Matthew tells us the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He tells us about the birth of Jesus and how he lived. He tells us how Jesus died. He tells us how he went to live with God again. He also tells us who Jesus is. And he tells us why he came to live in the world. Matthew explained the things that Jesus taught the people. And he tells us about many things that Jesus did.
The Jews were waiting for God to send a special person to them. They called this person the Messiah. God had promised to send him. It means the person whom God sent to save people from punishment. He would also be the king of the Jews. He is the only person who can put us right with God. In the Greek language, the special person was called Christ. Matthew knew that Jesus was that special person. He wanted other people also to know this.
Matthew wrote his book in 8 parts:
1:1 – 2:23 ~ what happened when Jesus was born.
3:1 – 4:11 ~ what happened when Jesus began his work.
4:12 – 14:12 ~ what happened when Jesus was working in Galilee.
14:13 – 17:21 ~ what happened when Jesus went to other places in the north of Israel.
17:22 – 18:35 ~ what happened when Jesus returned to Galilee.
19:1 - 20:34 ~ what happened when Jesus taught the people in Judea and Perea.
21:1 – 27:66 ~ what happened in the city called Jerusalem in the last week of Jesus’ life.
28:1 – 28:20 ~ people see Jesus alive again after he died.
(Galilee, Judea and Perea were all different parts of the country called Israel.)
1 These are the names of people in the family of Jesus Christ. Jesus was in the family of King David. David was in the family of Abraham. 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac. 3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah. Their mother was called Tamar. 4 Ram was the father of Amminadab. 5 Salmon was the father of Boaz (his mother was called Rahab). 6 Jesse was the father of King David. 7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. 8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat. 9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham. 10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh. 11 This was when soldiers from Babylon took the Jews away to Babylon.
12 Here is a list of the people who lived after that time: 13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud. 14 Azor was the father of Zadok. 15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar. 16 Jacob was the father of Joseph. 17 So then, there were 14 generations from Abraham to David. There were 14 generations from David to the time the Jews went to Babylon. There were 14 generations from then until Jesus was born. 18 Now this is how Jesus Christ was born. His mother’s name was Mary. She had promised to marry a man called Joseph. Then she discovered that a baby was growing inside her. This happened before she married Joseph. The powerful Holy Spirit had caused this to happen to her.
19 Joseph always wanted to do what was right. He did not want everyone to know about Mary’s baby. He did not want her to be ashamed. So he had a plan to stop the marriage secretly. 20 Joseph thought about what to do. Then an angel came from God to see him. While he was dreaming, the angel said, ‘Joseph, you who are from the family of King David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. The baby that is growing inside her is from God’s Holy Spirit.
21 Mary’s baby will be a boy. He will save his people from the wrong things that they have done. Because of this, you must name him Jesus.’ 22 Many years before, God had spoken to one of his prophets about this. Now God’s words would soon become true. The prophet called Isaiah had said,
23 ‘There will be a young woman who has never had sex. A baby boy will grow inside her. People will call him Immanuel [Isaiah 7:4] . This name means “God is with us”.’
24 Then Joseph woke up from his sleep. He did what God’s angel had asked him to do. He married Mary.
25 Joseph did not have sex with Mary before the baby boy was born. Joseph said that the baby should be called Jesus.
1 Jesus was born in the town called Bethlehem in Judea. At that time, King Herod ruled Judea. Soon after Jesus was born, some clever men came from the east to Jerusalem. 2 The men arrived in Jerusalem and they asked people, ‘Where is the baby who was born a short time ago as the King of the Jews? We ask because we saw a special star. This star rose in the east. We knew about the baby king when we saw this star. We want to bend our knees in front of him. We want to tell him how great and important he is.’
3 Herod heard what the men were saying. And he became anxious. Many people in Jerusalem were also anxious.
4 Then Herod asked all the leaders of the priests and the teachers of the Law to meet with him. He asked them, ‘God promised to send a special person. Where will that special person be born?’
5 Then the leaders of the priests and the teachers of the Law replied, ‘The special person will be born in Bethlehem in Judea. This is what the prophet wrote about Bethlehem.
6 “God said: 7 Herod listened to all these things. So he asked the visitors to meet with him by himself. Herod asked them some questions. And he discovered the time that the star had appeared.
8 Then Herod sent the men to Bethlehem. ‘Go and look everywhere for this child’, he said. ‘And when you find him, come back here. Then you can tell me where he is. After that, I can also bend my knees in front of him. I can tell him how great and important he is.’
9 After the men had heard the king, they continued their journey. While they were travelling, the same star appeared again.
10 The star moved along in front of them. Then it stopped above the place where the child was staying. The men were very happy when they saw the star.
11 They went into the house and they saw the child. He was with Mary, his mother. They went down on their knees in front of the child. They said to him, ‘You are very great and important.’ Then they opened their bags. They took out valuable gifts and they gave them to the child. The gifts were gold, incense called frankincense and myrrh.
12 God said to them in a dream, ‘Do not go back to see Herod.’ So the men returned to their own country by a different road. 13 That night, after the men had gone away, Joseph had a dream. He saw one of God’s angels who said to him, ‘Herod will be looking for the child, so that his soldiers can kill him. You must get up and take the child and his mother with you. Go immediately to the country called Egypt. You will all be safe there. I will tell you when you can leave. You must remain there until then.’
14 So Joseph got up and he took the child and the child’s mother with him. They started on the journey to Egypt that same night.
15 They all remained in Egypt until Herod died. This happened to cause the words of the prophet to become true. God had said by the prophet, ‘I have brought my son out of Egypt.’ [Hosea 11:1] Herod’s soldiers kill the baby boys in Bethlehem
16 Then Herod understood that his visitors from the east would not return to him. He was very angry. He sent his soldiers to Bethlehem. He said to them, ‘Kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem. Kill those boys also who live near there. Kill all those who are not more than 2 years old.’ The visitors had told Herod that they had first seen the star 2 years ago. So he chose to kill the baby boys of that age.
17 In this way, the words that Jeremiah the prophet spoke became true.
18 He had said, 19 After Herod died, Joseph saw one of God’s angels in a dream.
20 ‘Get up’, said the angel. ‘The people who wanted to kill the child are dead. Take the child and his mother. You can return with them to Israel.’
21 So Joseph got up. He took the child and the child’s mother and they travelled to Israel.
22 But then, Joseph heard that Archelaus, Herod’s son, was now king of Judea. So Joseph was afraid to go to Judea. Joseph had another dream. An angel explained to him what to do. ‘Go to Galilee instead’, he said.
