A Call to Repentance

(Joel 1:13-20; Amos 5:4-15; Zephaniah 2:1-3)

1Now at the same time there were present some who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with [that of] their sacrifices. 2And he answering said to them, Think ye that these Galileans were sinners beyond all the Galileans because they suffered such things? 3No, I say to you, but if ye repent not, ye shall all perish in the same manner. 4Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, think ye that they were debtors beyond all the men who dwell in Jerusalem? 5No, I say to you, but if ye repent not, ye shall all perish in like manner.

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

(Isaiah 5:1-7)

6And he spoke this parable: A certain [man] had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit upon it and did not find [any]. 7And he said to the vinedresser, Behold, [these] three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree and find none: cut it down; why does it also render the ground useless? 8But he answering says to him, Sir, let it alone for this year also, until I shall dig about it and put dung, 9and if it shall bear fruit -- but if not, after that thou shalt cut it down.

Jesus Heals a Woman on the Sabbath

10And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11And lo, [there was] a woman having a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bent together and wholly unable to lift her head up. 12And Jesus, seeing her, called to [her], and said to her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. 13And he laid his hands upon her; and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. 14But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus healed on the sabbath, answering said to the crowd, There are six days in which [people] ought to work; in these therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. 15The Lord therefore answered him and said, Hypocrites! does not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the manger and leading [it] away, water [it]? 16And this [woman], who is a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, lo, [these] eighteen years, ought she not to be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? 17And as he said these things, all who were opposed to him were ashamed; and all the crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things which were being done by him.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

(Matthew 13:31-32; Mark 4:30-34)

18And he said, To what is the kingdom of God like? and to what shall I liken it? 19It is like a grain of mustard [seed] which a man took and cast into his garden; and it grew and became a great tree, and the birds of heaven lodged in its branches.

The Parable of the Leaven

(Judges 20:18-23; 2 Samuel 2:12-32; 2 Chronicles 13:4-19; Matthew 13:33-33)

20And again he said, To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? 21It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.

The Narrow Gate

(Matthew 7:13-14)

22And he went through one city and village after another, teaching, and journeying to Jerusalem. 23And one said to him, Sir, [are] such as are to be saved few in number? But he said unto them, 24Strive with earnestness to enter in through the narrow door, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in and will not be able. 25From the time that the master of the house shall have risen up and shall have shut the door, and ye shall begin to stand without and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he answering shall say to you, I know you not whence ye are: 26then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten in thy presence and drunk, and thou hast taught in our streets; 27and he shall say, I tell you, I do not know you whence ye are; depart from me, all [ye] workers of iniquity. 28There shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves cast out. 29And they shall come from east and west, and from north and south, and shall lie down at table in the kingdom of God. 30And behold, there are last who shall be first, and there are first who shall be last.

Lament over Jerusalem

(Matthew 23:37-39)

31The same hour certain Pharisees came up, saying to him, Get out, and go hence, for Herod is desirous to kill thee. 32And he said to them, Go, tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons and accomplish cures to-day and to-morrow, and the third [day] I am perfected; 33but I must needs walk to-day and to-morrow and the [day] following, for it must not be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. 34Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the [city] that kills the prophets and stones those that are sent unto her, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen her brood under her wings, and ye would not. 35Behold, your house is left unto you; and I say unto you, that ye shall not see me until it come that ye say, Blessed [is] he that comes in the name of [the] Lord.