1

¹ MATTHEW'S ACCOUNT The Family Line of Jesus the Messiah This is a record of the family line of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

² Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers.

³ Judah hada Perez and Zerah—their mother was Tamar.b Zerah had Hezron, and Hezron had Aram.

⁴ Aram had Aminadab, Aminadab had Nashon, and Nashon had Salmon.c

⁵ Salmon had Boaz, whose mother was Rahab.d Boaz had Obed,e whose mother was Ruth, Obed had Jesse, and

⁶ Jesse had David (that is, King David). David had Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah.f

⁷ Solomon had Rehoboam, Rehoboam had Abijah, Abijah had Asaph.g

⁸ Asaph had Joram, and Joram had Uzziah.h

⁹ Uzziah had Jotham, Jotham had Ahaz, and Ahaz had Hezekiah.i

¹⁰ Hezekiah had Manasseh,j Manasseh had Amon, Amon had Josiah, and

¹¹ Josiah had Jeconiahk and his brothers at the time of the forced move to Babylon.l

¹² After the forced move to Babylon, Jeconiah had Salathiel, Salathiel had Zerubbabel,m

¹³ Zerubbabel had Abiud, and Abiud had Eliakim.n Eliakim had Azor,

¹⁴ Azor had Zadok, Zadok had Achim, and Achim had Eliud.o

¹⁵ Eliud had Eliezar,p Eliezar had Matthan, Matthan had Jacob, and

¹⁶ Jacob had Joseph, the husband of Mary. It was from her that Jesus was born, who is called “Messiah.”q

¹⁷ So in the total generations from Abraham to David there were fourteen genera­tions, from David to the forced move to Babylon there were fourteen generations, and from the forced move to the Messiah there were fourteen generations.

¹⁸ The Birth of Jesus the Messiah (Lk. 2:1-7) This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. After his mother Mary had become formally engagedr to Joseph, but before their union, it was discovered that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹ Joseph, her husband, was a man of integrity.s Not wanting her to be disgraced, he intended to divorce her secretly.

²⁰ But while he was thinking about these things, an angel of the Sovereign One appeared to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, David’s son, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife. The child in her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit.

²¹ She’s going to give birth to a son, and you’re going to name him Jesus,t because he will save his peopleu from their sins.v

²² All of this happened so that what had been said by the Sovereign One through the prophet would be fulfilled:

²³ Look! The virgin will conceive, and will give birth to a son. And they will call him by the name Emmanuel (which is translated, “God with us”).w

²⁴ Joseph woke up and did as the angel of the Sovereign One had instructed him. He took Mary as his wife,

²⁵ and he did not become intimate with her until she had given birth to her baby. And Joseph named him Jesus.

2

¹ Mystics Travel from the East to See the Newborn King of the Jews Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which is in Judea,a during the reign of Herod.b At that time, some mysticsc arrived in Jerusalem to worship him.”

²

³ This news caused a stir with King Herod and the whole city of Jerusalem.

⁴ Herod gathered all the chief priests and scripture experts in the country,d and questioned them about where the Messiah was supposed to be born.

⁵ They told him, “In Bethlehem, Judea, just as the prophet wrote:

⁶ Bethlehem in the land of Judah, You are in no way the least of the leaders of Judah. Because a leader is going to go out from you who’ll be a shepherd to Israel, my people.”e

⁷ Then Herod secretly sent for the mystics again, and determined exactly when the star had appeared.f

⁸ He then sent them to Bethlehem, with these instructions: “Go and find out everything you cang about the child. And when you find him, send word to me, so that I can come and worship him too.”

⁹ After their hearing with the King, they went on their way. Sure enough,h the star that they had seen in the East led them, continuing to movei until it finally stood still over the place where the child was.

¹⁰ As they looked at the star, they were completely filled with joy.j

¹¹ They came into the house, and there the child was, with Mary, his mother.k They fell on their facesl and worshiped him. Then they unlocked strongboxes that they had brought with them,m and presented gifts to him: gold, frankincense and myrrh.

¹² Afterwardsn they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, and they traveled back to their home country by another road.

¹³ Joseph and Mary Escape to Egypt with Jesus After they left the country, suddenly an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, and said, “Wake up! Take the child and his mother, and geto to Egypt as fast as you can! Stay there until I tell you! Herod is about to set up a search for the child, so that he can assassinate him!p

¹⁴ When Joseph woke up, he took the child and his mother and left the country for Egypt that very night.

¹⁵ He stayed there until Herod died. (That was so that the message of the Sovereign One through the prophet would be fulfilled, which says, “I called my son out of Egypt.”q.)

¹⁶ Herod Kills All the Male Children Soon afterwards, Herod realized that he had been outsmarted by the mystics, and he was furious. He sent men to Bethle­hem and its surrounding regions, to kill all the male children two and under, based on the point in time that he had deter­mined by questioning the mystics.

¹⁷ Through these events the prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled, which says,

¹⁸ A sound was heard in Ramah: The sound of lots of crying and wailing. It was Rachel, crying for her children. She wouldn’t let anyone comfort her, Because they are no more.r

¹⁹ Joseph and Mary Return from Egypt with Jesus When Herod eventually died, an angel of the Sovereign One suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. The angel said,

²⁰ “Wake up! Take the child and his mother and go back to the land of Israel. Those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

²¹ When Joseph awoke, he took the child and his mother and went back to the land of Israel.

²² But he heard that Archilaeus was reigning as king in Judea in place of his father Herod, and he was afraid to go back there. Having been cautioned in a dream, he came back not to Judea, but to the area around Galilee.

²³ Eventually he settled in a town called Nazareth. That’s how the prophets’ saying came to be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazarene.”s

3

¹ John the Baptizer Preaches in the Wilderness (Mk 1:2-8; Lk. 3:1-20) Back in those days, John the Baptizera was beginning to preach in the Judeanb wilderness. He would say,

² “Change your hearts!c Heaven’s Reignd is nearly here!”e

³ John is the one Isaiah the prophet was talking about when he said, There is a sound of someone shouting in the wilderness: ”Get the Sovereign One’s path ready! Straighten up God’s pathways!”f

⁴ As for John,g he had a garment made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His diet consisted of locusts and wild honey.

⁵ At that time, people of Jeru­salem began to go out to him, and so did the whole area around the Jordan river.

⁶ And they got baptized by him in the Jordan river, as they confessed their sins.

⁷ When John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of poison­ous snakes!h Who warned you to run from God’s anger that’s about to come?

⁸ Bear fruit worthy of a change of heart.i

⁹ And don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ Because I’m telling you: God can raise up children for Abraham out of these stones!

¹⁰ The ax is already laid to the root of the trees, and every tree that doesn’t bear good fruit is going to be chopped out and thrown in the fire.

¹¹ I’m baptizing you with water for a change of heart.j But the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I am. I’m not even worthy to carry his sandals! He is the one who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

¹² His winnowing fan is in his hand, and he’ll clean his threshing floor well, and he’ll collect his wheat for stor­age.k But the chaff he’ll burn with fire that can’t be put out.”

¹³ Jesus is Baptized by John (Mk 1:9-11; Lk. 3:21-22; Jn 1:29-34) Then Jesus arrived at the Jordan from Galilee. He came to John to be baptized by him.

¹⁴ But John tried to stop him. He said, “I need to be baptized by you, and you’re coming to me??”

¹⁵ But Jesus said back to him, “Allow it this time. We have to do it this way,l in order to fulfillm everything right.”n So John let him receive baptism.

¹⁶ After he was baptized, Jesus came right up out of the water. And suddenly the heavens opened up, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down, as though a dove were coming to land on him.

¹⁷ Then there was a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is my Son! I love him, and I’m pleased with him!”o

4

¹ Jesus is Tempted by the Devil (Mk 1:12-13; Lk. 4:1-13) At that time Jesus was led up into the high wildernessa by the Spirit. There he would be tempted by the devil.

² After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

³ And the tempter came up and said to him, “If you’re the Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves of bread.”

⁴ But Jesus answered, “Scripture says:b. A human being shouldn’tc just live on bread,d but on every word that comes out of God’s mouth.”e

⁵ Then the devil took him away, into the holy city. And he stood him on the pinnacle of the Temple building.

⁶ He said to him, “If you’re the Son of God, jump down!f After all, scripture says:g. He’ll give his angels instructions about you, and they’ll lift you with their hands so that you never hit your foot against a stone.”h

⁷ Jesus said to him, “Once again, scripture says:i Don’t tempt the Sovereign One, your God.j

⁸ Again the devil took him away, to a very high mountain. And he showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

⁹ He said to him, “I‘ll give all of these to you if you bow downk to the ground and worship me.

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! Because scripture says:l. You are to worship the Sovereign One, your God, And you are to serve God alone.m

¹¹ Then the devil finally left him. And sud­denly angels came and servedn him.

¹² Jesus Begins his Ministry in Galilee (Mk 1:14-15; Lk. 4:14-15) Later,o when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he came back home to Galilee.

¹³ And he moved away from Naz­areth and went to live in Capernaum.p Capernaum is on the shore of the lake, in the territories of Zebulunq and Naphtali.r

¹⁴ That was so that the saying of Isaiah could be fulfilled, which goes:s

¹⁵ Lands of Zebulun and Naphtali, On the way to the lake, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles!

¹⁶ The people sitting in darkness saw a great light! To those who sat in a region of death and in death’s shadow, Light came like the dawn!t

¹⁷ From then on, Jesus began to preach this message:u “Change your hearts, because Heaven’s Reignv is nearly here!”w

¹⁸ Jesus Calls his First Followers (Mk 1:16-20; Lk. 5:1-11) As Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee, he saw two brothers: Simon, who is known as Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were throwing their casting nets in the lake, since they were fishermen.

¹⁹ Jesus said to them, “Come withx me, and I’ll train you to fish for people.y

²⁰ And they left their nets right away, and went with him.

²¹ Going a little ways further, he saw two other brothers: James, Zebedee’s son, and his brother John. They were in the boat with their father Zebedee, working on their nets. Jesus called out to them,

²² and right away they left the boat withz their father and followed him.

²³ Jesus Preaches and Heals All around Galilee (Mk 1:35-39; Lk. 4:44; 6:17-19) Jesus went around all of Galilee. He taught in their synagogues,aa preached the good news of God’s Reign,bb and healed all sorts of illnesses and disabilities among the people.cc

²⁴ And the news about him spread through all of Syria. People brought him all the sick, whatever kind of illness they had. Whether they were suffering with terrible chronic pain, afflicted with demons,dd mentally un­stable,ee or paralyzed, he healed them.

²⁵ And large crowds of people followed him—from Galilee, Decapolis,ff Jerusalem, Judea, and the Transjordan.

5

¹ Jesus Teaches on the Mountainside (Lk. 6:17-49) When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up onto the mountainside. When he sat down there, his followersa came up to him, and he taught them.

² He said:b

³ Who is Really Blessed? (Lk. 6:20-23) Those who are poor right down to their spirit are blessed:c Heaven’s Reign is for them.d

⁴ Those who grieve are blessed: they’re the ones who will be comforted.

⁵ Those who are gentle are blessed: they’re the ones who will inherit the earth.

⁶ Those who are hungry and thirsty for justice are blessed: they’re the ones who will be satisfied.

⁷ Those who are merciful to others are blessed: they’re the ones who will have mercy shown to them.

⁸ Those who have clean hearts are blessed: they’re the ones who will see God.

⁹ Those who work for peace are blessed: they’re the ones who will be called the children of God.

¹⁰ Those who have been persecutede because they stood up for justice are blessed: Heaven’s Reign is for them.

¹¹ You are blessed, whenever people insult you, and persecute you, and say all sorts of horrible things about youf because of me.

¹² Be happy and celebrate, because there is a big reward for you in heaven.g After all, that’s how they persecuted the prophets who came before you.

¹³ You are Salt and Light (Mk 9:50; Lk. 14:34-35) You’re the salt of the earth. But if the salt itself has lost its flavor,h what’s it going to be salted with? It isn’t useful for anything anymore, except to be thrown out for people to walk on.i

¹⁴ You’re the light of the world. It’s not possible for a city to be hidden if it sits on a hill.

¹⁵ For that matter, people don’tj light a lamp and put it under a container. No, they put it on its stand. That way,k it provides light for everyone in the house.

¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine in front of people, so that they see the good things that you do and give glory to your Father in heaven.

¹⁷ The Law and the Prophets Don’t think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.l I didn’t come to destroy them, but to fulfill them.

¹⁸ I’m telling you seriously: until heaven and earth have passed away, not so much as one small letter or pen stroke will pass away from the law—not until everything in them has come about!

¹⁹ So whoever repeals even one of the least of the law’s commands,m and teaches the same to other people, they will be known as a totally insignificantn person in Heaven’s Reign. But whoever does them and teaches them will be known as a great person in Heaven’s Reign.

²⁰ I’m saying that unless your integrityo surpasses that of the scripture experts and Pharisees, you have no chance of enteringp Heaven’s Reign.

²¹ Anger and Judgment (Lk. 12:57-59) You’ve heard that it was said to people in olden times, “Don’t murder,”q and that whoever murders will facer judgment.

²² But I say to you that anyone who’s furious at a fellow human being will face judgment. Also, anyone that says “Fool!” will face the High Court.s And anyone who says, “Stupid!” will face the fire of Gehenna.t

²³ So suppose you are just bringing your offeringu to the altar, and right there you remember that your fellow human being has something against you.

²⁴ Leave your gift there in front of the altar! Go, get reconciled with the person! Then, come back and offer your gift.

²⁵ Be quick, make amends with the person who has a complaint against you,v while you are both on the way to court. Otherwise the person will turn you over to the judge. The judge will then turn you over to the guard,w and you’ll be thrown in prison.

²⁶ I’m telling you seriously: you will notx get out of there until you’ve paid back the last cent!

²⁷ Breaking your Marriage Vows with your Eyes You’ve heard it said, “Don’t break your marriage vows.”y

²⁸ But I say to you, every man that looks at a woman with a lustful attitude towards herz has already broken his marriage vows with her in his heart.

²⁹ If your right eye trips you up, take it out and throw it away from yourself. After all, you are better off losing one body part—rather than your whole body being thrown into Gehenna.

³⁰ And if your right hand trips you up, cut it off and throw it away from yourself. Again,aa you are better off losing one body part, rather than your whole body going into Gehenna.

³¹ Divorce (Mt. 19:9; Mk 10:11-12; Lk. 16:18) It was also said, “Whoever wants to divorce his wife must give her a written certificate of divorce.”bb

³² But I say to you, every man who divorces his wife—unless it’s a matter of sexual immorality—forces her to break her marriage vows. And the person who marries a divorced person breaks marriage vows too.

³³ Swearing Oaths Once again, you’ve heard that it was said to people in the olden days,cc “Don’t break your vows—give the Sovereign One the things that you’ve vowed to give.”dd

³⁴ But I say to you, don’t swear oaths at all. Not by heaven, because it’s God’s throne.ee

³⁵ Not by earth, because it’s God’s footrest.ff And not by Jerusalem, because it’s the city of the Great King.gg

³⁶ You shouldn’t even swear an oath by your own head. After all, you can’t even make one hair white or black.

³⁷ Sohh let the word yes be yes with you, and let the word no be no. Anything more than that comes from the Evil One.

³⁸ Fighting Back (Lk. 6:29-31) You’ve heard that it was said, “eye for eye,” and “tooth for tooth.”ii

³⁹ But I say to you, don’t stand up against the malicious person. Instead, if the person smacks you on the right cheek, turn and offer the other one to them too.

