This, tae, he said tae them: “Bide ye on i the first houss whaur ye finnd up-pittin till ye quat the pairt. Oniewey whaur they dinna walcome ye or winna hairken ye, lae the place an shak the stour aff your feet at your waa-gaein for a warnishment tae them.”
Sae they gaed their waas an preached aagate at men suid repent; an they cuist out monie ill spírits an anointit a hantle o síck fowk wi oil an cuired them.
WURD O AA this cam til Kíng Herod, for Jesus’ name wis weill-kent gin this time, an fowk wis sayin at he wis John the Baptízer risen frae the deid; that, they said, wis hou thir byous pouers wis a-wurkin in him. Ithers up-huid at he wis Elíjah; ithers again threapit he wis a new Prophet, like ane o the Prophets i the auld. But Herod, whan he hard what they war sayin, said, “It’s the man John, at I gart heid, risen frae the deid!”
Herod hed sent an arreistit John an cuissen him in jyle, in airns, tae pleisur Herodias (his brither Phílip’s wife, at he hed mairriet), because John hed sayen til him, “It’s no leisome for ye tae be mairriet on your guid-sister”; an for that Herodias hed a fell ill-will at him an wantit him pitten tae deith. But she coudna faa that, because Herod wis in daur o him, kennin him for an upricht an gudelie man, an fendit him frae skaith; an, for aa he wis sair pitten about ilka time he hard him, he ey hairkent him gledlie.
But the day cam at lang an lenth whan the bouls rowed richt for her, an that wis whan Herod gíed a birthday banqet til his nobles an offishers an the wale o the gentrice o Galilee, an her ain dachter cam in an daunced afore them, an Herod an the lave o the companie wis sae taen wi her at Herod said til the damie, “Seek oniething ye like o me, an I s’ gíe ye it”: deed, he swuir an aith at he wad gíe her oniething she socht o him, an it war een the ae hauf o his kíngdom!
Sae awà gaed the lassie an speired at her mither, “What will I seek o him?” An her mither said, “The heid o John the Baptízer.” Back the quean bickert tae the Kíng an said til him, “I want ye tae gíe me the heid o John the Baptist on an ashet, an I want it this mínit!”
Richt wae wis the Kíng tae hear her: but because o his aith, an for verra shame afore his guests, he dauredna gíe her a na-say, an strecht awà sent aff a lockman wi orders tae come back wi John’s heid. The man gaed awà an heidit John i the jyle an brocht in his heid on an ashet an gíed it til the lassie, an the lassie gíed it til her mither. Whan his disciples gat wittins o what hed happent, they cam an liftit the corp an laired it in a graff.
THE APOSTLES NOU cam back tae Jesus an tauld him about their teachin an ither wark. But whaur they war, they war keepit that thrang wi fowk comin an fowk gaein at they coudna sae muckle as faud a hoch an tak a diet. Sae he said til them, “Come ye awà tae some quait, out-o-the-gate spat whaur ye s’ be your lanes an can rest a whilie.”
Sae they gaed awà i the boat til an outlan bit tae be their lanes. But monie-ane 57saw them gaein an kent them, an frae aa the touns thereawà fowk made til the place what they coud scour bi laund an wan til’t afore them. Sae, whan Jesus cam ashore, he faund a fell thrang forenent him. A stound o pítie gaed til his hairt tae see them staundin there like forwandert sheep, an he begoud tae teach them.
Whan it wis weirin late an him ey at the teachin, his disciples cam til him an said, “This is a gey lane bit, an it’s fell late; send the fowk awà, sae at they can ging tae the fairmtouns an clachans round about an coff themsels something tae ait.”
“Na,” said Jesus, “it’s ye maun gíe them something.”
“Ar we tae ging awà,” said they, “an coff a twa hunder merks’ wurth o breid an gíe them hit tae ait?”
“What feck o laifs hae ye?” qo Jesus. “Awà an see.”
Whan they hed fund hou monie they hed, they tauld him, “Five, an twa fishes forbye.”
