1

¹ MARK'S ACCOUNT John the Baptizer Preaches in the Wilderness (Mt. 3:1-2; Lk. 3:1-20; Jn 1:19-28) The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,a the Son of God.b

² Just as scripture says in Isaiah the prophet:c. Look! I’m sending my messenger ahead of you. He’ll prepare your way.d

³ The voice of someone shouting in the wilderness, ”Get the Sovereign One’s path ready! Straighten up God’s pathways!”e

⁴ John was out baptizingf in the wilderness. He was preaching a baptism for a change of heart g for the forgiveness of sins.

⁵ Everyone in the region of Judeah was going out to him, and so were all the people of Jerusalem. They were getting baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

⁶ John’s clothing was made of camel hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. And he used to eat locusts and wild honey.

⁷ He preached this message:i “The one who’s stronger than I am is coming after me. I’m not worthy to stoop down and untie the laces of his sandals.

⁸ I’ve baptized you in water, but he’s going to baptize you in the Holy Spirit.”

⁹ John Baptizes Jesus (Mt. 3:13-17; Lk. 3:21-22; Jn 1:29-34) In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and he got baptized in the Jordan by John.

¹⁰ And right away, as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the skyj split apart, and the Holy Spirit was coming down to him.

¹¹ And there was a voice out of the heavens: “You’re my son! I love you! I’m pleased with you!”k

¹² Jesus is Tested by Satan (Mt. 4:1-11; Lk. 4:1-13) Right away, the Spirit sent Jesus out into the wilderness.

¹³ He was in the wilderness forty days, being tested by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving him.

¹⁴ Jesus Begins his Ministry and Calls his First Followers (Mt. 4:12-22; Lk. 4:14-15; 5:1-11) After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee. He was preaching the good news of God,

¹⁵ and saying, “The time has come! The Reign of God is nearly here!l Change your heartsm and believe in the good news!”

¹⁶ As Jesus went along the shore of Lake Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were throwing casting nets in the lake, because they were fishermen.

¹⁷ Jesus said to them, “Come follow me,n and I’ll train you to fish for people!”o

¹⁸ And they left their nets right away and followed him.

¹⁹ And when he went a little further, he saw James, Zebedee’s son, and his brother John. They were in the boat setting up their nets.

²⁰ He called out to them right away. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the laborers and went off withp him.

²¹ Jesus Kicks Out an Unclean Spirit (Lk. 4:31-37) They went into Capernaum.q And first thing on the Sabbath, Jesus went into the synagoguer and taught.

²² And people were just astounded by his teaching. Because he was teaching them as a person with authority, and not like the scripture experts.

²³ And right then there was a man in their synagogue who had an unclean spirit. He shouted,

²⁴ “What do we have to do with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are-the Holy One of God!”

²⁵ Jesus spoke sharply to hims and said, “Be quiet and come out of him!”

²⁶ And the unclean spirit shook him violently and cried out with a loud voice, and came out of him.

²⁷ Everyone was so amazed that they were saying to each other: “What is this? It’s a new teaching that has authority! He even tells unclean spirits what to do and they obey him!”

²⁸ And right away talk about Jesus spread everywhere through the whole region around Galilee.

²⁹ Jesus Heals Many People at Simon’s House (Mt. 8:14-17; Lk. 4:38-41) As soon as they came out of the synagogue, they went into Simon and Andrew’s house with James and John.

³⁰ Simon’s mother-in-law was in bedt with a fever, and right away they told him about her.

³¹ And he came up and raised her up by the hand, and the fever went away,u and she served them.

³² When evening came, when the sun had gone down, people were bringing him everyone who was sick, and those who were afflicted with demons.

³³ The whole city was gathered outsidev the door.

³⁴ And he healed lots of sick people with various illnesses, and he kicked out lots of demons. But he wouldn’t let them speak, because they recognized him.

³⁵ Jesus Preaches throughout Galilee (Mt. 4:23-25; Lk. 4:42-44) Jesus got up really early the next morning and went out, and he went off into a deserted place and was praying there.

³⁶ And Simon and his companions searched up and down for him.

³⁷ They found him, and said to him, “Everybody’s looking for you!”

³⁸ He said to them, “Let’s go somewhere else-to the other towns around here. I want to preach there too. After all, that’s why I came.w

³⁹ And he went and preached in their synagogues throughout all of Galilee, and was kicking out the demons.

⁴⁰ Jesus Makes a Leper Clean (Mt. 8:1-4; Lk. 5:12-16) A leper came to Jesus. He began pleading with him, falling on his knees.x He said to him, “If you want to, you have the power to make me clean!”

⁴¹ And Jesus felt compassion for him,y and reached out his hand and touched him. He said to him, “I do want to. Be clean.”

⁴² Right away his leprosy went away, and he was made clean.

⁴³ And Jesus was stern with him, and sent him off right away

⁴⁴ with these words: “Make sure you don’t say anything to anybody! Just go show yourself to the priest, and give the offerings that Moses prescribed for your cleansing.z It’ll be a testimony to them.”

⁴⁵ But the man went out and started announcing it all over the place. He spread the word so much that Jesus couldn’t enter a city openly any more. Instead, he was staying out in deserted places, and people were coming to him from everywhere.

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¹ Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man (Mt. 9:2-8; Lk. 5:17-26) Jesus came to Capernauma again. After a few days, the word got outb that he was home.

² Lots of people came together-to the point that there wasn’t even room outside the door anymore. And he was teaching them.c

³ And they came to him bringing a paralyzed man. He was being carried by four people.

⁴ They couldn’t get him to Jesus because of the crowd. So they dug through the roof where Jesus was. And when they had made a hole, they lowered the mat that the paralyzed man was lying on.

⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

⁶ Now, there were some scripture experts sitting there. They were arguing in their hearts,

⁷ “How can hed talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but the One God?”

⁸ And Jesus knew right away in his spirit that they were arguing like that ine themselves. He said to them, “Why are you arguing like that in your hearts?

⁹ Which is easier-to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’?

¹⁰ But so that you’ll know that the Human One hasf authority to forgive sins on earth"—he said to the paralyzed man,

¹¹ “I have something to say to you: get up, pick up your mat, and go home.”

¹² And he got up and quickly picked up the mat and went out in front of everyone. Everyone was totally amazed, and glorified God. They were saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”

¹³ Jesus Calls Levi to be a Follower (Mt. 9:9-13; Lk. 5:27-32) Jesus went out again along the shore of the lake. And the whole crowd came to him, and he taught them.

¹⁴ As he was going along, he saw Levi Alphaeus’sg son. He was sitting at the tax collection desk. He said to him, “Come with me.”h And he goti up and followed him.

¹⁵ And Jesus ended up having dinnerj at Levi’s house. Lots of tax collectors and sinners were there having dinner with Jesus and his followers, because there were a lot of them that used to follow him.k

¹⁶ And the scripture experts of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors.l They were saying to his followers, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ When Jesus heard that, he said to them, “It’s not healthy people that need a doctor, but people who are sick! I haven’t come to reach out tom people of integrity,n but to sinners.

¹⁸ An Argument about Fasting (Mt. 9:14-17; Lk. 5:33-39) John’s followers and the Pharisees were fasting. They came and said to Jesus, “Why is it that John’s followers and the Pharisees fast, but your followers don’t?”

¹⁹ Jesus said to them, “Can the members of the wedding party fast while the groom is with them? For as long as they have the groom with them, they can’t fast.

²⁰ The timeo will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they’ll fast at that time.p

²¹ No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old piece of clothing. Otherwise, the new, full-size piece shrinks away from the old material,q and you get a worse tear.

²² And no one puts up new wine in old wine­skins. Otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine and the skins will both be ruined. No-new wine goes into new skins.

²³ Picking Heads of Grain on the Sabbath Day (Mt. 12:1-8; Lk. 6:1-5) Oncer Jesus was walking along through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and his followers started picking the heads of grain as they went along.

²⁴ And the Pharisees started saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what’s not allowed on the Sabbath?”s

²⁵ And he was saying to them, “Haven’t you ever read what David did, when he needed to, when he and his companions were hungry?

²⁶ He went into the house of God during Abiathar’st high priesthood,u and ate the Loaves of the Presence, that nobody is allowed to eat except the priests. And he also gave them to his companions.”

²⁷ And Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for human beingsv.-and not human beings for the Sabbath.

²⁸ So the Human One is lord of the Sabbath, too.w

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¹ Jesus Heals a Man with a Shriveled-Up Arm (Mt. 12:9-14; Lk. 6:6-11) Jesus went into the synagogue again. There was a man there with a shriveled up arm.

² And they were watching Jesus closely, to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath, so that they could accuse him.a

³ He said to the man with the shriveled up arm, “Come up front.”b

⁴ And he said to them, “Is it allowed on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm? Can you save a life, or kill someone?” But they didn’t say anything.c

⁵ And he looked around at them with anger. He was grieving over the stubbornness of their hearts. He said to the man, “Hold out your arm.” And he held it out, and his arm was restored to normal.

⁶ And the Pharisees went out right away and began to plot with the Herodiansd against Jesus, to figure out how they could ruin him.e

⁷ Huge Crowds Follow Jesus (Mt. 12:15-21) Jesus went back to the lakeshore with his followers, and a huge crowd of people followedf him-from Galilee, from Judea,

⁸ from Jerusalem, from Idumaeag and the far side of the Jordan, and from Tyre and Sidon.h It was a huge crowd. When people were hearing all the things he was doing, they came to him.

⁹ And he told his followers that a boat should always be readyi for him, because of the crowd-so that they wouldn’t crush him.j

¹⁰ Because he healed lots of people, andk the people who were having really bad painsl would throw themselves at himm to try to touch him.

¹¹ And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, would fall down in front of him and shout, “You’re the Son of God!”

¹² And again and again,n Jesus would strictly forbid them to reveal who he was.