⁴⁰ And if some­one is trying to sue you and take your shirt, let them have your coatjj too.

⁴¹ And if somebody forces you to carry something one mile, go with them another mile.

⁴² If a person asks you for something, give. And if a person wants to borrow from you, don’t turn away.

⁴³ Loving your Enemy (Lk. 6:27-28; 32-26) You’ve heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor,”kk and hate your enemy.

⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for your persecutors.

⁴⁵ That way you’ll be children of your Father in heaven. After all, God makes the sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on people of integrityll and people who lack integrity.mm

⁴⁶ After all, if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do that?

⁴⁷ And if you’re only friendly towards your family mem­bers,nn are you doing any more than anyone else? Don’t the Gentiles do that?

⁴⁸ So be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.oo

6

¹ Giving Secretly When you do a good deed,a make sure not to do it in front of people to be seen by them. Otherwise you won’t have a reward with your Father in heaven.

² So when you give to the poor,b don’t blow the trumpet ahead of you. That’s what the play-actors do, in the syna­gogues and along the streets. They’re trying to get people to admire them. I’m telling you seriously: they’re getting all the reward they’re going to get.c

³ But when you give to the poor, don’t even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.

⁴ That way, your giving will be secret. And your Father, who sees what is secret, will reward you.

⁵ Jesus teaches his Followers How to Pray (Lk. 11:2-4) Also, when you pray, don’t be like the play-actors. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street cor­ners, so that they can be visible to people. But I’m telling you seriously: they’re getting all the reward they’re going to get!

⁶ But when you pray, go in your private room and lockd the door. Pray to your Father secretly. And your Father, who sees what is secret, will reward you.

⁷ And in your prayers, don’t go on and on like the Gentiles do. They’re thinking that to be really heard you have to use a lot of words.

⁸ It shouldn’t be that way with you. After all, your Father knows the things you need before you even ask him. So pray like this:

⁹ Our Father in heaven, Let your name be kept holy!

¹⁰ Let your Reign come! Let your will be done—both in heaven and on earth!e

¹¹ Give us the food we need for today,

¹² And forgive us the debts of our sins, Just as we ourselves have forgiven the debts of those who’ve sinned against us.f

¹³ And please don’t make us face temptation,g But rescue us from the Evil One.h

¹⁴ Remember,i if you forgive people their offenses, your Father in heaven will also forgive you.

¹⁵ But if you don’t forgive people,j your Father won’t forgive your offenses either.

¹⁶ How to Fast When you fast,k don’t be all mournful-looking like the play-actors. They make ugly faces so that it will be obvious to other people that they’re fasting. I’m telling you seriously, they’re getting all the reward they’re going to get!

¹⁷ But you, when you are fasting, fixl your hair and wash your face.

¹⁸ Don’t let it be ob­vious to people that you are fasting. Instead, let it be for your Father, in secret. And your Father, who sees what is secret, will reward you.

¹⁹ Heavenly Wealth versus Greed and the Worship of Money (Lk. 12:33-34; 11:34-36) Don’t store up your wealth on earth. Down here, moths and rust eat things away, and burglars break in and steal things.

²⁰ Instead, store up wealth for your­selves in heaven. Up there, moths and rust don’t eat things away, and burglars don’t break in and steal things.

²¹ After all, wherever your wealth is, that’s where your heart will be.

²² The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light inside.

²³ But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark inside. So if the light in you is darkness, that is some real darkness.

²⁴ No one can serve two masters. They’ll either hate the one and love the other, or be loyal to the one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and worldly wealth.m

²⁵ Stop Worrying and Trust God to Provide for You (Lk. 12:22-31) So I’m telling you, don’t worry about what you’re going to eat, and what you’re going to clothe your bodies with. Isn’t your life more than food, and your body more than clothes?

²⁶ Take a close look at the birds up in the sky.n They don’t plant or harvest, and they don’t store away grain in bins—and your Father in heaven feeds them. Aren’t you more important than they are?

²⁷ And can any one of you add a single hour to your lifespano by worrying?

²⁸ And why do you worry about clothes? Study thesep wildflowers. See how they grow? They don’t work hard, and they don’t make cloth.q

²⁹ But I’m telling you, even Solomon, with all of his glory, wasn’t adorned like one of these.

³⁰ And if God gives clothes like that tor the grass out in the field—which is there today, and tomorrow is thrown in your oven—how much more will God clothe you? You have so little faith!

³¹ So stop worrying and saying, “How are we going to eat? How are we going to drink? What are we going to use for clothes?.”

³² Because these are all the things the Gentiles chase after. Ands your Father in heaven knows that you need them all.

³³ Before all else seek out God’s Reign and God’s justice,t and all these things will be given to you as well. So stop worrying about tomorrow.

³⁴ Tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough headachesu of its own.

7

¹ Don’t Judge Other People (Lk.6:37-42)… Don’t judge, so that you don’t get judged yourselves.

² Because you are going to be judged by the same standard you use to judge others. You will be measured by the same yardstick you use to measure others.

³ And how is it that you see the speck of sawdust that’s in your friend’sa eye, but you don’t notice the board in your own eye?

⁴ Or how do you say to your friend, “Let me get that speck out of your eye” —yet if you’d just look, there is this board in yours!

⁵ You play-actor!b First get the board out of your own eye, and then you’ll see well enough to get the speck of sawdust out of your friend’s eye.

⁶ …But Don’t be Foolish Either You shouldn’tc give something that is holyd to the dogs, And you shouldn’t throw your pearls to the pigs. Otherwise the pigse will just trample them underfoot, And the dogsf will turn on you and tear you up.

⁷ Ask, Search, Knock—And Live by the Golden Rule (Lk. 11:9-13; 6:31) Ask, and it will be given to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you.

⁸ Because everyone who asks receives, Everyone who seeks finds, And everyone who knocks will be invited in.g

⁹ Suppose there is one of you whose child will ask for some bread. Will the person give the child a rock?h

¹⁰ Or suppose the child asks for some fish. Will the person give the child a snake?

¹¹ So if you, bad as you are, know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him?

¹² So however you want other people to treat you, that’s how you should treat them. That’s the Law and the Prophets, right there.i

¹³ The Parable of the Narrow Gate (Lk. 13:24) Goj through the narrow gate! Because there is a wide gate, and a broad path, that leads to ruin, and lots of people gok through that one.

¹⁴ The gate that leads to life is very narrow, and the path that leads to life is very tight, and only a few people find it.

¹⁵ The Parable of the Tree and its Fruit (Mt. 12:33; Lk. 6:43-45) Watch out for the false prophets! They come to you dressed up as sheep, but under their costumes they’re wolves on the hunt.

¹⁶ You will recognize them by the fruit of their actions.l You don’t get grapes from thorn bushes, and you don’t get figs from thistles.

¹⁷ In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit.

¹⁸ But a rotten tree bears bad fruit. It’s impossible for a good tree to bear bad fruit, and a rotten tree doesn’t bear good fruit.

¹⁹ Every tree that doesn’t bear good fruit is chopped out and thrown in the fire.

²⁰ So remember, it’s by their fruit that you will recognize them.

²¹ Not Everyone who Calls Jesus “Lord” Obeys Him (Lk. 6:46; 13:26-27) Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord!” will get into Heaven’s Reign. No, it will only be the person who actually does the will my Father in heaven.

²² Lots of people are going to say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord! Didn’t we prophesy in your name? Didn’t we kick out demons in your name too? And didn’t we even do lots of displays of power in your name?”

²³ Then I will say right out loud to them, “I have never known you! Stay away from me, all of you who practice lawlessness!”

²⁴ Hearing and Doing—The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders (Lk. 6:47-49) So everyone who hears these sayings of mine, and puts them into practice, can be described like this. They’re like a smart person who builds their house on rock.

²⁵ The rain comes down, and the rivers rise, and the winds blow. And they bash against that house, and it doesn’t fall down, because its foundation is on rock!

²⁶ Butm everyone who hears these sayings of mine, and doesn’t put them into practice, is like a stupid person who builds their house on sand.

²⁷ The rain comes down, and the rivers rise, and the winds blow. And they smash against that house, and it falls down with one big flop.

²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying all these things, the crowd was just astounded at his teaching.

²⁹ Unlike their scripture ex­perts, he was teaching them as a person who had authority.

8

¹ Jesus Makes a Leper Clean (Mk 1:40-45; Lk. 5:12-16) When Jesus came down from the moun­tainside, large crowds of people followed him.

² Suddenly a leper came up and bowed down in front of him. He said, “Sir, if you want to, you have the power to make me clean.”

³ And Jesus reached out his hand and touched him. He said, “I do want to. Be clean.” Right away his leprosy was cleansed.

⁴ And Jesus said to him, “Be sure not to tell anyone. Just go and present yourself to the priest. Then offer the gift that Moses prescribed.a It’ll be a testimony to them.”

⁵ Jesus Heals a Roman Officer’s Servant (Lk. 7:1-10) As Jesus was going into Capernaum,b a Roman officerc came up to him asking for help. He said,

⁶ “Sir, my son has gotten sick over at my house! He is paralyzed and in terrible pain!”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “I’ll go and heal him.”

⁸ And the Roman officer replied,d “Sir, I’m not worthy for you to come under my roof. But just say the word, and my son will be healed.

⁹ After all, I’m a person under authority, and I have soldiers under me. I say to this one, ‘Go!,’ and he goes. I say to that one, ‘Come!,’ and he comes. And I say to my slave, ‘Do this!,’ and he does it.”

¹⁰ When Jesus heard that, he was amazed. He said to the people with him, “I’m telling you very seriously, I haven’t seen faith like this with anyone in Israel!

¹¹ I’m telling you, lots of people are going to come from the East and from the West and eat the banquet dinnere with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Heaven’s Reign.

¹² But some of the children of God’s Reignf are going to be thrown outside in the darkness. Out there, there’s going to be people crying and grinding their teeth.”

¹³ Jesus said to the Roman officer,g “Go on home. May it turn out for you just as you believed.” And the man’s son was healed at that moment.h

¹⁴ Jesus Heals Peter’s Mother-in-Law and Many Others (Mk 1:29-34; Lk. 4:38-41) When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying there sick and feverish.

¹⁵ Jesus touched her hand, and her fever went away, and she got up and served him.

¹⁶ When it got to be evening, they brought him lots of people who were afflicted with demons. Jesus kickedi out the spirits with a single command,j and healed everyone who had an illness.

¹⁷ In that way, what was said by Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled: He himself took our weaknesses, And he took away our illnesses.k

¹⁸ “I’m Going to Follow You!” (Lk. 9:57-62) When Jesus saw the size of the crowd around him, he gave the word to go over to the other side of the lake.

¹⁹ And one of the scripture experts came up to him and said, “Teacher, I’m going to follow you wherever you go from here.”

²⁰ Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and the birds up in the skyl have nests. But the Human One doesn’t have anyplace to rest his head.”

²¹ Another of his followers said to him, “Teacher, let me go off first and bury my father.”

²² But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

²³ Jesus Calms the Storm (Mk 4:35-41; Lk. 8:22-25) Jesus got into a boat, and his followers went with him.

²⁴ Suddenly there was a big squallm on the lake, so that the boat started getting swamped under the waves. But Jesus was sleeping.

²⁵ They came over to him and woke him up, and said, “Teacher, save us! We’re drowning!n

²⁶ Jesus said to them, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and told off the wind and the waves,o and it became really calm.

²⁷ The people were amazed. They said, “What kind of person is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!

²⁸ Jesus Heals Two Men from Demons (Mk 5:1-20; Lk. 8:26-39) And Jesus got to the other side, to the Gadarenes area. There he was met by two demon-afflicted men, who came out of a cemetery.p They were very hard to deal with—so much so that no one was strong enough to go by that road.

²⁹ They suddenly screamed: “What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us?”

³⁰ Now, a long ways from them there was a large herd of pigs grazing.

³¹ And the demons asked Jesus, “Please, if you kick us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

³² He said, “Go on.” And they came out and went over into the pigs. Suddenly the entire herd rushed off the cliff into the lake, and drowned.q

³³ And those who had been herding them ran away to the city. They reported everything, including the part about the demon-afflicted men.

³⁴ Suddenly the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they asked him to please leave their area.

9

¹ Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man (Mk 2:1-2; Lk. 5:17-26) Jesus got into a boat and crossed the lake, and came to his own city.

² And they brought him a man who was paralyzed, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Have courage, son—your sins are forgiven.”

³ But right thena some of the scripture experts said to one another, “This man is blasphem­ing!”b Butc Jesus saw how they were thinking.

⁴ He said, “Why are you thinking such nasty things in your hearts?

⁵ After all, which is easier? To say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?

⁶ But just so you know that the Human One has authority on earth to forgive sins” —then he said to the para­lyzed man, “Get up. Take your mat and go home.”

⁷ And he got up and went home.

⁸ When the crowds saw that, they were in awe. And they gave glory to God, that God would give such authority to human beings.

⁹ Jesus Calls Matthew to be a Follower (Mk 2:13-17; Lk. 5:27-32) Jesus went on from there, and saw a man sitting at a tax collection desk. His name was Matthew. Jesus said to him, “Come with me.”d And he got up and went with him.

¹⁰ And it turned out that Jesus had dinnere with him at his house. Now,f quite a number of tax collectors and sinners also came, and they had dinnerg with Jesus and his followers.

¹¹ When the Pharisees saw that, they started saying to Jesus’ follow­ers, “Why is it that your teacher eats with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹² But he heard them, and said, “It’s not healthy people that need a doctor, but people who are sick!

¹³ Go learn what this means: It’s mercy that I want, not sacrifice.h. Because I haven’t come to reach out toi people of integrity,j but to sinners.”

¹⁴ An Argument about Fasting (Mk 2:18-22; Lk. 5:33-39) Then some of John’s followers came up to him. They said, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast a lot, but your followers don’t fast?”

¹⁵ Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn while the groom is still with them? But the time will come when the groom will taken away from them. Then they’ll fast.”

¹⁶ “No one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old piece of clothing. Otherwise the full-size piece shrinks away from the garment,k and you get a worse tear.

¹⁷ You also don’t put up new wine in old wine­skins. Becausel if you do, the skins burst, and out spills the wine. The skins are ruined too. But put up new wine in new skins, and both will be kept safe.”

¹⁸ Jesus Brings a Dead Girl to Life and Heals a Woman (Mk 5:21-43; Lk. 8:40-56) As he was saying these things to them, suddenly a Jewish official came up and bowed down in front of him. He said, “My daughter has just died! But just come and lay your hand on her, and she’ll live!”

¹⁹ And Jesus got up and went with him, and his followers went too.

²⁰ And suddenlym a woman, who had been hemorrhaging for twelve years,n came up behind him and touched the edge of his robe.

²¹ She was saying to herself, “If I only just touch his robe I’ll be healed.”

²² Jesus turned and saw her. He said, “Have courage, my daughter. Your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment on.o

²³ And Jesus came into the official’s house, and he saw the flute players and the crowd making a commo­tion.

²⁴ He was saying, “Go away! The little girl hasn’t died—she’s only sleeping.” Butp they started making fun of him.

²⁵ And when the crowd had been kicked out of the house, Jesus went in and held her hand. And the little girl woke up!

²⁶ And this story became known throughoutq that entire area.

²⁷ Jesus Heals Two Blind Men When Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him. They were shouting, “Please have mercy on us, Son of David!”