Syne he baud the fowk sit doun in pairties on the green screiff, an they leaned them doun on the girss in pairties o fiftie an a hunder, luikin like sae monie raws o gairden plats. Syne he tuik the five laifs an the twa fishes an, raisin his een til heiven, axed a blissin an brak the laifs intil whangs, at he gae til his disciples tae haund tae the fowk; an the twa fishes he haufed the same gate amang them aa.
Ilkane gat his sairin o mait, an they liftit aff the grund efterhin twal creelfus o owrecome píeces o breid, forbye a feck o fishes.4 The haill nummer o men at hed a diet aff the laifs wis five thousand.
STRECHT AWA EFTER that Jesus gart his disciples ging abuird the boat an tauld them tae ging owre tae Bethsaïda afore him, while he himsel skailed the thrang.
Whan he hed bidden the fowk fareweill, he speiled the hill for tae pray, an gin the darknin the boat wis haufgates owre the Loch an him ey his lane on laund. Efter a while he saw at they war haein a sair fecht tae win forrit again a heidwind, an he cam til them, traivlin on the screiff o the watter. It wis nou the henmaist quarter o the nicht.
He wis a-weers o gaein by them, but they saw him traivlin on the watter an, jalousin it wis a ghaist, skirlt out; for they aa saw him, an war sair besturtit. But he spak til them at aince: “Binna scaured,” qo he: “it is een mysel; binna fleyed nane.”
Syne he sclam intil the boat aside them, an the wind lowned; an they war fair forbye themsels wi winder, for they wantit the wit tae lairn what the míracle o the laifs micht hae taucht them.
AT LANG AN lenth they wan tae laund at Gennesaret, whaur they tied up the boat an gaed ashore. Jesus wis kent strecht awà, an fowk scoured round the haill o that kintra an begoud bringin their síck til him on matrèsses, whauriver they hard at he wis; an in ilka clachan an toun an fairm at he cam til they set doun the ailin at the gateside5 an socht him tae lat them titch een the rund o his coat; an aa at sae did gat better o their ails.
7 AE DAY THE Pharisees an a wheen Doctors o the Law frae Jerusalem cam in about him, an whan they saw some o his disciples aitin their mait wi common (that is, onwuishen) haunds—aa the Jews, an, mairbitaiken, the Pharisees, winna ait wiout they hae first wuishen their haunds “wi the níeve”, as they say, conform til the hant haundit doun frae their forefaithers, nor they winna ait ocht whan they come frae the mercat, gin they haena first strinkelt themsels wi watter; an, deed, there is a gey curn ither hants at they hae it o their forefaithers tae keep, the like o rinzin bickers an jougs an capper bowls—a-weill, than, the Pharisees an Doctors speired at him, “What wey is it your disciples haudsna til the hants haundit doun frae our forefaithers, but aits their mait wi common haunds?”
Jesus answert, “Hýpocrítes at ye ar, richtlie did Isaiah prophesíe anent ye, i the bit whaur he says:
‘This fowk honours me frae the teeth outwith,
but their hairts is hyne awà frae me:
vain is the wurship they gíe me,
the lair at they teach
is but the commaundments o men.’
Ye heedna nae mair the commaunds o God, an grip til the hants haundit doun bi men!”
An this, tae, he said til them: “Bonnie wark, bonnie wark yours, settin aside what God commaunds, at ye may keep the hants haundit doun til ye! Moses said, ‘Honour thy faither an thy mither’, an, ‘Him at miscaas faither or mither, lat him be execute tae the deid’. But ye say, gin a man says, ‘What I wad helpit ye wi is qorbân’—that is, a ‘gift o God’—aince a man hes sayen that, ye dischairge him tae dae ocht for them, an sae cass an annull the Wurd o God wi the hants an tradítions ye hae heired an taucht til ithers. An monie mae siclike things ye dae.”
Aince mair he cried the thrang til him an said til them, “Hairken me, aa o ye, an uptak what I say: 58nocht at gings intil a man frae ithout can fyle him.”
Whan he cam inbye awà frae the croud, his disciples speired at him anent his parable, an he said til them, “Ar ye as scant o wit as the lave? Can ye no see at