¹³ Jesus Names his Closest Twelve Followers “Apostles"—That is, “Sent Ones” (Mt. 10:1-4; Lk. 6:12-16) Jesus went up on the mountainside, and called over the particular people that he wanted.o

¹⁴ And he appointed twelve people, which he named “apostles.”p They would be with him, and he would send them out to preach,

¹⁵ and they would have authority to kick out the demons.

¹⁶ He appointed these twelve: Simon (whom he gave the nickname “Peter”),

¹⁷ James, Zebedee’s son, and his brother John (he gave them the nickname “Sons of Thunder”),

¹⁸ Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James Alphaeus,q Thaddeus;r Simon the Cananaeans

¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot,t who betrayed Jesus.u

²⁰ Jesus is Accused of Being with the Devil (Mt. 12:22-32; Lk. 11:14-23) Jesus went home.v A crowd came together again, so that they couldn’t even get a bite to eat.w

²¹ And Jesus’ relatives heard what was going on. They went out to take charge of him, x because they were thinkingy that he’d gone crazy.

²² And the scripture experts from Jerusalem came, and were saying, “He’s possessed by the devil,”z and “It’s by the power of the leader of the demons that he kicks out the demons.”

²³ Jesus called them over, and was talking to them in parables: How can Satan kick out Satan?

²⁴ If a kingdom is split against itself, that kingdom can’t stand.

²⁵ If a house is split against itself, that house can’t stand.

²⁶ If Satan goes to waraa against himself and is split, he can’t stand. No, he’s met his end.

²⁷ Surelybb no one can go into a strong man’s house and ransack his things, unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he’ll ransack his house.cc

²⁸ I’m telling you seriously: all sins are going to be forgiven to human beings-includingdd whatever blasphemiesee they say against God.ff

²⁹ But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness. No, they’re guilty of an eternal sin.

³⁰ (Jesus said this because they had been saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”)

³¹ Jesus’ Real Family (Mt. 12:46-50; Lk. 8:19-21) Jesus’ mother and brothers came. And they stood outside and sent a message to him, asking him to come out.gg

³² The crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, wanting to seehh you.

³³ Jesus said to them, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers and sisters?”

³⁴ And he looked around at all the people sitting in a circle around him, and said, “Look-my mother, and my brothers and sisters.

³⁵ Because it‘s the person that does what God wants that’s my brother and sister and mother.”

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¹ The Parable of the Farmer who Scatters Seed (Mt. 13:1-23; Lk. 8:4-15) Jesus started to teach again by the lake, and a really huge crowd came to him. Finally he got into a boat, so he could sit out on the lake. The whole crowd was on the beach facing the water.a

² And Jesus taught them lots of things using parables. He was saying to them at one pointb in his teaching,

³ “Listen. A farmer went out to scatter seed in his field.c

⁴ In scattering the seed, it turned out that some fell on the path, and the birds came and gobbled it up.

⁵ Other seed fell on the rocky ground, where it didn’t have much soil. It sprang up right away, because the soil was so shallow.d

⁶ Bute when the sun came up it got scorched, and because it had no roots, it shriveled up.

⁷ Other seed fell in among the prickly weeds, and the prickly weeds came up and choked it out, and it didn’t bear fruit.

⁸ Other seeds fell on the good soil, and bore fruit. They came up, and grew tall. One bore thirty grains per plant, one bore sixty, and one bore a hundred.”

⁹ And Jesus was saying, “If anyone has ears to hear, let ’em hear!”

¹⁰ Jesus Explains the Parable of the Farmer who Scatters Seed (Mt. 13:10-17; Lk. 8:9-10) When they had some privacy, those around him, along with the twelve, were asking about the parables.

¹¹ And Jesus was saying to them, “You’ve been given the secret of the Reign of God. But for peoplef out there, everything’s in parables.

¹² That way, They’ll look hard, and not see; And they’ll listen hard, and not understand; Otherwise they would turn around and be forgiven.g

¹³ And Jesus said to them, “Don’t you geth this parable? Theni how are you going to getj all the parables?

¹⁴ The person who scatters the seed is spreading the message.k

¹⁵ Somel people arem the path where the message is spread. When they hear it, right away Satan comes, and he snatches away the message that just got planted in them.

¹⁶ Other peoplen are the rocky ground that the seed is scattered on. These people, when they hear the message, accept it happily right away.

¹⁷ Buto they don’t have any root in themselves-they’re just following the whim of the moment. Then trouble comes, or persecution, because of the message, and right away they get tripped up.

¹⁸ Other people are the ones where it‘s planted in among the prickly weeds. They hear the message,

¹⁹ butp the worries of this world, and the false lure of wealth, and desires for all the other things, come in and choke out the message, and it ends up not bearing fruit.

²⁰ Butq there are those where the seed is scattered on the good soil. They’re the ones who hear the message and really take it in.r They bear fruit-one bears thirty grains, one sixty, and one a hundred.”

²¹ The Parable of the Lamp (Lk. 8:16-18) And Jesus was saying to them, “Does a lamp get lit to gos under a basket or under the bed? Isn’t it so that it can go on the lamp stand?

²² Because there’s nothing hidden that won’t be brought out into the open, and something doesn’t get hidden away unless it’s supposed to come into the open.

²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let ’em hear.”

²⁴ And Jesus was saying to them, “Be careful what you listen to.t The measure you measure out is going to be used to measured back to you, and more is going to be added.u

²⁵ Because whoever has will get morev.-and whoever doesn’t have will even get what they have taken away from them.”

²⁶ The Parable of the Seed That Grows by Itself And Jesus was saying, “This is how the Reign of God is. It’s like a person who casts seed on the soil.

²⁷ They sleep, and they get up, night after night, and day after day. And the seed sprouts and grows-how, the person doesn’t know.

²⁸ The earth bears fruit all by itself. First comes the blade,w then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

²⁹ And when the grain is ripe, right away the person puts inx the sickle, because it‘s harvest time.”y

³⁰ The Parable of the Mustard Seed (Mt. 13:31-32; Lk. 13:18-19) And Jesus was saying, “How shall we describe what the Reign of God is like? What parable shall we use to put it into words?

³¹ It’s like a mustard seed-when it’s planted in the soil, it’s smaller than all the seeds on earth.

³² Yet, when it is planted, it comes up and gets bigger than all the other vegetables. And it produces big branches-so big that the birdsz can make nests in its shade.”

³³ Jesus was telling them his messageaa with lots of parables like this-depending on their understanding.bb

³⁴ He wasn’t saying anything to them without using some kind of parable. But in private he was explaining everything to his closest followers.cc

³⁵ Jesus Calms the Storm (Mt. 8:23-37; Lk. 8:22-25) Jesus said to them on that day at sunset, “Let’s go across to the other side.”

³⁶ And when they’d sent the crowd away, they took him along in the boat just as he was.dd There were other boats with him too.

³⁷ And there was a big wind-storm, and the waves were crashing against the boat-to the point that the boat started filling up with water.

³⁸ And Jesus was in the back of the boat withee a pillow, asleep. They tried to wake him up, and were saying to him, “Teacher, doesn’t it matter to you that we’re going down?”ff

³⁹ And Jesus woke up and told off the wind, and said to the lake, “Be quiet! Be still!” And it became totally calm.gg

⁴⁰ Jesus said to them, “Why are you afraid? Don’t you have faith yet?”

⁴¹ And they were deeply shaken.hh They were saying to one another, “So who is this, ifii the wind and the lake obey him?”

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¹ Jesus Heals a Man from Thousands of Demons (Mt. 8:28-9:1; Lk. 8:26-39) They came to the other side of the lake, to the area of the Gerasenes.

² Right as Jesus was getting out of the boat, a man met him, coming out of a cemetery.a He had an unclean spirit,

³ andb was living there among the tombs. And no one could controlc him, even with chains.

⁴ Because he had been shackled with chains and leg irons many times, and he would tear the chains apart and smash the leg irons. No one was strong enough to hold him down.

⁵ All night and all day, around the tombs and the hills there, he’d be screaming and hitting himself with rocks.

⁶ And when he saw Jesus, he ran up from a long ways away, and bowed down to the ground in front of him.

⁷ He screamed really loud:d “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God,e please don’t torment me!”

⁸ (Jesus had been saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of this man.”)

⁹ Jesus asked him, “What’s your name?” And he said to him, “Thousandsf is my name, because there are a lot of us!”

¹⁰ And he begged him over and over not to send them out of the area.

¹¹ Now, there was a large herd of pigs grazing there on the mountainside.

¹² The demons pleaded with Jesus, “Send us into the pigs, so that we can go into them.”

¹³ And he gave them permission. The unclean spirits came out, and went into the pigs. And the herd rushed over a cliff and into the lake-about two thousand of them-and drowned in the lake.

¹⁴ And the people who had been grazing the pigs ran away, and they told the story to the whole town and to the nearby villages.

¹⁵ And the peopleg came out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demonized man sitting there, with clothes on, and in his right mind-the one who used to have the thousands of demonsh.-and they were afraid.

¹⁶ And the people who had seen whati happened to the demonized man told them about it and about the pigs.

¹⁷ And the peoplej started begging Jesus to leave their region.

¹⁸ And as he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demonized begged to go along with him.k

¹⁹ Jesus wouldn’t let him. Instead, he said to him, “Go home to your family, and tell them what the Sovereign One has done for you and how God has had mercy on you.

²⁰ And he went off and began to tell everyonel in the Decapolism what Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed.

²¹ Jesus Brings a Dead Girl to Life and Heals a Woman (Mt. 9:18-26; Lk. 8:40-56) Jesus crossed again to the other side. A large crowd gathered around him whilen he was there next to the lake.

²² And one of the leaders of the synagogue came. His name was Jairus.o When Jairus saw Jesus he threw himself down at his feet.

²³ And he begged him over and over, saying, “My little daughter is just about to die! Please come and lay your hand on her, so that she’ll be healed and she’ll live.”

