Section XIV. [1] 1012 Verily I say unto you, There hath not arisen among those whom women have borne a greater than John the Baptist; but he that is little now in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. [2] [Arabic, p. 54] 1013 And all the people which heard, and the publicans, justified 1014 God, for [3] they had been baptized with the baptism of John.  1015 But the Pharisees and the scribes wronged 1016 the purpose of God in themselves, in that they were not baptized of [4] him.  1017 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven is [5] snatched away by violence.  1018 The law and the prophets were until John; and after that, the kingdom of God is preached, and all press to enter it:  1019 and they that exert themselves [6, 7] snatch it away.  1020 All the prophets and the law until John prophesied.  1021 And if ye [8] will, then receive it , that he is Elijah, which is to come.  1022 Whosoever hath ears that hear [9] let him hear.  1023 Easier is the perishing of heaven and earth, than the passing away of [10] one point of the law.  1024 To whom then shall I liken the people of this generation, 1025 and [11] to whom are they like?  1026 They are like the children sitting in the market, which call to their companions, and say, We sang to you, and ye danced not; we wailed to you, [12] and ye wept not.  1027 John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; [13] and ye said, He hath demons:  1028 and the Son of man came eating and drinking; and ye said, Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drinker of wine, and an associate of publicans [14, 15] and sinners!  1029 And wisdom was justified of all her children.  1030 And when he said that, they came to the house.  And there gathered unto him again multitudes, [16] so that they found not bread to eat.  1031 And while he was casting out a devil which was dumb, when he cast out that devil, that dumb man spake.  And the multitudes [17] [Arabic, p. 55] marvelled.  1032 And the Pharisees, when they heard, said, This man doth not cast out the devils, except by Beelzebul the chief of the demons, which is in him.  [18, 19] 1033 And others requested of him a sign from heaven, to tempt him.  1034 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them in parables, Every kingdom that withstandeth itself shall become desolate; and every house or city that disagreeth with itself shall not [20] stand:  1035 and if a devil cast out a devil, he withstandeth himself; neither shall he be [21] able to stand, but his end shall be.  1036 Then how now shall his kingdom stand? for ye [22] said that I cast out devils by Beelzebul.  1037 And if I by Beelzebul cast out the devils, then your children, by what do they cast them out?  And for this cause they shall [23] be judges against you.  1038 But if I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then the kingdom [24] of God is come near unto you.  1039 Or how can a man enter into the house of a valiant man , and seize his garments, 1040 if he do not beforehand secure himself 1041 from [25] that valiant man? and then will he cut off 1042 his house.  1043 But when the valiant man is [26] armed, guarding his house, his possessions are in peace.  1044 But if one come who is more valiant than he, he overcometh him, and taketh his whole armour, on which [27] he relieth, and divideth his spoil.  1045 Whosoever is not with me is against me; and [28] whosoever gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.  1046 For this reason I say unto you, [Arabic, p. 56] that all sins and blasphemies with which men blaspheme shall be forgiven [29] them:  1047 but whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, there is no [30] forgiveness for him for ever, but he is deserving of eternal punishment:  1048 because they [31] said that he had an unclean spirit.  1049 And he said also, Every one that speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to [32] come.  1050 Either ye must make a good tree 1051 and its fruit good; or ye must make an evil [33] tree 1052 and its fruit evil:  for the tree is known by its fruit.  1053 Ye children of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? from the overflowings of the heart the mouth [34] speaketh.  1054 The good man from the good treasures which are in his heart bringeth forth good things; and the wicked man from the evil treasures which are in his [35] heart bringeth forth evils.  