²⁸ And as Jesus went into the house, the blind men came up to him. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” And they said to him, “Yes, Sir!”

²⁹ Then he touched their eyes and said, “May what you’ve believed come true.”r

³⁰ And their eyes received sight.s Jesus was very stern with them, and said, “Be sure not to let anyone know!”

³¹ But they went out and talked about him all around that whole area.

³² Jesus Heals a Person who Can’t Talk Right as they were leaving,t some people brought him a person who was afflicted with a demon and couldn’t talk.

³³ When Jesus had kicked the demon out, the person talked. And the crowds were amazed. They were saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel before!

³⁴ But the Pharisees were saying, “He kicks out demons by the power of the ruler of the demons.”u

³⁵ Teaching, Preaching, and Healing from City to City (Lk. 10:2-3) Jesus was going around all the cities and villages. He was teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news of God’s Reign.v He was also heal­ing all their illnesses and disabilities.

³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were harassed and anxious, just like sheep that didn’t have a shepherd.

³⁷ Then he said to his followers, “It is a large harvest, but there are only a few workers.

³⁸ So really plead with the Owner of the harvest, to send workers out tow his harvest.

10

¹ Jesus Sends his Closest Twelve Followers on a Mission (Mk 3:13-19a; Lk. 6:12-16) Jesus called his closest twelve follow­ersa over to him. He gave them author­ity over unclean spirits, so that they could kick them out of people and heal every illness and disability.

² These are the names of these twelve that he sent out:b first Simon, known as Peter, and Andrew, his brother; and James, Zebedee’s son, and John his brother;

³ Philip and Bartholo­mew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, Alphaeus’s son,c and Thaddeus;d

⁴ Simon the Cananaeane and Judas Iscariot,f the one who turned him in.

⁵ Jesus sent these twelve out after giving them these instructions: Don’t go off on any Gentile roads, and don’t go into any Samaritang city.

⁶ Instead, go to the lost sheep of the family of Israel.h

⁷ Go and preach that Heaven’s Reign is nearly here.i

⁸ Heal people with disabilities, raise the dead, make lepers clean, kick out demons. You re­ceived for free—give for free.

⁹ Don’t accept gold, silver or copper for your money belts,

¹⁰ or a bag of money for the road, or two shirts,j or sandals, or a walking stick. ‘A laborer deserves to be fed.’k

¹¹ Whatever city or village you go into, look for someone in that city who is deserving, and stay there until you leave.

¹² And as you go into someone’s house, greet it with a blessing of peace.l

¹³ If that house is deserving, may your blessing of peace restm on it. But if it’s not deserving, may your blessing of peace come back to you.

¹⁴ And if anyone doesn’t accept you or listen to your message, leave that house or city behind, and shake the dust off your feet.

¹⁵ I’m telling you seriously: it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city!

¹⁶ The Risks of Representing Jesus (Mk 13:9-13; Lk. 21:12-17; 12:2-7) Understand thatn I’m sending you out like sheep in the middle of wolves. So be as crafty as snakes and as simple as doves.

¹⁷ And beware of people. They’re going to turn you in to the courts, and they’ll have you whipped in their synagogues.o

¹⁸ They’ll also bring you up on charges in front of governors and rulers because of me. It’ll bep a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.

¹⁹ But when they hand you over to the authorities, don’t worry about what you’re going to say. Because what you’ll say will be given to you at that moment:q

²⁰ it won’t be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father that speaks through you.

²¹ But brothers and sisters will turn each other in to be killed, parents will turn in their children, and children will turnr against their parents and get them killed.

²² And you’ll be hated by everyone because of my name. But it’s the person who stays with mes to the end that will be saved.

²³ Sot when they go after youu in one city, run away to the next one. I’m telling you seriously, you won’t have gone through all the cities in Israel by the time the Human One comes.

²⁴ The student isn’t above the teacher, and the slave isn’t above the master.

²⁵ It’s enough for the student to become like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they call the head of a household the devil,v won’t the people in the household get called that all the more?

²⁶ So don’t be afraid of them. Because there isn’t any­thing covered over that won’t be uncovered, and there’s nothing hidden that won’t be known.

²⁷ What I’ve said to all of you in the darkness, say in the daylight. And what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim from the rooftops.

²⁸ Don’t be afraid of people who kill the body, but can’t kill the soul. Be more afraid of the One who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna.

²⁹ Aren’t two spar­rows sold for a few cents? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father knowing about it.

³⁰ Every single hair on your head is accounted for.

³¹ So don’t be afraid. You count for more than a lot of sparrows.

³² Ultimate Cost and Ultimate Reward (Lk. 12:51-53; 14:26-27) Every person who stands up forw me in front of people, I myself will stand up for, in front of my Father who is in heaven.

³³ But the person who deniesx me in front of people, I will deny them too, in front of my Father in heaven.

³⁴ Don’t be thinking that I came to bring about peace on the earth. I didn’t come to bring about peace, but a sword.

³⁵ Because I came to set A man against his father, A daughter against her mother, A bride against her mother-in-law.

³⁶ People’s own housemates will be their enemies.y

³⁷ The person who loves father or mother more than me isn’t worthy of me, and the person who loves a son or daughter more than me isn’t worthy of me.

³⁸ And the person who doesn’t take up their cross and follow in my footstepsz isn’t worthy of me.

³⁹ The person who finds their life will lose it, and the person who loses their life because of me will find it.

⁴⁰ Whoever Accepts you Accepts Me (Mk 9:41) Whoever accepts you, accepts me, and whoever accepts me, accepts the One who sent me.

⁴¹ Whoever accepts a prophet because they’re a prophetaa will receive a prophet’s reward.

⁴² And whoever accepts a person of integrity because they’re a person of integritybb will receive the reward of a person of integrity. The same goes for whoever offers a single cup of cold water to one lowly person here because they’re a follower of mine.cc I’m telling you seriously, they will never lose their reward!

11

¹ Jesus and John the Baptizer (Lk. 7:18-35) When Jesus finished giving instructions to his twelve followers, he went offa to preach and teach in their cities.

² And John heard, from prison, about the things Jesus was doing. He sent this question through his followers:b

³ “Are you the Onec who is coming, or are we supposed to be look­ing for someone else?”

⁴ Jesus gave them this answer:d

⁵ Go tell John the things that you’re hearing and seeing: blind people are seeing again, and people who used to not be able to walk are walking. Lepers are getting cleansed, the dead are being raised, and poor folks are getting good news.e

⁶ And it’s a blessed person who doesn’t get offended by me.”

⁷ When John’s followers had left, Jesus began to talk to the crowd about John: What did you go out in the wilderness to look at? A cattail blowing in the wind? Come on!f

⁸ What did you go out there to see? A person dressed in fineg clothing? Look, the people dressed in fancy clothing are found in rulers’ houses.

⁹ Come on, what did you go out there to see? A prophet? Yes! I’m telling you, even more than a prophet. It’s about him that scripture says:h

¹⁰ Look! I’m sending my messenger ahead of you. He’ll repair the roadi in front of you.

¹¹ I’m telling you seriously: of all the people ever born,j there has never been anyone greater than John. Yet even a minor person in Heaven’s Reign is greater than he is.

¹² From John the Baptizer’s time until now Heaven’s Reign has been getting hijacked, and violent people are grabbing it.

¹³ All the Prophets and the Law prophesied up until John.

¹⁴ And if you’re willing to accept it, he is none other than Elijah,k who is to come.l

¹⁵ If anyone has ears, let ’em hear!

¹⁶ But what can I compare this genera­tionm to? It’s like children sitting around in the marketplace. They shout over to each other,

¹⁷ “We played the flute for you, but you didn’t dance! We wailed for you, but you didn’t mourn!”

¹⁸ After all, John comesn along, and isn’t eating or drink­ing, and they say, “He has a demon!”

¹⁹ The Human One comes along, and is eating and drinking, and they say, “Look! This man eats too much, drinks, and likes tax collectors and sinners!” Well,o wisdom is proven right by its actions.

²⁰ Jesus Tells Off the Cities That Haven’t Changed their Hearts (Lk. 10:13-15) Then Jesus began telling off the cities where he had done his greatest displays of power, be­cause they hadn’t changed their hearts:p

²¹ It’s going to be horrible for you,q Chorazin!r It’s going to be horrible for you, Bethsaida!s Because if the displays of power had happened in them that happened in you, they would have changed their hearts,t sitting in sacking and ashesu a long time ago!

²² But I’m telling you, it will be easier to bear for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

²³ And you too, Capernaum!v. Are you going to be lifted up to heaven? No, you’re going to fall downw to Hades!x. Because if the displays of power had happened in Sodom that happened in you, it would still be here today.y

²⁴ But I’m telling you, it will be easier to bear for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.

²⁵ Jesus Praises his Father (Lk. 10:21-22) On that occasion Jesus spoke outz and said, “I want to honor you,aa Father, Sovereign of heaven and earth. Because you’ve hidden these things from wise and understanding people, and have revealed them to little children.

²⁶ Yes, Father! That is just how you wanted it to be.bb

²⁷ Every­thing has been given to me by my Father. And no one really knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone really know the Father except the Son—and the person the Son wants to reveal him to.

²⁸ Come to me, all of you who are strug­glingcc under a heavy load,dd and I will relieve you!

²⁹ Put on my yoke and learn from me, because I have a gentle and humble heart. You’re going to find relief for your spirits!ee

³⁰ Because my yoke is a good one, and my load is light.”

12

¹ Picking Heads of Grain on the Sabbath Day (Mk 2:23-28; Lk. 6:1-5) On that occasion, which was a Sabbath, Jesus was walking through the grain fields with his followers. His followers were hungry, and began to pick heads of grain and eat them.

² But the Pharisees saw it and said, “Look! Your followers are doing something that is not allowed on the Sabbath!”a

³ But he said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did, when he and his companions were hungry?

⁴ Didn’t he go into the house of God and eatb the sacred bread of the presence? Weren’t he and his companions forbid­den, and only the priests allowed to eat that bread?

⁵ And haven’t you read in the Law, that on Sabbath days the priests in the Temple break the Sabbath—and they’re not guilty of anything!

⁶ I’m telling you, something bigger than the Temple is going on here.

⁷ But if you’d known what this means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice,’c then you wouldn’t have condemned people who were not guilty of anything.

⁸ The Human One is lord of the Sabbath.”

⁹ Jesus Heals a Man with a Shriveled-Up Arm (Mk 3:1-6; Lk. 6:6-11) Jesus went along from there and came into the local synagogue.d

¹⁰ And right there was a person whose arm was shriveled up. They asked Jesus, “Is it allowed to heal on the Sabbath?” That was so they could accuse him.

¹¹ But he said to them, “Is there any one of you who owns ae sheep, who wouldn’t grab that sheep and pull it out of a hole, if it fell in on the Sabbath?

¹² So, how much more important is a human being than a sheep! So it’s allowed to do an act of kindnessf on the Sabbath.”

¹³ Then he said to the person, “Hold out your arm.” He held it out, and it became restored to normal just like the other one.

¹⁴ And the Pharisees went out and began to plot against Jesus, to figure out how they could ruin him.g

¹⁵ Jesus is God’s Chosen Servant (Isa. 42:1-4) But Jesus knew about it, and went away from that place. Lots of people fol­lowed him, and he healed them all.

¹⁶ And he warned them strictly not to tell people about him.h

¹⁷ This was so that what was said through Isaiah could be fulfilled:

¹⁸ Look! My servant, my chosen one, my loved one! My hearti is so pleased with him! I’m going to put my Spirit on him, And he’ll proclaim justice for the nations.

¹⁹ He won’t argue or shout, And no one will hear him making noise in the streets.

²⁰ He won’t break a bent straw, And he won’t put out a wick that’s smoking, Until he deals out justice victoriously.j

²¹ And his name will be the hope of the nations.k

²² Jesus Heals a Man and is Accused of Being with the Devil (Mk 3:19b-30; Lk. 11:14-23) Then a demon-afflicted man was brought to Jesus. He was blind and couldn’t speak. And he healed him so that he could talk and see.

²³ All the crowds were totally amazed. They began to say, “He couldn’t be the Son of David, could he?”l

²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard that, they began saying, “He only kicks out demons by the power of Beelzebul,m the ruler of the demons.”

²⁵ But Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said to them, Every kingdom that is split into opposing factions will end up deserted, and no city or household that is split into opposing factions can stand.n

²⁶ And if Satan kicks out Satan, he’s split against himself. So how is his kingdom going to stand?

²⁷ And if it’s by the power of Beel­zebulo that I kick out demons, by whose power do your sons kick them out? So they’re the ones who’ll be your judges.

²⁸ But if I kick demons out by the power of God’s Spirit, then God’s Reign has just come to you.

²⁹ And how can anyone come into a strong man’s house and steal his things unless he ties up the strong man first? Then he can clean outp the whole house.

³⁰ Who­ever isn’t with me is against me, and whoever doesn’t gather with me scatters.

³¹ So I’m telling you, people will be forgiven for every sort of sin and blasphemy.q But blasphemy of the Spirit will not be for­given.

³² If someone says something against the Human One, they’ll be forgiven. But if someone says something against the Holy Spirit, they will not be forgiven—not in this age, nor in the next one.

³³ God Will Judge People on the Basis of What they Say (Mt. 7:15-20) Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree rotten and its fruit rotten. It’s from the fruit that the tree is known.

³⁴ You offspring of snakes, how can you say what is good,r when you are evil?

³⁵ A good person puts out goodness from their inner wells of goodness. And the evil person puts out evil from their inner well of evil.

³⁶ I’m telling you, people will give an explanation for every unthinkingt word they’ve said, on the day of judgment.

³⁷ You’ll be justified by your words, and you’ll be condemned by your words.

³⁸ The Sign of Jonah the Prophet (Lk. 11:29-32; Lk. 11:24-26) Then some scripture experts and Phari­sees responded to him. They said, “Teacher, we want to see a miracleu from you.”v

³⁹ But he said back to them: It’s an evil and unfaithful generation that is obsessed with getting a sign.w And it won’t be given one. The only sign it will get is the sign of Jonah the prophet.

⁴⁰ Because just as Jonah was “in the belly of the sea monster for three days and three nights,”x in the same way the Human One will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

⁴¹ The men of Ninevehy are going to stand up and testify against this genera­tion in the judgment, and will condemn it. Because they changed their heartsz on the basis of Jonah’s preaching. And look, there’s something bigger than Jonah here.

⁴² The Queen of Shebaaa will be called to testifybb against this generation in the judgment, and she’ll condemn it. Because she came from the far corners of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And look, there’s something bigger than Solomon here.

⁴³ When an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it wanders around dry desert places looking for someplace to rest. But it doesn’t find anyplace.

⁴⁴ Then it says, “I’m going to go back to my house, that I left. When it comes back, it finds that it’s still empty, and that it’s nicely swept and all neat.

⁴⁵ Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there. And it turns out that the person’s final condition is worse than when they started.cc It’ll be the same way with this evil generation.

⁴⁶ Jesus’ Real Family (Mk 3:31-35; Lk. 8:19-21, 27-28) While Jesus was talking with the crowds, suddenly his mother and his brothers and sisters showed updd outside, wanting to talk to him.

⁴⁷ And someone said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers and sisters are standing outside hoping to talk with you.ee

⁴⁸ But Jesus said back to the person who said that to him: “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers and sisters?”

⁴⁹ And he held out his hand towards his followers and said, “Look—my mother and my brothers and sisters!

⁵⁰ Because if anybody does the will of my Father in heaven, they are my brother, my sister, and my mother.”

