Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged the people, saying, "Keep all of the commandment that I am commanding you today. And then on the day that you cross the Jordan to the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you, then you shall set up for yourselves large stones, and you shall paint them with lime, and you shall write on them all the words of this law at your crossing, so that you may come into the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, promised to you. And when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up these stones that I am commanding you about today on Mount Ebal, and you shall paint them with lime. And you shall build an altar there for Yahweh your God, an altar of stone, but you shall not use an iron tool to shape the stones. You must build the altar of your God with unhewn stones, and you shall sacrifice on it burnt offerings to Yahweh your God. And you shall sacrifice fellowship offerings, and you shall eat them there, and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God. You shall write on the stone all of the words of this law very clearly."

Then Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying, "Be silent and hear, Israel, for this day you have become a people for Yahweh your God. And listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and observe his commandments and his rules that I am commanding you today."

And Moses charged the people on that day, saying, "These tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people when you cross the Jordan: Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Joseph and Benjamin. And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for delivering the curse: Reuben, Gad and Asher and Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali. And the Levites shall declare, and they shall say to each man of Israel with a loud voice, ‘Cursed be the man that makes a divine image or a cast image, which is a detestable thing for Yahweh, the work of the hand of a skilled craftsman, and then sets it in a hiding place.’ And all the people shall respond, ‘Amen.’

‘Cursed be the one who dishonors his father or his mother.’ And all of the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

‘Cursed be the one who moves the boundary marker of his neighbor.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

‘Cursed be the one who misleads a blind person on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

‘Cursed be the one who deprives the alien, the orphan, and the widow of justice.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

‘Cursed be the one who lies with the wife of his father, because he has dishonored his father’s bed.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

‘Cursed be the one who lies with any kind of animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

‘Cursed be the one who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

‘Cursed be the one who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

‘Cursed be the one who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

‘Cursed be the one who takes a bribe to murder an innocent person.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

‘Cursed be the one who does not keep the words of this law, to observe them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’"

"And it will happen that if you indeed listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to diligently observe all his commandments that I am commanding you today, then Yahweh your God will set you above all the nations of the earth. And all of these blessings shall come upon you, and they shall have an effect on you if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God:

"You will be blessed in the city, and you will be blessed in the field.

"Blessed will be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your livestock, the calf of your cattle and the lambs of your flock.

"Blessed will be your basket and your kneading trough.

"Blessed will you be when you come in and blessed will you be when you go out.

"Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; on one road they shall come out against you, but on seven roads they shall flee before you. Yahweh will command concerning you the blessing to be in your barns and in all your endeavors; and he will bless you in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you. Yahweh will establish you for himself as a holy people as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and you walk in his ways. And all of the peoples of the earth shall see that by the name of Yahweh you are called, and they shall fear you. And Yahweh will make you successful and prosperous, in the fruit of your womb and on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors to give to you. Yahweh shall open for you his rich storehouse, even the heavens, to give the rain for your land in its time and to bless all of the work of your hand, and you will lend to many nations; you will not borrow from them. And Yahweh shall make you as head and not the tail, and you shall be only at the top of the nations, and you shall not be at the bottom, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God that I am commanding you today and diligently observe them. And you shall not turn aside from any of the words that I am commanding you today to the right or left by going after other gods to serve them.

"And then if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God by diligently observing all of his commandments and his statutes that I am commanding you today, then all of these curses shall come upon you, and they shall overtake you:

"You shall be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field.

"Your basket shall be cursed and your kneading trough.

"The fruit of your womb shall be cursed and the fruit of you ground, the calves of your cattle and the lambs of your flock.

"You shall be cursed when you come in, and you shall be cursed when you go out.

"Yahweh will send upon you the curse, the panic, and the threat in everything that you undertake, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly because of the evil of your deeds in that you have forsaken me. Yahweh will cause the plague to cling to you until it consumes you from the land that you are going to, to take possession of it. Yahweh will afflict you with the wasting diseases and with the fever and with the inflammation and with the scorching heat and with the sword and with the blight and with the mildew, and they shall pursue you until you perish. And your heavens that are over your heads shall be like bronze, and the earth that is under you shall be like iron. Yahweh will change the rain of your land to fine dust and to sand; from the heaven it shall come down upon you until you are destroyed.

