What, to somebody’s mouth, does not, goes in,
defile them but what comes out of their mouth,
that is what, them, defiles,” said this aloud.

Then the disciples came to him and asked,
“Do you know that they took offense at that,
the Pharisees, when they heard what you said?”

“Each plant not planted by him, heavenly,
my Father, by its roots, will upwardly
be pulled up,” he replied. Continued, he,
“They are blind guides, it’s them whom you should leave.
If they, the blind, the blind would also lead,
then both, to fall into the pit, proceed.”

“Will you, to us, explain this parable?”
said Peter. “Do you still remain so dull?”
asked Jesus, them. “Don’t you see that whate’er
will enter to the mouth, next, into there,
the stomach, and then outwards, bodily?
But things that from a person’s mouth proceed
come from the heart, and, what defile them, these.
For from the heart, where evil thoughts proceed–
adult’ry, murder, immorality
with sex, theft, slander, testimony, false.
These things are what defile a person, all,
but anyone whose hands remain unwashed
while eating, that, defilement, will not cause.”

That place, then leaving, Jesus, to, withdrew,
the region of Tyre, and Sidon, too.
A woman who, from that vicinity,
a Canaanite, came, crying out to plead.
“Lord, Son of David, mercy have on me!
My daughter has, by demons, been possessed
and she is suffr’ing terribly with this.”

No answer, not a word that Jesus gave.
So his disciples, urged him, to him, came,
“Since she keeps crying after us, away,
please send her.” Answered he, “To the lost sheep,
of Is’rael, only, I was sent, unique.”

The woman came and Jesus, ‘fore him, kneeled.
“Lord, help me!” she said. Answ’ring thus, said he:
“It is not right to take the children’s bread,
from them and give it to the dogs instead.”

“Yes it is, Lord,” she said, with him, agreed.
“It’s even fallen crumbs that dogs will eat,
those from their master’s table, downwardly.”

Then Jesus told her, “Woman, you’ve great faith!
It’s granted, your request.” And right away,
her daughter, healed, she was that very day.

There, Jesus left and went along the Sea
of Galilee. Up on a mount, went he,
then, and sat down. Great crowds, to him they came
and they brought those who were blind, crippled, lame,
the mute, and many others, and they laid
them at his feet, he, healing to them, gave.
When they saw this, the people were amazed:
the mute could speak, and walking, were, the lame,
the blind received their sight. And Is’rael’s God,
they praised. To him, disciples, his, he called,
did Jesus. “For these people, what I feel,
compassion; for they’ve been with me, days, three,
already and they, nothing, have to eat.
No hunger they should have when they’re dismissed,
or else they might, upon the way, collapse.

Disciples, his, they answered, “Where could we
get bread, enough, for such a crowd, to feed?”

“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

Replied, they, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

He told the crowd, upon the ground, to sit.
Then he took up the seven loaves and fish,
and when he’d given thanks, he broke them and
gave them to the disciples, they in kind
to all the people. All were satisfied
when they ate. The disciples picked up all
the broken pieces, seven basketfuls
they filled up with the pieces, those left o’er.
The number of the men was thousand, four,
who ate, too, women, children, by the score.
Then after, Jesus sent the crowds away,
he got into the boat to cross the lake
to Magdan, its vicinity, that place.

Rhyming Redsong: Matthew 14 (John the Baptist Beheaded; Jesus Feeds Five Thousand; Jesus and Peter Walk on the Water; Jesus heals the sick)

Then at that time, the tetrarch Herod heard
all the reports ‘bout Jesus and he said
to those, who, to his needs, they would attend,
“This is, the Baptist, John, who, from the dead,
has risen! That, at work in him is why
are powers as, miraculous, defined.”

Now Herod had arrested John and bound
him and, a prison cell, he put inside,
because of her, his brother, Philip’s wife,
Herodias, for John, to him had said:
“Unlawful, it’s, for you, as if you’re wed,
to have her.” Herod wanted, John, to kill,
but, of the people, fear in him instilled,
‘cause they believed that John, a prophet, was.

On Herod’s birthday, of Herodias,
her daughter, danced, performed, for all the guests,
and Herod, pleased so much, with an oath, that
he promised to give her whate’er she asked.
Then by her mother, prompted, she, this, said,
“Upon a platter, give me here, the head
of John the Baptist.” The king was distressed
but for his oaths and all his dinner guests,
he ordered that, be granted, her request,
and in the prison, they cut off John’s head.
Upon a platter, how, his head brought in
and given to the girl, who carried it,
her mother, to. Disciples, John’s, came and
his body, took, and buried it. They then
went out and told to Jesus all these things.

When Jesus heard of all these happenings,
he to a solitary place withdrew
by boat, in private. Hearing this, pursued
him, did the crowds on foot out from the towns.
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd,
he had compassion on them, healed their sick.

