Translation Chapter 17
Causing others to sin
17‘Īsā said to his disciples, ‘Things that ensnare people and cause them to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. 2 It would be better for that person to have a millstone hung round their neck and be thrown into the sea, than for them to ensnare one of these little ones[1]and cause them to stumble. 3 Keep watch of yourselves!
Tauba
‘If your brother or sister sins, warn them, and if they repent, forgive them. 4 And if your brother or sister sins against you seven times in one day, and each time they turn to you and say, “I repent,” you must forgive them.’
Faith
5 The apostles[2]said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’
6 The Lord replied, ‘If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey you.
Duty
7 ‘Suppose one of you has a servant who is out ploughing or tending the flock. When he comes in from the field, are you going to say to him, “Come at once and have your meal.”? 8 Instead, will you not say to him, “Prepare my dinner, then tuck your clothing into your belt[3]and serve me while I eat and drink. After that you may eat and drink”? 9 Does the servant have special merit because he did what he was told? 10 It’s the same with you; when you have done everything you were told to do, you should say, “We are servants who are owed nothing; we have only done our duty.”’
‘Īsā al-Masīh (hpbuu)heals ten men with leprosy[4]
11 On his way to Jerusalem, ‘Īsā was travelling along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was entering a village, he was met by ten men who had leprosy. They kept their distance from him 13 and shouted out, ‘‘Īsā, Master! Have mercy on us!’
14 ‘Īsā looked at them and said, ‘Go and show yourselves to the Jewish priests.’[5]While they were going there, they were healed and made clean.[6]
15 When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back and in a loud voice he praised Allah. 16 He fell on his face at ‘Īsā’s feet and thanked him. And this man was a Samaritan.
17 ‘Īsā replied, ‘Were there not ten who were made clean? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one come back to give praise to Allah apart from this foreigner?’
19 Then ‘Īsā said to him, ‘Get up and go. Your faith has saved you.’
20 Some Pharisees asked ‘Īsā when the kingdom of Allah was coming. He answered them, ‘The kingdom of Allah is not coming with things that people can observe. 21 Nor will people say, “Look, here it is,” or, “Look, there it is,” for the kingdom of Allah is in your midst.’
22 ‘Īsā said to the disciples, ‘The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will say to you, “Look, there he is!” or, “Look, here he is!” Don’t go running after them. 24 For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer much and be rejected by this generation.
26 ‘Just as it was in the days of Nūh[9], so also it will be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating and drinking, getting married and arranging marriages right until the day Nūh went into the ark.[10]Then the flood came and destroyed everyone.
28 ‘It was just the same in the days of Lūt.[11]People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29But on the day Lūt left Sodom, fire and sulphur rained down from the sky and destroyed everyone.
30 ‘That is what it will be like on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31On that day, anyone who is on the roof of their house must not go down to get their belongings that are inside the house. In the same way, anyone out in the field must not turn back for anything. 32 Remember Lūt’s wife![12]
33 ‘Whoever wants to preserve their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life will keep it. 34 I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken away, the other will be left. 35(36)Two women will be grinding corn together: one will be taken away, the other will be left.’
37 ‘Where, Master?’ the disciples asked him.
He replied, ‘Where the dead body is, there the eagles will gather.’
[1]‘little ones’ refers to disciples or perhaps those disciples who are particularly weak and vulnerable.
[2]In the Greek language in which the Injīl was originally written, the word is ‘apostoloi’ or ‘sent ones’.
[3]So that he can move about more freely without tripping over the long flowing garment that was worn in that culture.
[4]The word translated ’leprosy’ was used for various kinds of diseases affecting the skin.
[5]The work of the Jewish priests included the examination of skin diseases and pronouncing people unclean, if the disease was present, and clean, if they were healed from the disease. This was because certain kinds of skin disease made a person ritually unclean. See Taurāt, Leviticus 13:1-46.
[6]See Qur’an, Āl-’Imrān 3:49, where al-Masīh ‘Īsā (hpbuu)says, ‘And I will heal the blind and the leper and give life to the dead by God’s Leave’. See also, Qur’an, al-Mā’idah 5:110.
[7]Or, ‘reign of Allah’ (also v20, 21). For more details, see Appendix D, The Kingdom of Allah.
[8]‘The Son of Man’ is a title al-Masīh ‘Īsā (hpbuu)often used for himself. See Appendix E, The Son of Manfor more details.
[9]Accounts of Prophet Nūh (pbuh)and the flood can be found in Taurāt, Genesis 6:5-9:17, Qur’an, Hūd 11:25-44, al-Mū’minūn 23:23-30, ash-Shu’arā’ 26:105-122, al-Qamar 54:9-16, Nūh 71:1-28.
[11]Accounts of Lūt (pbuh)and the destruction of Sodom can be found in Taurāt, Genesis 19:1-29, Qur’an, al-A’rāf 7:80-84, al-Hijr 15:67-77, an-Naml 27:54-58.
[12]Lūt’s wife disobeyed the angels’ command by looking back at Sodom while she was fleeing from it. She became a pillar of salt. See Taurāt, Genesis 19:26.