13

¹ That day Jesus left the house and sat by the lake.

² Big crowds of people gathered around him. Finally he got in a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stayed standing on the shore.

³ Jesus talked to them a lot in parables.a He would say: The Parable of the Farmer who Scatters Seed (Mk 4:1-9; Lk. 8:4-8, 11-15) Listenb. —a farmer went out to scatter seed in his field.c

⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell on the path, and the birds came and gobbled it up.

⁵ Other seeds fell on the rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil. Those sprang up right away, because the soil they were in was so shallow.d

⁶ When the sun came up, they got scorched. They shriv­eled up, because they didn’t have good roots.

⁷ Still other seeds fell in amongst the prickly weeds. The prickly weeds came up and choked them out.

⁸ Other seeds fell on the good soil and bore fruit: some a hundred grains per plant, some sixty, and some thirty.

⁹ If anyone has ears, let ’em hear!

¹⁰ Jesus Explains Why he Teaches in Parables (Mk 4:10-12; Lk. 8:9-10) Jesus’ followers came up and said to him, “Why do you talk to them in par­ables?”

¹¹ He answered: It’s been given to you to know the secrets of Heaven’s Reign. But it hasn’t been given to the others.

¹² The person who hase will have more given to them. But the person who doesn’t have will even have what they’ve got taken away.

¹³ Here’s why I talk to them in parables: because they look but don’t see, and they listen but don’t hear or understand.

¹⁴ Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled by them—the one that says, They’ll listen and listen but never under­stand, and they’ll look and look but never see.

¹⁵ Because the heart of this people has gotten dull, and they can hardly hear with their ears, and they’ve closed their eyes. Otherwise they’d see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts, and they’d turn, and I’d heal them.f

¹⁶ But your eyes are blessed that they can see, and your ears are blessed that they can hear.

¹⁷ I’m telling you seriously: lots of prophets and people of integrityg really wanted to see the things that you are seeing, and didn’t see them. They really wanted to hear the things you are hearing, but didn’t hear them.

¹⁸ Jesus Explains the Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed (Mk 4:13-20; Lk. 8:11-15) So hear the parable of the farmer seed­ing his field.

¹⁹ As for every person who hears the message of God’s Reignh but doesn’t understand it, the Evil One comes and snatches away what’s been planted in their heart. That’s the seed scattered on the path.

²⁰ As for the seed scattered on the rocky part, that’s the person who hears the message and happily accepts it right away.

²¹ But the person doesn’t have any roots in themselves. They’re just temporary. When trouble or persecu­tion come because of the message, they get tripped up right away.

²² As for the seed scattered amongst the prickly weeds, that’s the person who is listening to the message, but the worry of this world, and the false lure of wealth, choke out the message. It ends up not bearing fruit.

²³ But the seed scattered on the good soil, that’s the person who hears the message and understands it. Now, that kind of person will bear fruit! One will produce a hundred grains per plant,i an­other one sixty, and another one thirty.

²⁴ The Parable of the Darnel Weeds among the Wheat Jesus gave themj another parable and said, “Heaven’s Reign is like a man who planted good-quality seed in his field.

²⁵ But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, scattered darnel weedsk in amongst the wheat, and went away.

²⁶ When the plants grew up and bore fruit, then the darnel weeds showed up.

²⁷ And the servants of the head of the house came up and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you plant good-quality seed in your field? So how come it has darnel weeds?’

²⁸ He said to them, ‘Some enemy of minel did this.’ And the servants said to him, ‘So, do you want us to go out and gather up the darnel weeds?’

²⁹ But he said, ‘No, otherwise in gathering up the darnel weeds, you’ll uproot the wheat with them.

³⁰ Leave both to grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I’ll say to the harvesters, “First gather up the darnel weeds and tie them in bundles to be burnt. Thenm gather up the wheat into my bins.’”

³¹ The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast (Mk 4:30-32; Lk. 13:18-21) Jesus gave themn another parable and said, “Heaven’s Reign is like a mustard seed that a person took and planted in their field.

³² It may be the smallest of all the seeds, but when it grows up it’s the biggest of the garden plants. It gets to be a tree, so that birdso come and build nests in its branches.

³³ He gave themp another parable: “Heaven’s Reign is like yeast that a woman took and kneadedq into three measures of flour, until the yeast was all through it.”r

³⁴ Jesus said all these things to the crowds in parables. And he didn’t say anything to them without using a parable.

³⁵ In that way what God had said through the prophet was fulfilled. He said: I’m going to open my mouth and tell parables—I’m going to come out with things that have been hidden since the creations of the world!t

³⁶ Jesus Explains the Parable of the Darnel Weeds among the Wheat Then Jesus left the crowds and went back to the house. His followers came up to him and said, “Explain the parable of the darnel weeds in the field to us.”

³⁷ He answered: The one who plants the good-quality seed is the Human One,

³⁸ and the field is the world. The good-quality seed is those who belong to God’s Reign.u The darnel weeds are those who belong to the Evil One.v

³⁹ The enemy that scattered them is the devil. The harvest is the wrapping up of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

⁴⁰ So, just as darnel weeds are gathered up and burned, the same will happen at the wrapping up of the age.

⁴¹ The Human One will send out his angels, and they’ll separate out of his Realm all the people who trip people up, and those who go around acting lawless.

⁴² They’ll throw them in a burning furnace. In there there’s going to be people crying and grinding their teeth.

⁴³ Then the people of integrityw are going to shine like the sun in the king­dom of their Father. If anyone has ears, let ’em hear!

⁴⁴ The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Value Heaven’s Reign is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a person found it, they hid it again, and in their excite­mentx they went off and sold every­thing they had and bought that field.

⁴⁵ Again, Heaven’s Reign is like a trader on the lookout for fine pearls.

⁴⁶ When the person found one of great value, they went off and sold everything they had, and bought it.

⁴⁷ The Parable of the Fishing Net Again, Heaven’s Reign is like a fishing net that’s thrown in the lake. It scoops up all kinds of fish.

⁴⁸ When it’s ready, it’s dragged up on the beach, and they sit down and collect the good ones and put them in baskets. And they throw out the bad ones.

⁴⁹ That’s what it will be like at the wrapping up of the age. The angels will go out and separate out the evil people from among the people of integrity.y

⁵⁰ They’ll throw them in a burning furnace. In there there’s going to be people crying and grinding their teeth.

⁵¹ Have you understood all of this?z They said to him, “Yes.”

⁵² Jesus said to them, “So, every scripture expert that has be­come a student of Heaven’s Reign is like the head of a household, who brings things new and old out of storage.

⁵³ Jesus is Rejected at Nazareth (Mk 6:1-6; Lk. 4:16-30) Whenaa Jesus had finished all these parables, he went away from that place,

⁵⁴ and came to his hometown. He taught them in their synagogue, andbb they were astounded. They said, “Where did this person get this wisdom, and these displays of power?

⁵⁵ Isn’t he the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother named Mary, and his brothers named James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

⁵⁶ Aren’t all his sisters right here with us?”

⁵⁷ And they started getting offended at him.cc But Jesus said to them, “A prophet isn’t dishonored except in his own hometown and in his own home.”

⁵⁸ And he didn’t do many displays of power there, because of their lack of faith.

14

¹ Herod Executes John the Baptizer (Mk 6:14-29; Lk. 9:7-9) At that time Heroda the Tetrarch heard the news about Jesus.

² And he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptizer himself, raised from among the dead. That’s why those displays of power are being done by him.”

³ The reason he said that is, Herod had arrested John and shackled him and put him in prison. It started because of Herodias,b his brother Philip’s wife.

⁴ Because John had been saying to him, “It’s against the law for you to have her as your wife.”

⁵ And although Herod wanted to kill him, he was afraid of the public,c because they believed John was a prophet.d

⁶ When Herod’s birthday celebration came, Herodias’s daughter danced in front of everyone. And Herod was pleased—

⁷ so much so that he prom­ised her, and swore to it, that he’d give her whatever she asked.

⁸ But she had been primed beforehand by her mother. She said, “Give me the head of John the Baptizer here on a platter!”

⁹ The king was unhappy because he had sworn those things and everybody around the table had heard it. So he was bound to give it to her.

¹⁰ He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.

¹¹ And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.

¹² John’s followers went up and took the body and buried it. Then they came to Jesus and told him about it.

¹³ Jesus Feeds More Than 5,000 People (Mk 6:30-44; Lk. 9:10-17; Jn 6:1-13) When Jesus heard about John, he went away from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. When the crowds found out,e they followed him on foot from the cities.

¹⁴ When Jesus went out and saw the big crowd, he felt com­passion for them, and he healed those who were sick.

¹⁵ Around sunset, his followers came up to him and said, “This place is deserted, and it’s already past dinnertime. Send the crowd away so that they can go off to the villages and buy themselves some things to eat.”

¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, “They don’t need to go away—you give them some­thing to eat.”

¹⁷ They said to him, “We don’t have anything here, except for five loaves of bread and two fish.”

¹⁸ But he said, “Bring them here to me.”

¹⁹ Then he told the crowd to lie on the grass. He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish and looked up to heaven. Then he blessed them and dividedf them up, and gave them to his followers, and his followers gave them to the crowd.

²⁰ They all ate and got a good meal.g And they picked up twelve baskets full of left over food.h

²¹ And the number of people eating, just counting the men, not the women and children, was about five thousand.

²² Jesus Walks on the Water (Mk 6:45-52; Jn 6:15-21) Jesus quickly made his followers get in a boat and go ahead of him to the other side. In the meantime, he would send the crowd away.

²³ After he sent the crowd away, he went up on the moun­tain to pray by himself.

²⁴ Meanwhile,i the boat was already a long way out from land, and was getting tossed around by the waves. The wind was against them.

²⁵ Sometime after 3:00 in the morning, Jesus came to them, walking on the lake.

²⁶ When his followers saw him walking on the lake, they were frightened. They said, “It’s a ghost!,” and they cried out in terror.

²⁷ But Jesus immediately spoke to them, and said, “Have courage—it’s me. Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸ Peter said to him, “Teacher, if it’s you, tell me to come to you out on the water!”

²⁹ Jesus said, “Come on!” And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and came toward Jesus.

³⁰ But when Peter saw the wind, he got frightened, and started to sink. He cried out, “Teacher, save me!”

³¹ Jesus quickly reached out his hand and caught him. Jesus said to him, “You have so little faith! Why did you let doubts in?”j

³² When they got in the boat, the wind quieted down.

³³ And everyone in the boat bowed down to him and said, “You’re really the Son of God!”

³⁴ Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret (Mk 6:53-56) When they got all the way across the lake, they landed at Gennesaret.k

³⁵ And the men there recognized him. They sent word out to that whole area, and people brought him everyone who was ill.

³⁶ They would ask him if they could just touch the edge of his robe, and whoever touched it was completely healed.

15

¹ Jesus Criticizes Unjust Religious Traditions (Mk 7:1-13) Then Pharisees and scripture experts came out to Jesus from Jerusalem.

² They were saying, “How come your followers break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands when they eat their food.”

³ Jesus answered them, “And why do you break the command­ment of God for the sake of your tradi­tion?

⁴ After all, God said, “Honor your father and mother,”a and “The person who insults their father or mother is to be put to death.”b

⁵ Yet you say, “Suppose a person says to their father or mother, ‘What belongs to me that could have benefited you, has been given to God.”

⁶ Then they won’t have to honor their father or mother at all. So you cancel outc the word of God for the sake of your tradition!

⁷ Play-actors! Isaiah gave a good prophecy about you, when he said,

⁸ This people honors me with their lips, But their heart is far away from me.

⁹ Their reverence for me is empty. They teach rules that are just human teachings.d

¹⁰ What Really Makes you Holy or Unholy (Mk 7:14-23) Jesus called the crowd over and said to them, “Listen and understand.

¹¹ It isn’t what goes into a person’s mouth that makes them unholy.e No, it’s what comes out of a person’s mouth that makes them unholy.”

¹² Then his followers came up and said to him, “Did you know that the Pharisees were offendedf when they heard that?”

¹³ Jesus answered, “Every plant that hasn’t been planted by my heavenly Father will be pulled out by the roots.

¹⁴ Let them be offended. They’re blind guides. And if a blind person guides another blind person, they’ll both fall in a ditch.”

¹⁵ Peter said to him, “Explain that parable to us.”

¹⁶ Jesus said, Don’t you understand yet either?

¹⁷ Don’t you know that everything that goes into your mouth goes into your insides and finally gets expelled into the toilet?

¹⁸ But things that come out of a person’s mouth come out of their heart, and they make the person unholy.

¹⁹ That’s because the heart is where evil thoughts, murders, unfaithful­ness to spouses, sexual immorality, thefts, false accusations, and blasphemies come from.

²⁰ Those are the things that make a person unholy. But eating with unwashed hands doesn’t make a person unholy.”

²¹ Jesus Heals a Non-Jewish Woman’s Daughter (Mk 7:24-30) Then Jesus left that place and went off to the area of Tyre and Sidon.g

²² Suddenly a Canaaniteh woman from around there came out and shouted, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is horriblyi afflicted by demon!”

²³ But he didn’t respond to her at all.j And his followers came up to him and asked him, “Won’t you tell her to go away? She keeps shouting back there!”k

²⁴ Jesus said, “I wasn’t sent to anyone except the lost sheep of the family of Israel.l

²⁵ And she came and bowed down on the ground in front of him, and said, “Lord, help me!”

²⁶ Jesus said, “It isn’t good to take the children’s food and throw it to the pet dogs.”

²⁷ And she said, “Yes, Lord. But then again, the pet dogs do get to eat from the scraps that fall from their masters’ table.”

²⁸ Then Jesus answered her, “Ma’am,m your faith is huge! Let it come out for you just as you want it to.” And her daughter was healed from that moment.n

²⁹ Jesus Heals People with All Kinds of Diseases, Disabilities and Sicknesses (Mk 7:31-37) Jesus went across from there, and came to the shore of Lake Galilee. And he went up on the mountainside and sat down there.

³⁰ Big crowds began to gathero in front of him. They brought with them people who couldn’t walk, blind people, people with disabilities, deaf people, and lots of others. They put them down right in front of him,p and he healed them.

³¹ As a result the crowd was amazed. They were seeing deaf people speaking again, people with disabilities back to normal, people who couldn’t walk walking around, and blind people seeing. And they gave glory to the God of Israel.

³² Jesus Feeds More than 4,000 People (Mk 8:1-10) Jesus called his followers over and said to them, “I feel for this crowd. They’ve already stayed three days with me, and they don’t have anything to eat. Still, I don’t want to send them away hungry—otherwise they’ll get exhausted out on the road.”

³³ And his followers said, “In this deserted place, how are we going to come by enough food to feed such a large crowd?”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

³⁵ And he was telling the crowd to sit down on the ground.

³⁶ Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and gave thanks. He then broke them up and gave them to his followers, and they gave them out to the crowd.

³⁷ And everybody ate and got a good meal.q When they picked up the leftovers of what had been distributed,r it came to seven full baskets.

³⁸ Those who had eaten numbered four thousand men—not counting women and children.

³⁹ When Jesus had sent the crowd off home, he got into a boat and went to the area around Magadan.

16

¹ People Demand That Jesus Show them a Miracle (Mk 8:11-13; Lk. 12:54-56) The Pharisees and Sadducees came up and were testing Jesus out.a They asked him to show them a miracleb from heaven.

² He said back to them, “At sunset, you say, ‘It’ll be nice weather tomorrow—the sky is red.’