1055 I say unto you, that every idle word which men shall [36] speak, they shall give an answer for in the day of judgement:  1056 for by thy sayings thou shalt be justified, and by thy sayings thou shalt be judged. [37] 1057 And he said to the multitudes, When ye see the clouds appear from the west, [38] straightway ye say that there cometh rain; and so it cometh to pass.  1058 And when [39] the south wind bloweth, ye say that there will be heat; and it cometh to pass.  1059 And when the evening is come, ye say, It will be fair weather, for the heaven has become [40] red.  1060 And in the morning ye say, To-day there will be severe weather, for the redness [Arabic, p. 57] of the heaven is paling.  1061 Ye hypocrites, ye know to examine the face of the heaven and the earth; but the signs of this time ye know not to discern. [41] 1062 Then they brought to him one possessed of a demon, dumb and blind; and he [42] healed him, so that the dumb and blind began to speak and see.  1063 And all the multitudes wondered, and said, Is this, think you, the son of David? [43] 1064 And the apostles returned unto Jesus, and told him everything that they had [44] done and wrought. 1065   1066 And he said unto them, Come, let us go into the desert alone, and rest ye a little.  And many were going and returning, and they had not leisure, not even to eat bread. [45] 1067 And after that, there came to him one of the Pharisees, and besought him that he would eat bread with him.  And he entered into the house of that Pharisee, and [46] reclined.  1068 And there was in that city a woman that was a sinner; and when she knew that he was sitting in the house of that Pharisee, she took a box of sweet ointment, [47] and stood behind him, 1069 towards his feet, weeping, and began to wet his feet with her tears, and to wipe them with the hair of her head, and to kiss his feet, and [48] anoint them with the sweet ointment.  1070 And when that 1071 Pharisee saw it , who invited him, he thought within himself, and said, This man , if he were a prophet, would know who she is and what is her history:  for the woman which touched him was a sinner. 1012     Matt. xi. 11 . 1013     Luke vii. 29 . 1014     Syriac.  In Arabic the word ordinarily means believed . 1015     Luke vii. 30 . 1016     See below, § 20, 28, note. 1017     Matt. xi. 12 a. 1018     Luke xvi. 16 . 1019     Matt. xi. 12 b. 1020     Matt. xi. 13 . 1021     Matt. xi. 14 . 1022     Matt. xi. 15 . 1023     Luke xvi. 17 . 1024     Luke vii. 31 b. 1025     See § 1, 49, note. 1026     Luke vii. 32 . 1027     Luke vii. 33 . 1028     Luke vii. 34 . 1029     Luke vii. 35 . 1030     Mark iii. 20, and verse 19b . 1031     Luke xi. 14 . 1032     Matt. xii. 24 . 1033     Luke xi. 16 . 1034     Matt. xii. 25 . 1035     Matt. xii. 26 a. 1036     Mark iii. 26b; Matt. xii. 26b . 1037     Luke xi. 18b; Matt. xii. 27 . 1038     Matt. xii. 28 . 1039     Matt. xii. 29 . 1040     The word used in the Syriac versions (Pesh. and Cur.) means garments as well as utensils , and the Arabic translator has chosen the wrong meaning ( cf . § 42, 44). 1041     Certain derivatives from the same root signify bind , but hardly this word. 1042     The two Arab. mss. differ in this word, but the meaning is about the same.  Perhaps both are corrupt. 1043     Luke xi. 21 . 1044     Luke xi. 22 . 1045     Luke xi. 23 . 1046     Mark iii. 28 . 1047     Mark iii. 29 . 1048     Mark iii. 30 . 1049     Matt. xii. 32 . 1050     Matt. xii. 33 . 1051     Or, a tree good. 1052     Or, a tree evil. 1053     Matt. xii. 34 . 1054     Luke vi. 45 a. 1055     Matt. xii. 36 . 1056     Matt. xii. 37 . 1057     Luke xii. 54 . 1058     Luke xii. 55 . 1059     Matt. xvi. 2 b. 1060     Matt. xvi. 3 . 1061     Matt. xvi. 4 ; this is reckoned to verse 3 in the Greek. 1062     Matt. xii. 22 . 1063     Matt. xii. 23 . 1064     Mark vi. 30 . 1065     Wrought may have arisen from taught by a transcriptional error (transposition of l and m ) within the Arabic text.  As it appears to occur in both mss ., they would seem to have a common origin, which, however, can hardly have been the autograph of the translator. 1066     Mark vi. 31 . 1067     Luke vii. 36 . 1068     Luke vii. 37 . 1069     Luke vii. 38 . 1070     Luke vii. 39 . 1071     A comparison with the Syriac text recommends this rendering.