23 Joseph made his home in a town called Nazareth. So what the prophets had said became true. ‘He will be called a person from Nazareth.’
1 Some years later, a man called John the Baptist went to the desert in Judea. He began to tell people a message from God.
2 John said, ‘Stop doing wrong things. Say sorry to God and obey him. You must do this because the Kingdom of heaven is coming soon.’ 3 John the Baptist is the man that the prophet Isaiah spoke about. Isaiah said, 4 Now John always wore a coat that he had made out of hair from a camel. He also wore a leather belt. His usual food was large insects and honey from the desert. 5 Many of the people went to listen to John. They lived in Jerusalem and Judea and all the other places near the river Jordan.
6 The people told God about all the wrong things that they had done. Then John baptised the people in the river Jordan. 7 Many Pharisees and Sadducees came to John. They wanted John to baptise them. He said to them, ‘You are like dangerous snakes. You are trying to run away from God because he is angry with you. He will soon punish people who do wrong things.
8 Stop doing the things that God does not like. Do things to show God that you are sorry.
9 Do not say to yourselves, “We are in the family of Abraham. So God will not punish us.” Listen! God can make children for Abraham out of these stones!
10 You are like trees. God has an axe ready at the lowest part of the trees. He will cut down every tree that does not make good fruit. He will throw these trees into the fire.’ 11 ‘I baptise you with water. This shows God that you are sorry. You are sorry about the wrong things that you have done. It shows him that you now want to obey his rules. But a person is coming soon. He is more important than I am. I am not at all good like he is. I am no good even to carry his shoes for him. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and he will baptise you with fire.
12 He is like a farmer with a special tool in his hand. A farmer throws the wheat up in the air with this tool. He does this to remove the dry hard part that is outside of the seed. He cannot use this hard part for anything, so he burns it in a fire. Nobody can put out this fire. But he will put the seeds in a building to keep them safe.’ 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the river Jordan. He wanted John to baptise him.
14 But John did not want to baptise Jesus. He said to Jesus, ‘I should come to you instead, and then you can baptise me. But you are asking me to baptise you.’
15 Jesus replied, ‘This time, do what I ask you. God wants you to baptise me. And we must do everything that is proper.’ So John did what Jesus asked him to do.
16 When John baptised him, Jesus came up out of the water. Then God opened the sky and Jesus saw God’s Spirit coming down. He came down like a bird, which sat on Jesus.
17 Then Jesus heard a voice in the sky. ‘This man is my Son. I love him and he makes me very happy.’
1 God’s Spirit led Jesus into the desert. Here the devil tried to cause Jesus to do wrong things. 2 Jesus did not eat anything for 40 days and 40 nights. He was very hungry at the end of this time.
3 Then the devil came to Jesus and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, you can talk to these stones. Tell the stones that they must become bread.’
4 But Jesus answered the devil, ‘Moses wrote this in God’s book. “People need more than bread to really live. They need to hear every word that God speaks. Then they can really live.” ’ [Deuteronomy 8:3] 5 Then the devil led Jesus to Jerusalem. He took Jesus to stand on the highest point of God’s Great House.
6 He said to Jesus, ‘If you are God’s Son, jump down from here to the ground. Someone wrote in God’s book, 7 Jesus answered the devil, ‘Moses also wrote in God’s book. “You must not do something dangerous to see if God will save you”.’ [Deuteronomy 6:16] 8 Then the devil led Jesus up a very high mountain. He showed Jesus all the countries in the whole world. They were all very great and beautiful.
9 ‘I will give you everything that you can see’, said the devil. ‘Go down on your knees in front of me. Say that I am great and important and beautiful. And I will give it all to you.’
10 Jesus then said to him, ‘Go away. Moses also wrote this in God’s book. “We must only go down on our knees in front of God. We must only tell him, ‘You are great and important’. We must obey him first”.’ [Deuteronomy 6:13]
11 Then the devil left Jesus alone. After that, angels came to Jesus and they took 12 Now Jesus heard that Herod’s soldiers had put John the Baptist in prison. So Jesus returned to Galilee.
13 He did not stay in Nazareth. He went to live in a town called Capernaum. Capernaum is on the shore of Lake Galilee. It was in the part of Israel called Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 Jesus went to live in Capernaum. And this caused the words of God to become true. God had said this to his prophet who was called Isaiah.
15 ‘I am speaking to you people who live in Zebulun and Naphtali. 16 They are like people who are living in the dark. 17 Then Jesus began to teach the people. ‘Stop doing wrong things. Say to God that you are sorry’, Jesus said. ‘Begin to obey God. You must do all this because the Kingdom of Heaven is coming soon.’ Jesus asks some men to be his disciples
18 One day, Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee. He saw two men. One man was called Simon, and he was also called Peter. The other man’s name was Andrew, and he was Simon’s brother. Their job was to catch fish. They were throwing their nets into the lake to catch some fish.
19 ‘Come with me and be my disciples’, Jesus said to them. ‘And I will teach you how to catch people.’ 20 Peter and Andrew immediately stopped working with their nets. They went with Jesus and they became his disciples.
21 Then Jesus continued to walk along the shore of Lake Galilee. Soon he saw two more men. Their job also was to catch fish. They were called James and John. They were brothers and their father was called Zebedee. John, James and Zebedee were in their boat and they were mending their nets. Jesus said to James and John, ‘Come with me and be my disciples.’
22 Then the brothers immediately left the boat and their father behind. They went with Jesus and they became his disciples. Jesus teaches the people about God and he makes sick people well again
23 Jesus went everywhere in Galilee. He went into the building where the Jews met to pray. Then he taught the people the good news about the Kingdom. People who had many different illnesses and problems came to Jesus. He caused all these people to become well again.
24 So people began to hear about Jesus more and more. People in Syria also heard about Jesus, so they brought all the sick people to see him. They wanted Jesus to cause them to become well again. They had many different illnesses and some had pains. Bad spirits were living inside some of them. Some people had sick minds, and some people could not move. Jesus caused all these people to become well again.
25 Because of this, large crowds followed him. These people came from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem. They also came from the part of Judea that is on the other side of the River Jordan. 1 Jesus saw all the crowds following him. So he went up a hill and he sat down there to teach. Jesus’ disciples went close to listen to him.