³ And at sunup, ‘It’ll be stormy today—the sky’s red and gloomy.’ You may know how to readc the appearance of the sky, but you aren’t able to read the signs of the times.

⁴ An evil and unfaith­fuld generation asks for a sign.e A sign won’t be given to it—except for the sign of Jonah.” And he left them and went away.

⁵ Jesus Warns about the “Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Mk 8:14-21) When his followers crossed over to the other side of the lake, they forgot to take bread with them.

⁶ Jesus said to them, “Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷ And they were discussing what that meant with each other. They were saying, “We didn’t take any bread.”

⁸ But Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said, “Why are you discussing the fact that you don’t have any bread? You have so little faith!

⁹ Don’t you get it yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves of bread and the five thousand people, and how many baskets you collected?

¹⁰ Or the seven loaves of bread and the four thousand, and how many baskets you collected?

¹¹ How could you not understand that I wasn’t talking to you about bread? So, beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

¹² Then they understood that he hadn’t been talking about yeast, but about the teach­ing of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹³ Peter Tells Jesus, “You’re the Messiah!” (Mk 8:27-30; Lk. 9:18-20) When he arrived at the area around Caesarea Philippi,f Jesus asked his follow­ers, “Who do people say the Human One is?”

¹⁴ They said, “Some say John the Baptizer, others say Elijah. And still others say Jeremiah, or one of the proph­ets.”

¹⁵ He said to them, “And you—who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Peter said, “You’re the Messiah,g the Son of the Living God!”

¹⁷ Jesus answered him, “Simon Bar­jona,h you are blessed! Flesh and blood didn’t reveal that to you—it was my Father in heaven.

¹⁸ And I’m going to say this to you: You are Peter, the Rock. I’m going to build my communityi on this rock, and the gates of Hades are not going to overpower it.

¹⁹ I am going to give you the keys of Heaven’s Reign. If you bind something here on earth, it will stay bound in heaven. And if you release something here on earth, it will stay released in heaven.”j

²⁰ Then he laid it out to his followers that they were not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

²¹ Jesus Tells his Followers that He is Going to be Killed (Mk 8:31-33; Lk. 9:21-22) From then on Jesus began to show his followers that he had to go away to Jerusalem, where he would be treated very badly byk the elders, chief priests, and scripture experts. And he had to be killed, and be raised on the third day.

²² But Peter took him aside and began to tell him off. He said, “God have mercy on you for saying that, Teacher! That will never happen to you!”

²³ But Jesus turned around and said to Peter, “Get on behind me, Satan! You’re a tripping stone to me, because you’re not thinking God’s thoughts—you’re thinking human thoughts!”l

²⁴ Then Jesus said to his follow­ers, Pick up your Cross and Follow Me! (Mk 8:34­-9:1; Lk. 9:23-27) If anyone wants to follow me, let them deny themselves, and pick up their cross and follow me.

²⁵ Because whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life because of me will find it.

²⁶ After all, what good is it for a person if they gain the whole world, but their life is a loss?m In other words, what can a person give in exchange for their life?

²⁷ Because the Human One is going to come with the glory of his Father, along with his angels. And then he will reward each person in line with their actions.

²⁸ I’m telling you seriously, there are some people standing right here that won’t dien until they see the Human One com­ing with his Reign!

17

¹ Jesus is Transformed in Front of Peter, James, and John (Mk 9:2-13; Lk. 9:28-36; 2 Pet. 1:16-18) Six days later, Jesus took Peter and James and James’s brother John, and led them up a high mountain all by themselves.

² And he was transformed in front of them: his face began to shine like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light itself.

³ Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared, and were talking with him.

⁴ Peter said to Jesus, “Teacher, it’s a good thing we’re here! If you like, I’ll make three shelters right here—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

⁵ Right while he was saying that, suddenly a bright cloud surroundeda them. Then a voice came from the cloud, which said: “This is my Son! I love him, and I am very happy withb him! Listen to him!”

⁶ When his followers heard that, they fell down on their faces in terror.c

⁷ Jesus went over and gently touched them. He said, “Stand up, don’t be afraid.”

⁸ And when they looked up, they didn’t see anyone else except for Jesus himself, all alone.

⁹ The Coming of Elijah (Mk 9:9-13) As they were going back down the mountain, Jesus instructed them not to tell anybody about the vision until the Human One was raised from among the dead.

¹⁰ His followers asked him this question: “So why do the scripture experts say that Elijah has to come first?”

¹¹ Jesus answered, “Well, Elijah does come, and puts everything right.

¹² Yet, I’ll tell you that Elijah has already come, and they didn’t recognize him. Instead, they did to him whatever they liked. And that’s just how the Human One is about to be treated by them too.”

¹³ Then theyd under­stood that he was talking to them about John the Baptizer.

¹⁴ Jesus Heals a Boy who Has a Demon (Mk 9:14-29; Lk. 9:37-43a) As they came up to the crowd, a man came up to him and knelt down in front of him.

¹⁵ He said, “Teacher, please have mercy on my son! He’s mentally unstable, and has bad fits. For example, lots of times he falls into fire or into water.

¹⁶ I brought him to your followers, and they weren’t able to cure him.”

¹⁷ But Jesus said, “What a faithless and perverse generation you are! How long am I going to be with you? How long am I going to have to put up with you? Bring him here to me.”

¹⁸ Jesus spoke sternly to him, and the demon came out of him. And the child was healed from that moment on.e

¹⁹ Then Jesus’ followers came up to him privately and were saying, “How come we couldn’t kick that demon out?”

²⁰ Jesus said to them, “Because of your small amount of faith. Because I’m telling you seriously: if you even have a mustard seed worth of faith,f you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move! Nothing will be impossible for you.”

²¹

²² Jesus Tells his Followers Again That he is Going to be Killed (Mk 9:30-32; Lk. 9:43b-45) As they were returning to Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Human One is about to get handed over to people

²³ who will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they were heartbroken.g

²⁴ Jesus and the Temple Tax As they came into Capernaum,h the people who collect the two-drachma tax came up to Peter. They said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the two-drachma tax?”

²⁵ He said, “Yes.” When they had gone in the house, Jesus was already ahead of Peter, and said, “What do you think, Simon? Kings here on earth—who do they collect tolls and taxes from? Their own children, or other people’s?”

²⁶ And when he said, “From other people’s,” Jesus said to him, “So their own children are free from taxes!

²⁷ Still, let’s not offend them. Go to the lake and cast a hook in the water. Then take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you’ll find a stater coin.i Take that, and give it to them for you and me.”

18

¹ You Have to Become Like Children to Get into Heaven’s Reign (Mk 9:33-37; Lk. 9:46-48) At that moment,a Jesus’ followers came up to him and said, “So, who is the great­est person in Heaven’s Reign?”

² And Jesus called a child forward and stood the child in the middle of them all.

³ He said: I’m telling you seriously, if you don’t turn around, and become like children, you will neverb get into Heaven’s Reign!

⁴ So if anyone learns to be unassumingc like this child, that person is the greatest in Heaven’s Reign.

⁵ And whoever takes in one child like this, in my name, takes me in.

⁶ The Grave Seriousness of Tripping People Up—Including Yourself (Mk 9:42-48; Lk. 17:1-2) But whoever trips up one of these little ones who have faith in me—it’s better for that person to have an upper millstone hung around their neck and be drowned way out in the ocean.

⁷ It’s going to be horrible for this worldd because of the things that trip people up. But it’s going to be really horrible for the person responsible for tripping others.e

⁸ Sof if your hand or your foot trips you up, cut it off and throw it away from you. It’s better for you to come into life maimed or with a disability, rather than having two hands or two feet to be thrown into the age-long fire.

⁹ And if your eye trips you up, take it out, and throw it away from you. It’s better for you to come into life one-eyed, rather than to get thrown with two eyes into the fire of Gehenna.

¹⁰ The Parable of the Lost Sheep (Lk. 15:1-7) Watch out that you don’t look down on these little ones! After all, I can tell you that their angels are in heaven, constantly looking at the face of my Father in heaven.

¹¹

¹² What do you think? Let’s say a person has a hundred sheep, and one of them runs away and gets lost.g Won’t the person leave the ninety-nine there on the hillside and go looking for the one that ran away?

¹³ Also, if the person finds it, I’m telling you seriously: the person will be happier about that one than about the ninety-nine that haven’t run away.

¹⁴ It’s the same way with your Father in heaven, who doesn’t want any of these little ones to be lost.h

¹⁵ What to Do if Someone Sins Against You So if your friendi sins against you, go and make your complaintj to them, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, then you’ve won them over.

¹⁶ If they don’t listen, take one or two others with you. That way, “everything will be established on the wordk of two or three witnesses.”l

¹⁷ If they don’t listen to them, take it tom the community. And if they don’t listen to the community, then regard them as you would a foreigner or a tax collector.n

¹⁸ I’m telling you seriously: whatever you bind here on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you unbind here on earth will be unbound in heaven!o

¹⁹ I’ll say it again to you: If two of you here on earth will agree about anything that they want to ask, my Father in heaven will make it happen for them.

²⁰ That’s because where two or three people get together in my name, there I am, right with them.p

²¹ The Parable of the Merciless Servant Then Peter came up and said to Jesus, “Teacher, how many times can my friendq sin against me and I forgive them? Up to seven times?”

²² Jesus said to him: I’m not going to tell you up to seven times—no, up to seventy-times-seven.

²³ As a result, Heaven’s Reign is like a king who wanted to sort out the accounts with his servants.

²⁴ But at the beginning of the accounting one man was brought to him who owed ten thousand talents.r

²⁵ And since the man couldn’t pay, the king commanded for him to be sold—along with his wife and children and everything he owned—to pay back the debt.

²⁶ So the servant falls down in front of him and says, “Be patient with me, and I’ll pay it all back to you!”

²⁷ The king felt sorry for that servant, and let him off and forgave the loan.

²⁸ But when that servant left, and he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii,s he grabbed him and started to choke him. “Pay back all of what you owe me!” he said.

²⁹ So the fellow servant fell down and begged him: “Be patient with me, and I’ll pay you back!”

³⁰ But he wouldn’t. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into jail until he paid back the debt.

³¹ So when his fellow servants saw the things that had happened, they felt terrible. They went to their king and laid outt all the facts.

³² Then the king called him in and said to him, “You evil servant! I forgave you that entire debt when you begged me to.

³³ Shouldn’t you have been merciful to your fellow servant, just as I was merciful to you?”

³⁴ His king was furious. He turned him over to the torturers until he paid back everything he owed.

³⁵ That’s just how my heavenly Father will treat you, if each of you doesn’t forgive your fellow human beingsu from the heart.

19

¹ Jesus Teaches about Divorce (Mk 10:1-12) When Jesus finished all these teach­ings, he left Galilee, and he came into the area of Judea easta of the Jordan River.

² Large crowds of people followed him, and he healed them there.

³ Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, and began testing him. They said, “Is it allowed for a man to divorce his wife for any reason he chooses?”b

⁴ But he answered, “Haven’t you read that the Creator, from the beginning, made them male and female,c

⁵ and said, Because of this, a man will leave his father and mother behind and be joined to his wife. And the two will be one flesh.d

⁶ As a result, they aren’t two, but ‘one flesh.’ So, what God has joined together, human beingse shouldn’t separate.

⁷ They said to him, “How is it, then, that Moses gave the instruction, “Give her a note of divorce and send her away”?f

⁸ He said to them, “Moses allowed you to divorce your wives because of the stubbornnessg of your hearts. But it wasn’t like that from the beginning.

⁹ And I’m telling you, whoever divorces his wife for any other cause than sexual immorality, and marries another person, breaks his mar­riage vows.”

¹⁰ His followers said to him, “If that’s the way it is between a man and a woman, it isn’t worth it to get married.”

¹¹ But he said to them, “Not everybody accepts this—just those who have been given the gift.h

¹² After all, there are some who can’t have sex with women who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are some who can’t have sex with women because people made them that way; and there are some who made themselves not be able to have sex with women for the sake of Heaven’s Reign. If you can accept it, accept it.”i

¹³ Jesus Blesses Some Little Children (Mk 10:13-16; Lk. 18:15-17) Then some children were brought to Jesus, so that he could lay hands on them and pray. And his followers were giving them a hard time.j

¹⁴ But Jesus said, “Leave the children alone! Don’t be stopping them from coming to me. After all, Heaven’s Reign belongs to ones like these.”

¹⁵ And when he had laid his hands on them, he went on from there.

¹⁶ A Rich Young Man Comes to Jesus (Mk 10:17-31; Lk. 18:18-30) Right thenk a man came up to him and said, “Teacher, what good work do I have to do to have eternal life?”

¹⁷ Jesus said to him, “How is it you’re asking me about what’s good? Only One is the Good One.l But if you want to make itm into life, keep the commandments.” He said to him,

¹⁸ “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “Don’t murder, don’t break your marriage vows, don’t steal, don’t give false testimony against anyone,

¹⁹ honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.”n

²⁰ The young man said, “I’ve kept all of these. What am I still missing?”

²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you want to be complete, go sell your possessions and give to the poor. Theno you’ll have wealth storedp in heaven. And come follow me.”

²² But when the young man heard that, he went away deeply depressed, because he had lots of possessions.

²³ Rich People are Going to Find it Painful to Enter Heaven’s Reign (Mk 10:23-31; Lk. 18:24-30) But Jesus said to his followers, “I’m telling you seriously: a rich person will find it painfulq to enter Heaven’s Reign!

²⁴ Once again, I’m telling you, it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s Reign.”

²⁵ When his followers heard that, they were totally astounded. They said, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁶ Jesus looked hard at them and said, “With human beings it’s impos­sible, but with God everything is possible.”

²⁷ Then Peter responded, and said to him, “Look, we’ve left everything and followed you. So how will it be for us?”

²⁸ Jesus said to them: I’m telling you seriously: there’s going to be a new creation, when the Human One sits on his glorious throne. At that time you who’ve followed me are going to sit on twelve thrones too.r You’ll be judges for the twelve tribes of Israel.

²⁹ And as for everyone who has left a home, or brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or children, or proper­ties, because of my name—they’ll receive back a hundred times what they gave up, and they’ll inherit eternal life.

³⁰ But a lot of those who are first are going to be last, and a lot of those who are last are going to be first.

20

¹ The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard For example, Heaven’s Reign is like this: a man, who owned property, went out first thing one day to hire labor­ers for his vineyard.

² He agreed with the workers for a denariusa a day, then he sent them out to work in his vineyard.

³ When he went out around nine o’clock that morning,b he saw some more men standing around downtownc with nothing to do.

⁴ He said to those, “You go out to the vineyard too, and I’ll pay you whatever’s right.”

⁵ And they went off. He also went out again around noon, and three o’clock, and did the same thing.

⁶ Around five, when he went out, he still found people standing around.d He said to them, “How is it you’ve been standing here all day long with nothing to do?”

⁷ They said, “Because no one hired us.” He said to them, “You go out to the vineyard too.”

⁸ When it started to get dark, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call in the workers. Pay them their wages, starting from the last ones hired, and ending with the first.

⁹ When the five o’clock people came, they each got a denarius.e

¹⁰ And when the first ones hired came, they expected they’d get more. Butf they each were getting a denarius too.

¹¹ As they got paid, they were grumbling about the property owner.

¹² They said, “The last ones only put in one hour, and he has made them equal to us—we’re the ones who bore the weight of the work today, and the scorching heat!”

