1 Before going out among the people to declare Himself, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 returned to Genesareth – the town of His upbringing – accompanied by His talmidim. He went first to the place where His mother was staying, and though she greeted Him warmly because she loved her eldest son, Miryam did not fully understand 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏. She always knew He would grow up to be different and would become a Man of Elohim because, when carrying Him, she dreamed that a bright flaming star had come down from the shamayim and entered her womb.
2 His own kinsmen had once thought Him mad and sought to take control of Him. But now, His brothers and sisters having grown up, they no longer troubled Him. They had said, “He has lost His father and seeks another. For is it not written, ‘I will be His Father, and He will be my Bĕn’?”
3 When younger, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 had been overawed by the prospects of the future, and often fearful that He might not fulfill the promise. But He overcame this, and any fears of His inability. It is in this, and His dedication, that His greatness was revealed.
4 Though 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 wielded the Ruaḥ Ha’Qodesh of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, and in Him it was stored up as in a water tank, He still had to overcome the weaknesses of men. For without so doing, His greatness could not be made manifest. Those who say He was something other than man detract from His greatness, for then the things He had to do would have been easier to accomplish. Perhaps they cannot comprehend the heights to which men can rise when inspired by 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, the Father of all men.
5 Going into the Hĕyḵal, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 stood up to read, as He had often done in qodesh days. He read out a passage from the scroll of a naḇi to the Yahuḏim, called Yeshayahu in the tongue of His fathers and, having done so, returned it to the scrollkeeper and sat down.
6 After others had performed their duties, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 had a chance to speak. And with all eyes upon Him He did so, and the people were astonished.
7 For He said, “Behold, you are witnessing the fulfillment of the Qodesh Writ, and the accomplishment of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄’s design. I am chosen to be the tongue of the Father, speaking His words to you, His people. I am the Light shining in the midst of darkness. And even as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, so do I come to show how the good are to be separated from the wicked.”
8 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 spoke with knowledgeable authority, bringing a new message which gladdened the hearts of those who heard Him. The people marveled and whispered among themselves, “Where has He gained all this knowledge? How has He become so learned? Is this not the son of Yosĕph, the carpenter who is now dead, and of Miryam? And do not His sisters live here still? Yet they say He has healed the incurable.” But not all received His words in this manner, and many were offended.
9 Noticing the murmuring among these, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 addressed them, saying, “Do you hold it against Me that I left? If a man has two duties, he must make a choice – not following the inclinations of his heart, but the course indicated by higher decree. No doubt you have heard about the things I have done elsewhere and will say, ‘Let us see You do the same here.’ To this I can answer with sincerity: a naḇi is unacceptable in his own neighborhood, and a physician is not called to cure those who know him. When I come in friendship and compassion to those who need My help, they say, ‘Physician, heal yourself first,’ thinking Me mad. Why now should I be called upon to do things Ĕliyahu and Elisha could not do? The only ones they cured were Arameans.”
10 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 did not heal many here, and He said, “I heal in accord with the Torah and not against it.”
11 After hearing what He said in the Hĕyḵal, many people were vexed with Him and sought to hustle Him out of town. But others said, “Let Him be, for He grew up here and is only the son of a carpenter; therefore, He tries to make Himself important. He has been away and seeks to impress us.”
12 Being so poorly received in the town where He had been brought up, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 went out around the villages. Choosing twelve emissaries from among His talmidim, He sent them away in pairs to deal with many things caused by the intrusion of evil.
13 He said to them, “Carry a staff, but take no food, no money and no change of clothing. When you are invited to a house, stay there until you leave the village; but never tarry where you are not welcome.”
14 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 said, “Many will fail to grasp your meanings, or will interpret your words wrongly. Do not dispute with them, but put things right with patience. Never disregard a questioner or abuse him, lest others think you have no answer. All can only grasp what you say according to their understanding, therefore speak plainly and to their hearts.”
15 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 Himself went about proclaiming the advent of the Rule of Elohim, and He also cured many kinds of sickness. Then people began to say, “This Man is great and good even among those dedicated to the service of Elohim.” And many heeded His teaching and led a new life.
16 Now, many people believed there would be two kinds of deliverers, and a man named Yosĕph Baraban had many followers. 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 met him at a house in Bethgal and said, “Why do you declare things which stir up the people?” To which the other replied, “What concern is it of Yours?”
17 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 answered him after this manner: “Several men were sitting in a boat, and one began boring a hole beneath his seat. Seeing this, his companions said, ‘What are you doing here?’ He answered, ‘What concern is it of yours what I do beneath my own seat?’ And they replied, ‘Surely it is our affair when what you do will swamp the boat, and we will all be thrown into the water.’ ”
18 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 moved to another place, and a crowd gathered around Him. And while He was speaking, one of His first followers tried to push through to Him. Now, this man was deformed and ugly, his eyes squinted, and he was ungainly. But he walked in the light of Truth. The crowd jostled him, shouting, “Look at the ugly man; push him back or he will scare the teacher away.”