2 And he began to teach them.
3 ‘Some people’, he said, ‘know that they need God very much. God will cause those people to be happy because they will be part of the Kingdom of Heaven.
4 Some people are sad now. God will help them to feel better. They will be happy.’ 5 ‘Some people know that they are not powerful. They will be happy. God will give them what he has promised them.
6 Some people want to obey God more than they want to do anything else. God will give to them all that they need.
7 Some people are kind and they forgive other people. They will be happy. God will be kind to them and he will forgive them.
8 Some people do not want to do wrong things. They will be happy because they will see God.
9 Some people help other people to be friends and to agree together. They will be happy because God will call them his children.
10 Some people will have pain because they obey God. They will be happy because they are part of the Kingdom of Heaven.
11 You will be happy when people say bad things about you. Sometimes people will hurt you. Sometimes people will say things about you that are not true. People will do these things to you because you are my disciples.
12 You should be very happy when people do these things to any of you. You should shout because you are so happy. God has kept many good things for you. He will give you these things when you go to heaven. People did all these same things to the prophets who lived a long time ago.’ Jesus’ disciples are like salt and light
13 ‘You are like salt’, Jesus said, ‘for all people to taste and use. Salt is good. But sometimes it does not taste like salt any longer. That salt cannot become good again. It is not good for people to use for anything. They throw it outside and they walk on it.
14 You are like the light that everybody needs in this world. If people build a city on a hill, then other people can see it easily.
15 Nobody lights a lamp and then puts it under a can. He will put the lamp in a high place. Everybody who is in the house can then see the light from the lamp.
16 You must be sure that you shine like that light. Then everybody will be able to see. People will see all the lovely things that you do. Then they will say good things about God. He is your Father in heaven.’ 17 Jesus said, ‘You should not think that I have come to destroy the Law. Also, I have not come to destroy the messages that the prophets wrote down. No, I have not come to destroy their words. I have come to cause what they taught to become true.
18 Remember my words. The sky and the earth will remain for a long time. While they remain, the Law will also remain. Not even a small change in the Law will happen. When everything in it has happened, then the Law will finish.
19 So then a person may think to himself, “This rule is not very important. I will not obey it.” He may also teach other people to think like that. But this teacher will be the least important person in the Kingdom of Heaven. On the other hand, a person who obeys all God’s rules will be important. He teaches other people also to obey, so he will be great in God’s Kingdom.
20 I am telling you this. You will be able to come into the Kingdom of Heaven if you obey him. But you must obey him better than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees do.’ 21 ‘You have heard the words to your people long ago. “You must not kill another person. And any person who does kill will stand in front of a judge. This judge will say that he has done something wrong. And he will punish him.”
22 But now, I say this to you about it. Anybody who is angry with his brother without a good reason will stand in front of a judge. The judge may say that this angry person has done a wrong thing. Someone might call his brother by a bad name. Then, the most important rulers will judge him. They may say that he must be punished. But whoever says, “You are a fool”, to their brother, God will judge him. He may say to him, “You should go into the fire in hell.” ’ 23 ‘Maybe you go to give your gift to God’, said Jesus to them. ‘You take it to the special table in God’s Great House. But then you remember that your brother is angry with you.
24 You must leave your gift there in front of God’s special table. And you must first go and find your brother. Say to him that you are sorry. Then you can both become friends with each other again. After that, you can go back and give your gift to God.
25 A person may say that you have done something wrong. So he will take you to stand in front of the judge. You should try to agree with this person. You should decide with him what is right. Do this even while you are going with him to the judge. Do it so that he will not speak against you to the judge. The judge may agree with him that you have done a wrong thing. Then he will give you to his officer who will put you in prison.
26 What I say is true. You will remain in prison until you have paid all the money.’ 27 ‘You know what God said to your people long ago. “You must not have sex with a person who is not your husband or wife. If you do, then you have done a wrong thing.”
28 But I tell you this. A man looks at a woman who is not his wife. And he wants to have sex with her. Now this man has also done a wrong thing.
29 If your right eye makes you do wrong things, then you should take it out. You should throw it away. You will lose one eye. But it will be much worse if God throws you with your two eyes into hell.
30 If your right hand makes you do wrong things, then you should cut it off. You should throw it away. You will lose one hand. But it is much worse if God sends you with your two hands into hell.’ 31 ‘These words are also in God’s Law. “Any man who wants to stop being married to his wife must give her a paper. This paper shows that they are now separate.” [Deuteronomy 24:1-4]
32 But now, I tell you this. A man must only become separate from his wife because of one reason. This reason is that his wife has had sex with another man. If his wife has not done this, then she is still his wife. The paper does not cause the man and his wife to be separate. Now, if his wife marries another man she is doing a wrong thing. And the other man who marries her is also doing a wrong thing.’ Jesus teaches people about promises to God
33 ‘You know what God also said to your people long ago. “If you make a promise to God and use his name, do what you have said.” [Numbers 30:2]
34 But I tell you this. Do not use God’s name to make a promise. Do not use the words “by heaven” to make a promise. Heaven is the place where God rules. Do not use the words “by the earth” to make a promise. The earth is the place where God rests his feet.
35 Do not use the words “by Jerusalem” to make a promise. Jerusalem is God’s city. He is the great King there.
36 Do not use the words “my head” to make a promise. You cannot make the colour of your hair black or white.
37 You should say only “Yes” if you mean, “Yes, I will do it.” And you should say only “No” if you mean, “No, I will not do it.” If you say more than this, what you say comes from the Devil.’ 38 ‘So, this is also in God’s Law. “If a man destroys somebody’s eye, then somebody should destroy that man’s eye. If a man destroys a man’s tooth, then somebody should destroy that man’s tooth.” [Exodus 21:24]
39 But I tell you this. If somebody does something bad to you, do not try to do something bad back to him. Somebody may slap you on one side of your face. Then you should let him slap you on the other side of your face also.’ 40 ‘Maybe somebody wants to take you to the judge. He says to the judge, “This man has done a wrong thing against me. So I want him to give me his shirt.” Give the man your shirt. Give him also your coat.
41 A soldier may say to you, “Carry my luggage for one mile (1500 metres).” Help him. Carry it for two miles (3000 metres).
42 When somebody asks you for something, you should give it to him. If somebody asks you to lend him something, then you should not refuse.
43 You hear people say, “Love the people who are your friends. Do not love those who want to hurt you.”
44 But I tell you this. You should love the people who want to hurt you. Some people hurt you because you obey God. You should pray to God that he would help them.