¹³ But he answered one of them: “Friend, I’m not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius?

¹⁴ Take what’s yours and move along. I also want to give this person who came last the same amount as you.

¹⁵ Is it not allowed for me to do what I want with my own money? Or are you enviousg because I am being kind?”

¹⁶ That’s how the last will be first and the first will be last.

¹⁷ Jesus Says for the Third Time That he is Going to be Killed (Mk 10:32-34; Lk. 18:31-34) As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took his twelve closest followers aside. He talked to them in private, on the way.

¹⁸ He said to them, “Look, we’re going up to Jerusalem, and the Human One is going to be betrayedh to the chief priests and scripture experts. They’re going to condemn him to death.

¹⁹ They will hand him over to the Gentiles, to be made fun of, whipped, and hung on a cross. And on the third day he will be raised.”

²⁰ James and John’s Mother Asks Jesus for a Favor (Mk 10:35-45) Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to Jesus with her sons. She bowed down and asked if she could have a favor from him.

²¹ He said, “What do you want to ask?”i She said to him, “Say that my two sons here will sit on your right and on your left, in your kingdom.”

²² Jesus answered her, “You two don’t know what you’re asking. Can you drink the cup that I’m about to drink?” They said to him, “We can.”

²³ He said to them, “Well, you will drink my cup. But to sit on my right and my left—that’s not for me to grant. No, it’s for whoever it has been prepared for by my Father.”

²⁴ When the ten heard that, they were offended with the two brothers.

²⁵ But Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles wield power over them.

²⁶ But it’s not going to be like that with you. No, if one of you hopes to become great,j they’ll be a servant to you all;

²⁷ and if one of you hopes to be first, they’ll be a servant to all of you.

²⁸ In the same way, the Human One didn’t come to be served. No, he came to serve, and to give his life, to buy many people out of captivity.”k

²⁹ Jesus Heals Two Blind Men at Jericho (Mk 10:46-52; Lk. 18:35-43) As they were coming out of Jericho, a big crowd was following him.

³⁰ And two blind people were sitting there by the road, and heard that Jesus was walking by. They started shouting to him. They said, “Lord! Please have mercy on us! Son of David!”

³¹ But the crowd gave them a hard time,l saying to be quiet. But they shouted even louder, “Lord! Have mercy on us! Son of David!”

³² Jesus stopped and called back to them. He said, “What do you want me to do for you?”

³³ They told him, “Lord, for our eyes to be opened!”

³⁴ Jesus felt compassion for them, and touched their eyes. Right away they could see again! And they followed him.

21

¹ The Crowds Celebrate as Jesus Enters Jerusalem (Mk 11:1-10; Lk. 19:28-40; Jn 12:12-19) When they got close to Jerusalem, they were going through Bethphagea to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus sent two followers off,

² telling them: “Go in the village across from you. Right away you’ll find a donkey tied up, and her foal will be with her. Untie them and bring them to me.

³ And if anyone says anything to you, say that the Teacher needs them, and he will send them right along.”b

⁴ This happened so that what God saidc through the prophet could be fulfilled:

⁵ Say to the daughter of Zion, Look! Your king is coming to you! He’s gentle, and he’s riding on a donkey. He’s even riding on a colt, The foal of a work animal.d

⁶ The two followers went and did just what Jesus had instructed them to do.

⁷ They brought the donkey and the foal, and they laid their robes over them, and Jesus sat on top of the robes.

⁸ Most of the crowd spread their robes on the road, and others cut leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

⁹ And the crowds that went in front of him and behind him were calling out, Hosanna to the Son of David! Bless the onee who comes in the name of the Sovereign One!f Hosanna in the heights of heaven!”

¹⁰ When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken up. They were saying, “Who is this?”

¹¹ The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee!”

¹² Jesus Goes to the Temple—And Knocks Over Some Tables (Mk 11:15-19; Lk. 19:45; Jn 2:12-25) Jesus went into the Temple. He kicked out all the people who were buy­ing and selling in the Temple. And he turned over the tables of the money-changers, and the chairs of the people selling doves.

¹³ He said to them, “scripture says:g ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’h But you’re making it a hideout for armed robbers!”i

¹⁴ Blind people and people with disabilities were coming up to Jesus in the Temple, and he healed them.

¹⁵ But the chief priests and scripture experts saw the amazing things he was doing, and they saw children calling out in the Temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” They were offended, and they said to him,

¹⁶ “Do you hear what these children are saying?” But Jesus said, “Yes. Haven’t you ever read that ‘From the mouths of children and nursing infants I will re-establish praise’”?j

¹⁷ Jesus left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and he spent the night there.

¹⁸ Jesus Curses a Fig Tree (Mk 11:12-14, 20-25) Early the next morning, as Jesus was going back into the city, he was hungry.

¹⁹ He saw a lone fig tree by the road, and went to it. And he didn’t find anything on it, but just leaves. He said to it, “Fruit won’t come from you anymore forever!” And the fig tree shriveled up right after­wards.

²⁰ When the followers saw that, they were amazed, and were saying, “How is it that the fig tree shriveled up right away?”

²¹ But Jesus said to them, “I’m telling you seriously: if you just have faith and don’t doubt, you won’t just do the fig tree thing. You’ll even say to this moun­tain, ‘Get up and jump in the sea,’ and it will happen!

²² Everything that you ask in prayer, with faith,k you will receive.”

²³ The Religious Leaders Question Jesus’ Authority (Mk 11:27-33; Lk. 20:1-8) When Jesus went into the Temple, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to him while he was teaching. They said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you that authority?”

²⁴ Jesus replied, “I’m going to ask you one thing. If you tell me that, I’ll also tell you by what authority I do things.

²⁵ Where did John’s baptism come from? Was it from heaven, or did it just come from human beings?” And they started discussing it among themselves. They were saying, “If we say it was from heaven, he’ll say to us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’

²⁶ But if we say it was just from human beings, we’re afraid of the crowd, because they all regard John as a prophet.”

²⁷ And they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said to them, “Then I’m not going to tell you by what authority I’m doing these things.”

²⁸ The Parable of the Two Sons “So, what do you think? A man had two children. He said to the first, ‘Child, go out today and work in the vineyard.’

²⁹ And that one said, ‘I don’t want to.’ But later the child had second thoughts and went.

³⁰ The man went up to the other child and said the same thing. That one said, ‘Right away, sir,’ but didn’t go.

³¹ Which one of the two did what the father wanted? They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, I’m telling you seriously: the tax collectors and prostitutes are going into God’s Reign ahead of you!

³² After all, John came to you on a path of justice, and you didn’t believe him—yet the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him. And when you saw that, you didn’t even change your mind later and believe him.”

³³ The Parable of the Evil Tenant Farmers (Mk 12:1-12; Lk. 20:9-19) “Listen to another parable. There was a man who was a landowner. He planted a vineyard, and he put fence around it. And he dug a wine press in it and built a watchtower.l Then he leased it out to farmers, and moved away.

³⁴ When the first harvest time was near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to get his portion of the harvest.m

³⁵ But the farmers took the man’s servants and beat some, murdered some, and stoned others.

³⁶ Again he sent other servants—more than the first time.n But they did the same things to them.

³⁷ Later he sent his son to them. He thought,o ‘They will respect my son.’

³⁸ But when the farmers saw the son, they said to one another, ‘Here’s the heir! Come on, let’s kill him, and we’ll have his inheritance.’

³⁹ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

⁴⁰ So, now. When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do with those farmers?”

⁴¹ They said to Jesus, “He’ll bring those evil people to an evil end, and he’ll rent out the vineyard to other farmers—ones that will give him its fruits in their seasons.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, Haven’t you ever read in the scriptures, This stone, Which the builders rejected, Has become the cornerstone! Sovereign One has done this,p. And it’s amazing to us!q

⁴³ So I’m telling you, God’s Reign is going to be taken away from you. It’s going to be given to a nation that produces its fruit.”r

⁴⁴

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew he was talking about them.

⁴⁶ And although they were looking for a way to arrest him, they were afraid of the crowds, because the crowds regarded him as a prophet.

22

¹ The Parable of the Wedding Banquet (Lk. 14:15-24) Again Jesus responded them in parables. He said,

² Heaven’s Reign is like this: a certain kinga held a wedding for his son.

³ He sent his slaves out to invite the guests to the wedding celebra­tion. But they didn’t want to come.

⁴ Again he sent out other slaves. He told them, “Say to the invited guests, ‘Look, I’ve prepared the dinner! My bulls and calves have been sacrificed, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding celebra­tion!’”

⁵ But they didn’t pay any attention. One went off to the field that he owned, and one went off to his business.

⁶ The rest grabbed his slaves and abused them and killed them.

⁷ The king was furious. He sent his armies and killed those mur­derers and burnt their city.

⁸ Then he said to his slaves, “My wedding is ready, but the ones who were chosen weren’t worthy.

⁹ Go over to the city gates, and invite whoever you find to the wedding.”

¹⁰ So those slaves went out on the streets and were gathering everyone they found—whether they were evil or good. And the wedding hall was full of dinner guests.b

¹¹ But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who wasn’t dressed in wed­ding clothes.

¹² He said to him, “Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?” But he couldn’t say a word.c

¹³ Then the king said to the servers, “Tie his feet and hands, and throw him out there in the darkness. There are going to be people crying and grinding their teeth out there.”

¹⁴ Because lots of people are invited, but few are chosen.

¹⁵ Jesus Answers a Trick Question about Paying Taxes to Caesar (Mk 12:13-17; Lk. 20:20-26) Then the Pharisees went and plannedd how they were going to trap Jesus in what he said.

¹⁶ And they sent their followers to him, along with the Herodians.e They said, “Teacher, we know that you are sin­cere,f and that you teach God’s way truthfully. You don’t pay attention to who anybody is, because you don’t go by outward appearances.g

¹⁷ So tell us your opinion.h Is it all righti to pay the tax to Caesar, or not?”

¹⁸ But Jesus knew their evil intention, and said, “Why are you testing me, you play-actors?

¹⁹ Show me the coin for the tax.” So they brought him a denarius.j

²⁰ Jesus said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

²¹ They said to him, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “So give Caesar’s things to Caesar, and God’s things to God.”

²² They were amazed when they heard that, and they gave up and went away.

²³ Jesus Answers a Trick Question about the Resurrection (Mk 12:18-27; Lk. 20:27-40) On that same day, some Sadducees came up to him. (The Sadducees say there is no resurrection.)

²⁴ They asked him, “Teacher, Moses said, If a man dies without children, his brother should marry his widow and raise up offspring for him.k

²⁵ So, there were these seven brothers. The first one married and then died. Since he had no offspring, he left his wife to his brother.

²⁶ The same thing happened to the second and the third, and eventually to all seven.

²⁷ Last of all the woman herself died.

²⁸ So in the resurrection, whose wife will she be?l After all, they’d all had her as a wife.”

²⁹ But Jesus answered them: “You’re way off—you don’t know the scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.

³⁰ Because in the resurrec­tion, people aren’t married, and they don’t get married. No, they’re like angels in heaven.

³¹ But as for the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read what was said to you by God:

³² I’m the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob!m. God isn’t the God of the dead, but of the living!”

³³ Jesus Answers a Question about the Greatest Commandment (Mk 12:28-34; Lk. 10:25-28) When the crowds heard that, they were astounded at his teaching.

³⁴ And when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they got together.

³⁵ One of their law experts put a test to him. He asked,

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?”

³⁷ And Jesus said, Love the Sovereign One your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your understanding.n

³⁸ That is the greatest and number one command­ment.

³⁹ The second is like it: Love your neighbor as you love yourself.o

⁴⁰ All of the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”

⁴¹ Jesus Asks a Question of his Own (Mk 12:35-37; Lk. 41-44) When the Pharisees had gathered together, Jesus asked them a question.

⁴² He said, “What’s your opinion about the Messiah?p Whose son is he?” They said, “David’s.”

⁴³ He said to them, “So how does David, when he’s in the Spirit, call him ‘Lord’? He says,

⁴⁴ The Sovereign One said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right side until I put your enemies under your feet.’q

⁴⁵ “So, if David calls him ‘Lord,’ how is he his son?”r

⁴⁶ And no one had a single word to say back to him. And nobody dared to ask him anything else from that day on.

23

¹ Jesus Preaches against the Scripture Experts and Pharisees (Mk 12:38-40; Lk. 20:45-47) Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his followers.

² He said, The Pharisees and the scripture experts sit in Moses’ seat.

³ So whatever they say to you, do it and obey it. But don’t follow their practices—because they say things, but they don’t do them.

⁴ They tie up heavy loads on people’s shoulders, but they themselves don’t want to move them with even one finger.a

⁵ All the things they do—they do them to be seen by other people. For example, they widen their prayer head­bandsb., and they lengthen their tassels.

⁶ They love to have the place of honorc at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues.

⁷ They also love to be greeted with respect in public placesd and for people to call them “Teacher.”

⁸ But you all should not be called “Teacher.” After all, you have One as teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters.

⁹ And don’t call anyone “Father” here on earth. After all, you have One, your heavenly Father.

¹⁰ And don’t call yourselves “leaders,” because you have one Leader: Messiah.

¹¹ But your greatest leadere will be your servant.

¹² Those who lift themselves up are going to be humbled, and those who humble themselves are going to be lifted up.f

¹³ So it’s going to be horrible for you, scripture experts and Pharisees—you play-actors! Be­cause you lock the gates of Heaven’s Reign in people’s faces!g Not only do you not go in yourselves, but you also won’t let others go in.h

¹⁴

¹⁵ It’s going to be horrible for you, scripture experts and Pharisees—you play-actors! Because you travel all the way around the sea and the desert to make one convert, and when the person converts, you make them twice as much a child of Gehenna as yourselves.

¹⁶ It’s going to be horrible for you, you blind guides! You say, “If somebody swears by the Temple, it doesn’t count. But if they swear by the gold in the Temple, it’s binding.”

¹⁷ Stupid, blind people! Which is greater—the gold, or the Temple that makes the gold holy?

¹⁸ You also say, “If somebody swears by the altar, it doesn’t count. But if they swear by the offering on the altar, it’s binding.”

¹⁹ You’re so blind!i After all, what’s greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift holy?

²⁰ So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.

²¹ And whoever swears by the Temple swears by it and by the One who lives in it.

²² And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God, and by the One who sits on it.

²³ It’s going to be horrible for you, scripture experts and Pharisees—you play-actors! Because you tithe your mint and dill and cumin, but you’ve ignored the impor­tant things in the Law: justice, mercy and faith. These are the necessary things (not to say that you should ignore the others).

²⁴ Blind guides, you strain out the gnat, but swallow the camel right down!

²⁵ It’s going to be horrible for you, scripture experts and Pharisees—you play-actors! Because you clean the outside of your bowls and cups, but inside they’re full of violent thievery and lack of restraint.

²⁶ Listen, blind Pharisee: Clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside will be clean too.

²⁷ It’s going to be horrible for you, scripture experts and Pharisees—you play-actors! Because you are like white-painted tombs. They look beautiful outside, but inside they’re full of dead people’s bones and all kinds of filth.

²⁸ In the same way, you appear externally to othersj as people of integrity,k but inside you’re full of hypocrisyl and lawless­ness.

²⁹ It’s going to be horrible for you, scripture experts and Pharisees—you play-actors! Because you build tombs for the prophets, and decorate the tombs of people of integritym.-

³⁰ and you say, “If we had lived in our ancestors’ time, we wouldn’t have been involved in killing the prophets.”n

³¹ That way you testify against yourselves—that you’re the offspring of those who killed the prophets.

