kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up. and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came, and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Another parable put he forth unto them, and he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what resemblance shall we compare it? The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is one of the least of all the seeds that are sown in the earth: but when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all the herbs, and shooteth out great branches; and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof; under the shadow of it.

Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake he not unto them: so that it was fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house.

And when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.

And his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man: the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that pervert, and those who do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field, the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered every kind [of fishes]: which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them in the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus said unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They said unto him, Yea, Lord: Then said he unto them, Thus every Scribe who is disciplined for the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence.

SECTION LXIII.

Christ crosses the Sea of Galilee, and calms the Tempest.

MATT. viii. 18-28. MARK iv. part of ver. 35, to the end. LUKE viii. 22-26.

Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, it came to pass the same day, when the even was come, that he went into a ship with his disciples; and he gave commandment to depart; [and] he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And a certain Scribe came and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have shelters; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and [in this case] let the mourners* bury their dead. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him at once into the ship. And when he was entered into the ship, his disciples followed him. And they launched forth. And there were also with him other little ships. But as they sailed he fell asleep. And behold, there arose a great storm of wind, and there came down a storm of

There is reason to believe that our Lord's words refer to this case, and similar cases, and not to all cases indiscriminately. The original words in Syriac and Greek cannot mean the dead literally, as it is absurd to suppose that corpses can bury corpses. We must, therefore, take them idiomatically. I think it not unlikely that they refer to mourners, or deathmen, called the dead-men because they attended the dead. It is a question whether our English word mutes, at funerals, is not a corruption from morts, or mort-men, death-men. The term may, however, refer to the unconverted, the dead in sins and trespasses. But in either sense it means that certain persons who are especially called to the supreme duty of following Christ on certain occasions, when other interests interfere, must follow him, though the other interests are sacrificed in so doing. The text must not be strained so as to imply as a ge neral rule that Christians are to neglect the funerals of their departed relatives.

wind on the lake; (and) a great tempest on the sea, and the waves beat into the ship, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. But he was asleep-he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a cushion. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, carest thou not that we perish? Lord save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Where is your faith? why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea, and the raging of the water: and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? But the men marvelled, and they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this? for he commandeth even the winds and the water, and they obey him.

SECTION LXIV.

Christ heals the Gadarene Demoniacs.

MATT. viii. 28, to the end.

MARK V. 1-21.

LUKE viii. 26-40.

And they came over unto the other side of the lake, and they arrived in the country of the Gadarenes; the country of the Gergesenes, which is over against Galilee. And when he was come out of the ship he went forth to land, and immediately there met him out of the city two possessed with demons,-[one of whom] was a certain man coming out of the tombs, who had demons a long time, and wore no clothes, neither abode in any house, but who had his dwelling among the tombs. And no man could bind him, no, not with chains [effectually]: for he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces; neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones; exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. And behold, when he saw Jesus afar off, he

ran, and fell down before him, and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice, yea, [both demoniacs] cried out, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? I beseech thee, I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man, saying unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. Because it had often caught him: and he had been kept bound with chains and in fetters; but he broke the bands, and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion for we are many, (because many demons were entered into him.) And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country, and that he would not command them to go out into the abyss.

Now there was there a good way off from them, nigh unto the mountains, a great herd of swine feeding. And all the demons besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine; send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus permitted them, and gave them leave, and said unto them, Go. And the unclean spirits went out of the man, and entered into the swine. And the whole herd (they were about two thousand) ran violently down a precipice into the lake, and were choked in the lake; and perished in the waters. And they who kept and fed the swine, when they saw what was done, fled and went their ways into the city, and told it in the city and in the country; they told everything, and what had happened to those possessed by the demons. And behold, all the citizens came out to meet Jesus; and they went out to see what it was that was done. And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed by the demons, and had the legion, out of whom the demons were departed, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind, at the feet of Jesus; and they were afraid. And they that saw it told them how it befel to him that was possessed by the demon,

H