World English Bible · Under Rome
Matthew 8
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When he came down from the mountain, followed him. Behold, a came to him and him, saying, ", if you want to, you can make me clean." stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I want to. Be made clean." Immediately his was cleansed. said to him, "See that you tell nobody; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that commanded, as a to them." When he came into , a came to him, asking him for help, saying, ", my servant lies in the house paralyzed, grievously tormented." said to him, "I will come and heal him." answered, ", I'm not worthy for you to come under my roof. say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I am also a man under , having under myself soldiers. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and tell another, 'Come,' and he comes; and tell my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When heard it, he marveled and said to those who followed, "Most certainly I tell you, I haven't found so great a , not even in Israel. I tell you that many will come from the east and the west, and will sit down with , , and in of , but the children of will be thrown out into the outer . There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." said to the centurion, "Go your way. Let it be done for you as you have ." His servant was healed in that hour. When came into house, he saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her. So she got up and him. When evening came, they brought to him many with . He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the , saying, "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases." Now when saw around him, he gave the order to depart to the other side. A came and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of have nests, but has nowhere to lay his head." Another of his said to him, ", allow me first to go and bury ." But said to him, "Follow me, and leave to bury their own ." When he got into a boat, his followed him. Behold, a storm came up on the sea, so much that the boat was covered with the waves; but he was asleep. came to him and woke him up, saying, " us, ! We are dying!" He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little ?" Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm. The men marveled, saying, "What kind of man is this, that even the wind and the sea him?" When he came to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, two people by met him there, coming out of the , exceedingly fierce, so that nobody could pass that way. Behold, they cried out, saying, "What do we have to do with you, , Son of ? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding far away from them. The begged him, saying, "If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of pigs." He said to them, "Go!" They came out and went into the herd of pigs; and behold, the whole herd of pigs rushed down the cliff into the sea and in the water. Those who fed them fled and went away into the city and told everything, including what happened to those who were with . Behold, all the city came out to meet . When they saw him, they begged that he would depart from their borders.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.