"Yahweh shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies; on one road you shall go against them, but you will flee on seven roads before them, and you shall become a thing of horror to all of the kingdoms of the earth. And your dead bodies shall be as food for all of the birds of the heaven and to the animals of the earth, and there shall not be anyone to frighten them away.

"Yahweh shall afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scurvy and with the skin rash that cannot be healed. Yahweh shall afflict you with madness and with blindness and with confusion of heart. And you shall be groping at noon just as the blind person gropes in the dark, and you shall not succeed in finding your way, and you shall only be abused and robbed all the time, and there will not be anyone who will rescue you. You shall become engaged to a woman, but another man shall sleep with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not live in it; a vineyard you shall plant, but you shall not enjoy it. Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, and you shall not eat it; your donkey shall be stolen right before you, and it shall not be returned to you; your sheep and your goats shall be given to your enemies, and there shall not be anyone who rescues you. Your sons and your daughters shall be given to other people, and you will be looking on longingly for them all day, but you will be powerless to do anything. A people that you do not know shall consume the harvest of your land and all your labor, and you will be only oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives. You shall become mad because of what your eyes shall see. Yahweh shall strike you with grievous boils on the knees and on the upper thighs from which you will not be able to be healed, from the sole of your foot and up to your crown. Yahweh will bring you and your king whom you set up over you to a nation that you or your ancestors have not known, and there you will serve other gods of wood and stone. And you will become a horror and a proverb and ridicule among all the peoples where Yahweh drives you there.

"You shall carry out much seed to the field, but you shall gather little produce, for the locust shall devour it. You shall plant vineyards and you shall dress them, but you shall not drink wine and you shall not gather grapes, for the worm shall eat it. There shall be olive trees for you in all of your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself, for your olives shall drop off. You shall bear sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for they shall go into captivity. The cricket shall take possession of all your trees and the fruit of your ground. The alien that is in your midst shall ascend over you, higher and higher, but you shall go down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, but you shall be the tail.

"And all of these curses shall come over you, and they shall pursue you, and they shall overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, by observing his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. And they shall be among you as a sign and as a wonder and among your offspring forever.

"Because of the fact that you did not serve Yahweh your God with joy and with gladness of heart for the abundance of everything, then you shall serve your enemies, whom Yahweh will send against you under conditions of famine, in thirst, in nakedness, and in a lack of everything; and he shall place a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. Yahweh will raise up against you a nation from far off, from the end of the earth, attacking as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you will not understand, a grim-faced nation who does not show respect to the old and the young and does not show pity. And it shall consume the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground until you are destroyed, and who will not leave for you any grain, wine, and olive oil, calves of your herds, and lambs of your flock until it has destroyed you. And it shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls fall, which you are trusting in throughout your land; and it shall besiege you in all of your towns in all of your land that Yahweh your God has given to you. And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and your daughters, whom Yahweh your God gave to you, during the siege and during the distress your enemy inflicts upon you. The most refined and the very sensitive man among you shall be mean with his brother and against his beloved wife and against the rest of his children that he has left over, by refraining from giving to even one of them any of the meat of his children that he eats, because there is not anything that is left over for him during the siege and distress that your enemy inflicts upon you. The most refined and the most delicate woman among you, who shall not venture to put the sole of her foot on the ground from being so delicate and from such gentleness, shall be mean to her beloved husband and against her son and against her daughter, and even concerning her afterbirth that goes out from between her feet and also concerning her children that she bears, because she eats them for lack of anything in secret during the siege and during the distress that your enemy inflicts upon her in your towns.