²⁴ And Jesus went off with him. A large crowd was following Jesus, and they were pressing in on him.

²⁵ And there was a woman who’d been bleeding for twelve years non-stop.

²⁶ She’d suffered through lots of treatments by lots of doctors. She’d spent everything she had, and nothing helped-she just kept getting worse.

²⁷ She’d heard about Jesus, and she came through the crowd behind him and touched his robe.

²⁸ She’d been saying to herself, “If I even touch his clothes I’ll be healed.”

²⁹ And right away the source of blood dried up in her.p She knew in her body that she was healed from her affliction.q

³⁰ Right away Jesus noticed in himself that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd, and was saying, “Who touched my clothes?”

³¹ And his followers were saying to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you-yet you say, ‘Who touched me’?”

³² He was looking around to see who’d done it.

³³ And the woman, frightened and trembling, knew just what had happened to her. She came and threw herself down in front of him, and told him the whole truth.

³⁴ Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.”r Go in peace, and be completely healeds from your affliction.

³⁵ While he was saying that, people came from the synagogue leader’s house. They were saying, “Your daughter has died. Why trouble the teacher any further?”

³⁶ But Jesus overheard what they were saying. He said to the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid. Justt believe.”

³⁷ And he didn’t let anyone come with him except Peter and James and John, James’s brother.

³⁸ They got to the synagogue leader’s house, and Jesus saw all the turmoil going on,u and lots of crying and wailing.

³⁹ He went in and said to them, “Why are you all in turmoil, and crying? The child hasn’t died-she’s just sleeping.”

⁴⁰ And they were laughing at him, but he kicked them all out. He took the child’s father and mother, and his companions, and went in the room where the child was.

⁴¹ Jesus took the child’s hand and said to her, “Talitha kum,”v which means, “Little girl, wake up!”w

⁴² Right away the little girl stood up and was walking around-she was twelve years old. And they were totally astonished.

⁴³ Jesus warned them many times that no one was to know about this. And he told them to give her something to eat.

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¹ Jesus is Rejected at Nazareth (Mt. 13:54-58; Lk. 4:16-30) Jesus left that place and came to his hometown, and his followers went with him.

² When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue. And lots of the people who heard him were astounded. They were saying, “Where’d he get all this from?a What’s this wisdom that’s been given to him-that these sorts of displays of power also come about by his hands?b

³ Isn’t this the carpenter-Mary’s son, and the brother of James and Joseph and Judah and Simon? Aren’t his sisters right here with us?” And they were getting offended by him.

⁴ Butc Jesus was saying to them, “Prophets aren’t dishonored except in their own towns, and among their own relatives, and in their own houses.”d

⁵ And he wasn’t able to do any displays of power there-except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.

⁶ And he was amazed by their lack of faith. Jesus Sends his Twelve Apostles on a Mission (Mt. 10:5-15; Lk. 9:1-6) Jesus went around the little villages, teaching.

⁷ And he called the twelve over, and began sending them oute two by two. He gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

⁸ And he told them not to take anything at all for the road, except for a walking stickf.-no bread, no bag, no money in their pockets.g

⁹ Just lace up your sandalsh.-don’t even wear two shirts.

¹⁰ He was saying to them, “Whatever house you go into, stay there until you leave that place.

¹¹ If a place doesn’t accept you or listen to you, walk out of there. Shake off the dust from the bottoms of your feet, as a testimony against them.”

¹² And they went out and preached that people should change their hearts.i

¹³ And they kicked out lots of demons, and they were putting olive oilj on a lot of sick people and healing them.

¹⁴ Herod Executes John the Baptizer (Mt. 14:1-12; Lk. 9:7-9) King Herodk heard about Jesus, because his name had become well known. People were saying,l “John the Baptizer has risen from among the dead. That’s why these displays of power are being done by him.m

¹⁵ Other people were saying, “He’s Elijah,” and others were saying that he was a prophet like one of the prophets.n

¹⁶ But when Herod heard about Jesus, he would say, “This is John, whose head I cut off-he’s come alive again!”o

¹⁷ Because Herodp had sent and arrested John, and held him in prison. He’d done that because of Herodias,q Herod’s brother Philip’s wife. Herod had married her,

¹⁸ and John had been saying, “It’s not allowed for you to have your brother’s wife.”

¹⁹ And Herodias had a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. Butr she couldn’t,

²⁰ because Herod was afraid of John. He knew he was a just and holy man, and he was protecting him. When he listened to him he’d be really disturbed,s butt he liked to listen to him.

²¹ Then her opportunity came. On Herod’s birthday, he gave a banquet for his high-ranking people, the military commanders, and the top civiliansu of Galilee.v

²² Herodias’s own daughterw came in and danced, which pleased Herod and the dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.”

²³ And he swore to her again and again, “Whatever you ask me I’ll give you-up to half my kingdom.”

²⁴ She left and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptizer.”

²⁵ And she ran in right away to the king and made her request:x “I want you, right now, to give me the head of John the Baptizer on a platter.”

²⁶ The king was very unhappy about it, but because of the oaths and the guests,y he didn’t want to break his promise to her.

²⁷ Right away he sent off a messenger with orders to bring his head. And he went away and had him beheadedz in the prison,

²⁸ and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.

²⁹ When John’s followers heard about it, they went and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

³⁰ The Apostles Report Back to Jesus about their Mission And the apostlesaa came to Jesus together, and told him all the things they’d done and taught.

³¹ He said to them, “Come, just you by yourselves, to a deserted place, and rest a little while.” Jesus Feeds More Than 5,000 People (Mt. 14:13-21; Lk. 9:10-17; Jn 6:1-13) Because lots of people were coming and going, and there wasn’t even a chance to eat.

³² And they went off in a boat to a deserted place by themselves.

³³ Butbb lots of people saw them as they were going, and recognized them.cc People from all the towns ran there on foot, and got there before them.

³⁴ When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd. He felt compassion for them, because they were like sheep that didn’t have a shepherd. And he ended up teaching them for a long time.dd

³⁵ When it had already gotten late, his followers came up to him and were saying, “This place is deserted, and it’s already late.

³⁶ Send them off, so they can go off to the farms and villages around here and buy themselves something to eat.”

³⁷ But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “Should we go off and buy 200 denariiee worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?”

³⁸ Jesus said to them, “How many loaves of bread do you have? Go look.” They checked,ff and said, “Five, and two fish.”

³⁹ And he told them to have everyone lie downgg in groups there on the green grass.

⁴⁰ They lay down in neat groups-of a hundred, or of fifty.

⁴¹ And Jesus took the five loaves of bread and the two fish, and looked up to heaven, and said a blessing. And he broke up the loaves, and was giving them to his followers, so they could serve the people.

⁴² They all ate and got a good meal.hh

⁴³ And they picked up twelve baskets of leftover pieces of breadii (and fish too).

⁴⁴ Five thousand men had just eaten.jj

⁴⁵ Jesus Walks on the Water (Mt. 14:22-33; Jn 6:15-21) Right away Jesus made his followers get in the boat and go across to Bethsaidakk ahead of him. Meanwhile, he sent the crowd away himself.

⁴⁶ When he had said goodbye to them, he went off into the hills to pray.

⁴⁷ That evening,ll the boat was out in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was by himself on land.

⁴⁸ He saw they were straining hardmm to row, because the wind was against them. At about three in the morning,nn Jesus came to them, walking on the lake, and he intendedoo to go past them.

⁴⁹ But they saw him walking on the lake, and they thought it was a ghost. They screamed,

⁵⁰ because everybody saw him, and they were startled. But right away he talked with them, and said, “Have courage-it’s me. Don’t be afraid.”

⁵¹ Jesus got in the boat with them, and the wind died down. And they were completely astonished-

⁵² because they hadn’t understood about the loaves of bread. Just the opposite-their hearts were stubborn.

⁵³ Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret (Mt. 14:34-36) When they’d crossed over to the other shore,pp they came to Gennesaretqq and tied up there.

⁵⁴ As they were getting out of the boat, the whole place recognized him right away.

⁵⁵ They all came running over. And they started bringing sick people on sleeping pads to the place where they heard he was.

⁵⁶ Whatever villages or towns or farms he went to, they laid the ill people down in the marketplaces, and they begged him to just touch the borders of his clothes. And whoever touched him was healed.

7

¹ Jesus Criticizes Unjust Religious Traditions (Mt. 15:1-20) The Pharisees came up to Jesus along with some of the scripture experts from Jerusalem.

² And they saw that some of his followers were eating their food with “unholy,”a that is, unwashed, hands.

³ (The Pharisees, and all the Jews, never eat unless they wash their hands a certain way.b They keep the tradition of the elders,

⁴ which meansc they don’t eat things from the market without washing them in water.d There are a lot of other traditions that they keep-like washing cups, containers, and copperware.e.)

⁵ And the Pharisees and scripture experts asked Jesus, “Why don’t your followers observe the tradition of the elders? They’re eating their food with unholy hands!”

⁶ But he said to them, “Isaiah did well when he prophesied about you play-actors. As scripture says:f. This people honors me with their lips, But their heart is far away from me.

⁷ Their reverence for me is empty. They teach rules that are just human teachings.g

⁸ “You turn your back on God’s command, and keep a human tradition.”h

⁹ And he said to them, “You’re good at canceling out God’s command so that you can put upi your own tradition.

¹⁰ For example, Moses says, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’j and ‘The person who insults their father or mother is to be put to death.’k

¹¹ But you say, ‘A person can sayl to their father or mother, “Whatever I owe to you is Corban”m (which means ‘given to God’)’-

¹² and you don’t let them do anything for their father or mother anymore!

¹³ So you cancel out God’s message with then tradition that you hand down. You do lots of othero things like that.”

¹⁴ What Really Makes you Holy or Unholy (Mt. 15:10-20) Jesus called over the crowd again, and he was saying to them, “Everybody listen to me, and understand.