45 If you do this, you will be sons and daughters of your Father above. He causes the sun to shine on people who obey him. He also causes the sun to shine on people who do not obey him. God causes the rain to fall on people who obey him. He also causes the rain to fall on people who do not obey him.
46 You might only love people who love you. But then, God will not pay you for doing that. Even men who take the taxes do it!’ 47 ‘When you only speak to your friends’, said Jesus, ‘then you are not doing anything extra. Even people who do not believe in God do that.
48 So you must be good in every way, as your Father above is good in every way.’ [Leviticus 19:2]
1 Jesus still spoke to them. ‘You may do good things and help somebody. But be careful that you do not want other people to see you. Let it be a secret. If you do these things to show people, God, your Father in heaven will not pay you back.
2 When you give something to a poor person, do not tell anyone about it. The hypocrites do this in the buildings where people meet to pray. They also do it outside in the busy streets of the town. They do this so that other people will say, “These men are good.” What I say is true. They have already received good words from other people. So, God will not give them anything more.’ 3 ‘When you give something to a poor person, keep it a secret. Do not tell even your best friend. Let it be as if your left hand did not know about your right hand’s actions.
4 Nobody else will know about what you gave to the person. It will be a secret. God sees things that are secret. And he will give you good things.’ Jesus teaches people how to pray
5 ‘So, you must not pray like the hypocrites pray. They like to stand and pray in the Jewish meeting places and on the busy corners of the streets. Then many people can see them praying. What I say is true. They have already received good words from people and they will not get anything more.’ 6 ‘I will tell you how to pray. Go to a place in your house where you can be alone. There you can pray to God your Father. He is in that secret place. And he sees what you do. He will give you good things.
7 When you pray, do not say the same words many times. And do not use many words that mean nothing. People who do not believe in God do that. And they think that God will hear them.
8 Do not be like them. God your Father already knows what you need. He knows this even before you ask him.
9 This then is how you should pray, 10 We want you to rule everyone. 11 Please give us the food that we need each day.
12 Please forgive us for all the wrong things that we have done. 13 Do not let anything cause us to do wrong things. 14 Then Jesus said, ‘You must forgive other people for the wrong things that they have done to you. Then God, your Father in heaven will also forgive you for the wrong things that you have done to him.
15 But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive you.’ Jesus teaches the people about how to stop eating for some time
16 ‘Be careful when you stop eating for some time. Do not look sad. Then people will not know what you are doing. That is what the hypocrites do. A hypocrite wants people to think about how good he is. He will let his face become dirty. Then other people can see that he has stopped eating. You should remember that God will not give the hypocrites anything else. Other people think that they are good. And that is all that they will get.
17 But when you stop eating for some time, you should wash your face. You should cause your hair to look nice.
18 Then other people will not know that you have stopped eating for some time. But God your Father knows. He sees what you do in that secret place. So he will give you good things.’ 19 ‘Do not have many valuable things here in the world. Here there are insects and water that can destroy them. There are also men who can come into your house. They can rob you of all your valuable things.
20 Instead, you should put all your valuable things in God’s place above. The insects and water cannot destroy your valuable things there. Men cannot rob you of all your things.
21 You will always think about the place where you keep your valuable things. You will want to be there in heaven.’ 22 ‘Eyes are like lamps and your body is like a room. If your eyes are like a clean lamp, then your whole body will have light.
23 If your eyes are not good, then your whole body will be in the dark. If the light in your body has become dark, you will live in a very dark place.’ 24 ‘A slave cannot work for two masters at the same time. He will not like one of the masters, but he will love the other master. He will always say good things about one of the masters and say bad things about the other master. You cannot have God as a master and have money also as your master.’
25 Jesus said to his disciples, ‘What I say is true. Do not be anxious about food and drink to stay alive. Do not be anxious about clothes to wear either. Your life is more important than your food, and your body is more important than your clothes.
26 Think about the wild birds. They do not plant seeds in the ground. They do not cut down plants to eat. And they have no buildings to store food. God gives them food. And you are much more valuable than the birds.
27 Perhaps you are anxious about how long you will live. But you cannot live one hour longer, even if you are always thinking about it. No, you cannot do even a small thing like that. So do not be anxious about all these other things.
28 You should not be anxious about your clothes. Think about how the wild flowers grow. They do not work or make clothes for themselves.
29 But this is true. King Solomon wore very beautiful clothes. But even one wild flower is more beautiful than he was.
30 God gives beautiful clothes to the grass and to the wild flowers. They are alive in the field today, but tomorrow people will burn them. God will certainly give you clothes to wear. You should know that God will take 31 Then Jesus said, ‘Do not always be thinking about where you will find your food and drink and clothes. Do not be anxious.
32 People who do not know about God are always thinking about these things. God, your Father in heaven, knows that you need them.
33 Instead, think about the things that are important in the Kingdom of God. You should do everything that you can to obey God. Then God will also give you the other things that you need.
34 So do not be anxious about what might happen tomorrow. Tomorrow there will be enough problems for you to be anxious about. It is enough for you to be anxious each day about the problems of that day.’
1 Jesus was still speaking to the people. ‘Do not say to anybody, “You are a bad person.” Then God will not say to you, “You are a bad person.”
2 God will speak to you in the same way that you speak to other people. He will use the same rules for you as you use for other people.
3 Do not look at the small piece of wood dirt that is in your brother’s eye. You should first see the big piece of wood that is in your own eye.
4 You should not say to your brother, “Please let me take the small piece of wood dirt out of your eye.” But you yourself have not seen the big piece of wood that is in your own eye.
5 You think that you are better than your brother. But you are not. First, you must take the big piece of wood out of your own eye. Then your eyes will be clear and you will see well. After that, you can take the small piece of wood dirt out of your brother’s eye.’ 6 ‘Do not give really good things that are for God to dogs. The dogs will turn round and attack you. Do not throw valuable things to pigs. The pigs will only stand on them and bury them in the dirt.’ 7 ‘Go on asking God for what you need. And then you will receive. Go on looking for what you need. And then you will find it. Go on knocking at the door. And then God will open it for you.
8 Everyone who asks for something will receive it. Everyone who looks for something will find it. God will open the door for everyone who knocks on it.