"If you do not diligently observe all the words of this law written in this scroll by revering this glorious and awesome name, Yahweh your God, then Yahweh shall overwhelm you with your plagues and the plagues of your offspring, severe plagues and lasting illnesses, grievous and enduring. And he shall bring back upon you all the diseases of Egypt concerning which you were in dread because of them. Also any illness and any plague that is not written in the scroll of this law, he shall bring them, Yahweh, upon you until you are destroyed. And you shall remain only a few people in place of the fact you were formerly as the stars of heaven as far as number is concerned, because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. And then as Yahweh delighted over you to make you prosperous to make you numerous, so Yahweh shall delight over you to exterminate you and to destroy you, and so you shall be plucked from the land that you are going there to take possession of it. And Yahweh shall scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth up to the other end of the earth, and there you shall serve other gods that you have not known nor your ancestors, gods of wood and stone. And among these nations you shall not find rest, and there shall not be a resting place for the sole of your foot, and Yahweh shall give you there an anxious heart and a weakening of eyes and a languishing of your inner self. And your life shall hang in doubt before you, and you shall be startled night and day, and you shall not be confident of your life. In the morning you shall say, ‘If only it was evening!’ and in the evening you shall say ‘If only it was morning!’ because of the dread of your heart that you shall feel, and because of the sight of your eyes that you shall see. And Yahweh shall bring you back to Egypt in ships by the route that I promised to you that ‘You shall not see it again!’ And you shall sell yourself there to your enemies as slaves and as female slaves, but there will not be a buyer."

These are the words of the covenant that Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in the land of Moab besides the covenant that he made with them at Horeb.

And Moses summoned all of Israel and said to them, "You saw all that Yahweh did before your eyes in the land of Egypt and to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land; that is, the great trials that your eyes saw, and those great signs and wonders. But Yahweh has not given to you a heart to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear, even to this day. And I have led you forty years in the desert; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot. You have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine and strong drink, so that you may know that I am Yahweh your God. And when you came to this place then Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out to meet you for battle, and we defeated them. And we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh. And you must diligently observe the words of this covenant, so that you may succeed in all that you do.

"You are standing today, all of you, before Yahweh your God, your leaders, your tribes, your elders, and your officials, all the men of Israel, your little children, your women and your aliens who are in the midst of your camp, from the choppers of your wood to the drawers of your water, in order for you to enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God, and into his oath that Yahweh your God is making with you today, in order to establish you today to himself as a people and so that he may be for you as God, just as he promised to you and just as he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

"Now I am not making this covenant and this oath with you alone. But with whoever is standing here with us today before Yahweh our God, and with whoever is not standing here with us today. For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we traveled through the midst of the nations that you traveled through. And you have seen their detestable things and their idols of wood and stone, silver, and gold that were among them, so that there is not among you a man or a woman or a clan or a tribe whose heart turns today from being with Yahweh our God to go to serve the gods of these nations, so that there is not among you a root sprouting poison and wormwood. And then when he hears the words of this oath, then he will assure himself in his heart, saying, ‘Safety shall be mine even though I go in the stubbornness of my heart,’ thereby destroying the well-watered land along with the parched. Yahweh will not be willing to forgive him, for by then the anger of Yahweh will smoke, and his passion against that man and all the curses written in this scroll will descend on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under heaven. And Yahweh will single him out for calamity out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in the scroll of this law.

"And the next generation, that is, your children who will rise up after you, and the foreigner who will come from a distant land, when they will see the plagues of that land and its diseases that Yahweh has inflicted upon it, will say, ‘All its land is brimstone and salt left by fire, none of its land will be sown, and it will not make plants sprout out and it will not grow any vegetation; it is as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Adman and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overturned in his anger and in his wrath.’ And all the nations will say, ‘Why has Yahweh done such a thing to this land? What caused the fierceness of this great anger?’ And they will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out from the land of Egypt. And they went and served other gods and bowed down to them, gods whom they did not know them and he had not allotted to them. So the anger of Yahweh was kindled against that land to bring upon it all the curses written in this scroll, and Yahweh uprooted them from their land in anger and in wrath and in great fury, and he cast them into another land, just as it is today.’

"The hidden things belong to Yahweh our God, but the revealed things belong to us to know and to our children forever, in order to do all the words of this law."