¹⁵ There’s nothing outside a person, which, by going inside, can make the person unholy. No, it’s the things that come out of a person that make the person unholy.”p

¹⁶

¹⁷ When he went inside a house, away from the crowd, his followers asked him about that parable.

¹⁸ Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand either?q Don’t you know that everything outside that goes inside a person can’t make the person unholy?

¹⁹ After all, it doesn’t go into the person’s heart, but into the digestive system, and then goes out into the sewer.” (He’s declaring all foods clean.)r

²⁰ And Jesus was saying, “It’s what comes out of a person that makes the person unholy.

²¹ After all, it’s from the inside-from people’s hearts-that bad thoughts come. Whether it’s acts of sexual immorality,s stealing, murder, marital unfaithfulness,t

²² greediness, hate, dishonesty, promiscuity,u envy,v blasphemy, arrogance, or foolishness,

²³ all these evils come out from inside and make a person unholy.”

²⁴ Jesus Heals a Non-Jewish Woman’s Daughter (Mt. 15:21-28) Jesus got up and went off to the area around Tyre. He went into a house, and he didn’t want anyone to know he was there. Yetw he couldn’t keep from being recognized.

²⁵ In fact, one woman heard about him right away, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit. She came and threw herself at his feet.

²⁶ The woman was a non-Jew, a Syrophoenician.x She asked him to kick the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷ And he was saying to her, “First let the children be fed. After all, it’s not good to take the children’s food and throw it to the pet dogs.”

²⁸ But she said back to him, “Sir, even the pet dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.”

²⁹ And Jesus said to her, “For saying that, go-the demon has left your daughter.”

³⁰ And when she went off home, she found her child lying in bed, and the demon was gone.

³¹ Jesus Heals a Deaf Man (Mt. 15:29-31) Jesus came back from the area around Tyre. He went by way of Sidony to the Lake of Galilee, and on through middle of the Decapolisz area.

³² And they brought him a man who was deaf and could barely speak. They pleaded with him to put his hand on him.

³³ And Jesus took him out of the crowd by himself. Then he put his fingers in his ears, and spat and touched his tongue.

³⁴ And he looked up to heaven and let out a groaning sigh. Jesus said to him, “Ephphatha!”aa which means, “Open up!”

³⁵ And his ears cleared,bb and his tongue was freed up, and he started talking normally.cc

³⁶ Jesus warned them not to tell anyone. But as much as he warned them, they spread the news that much more.

³⁷ Peopledd were absolutely, totally astounded. They were saying, “He’s done everything well! He even makes deaf people hear and mute people speak!”

8

¹ Jesus Feeds More than 4,000 People (Mt. 15:32-39) Around that time,a there was another large crowd, and they didn’t have anything to eat. Jesus called his followers over and said to them,

² “I feel compassion for the crowd, because they’ve already stayed with me for three days, and they don’t have anything to eat.

³ If I send them home hungry, they’ll collapse on the way. Some of them have come from a long ways away.”

⁴ His followers said back to him, “Where can anybody get enough loaves of bread to feed these people out hereb in the wilderness?”

⁵ Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?” They said, “Seven.”

⁶ And Jesus told the crowd to liec down on the ground. He took the seven loaves, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his followers to hand out. And they handed them out to the crowd.

⁷ They also had a few small fish. When Jesus had blessed them, he said to hand them out too.

⁸ People were eating, and they had a good meal. And they picked up seven bags of leftovers.

⁹ There were about four thousand people. And Jesus sent them home.d

¹⁰ Right away he got into the boat with his followers and went to the area of Dalmanutha.e

¹¹ People Demand That Jesus Show them a Miracle (Mt. 16:1-4) The Pharisees came out and started to argue with Jesus. They were trying to get him to give themf a miracleg from heaven.

¹² Jesus groaned deep in his spirit, and said, “How can this generation ask for a miracle?h I’m telling you seriously: no miraclei is going to be given to this generation.”

¹³ And he left them, and went over to the other side by boat again.

¹⁴ Jesus Warns about the “Yeast of the Pharisees and the Yeast of Herod” (Mt. 16:5-12) And they’d forgotten to take some loaves of bread along. Aside from one loaf, they didn’t have anything with them in the boat.

¹⁵ Jesus was telling them, “Be careful-watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”

¹⁶ And they were talking among themselves, and saying, “We don’t have any bread.”

¹⁷ Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said, “Why are you talking about the fact that you don’t have any bread? Don’t you get it yet? Don’t you understand? Do you have such stubborn hearts?j

¹⁸ Do you ‘have eyes and not see, and ears, and not hear’?k Don’t you remember?

¹⁹ When I broke the five loaves for those five thousand people, how many baskets of extra pieces did you pick up?” They said to him, “Twelve.”

²⁰ “And when the seven loaves went for the four thousand? How many bags of extra pieces did you pick up?” They said, “Seven.”

²¹ And he was saying to them, “Don’t you understand?”

²² Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida They went into Bethsaida.l And some people brought Jesus a blind man and pleaded with him to touch him.

²³ Jesus took the blind man’s hand and brought him out of the village. And he spat on his eyes, and put his hands on him. He asked him, “Do you see anything?”

²⁴ And he could see again.m He was saying, “I’m seeing people-because it’s like I’m seeing trees walking around!”

²⁵ Then Jesus put his hands on his eyes again, and he looked hard, and he was back to normal, and was seeing everything clearly.

²⁶ Jesus sent him off home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.”

²⁷ Peter Tells Jesus, “You’re the Messiah!” (Mt. 16:18-20; Lk. 9:18-20) Jesus and his followers left for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.n On the way, he asked his followers a question. He was saying to them, “Who do people say I am?”

²⁸ They said to him, “Some say John the Baptizer, others say Elijah, and others say one of the prophets.”

²⁹ Jesus asked them, “And you? Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You’re the Messiah!”o

³⁰ And Jesus warned them not to talk to anybody about him.

³¹ Jesus Tells his Followers that He is Going to be Killed (Mt. 16:21-24a; Lk. 9:21-22) And Jesus started to teach them that the Human One had to be treated very badly byp the elders, chief priests, and scripture experts, and be rejected by them. He had to be killed, and rise again on the third day.

³² Jesus was talking openly about it.q And Peter took him aside and began to tell him off.

³³ But he turned and looked at his followers, and told Peter off. He said to Peter, “Get on behind me, Satan! Because you’re not thinking God’s thoughts—you’re thinking human thoughts!”r

³⁴ Pick up your Cross and Follow Me! (Mt. 16:24b-28; Lk. 9:23-27) And he called the crowd to come over with his followers. Jesus said to them, “If anyone wants to follow me, let them deny themselves, and pick up their cross and follow me.

³⁵ Because whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever is going to lose their life-because of me ands the good news-will find it.

³⁶ After all, what good is it for a person to gain the whole world, and their life is a loss?t

³⁷ In other words, what can a person give in exchange for their life?

³⁸ Because if someone is ashamed of me and my words in this unfaithful and sinful generation, then the Human One will also be ashamed of them, when he comes with the glory of his Father, along with the holy angels.”u

9

¹ Jesus is Transformed in Front of Peter, James, and John (Mt. 17:1-8; Lk. 9:28-36; 2 Pet. 1:16-18) Jesus was saying to them, “I’m telling you seriously, some of you standing right here won’t diea until they’ve seen the Reign of God come with power!

² After six days, Jesus took along Peter and James and John, and he led them up a high mountain all alone. And he was changed in front of them.

³ His clothes turned totally bright white-a kind of white that no professional cleaner on earth could create.

⁴ And Elijah and Moses appeared to them, and they were talking together with Jesus.

⁵ Peter responded and said to Jesus, “Teacher, it’s a good thing we’re here! If you like, we’ll make three shelters-one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

⁶ Actually,b he didn’t know what he was saying,c because he and the othersd were terrified.

⁷ And a cloud came and cast its shadow over them-and a voice came out of the cloud: “This is my Son! I love him!e Listen to him!”

⁸ Suddenly, as they looked all around, they couldn’t see anybody with them except Jesus.f

⁹ As they were going back down the mountain, Jesus ordered them not to tell anybody what they’d seen-until the Human One rose again from among the dead.

¹⁰ And they kept it to themselves.g They were trying to figure outh what “rising from among the dead” could be.i

¹¹ The Coming of Elijah (Mt. 17:9-13) And they asked him this question: “Why do the scripture experts say that Elijah has to come first?”

¹² Jesus said to them, “Well, Elijah does come first, and puts everything back right.j Yetk how does scripture sayl about the Human One, that lots of bad things are going to happen to him, and that he’s going to be despised?m

¹³ Yes, I’m telling you, Elijah has already come. And they did whatever they wanted to him-just as scripture saysn about him.”

¹⁴ Jesus Heals a Boy who Has a Demon (Mt. 17:14-21; Lk. 9:37-43a) When they came to Jesus’ followers, they saw a big crowd around them. And the scripture experts were arguing with them.

¹⁵ Right away the whole crowd saw Jesus, and they were totally amazed. They ran over, and were greeting him.

¹⁶ Jesus asked them, “What were you arguing about with them?”

¹⁷ And one of the people in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought my son to you-he has a spirit that can’t speak.o

¹⁸ Whenever it grabs him, it throws him down. And he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and goes all stiff.p I told your followers to kick it out, and they couldn’t.”

¹⁹ Jesus said to them,q “You faithless generation, how long am I going to be with you? How long will I have to put up with you? Bring him to me.”

²⁰ And they brought him to Jesus. When the spirit saw him, it shook the boy violently. He fell down, and he was rolling around and foaming at the mouth.

²¹ Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” He said, “Since he was little.

²² Lots of times it has thrown him into fire and into water, trying to killr him. But if you can do something, please have compassion for us and help us!”

²³ Jesus said to him, “’If you can’? Everything’s possible for the person who believes.”

²⁴ The boy’s father cried out, “I believe! Help me with my unbelief!”