9 Some of you are fathers. You would not give your son a stone when he asks you for some bread.
10 You would not give your son a snake if he asks you for a fish.
11 Even if you are bad, you know how to give good things to your children. Your Father above knows much better than you do how to give good things. So he will give good things to those people who ask him.’ 12 ‘In the same way that you want other people to do things to you, do things to other people. This is what the Law of Moses teaches us. It is also what the prophets wrote in their books.’ Jesus teaches people how to get true life
13 ‘You should go in through the narrow gate to get true life. The wide gate is easy to go through. The wide path is easy to travel on. Many people find that wide gate, but it is the way to hell.
14 It is difficult to go through the small gate. It is difficult to walk on the narrow road. But when you do go that way, you will get true life. Not many people find that narrow gate.’ Jesus teaches the story about a tree and its fruit
15 ‘Watch out for prophets who tell you wrong things about God. These people seem to be like sheep that are not dangerous. But they are really like hungry wild dogs. What they teach will hurt you.
16 You will know these people by what they do. People do not pick good fruit from weeds. And they do not pick fruit to eat from wild plants.’ 17 ‘Good fruit grows on a tree that is good. Bad fruit grows on a tree that is not good.
18 A good tree cannot make bad fruit. A bad tree cannot make good fruit.
19 The farmer will cut down any tree that does not make good fruit. He will burn that tree on a fire.
20 So you will know if a person is good or bad. Look at what they do. And look at what they say. A good person does good things. And a bad person does bad things.
21 Some people say to me, “Master, Master!” But not all of them will come into the Kingdom of Heaven. Only the people who obey God, my Father in heaven, will come in. They do what he wants them to do.
22 On the day when God judges, people will say, “Master, Master! We used your authority and we told people a message from you. We used your authority and we caused bad spirits to come out of people. We used your authority to do many powerful things.”
23 Then I will say to these people, “I never knew you. You do not obey God; you are bad. So go away from me.” ’ Jesus tells a story about two men who each built a house
24 ‘I will tell you about a man. He hears my message and he obeys it. Now, this person understands my words. He is like a man who built his house on rock.
25 Then a storm came and brought a lot of water. The water hit the house and strong winds blew hard against that house. But the house did not fall down because the man had built it on rock.
26 Another man hears my message and he does not obey it. He is like a man who built his house on sand.
27 Then a storm came and brought a lot of water. The water hit the house and strong winds blew hard against it. The house fell down. The storm destroyed it completely.’ 28 Jesus finished speaking. All the people were very surprised about the things that he taught them.
29 Jesus did not teach them in the same way as the teachers of the Law. Jesus had his own authority when he taught them.
1 A large crowd followed Jesus when he came down from the hill.
2 Then a man with an illness of the skin came to meet Jesus. The illness was called leprosy. The man went down on his knees in front of him. ‘Sir, if you want’, he said, ‘you can make me well. Please do it.’
3 Jesus put out his hand towards him and touched him. ‘I do want to help you. Be well’, he said. Immediately, the illness left the man.
4 ‘You must not tell anyone about this’, Jesus said to him. ‘Instead, go and show yourself to the priest. Take him a gift for God, as Moses said. “Do this to thank God for what has happened. And this will also show everyone that you are now well.” ’ [Leviticus 14:1-32] An officer in the army believes that Jesus can help him
5 When Jesus went into Capernaum, an officer in the army came to meet him. He asked Jesus to help him. 6 ‘Sir, my servant is lying in bed at home. He cannot move and he has a lot of pain.’
7 Jesus said to the officer, ‘I will go with you to your house and I will make your servant well again.’
8 But the officer said to Jesus, ‘Sir, you are too important to come into my house. You have authority. Instead, you can say that he will be well. And I know that my servant will be well again.
9 Someone has authority over me. I also have authority over other soldiers. I say to this soldier, “Go!” and he goes. I say to that soldier, “Come!” so, he comes. I say to one of my servants, “Do this!” so, he does it.’
10 Jesus heard what the officer said. And Jesus was very surprised. He spoke to the crowd that was following him. ‘What I say is true. I have not found anybody like this man in Israel. Nobody else believes so well in me.’ 11 ‘What I say is true. Many people will come from all over the world. They will take their place in the Kingdom of Heaven. They will sit down to eat with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
12 Some people were born to belong to the Kingdom. But God’s angels will throw them into the dark places outside his kingdom. There the people will cry. And they will bite their teeth together because they are angry.’ 13 Then Jesus said to the officer, ‘Go home. You believed that I would make your servant well again. So I will do it for you.’ And at that moment, Jesus made the servant well again. Jesus makes many people well again
14 Jesus went into Peter’s house. There, he saw the mother of Peter’s wife. She was ill in bed and she felt very hot.
15 Jesus touched her hand and immediately she did not feel hot any longer. She got up and she prepared food and drink for Jesus.
16 That evening, some people brought other people to see Jesus. Bad spirits lived in many of these people. Jesus spoke a word and he caused the bad spirits to leave them. He made everybody who was ill well again.
17 Jesus did all this to cause the prophet Isaiah’s words to become true: 18 One day, Jesus saw a large crowd round him. So he said to his disciples, ‘Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.’
19 A teacher of the Law came to Jesus and said to him, ‘Teacher, I want to become one of your disciples. I will go with you everywhere that you go.’
20 Jesus said to him, ‘Wild dogs have a place to live. Wild birds also have their own places to live. But the Son of Man has no regular place to lie down and sleep.’
21 Another man who was already a disciple of Jesus spoke to him. ‘Sir, I will come with you. But first, let me go home to bury my father. After that, I will come with you.’
22 Jesus said to him, ‘Let those people who are dead bury their own dead people.’ 23 Then Jesus climbed into a boat and his disciples followed him.
24 A great storm soon started on the lake. Water began to fill the boat, so that soon the boat was almost under the water. Jesus was sleeping.
25 The disciples went to him and they woke him. ‘Save us, Master’, they said. ‘We will soon die in the water.’
26 ‘You should not be so frightened. You do not believe in me very much!’ Jesus said. Then he stood up and he spoke to the wind and the water. ‘Be quiet!’ he said. ‘Stop moving!’ Then the wind stopped and the water became flat again.
27 The disciples were very surprised. ‘What kind of man is this?’ they asked each other. ‘Even the wind and the water obey him!’ Jesus makes two men well again
28 Jesus arrived at the other side of Lake Galilee. He was in the part of the country called Gadara. The people who lived there were called Gadarenes. Jesus arrived near the place where they buried dead people. Two men came to meet Jesus. Bad spirits lived in these two men. The men were very dangerous. Everyone was too afraid to walk near this place because of them.
