The Eternal Covenant of Peace

The Allegory of Hagar and Sarah

²¹ Tell me, you who desire to be subject to the law, will you not listen to the law? ²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by an enslaved woman and the other by a free woman.^{(A) 23} One, the child of the enslaved woman, was born according to the flesh; the other, the child of the free woman, was born through the promise.^{(B) 24} Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One woman, in fact, is Hagar, from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. ²⁵ Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia^[a] and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But the other woman corresponds to the Jerusalem above; she is free, and she is our mother.^{(C) 27} For it is written,

²⁸ Now you,^[b] my brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, like Isaac. ²⁹ But just as at that time the child who was born according to the flesh persecuted the child who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.^{(E) 30} But what does the scripture say? “Drive out the enslaved woman and her child, for the child of the enslaved woman will not share the inheritance with the child of the free woman.”^{(F) 31} So then, brothers and sisters, we are children, not of an enslaved woman but of the free woman.

The Demand for a Sign

¹¹ The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him.^{(A) 12} And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”^{(B) 13} And he left them, and getting into the boat again he went across to the other side.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod

¹⁴ Now the disciples^[a] had forgotten to bring any bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵ And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”^{[b](C) 16} They said to one another, “It is because we have no bread.” ¹⁷ And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?^{(D) 18} Do you have eyes and fail to see? Do you have ears and fail to hear? And do you not remember? ¹⁹ When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” They said to him, “Twelve.”^{(E) 20} “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” And they said to him, “Seven.”^{(F) 21} Then he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”^(G)

Jesus Cures a Blind Man at Bethsaida

²² They came to Bethsaida. Some people^[c] brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him.^{(H) 23} He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?”^{(I) 24} And the man^[d] looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” ²⁵ Then Jesus^[e] laid his hands on his eyes again, and he looked intently, and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶ Then he sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.”^[f](J)