19 Then 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 stepped down from where He stood and, pushing through to the man, put an arm around his shoulders, greeting him affectionately. 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 said to the people, “Why mock someone in whom the light of goodness shines? What matters the appearance of the body when the ruaḥ within is bright? None among you has a ruaḥ such as this man’s, beautifully glowing with goodness.”
20 “This I say to you: the body is of little importance, for it perishes at its hour; but the ruaḥ never dies. Why do you treasure that which you can keep but a short while? For soon it will be cast off like a worn-out tunic. Surely it is better to treasure more lasting things. The shell of a pearl is ugly and rough, but men do not seek it out for itself, wanting only what it contains; and this becomes the cherished treasure of a beautiful woman. Never heed the external ugliness; seek for the beauty within.”
21 In the crowd there was a man who employed many others, and he said, “Aḏonai, I am so stirred up by Your words that I will give up everything I have and follow You.”
22 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 said, “How many look to you for food and employment?” The man replied, “My children are numerous, and I have many servants, and there is my father who is old.”
23 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 said, “The lives of no two men are alike, and all require the labors of many to support them. Even the greatest teachings cannot satisfy empty stomachs. Therefore, return to the place of your appointed labors and remain constant in your responsibilities. Give all you make over your modest requirements to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 and study the Qodesh Books daily.”
24 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 said, “A man without the Light places his faith in gold, burying it in the ground so it will support him in adversity. Yet what benefit does it bestow if he never needs it? He worries continually and must be constantly on guard, lest he be robbed. And when he dies, his inheritors spend it. Yet by charitable deeds and self-restraint, a greater treasure which cannot be taken by robbers or dissipated by others can be laid up openly and without fear.”
25 Someone in the crowd said, “Great Teacher, to some You say, ‘Give up all,’ while others You tell to continue in their ways. I have many responsibilities and a moderate surplus over my requirements. What should I do?”
26 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 said, “Do what is right and just. Study the Books of Wisdom and live according to their teachings. Exploit no one, and work for the Rule of Elohim.”
27 A man said to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏, “Aḏonai, I know the problems of the rich, for I have sons and many friends. But how can I know whether they love me or my wealth?”
28 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 said, “A rich man owned a large warehouse, but one night this burned down, consuming all his wealth. And though he had given other warehouses to each of his two sons, when he lost his own, they would not help him. While poor, he met a beggar boy whom he adopted to fill the empty places in his heart. And, going to a distant city, by hard work, he established another warehouse, becoming rich again. When the adopted boy grew up, the man gave him a warehouse, but one much smaller than those he had previously given to his sons.”
29 “The two sons heard about their father’s new wealth and sent word that they wanted to combine their warehouses with his, so that by trading together they could all get richer. The man then sent messengers to all three of those he had helped, saying his business had declined, and he was in the hands of moneylenders and required a hundred pieces of gold to continue. The two sons returned excuses, saying they could not help; but the adopted son sent two hundred pieces of gold, saying he had pledged himself to obtain it. Thus, the man found out who loved him and left all his estate to the one he had adopted.”
30 Speaking to the people about Him, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 said, “So long as the great sun never shone upon Earth, there was darkness; and had it not come to shine, there would be darkness still. Without the sun, men would not have known day from night; but when it came, both were made distinguishable. These times are a night of ignorance, wherein wrongdoing and bewilderment prevail; but a Light has come to dispel the darkness and make right distinguishable from wrong.”
31 After these things had been done and said, it was the time of a festival of the Yahuḏim, and 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 returned to where there was a place of assembly. On the way, He passed through the market where sheep were sold, beside which was a salt pool having a covered entrance to shelter the sick and maimed.
32 A man was lying nearby, and 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 said to him, “How long have you been here?” The man replied, “I have been here a long time, having no one to put me into the water at the proper times.” 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 took pity on the man and taking him by the hand, raised him up, saying, “You are cured; arise, take your bed and depart.”
33 This happened on the Shabbat, and when some pious Yahuḏim saw the man carrying a burden, they rebuked him. But he answered, “The Healer who came and cured me said I should take up my bed, so where am I in the wrong?”
34 The pious Yahuḏim enquired regarding the Healer, but the man said he did not know Him, having never seen Him before. Later, when the man who had been cured saw 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 outside the place of assembly, he learned His Name and told the Yahuḏim.
35 Before this, the pious ones who were separated out from the people had ignored 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏, but now, because He did such things on the Shabbat, they turned against Him. For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 said, “If my Father does not rest, why should I?” They thought He claimed closer kinship with Elohim than ordinary men, but He meant to show that all men are brothers.
36 The next day, when 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 commenced speaking to the people, many sought to do Him harm. And He said, “You have the teachings of the Torah and the Neḇi’im. Why do you seek to do Me harm?” Then they shouted back at Him, “Because You are possessed by demons. You tell us we are wrong, but we are content with our ways. Leave us to go our way, and You go Yours.”
37 After this, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 went away, because of the hostility towards Him. But when it came close to harvesting time, his brothers sent a messenger, saying, “Come back now. The people are busy at work. Let Your followers here see for themselves the things You do, for if Your message is important, the bearer should not remain hidden.”