²⁵ Jesus saw that a crowd was running up and gathering around. He told off the unclean spirit, and was saying to it, “You spirit that can’t talk or hear, I command you to come out of him and never go into him again!”

²⁶ After screaming and shaking him very violently,s the spirit came out. He lay there as though he were dead-and most people thought he’d died.t

²⁷ But Jesus took his hand and raised him up, and he stood up.

²⁸ When Jesus went indoors, his followers asked him, “How come we couldn’t kick that demon out?”

²⁹ He said to them, “This kind can’t come out by anything but prayer.”

³⁰ Jesus Tells his Followers Again That he is Going to be Killed (Mt. 17:22-23; Lk. 9:43b-45) They left there and were traveling through Galilee. Jesus didn’t want anyone to know about it,

³¹ because he was teaching his closest followers. He was saying to them, “The Human One is going to be betrayed to the authorities,u and they’re going to kill him. After he has died, he’ll rise again after three days.”

³² They couldn’t understand that,v but they were afraid to ask him about it.

³³ Who is the Greatest Follower of Jesus? (Mt. 18:1-5; Lk. 9:46-48) They went into Capernaum.w When they got indoors, Jesus asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”

³⁴ But they didn’t say anything.x Because on the way, they’d been discussing who was the greatest.

³⁵ Jesus sat down and called the twelve over. He said to them, “If somebody wants to be first, they’re going to be last of everybody, and a servant to everybody.”

³⁶ And he took a child, and had the child stand right there in the middle of them. He hugged the child, and said to them,

³⁷ “Whoever accepts one child like thisy in my name, accepts me. And whoever accepts me, isn’t accepting me, but the one who sent me.”

³⁸ Whoever isn’t against us is for us (Mt. 10:40-42; Lk. 9:49-50) John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone kicking out demons in your name, and we were trying to stop him, because he wasn’t one of our followers.”z

³⁹ Jesus said, “Don’t stop him. After all, no one who does a display of power in my name is also going to be able to say nasty things about me right away.

⁴⁰ Because whoever isn’t against us is for us.

⁴¹ In fact,aa whoever gives you a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah,bb I’m telling you seriously, they will never lose their reward.”

⁴² The Grave Seriousness of Tripping People Up-Including Yourself (Mt. 18:6-9; Lk. 17:1-2) And suppose someone trips up one of these little ones who believe in me.cc It’s better for them to have had a millstonedd put around their neck and to have been thrown into the ocean.

⁴³ And if your hand trips you up, cut it off. It’s better for you to go into life with a disabilityee than to have two hands, and go into Gehenna-into the fire that can’t be put out.ff

⁴⁴

⁴⁵ And if your foot trips you up, cut it off. It’s better for you to go into life with a disability than to have two feet, and get thrown into Gehenna.

⁴⁶

⁴⁷ And if your eye trips you up, tear it out. It’s better for you to go into the Reign of God with one eye, than to have two eyes, and get thrown into Gehenna-

⁴⁸ where “their worm doesn’t die, and the fire doesn’t get put out.”gg

⁴⁹ Because everybody is going to be salted with fire.

⁵⁰ Salt is good. But if salt ever loses its saltiness, what are you going to season it with? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.

10

¹ Jesus Teaches about Divorce (Mt. 19:1-9) Jesus got up from there, and came into the area of Judea east of the Jordan River.a And crowds gathered to him again. As usual, he was teaching them.

² And some people were asking himb whether it was allowed for a man to divorce his wife. They were testing him.

³ Jesus answered, “What did Moses tell you to do?”

⁴ They said, “Moses let us ‘write a note of divorce and send her away.’”c

⁵ And Jesus was saying to them, “It was because of the stubbornnessd of your hearts that Moses wrote you that command.

⁶ But from the beginning of creation, God created them male and female.

⁷ Because of this, a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife.

⁸ And the two will be one flesh.e. “As a result, they aren’t two, but ‘one flesh.’

⁹ So: what God has joined together, human beingsf shouldn’t separate.”

¹⁰ When they were inside again, his followers were asking him about it.

¹¹ Jesus said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife, and marries someone else, is breaking his marriage vows.

¹² And if she divorces her husband, and marries someone else, she’s breaking her marriage vows.”g

¹³ Jesus Blesses Some Little Children (Mt. 19:13-15; Lk. 18:15-17) People started bringingh children up to Jesus, for him to touch them-but his followers gave them a hard time.i

¹⁴ But when Jesus saw that, he was angry. He said to them, “Let the children come to me! Don’t be stopping them! After all, the Reign of God belongs to ones like these.

¹⁵ I’m telling you seriously: whoever doesn’t accept the Reign of God like a child will never go into it.”

¹⁶ And he hugged them, then laid his hands on them and blessed them.

¹⁷ A Rich Man Comes to Jesus (Mt. 19:16-30; Lk. 18:18-30) As Jesus was walking along from there, a man ran up to him and knelt in front of him. He started to ask him, “Good teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸ But Jesus said to him, “Why are you saying I’m good? Nobody’s good except for the One God.

¹⁹ You know the commandments: Don’t murder, don’t break your marriage vows,j don’t steal, don’t give false testimony against anyone, don’t cheat people, honor your father and mother.k

²⁰ And he was saying to Jesus, “Teacher, I’ve kept all of these since I was a child.”

²¹ And as Jesus looked at him, he loved him. He said to him, “You’re missing one thing. Go and sell everythingl you have, and give to the poor. Thenm you’ll have treasure in heaven. And come follow me.”

²² But he was shocked by that statement. 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 (Mt. 19:23-30; Lk. 18:24-30) Jesus looked around and said to his followers, “It will be so painful for people who have wealth to enter God’s Reign!”

²⁴ And his followers were just astonished by the things he was saying.n But Jesus said to them again, “Children, it’s so painfulo to enter God’s Reign!

²⁵ It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Reign of God.”

²⁶ And they were completely astounded. They were saying to each other, “Thenp who can be saved?”

²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “It’s impossible for human beings, but not for God. Everything’s possible for God.”

²⁸ Peter started to say to him, “Look, we’ve left everything and have become your followers.”

²⁹ Jesus was saying, “I’m telling you seriously: there’s no one who has left a home, or brothers or sisters, or mother or father, or a child, or properties for me and the good news,

³⁰ who won’t receive a hundred times as much now in this age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and properties-with persecutions. And in the age that’s coming, eternal life.

³¹ 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.”

³² Jesus Says for the Third Time That he is Going to be Killed (Mt. 20:17-19; Lk. 18:31-34) They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was leading them. They were amazed, but the people following behind were feeling scared. Jesus took the twelve aside again and started telling them the things that were about to happen to him.

³³ “Look, we’re going up to Jerusalem, and the Human One is going to be handed over to the chief priests and the scripture experts. They’re going to condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles.

³⁴ They are going to make fun of him, and spit on him, and whip him, and kill him. And after three days he’s going to rise up.”

³⁵ James and John Ask Jesus for a Favor (Mt. 20:20-28) James and John, the sons of Zebedee, walked up to Jesus. They said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do something for us, that we’re going to ask you.”

³⁶ Jesus said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”

³⁷ They said to him, “Give us this favor: that one of us will sit on your right, and one on your left, in your glory.”

³⁸ Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you’re asking. Can you drink the cup that I’m drinking, or go through the baptism that I’m going through?”q

³⁹ They said to him, “We can.” And Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup that I’m drinking, and you will go through the baptism I’m going through.

⁴⁰ 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.”

⁴¹ When the ten heard about it, they started getting offended with James and John.

⁴² And Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who supposedlyr rule the Gentiles wield power over them, and that the great people among them wield authority over them.

⁴³ But it’s not like that with you. No-the person who hopess to be great among you will be a servant to you all;

⁴⁴ and the person who hopes to be first among you will be a servant to you all.

⁴⁵ After all, even the Human One didn’t come to be served, but to serve-and to give his life to buy many people out of bondage.”t

⁴⁶ Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Jericho (Mt. 20:29-34; Lk. 18:35-43) They came to Jericho. As Jesus was leaving Jericho-along with his followers and a good-sized crowd-there was a blind man: Timaeus’s son, known as Bartimaeus.u He was sitting by the side of the road, begging.v

⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he started to shout, “Jesus, Son of David,w please have mercy on me!”

⁴⁸ And although lots of people were telling him off, and saying to be quiet, he was shouting all the more, “Son of David, please have mercy on me!!”

⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called out to him. They were saying to him, “Cheer up!x Get up, he’s calling you!”

⁵⁰ And he threw off his outer robe and jumped up, and came up to Jesus.

⁵¹ Jesus said to him,y “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “Teacher, I’d like to see again!”

⁵² And Jesus said to him, “Go—your faith has healed you.” Right away he could see again, and began following Jesus on the road.

11

¹ The Crowds Celebrate as Jesus Enters Jerusalem (Mt. 21:1-11; Lk. 19:28-40; Jn 12:12-19) When they got close to Jerusalem, at Bethphagea and Bethany,b next to the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his followers on a mission.

² He said to them, “Go into the village across from you. Right as you’re going into it, you’ll find a colt tied up. It will never have been ridden before.c Untie it and bring it.

³ If anyone asks you ‘Why are you doing that?’ say, ‘The Teacher needs him,d and he’s sendinge him back here right away.’”f

⁴ And they went off. They found the colt tied up out in the street in front of a door, and they untied him.

⁵ Some of the people standing there were saying to them, “What are you doing, untying that colt?”

⁶ They told them just what Jesus said, and they left them alone.

⁷ And they brought the colt to Jesus. And they put their robes over him, and Jesus sat on him.

⁸ Lots of people threw their robes in the street,g and others threw branches they had cut from the fields.

⁹ And the people walking ahead, and the people following behind, were shouting, Hosanna!h Bless the onei who comes in the name of the Sovereign One!j

¹⁰ Blessk the coming reign of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the heights of heaven!

