<div class='chaptertitle'>THE GOOD SAMARITAN.—MARTHA AND MARY.—THE MAN BORN BLIND.</div>
<p><span class="smcap">Je-sus</span> went to the great church in Je-ru-sa-lem,
and the Jews came there in crowds to hear him
preach, and to find fault with him.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>And a man of law stood up and said, What must
I do to be saved? Je-sus said to him, What does
the law say? How dost thou read it? The man of
law said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
strength, and thy neigh-bor as thy-self.</p>
<p>Je-sus said to him, That is right. Do this, and
thou shalt be saved.</p>
<p>The man of law said, Who is my neigh-bor?
Then Je-sus spoke in this way, and said, A man
went down from Je-ru-sa-lem to Je-ri-cho. And the
thieves fell on him, tore off his clothes and beat him,
then went on their way and left him half dead on the
ground.</p>
<p>By chance there came a priest that way, and
when he saw the poor man he went by him on the
oth-er side of the road.</p>
<p>Then one of the tribe of Le-vi came to the place,
and took a look at the poor man, and went by on
the oth-er side of the road.</p>
<p>By and by a Sa-mar-i-tan—that is, a man from
Sa-ma-ri-a—came that way, and as soon as he saw
the poor man on the ground his heart was moved,
and he made haste to help him.</p>
<div class="figleft"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_132.jpg" width-obs="262" height-obs="400" alt="The Samaritan" /> <span class="caption">THE GOOD SAM-AR-I-TAN.</span></div>
<p>Now the Jews did not like the Sa-mar-i-tans, and
would have nought to do with them. And those to
whom Je-sus spoke would not have thought it strange<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</SPAN></span>
if this man from Sa-ma-ri-a had left the Jew to die
by the road-side.</p>
<p>But this he could not do, for he had a kind
heart. He went to the
poor man and bound
up his wounds, and set
him on his own beast,
and brought him to an
inn, and took care of
him.</p>
<p>And the next day
when he left he took
out two pence and gave
them to the host, and
said to him, Take care
of him; and if thou hast
need to spend more
than that, when I come
back I will pay thee.</p>
<p>Which now of
these three dost thou
think was neigh-bor to
him who fell a-mong
thieves?</p>
<p>And the man of law said, He that was kind to
him.</p>
<p>Then said Je-sus, Go, and do thou like-wise; that<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</SPAN></span>
is, to those who need help go and do as the Sa-mar-i-tan
did.</p>
<p>Je-sus came to Beth-a-ny—a small place near Je-ru-sa-lem—and
a wo-man, whose name was Mar-tha,
asked him to come to her house. She had a sis-ter,
whose name was Ma-ry, and while Mar-tha went to
get things and to cook, and sweep, and dust, Ma-ry
sat down at the feet of Je-sus to hear him talk.</p>
<p>This did not please Mar-tha, who felt that she
had too much work to do; so she came to Je-sus and
said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sis-ter hath
left me to do the work a-lone? Bid her there-fore
come and help me.</p>
<p>Je-sus said to her, Mar-tha, Mar-tha, thou art
full of care and vexed a-bout more things than there
is need of. There is need of but one thing, and
Ma-ry hath made choice of that which is good, and
no one shall take it from her.</p>
<p>He meant that Ma-ry chose to care for her soul,
and to be taught how to live in this world, so that
she might fit her-self for the next one. And the one
thing we all need is a new heart, full of love to Je-sus
and glad to do his work.</p>
<p>One of the twelve said to Je-sus, Teach us how
to pray, as John taught those who were with him.
Je-sus taught them to pray thus:</p>
<div class="figright"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_133.jpg" width-obs="363" height-obs="500" alt="Sisters" /> <span class="caption">MA-RY AND MAR-THA.</span></div>
<p>Our Fa-ther, who art in heav-en, Hal-low-ed be<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</SPAN></span>
thy name, Thy king-dom come, Thy will be done on
earth as it is in heav-en, Give us this day our dai-ly
bread, and for-give
us our
debts as we
for-give our
debt-ors. Lead
us not in-to
temp-ta-tion
but de-liv-er us
from e-vil, for
thine is the
king-dom, the
pow-er, and
the glo-ry, both
now and for-ev-er.
A-men.</p>
<p>Then he
said, Which
of you shall
have a friend
and shall go to
him at mid-night
and say
to him, Friend,
lend me three loaves: for a friend of mine has come
a long way to see me, and I have no food for him.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>And he who is in-side shall say, The door is now
shut, and my chil-dren are with me in bed; I can-not
rise and give thee.</p>
<p>I say to you, though he will not rise and give him
be-cause he is his friend, yet if he keeps on and begs
hard he will rise and give him as much as he needs.
And I say to you, Ask God for what you need and
he will give it to you. Seek and ye shall find.
