Illuminated Syriac Bible

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that they may be heard by men and you may be praised by them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But you, when you do alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand does, so that your almsgiving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets to pray, that they may be seen by men. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into your chamber and shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not be babbling like the heathens, for they think that by much speaking they are heard. Therefore, do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray, therefore, like this: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, as in heaven so on earth. Give us the bread of our need today. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. And when you fast, do not be sad like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But you, when you fast, wash your face and anoint your head, that you may not be seen by men as fasting, but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in nor steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The lamp of the body is the eye. If, therefore, your eye be simple, your whole body will be enlightened. But if your eye be evil, your whole body will be darkened. If, therefore, the light that is in you be darkness, how great will be your darkness! No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will honor the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon original: "ܡܡܘܢܐ" (wealth/money). Therefore I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat and what you shall drink, or for your body, what you shall wear. Is not the soul more than food, and the body than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they do not sow, neither do they reap nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they? And who among you, by being anxious, can add to his stature one cubit? And concerning clothing, why are you anxious? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they do not labor, nor do they spin. And I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of them. If, therefore, God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow falls into the furnace, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! Therefore do not be anxious, or say, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?" For all these things the heathens seek, and your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient to the day is its own evil. Do not judge, that you be not judged. For with the judgment that you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure that you measure, it will be measured to you. And why do you see the splinter that is in your brother's eye, and the beam that is in your own eye you do not consider? Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me take out the splinter from your eye," and behold, a beam is in your own eye? Hypocrite, first take the beam out of your own eye, and then it will be seen clearly to you to take out the splinter from your brother's eye. Do not give that which is holy to the dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them with their feet and turn and tear you. Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you, who, if his son asks him for bread, will he give him a stone? And if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If, therefore, you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Everything that you desire that men should do to you, do you also do to them. For this is the Law and the Prophets. Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who go in it. How narrow is the gate and constricted the way that leads to life, and few are those who find it! Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. From their fruits you will know them. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit. But a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, from their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to me, "My Lord, my Lord," will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, "My Lord, my Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name done many wonders?" And then I will confess to them that from ever I have not known you. Depart from me, workers of iniquity. Everyone, therefore, who hears these my words and does them will be likened to a wise man who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it did not fall; for its foundations were laid upon the rock. And everyone who hears these my words and does not do them will be likened to a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was its fall. And it happened that when Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching; for he was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes and Pharisees.

When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came and worshipped him and said, "My Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." And Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I am willing; be made clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no man; but go, show yourself to the priests and offer the gift as Moses commanded, for a testimony to them." And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, and he besought him and said, "My Lord, my servant is lying at home, paralyzed and tormented very badly." Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." The centurion answered and said, "My Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof. But only say in a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, and there are soldiers under my hand. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard, he marveled and said to those who were coming after him, "Amen, I say to you, that not even in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, however, that many will come from the east and from the west and will recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom will go out into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." And Jesus said to that centurion, "Go; as you have believed, so let it be to you." And his servant was healed in that very hour. And Jesus came to the house of Simon and saw his mother-in-law lying and holding a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and was serving him. When evening came, they brought to him many demon-possessed, and he cast out their spirits with a word, and healed all those who were doing badly; so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, who said, "He took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses." When Jesus saw great crowds surrounding him, he commanded that they should go to the other side. And a scribe came and said to him, "My Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus said to him, "The foxes have dens and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." Another of his disciples said to him, "My Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." Jesus, however, said to him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead." And when Jesus climbed into the boat, his disciples went with him. And behold, a great earthquake happened in the sea, so that the boat was covered by the waves. But Jesus was asleep. And his disciples came and woke him and said to him, "Our Lord, deliver us, we are perishing." Jesus said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. The men were astonished and said, "Who is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?" And when Jesus came to the other side to the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, who were coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man could pass by that way. And they cried out and said, "What to us and to you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here before the time to torment us?" There was, however, far from them a herd of many swine feeding. And those demons besought him and said, "If you cast us out, permit us to go to the herd of swine." Jesus said to them, "Go." And in that hour they went out and entered into the swine. And that whole herd rushed over the cliff and fell into the sea and died in the waters. Those who were feeding them fled and went to the city and showed everything that had happened, and about those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart from their borders.

And he climbed into the boat and crossed over and came to his city. And they brought to him a paralytic, lying upon a bed. And Jesus saw their faith and said to the paralytic, "Take courage, my son; your sins are forgiven you." The men, some of the scribes, said within themselves, "This man blasphemes." Jesus, however, knew their thoughts and said to them, "Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Arise, walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins," he said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed and go to your house." And he arose and went to his house. When the crowds saw these things, they feared and praised God, who had given such authority to men. And when Jesus crossed from there, he saw a man who was sitting at the tax office, whose name was Matthew. And he said to him, "Follow me." And he arose and went after him. And as they were reclining in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and reclined with Jesus and with his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw, they said to his disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus, however, when he heard, said to them, "The physician is not needed for the healthy, but for those who are doing badly. Go learn what it is: 'Mercy I desire and not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Then the disciples of John came to him and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus said to them, "Can the sons of the bridechamber fast as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast. No man puts a new patch on an old garment; for its fullness might tear away from that garment, and there will be a worse tear. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins; for the wineskins might burst, and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are lost. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." As he was speaking these things to them, an archon original: "ܐܪܟܘܢܐ" (ruler/official) came, worshipped him, and said, "My daughter has just died; but come, lay your hand upon her and she will live." And Jesus and his disciples arose and went after him. And behold, a woman who had had an issue of blood for twelve years came from behind him and touched the hem of his garment. For she was saying in herself, "Even if I only touch his garment, I shall be healed." Jesus, however, turned, saw her, and said to her, "Take courage, my daughter; your faith has healed you." And that woman was healed from that hour. And Jesus came to the house of the archon and saw the minstrels and the crowds making an uproar. And he said to them, "Depart, for the damsel has not died, but is asleep." And they laughed at him. And when he put the crowds out, he entered, took her by her hand, and the damsel arose. And this report went out into all that land. And when Jesus crossed from there, two blind men followed him, crying out and saying, "Have mercy on us, Son of David." And when he came to the house, those blind men came to him. Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, our Lord." Then he touched their eyes and said, "As you have believed, so let it be to you." And immediately their eyes were opened. And Jesus rebuked them and said, "See that no man knows." They, however, went out and spread his fame in all that land. And when Jesus went out, they brought to him a dumb man who had a demon upon him. And when the demon went out, the dumb man spoke. And the crowds marveled and said, "Never has it been seen thus in Israel." The Pharisees, however, were saying, "By the prince of demons he casts out demons." And Jesus was going around in all the cities and in the villages, and he was teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity. When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were weary and cast down like sheep that have no shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is great and the laborers are few. Ask, therefore, from the Lord of the harvest, that he may send out laborers for his harvest."