"And then when all of these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse that I have set before you and you call them to mind among the nations there where Yahweh your God has scattered you, and you return to Yahweh and you listen to his voice according to all that I am commanding you today, both you and your children, with all your heart and with all your inner self, and Yahweh your God will restore your fortunes, and he will have compassion upon you, and he will again gather you together from all the peoples where Yahweh your God scattered you there.

"Even if you are outcasts at the end of the heavens, even from there Yahweh your God shall gather you, and from there he shall bring you back. And Yahweh your God will bring you to the land that your ancestors had taken possession of, and he will make you successful, and he will make you more numerous than your ancestors.

"And Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your inner self so that you may live. And Yahweh your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, on those who harassed you. And you will again listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you will do all his commandments that I am commanding you today. And Yahweh your God will make you prosperous in all your undertakings, and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground abundantly, for Yahweh will again rejoice over you, just as he rejoiced over your ancestors. He will do this if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God by keeping his commandment and his statutes written in the scroll of this law and if you return to Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your inner self.

"For this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too wonderful for you, and it is not too far from you. It is not in the heavens so that you might say, ‘Who will go up for us to the heavens and get it for us and cause us to hear it, so that we may do it?’ And it is not beyond the sea, so that you might say, ‘Who will cross for us to the other side of the sea and take it for us and cause us to hear it, so that we may do it?’ But the word is very near you, even in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may do it.

"See, I am setting before you today life and prosperity and death and disaster; what I am commanding you today is to love Yahweh your God by going in his ways and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his regulations, and then you will live, and you will become numerous, and Yahweh your God will bless you in the land where you are going. However, if your heart turns aside and you do not listen and you are lured away and you bow down to other gods and you serve them, I declare to you today that you will certainly perish; you will not extend your time on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to go there to take possession of it. I invoke as a witness against you today the heaven and the earth: life and death I have set before you, blessing and curse. So choose life, so that you may live, you and your offspring, by loving Yahweh your God by listening to his voice and by clinging to him, for he is your life and the length of your days in order for you to live on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them."

And Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. And he said to them, "I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I am not able to go out and to come in any longer, and Yahweh said to me, ‘You may not cross this Jordan.’ Yahweh your God is about to cross before you; he will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua will be crossing before you, just as Yahweh promised. And Yahweh will do to them just as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and to their land, which he destroyed with them. And Yahweh will deliver them to you before you, and you shall do to them according to every commandment that I have commanded you. Be strong and be courageous; you should not be afraid, and you should not be in dread from their presence, for Yahweh your God is the one going with you; he will not leave you alone and he will not forsake you."

Then Moses summoned Joshua, and he said to him in the presence of all Israel, "Be strong and be courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that Yahweh swore to their ancestors to give to them, and you will give it to them as an inheritance. Yahweh is the one going before you; he will be with you, and he will not leave you alone, and he will not forsake you; you shall not be afraid, and you shall not be discouraged." So Moses wrote this law, and he gave it to the priests, the descendants of Levi, the ones carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and to all the elders of Israel.

Then Moses commanded them, saying, "At the end of seven years, in the time of the year for canceling debts during the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before Yahweh their God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little children and your aliens that are in your towns, so that they may hear and so that they may learn and they may revere Yahweh your God, and they shall diligently observe all the words of this law. And then their children, who have not known, they too may hear, and they may learn to revere Yahweh their God all the days that you live on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to get there to take possession of it."

Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Look, you are about to die; call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of assembly, so that I may instruct him." So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of assembly. And Yahweh appeared in the tent in a column of cloud, and the column of the cloud stood at the entrance of the tent. And Yahweh said to Moses, "Look, you are about to lie down with your ancestors, and this people will arise and they will play the prostitute after the foreign gods of the land to which they are going. And my anger shall flare up against them on that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall become as prey, and disasters and troubles shall find them, and they shall say on that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not in our midst that these disasters have found us?’ But I will certainly hide my face on that day, because of all of the evil that they did because they turned to other gods.

"And so then write this song for yourselves and teach it to the Israelites; put it in their mouth, so that this song may be for me as a witness against the Israelites. For when I bring them into the land that I swore to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill, and they will become fat, and then they will turn to other gods, and they will serve them, and they will spurn me, and they will break my covenant. And then many disasters and troubles will come upon them, and this song will give evidence before them as a witness, because it will not be forgotten from out of the mouth of their descendants, for I know their inclination that they are having today before I have brought them into the land that I swore." And Moses wrote this song on that day and taught it to the Israelites.

