President Thomas Jefferson was fascinated with the moral truths in the Holy Bible. He lived during the Age of Enlightenment and understood the natural order of the world. he lived in a time when reason was preferred to faith. Thomas Jefferson began his “rewrite” of the Scriptures in 1804 (same year he authorized the Lewis and Clark exploration of the newly purchased Louisiana territory west of the Mississippi River and completed it in 1820, eight years. His translation was published as “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth”. Below are links about the Jefferson Bible and excerpts comparing Jefferson’s Bible with the versions accepted by most churches today.
Jefferson Bible Digital Edition http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/jb/index.htm
Jefferson Bible http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/videos/a-brief-history-of-the-jefferson-bible/16078
Jefferson Bible http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus/jefferson.html
IV. John Baptizes Jesus in the Jordan (Jefferson Bible)
NOW in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
2 Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
3 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
4 And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan;
6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
John Baptizes Jesus in the Jordan (New International Version)
Matthew 3:13-17
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
XV. Parable of the Rich Man.
AND he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
2 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
3 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
4 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
5 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
6 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
Parable of the Rich Man
Luke 12: 16-21 (New International Version)
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Bible 500 