Section
XXXIII.
[1] [Arabic, p. 125] And when
evening came, Jesus went forth outside of the city, he and his [2]
disciples. And as they passed
in the morning, the disciples saw that fig tree [3] withered away from
its root. And they passed by, and said, How did the fig tree dry [4] up immediately? And Simon remembered, and said unto him, My Master, behold, [5] that fig tree which thou didst curse hath dried up. And Jesus answered and said [6] unto them, Let there be in you the faith of God. Verily I say unto you, if ye believe, and doubt not in your hearts, and assure yourselves that that will be which [7] ye say, ye shall have what ye say. And if ye say to this mountain, Remove, and [8] fall into the sea, it shall be. And all that ye ask God in prayer, and believe, he [9, 10] will give you. And the apostles said unto our Lord, Increase our faith. He said unto them, If there be in you faith like a grain of mustard, ye shall say to this fig tree, Be thou torn up, and be thou planted in the sea; and it will obey you. [11] Who of you hath a servant driving a yoke of oxen or tending sheep, and if he [12] come from the field, will say unto him straightway, Go and sit down? Nay, he will say unto him, Make ready for me wherewith I may sup, and gird thy waist, and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterwards thou shalt eat and drink also. [13] Doth that servant haply, who did what he was bid, receive his praise? I think [14] not. So ye also, when ye have done all that ye were bid, say, We are idle servants; what it was our duty to do, we have done.
[15] For this reason I
say unto you, Whatever ye pray and ask, believe that ye [16] [Arabic, p. 126] receive, and ye shall have. And when ye stand to pray, forgive what is in your heart against any man; and your Father which is in heaven will [17] forgive you also your wrong-doings. But if ye forgive not men their wrong-doings, neither will your Father forgive you also your wrong-doings.
[18] And he spake unto
them a parable also, that they should pray at all times, and [19] not
be slothful: There was a judge in
a city, who feared not God, nor was ashamed [20] for men: and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, and said, [21] Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a long time: but afterwards he said within himself, If of God I have no fear, and before men I have no shame; [22] yet because this widow vexeth me, I will avenge her, that she come not at all times [23, 24] and annoy me. And our Lord said, Hear ye what the judge of injustice said. And shall not God still more do vengeance for his elect, who call upon him in the night [25] and in the day, and grant them respite? I say unto you, He will do vengeance for them speedily. Thinkest thou the Son of man will come and find faith on the earth?
[26, 27] And they came again
to Jerusalem. And it came to pass, on one of the days, as Jesus was walking in the temple, and teaching the people, and preaching the [28] gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came upon him, and said unto him, Tell us: By what power doest thou this? and who gave thee this [29] power to do that? And Jesus said unto them, I also will ask you one word, and if [30] ye tell me, I also shall tell you by what power I do that. The baptism of John, from [31] what place is it? from heaven or of men? Tell me. And they reflected within themselves, [Arabic, p. 127] and said, If we shall say unto him, From heaven; he will say unto [32] us, For what reason did ye not believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; [33] we fear that the people will stone us, all of them. And all of them were holding [34] to John, that he was a true prophet. They answered and said unto him, We know [35] not. Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you also by what power I work. What think ye? A man had two sons; and he went to the first, and said unto him, My [36] son, go to-day, and till in the vineyard. And he answered and said, I do not wish [37] to: but finally he repented, and went. And he went to the other, and said unto [38] him likewise. And he answered and said, Yea, my lord: and went not. Which of these two did the will of his father? They said unto him, The first. Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, The publicans and harlots go before you into [39] the kingdom of God. John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the publicans and harlots believed him; and ye, not even when ye saw, did ye repent at last, that ye might believe in him.