making excuses

¹⁸And at once they all began to make excuses. The first said to him: ‘I bought a farm, and I need to go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’ ¹⁹And another said: ‘I bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to examine them. I ask you to excuse me.’ ²⁰And another said, ‘I have taken a wife, and therefore I am not able to go.’

¹³The lazy one says: “There is a lion outside. I might be slain in the midst of the streets.”

¹³The lazy one says, “There is a lion along the way, and a lioness in the roads.”

²⁴Then he who had received one talent, approaching, said: ‘Lord, I know that you are a hard man. You reap where you have not sown, and gather where you have not scattered. ²⁵And so, being afraid, I went out and hid your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.’ ²⁶But his lord said to him in response: ‘You evil and lazy servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered.

⁵⁹Then he said to another, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰And Jesus said to him: “Let the dead bury their dead. But you go and announce the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹And another said: “I will follow you, Lord. But permit me first to explain this to those of my house.” ⁶²Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow, and then looks back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

²⁰For unseen things about him have been made conspicuous, since the creation of the world, being understood by the things that were made; likewise his everlasting virtue and divinity, so much so that they have no excuse.

¹⁰Moses said: “I beg you, O Lord, I was not eloquent yesterday or the day before. And from the time that you have spoken to your servant, I have a greater impediment and slowness of tongue.” ¹¹The Lord said to him: “Who made the mouth of man? And who has formed the mute and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? Was it not I? ¹²Go on, therefore, and I will be in your mouth. And I will teach you what you shall say.” ¹³But he said, “I beg you, O Lord, send whomever else you would send.” ¹⁴The Lord, being angry at Moses, said: “Aaron the Levite is your brother. I know that he is eloquent. Behold, he is going out to meet you, and seeing you, he will rejoice in heart.

¹³And when Samuel had gone to Saul, Saul said to him: “You are the blessed of the Lord. I have fulfilled the word of the Lord.” ¹⁴And Samuel said, “Then what is this voice of the flocks, which resounds in my ears, and of the herds, which I am hearing?” ¹⁵And Saul said: “They have brought these from Amalek. For the people spared the best of the sheep and of the herds, so that they might be immolated to the Lord your God. Yet truly, the remainder we have slain.”

¹⁰Moses said: “I beg you, O Lord, I was not eloquent yesterday or the day before. And from the time that you have spoken to your servant, I have a greater impediment and slowness of tongue.”

⁶And I said: “Alas, alas, alas, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am a boy.” ⁷And the Lord said to me: “Do not choose to say, ‘I am a boy.’ For you shall go forth to everyone to whom I will send you. And you shall speak all that I will command you. ⁸You should not be afraid before their face. For I am with you, so that I may deliver you,” says the Lord.

¹³But he said, “I beg you, O Lord, send whomever else you would send.”

¹²And Adam said, “The woman, whom you gave to me as a companion, gave to me from the tree, and I ate.” ¹³And the Lord God said to the woman, “Why have you done this?” And she responded, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

⁶And I said: “Alas, alas, alas, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am a boy.”

¹³Whoever hides his crimes will not be guided. But whoever will have confessed and abandoned them shall overtake mercy.

²¹Not all who say to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does the will of my Father, who is in heaven, the same shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. ²²Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and perform many powerful deeds in your name?’ ²³And then will I disclose to them: ‘I have never known you. Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.’

¹⁸And at once they all began to make excuses. The first said to him: ‘I bought a farm, and I need to go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’ ¹⁹And another said: ‘I bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to examine them. I ask you to excuse me.’ ²⁰And another said, ‘I have taken a wife, and therefore I am not able to go.’ ²¹And returning, the servant reported these things to his lord. Then the father of the family, becoming angry, said to his servant: ‘Go out quickly into the streets and neighborhoods of the city. And lead here the poor, and the disabled, and the blind, and the lame.’ ²²And the servant said: ‘It has been done, just as you ordered, lord, and there is still room.’ ²³And the lord said to the servant: ‘Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel them to enter, so that my house may be filled.

³⁶But I say to you, that for every idle word which men will have spoken, they shall render an account in the day of judgment.