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LUKE XIV-PARABLE OF THE KING'S SUPPER

things, he said unto them, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

17 And sent his servant at supper-time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

19 And another said, I have bought tive yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.

23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,

26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?

32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an embassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

34 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

The Gadarene Swine

FROM THE BIBLICAL SERIES BY JULIUS SCHNORR.

“Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked."-Luke, 8, 33.

R

EACHING the other shore of the lake, the country

of the Gadarenes, Jesus was met upon the shore by two men possessed by demons. One of these was so maniacal in his frenzy that he had become a terror to all the region. More than once he had been imprisoned and chained down with iron, but when the madness came upon him he burst every bar; so that now he raged unrestrained, wild and naked, upon the seashore.

At sight of Jesus, the devils within this man began to shriek and cry for mercy. Jesus demanded of them, rather than of their victim, who they were; and they answered through the man's mouth that their name was Legion, because they were so many. Knowing they would be compelled to leave the man, the devils entreated to be allowed to enter a huge herd of swine, two thousand in number, which grovelled nearby. Confounding them by their own means, Jesus sent them into the swine, and immediately the frenzied beasts rushed into the sea and were drowned.

The released demoniac wished to follow Jesus as a disciple, but the Master bade him stay in his own land as a witness to his people, telling of the new faith.