³² So finish up what your ancestors started!o

³³ Snakes! Offspring of poisonous snakes! How will you get away from the judgment of Gehenna?

³⁴ Because of all this, I’m sending you prophets, wise people and scripture experts. Some of them you will kill and hang on crosses, and some you will whip in your synagogues and chase from city to city.

³⁵ In that way all the blood of people of integrityp. —that keeps getting poured out on the earth—will come back on you: from the blood of Abel, who was a person of integrity, to the blood of Zechariah, Berechiah’s son.q He’s the one you murdered between the Temple and the altar.

³⁶ I’m telling you seriously: all these will land onr this generation!

³⁷ Jesus Cries Out in Grief over Jerusalem (Lk. 13:34-35) Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the proph­ets and stone the people who are sent to you! How many times have I wanted to gather your children together—just like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings? And you didn’t want it.

³⁸ Look, your house is left to you deserted!s

³⁹ Because I’m telling you: you’ll never see me from now on until you say, “Bless the one who comes in the name of the Sovereign One!”t

24

¹ Jesus Prophesies the Destruction of the Temple (Mk 13:1-2; Lk. 21:5-6) Jesus left the Temple,a and his followers came up to him as he was walking along. They were pointing to the buildings of the Temple. But he said to them,

² “Do you see all this? I’m telling you seriously: there won’t be one stone left on top of another here—they’ll all be torn down!”b

³ Signs of the Wrapping Up of the Age (Mk 13:3-8; Lk. 21:7-11) Later,c when Jesus sat down at the Mount of Olives, his followers came up to him privately. They said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? Also, what’s the signd of your coming,e and of the wrapping up of the age?”

⁴ Jesus answered them: Make sure nobody fools you.f

⁵ Because lots of people are going to come using my name. They’re going to be saying, “I’m the Messiah!” Lots of people will be fooled by them.

⁶ And you’re going to be hearing of wars and rumors about wars. Make sure you don’t panic. Because it has to happen, but it’s definitely not the end yet.

⁷ For example, one nation is going to get up and make war against another nation,g and one kingdom against another kingdom. And there are going to be famines and earthquakes in various places.

⁸ All of these are the start of the labor pains.

⁹ Persecution is Coming for Followers of Jesus (Mk 13:9-13; Lk. 21:12-19) At that time people are going to betray you, and you’ll be persecuted. People are going to kill you, and you’re going to be hated inh every nation because of my name.

¹⁰ At that time lots of people are going to get tripped up, and they’re going to betray one another and hate one another.

¹¹ Lots of false prophets are going to get up and fool most people.i

¹² And because of the increase in lawlessness, most people’s love will go cold.

¹³ But the person who holds out to the end will be saved.

¹⁴ And this good news of the God’s Reignj is going to be preached throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations. Then the end will come.

¹⁵ The “Horror That Causes Abandonment” (Mk 13:14-23; Lk. 17:23-24, 27; 21:20-24) So when you see “the horror that causes abandonment”k that Daniel the prophet talked about, set up “in the holy place” (the reader should understand!),l

¹⁶ then the people in Judea should run away into the mountains.

¹⁷ Whoever is up on the roof shouldn’t go down to get things out of their house.

¹⁸ Whoever is out in the field shouldn’t even turn around to get their coat.

¹⁹ It’s going to be horrible for preg­nant women and nursing mothers in those days.

²⁰ But pray that your escape won’t have to be in the wintertime or on a Sabbath.

²¹ Because at that time there will be terrible trouble—unlike anything that has ever happened before, or could ever happen again!m

²² If that time weren’t cut short, not one living soul would be saved.n But for the sake of God’s chosen ones, that time will be cut short.

²³ At that time, if anyone says to you, “Look! The Messiah is here!” or “No, over here!” —don’t believe it.

²⁴ Because false messiahs and false prophets are going to get up and show huge miracleso and won­ders. If possible, they’d even fool God’s chosen ones.

²⁵ Look, I’ve told you before­hand.

²⁶ So if they say to you, “Look! He’s out in the desert!” don’t go out there. Or if they say, “Look! He’s in the banks!”p don’t believe it.

²⁷ After all, you know how lightning goes across the sky and shines all the way from the east to the west. That’s just how the appearance of the Human One will be.

²⁸ Wherever there’s a dead body, that’s where the vultures will show up.

²⁹ The Coming of the Human One (Mk 13:24-27; Lk. 21:25-28) Right after that time of trouble, The sun will go dark, And the moon won’t shine,q. The stars will fall out of heaven, And the heavenly powers will be shaken.r

³⁰ Then the sign of the Human One will appear in heaven. All the families on earth will be crying, when they sees the Human One coming on the clouds, up in the sky,t with power and intense glory.

³¹ And he’ll send out his angels with a huge trumpet blast. They’ll gather together his chosen ones from the four winds—from one end of the skies to the other.

³² The Parable of the Fig Tree (Mk 13:28-31; Lk. 21:29-33) However, you should all learn the parable of the fig tree. After its branches get tender shoots, and it puts out leaves, you know summer is nearly here.

³³ In the same way, when you see all these things, you know that he’su nearly at your door­steps.

³⁴ I’m telling you seriously: this generation will not go away until every single one of these things happens!

³⁵ Heaven and earth are going to go away, but my words are never going to go away.

³⁶ Nobody Knows the Exact Day and Hour! (Mk 13:23-37; Lk. 17:26-27, 34-35; 21:34-36) But as for the exact day and hour, no one knows that—not even the angels in heaven, and not even the Son. Only the Father knows.

³⁷ So it will be like in Noah’s days when the Human One comes.

³⁸ Because in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, getting married and making marriage arrangements—right up to the day that Noah went into the ark.

³⁹ They didn’t recognize what was happening until the flood came and swept them all away.v It’ll be the same at the coming of the Human One.

⁴⁰ At that time two people will be out in the field, and one will be taken and one will be left behind.

⁴¹ Two people will be grind­ing flour at the mill, and one will be taken and one will be left behind.

⁴² So keep watch! Because you don’t know what day your Lord will come.

⁴³ And know this: if the owner of a house knows what time of night the burglar is coming, they’ll keep watch and won’t let their house be broken into.

⁴⁴ So you get ready too! Because the Human One is coming at a moment that you don’t expect him to.w

⁴⁵ The Parable of the Reliable Slave and the Abusive Slave (Lk. 12:41-48) So who is the reliable slave, the smart one? Suppose the owner has put the slave in charge of his household, to give out food to everyone at the right times.

⁴⁶ The blessed slave is the one the owner finds doing that when he comes.

⁴⁷ I’m telling you seriously: he’ll put that one in charge of all his possessions.

⁴⁸ But suppose the slave is bad, and says inwardly,x “My master is taking a long time.”

⁴⁹ And the person begins to beat the other slaves, and eat and drink with drunks.

⁵⁰ That slave’s master will come on a day they don’t predict, and at a time they don’t expect.y

⁵¹ He’ll cut that slave in two with the whip, and he’ll put the person over with the play-actors. Over there, people are going to be crying and grind­ing their teeth.

25

¹ The Parable of the Ten Young Women At that time Heaven’s Reign will be like this: Ten young women each took their own lamps, and were going off to the ceremony of welcoming the groom and bride.a

² Five of them were stupid and five were smart.

³ Because the stupid ones took their lamps, but they didn’t take fuel with them.

⁴ The smart ones took fuel containers along with their lamps.

⁵ When the groom took a long time, they got drowsy and were falling asleep.

⁶ In the middle of the night the call came: “Look! The groom! Go out and welcome him!”

⁷ Then all the young women got up and each got her lamp ready.

⁸ And the stupid ones said to the smart ones, “Give us some of your fuel, because our lamps are going out!”

⁹ But the smart ones said back to them, “There’s probably not going to be enough for us and for you. So you should go over to the vendors and buy some for yourselves.”

¹⁰ But when they went off to buy more fuel, the groom came. The ones who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was locked.

¹¹ Later, the rest of the young women came and said, “Sir! Sir! Let us in!”

¹² But he said to them, “I’m telling you seriously: I don’t know you!”

¹³ So keep watch! Because you don’t know the day or the time.

¹⁴ The Parable of the Talents (Lk. 19:11-27) It’s just like a man who is going out of town. He calls his slaves over and gives them responsibility for his properties.

¹⁵ He gives five talents to one, he gives two talents to another, and he gives one talent to another.b Each one gets an amount in line with their own ability. And he leaves town.

¹⁶ Right away, the person with five talents goes and does business with them and makes another five.

¹⁷ In the same way, the person with two makes two more.

¹⁸ But the per­son with one talent takes it and goes off and hides it in the master’s field.

¹⁹ After a long time their masterc comes and settles accounts with them.

²⁰ The person with five talents comes up to him and presents five more, and says, “Master, you gave me five talents. See, I’ve made five more talents.”

²¹ The master says, “Well done! You’re a good and trustworthy slave. You’ve been trustworthy in charge of a few things; I’m going to put you in charge of a lot of things! Come in and celebrate with your master!”d

²² Then the one with the two talents comes up and says, “Master, you gave me two talents. See, I’ve made two more talents.”

²³ The master says, “Well done! You’re a good and trustworthy slave. You’ve been trustworthy in charge of a few things; I’m going to put you in charge of a lot of things! Come in and celebrate with your master!”e

²⁴ Finally the slave that received one talent comes up and says, “Master, I know you—you’re a tough businessman. You harvest where you didn’t plant, and you gather in places where you didn’t scatter seed.

²⁵ I was afraid, so I went off and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have your money back.”f

²⁶ But the master says back to him, “You bad, cow­ardly slave! You already knew that I harvest where I haven’t planted, and gather in places where I haven’t scattered seed!

²⁷ So you should have put my money in the bank. That way,g when I came I would have gotten my money back with interest.

²⁸ So take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has ten tal­ents.

²⁹ As the saying goes,h ‘Everyone who has will get more,i and they’ll have more than enough. But the one who doesn’t have will even get what they have taken away from them.’

³⁰ Nowj throw that useless slave out there in the darkness! There are going to be people crying and grinding their teeth out there.”

³¹ When the Human One Comes to Judge All Nations When the Human One comes in his glory, all his angels will be with him too. Then he’s going to sit on his glorious throne.

³² All the nations are going to be assem­bled there in front of him. He’ll sort them out from one another, just like a shepherd sorts the sheep out from the goats.

³³ He’ll put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ Then the King will say to the ones on his right, “Come, all of you who have my Father’s blessing! Come inherit the Reign that has been prepared for you ever since the creationk of the world!

³⁵ Because I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink; I was a foreigner,l and you welcomed me in;

³⁶ I was naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you looked after me; I was in prison, and you came to visit me.”

³⁷ Then the people of integritym will say back to him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?

³⁸ When did we see you as a foreigner and welcome you in, or naked and clothe you?

³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison, and come and visit you?”

⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, “I’m telling you seriously: whatever you did for the most insignificant one of my brothers and sisters here, you did it for me.”

⁴¹ Then he will say to the ones on his left, “Get away from me, all of you cursed ones! Go away into the age-longn fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.

⁴² Because I was hungry, and you didn’t give me anything to eat; I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me anything to drink;

⁴³ I was a foreigner, and you didn’t welcome me in; I was naked, and you didn’t clothe me; I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t look after me.” Then those ones will also say back to him,

⁴⁴ “Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or as a foreigner, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and not serve you?”

⁴⁵ Then he will say to them, “I’m telling you seriously: whatever you didn’t do for the most insignificant one of my brothers and sisters here, you didn’t do it for me either.”

⁴⁶ And that group will go off into age-long punishment. But the people of integrity will go off into age-long life.

26

¹ The Chief Priests and Elders Meet to Plan a Trap (Mk 14:1-2; Lk. 22:1-2; Jn 11:45-53) When Jesus had finished saying all this, he said to his followers,

² “You know, the Passovera is two days away. The Human One is going to be betrayed and then hung on a cross.”b

³ At that time the chief priests and the elders of the nation met together in the courtyard of the High Priest (his name was Caiaphasc.).

⁴ They planned how to kidnapd and kill Jesus by laying some kind of trap.

⁵ They were saying, “It shouldn’t be during the festival—other­wise the people will riot.”

⁶ A Woman Anoints Jesus’ Head with Scented Oil (Mk 14:1-2; Jn 12:1-8) Meanwhile,e Jesus was staying in Bethany at Simon the Leper’s house.

⁷ While he was there, a woman came up to him. She had an alabaster bottle of scented oil, super-expensive stuff. She poured it over his head as he was lying there at dinner.

⁸ But when his followers saw that, they were offended. They were thinking, “What’s the point of throwing it away like that?f

⁹ After all, it could’ve been sold for a lot of money and given to the poor!”

¹⁰ But Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said to them, “Why are you making trouble for this woman? She’s just done something kind for me.

¹¹ After all, you’ll always have the poor with you—but you won’t always have me.

¹² When she put this scented oil on my body, she was preparing me for burial.

¹³ I’m telling you seriously: wherever the good news is preached throughout the world, the thing she just did will also be told, as her memorial.”g

¹⁴ Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus (Mk 14:10-11; Lk. 22:3-6) Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot,h went to the chief priests.

¹⁵ He said, “What are you willing to give me if I betray Jesus for you?” And they put up thirty silver coins.i

¹⁶ From then on he looked for a good moment to betray him.

¹⁷ Jesus Has a Passover Meal with his Closest Followers (Mk 14:12-21; Lk. 22:7-13) On the first day of Unleavened Bread,j Jesus’ followers came up to him and said, “Where do you want us to get the Passoverk meal ready for you?”

¹⁸ Jesus said, “Go into the city to such and such a man. Say to him, ‘The teacher says, “My time has almost come.l I’m keeping the Passover at your house with my followers.”’”

¹⁹ And his followers did what he told them to do, and got the Passover ready.

²⁰ “One of you is Going to Betray me!” (Mk 14:18-19; Lk. 22:21-23; Jn 13:21-30) When the sun went down, Jesus ate dinnerm with the twelve.

²¹ As they were eating, he said, “I’m telling you seriously: one of you is going to betray me!”

²² They were very upset, and each of them began to say to him, “I’m not the one, am I, Teacher?”

²³ Jesus said, “The person who’s been dipping his hand in the dipp­ing bowl with me is the very same person who’s going to betray me.

²⁴ It’s true that the Human One is going to go like scripture says he will; n but it’s going to be horrible for the person responsible for his betrayal! It would have been better for that person if he’d never been born!”

²⁵ And Judas, the one who betrayed him, said, “I’m not the one, am I, Teacher?” Jesus said to him, “You just said it.”o

²⁶ The Lord’s Supper (Mk 14:22-26; Lk. 22:14-23; 1 Cor. 11:23-26) As they were eating dinner, Jesus took a loaf of bread, said a blessing over it, and broke it, and gave it to his follow­ers. He said, “Here, eat this.p It’s my body.”

²⁷ Then he took a cup of wine, said a prayer of thanks, and gave it to them. He said, “Everybody drink some of this.

²⁸ Be­cause it’s my blood, that seals the covenant. It’s going to be poured out for lots of people, for forgiveness of their sins.q

²⁹ I’m telling you—from now on, I’m never going to drink from the fruits of the grape vine again, until that special day when I drink it new with you all, in the Reign of my Father.”

³⁰ Jesus Prophesies That Peter Will Disown him (Mk 14:27-31; Lk. 22:31-34; Jn 13:36-38) After they sang a hymn, they went off to the Mount of Olives.

