Parables of Watchfulness; the Barren Fig Tree

¹³And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. ¹⁴And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? ¹⁵And he said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.

¹⁶And he spoke a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully, ¹⁷and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to store my fruits? ¹⁸And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will I store all my fruits and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years. Take your ease. Eat, drink, and be merry. ²⁰But God said unto him, You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you. Then whose shall those things be which you have provided? ²¹So shall it be with him who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

²²And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, neither for the body, what you shall put on. ²³For the life is more than food, and the body than raiment. ²⁴Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouse nor barn. Nevertheless, God feeds them. Are you not better than the fowls? ²⁵And who of you, by taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit? ²⁶If you then are not able to do that which is least, why do you take thought for the rest? ²⁷Consider the lilies, how they grow. They toil not. They spin not. And yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ²⁸If then God so clothes the grass, which is today in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith provide for you if you are not of little faith? ²⁹And seek not you Therefore, seek not what you shall eat or what you shall drink, neither be of doubtful mind, ³⁰for all these things do the nations of the world seek after, and your Father who is in Heaven knows that you have need of these things. And you are sent unto them to be their ministers, and the laborer is worthy of his hire, for the law says that a man shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain.

³¹But rather seek Therefore, seek to bring forth the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. ³²Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ³³This he spoke unto his disciples, saying, Sell that you have and give alms. Provide not for yourselves bags which wax not old, a but rather provide a treasure in the Heavens that fails not, where no thief approaches, neither moth corrupts. ³⁴For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

³⁵Let your loins be girded about, and have your lights burning, ³⁶that you yourselves may be like unto men who wait for their lord when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks, they may open unto him immediately. ³⁷Truly I say unto you, blessed are those servants whom the lord, when he comes, shall find watching: truly I say unto you, that, for he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to a meal, and will come forth and serve them. ³⁸And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. For behold, he comes in the first watch of the night, and he shall also come in the second watch, and again he shall come in the third watch. And truly I say unto you, he has already come, as it is written of him. And again, when he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, blessed are those servants when he comes that he shall find so doing, for the Lord of those servants shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to a meal, and will come forth and serve them.

³⁹And this know, that if And now truly I say these things unto you that you may know this: that the coming of the Lord is as a thief in the night. And it is like unto a man who is a householder who, if he watches not his goods, the thief comes in an hour of which he is not aware, and takes his goods, and divides them among his fellows. And they said among themselves, If the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not have suffered his house to be broken through and the loss of his goods. ⁴⁰And he says unto them, Truly I say unto you, be therefore ready also, for the Son of Man comes at an hour when you think not.

⁴¹Then Peter said unto him, Lord, do you speak this parable unto us or unto all? ⁴²And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? I speak unto those whom the Lord shall make rulers over his household, to give his children their portion of food in due season. And they said, Who then is that faithful and wise servant? And the Lord said unto them, It is that servant who watches to impart his portion of food in due season. ⁴³Blessed is that servant whom his Lord shall find, when he comes, so doing. ⁴⁴Truly I say unto you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. ⁴⁵But the evil servant is he who is not found watching. And if that servant is not found watching, he will say in his heart, My lord delays his coming, and shall begin to beat the menservants and the maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunk. ⁴⁶The lord of that servant will come in a day he looks not for, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder down, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷And that servant who knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself for his lord’s coming, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. ⁴⁸But he that knew not his lord’s will and did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few. For unto whomever much is given, of him shall be much required. And to whom men have committed much, of him they the Lord has committed much, of him men will ask the more, for they are not well pleased with the Lord’s doings.

⁴⁹Therefore, I have come to send fire on the earth, and what will I, if it be is it to you if I desire that it be already kindled? ⁵⁰But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I constrained until it is accomplished? ⁵¹Do you suppose that I have come to give peace on earth? I tell you, nay, but rather division, ⁵²for from henceforth there shall be five in one house, divided three against two, and two against three. ⁵³The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; mother against the daughter, and daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

⁵⁴And he said also unto the people, When you see a cloud rise out of the west, you say immediately, There comes a shower; and so it is. ⁵⁵And when you see the south wind blow the south wind blows, you say, There will be heat; and it comes to pass. ⁵⁶You O hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it that you do not discern this time? ⁵⁷Yea, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right? ⁵⁸When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, as you are in the way, give Why do you go to your adversary for a magistrate when you are in the way with your enemy? Why not give diligence that you may be delivered from him, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer cast you into prison? ⁵⁹I tell you, you shall not depart from there until you have paid the very last mite.

¹And there were present at that time some who spoke unto him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. ²And Jesus said unto them, Do you suppose that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things? ³I tell you, nay; but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. ⁴Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and slew them, do you think that they were sinners above all men who dwelled in Jerusalem? ⁵I tell you, nay; but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.

⁶He spoke also this parable: A certain husbandman had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. ⁷Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I came seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none. Cut it down. Why does it encumber the ground? ⁸And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, until I shall dig about it and dung it. ⁹And if it bears fruit, the tree is saved, and if not, after that, you shall cut it down. And many other parables spoke he unto the people.

¹⁰And after this, as he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, ¹¹behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could by no means straighten up. ¹²And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, you are released from your infirmities. ¹³And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight and glorified God. ¹⁴And the ruler of the synagogue was filled with indignation because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work; in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day. ¹⁵The Lord then answered him, and said, You hypocrite said unto him, O hypocrite, do not each one of you on the Sabbath set loose his ox or his an ass from the stall and lead him away to watering? ¹⁶And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound behold these eighteen years, be released from this bond on the Sabbath day? ¹⁷And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed, and all the people his disciples rejoiced for all the glorious things which were done by him.

¹⁸Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? And unto what shall I resemble it? ¹⁹It is like a grain of mustard which a man took and cast into his garden. And it grew, and waxed a great tree, and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. ²⁰And again he said, Unto 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.