As evening had approached, they came to him,
“this is a place, remote,” to him explained,
“and in the day it is already late.
So they can go, send all the crowds away,
the villages, to, so, themselves, they may
some food, buy.” This, to them, Jesus replied,
“They do not need to go away. Provide
for them yourselves some food that they can eat.”
They answered, “We have here a single meal.
Five loaves of bread, two fish, more, what we need.”

He said to them, “Bring all that food to me.”
And he directed, people, the, to sit
down on the grass. The five loaves and two fish,
he took. To heaven, up, he lifted his
eyes, he gave thanks and broke the loaves in two,
then he gave to, disciples, his, the food,
it, the disciples gave, the people, to.
They all ate and their hunger was relieved,
disciples, the, the pieces all retrieved,
those broken ones, filled up twelve basketfuls
that were left over. Number, the, of those
who ate was ‘bout five thousand men besides
the women, children, too, all of them dined.

At once, made, Jesus, the disciples, get
into the boat and go on ‘head of him,
the other side, to, while, them, he dismissed,
the crowd. Once he dismissed them, he processed,
the mountainside, up, by himself to pray.
That night, he, there, all by himself when late,
and from the shore, the boat, a distance, great,
already was, and buffeted by waves
because the wind, against it, how it strained.

Before dawn, shortly, Jesus on the lake,
went out to them, he walked. They were afraid,
when the disciples saw him walk that way,
upon the lake as if on land. “A ghost
it is,” they cried, by fear, they were engrossed.

Immed’iately, but, Jesus to them, said:
“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

“Lord, if it’s you, tell me,” Peter replied,
“to come to you, I’ll, on the water, stride.”

He said, “Come.” Then, out, Peter, from the boat,
got down, and he, upon the water, strode
toward Jesus. But when Peter saw the wind,
he was afraid, to sink, did he begin
and he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus reached
his hand out and caught him immed’iately.
“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
he said. And when they climbed into the boat,
the wind died down. Then, in the boat, all those
who were, him, worshipped, saying, “Now we know
that truly you are him, the Son of God.”

They landed at, when they had, over, crossed,
Gennesaret. And when men of that place
had, Jesus, recognized, sent word out, they,
to all the country that surrounded there.
The people brought all of their sick to him
and begged him to just let them touch its hem,
his garment’s, and whoever, it, did feel,
all those who touched it, instantly were healed.

Rhyming Redsong: Matthew 13 (The Parables of the Sower, the Weeds, the Mustard Seed, the Yeast, the Hidden Treasure, the Pearl, the Net; A Prophet Without Honor)

The same day, Jesus went out of the house
and, by the lake, sat. Gathered such large crowds
around him that he got into a boat
and sat in it, while folks stood on the shore.
Then, many things in parables, he told
them, saying: “Out, a farmer went to sow
his seed. As, his seed, he was scattering,
some fell along the path, and the birds came
and ate it up. Some on those places fell,
the rocky ones with insufficient soil.
It sprang up at a quickened pace because
the soil was shallow. But when up, the sun
came, all the plants were scorched, their roots weren’t deep,
because of that, they withered. Other seed
fell ‘mongst the thorns, which grew up, choked the plants.
Still other seed fell on good soil where it
produced a crop — at harvest time, its yield?
A hundred, sixty, thirty times, that field
where each seed planted was the increase seen.
Whoe’er has ears to hear, now let them hear.”

Disciples, his, came to him and inquired:

“Why, to the people, do you speak this way,
in slanted parables, the things you say?”

Replied he, “‘Cause what to you has been giv’n,
the secret knowledge of the kingdom, heav’n’s,
but not to them. Whoe’er has, given more,
they’ll be, and an abundance in their stores
what they will have. Whoever does not have,
e’en what they have, from it, they’ll be deprived.
In parables, I speak to them, that’s why:

“‘Though seeing, even then, they have no sight;
though hearing, they don’t hear or understand.

“Fulfilled, Isaiah’s prophecy in them:

“‘Ne’er understanding though you e’er will hear,
perceiving not despite that you e’er peer.
For calloused has this people’s heart become,
they hardly hear, with their ears, any sound,
they’ve closed their eyes or otherwise they’d see
with their eyes, and with their ears, sound, receive,
and, understanding, have inside their heart,
and turn and I would heal them!’ But blessed are
your eyes because they see, your ears because
they hear. For truly I tell you their want,
how many prophets, righteous people longed
to see what you see but, see it, did not,
to hear what you heard, but hear it, did not.