Then he told Joshua the son of Nun, and said to him, "Be strong and be courageous, for you shall bring the Israelites into the land that I swore to them, and I will be with you."

And then when Moses finished writing the words of this law on the scroll until they were complete, then Moses commanded the Levites carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, saying, "Take the scroll of this law and put it at the side of the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, and it will be there as a witness against you. For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck even now while I am still alive with you today, rebelling against Yahweh, and how much more after my death. Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officials, so that I may speak in their ears these words, and that I may call as witness against them heaven and earth. For I know that after my death you will certainly act corruptly, and you will turn aside from the way that I have commanded you, and the disaster in the future days will befall you, because you will do evil in the eyes of Yahweh, provoking him with the work of your hands." So Moses spoke into the ears of the assembly of Israel the words of this song until they were complete.

During this time when a crowd of many thousands had gathered together, so that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, "Beware for yourselves of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. But nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, and secret that will not be made known. Therefore everything that you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

"And I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after these things do not have anything more to do. But I will show you whom you should fear: fear the one who has authority, after the killing, to throw you into hell! Yes, I tell you, fear this one! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten in the sight of God. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered! Do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

"And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before people, the Son of Man also will acknowledge him before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before people will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him, but to the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. But when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious how or what you should speak in your own defense or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that same hour what it is necessary to say."

Now someone from the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me!" But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?" And he said to them, "Watch out and guard yourselves from all greediness, because not even when someone has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions." And he told a parable to them, saying, "The land of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. And he reasoned to himself, saying, ‘What should I do? For I do not have anywhere I can gather in my crops.’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and I will gather in there all my grain and possessions. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many possessions stored up for many years. Relax, eat, drink, celebrate!"’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your life is demanded from you, and the things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’ So is the one who stores up treasure for himself, and who is not rich toward God!"

And he said to his disciples, "For this reason I tell you, do not be anxious for your life, what you will eat, or for your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens, that they neither sow nor reap; to them there is neither storeroom nor barn, and God feeds them. How much more are you worth than the birds? And which of you by being anxious is able to add an hour to his life span? If then you are not even able to do a very little thing, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they do not toil or spin, but I say to you, not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like one of these. But if God clothes the grass in the field in this way, although it is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he do so for you, you of little faith? And you, do not consider what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not be anxious. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek his kingdom and these things will be added to you.

"Do not be afraid, little flock, because your Father is well pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give charitable gifts. Make for yourselves money bags that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven where thief does not approach or moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"You must be prepared for action and your lamps burning. And you, be like people who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that when he comes back and knocks, they can open the door for him immediately. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he returns! Truly I say to you that he will dress himself for service and have them recline at the table and will come by and serve them. Even if he should come back in the second or in the third watch of the night and find them like this, blessed are they! But understand this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not think he will come."

And Peter said, "Lord, are you telling this parable for us, or also for everyone?" And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful wise manager whom the master will put in charge over his servants to give them their food allowance at the right time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find so doing when he comes back. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that slave should say to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time to return,’ and he begins to beat the male slaves and the female slaves and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in two and assign his place with the unbelievers. And that slave who knew the will of his master and did not prepare or do according to his will will be given a severe beating. But the one who did not know and did things deserving blows will be given a light beating. And from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be demanded, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will ask him for even more.

"I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish that it had been kindled already! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am distressed until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to grant peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! For from now on there will be five in one household, divided three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

And he also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud coming up in the west, you say at once, ‘A rainstorm is coming,’ and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be burning heat,’ and it happens. Hypocrites! You know how to evaluate the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how is it you do not know how to evaluate this present time?

And why do you not also judge for yourselves what is right? For as you are going with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to come to a settlement with him on the way, so that he will not drag you to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the bailiff, and the bailiff will throw you into prison. I tell you, you will never get out of there until you have paid back even the last cent!"