20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said,
A. Blessed be ye poor:
for yours is the kingdom of God.
B. 21 Blessed are ye that hunger now:
for ye shall be filled.
C. Blessed are ye that weep now:
for ye shall laugh.
D. a.22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you,
i. and when they shall separate you from their company,
ii. and shall reproach you,
iii. and cast out your name as evil,
for the Son of man’s sake.
i. 23 Rejoice ye in that day,
ii. and leap for joy:
iii. for, behold, your reward is great in heaven:
a’. for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
A’. 24 But woe unto you that are rich!
for ye have received your consolation.
B’. 25 Woe unto you that are full!
for ye shall hunger.
C’. Woe unto you that laugh now!
for ye shall mourn and weep.
D’. 26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you!
for so did their fathers to the false prophets.
Kenneth Bailey, in an article in the Bible Translator, 1975, Volume: 26, Issue: 3, Pages: 333-338 cites this passage that we independently identified. he wrote that it was an example of parallelism in the New testament. – I have ammended the above to recognise this. Bailey points out that verse 22-23 is in fact a couplet interupted by new information, with three negatives parallel to three positives, and in the centre the reference to the Son of Man. I have edited in line with this beautiful structure.