THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW

THE NEW TESTAMENT
TRANSLATED FROM
THE SYRIAC PESHITO VERSION BY JAMES MURDOCK

Chapter 19

(Mat 19:1) And when Jesus had ended these discourses, he removed from Galilee, and came to the confines of Judaea on the other side of Jordan.

(Mat 19:2) And great multitudes followed after him, and he healed them there.

(Mat 19:3) And Pharisees came to him, and tempted him and said: Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for every cause?

(Mat 19:4) And he answered and said to them: Have ye not read, that he who made [them] at the beginning, made them a male and a female?

(Mat 19:5) And he said: For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother, and adhere to his wife; and they two shall be one flesh.

(Mat 19:6) Wherefore they were not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath united, let not man sunder.

(Mat 19:7) They say to him: Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorce, and to put her away?

(Mat 19:8) He said to them: Moses, on account of the hardness of your heart, permitted you to divorce your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

(Mat 19:9) And I say to you, That whoever leaveth his wife not being an adulteress, and taketh another, committeth adultery. And whoever taketh her that is divorced, committeth adultery.

(Mat 19:10) His disciples say to him: If such is the case between man and wife, it is not expedient to take a wife.

(Mat 19:11) But he said to them: Not every one is capable of that thing, but he only to whom it is given.

(Mat 19:12) For there are some eunuchs, born so from their mother's womb; and there are some eunuchs, who were made eunuchs by men; and there are some eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He that can be contented let him be contented.

(Mat 19:13) Then they brought children to him, that he might lay his hand upon them and pray. And his disciples rebuked them.

(Mat 19:14) But Jesus said to them: Allow children to come to me, and forbid them not; for of those that are like them is the kingdom of heaven.

(Mat 19:15) And he laid his hand upon them, and departed from there.

(Mat 19:16) And one came, drew near, and said to him: Good Teacher, what good thing must I do, that eternal life may be mine?

(Mat 19:17) And he said to him: Why callest thou me good? There is none good, except one, [namely,] God. But if thou wouldst enter into life, keep the commandments.

(Mat 19:18) He said to him, Which? And Jesus said to him: Thou shalt not kill; and thou shalt not commit adultery; and thou shalt not steal; and thou shalt not bear false testimony;

(Mat 19:19) and honor thy father and thy mother; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

(Mat 19:20) The young man saith to him: All these have I kept from my childhood. What do I lack?

(Mat 19:21) Jesus saith to him: If thou desirest to be perfect, go, sell thy property, and give to the poor; and there shall be for thee a treasure in heaven; and come thou after me.

(Mat 19:22) And the young man heard that speech, and he went away in sadness; for he had much property.

(Mat 19:23) And Jesus said to his disciples: Verily I say to you, it is difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

(Mat 19:24) And again, I say to you: It is easier for a camel to enter the aperture of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God

(Mat 19:25) And when the disciples heard [it], they wondered greatly, and said: Who then can attain to life!

(Mat 19:26) Jesus looked on them, and said to them: With men this is not practicable, but with God every thing is practicable.

(Mat 19:27) Then answered Cephas, and said to him: Lo, we have forsaken every thing, and come after thee: What therefore shall we receive?

(Mat 19:28) Jesus said to them: Verily I say to you, that, as for you who have followed me, when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory in the new world, ye also shall sit on twelve seats, and shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

(Mat 19:29) And every man that relinquisheth houses, or brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or wife or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life.

(Mat 19:30) But there are many first who shall be last, and last [who shall be] first.