38 On His way back, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 and the talmidim with Him passed through Shomeron, where there was a place called Ya’aqoḇ’s well, five furlongs from Sheḵem. The sun being at its height, they decided to rest there. After refreshing themselves, the talmidim went into the town to buy food, leaving 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 reclining not far from the well.
39 Now, while 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 rested there, a woman of Shomeron came to draw water. And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏, not having a vessel, asked her for a drink. This surprised the woman, for the Yahuḏim regarded anything handled by the Shomeronite as being defiled. She said, “How can You ask this of me?”
40 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 replied, “If you knew what Elohim gives through Me, you would have requested a drink from the waters of ḥai.”
41 The woman said, “What is this water of ḥai? Surely it cannot bestow greater benefit than this well, the gift of our forefather, which provided water for him, his household and his flocks.”
42 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 said, “This water, originating on Earth, can satisfy only body; and the drinker will thirst again. But the water I can provide, springing from an eternal source, satisfies any who drink, so they need never thirst again for things not of this world, and it grants everlasting ḥai in glory.”
43 The woman said to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏, “Let me have this water You talk about, so I am freed from the necessity for drawing water.”
44 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 said, “It would be best if you went and brought your husband, for two may understand better than one.”
45 She answered, “But I have no husband.” 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 said, “In this you have at any rate spoken true, for though married five times, you now live with one who is not your husband.”
46 The Shomeronite woman said to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏, “Aḏonai, I can see You are one of those special people who know all things. Now tell me, is it true what Your people tell us, that we should worship in the Hĕyḵal at Yerushalayim to reach the ear of Elohim, for He is only there and not on Mount Gerazim?”
47 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 told her, “Be assured, the time is coming when the place of worship is unimportant. For though your people worship without understanding the nature of worship, while the Yahuḏim worship with this knowledge, neither know the true nature of worship. The time is coming when all who understand the nature of worship will do so in Ruaḥ and in the Light of Truth.”
48 “For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 is the greatest of Ruaḥoth, and His worshippers must therefore bring something of the Ruaḥ. This – and labor in His service – is the only acceptable kind of worship. The smoke of flesh and fowl are not acceptable offerings.”
49 The woman heard without understanding, but one with 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 stored these things in his heart. The woman said, “Someday an Enlightener will come and explain these things to us.” 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 replied, “My words may have come from the Enlightener Himself.”
50 The woman said, “I must go, for You frighten me.” Just as she was preparing to go, the talmidim returned and were surprised to find 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 had been talking to a Shomeronite woman in this manner, but they said nothing. Leaving her pitcher, the woman hastened away to spread word around that there was a Man out at Ya’aqoḇ’s well who could read the past and might be the Enlightener, for the Shomeronites did not await the Deliverer as did the Yahuḏim.
51 When the woman had gone, the talmidim showed the things they had brought to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏. But He was disinclined to eat, saying to them, “Doing the Will of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 sustains Me, and the inflowing power of His Ruaḥ quenches My thirst.”
52 One of the talmidim said, “It is well to eat now, for the harvest is ripening over there, and the harvesters need strength.”
53 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 said, “The reapers cannot expect their pay until the crop is gathered into the storehouse. Let us wait to measure the fruits of our labor before celebrating. Is it not written, ‘Where one man sows, another reaps’? You will be reapers in fields sown by others. Many have toiled in the preparation of the ground and have sown good seed. You must be no less diligent in reaping the harvest, gathering it in carefully so not a grain is lost.”
54 The one who had remained with 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 said, “Aḏonai, I am puzzled. This woman had many husbands; tell us which one will be her husband in the shamayim.”
55 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 said, “In the shamayim there is neither marriage nor giving in marriage, for there the promises of marriage are fulfilled. To one she must incline more than towards the others; and if he inclines likewise, there is union of the ruaḥ. But unions of the ruaḥ may be either weak or strong.”
56 Another talmid said, “What of he who is not her husband?”
57 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 answered him, “Marriage is not of the flesh, nor made by the words of men. It is of the ruaḥ, and they who are joined in ruaḥ and flesh in the sight of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 let no man seek to lightly put apart. A marriage wholly of the flesh is fornication, though it be baraḵ by many kohenim.”
58 “Yet marriage is the measure of value. A thing possessed by many is of little consequence. The worth of a coin lacking inscription is unestablished, and the possessor carries it without faith, doubting its ability to buy bread. A woman may be reserved for marriage or give herself freely for love. She knows her own worth best. But if she gives herself to several, then it is not love, but fornication.”
59 “A union is baraḵ before a kohĕn and sanctified in the eyes of the people. But I tell you, unless the bond is forged on the anvil of adversity and wrought under the hammers of stress and struggle, it is a thing of little spiritual substance.”
60 “Love is not like the thistle seed, blown this way or that according to the prevailing winds of desire and inclination. It is not the offspring of flesh, but the progeny of the ruaḥ. It can be proven and established only under difficulties and tribulations, and it is because of the known frailties of men under trial and test that marriage has been ordained to enshrine it.”
61 Now, after these things were said, many Shomeronites came and heard the words of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 and invited Him to stay among them. And He remained three days.