Knock, and the door that is shut will o-pen for you.</p>
<p>For, he said, if a child of yours should ask for
bread, would you give him a stone? or should he ask
for a fish, would you give him a snake? If ye then,
who are full of sin, know how to give good gifts to
your chil-dren, how much more sure is it that God
will give good things to those who ask him.</p>
<p>Je-sus chose three-score and ten more men and
sent them out, two and two, in-to all the towns where
he meant to come, that they might heal the sick and
preach the good news. And they did as he told
them, and came back full of joy at the great things
they had done through the strength that he gave
them. Je-sus told them that they should feel more
joy that their names were set down in the Book of
Life—God's book—where he keeps the names of all
those who love him, and do his will on earth.</p>
<div class="figleft"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_134.jpg" width-obs="479" height-obs="600" alt="" /> <span class="caption">THE SEND-ING OUT OF THE SEV-EN-TY.</span></div>
<p>The Feast of Tents was near at hand, and Je-sus
said to the twelve, Go ye up to this feast, but I<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</SPAN></span>
will not go now, for my time has not yet come. So
he staid in Gal-i-lee for a-while. Then he went up
to Je-ru-sa-lem, but did not make him-self known
lest the Jews should kill him.</p>
<p>The Jews sought for him at the feast, and
said, Where is he? And there was much talk of
him. Some said, He is a good man; and some
said, No, he is a fraud. But no one dared to speak
well of him out loud for fear of the Jews.</p>
<p>In the midst of the feast Je-sus went up in-to the
church and taught there. And he said, Ye both
know me, and ye know from whence I came. I am
not come to please my-self, but to do the will of him
that sent me, whom ye know not. But I know him,
for I have come from him, and he hath sent me.</p>
<p>Then they made a rush for him, but no man laid
hands on him, for his hour had not yet come. God
had set the time for him to die, and no one could
harm him till that day and hour.</p>
<p>As he came from the church he saw a man who
had been blind from his birth. Je-sus spat on the
ground and made clay of the moist earth, and spread
the clay on the eyes of the blind man.</p>
<p>Then he told him to go and wash in a pool that
was near. And he went, and did as he was told,
and his sight came back to him.</p>
<p>And his friends, and those who had seen him<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</SPAN></span>
when he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and
begged?</p>
<div class="figright"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_135.jpg" width-obs="316" height-obs="450" alt="Seeing man" /> <span class="caption">"ONCE I WAS BLIND, BUT NOW I SEE."</span></div>
<p>Some said, This is he; and some said, He is like
him; but the man
said, I am he.</p>
<p>Then they said
to him, How were
thine eyes cured?</p>
<p>And he said, A
man, by the name of
Je-sus, made clay and
spread it on my eyes,
and said to me, Go to
the pool of Si-lo-am
and wash; and I went
and did so, and my
sight came back to
me.</p>
<p>Then they said to
him, Where is he?
He said, I know not.</p>
<p>It was on the day
of rest that Je-sus
made the clay, and
the Phar-i-sees, when they heard of it, said, This
man is not of God, for he does not keep the day of
rest. And they went to the fa-ther and the mo-ther<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</SPAN></span>
of the man who had been blind, and said to them,
Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? How
then doth he now see?</p>
<p>His pa-rents said, We know that this is our son,
and that he was born blind; but by what means he
now sees, or who hath cured his eyes, we know not.
He is of age, ask him; he shall speak for him-self.</p>
<p>They spoke thus for fear of the Jews; for the
Jews had made it known that all those who said that
Je-sus was the Christ should be put out of the
church. So they said, He is of age; ask him.</p>
<p>Then the Phar-i-sees went to the man that was
blind, and said to him, Give God the praise, for we
know that this man is a man of sin.</p>
<p>He said to them, What he is I know not; but
this I do know, that once I was blind, but now I see.</p>
<p>Then they said to him, What did he do to thee?
How did he cure thine eyes?</p>
<p>The man said, I have told you be-fore, and ye
did not hear. Why would ye hear me say it once
more? Would ye be of his band?</p>
<p>Then they spoke harsh words to him, and said,
Thou dost take sides with him, but we stand by Mo-ses.
We know that God spoke to Mo-ses; but as
for this fel-low, we know not who sent him.</p>
<p>The man said, It is strange that ye know not
who sent him, when he has brought sight to my blind<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</SPAN></span>
eyes. Since the world was made we have not heard
of a man who could give sight to one that was born
blind. If this man were not of God he could not
have done this thing.</p>
<p>The Phar-i-sees were full of wrath, and said to the
man, Thou hast dwelt in sin from thy birth, and
wilt thou try to teach us? And they drove him out
of the church.</p>
<p>Je-sus heard of it, and when he found the man
he said to him, Have you faith in the son of God?</p>
<p>He said, Who is he, Lord, that I may put my
trust in him?</p>
<p>Je-sus said, It is he that talks with thee.</p>
<p>The man said, Lord, I know that it must be so;
and he fell at the feet of Je-sus, and gave praise to him.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
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