29 When the two men saw Jesus, they immediately shouted to him, ‘What are you going to do with us? You are the Son of God. Have you come to punish us before the right time?’ 30 A large group of pigs was feeding near to this place.
31 The bad spirits asked Jesus, ‘If you cause us to leave these men, please send us to those pigs. Let us go into them.’
32 ‘Go!’ said Jesus to the bad spirits. So the bad spirits came out of the men and went into the pigs. All the pigs rushed down the hill. They ran into the lake and they all died in the water.
33 There were some men there, who took 34 So everybody came out of the town to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they said, ‘Please leave our part of the country.’
1 Jesus then climbed back into the boat and he sailed across to the other side of the lake again. He returned to Capernaum, the town where he was living.
2 Some men from the town came to see Jesus. They brought another man with them who could not move his legs. He was lying on a flat piece of wood. Jesus saw the men. And he knew what they were thinking. They believed that Jesus could cause the man on the bed to be well again. Jesus said to the man who could not move, ‘Do not be afraid, my friend. I forgive you for all the wrong things that you have done.’
3 Then some teachers of the Law began to speak to each other. ‘This man should not have said this’, they said to themselves. ‘He is speaking as if he is God.’
4 Jesus knew what the teachers were thinking. So he said to them, ‘You should not think these bad things.
5 I said to this man, “I forgive you for all the wrong things that you have done.” I could have said to him, “Stand up and walk.”
6 But I want you to know this. The Son of Man has authority on earth. He can forgive people for all the wrong things that they have done.’ Then he said to the man who could not move his legs, ‘Stand up. Pick up the bed where you are lying. And go home.’
7 So then the man stood up and he went home.
8 The people saw what had happened. They were very surprised and afraid. They saw that God had given much authority to men. So they said, ‘God, how great and powerful you are.’ 9 Jesus walked away from that place. While he walked, he saw a man called Matthew. He was one of the men who received taxes for the government. He was sitting in his office. ‘Come with me and be my disciple’, Jesus said. So Matthew stood up and he went with Jesus.
10 Later, Jesus went into the house. Many other men who received money for the government came to the house. Jesus was eating a meal there. Many people who had done bad things also came. All these people came to eat a meal with Jesus and his disciples. 11 Some Pharisees saw all these people eating a meal with Jesus. They asked Jesus’ disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat a meal with these people? They are people who have done bad things. And some of them take tax money.’
12 Jesus heard what the Pharisees were saying. ‘People who are well do not need a doctor’, he said to them. ‘People who are ill need a doctor.
13 Go. And learn what the prophets wrote down in God’s book. God says, “I want people to be kind to each other. I do not only want them to give me gifts in my house.” Some people think that they have not done anything wrong. I do not ask such people to be my disciples. Many people know that they have done wrong things. It is these people that I am asking be my disciples.’
14 Then some of the disciples of John the Baptist came to meet Jesus. They asked him, ‘We, and the disciples of the Pharisees, often stop eating so that we can pray. Why do your disciples never do that?’ 15 Jesus answered them with a picture story. ‘When the friends of a bridegroom are with him at his marriage, they do not stop eating. The time will come when people will take the bridegroom away from his friends. Then his friends will stop eating.’ 16 Then Jesus said, ‘Nobody uses a piece of new cloth to repair an old coat. If he did, the hole would grow bigger. When someone washed the coat, the new piece of cloth would become smaller. The new cloth would tear the old cloth again and it would make a bigger hole than before.
17 Nobody pours new wine into an old wineskin. If he does, then the new wine will tear the old wineskin. The wine will run out and he will lose it. And he will destroy the wineskin. Instead of this, you must put new wine into a new wineskin. Then there will be nothing to destroy the wine or the wineskin.’ 18 While Jesus was saying these things to the people, an important Jew came to him. The man went down on his knees in front of Jesus and said to him, ‘My daughter has just died. Come to my house. Touch her with your hand and then she will be well again.’
19 So Jesus started to go along with the man. And his disciples also went along with them.
20 A woman was in the crowd near to Jesus. She had lost blood every day for 12 years. She came close behind Jesus and she touched the edge of his coat.
21 The woman thought, ‘If I only touch his coat, Jesus will cause me to become well again.’
22 Jesus turned round and he saw the woman. ‘Young woman, do not be afraid’, he said. ‘You are well again because you believed in me.’ And immediately the woman became well again.
23 Then Jesus walked on until he arrived at the house of the important Jew. He went into the man’s house. People there were making music with pipes made out of wood. The crowd in the house was also making a loud noise. 24 Jesus spoke to everybody in the house. ‘Get out of here’, he said. ‘This girl is not dead. She is only sleeping.’ The people laughed at Jesus.
25 But the family sent the crowd out of the house. Then Jesus went into the room where the girl was lying. He held her hand, and she stood up.
26 After that, people began to tell about what had happened. They told other people in all that part of the country. Jesus causes two men to see again
27 Jesus left the house. While he walked along, two men began to follow him. They could not see. They were shouting out to him, ‘Son of David, be kind to us and help us.’ 28 Jesus went into a house. And the men who could not see came to him. Jesus asked them, ‘Do you believe that I can cause your eyes to become well?’ 29 So Jesus touched the men’s eyes and he said, ‘Because you believed in me, your eyes will become well again.’
30 Then immediately the men could see again. Jesus said to them, ‘You must not tell anybody about this.’
31 So the men went away. But then they told everybody in that part of the country all about what Jesus had done for them. Jesus causes a man to speak again
32 While those two men were leaving Jesus, some people brought another man to him. This man could not talk because a bad spirit was living inside him.
33 Jesus said to the bad spirit, ‘Leave this man.’ The spirit left him, and the man began to speak. Everybody there was very surprised. They said, ‘Nobody has seen anything like this happen in Israel before.’
34 The Pharisees said, ‘Because Satan makes him powerful, this man can send bad spirits out of people.’
35 Jesus went to visit many towns and villages in that part of the country. He taught the people in the places where they met to talk to God. He taught the good news about the Kingdom. He also caused sick people to become well again from all their illnesses. Jesus wants God to send out more disciples
36 When Jesus saw the crowds, he felt sorry for them. The people were anxious. They had nobody to help them. Jesus thought, “These people are like sheep with nobody to take 37 Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘These people are like many good plants in the fields. The plants are ready for the workers to cut down. But there are not many workers.