¹¹ They came into Jerusalem, and went into the Temple. Jesus looked around at everything, but it was already about sundown, so he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

¹² Jesus Curses a Fig Tree (Mt. 21:18-19) The next day, as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus felt hungry.

¹³ He saw a fig tree a long ways away, with leaves on it. He went to it, in case he might findl some figs on it.m When he came, he didn’t find anything on it but leaves-because it wasn’t the right season for figs.

¹⁴ Jesus said to it, “From now on, may nobody ever eat from your fruit again!” And his followers were listening.

¹⁵ Jesus Goes to the Temple-And Knocks Over Some Tables (Mt. 21:12-17; Lk. 19:45; Jn 2:12-25) They came to Jerusalem. When they went into the Temple, he started kicking out the people who were buy­ing and selling in the Temple. Jesus turned over the tables of the money-changers, and the chairs of the people selling doves.

¹⁶ He wasn’t letting anybody carry goodsn through the Temple.

¹⁷ He was teaching, and was saying to them, “Doesn’t scripture sayo that ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’?p But you’ve made it a hideout for armed robbers!”q

¹⁸ The chief priests and the scripture experts heard that, and they were looking for a way to kill him,r because they were afraid of him. Because the whole crowd kepts being astounded by his teaching.

¹⁹ And when it got to be evening, theyt went out of the city.

²⁰ A Lesson about Faith from the Fig Tree (Mt. 21:20-22) As they were walking by early the next day, they saw the fig tree had dried up right from the roots up.

²¹ And Peter remembered it. He said to Jesus, “Teacher, look! The fig tree that you cursed-it’s all dried up.”

²² Jesus answered, and said to all of them, “Have faith in God!u

²³ I’m telling you seriously: whoever says to this mountain, ‘Get up and throw yourselfv in the ocean,’ and doesn’t doubt in their heart, but believes that what they say is happening, it will happen for them.”

²⁴ So I’m telling you: all the things you pray for and ask for-believe that you’ve received them and it will be that way for you.

²⁵ And whenever you’re standing there praying,w forgive whatever you are holding against somebody. That way, your Father in heaven will forgive your offenses.x

²⁶

²⁷ The Religious Leaders Question Jesus’ Authority (Mt. 21:23-27; Lk. 20:1-8) They came to Jerusalem again, and Jesus was walking around in the Temple. The chief priests, the scripture experts, and the elders came up to him.

²⁸ They were saying to him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you the authority to do all this?”y

²⁹ Jesus said to them, “I’ll ask you one thing, and you answer me. Thenz I’ll tell you by what authority I’m doing these things.

³⁰ John’s baptism-was it from heaven, or did it just come from human beings? Answer me.”

³¹ And they started discussing it amongst themselves. They were saying, “If we say it was from heaven, he’ll say to us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’

³² But should we say it was just from human beings?” (They were afraid of the crowd, because everybody regarded John as really being a prophet.aa.)

³³ 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.

12

¹ The Parable of the Evil Tenant Farmers (Mt. 21:33-46; Lk. 20:9-19) Jesus started to talk to them in parables: A man planted a vineyard and put up a fence. He dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower.a Then he leased it out to farmers, and moved away.

² When the time came,b he sent a servant to get a portion of the harvest of the vineyard.

³ And they took him and beat him up, and sent him away empty-handed.

⁴ Again, he sent another servant to them. That one they bashed on the head and humiliated.

⁵ And he sent another, and they killed that one. He sent lots more-some they beat up, and others they killed.

⁶ He still had one person left: a son that he loved. He sent him to them last. He thought,c “They’ll respect my son.”

⁷ But those farmers said to one another, “This is the heir! Come on, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!”

⁸ And they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

⁹ So what will the owner of that vineyard do? He’ll come and kill those farmers and give the vineyard to somebody else.

¹⁰ Haven’t you even read this scripture- This stone, Which the builders rejected, Has become the cornerstone!

¹¹ The Sovereign One has done this,d. And it’s amazing to us!e

¹² They were looking for a way to arrestf Jesus, butg they were afraid of the crowd. Because they knew he’d told that parable against them. They left him alone and went away.

¹³ Jesus Answers a Trick Question about Paying Taxes to Caesar (Mt. 22:15-22; Lk. 20:20-26) They sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus, to trap him in what he said.h

¹⁴ They came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are sin­cere,i and that you don’t pay attention to who anybody is, because you don’t go by outward appearances.j None of that—you teach God’s way truthfully. Is it all right to pay the tax to Caesar, or not?

¹⁵ Should we give it to them or not?” But Jesus knew they were just acting,k and said, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denariusl so I can look at it.”

¹⁶ And they brought him one. He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.”

¹⁷ Jesus said to them, “Give Caesar’s things to Caesar, and God’s things to God.” And they were totally amazed by him.

¹⁸ Jesus Answers a Trick Question about the Resurrection (Mt. 22:23-33; Lk. 20:27-40) Some Sadducees came up to him-the ones who say there’s no resurrection. They asked him this question:m

¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote us this command: Suppose somebody’s brother dies, and he leaves a wife behind, butn doesn’t leave a child. His brother should marryo the wife and raise up offspring for his brother.p

²⁰ Once there were seven brothers. The first married a wifeq and died without leaving any offspring.

²¹ And the second brother married her without leaving any offspring. The same with the third.

²² And the seven didn’t leave any offspring.r

²³ At the resurrection, when they rise,s which one’s wife will she be? Because all seven had been married to her.”t

²⁴ Jesus was saying to them, Isn’t this why you’re way off? You don’t know the scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.

²⁵ Because when they rise from among the dead, people aren’t married, and they don’t get married. No, they’re like angels in the heavens.

²⁶ But as for the fact that the dead rise,u haven’t you read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him and said: I’m the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob!v

²⁷ God isn’t the God of the dead, but of the living. You’re very far off.

²⁸ Jesus Answers a Question about the First Commandment (Mt. 22:34-40; Lk. 10:25-28) One of the scripture experts came up and listened to them arguing. When he saw how well Jesus had answered them, he asked him, “What’s the number one commandment of all?”w

²⁹ Jesus answered, “The number one commandment is this: Hear, Israel! The Sovereign One your God, the Sovereign One is One!x

³⁰ and, Love the Sovereign One your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your understanding, and with all your strength.y

³¹ Number two is this: Love your neighbor, just as you love yourself.z. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

³² And the scripture expert said to Jesus, “Well said, Teacher! You’ve rightly said that God is One, and that there’s no other god but God.

³³ And loving God with your whole heart and understanding and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself, is more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ When Jesus saw that he’d answered wisely, he said to him, “You’re not far from the Reign of God.” After that, nobody dared to question him anymore.aa

³⁵ Jesus Asks a Question of his Own (Mt. 22:41-46; Lk. 41-44) Jesus went on to do more teaching in the Temple.bb “How is it that the scripture experts say that the Messiah is the son of David?cc

³⁶ David himself said in the Holy Spirit, The Sovereign One said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right side until I put your enemies under your feet.’dd

³⁷ David himself calls him ‘Lord,’ soee where does it come from that he’s David’s son?”ff And a large crowd was eagerly listening to him.gg

³⁸ Jesus Criticizes the Scripture Experts (Mt. 23:1-7; Lk. 20:45-47) In his teaching, Jesus was saying: “Watch out for the scripture experts. They want to walk around in long robes and be greeted with respect in public places.hh

³⁹ They want to have the best seats in the synagogues and the best places at banquets.

⁴⁰ These people gobble up widows’ houses-while making a show of praying long prayers! They’re going to faceii all the more judgment!”

⁴¹ Jesus Praises a Poor Widow’s Offering (Lk. 21:1-4) As Jesus sat across from the offering box, he was watching how the crowd was putting coins in the box. And a lot of rich people threw in a lot of coins.

⁴² And one poor widow came along and put in two half pennies-in other words, a penny.

⁴³ Jesus called his followers over. He said to them, “I’m telling you seriously, that poor widow put in more than all the people putting money in the offering box.

⁴⁴ Because they all put in out of what they had left overjj.-but she, out of her shortage of money, put in everything she had-all of her savings!”

13

¹ Jesus Prophesies the Destruction of the Temple (Mt. 24:1-8; Lk. 21:5-6) As Jesus walked out of the Temple, one of his followers said to him, “Teacher, look what amazing stones and buildings!”

² Jesus said to him, “Do you see these big buildings? There won’t be one stone left on top of another here-they’ll all be torn down!”a

³ Later,b Jesus sat down at the Mount of Olives, across from the Temple. Peter, James, John, and Andrew were asking him about it privately.

⁴ “Tell us, when will these things happen? Also, what’s the signc to look for, when all these things are about to come about?”d

⁵ And Jesus began saying to them: Signs of the Wrapping Up of the Age (Mt. 24:3-8; Lk. 21:7-11) Make sure nobody fools you.e

⁶ Lots of people are going to come using my name. They’re going to be saying, “I’m him!” And lots of people will be fooled by them.

⁷ And when you hear of wars, and rumors about wars, don’t panic. It has to happen, but it’s definitely not the end yet.

⁸ For example, one nation is going to get up and make war againstf another nation, and one kingdom against another kingdom. And are going to be earthquakes in various places. There’ll be famines. These are the start of the labor pains.

⁹ Persecution is Coming for Followers of Jesus (Mt. 24:9-14; Lk. 21:12-19) And watch out for yourselves. They’re going to hand you over to the courts,g and you’ll be beaten in synagogues. You’ll stand in front ofh governors and rulers because of me. It’ll bei a testimony to them.

¹⁰ (Butj first the good news has to be preached to all the nations.)

¹¹ And whenever they put you under arrest, don’t memorize what you’re going to say ahead of time. Just say whatever is given to you at the time.k Because it won’t be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

¹² But brothers and sisters will turn each other in to be killed, and parents will turn in their children. Children will turnl against their parents and get them killed.

