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thou deliveredft unto me two talents: behold, I have 23 gained two other talents befides them. His lord faid unto him, Well done, good and faithful fervant thou haft been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into 24 the joy of thy Lord. Then he which had received the one talent, came and faid, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man (e), reaping where thou haft not fown, and gathering where thou haft not straw25 ed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent 26 in the earth: lo, there thou haft that is thine. His lord answered and faid unto him, Thou wicked and flothful fervant, thou knewest that I reap where I fowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27 Thou oughteft therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I fhould 28 have received mine own with ufury (f). Take

therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him 29 which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath fhall be given, and he fhall have (g) abundance: but from him that hath not fhall be taken 30 away, even that which he hath. And caft ye the unprofitable fervant into outer darknefs: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

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When the Son of man fhall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then fhall he fit 32 upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations; and he fhall feparate them

(e) This is a groundless and falfe pretence. God requires no more of us than he has given us power to perform. But certainly, the ftricter we imagine him to be, the more careful we ought to be in improving the talent he has committed to our truft.

(ƒ) With interest.

(g) Every one that makes a right ufe of divine grace fhall be fill farther affifted. On the contrary, he that neglects the grace that is given him to profit withal, not only lofeth all the benefit he might have made of it in this world, but shall fuffer most grievous punishment in the next.

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one from another, as a fhepherd divideth his fheep 33 from the goats: And he fhall fet the fheep on his 34 right hand, but the goats on the left. Then fhall the King fay unto them on his right hand, Come, ye bleffed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a ftran36 ger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was fick, and ye vifited me: I was in prison, 37 and ye came unto me. Then fhall the righteous anfwer him, faying, Lord, when faw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee 38 drink? When faw we thee a ftranger, and took 39 thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when

faw we thee fick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King fhall anfwer, and fay unto them, Verily I fay unto you, in as much as ye have done it unto one of the leaft of these my brethren, ye 41 have done it unto me. Then fhall he fay also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye curfed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his 42 angels. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked,

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and ye clothed me not: fick, and in prison, and ye 44 vifited me not. Then fhall they also answer him, faying, Lord, when faw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or fick, or in pri45 fon, and did not minifter unto thee? Then shall he answer them, faying, Verily I fay unto you, in as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these, 46 ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal.

CHAP.

CHA P. XXVI.

AND it came to pafs, when Jefus had finished 2 all these fayings, he faid unto his difciples, Ye know that after two (a) days is the feast of the paffo. ver, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified. 3 Then affembled together the chief priests, and the fcribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high-prieft, who was called Caiaphas, 4 And confulted that they might take Jefus by fubtil5 ty, and kill him. But they faid, Not on the feastday (b), left there be an uproar among the people. 6 Now when Jefus was in Bethany, in the house 7 of Simon the leper, There came unto him a woman having an alabafter box of very precious (c) ointment, and poured it on his head, as he fat at 8 meat (d). But when his difciples faw it, they had indignation, faying, To what purpose is this wafte? 9 For this ointment might have been fold for much, 10 and given to the poor. When Jefus understood it, he faid unto them, Why trouble ye the woman ?

(a) After two days, in the Jewish phrase, means the fame as the fecond day, that is, the day following. In like manner, after three days fignifies the third day. Chap. xii. 40.

(6) On Judas's offer, they changed their defign, and Jefus being apprehended in the night in the abfence of the multitude, no tumult enfued; divine providence fo directing the time of his death, as to fhew the more plainly, that he was the very pafchal lamb that was flain for the fins of the world.

(c) This ointment was probably a perfumed oil, much used in hot countries. See Mark xiv. 3.

(d) This fact is likewife related, Mark xiv. 3. John xii. 3. The anointing related by St. Luke differs from this in feveral effential circumftances, viz. of place and perfon; and was followed by quite different reflections upon it. See Luke vii. 37. Note. Simon, who had been a leper, is here called by that addition, probably because he was cured by Chrift, and to diftinguifh him from the other Simon in St. Luke. See Note on Luke vi. 16.

II for the hath wrought a good work upon me.

For

ye have the poor always with you, but me ye have 12 not always. For in that fhe hath poured this oint13 ment on my body, fhe did it for my burial (e). Verily I fay unto you, Wherefoever this gospel fhall be preached in the whole world, there fhall alfo this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

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Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, 15 went unto the chief priests, And faid unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? and they covenanted with him for thirty 16 pieces of filver. And from that time he fought opportunity to betray him.

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Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, the difciples came to Jefus, faying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the 18 paffover (f)? And he faid, Go into the city to fuch a man, and fay unto him (g), The mafter faith, My time is at hand, I will keep the paffover at thy houfe with my difciples. And the difciples did as Jefus had appointed them, and they made ready the 20 paffover. Now when the even was come, he fat 21 down with the twelve. And as they did eat, he

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faid, Verily I fay unto you, that one of you fhall 22 betray me. And they were exceeding forrowful,

and began every one of them to fay unto him, 23 Lord, is it I? And he anfwered and faid (b), He that dippeth his hand with me in the difh, the fame

(e) Why do you blame the woman? furely, this expence is as well beftowed on me whilft I am alive, as in preparing my dead body for burial; on which occafion you know it is the conftant cuftom to ufe coftly fpices and perfumes. John xix. 39, 40.

(f) It was cuftomary for the inhabitants of Jerufalem to provide rooms for ftrangers to celebrate the paffover in.

(g) The form of the meffage feems to intimate that this perfon was himself a difciple.

(h) In private to St. John, John xiii. 26.

24 fhall

24 fhall betray me. The Son of man goeth (i) as it is written of him: but wo unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed: it had been good for that 25 man, if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered, and faid, Mafter, is it I? He faid unto him (k), Thou hast said.

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And as they were eating, Jefus took bread, and bleffed it, and brake it, and gave it to the difciples, 27 and faid, Take, eat (?); this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to 28 them, faying, Drink ye all of it: For this is my

blood of the new teftament, which is fhed for 29 many for the remiffion of fins. But I fay unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my 30 Father's (m) kingdom. And when they had fung an

(i) The Son of man is about to depart out of this world in the manner the Scriptures have foretold.

(k) Yes; thou art the perfon whom I mean. These words were fpoken to Judas apart. He then faid in the hearing of all, What thou doeft do quickly, John xiii. 27. intimating that he was prepared for the fuffering, which he knew Judas was contriving to bring upon him. Obferve on one hand, the divine foreknowledge of Chrift in difcovering the defigns of the heart; and on the other hand the deceitfulness of fin, which drives men to their deftruction, notwithftanding the plaineft warning.

(1) This is my body and my blood is a figurative expreffion, and must be understood to mean the reprefentation, or fign, of them, in the fame fenfe as the lamb is called the Paffover, Exod xii. 11. The bread could not be Chrift's natural body, whilft he was alive; for, it was his body that performed the action of breaking and giv ing the bread: nor could the wine in the cup be his blood; for, that was ftill flowing in his veins. They who hold the doctrine of Tranfubftantiation must therefore confefs, that no change was made in the fubftance of the bread or the wine when the words were pronounced by our Saviour. And how can we fuppofe the words to be more powerful from the mouth of a prieft, than when spoken by our bleffed Lord himfelf? See Mark xiv. 22. Note.

(m) When my Father shall have established the kingdom of the gofpel by my refurrection; after which I will eat and drink with you as I ufed to do. He accordingly did fo, forty days, until his afcenfion. Luke xxii. 16, 18.

hymn,

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