38 You should ask the master of these fields to send out more workers. Then they can bring in all the plants.’ 1 One day, Jesus asked 12 of his disciples to come to him. He gave them authority over bad spirits that were living in people. These disciples could then cause the spirits to leave people. Jesus also gave them authority to cause sick people to become well again. They could remove all their illnesses.
2 These are the names of the 12 apostles: 3 There were Philip and Bartholomew. 4 Simon, who was called the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot. 5 Jesus sent out these 12 men. Before they left, he said to them, ‘Go only to places where Jews live. Do not go to any place where the people are not Jews. And you must not go to any towns where only Samaritans live.’ 6 ‘Instead, you must go to the people of Israel’, he said. ‘They are like lost sheep with nobody to take 7 While you travel, you must tell people about the Kingdom of Heaven. You must tell them that it has become near.
8 Make sick people well again. Cause dead people to become alive again. And cause people with an illness of the skin to become well again. Say to bad spirits that are living in a person, “Come out of him.” Then they will leave the person. I gave you the authority to do all these things. Now, go and do all these things for other people. This authority did not cost you anything. So do not ask them to pay you any money for what you do.
9 Do not take any money of any kind in your purse.
10 Do not take a bag with you, or an extra set of clothes. Do not take shoes or a stick. People should give a worker everything that he needs.’ 11 ‘When you are travelling, go into towns and villages. Look for a good person who will take 12 When you go into that man’s house, say to the people inside, “I pray that you will be well.”
13 If the master of the house accepts you, then everyone in the house will be well. But there may not be anybody in the house that accepts you. Then ask God not to cause them to be well.
14 Sometimes you will go into a home or a town and the people will not accept you. And they will not listen to your message. Then you should leave that home or that town. And say to the people, “There is dirt from your town on our feet. We will clean it off before we leave.”
15 I am speaking what is true’, Jesus said to his disciples. ‘One day God will punish the people who refuse me. God will punish them more than he will punish the people from Sodom and Gomorrah.’ 16 ‘Listen well. I am sending you to people who will want to kill you. Your journey will be dangerous. You will be like sheep among wild dogs. You must watch carefully, like a snake watches. But you must also be good and kind like a quiet bird.
17 Watch carefully! People will take hold of you and they will cause you to stand in front of the important Jews. They will take you into the places where they meet to talk to God. Then they will hit you with a whip.
18 People will cause you to stand in front of kings and rulers. This will happen because of me. This is the moment to tell them and those who are not Jews about me. Tell them the Good News about me.
19 When the people cause you stand in front of kings and rulers, do not be afraid. Do not think about what you should say. Do not be afraid about how you will say things. At that moment, God will tell you the right words to speak.
20 You will say words that do not come from you. God the Holy Spirit will tell you what to say.
21 Men will cause their own brothers to stand in front of kings and rulers. And these men will say, “Kill him because he believes in Jesus.” Fathers will do the same to their own children. Some children will be against their parents. The children will cause their parents to stand in front of kings and rulers and they will say, “Kill my parents because they believe in Jesus.”
22 Many people will not like you because you believe in me. But you should never stop believing in me. Then God will save you.
23 If people in one town hurt you because of me, you should leave that town immediately. You should go to another town. What I say is true. You will not have enough time to speak your message in all the towns of Israel. No, not before the Son of Man comes again.
24 A disciple is not more important than his teacher is. A servant is not more important than his master is.
25 A disciple should be happy if he knows as much as his teacher. A servant should be happy if he is as important as me, his master. Some people call the master of the house Beelzebub (that is “Satan”). These people will call the people in his house even worse names.
26 Do not be afraid of these people. God will remove the cover from everything that people have covered. He will tell everybody all the secrets.
27 I tell you secret things. But you must tell these things to the whole world. They must not be secret any longer. I have said things to you that other people did not hear. But now you must shout all these things from the tops of the houses.’ 28 ‘Do not be afraid of those people who can only kill your body. These people cannot kill your soul. I say to you that you should be afraid of God. He can kill your body, and then he can also kill your soul in hell.
29 Think about this. People sell two small birds for a small coin of little value. One small bird may fall to the ground. But this can only happen if God lets it happen.
30 God even knows how many hairs there are on your head.
31 So do not be afraid of people. God thinks that you are more valuable than many small birds.
32 If a person says to everybody, “I believe in Jesus”, then I will speak to God, my Father in heaven. I will say, “I know that person; he is one of my disciples.”
33 If someone else says to everybody, “I do not believe in Jesus”, I will then speak to God, my Father in heaven. I will say, “I do not know that person; he is not one of my disciples.”
34 I will tell you why I have come into the world. I did not come so that everyone would agree with each other. I came to cause people to be in separate groups that fight against each other.
35 A man will fight against his father. 36 A man’s family will fight against him.’ 37 ‘A man must love his own father and mother less than he loves me’, said Jesus. ‘Then he can be my disciple. He must also love his own son or daughter less than he loves me. If he does not do this, then he cannot be my disciple.’
38 Jesus then spoke to the crowd and to his disciples. ‘Perhaps some of you want to be my disciples’, he said. ‘If you do, then you cannot think first about yourself. And you cannot think about what you want to do. You must only do what God wants you to do. You must do this every day. You might even have to die. Then you can be one of my disciples.
39 If a person wants to keep himself safe, then he will never have true life. But instead, he may die because he believes in me. And then he will have true life for always.’ Jesus teaches the people about God’s gifts
40 ‘If anyone accepts you in his home, then he also accepts me. Anyone who accepts me in his home also accepts God.
41 A person accepts a prophet into his home because the visitor is a prophet of God. God will give him the same gift that he gives to a prophet. A person accepts into his home a good man who obeys God. He only does this because the good man obeys God. God will give that person the same gift that he gives to the good man.
42 A person gives a drink of cold water to one of my least important disciples. He only does this because that person is one of my disciples. But it is also true that God will give that man good gifts.’
1 When Jesus had finished telling all these things to his disciples, he went away from that place. And he went to teach people in their towns.
2 At that time, John the Baptist was in prison. But people told him about all the things that Jesus Christ was doing. So John sent some of his own disciples to ask Jesus some questions.
3 Then some of the disciples of John came to Jesus. They said to him, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to you. He wants us to ask you a question. Are you the special person that God has sent to us? If you are not that person, should we wait for someone else?’