³¹ Then Jesus said to them, “You’re all going to be offended at mer tonight. Because scripture says:s. I’m going to strike down the shepherd, And his flock of sheep will be scattered.t

³² But after I’m raised, I’m going to go to Galilee ahead of you.”

³³ Peter said back to him, “Even if everyone else gets offended at you, I’ll never get offended at you!”

³⁴ Jesus said to him, “I’m telling you seriously: tonight the rooster’s not going to crow before you disown me three times!”

³⁵ Peter said to him, “Even if I have to die with you, I’ll never disown you!” And all his followers said the same.

³⁶ Jesus Prays in Gethsemane (Mk 14:32-42; Lk. 22:39-46) Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane.u He said to his followers, “Have a seat right here, while I go off over there and pray.”

³⁷ And he took Peter, and the two Zebedee brothers with him. Jesus started to get really upset and distressed.

³⁸ Then he said to them, “I’m nearly dying of grief!v Stay here and keep watch with me!”

³⁹ Jesus went on a little further and fell on his face, and was praying, “My Father, if it’s possible, let this cup pass me by! But still, not what I want, but what you want.”

⁴⁰ He came over to his followers and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, you weren’t strong enough to keep watch for one hour with me?

⁴¹ Keep watch! And, all of you, pray that you don’t have to face the test!w Your spirit’s willing enough,x but your flesh is weak.”

⁴² He went off again a second time and prayed. He said, “My Father, if it isn’t possible for this cup to go by me without me drinking it, then whatever you want, so be it.”

⁴³ Jesus came back and found them sleeping again. Their eyelids had gotten really heavy.

⁴⁴ He let them alone, and went off and prayed a third time, saying the same thing again.

⁴⁵ Then he came to his followers and said to them, “So, are you going to keep on sleeping and taking it easy? Look! The time has almost come.y The Human One has just been betrayedz into the hands of sinners.

⁴⁶ Get up, let’s go. Look, the person who’s betraying me is nearly here.”aa

⁴⁷ Jesus is Betrayed and Arrested (Mk 14:43-52; Lk. 22:47-53; Jn 18:1-11) While Jesus was still talking, suddenly Judas, one of the twelve, came. A big crowd was with him, carrying swords and clubs—they were from the chief priests and the elders of the nation.

⁴⁸ The one who betrayed Jesus had given them a signal. He said, “The person that I kiss is the one. Grab him.”

⁴⁹ He quickly came up to Jesus and said, “Hello, Teacher!” And he gave him a big kiss.

⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Friend, what are you doing here?”bb Then people came up and grabbed Jesus and held him.

⁵¹ Suddenly one of the people with Jesus reached down and drew his sword. He struck the high priest’s slave, and cut his ear off.

⁵² Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back where it belongs! People who take up the sword will get killed by the sword!

⁵³ Or do you think I couldn’t call for help from my Father, and he’d send me more than twelve legionscc of angels right now?

⁵⁴ Anyway, how else are the scriptures going to be fulfilled, that say it has to happen this way?”

⁵⁵ At that time Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out to arrestdd me with swords and clubs, as though you were after an armed robber? I was sitting there every day in the Temple, teaching. And you never laid a hand on me.ee

⁵⁶ But this whole thing has happened so that the prophetic scriptures will be fulfilled.” Then all his followers left him and ran away.

⁵⁷ Jesus is Brought before Caiaphas the High Priest (Mk 14:53-65; Lk. 22:66-71; Jn 18:12-14, 19-24) The people who were holding Jesus led him off to Caiaphasff the High Priest. The scripture experts and the elders of the nation had already come together at his house.

⁵⁸ Now, Peter was following Jesus at a distance, right up to the wall of the High Priest’s courtyard. He went in and sat down with the attendants, to see what the outcome was going to be.

⁵⁹ The chief priests were there, along with the whole High Council. They were trying to come up with a certain kind of false testimony against Jesus that would allow them to put him to death.

⁶⁰ And they couldn’t come up with any, despite lots of people coming up and lying under oath. But finally two people came up

⁶¹ and said, “That man said, ‘I have the power to destroy the Temple of God, and rebuild it in three days.’”

⁶² And the High Priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Don’t you have any response to that? What are these people saying against you?”

⁶³ But Jesus just kept quiet.gg The High Priest said to him, “I command you to tell us the truthhh in the name of the Living God! Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?”

⁶⁴ Jesus said to him, “From now on, you will see …The Human One, sitting on the right of the Powerful One, and coming on the clouds in the sky!”ii

⁶⁵ Then the High Priest tore his robes. He said, “He just blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? See, you’ve heard the blasphemy yourselves, now.

⁶⁶ What do you think?” They all said, “He deserves death!”

⁶⁷ Then they spat in his face and slapped him. The ones who slapped him

⁶⁸ said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah! Who just hit you?”jj

⁶⁹ Peter Denies That he Knows Jesus (Mk 14:66-72; Lk. 22:54-62; Jn 18:15-18, 25-27) Meanwhile,kk Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. One of the servant girls came up to him and said, “You were with Jesus the Galilean too!”

⁷⁰ But he denied it in front of everybody. He said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

⁷¹ Another servant girl came in the gate and saw him. She said to the people there, “That man was with Jesus the Nazarene.”

⁷² He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know that person!”

⁷³ A little while later, the people standing there came up and said to Peter, “You’re definitelyll one of them too! After all, even your accent gives you away!”

⁷⁴ Then he started to curse and swear: “I don’t know that person!” Right away, the rooster crowed.

⁷⁵ And Peter remembered the words Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you’re going to disown me three times.” He went outside and cried in anguish.

27

¹ Jesus is Handed Over to the Roman Governor, Pilate (Mk 15:1; Lk. 23:1; Jn 18:28) When it got to be early morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the nation plotted against Jesus, to put him to death.

² When they had tied him up, they led him away and handeda him over to Pilateb the gover­nor.

³ Judas Commits Suicide (Acts 1:18-19) Then Judas, the one who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus had been con­demned, and he felt bad about what he had done.c He returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and elders.

⁴ He said, “I’ve sinned! I’ve betrayed an innocent man to death!”d But they said, “What’s that got to do with us? Look after your­self.”

⁵ Judas threw the silver coins into the Temple and left, and went off and hanged himself.

⁶ When the chief priests got the silver coins, they said, “It’s against the rules to put them in the Temple treasury, because it’s the price of somebody’s blood.”

⁷ When they’d talked it over, they bought a place called Potter’s Field with the money. They made it into a cemetery for foreigners.

⁸ Because of that, that field has been called “Blood Field,” right up to today.

⁹ At that moment, Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled—the one that says,e. If took the thirty silver coins, The price set on the One prized more than the children of Israel,

¹⁰ And gave them for the potter’s field, Just like the Sovereign One had told me.g

¹¹ Pilate Questions Jesus (Mk 15:2-5; Lk. 23:2-5; Jn 18:29-38a) Jesus stood in front of the governor. The governor asked him, “You—you’re the king of the Jews?” Jesus said, “It’s you saying it.”h

¹² And when accusations were made against him by the chief priests and elders, he didn’t say anything back.

¹³ Pilate finally said to him, “Don’t you hear how many things they’re accusing you of?”

¹⁴ Jesus didn’t give him an answer for even one thing. The gov­ernor just couldn’t believe it.i

¹⁵ The Crowd Shouts for Jesus to be Hung on a Cross (Mk 15:6-14; Lk. 23:13-24; Jn 18:39-40) At each feast, the governor had a custom of releasing one prisoner—whoever the crowd wanted.

¹⁶ And at that time he had a well-known prisoner named Barabbas.j

¹⁷ So when they got all together, Pilate said to them, “Who do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus, who’s being called Messiah?”

¹⁸ (He actually knew that they had betrayed Jesus out of envy.)

¹⁹ And as Pilate was sitting there on the judgment bench, his wife sent him a message that said, “That good man is no business of yours! I had a lot of distress in a dream today because of him.”

²⁰ But the chief priests and elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and ruin Jesus.

²¹ The gov­ernor said back to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” They said, “Barabbas.”

²² Pilate said to them, “So what should I do with Jesus, who’s being called Messiah?” They all said, “Hang him on a cross!”

²³ And he said, “But whatk has he done wrong?” But they started shouting even more, “Hang him on a cross!”

²⁴ Pilate Washes his Hands—And Gives the Crowd What it Wants (Mk 15:15; Lk. 23:25; Jn 19:16) Pilate saw that he wasn’t accom­plishing anything—in fact, it was getting more and more like a riot.l So he took some water, and washed his hands in front of the crowd. He said, “I’m innocent of this person’s death!m Look after yourselves!”

²⁵ And the entire assemblyn said, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”

²⁶ Pilate’s Soldiers Make Fun of Jesus (Mk 15:16-20) At that point Pilate released Barabbas for them. He had Jesus whipped, and handed him over to be hung on a cross.

²⁷ Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into his official residence.o The whole cohortp gathered around him.

²⁸ They stripped him, and put a bright red robe on him.

²⁹ And they wove a crown out of thorn bush branches, and put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand, and they knelt in front of him and made fun of him. They were saying, “Hello, King of the Jews!”

³⁰ And they spat on him, and took the reed and hit him over the head.

³¹ When they’d had their fun with him, they off took the robe and put on his own clothes. And they led him off to be hung on a cross.

³² Jesus is Hung on a Cross (Mk 15:21-32; Lk. 23:26-43; Jn 19:16b-27) As they were going out, they found a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene.q They grabbedr this man and made him carry Jesus’ cross.

³³ And they came to a place called Golgotha, which means “The Skull Place.”

³⁴ They gave Jesus a drink of wine mixed with bitter stuff.s But when he tasted it, he didn’t wouldn’t drink.

³⁵ They hung Jesus on a cross. They divided up his clothes by drawing lots,t

³⁶ and sat down there and guarded him.

³⁷ And they put up, over his head, the charge against him. It read,u THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS

³⁸ Then they hung two armed robbers on crosses next to him—one on his right, and one on his left.

³⁹ The people going by were saying abusive things towards him. They were shaking their heads at himv

⁴⁰ and saying, “Here’s the one who’s going to tear down the Temple and rebuild it in three days!” “He should save himself, if he’s the Son of God, and come down off the cross!”

⁴¹ The chief priests said the same sort of thing, and were joking with the scripture experts and elders. They were saying,

⁴² “He saved other people, but he can’t save himself!” “He’s ‘The King of Israel’w. —so now let him come down off the cross, and we’ll believe in him!”

⁴³ “He believes in God, so let God save him, if God wants him—after all, he said he was the Son of God!”x

⁴⁴ And the armed robbers hanging on crosses next to Jesus were throwing the same taunts at him.

⁴⁵ Jesus Dies on the Cross (Mk 15:33-41; Lk. 23:44-49; Jn 19:28-30) From noon on, it got dark across the whole country, until about three o’clock.

⁴⁶ Around three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice. He said, Eli, Eli! Lema sabachthani?y Which means, “My God, My God! Why have you abandoned me?”z

⁴⁷ And some of the people standing there heard it. They were saying, “He’s shouting for Elijah.”

⁴⁸ One of them quickly ran and got a sponge filled with vinegar. He stuck it on a reed and gave it to him to drink.

⁴⁹ All the others were saying, “Hold off—let’s see if Elijah will come and save him.”

⁵⁰ But Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and gave out his last breath.aa

⁵¹ Suddenly the great veil in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The ground shook, and rocks were being split apart.

⁵² Tombs were being opened up, and the bodies of many dead holy ones were raised.bb

⁵³ They went out of the tombs after Jesus was raised, and went into the holy city and appeared to a lot of people.

⁵⁴ The Roman officer,cc and the men guard­ing Jesus with him, saw the earthquake and the other things that happened. They were terrified,dd and were saying, “This man really was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵ There were a lot of women there, watching from a distance. These women had followed Jesus from Galilee and had been ministering to him.

⁵⁶ Mary Magdaleneee was one of them; so was Mary, James and Joseph’s mother, as well as the mother of the Zebedee brothers.ff

⁵⁷ Jesus is Buried in a Tomb (Mk 15:42-47; Lk. 23:50-56; Jn 19:38-42) When it got to be evening, a wealthy man from Arimatheagg came, whose name was Joseph. He himself had become a follower of Jesus.

⁵⁸ This man came up to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate then gave the order to hand the body over.

⁵⁹ Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth.

⁶⁰ He laid it in his own newly-constructed tomb, that he had cut into a rock face. When he had rolled a large stone door across the opening,hh he went away.

⁶¹ And Mary Magdalene and the other Mary stayedii there, sitting in front of the tomb.

⁶² Guards are Posted at the Tomb The next morning, that is, the morn­ing after the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees got together in front of Pilate.

⁶³ They said, “Sir, we remem­ber how that deceiver, when he was still alive, said, ‘After three days I’ll rise up.’

⁶⁴ So give orders to secure the tomb until the third day. That way, his followers won’t come and steal him, and say to the people, ‘He’s been raised from the dead.’ Otherwise, the last deception will be worse than the first.”

⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, “You can have a guard unit. Go secure it as well as you know how.”

⁶⁶ And they went and secured the tomb. They worked with the guard unit to seal the stone.

28

¹ The Resurrection of Jesus (Mk 16:1-8; Lk. 24:1-12; Jn 20:1-10) Aftera the Sabbath, at sunup on the first day of the week, Mary Magdaleneb and the other Mary came to have a look at the tomb.

² Suddenly there was a big earthquake. An angel of the Sovereign One had come down from heaven andc rolled away the stone door! And he was sitting on top of it.

³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were as white as snow.

⁴ The guards were so afraid of him that they started to shake, and fainted dead away.d

⁵ But the angel said to the women, “Don’t you be afraid. I know that you’re looking for Jesus, who was hung on a cross.

⁶ He isn’t here, because he was raised, just like he said. Come here!e You can see the place where he was lying.

⁷ Now,f quickly—go tell his followers that he’s been raised from among the dead. And look! He’s going ahead of you to Galilee. You’ll see him there—see, I’ve told you.”

⁸ They quickly took off from the tomb—afraid, but overjoyedg. —and ran to tell his followers.

⁹ Suddenly, Jesus met them! He said, “Blessings!h And they bowed down and hugged him tight around his ankles.i

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid—go and tell my brothers and sisters to go up to Galilee, and they’ll see me there.” And they went on their way.

¹¹ The Guards Get a Big Bribe to Say That Jesus’ Followers Stole his Body Meanwhile,j some people from the guard unit went into the city and reported all these events to the chief priests.

¹² When the chief priests had met and discussed it with the elders, they gave the soldiers a fair amount of money.k

¹³ They said, “Say: ‘His followers came at night and stole him while we were sleeping.’

¹⁴ If the story gets around to the governor, we’ll win him over and make sure you don’t have anything to worry about.”l

¹⁵ And they took the money and did what they had been coachedm to do. And that explan­ation has been spread around among the Jews to this day.

¹⁶ Jesus Sends his Followers to the Whole World (Mk 16:14-18; Lk. 24:36-49; Jn 20:19-23; Acts 1:6-8) But the eleven followers went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.

¹⁷ When they saw him, they bowed down to him, but some doubted.

¹⁸ Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, “I’ve been given com­plete authority:n both in heaven, and on earth.

¹⁹ So go and teach all the nations to follow me!o Baptize them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

²⁰ and teach them to obey all the things that I’ve commanded you. And look! I’m with you all the time,p right up to the wrapping up of the age."