he will purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

And it came to pass in those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee to the Jordan unto John to be baptised by him. And John stayed him, saying, I have need to be baptised by thee, and dost thou come to me? And Jesus answered and said to him, Suffer it now; for so it becometh us to fulfil all justice. Then he suffered him.

And Jesus, being baptised, forthwith came out of the water; and lo, the heavens were opened to him; and he saw the Spirit of God descending in a bodily form as if it were a dove, and coming upon him. And behold, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

And Jesus was at this time about the age of thirty years, being looked upon as the son of Joseph.

SECT. XIV. CHRIST IS LED BY THE SPIRIT INTO THE DESERT. HIS FAST AND TEMPTATION. A.D. 27.

Then Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the Desert of desert. And he was in the desert forty Judea. days and forty nights, and was tempted by Satan; and he was with the beasts; and he ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended he was hungry.

And the tempter coming, said to him, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. And Jesus answered him and said, It is written, Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God (Deut. viii. 3).

Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him upon the pinnacle of the temple, and

said to him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down; for it is written, That he hath given his angels charge over thee, to keep thee, and in their hand shall they bear thee up, lest perhaps thou dash thy_foot against a stone (Ps. xc. 11). Jesus said to him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God (Deut. vi. 16).

Again the devil took him up into a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, in a moment of time. And he said to him, To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will I give them: if thou, therefore, wilt adore me, all shall be thine.

And

Jesus answered and said to him, It is written, Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve (Deut. vi. 13). And when all the temptation was ended the devil departed from him for a time, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.

SECT. XV. THE SANHEDRIM SEND TO QUESTION JOHN THE BAPTIST. HIS ANSWER AND TESTIMONY CONCERNING THE CHRIST.

Bethabara.

This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and levites to him, to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and did not deny; and he confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he said, I am not. Art thou the prophet?* And he answered, No. They said therefore unto him, Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord (Isaias xl. 3), as said the prophet Isaias.

* The prophet foretold by Moses (Deut. xviii. 15).

And they that were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said to him, Why then dost thou baptise, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptise with water; but there hath stood one in the midst of you whom you know not. The same is he that shall come after me, who is preferred before me; the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose. These things were done in Bethabara, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptising.

The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and he said, Behold the Lamb of God; behold him that taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me there cometh a man that is preferred before me; because he was before me. And I knew him not; but that he might be made manifest in Israel, therefore am I come baptising with water. And John gave testimony, saying, I saw the Spirit coming down as a dove from heaven, and he remained upon him. And I knew him not; but he that sent me to baptise with water, said to me, He upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon him, he it is that baptiseth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and gave testimony, that this is the Son of God.

The next day again John stood, and two of his disciples. And when he beheld Jesus walking, he said, Behold the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And when Jesus turned, and saw them following him, he said to them, What seek ye? And they said to him, Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, Master), where dwellest thou? He said to them, Come and

* It is observable that St. John the Baptist himself contrasts his own baptism with that of our Lord. While he could only baptise with water, as a sign of intended purity, our Lord baptised with the Holy Ghost, who actually confers the purity signified by baptism. (See Acts xix. 4.)

see. They came, and saw where he abode, and they stayed with him that day. Now it was about the tenth hour.

And Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two that had heard of John, and followed him. He findeth first his brother Simon, and saith to him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And Jesus looking upon him, said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter.

On the following day Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and he findeth Philip. And Jesus saith to him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith to him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus the son of Joseph of Nazareth. And Nathanael saith to him, Can anything of good come from Nazareth?* Philip saith to him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and he said of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guilc. Nathanael said to him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered him, and said, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said to him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these. Amen, amen I say to you, ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

*John vii. 52.

SECT. XVI. THE FIRST MIRACLE OF JESUS AT THE MARRIAGEFEAST. HE GOES TO CAPHARNAUM. A.D. 27.

Cana.

And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the marriage. And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus saith to him, They have no wine. And Jesus saith to her, Woman, what is it to me and to thee? my hour is not yet come. His mother saith to the servants, Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye.

Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three measures apiece. Jesus saith to them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And Jesus saith to them, Draw out now, and carry to the chief steward of the feast. And they carried it. And when the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the servants knew who had drawn the water, the chief steward calleth the bridegroom, and saith to him, Every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee; and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

After this he went down to Capharnaum, he and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples; and they remained there not many

Capharnaum. days.