4 Jesus replied, ‘Go back to John. Tell him what you have seen. Also, tell him what you have heard.
5 People who could not see can see again. People who could not walk can now walk again. Some people who were ill with an illness of the skin are now well again. Some people who could not hear can now hear again. Some people who were dead now live again. Poor people are hearing the good news.
6 If people are sure about me, they will be happy.’ 7 John’s disciples went away again. Then Jesus spoke to the crowd about John. ‘You went out to the desert. You certainly did not go to see the wind blowing against a tall piece of grass. No, you did not go to see that.
8 You certainly did not go to see a man who was wearing expensive soft clothes. No, people like that have many beautiful things and they live in the houses of kings.
9 You went to see a man who receives messages from God’s Holy Spirit. And John was even more important than that.
10 A long time ago, God said this about him: 11 Jesus said, ‘John is a very important man. He is greater than any man who has ever lived. But a person who is not great in the Kingdom of Heaven, is more important than John.’ 12 ‘From the time that John the Baptist began to teach until now’, Jesus said, ‘the Kingdom of Heaven is becoming very strong. Strong people who really believe God are taking hold of it.
13 All the prophets and the books of the Law spoke God’s word. They spoke until the time that John the Baptist came.
14 The prophets wrote that Elijah would come back again. They were writing about John, if you can believe it.
15 Everyone who can hear must listen. They must listen to what I say.’
16 Jesus said, ‘I will talk to you about the people who are alive today. They are like children who are sitting in the market place. They shout to each other,
17 “We played happy music on a pipe for you, but you did not dance. 18 ‘John the Baptist often stopped eating for some time. He never drank wine. So you said that a bad spirit was living inside him.
19 And I, the Son of Man, both eat and drink. So you say about me, “He eats too much and he drinks too much. He is a friend of men who receive taxes and other bad people.” God is good and he understands everything. People who understand my words know this. And they agree with God.’ 20 Jesus had done many powerful things for the people to see. But some people in the cities did not believe in him. These people did not want to stop doing wrong things. And they did not want to start obeying God.
21 So Jesus said to them, ‘Things will be bad for you, people in Chorazin. And things will be bad for you, people in Bethsaida. I have done great and powerful things in your cities. I did not do them a long time ago in the towns called Tyre and Sidon. If I had done them, the people there would have listened to me. They would then have put on clothes made out of goat’s hair. They would also have put ash on their heads. This would have shown God that they were sorry. They would have stopped doing wrong things. And they would have started to obey God.
22 Yes, when God judges everyone, he will punish the people from Tyre and Sidon. But he will punish much more the people from Chorazin and Bethsaida.
23 I will tell you what will happen to the people in Capernaum. They try to lift themselves up to heaven. He will throw them down to hell. If I had done these powerful things in Sodom, Sodom would still be standing today.
24 What I say is true. God will punish the people from Sodom. But he will not punish them as much as he will punish the people from Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum.’ 25 At this moment, Jesus said, ‘Father, you rule over everything in the sky and on the earth! You have taught people who do not know many things. And so I thank you. But you have kept these things a secret from some other people. These people think that they know a lot. And they think that they understand everything.
26 Yes, Father, you chose everything to happen in this way.’
27 ‘My Father has given me all things. And only he knows who I am. Nobody else really knows that I am the Son. Only I know who my Father is. Nobody else knows him. But I choose to tell some people about him.
28 Come to me all of you who are tired. You are like people who have worked for a long time. You are like people who have carried heavy things. Come to me and you will find a place to rest.
29 Do what I teach you to do. Learn from me everything that is true. I am very kind and I obey God. Then you will have true life and you will not be anxious.
30 I will only ask you to do good things. I will not ask you to carry anything that is too heavy for you. And I will not ask you to do things that are too difficult.’
1 On one Sabbath day, Jesus was walking through some fields where wheat was growing. His disciples were hungry. So they began to pick some of the seeds of wheat and to eat them.
2 Some Pharisees were with them. And they saw Jesus’ disciples eating the wheat seeds. ‘Look at what your disciples are doing’, they said to Jesus. ‘It is against God’s Law to do this on the day that we rest.’
3 Jesus said to the Pharisees, ‘King David and his friends were hungry once. Remember what they did then. You have read about this.
4 David went into God’s Great House. And he ate the special bread that was there. He also gave some of it to his friends. But it is against the Law for anyone except the priests to eat this bread.’ 5 ‘Also, you should know what God’s Law says. The priests are not obeying this Law when they work in God’s Great House on the Sabbath day. But God’s Law does not tell them that they are doing something wrong.
6 What I say is true. There is someone here more important than God’s Great House.
7 A long time ago, a prophet wrote, “God wants people to be kind to each other. He does not only want you to give him gifts” [Hosea 6:6] . You do not understand what this really means. If you had understood this, then you would not have said to me, “Your disciples are doing something wrong.”
8 The Son of Man has authority over the laws about the Sabbath day.’
9 Jesus left that place in the fields. He went into the place where the Jews met to pray.
10 A man was in there who had a small hand. It was very weak, so he could not use it. The Pharisees wanted to say to Jesus that he was doing wrong things. So they asked him, ‘Is it right to make someone well again on the Sabbath?’
11 Jesus replied to them, ‘One of you may have a sheep that falls into a deep hole on the Sabbath day. You will take hold of it and you will lift it out of the deep hole.
12 Now, a man is much more valuable than a sheep. So our Law says that we can do good things on the Sabbath day.’
13 Then Jesus said to the man with the weak hand, ‘Hold out your hand.’ So the man held out his hand. It was now the right size and it was strong. It was the same as his other hand.
14 Then the Pharisees went away from that building where they met. They began to talk to each other about how to kill Jesus. God chose Jesus to do an important job
15 Jesus knew that the Pharisees wanted to kill him. So he went away from that place. Many people followed him and he caused all the sick people to become well again.
16 He said to all these people, ‘You must not tell anyone about me.’
17 So what the prophet Isaiah said became true.
18 ‘Here is my servant. 19 He will not argue or shout at people.2
Some men come to visit Jesus
3
John the Baptist prepares a way for Jesus
4
The devil tries to cause Jesus to do wrong things
5
Jesus teaches those who followed him
6
Jesus teaches people how to help poor people
7
We should not judge other people
8
A man who had an illness of the skin comes to meet Jesus
9
Jesus helps a man who cannot walk
10
Jesus chooses 12 men to be his apostles
11
Jesus talks about John the Baptist
12
The Pharisees watch what Jesus does on the Sabbath day