¹³ And you’ll be hated by everyone because of my name. But it’s the person who stays with mem to the end that will be saved.

¹⁴ The “Horror That Causes Abandonment” (Mt. 24:15-28; Lk. 21:20-24) So when you see “the horror that causes abandonment”n set up where it doesn’t belong (the reader should understand!),o then the people in Judea should run away into the mountains.

¹⁵ Whoever is up on the roof shouldn’t go down to get anything out of their house.

¹⁶ The person out at the field shouldn’t even turn around behind them to get their coat.

¹⁷ It’s going to be horrible for preg­nant women and nursing mothers in those days.

¹⁸ But pray that your escape won’t have to be in the wintertime!

¹⁹ It’ll be a time ofp trouble unlike anything that’s ever happened-from the original creation that God made up to now-or could ever happen again!

²⁰ If the Sovereign One didn’t cut that time short, not one living soul would be saved.q But for the sake of the Sovereign One‘s chosen ones,r that time will be cut short.

²¹ During that time, if anyone says to you, “Look! The Messiah is here!” or “Look, there he is!"—don’t believe it.

²² Because false messiahs and false prophets are going to get up and do miracless and won­ders. They’ll try to mislead the chosen ones, if possible.

²³ Sot watch out. I’ve told you everything before­hand.

²⁴ The Coming of the Human One (Mt. 24:29-31; Lk. 21:25-28) But at that time, after that trouble, The sun will go dark, And the moon won’t shine,u

²⁵ The stars will be falling out of heaven, And the heavenly powers will be shaken.v

²⁶ Then they’ll see the Human One coming in the clouds,w with great power and glory.

²⁷ Then he’ll send out his angels, and he’ll gather together his chosen ones from the four winds-from the far end of the earth to the far end of the sky.x

²⁸ The Parable of the Fig Tree (Mt. 24:32-35; 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.

²⁹ In the same way, when you see these things happening, you know that he’sy nearly at your door­steps.

³⁰ I’m telling you seriously, this generation will not go away until all these things happen!

³¹ Heaven and earth are going to go away, but my words are never going to go away.

³² Nobody Knows the Exact Day and Hour, so Stay Awake! (Mt. 24:36; Lk. 21:34-36) But as for the exact day or hour, no one knows that-not even the angels in heaven, and not even the Son. Only the Father knows.

³³ Watch out; stay awake. Because you don’t know when that time will come.z

³⁴ It’s like a man who has gone away from home, who has given each of his slaves authority to do their jobs. And he tells the doorkeeper to keep watch.

³⁵ So you should keep watch, because the master of the house is coming. Maybe it’ll be in the evening, maybe at midnight, maybe at first light,aa or maybe at dawn.

³⁶ Whichever it is, he shouldn’t suddenly come and find you all sleeping.

³⁷ Sobb what I’m telling you, I’m telling everyone: keep watch!

14

¹ Religious Leaders Look for a Way to Kill Jesus (Mt. 26:1-5; Lk. 22:1-2; Jn 11:45-53) Now, the Passovera and the Festival of Unleavened Breadb was coming up in two days. And the chief priests and the scripture experts were looking for a sneaky way to kidnapc and kill Jesus.

² Because they’d been saying, “Not during the festival, so there won’t be a riot by the people.”

³ A Woman Anoints Jesus’ Head with Scented Oil (Mt. 26:6-13; Jn 12:1-8) Jesus was staying in Bethany, at Simon the Leper’s house. While he was having dinner,d a woman came. She had an alabastere jar of scented pistachiof oil-very expensive stuff. She broke the alabaster jar open and poured it over his head.

⁴ Some were grumbling to one another, “What’s the point of this waste of perfume?

⁵ After all, the perfume could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii,g and the money given to the poor.” And they were angry with her.

⁶ But Jesus said, “Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She did something nice for me.

⁷ After all, you’ll always have the poor with you. You can do something good for them whenever you like. But you don’t always have me.

⁸ She did what she could.h She anointedi my body ahead of time, for my burial.

⁹ I’m telling you seriously, wherever the good news is preached throughout the whole world, what she did will also be told, as her memorial.j

¹⁰ Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus (Mt. 26:14-16; Lk. 22:3-6) Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve,k went off to the chief priests to betray Jesus.

¹¹ They were very happy when they heard what he had to say, and they promised to give him money. And Judas began looking for a good moment to betray him.

¹² Jesus Has a Passover Meal with his Closest Followers (Mt. 26:17-25; Lk. 22:7-13; Jn 13:21-30) On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread,l when the Passoverm lamb was offered, Jesus’ followers said to him, “Where do you want us to go and get things ready, so that you can eat the Passover meal?”

¹³ And Jesus sent two of his followers. He told them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a water jar. Follow him.

¹⁴ Wherevern he goes indoors, say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher says, “Where is the guest room for me, where I can eat the Passover meal with my followers?”’

¹⁵ He’ll show you a big room upstairs that’s furnished and ready. Get things ready for us there.”

¹⁶ And the two followers left. They went into the city and found things exactly as he’d told them, and they got the Passover meal ready.

¹⁷ At sunset Jesus came with the twelve.

¹⁸ “One of you is Going to Betray me!” (Mt. 26:21-25; Lk. 22:21-23; Jn 13:21-30) As they were relaxingo and eating, Jesus said, “I’m telling you seriously, one of you is going to betray me-somebodyp eating here with me.”

¹⁹ And they started getting upset.q One by one, they were saying to him, “It isn’t me, is it?”

²⁰ But he said to them, “It’s one of you twelve. He’s dipping in the dipping bowl with me.

²¹ Because the Human One is going to go like the scriptures say he will;r 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!”

²² The Lord’s Supper (Mt. 26:26-29; 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. He gave it to them and said, “Here, this is my body.”s

²³ Then he took a cup of wine, said a prayer of thanks, and gave it to them, and they all took a drink.

²⁴ He said, “This is my blood, that seals the covenant. It’s going to be poured out for lots of people.t

²⁵ I’m telling you seriously, I’m never going to drink from the fruits of the grape vine again, until that special day when I drink it new in the Reign of God.”

²⁶ Jesus Prophesies That Peter Will Disown him (Mt. 26:30-35; Lk. 22:31-34; Jn 13:36-38) When they’d sung a hymn, they left for the Mount of Olives.

²⁷ Jesus said to them, “You’re all aboutu to get tripped up. Because scripture says:v. I’m going to strike down the shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered.w

²⁸ But after I’m raised, I’m going to go to Galilee ahead of you.”

²⁹ Peter said to him, “Maybe everybody else will get tripped up, but not me!”

³⁰ Jesus said to him, “I’m telling you seriously: right today, in fact tonight, Peter, before the rooster crows twice, you’re going to disown me three times!”

³¹ But he started saying all the more, “Even if I have to die alongside you, I’ll never disown you!” And they all were saying that sort of thing.

³² Jesus Prays in Gethsemane (Mt. 26:36-46; Lk. 22:39-46) They came to a place called Gethsemane.x Jesus said to his followers, “Have a seat here, while I pray.”

³³ He took Peter, James and John with him. Jesus started to get completely upset and distressed.

³⁴ Then he said to them, “I’m nearly dying of grief!y Stay here and keep watch!”

³⁵ Jesus went on a little further and fell on the ground. He was praying, if it was possible, for the moment to pass him by.

³⁶ He was saying, “Abba, Father, everything’s possible for you. Take this cup away from me! But still, not what I want, but what you want.”

³⁷ And he came and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Weren’t you strong enough to keep watch for one hour?

³⁸ Keep watch, and pray, all of you-pray that you don’t have to face the test!”z Your spirit’s willing enough,aa but your flesh is weak.”

³⁹ And he went off again and prayed the same thing as before.

⁴⁰ Jesus came back again and found them sleeping, because their eyelids had gotten really heavy. They didn’t know what to saybb to him.

⁴¹ Jesus came back the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking it easy? Enough. The time has come. Look, the Human One has just been betrayedcc into the hands of the sinners.

⁴² Get up, let’s go. Look, the person who’s betraying me is nearly here.”dd

⁴³ Jesus is Betrayed and Arrested (Mt. 26:47-56; Lk. 22:47-53; Jn 18:1-11) Right while he was still talking, Judas, one of the twelve, showed up. A crowd was with him, carrying swords and clubs-they were from the chief priests, the scripture experts and the elders.

⁴⁴ And the one who betrayed Jesus had given them a signal. He’d said, “The person that I kiss is the one. Grab him and take him away under guard.”ee

⁴⁵ Judas came right up to Jesus and said, “Teacher!” And he gave him a big kiss.

⁴⁶ Then they grabbed Jesus and held him tight.

⁴⁷ But one of the people there drew his sword, and he struck the high priest’s slave and cut his ear off.

⁴⁸ Jesus said to them, “Have you come out to arrest me with swords and clubs, as though you were after an armed robber?

⁴⁹ I’ve been there every day in the Temple, teaching, and you never laid a hand on me.ff But the scriptures have to be fulfilled.gg

⁵⁰ Then all of his followers left him and ran away.

⁵¹ And a certain young man had been following him, wearing a linen robe with nothing on under it.hh They grabbed him,

⁵² but he left the linen robe behind and ran away naked.

⁵³ Jesus is Brought before the High Court (Mt. 26:57-68; Lk. 22:66-71; Jn 18:12-14, 19-24) They led Jesus off to the High Priest. All the chief priests, elders and scripture experts were assembling.

⁵⁴ And Peter was following him at a distance, until he got inside the High Priest’s courtyard. He was sitting with the attendants and warming himself by the fire.

⁵⁵ The chief priests were there, along with the whole high court. They were trying to come up with false testimony against Jesus, in order to condemnii him to death. They weren’t coming up with any,

⁵⁶ because lots of people had been giving false testimony against him, but their accounts didn’t agree.jj

⁵⁷ Some people came up and falsely accused him:

⁵⁸ “We heard him say, ‘I am going to destroy this Temple that was made by human hands, and within three days I’m going to build another one, that’s not built by human hands.’”

