The New Testament (excerpts) Matthew 5 – Sermon on the Mount. The Beautitudes 1 Jesus, when he saw how great was their number, went up on to the mountain-side; there he sat down, and his disciples came about him. 2 And he began speaking to them; this was the teaching he gave. 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 4 Blessed are the patient; they shall inherit the land. 5 Blessed are those who mourn; they shall be comforted. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for holiness; they shall have their fill. 7 Blessed are the merciful; they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the clean of heart; they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peace-makers; they shall be counted the children of God. 10 Blessed are those who suffer persecution in the cause of right; the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 11 Blessed are you, when men revile you, and persecute you, and speak all manner of evil against you falsely, because of me. 12 Be glad and light-hearted, for a rich reward awaits you in heaven; so it was they persecuted the prophets who went before you. 13 You are the salt of the earth; if salt loses its taste, what is there left to give taste to it? There is no more to be done with it, but throw it out of doors for men to tread it under foot. 14 You are the light of the world; a city cannot be hidden if it is built on a mountain-top. 15 A lamp is not lighted to be put away under a bushel measure; it is put on the lamp-stand, to give light to all the people of the house; 16 and your light must shine so brightly before men that they can see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. The command of Love Mark 12 28 One of the scribes heard their dispute, and, finding that he answered to the purpose, came up and asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29 Jesus answered him, The first commandment of all is, Listen, Israel; there is no God but the Lord thy God; 30 and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with the love of thy whole heart, and thy whole soul, and thy whole mind, and thy whole strength. This is the first commandment, 31 and the second, its like, is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these. John 14 1 Do not let your heart be distressed; as you have faith in God, have faith in me. 2 There are many dwelling-places in my Father’s house; otherwise, should I have said to you, I am going away to prepare a home for you? 3 And though I do go away, to prepare you a home, I am coming back; and then I will take you to myself, so that you too may be where I am. 4 And now you know where it is I am going; and you know the way there. 5 Thomas said to him, But, Lord, we do not know where thou art going; how are we to know the way there? 6 Jesus said to him, I am the way; I am truth and life; nobody can come to the Father, except through me. John 15 8 My Father’s name has been glorified, if you yield abundant fruit, and prove yourselves my disciples. 9 I have bestowed my love upon you, just as my Father has bestowed his love upon me; live on, then, in my love. 10 You will live on in my love, if you keep my commandments, just as it is by keeping my Father’s commandments that I live on in his love. 11 All this I have told you, so that my joy may be yours, and the measure of your joy may be filled up. 12 This is my commandment, that you should love one another, as I have loved you. 13 This is the greatest love a man can shew, that he should lay down his life for his friends; 14 and you, if you do all that I command you, are my friends. 15 I do not speak of you any more as my servants; a servant is one who does not understand what his master is about, whereas I have made known to you all that my Father has told me; and so I have called you my friends. 16 It was not you that chose me, it was I that chose you. The task I have appointed you is to go out and bear fruit, fruit which will endure; so that every request you make of the Father in my name may be granted you. 17 These are the directions I give you, that you should love one another. 1 Corinthians 13 – St. Paul’s Hymn of Love 1 I may speak with every tongue that men and angels use; yet, if I lack charity, I am no better than echoing bronze, or the clash of cymbals. 2 I may have powers of prophecy, no secret hidden from me, no knowledge too deep for me; I may have utter faith, so that I can move mountains; yet if I lack charity, I count for nothing. 3 I may give away all that I have, to feed the poor; I may give myself up to be burnt at the stake; if I lack charity, it goes for nothing. 4 Charity is patient, is kind; charity feels no envy; charity is never perverse or proud, 5 never insolent; does not claim its rights, cannot be provoked, does not brood over an injury; 6 takes no pleasure in wrong-doing, but rejoices at the victory of truth; 7 sustains, believes, hopes, endures, to the last. 8 The time will come when we shall outgrow prophecy, when speaking with tongues will come to an end, when knowledge will be swept away; we shall never have finished with charity. 9 Our knowledge, our prophecy, are only glimpses of the truth; 10 and these glimpses will be swept away when the time of fulfilment comes. 11 (Just so, when I was a child, I talked like a child, I had the intelligence, the thoughts of a child; since I became a man, I have outgrown childish ways.) 12 At present, we are looking at a confused reflection in a mirror; then, we shall see face to face; now, I have only glimpses of knowledge; then, I shall recognize God as he has recognized me. 13 Meanwhile, faith, hope and love persist, all three; but the greatest of them all is love. Holy Spirit John 15 26 Well, when the truth-giving Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, has come to befriend you, he whom I will send to you from the Father’s side, he will bear witness of what I was; 27 and you too are to be my witnesses, you who from the first have been in my company. Acts 2 1 When the day of Pentecost came round, while they were all gathered together in unity of purpose, 2 all at once a sound came from heaven like that of a strong wind blowing, and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then appeared to them what seemed to be tongues of fire, which parted and came to rest on each of them; 4 and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in strange languages, as the Spirit gave utterance to each. Romans 10 16 True, there are some who have not obeyed the call of the gospel; so Isaias says, Lord, who has given us a faithful hearing? 17 (See how faith comes from hearing; and hearing through Christ’s word.) 18 But, tell me, did the news never come to them? Why, yes; the utterance fills every land, the message reaches the ends of the world.