“Then listen to the sower’s parable,
its meaning: anyone, when they, hear, will,
the message of the kingdom and who does
not understand it, comes, the evil one,
and snatches ‘way, inside their heart, sown, that.
This is the seed, was sown along the path.
The seed, on rocky ground, where it had fell,
refers to someone who, the word, hear, will,
and they at once receive it with great joy
but briefly last, with no roots to employ.
When trouble, persecution, ‘cause the word,
comes to them, they, quick, fall away, disperse.
The seed that falls ‘mongst thorns, about him spoke,
who hears the word, but to him, it is choked,
the word, by worries of this life, and too,
of wealth, by its deceitfulness, no fruit
that he’ll bear. But on good soil, falling there,
the seed refers to someone who has heard
the word and understands it. This is who,
the one, a crop, with bounty, will produce,
a hundred, sixty, thirty times the food,
compared to what was sown, is that, its yield

Another parable then Jesus told:

“The kingdom, heaven, of, is like a man
who in his field sowed good seed. Everyone,
while they were sleeping, came, his enemy
and sowed some weeds among the wheat, its seeds,
and went away. When, sprouted up, the wheat,
the weeds appeared right by the wheat, it’s heads.
The owner’s servants came to him and said:

“‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field?
Form where, then, did all of these weeds arise?’

“‘An enemy did this,’ how he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to
go pull them up?’ He answered, ‘Don’t, that, do,
because while you are pulling up the weeds
with them you may as well uproot the wheat.
Let them, together, grow till harvesting.
Then I will tell the harvesters these things:
First, them, collect, to bundles, tie, the weeds,
them to be burned; then gather up the wheat
and to my barn is where, it, they should bring.’”

Another parable, yet, told them, he:

“The kingdom, heaven, of, a mustard seed,
is like that which a man took to his field
and planted there. Though out of all the seeds,
it is the smallest, yet, still when it grows,
the largest of its plants the garden knows,
becomes a tree, so that, can come, the birds
and in its branches, they can find a perch.”

Again, a parable, then told them, he:

“The kingdom, heaven, of, is like some yeast
a woman took and mixed the yeast into
‘bout sixty pounds of flour until, it, through,
worked, all the dough.” These things, all, Jesus, spoke,
in parables, the crowd, to; he’d not quote
aught to them but except through parables.
What, spoken by the prophet, this fulfilled:

“I’ll open up my mouth and utter thoughts
in parables, things that were hid from sight,
since the creation of the world, forgot.”

Then he, the crowd, left, went, the house, inside.
Disciples, his, came to him and inquired:

“Explain to us, the parable, the weeds,
those of the field.” This how he answerèd:
“The Son of Man, the one who sowed good seed.
The field’s the world, the seed I said is good,
for people of the kingdom does it stand.
The people of the evil one, the weeds,
the devil sowing them, the enemy.
The harvest is the ending of the age,
the harvesters are angels. As the weeds
are pulled and they are burned up in the flames,
the ending of the age, so it will be.
His angels will the Son of Man dispatch,
they’ll weed his kingdom out, they will extract
from it all things that ever would cause sin,
and all who, evil, do, they will throw them
into the blazing furnace where there’ll be
much weeping and, too, gnashing of the teeth.
Then will the righteous shine out like the sun,
the kingdom of their Father, where that’s done.
Whoe’er has ears, let them hear, understand.

“The kingdom, heaven, of, in a field, is,
like treasure hidden. When a man found it,
again, he hid it, in his joy, expressed,
he then went out and sold all he possessed
and bought that field. Again, what it is like,
the kingdom, heaven, of: for pearls, those fine,
a merchant looking for them. When he finds
one of great value, he will go away,
sell all he has to buy it that same day.

“The kingdom, heaven, of, is once again,
just like a net let down into the lake
and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full,
up on the shore, the fishermen, it, pulled.
Then they sat down collecting the good fish
in baskets, but, the bad, they threw away.
How it’ll be, the ending of the age.
The angels will come and they’ll separate
the wicked from the righteous, thrown away,
into the blazing furnace, where they’ll be
much weeping also gnashing of the teeth.

“Have you, all of these things, now understood?”
asked Jesus. “Yes,” how they replied, him, to.

He said to them, “Therefore, each teacher of
the law who a disciple, has become,
of heaven, in the kingdom, is like one,
the owner of a house who brings out from
his storeroom, treasures, new, old, too, he’s brung.”

When Jesus, with these parables, was done
moved on from there, he. Then to his hometown,
on coming there, to teach, what he began,
the people in their synagogue, and they
were all amazed. “Where did this man obtain
this wisdom and these pow’rs, miraculous?”
they asked. “Ain’t this the carpenter’s son, just?
Is not his mother Mary and aren’t they
his brothers, Judas, Simon, Joseph, James?
Aren’t all his sisters with us here, this place?
Where then did this man get all of these things?”
And they, offense, took of him, words that sting.

But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is
not without honor but except in his
own town, and in his home where he resides.”

And there performed, he, fewer miracles
because their faith in him was minimal.