⁵⁹ But even their testimony about thatkk wasn’t the same.

⁶⁰ And the High Priest stood up in front of everyone.ll He asked Jesus, “Don’t you have any response at all? What are these people saying against you?”

⁶¹ But he just kept quietmm and didn’t respond at all. The High Priest questioned him again, and said to him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”

⁶² Jesus said, “I am! And you will see …The Human One, sitting on the right of the Powerful One, and coming with the clouds in the sky!nn

⁶³ Then the High Priest tore his clothes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses?

⁶⁴ You heard the blasphemy! What do you think?” And they all condemned Jesus as deserving death.

⁶⁵ Then some of them started spitting on him. They covered his face and were hitting him, and they were saying to him, “Prophesy!”oo And the attendants were hitting him as they took custody of him.pp

⁶⁶ Peter Denies That he Knows Jesus (Mt. 26:69-75; Lk. 22:54-62; Jn 18:15-18, 25-27) Meanwhile, Peter was downstairs in the courtyard. A young woman, one of the priest’s servants, came

⁶⁷ and saw Peter keeping warm. She looked hard at him and said, “You were with the Nazarene, Jesus, as well.”

⁶⁸ But he denied it. He said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”qq Peter went out into the outer court.rr

⁶⁹ And the young servant woman saw him. She started talking to the people there again: “This is one of them.”

⁷⁰ But he denied it again. After a little while, the people there began saying to Peter, “You really are one of them-after all, you’re a Galilean too.”

⁷¹ But he started cursing and swearing that he didn’t know the man they were talking about.

⁷² Right then a rooster crowed a second time, and Peter rememberedss how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you’re going to disown me three times. And he hid his facett and cried.

15

¹ Jesus is Handed Over to the Roman Governor, Pilate (Mt. 27:1-2, 11-14; Lk. 23:1-5; Jn 18:28-38a) First thing in the morning, the chief priests held a council with the elders, the scripture experts and the whole High Council.a They bound Jesus and handed him over to Pilate.b

² Pilate asked him, “You—you’re the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “It’s you saying it.”c

³ And the chief priests were accusing him of all kinds of things.d

⁴ Pilate asked him again, “Aren’t you going to say anything back to them? Look how many accusations they’re making against you.”

⁵ But Jesus no longer said anything at all, ande Pilate was amazed.

⁶ The Crowd Shouts for Jesus to be Hung on a Cross (Mt. 27:15-26; Lk. 23:18-25; Jn 18:38b-19:16) Now, at every festival Pilate used to set one prisoner free for them, whoever they would ask for.

⁷ And there was a man named Barabbas,f who was imprisoned with the insurgentsg who had committed murder in the insurgency.

⁸ The crowd went up and started to ask Pilate to do what he usually did for them.

⁹ Pilate said back to them, “Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’ to you?”

¹⁰ Because he knew that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him out of envy.h

¹¹ But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas to them instead.

¹² Again Pilate began saying back to them, “So what do you want me to do with the one you call ‘the king of the Jews’?”

¹³ But they shouted again, “Hang him on a cross!”

¹⁴ And Pilate was saying to them, “Buti what has he done wrong?” But they shouted even more, “Hang him on a cross!”

¹⁵ Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowd, so he released Barabbas to them, and he handed Jesus over to be whipped and hung on a cross.

¹⁶ Pilate’s Soldiers Make Fun of Jesus (Mt. 27:27-31) The soldiers began leading Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s residence.j And they called out the whole cohort.k

¹⁷ They put a purple robe on him, and they wove a thorny crown and put it on him.

¹⁸ And they started shouting out to him, “Hello, King of the Jews!”

¹⁹ And they were hitting him over the head with a reed and spitting on him,l and kneeling and bowing to him.

²⁰ When they’d had their fun with him, they off took the purple robe and put on his own clothes. Jesus is Hung on a Cross (Mt. 27:32-44; Lk. 23:26-43; Jn 19:16b-27) Thenm they led Jesus out to hang him on a cross.

²¹ As they were going out, they grabbedn a man who was walking by as he came in from the countryside. It was Simon of Cyrene,o Alexander and Rufus’s father.p They made Simon carry the cross for him.q

²² They brought him to a place called Golgotha,r which means “The Skull Place.”

²³ And they were offering him drugged wine, but he didn’t take it.

²⁴ Then they hung Jesus on a cross. And they divided up his clothes by drawing lots for them,s to see who got what.

²⁵ It was nine in the morning whent they hung him on the cross.

²⁶ The sign with the charge against him read,u THE KING OF THE JEWS

²⁷ They hung two armed robbers on crosses next to him-one on his right, and one on his left.v

²⁸

²⁹ And the people going by were saying abusive things towards him. They were shaking their heads at him and saying, “How horrible for you! Weren’t you going to tear down the Temple and rebuild it in three days?”w

³⁰ “He should save himself, and come down off the cross!”

³¹ The chief priests said the same sort of thing. They were joking amongst themselves along with the scripture experts. They were saying, “He saved other people, but he can’t save himself!”

³² “Let ‘the Messiah,’ ‘the king of Israel,’x come down off the cross right now, so we can see it and believe in him!” And the men hanging on crosses next to him were taunting him too.

³³ Jesus Dies on the Cross (Mt. 27:45-56; Lk. 23:44-49; Jn 19:28-30) When it got to be noon, it got dark across the whole country, until about three o’clock.

³⁴ At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice. He said, Eloi, Eloi! Lema sabachthani?y Which means, “My God, My God! Why did you abandon me?”z

³⁵ Some of the people standing there heard it. They were saying, “Listen!aa He’s shouting for Elijah.”

³⁶ And somebody quickly ran and got a sponge soaked in vinegar. He stuck it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. He said, “Hold off-let’s see if Elijah will come and take him down from the cross.”

³⁷ But Jesus gave out a loud cry, and breathed for the last time.bb

³⁸ And the great veil in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

³⁹ When the Roman officercc standing across from Jesus saw the way he had died, he said, “This man really was thedd Son of God!”

⁴⁰ There were some women watching from a distance: Mary Magdaleneee was one of them; so was Mary, the mother of the younger James and Joses; and so was Salome.ff

⁴¹ These women had followed Jesus when he was in Galilee, and had been ministering to him. These women, and many others, had come downgg with him to Jerusalem.

⁴² Jesus is Buried in a Tomb (Mt. 27:57-61; Lk. 23:50-56; Jn 19:38-42) It had already gotten to be evening. Since it was the Day of Preparation (the day before the Sabbath),

⁴³ Joseph from Arimatheahh went to Pilate. Joseph was a respectable member of the High Council, and was himself looking forward in hope to the Reign of God. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.

⁴⁴ But Pilate was amazed that he had already died. He called over the officerii and asked him if Jesus had been dead for long.

⁴⁵ When Pilate got the factsjj from the officer,kk he releasedll the body to Joseph.

⁴⁶ Now,mm Joseph had bought some linen cloth, and he took him down and wrapped him the linen. And he laid him in a tomb that was cut into a rock face, and he rolled a stone door across the opening of the tomb.

⁴⁷ And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses had been watching where he was laid.

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¹ The Resurrection of Jesus (Mt. 28:1-10; Lk. 24:1-12; Jn 20:1-10) When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary James’s mother, and Salome bought spices, so they could come and anoint him.

² Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb. The sun had just come up.

³ They were saying to one another, “Who’s going to roll the stone door away from the entrancea of the tomb?

⁴ When they looked up, they saw that the stone was already rolled away. And it was very large!b

⁵ When they went into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting to the right. He had a white robe on. They were completely shocked.

⁶ The angel said to them, “Don’t be shocked. You’re looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was hung on a cross. He’s been raised. He’s not here. Look, here’s the place where they laid him.

⁷ Now, go! Tell his followers and Peter that he says, ‘I’m going ahead of you to Galilee.’ You’re going to see him there, just like he told you.”

⁸ When they went outside, they ran away from the tomb, because they were shaking all over with amazement. And they didn’t say anything to anyone, because they were afraid.c The Longer Ending (vv. 9-19)

⁹ Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene (Jn 20:11-18) [[After Jesus had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene. (He’d kicked out seven demons from her.)

¹⁰ She went and told the people who had been with him, who were grieving and crying.

¹¹ Butd when they heard he was alive and that she had seen him,e they didn’t believe it.

¹² Jesus Appears to Two Followers (Lk. 24:13-43; Jn 20:19-23) But later he appeared to two of them as they were walking along out in the countryside.

¹³ Those two came back and told the others. But they didn’t believe them either.

¹⁴ Jesus Sends his Followers to the Whole World (Mt. 28:16-20; Lk. 24:36-49; Jn 20:19-23; Acts 1:6-8) Last of all he appeared to the eleven, while they were eating dinner.f He told them off for their lack of faith and for the stubbornnessg of their hearts, because they hadn’t believed the people who had seen him when he’d been raised.h

¹⁵ Jesus said to them, “Go out into the whole world and preach the good news to the whole creation.

¹⁶ The person who believes and gets baptized will be saved; but the person who doesn’t believe will be condemned.

¹⁷ These miraclesi are going to go along with those who believe: They’ll kick out demons in my name, they’ll speak in new languages,j

¹⁸ they’ll hold snakes,k and if they drink some deadly poison, it won’t harm them. And they’ll lay their hands on sick people and they’ll get better.

¹⁹ Jesus Goes up to Heaven (Lk. 24:50-53) After the Lord Jesusl had spoken with them, he was received up into heaven and sat at the right side of God.

²⁰ And they went out and preached everywhere. The Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the miraclesm that followed.]] The Shorter Ending (takes up after v. 8) They gave a quick report of all the instructions to the people who were with Peter. Later Jesus himself sent them out from the east to the west, withn the holy and incorruptible message of eternal salvation.