Section
XXVI.
[1, 2] 1807
And there came unto
him
publicans and
sinners to hear his word.
1808
And the
scribes and the
Pharisees murmured,
and said, This man receiveth
sinners, and [3] eateth with them.
1809
And
Jesus, when he beheld their murmuring,
spake unto them [4] this
parable:
1810
What man of you, having an
hundred sheep, if
one of them were lost, would not leave the ninety-nine in the
wilderness, and go and
seek the straying
one [5] till he found
it?
1811
Verily I say unto
you, When he findeth it, he will
rejoice over it [6] more than
over the ninety-nine that went not
astray;
1812
and bear it on his shoulders, and bring it to
his
house, and call his
friends and neighbours,
1813
and say unto them, [7]
Rejoice with me, since
I have found my straying
sheep.
1814
So
your
Father which is in
heaven willeth
1815
| 1815 Strictly,
preferreth, but used also as in the text. |
not that one of these little ones that have strayed should
perish, [8]
and he seeketh for them repentance.
1816
I
say unto you, Thus there shall be rejoicing in
heaven over one
sinner
that repenteth, more than
over ninety-nine
righteous persons
that do not need repentance.
[9] 1817
And what
woman
having ten drachmas would lose one of them, and not
light a [10]
lamp,
and sweep the
house, and
seek it with care till she found it;
1818
and when she found it, call her
friends and
neighbours, and say unto them,
Rejoice with me, as I [11] have found my
drachma that was lost?
1819
I say unto you, Thus
there shall be
joy [Arabic, p. 101] before the
angels of
God over the
one
sinner that repenteth, more than over the ninety-nine
righteous
persons that do not need repentance.
[12, 13] 1820
And
Jesus spake unto
them also another
parable:
1821
A man had two
sons: and the younger son said unto him, My
father, give me my
portion that belongeth to [14] me of thy goods.
1822
And he divided between them his
property. And after a few days the younger son gathered
everything that belonged to him, and went into a [15]
far country, and
there squandered his property by living prodigally.
1823
And when he had exhausted everything he had, there occurred
a great
dearth in that
country. [16]
1824
And
when he was in want, he went and joined himself to one of the people of
a city [17] of that
country; and that
man sent him into the
field1825
| 1825 This word is regularly
used throughout this work in this sense. |
to
feed the
swine.
1826
And he used to long to fill his
belly with
the carob that those
swine were eating: and no man [18] gave
him.
1827
And when he returned
unto himself, he said, How many hired
servants now in my
father’s
house have
bread enough and to spare, while I here
perish with [19]
hunger!
1828
I will arise and go
to my
father’s
house, and say unto him, My
father,
1829
I [20] have
sinned in
heaven and before thee,
and am not worthy now to be called thy [21] son: make me as one
of thy hired
servants.
1830
And he arose, and
came to his
father. But his
father saw him while he was at a
distance, and was moved with
compassion [22] for him, and
ran,
1831
| 1831 See above, § 24,
26, note. |
and fell on his
breast,
1832
| 1832 Did not
Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary (Brit. Mus. text) also read
breast, we might assume it to be a clerical error for a very
similar (less common) word (same as the Syriac) for
neck. |
and kissed him.
1833
And his son said unto him, My
father, I have
sinned in
heaven and before thee, and am not worthy to be [23] called
thy son.
1834
His
father said unto
his
servants, Bring forth a stately
robe, and put [24]
it on
him; and put a ring on his
hand, and put on him shoes on his
feet:
1835
and bring and [25]
slay a fatted
ox, that we may eat and make merry:
1836
for this my son was dead, and is [26]
[Arabic, p. 102] alive; and was lost, and is found.
1837
And they began to be merry.
1838
Now his
elder son was in the
field;
and when he came and drew near to the
house, [27] he heard the sound of
many singing.
1839
1840
And he called one of the lads, and asked him
[28] what this was.
1841
He said unto him,
Thy
brother hath arrived; and thy
father hath [29] slain a fatted
ox,
since he hath received him
safe and sound.
1842
1843
And he was
angry, [30] and would not enter; so his
father went out, and besought
him to enter.
1844
And he said to his
father, How many years do I serve thee in
bondage, and I never
transgressed a
commandment of thine; and thou hast never given me a
kid, that I might [31] make merry with my
friends?
1845
but this thy son, when he had squandered thy
[32] property with
harlots, and come, thou hast slain for him a fatted
ox.
1846
His
father said unto
him, My son, thou art at all times with me, and everything I have is
[33] thine.
1847
It behoveth thee to
rejoice and make merry, since this thy
brother was dead, and is alive;
and
was lost, and is found.
[34] 1848
And he spake a
parable unto his
disciples: There was a
rich man, and he had [35]
a
steward; and he was
accused to him that he had squandered his
property.
1849
So his
lord called
him, and said unto him, What is this that I hear regarding thee?
Give me the account of thy stewardship; for it is now
impossible that
thou shouldest [36] be a
steward for me.
1850
The
steward said within himself, What shall I do, seeing that my
lord
taketh from me the stewardship? To
dig I am not able; and to
beg
1851
| 1851 Vat.
ms. (followed by Ciasca’s text) has
and if I beg, by a common confusion of grammatical
forms. |
I [37] am
ashamed.
1852
I know what I will do, that, when I go out of
the stewardship, they [38] may receive me into their
houses.
1853
And he called one after another of his
lord’s [39]
debtors, and said to the first, How much owest thou
my
lord?
1854
He said unto him, An
hundred portions
1855
| 1855 Or (otherwise
vocalised), farks, a measure variously estimated. |
of
oil. He
said unto him, Take thy writing, and sit down, and
write [40] quickly
fifty portions.
1856
| 1856 Or (otherwise
vocalised), farks, a measure variously estimated. |
1857
And he said to the next, And thou, how much
owest thou my
lord? He said unto him, An
hundred cors of
wheat. He said unto him, Take [41] [Arabic, p. 103] thy writing,
and sit down, and
write eighty cors.
1858
And
our
1859
lord commended the
sinful steward1860
because he had done a
wise deed; for the
children [42] of this
world are wiser than the
children of the
light in
this their age.
1861
And I also say unto
you, Make unto yourselves
friends with the
wealth of this
unrighteousness;
1862
[43] so that, when
it is exhausted, they may receive you into their tents for ever.
1863
He who is
faithful in
1864
a
little is
faithful also in much: and he who is
unrighteous in a
[44] little is
unrighteous also in much.
1865
If
then in the
wealth of
unrighteousness ye were [45] not trustworthy, who
will
intrust you with the truth?
1866
| 1866 Or, true
(wealth); but cf. Syriac. |
1867
If ye are not found faithful in what does not
belong to you, who will give you what belongeth to you?
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