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¹ LUKE'S ACCOUNT Introduction Most honored Theophilus:a Lots of people have already worked at putting together an account of the events that have happenedb among us-

² just as the original eyewitnesses and caretakers of the message have handed it down to us.

³ And it seemed like a good idea to me too. I’ve followed everything from the beginning, and I’ve written things in an accurate and orderly way for you.

⁴ That way, you’ll know the solid truth about the things you’ve been taught.c

⁵ An Angel Foretells the Birth of John the Baptizer During the reignd of Herode as king of Judea,f there lived a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was from the priestly division of Abijah.g His wife was a descendent of Aaron too;h her name was Elizabeth.

⁶ Both of them were people of integrityi before God. They followedj all the commands and judgments of the Sovereign One faultlessly.

⁷ But they didn’t have a child, because Elizabeth was unable to have children.k They were both getting well on in years.l

⁸ Once,m Zechariah was doing his priestly service-it was his division’s turn to serve before God.

⁹ In line with the usual priestly procedure, he was chosen by lottery to go into the Temple of the Sovereign One and offer incense.

¹⁰ And the whole crowd of people was outside praying at the hour of incense burning.

¹¹ And an angel of the Sovereign One appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar.

¹² Zechariah was startled by the sight, and he was frightened.n But the angel said to him,

¹³ “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! Your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth is going to give you a son. You’re going to call his name “John.”

¹⁴ He’s going to be your pride and joy,o and lots of people are going to celebrate over his birth.

¹⁵ Because he’s going to be great in the presence of the Sovereign One. He’s never going to drink wine or anything with alcohol in it.p He’s going to be filled with the Holy Spirit right from his mother’s womb.

¹⁶ And he’s going to turn many of the children of Israelq back to the Sovereign One their God.

¹⁷ And he’ll be a forerunner in God’s presence,r in the spirit and power of Elijah. He’ll turn the hearts of parentss back to their children,t and he’ll turn disobedient people back to right thinking.u In that way, he’ll prepare for the Sovereign One a people made ready.”

¹⁸ Zechariah said to the angel, “How am I going to know this is true? After all, I’m an old man, and my wife is getting well on in years.”v

¹⁹ And the angel said back to him, “I’m Gabriel, who stands in God’s presence. God has sent me to speak to you and tell you this good news.

²⁰ Now, look: you’re going to be silent, and you won’t be able to talk until the day when all this happens. Because you didn’t believe the things I said.w All of themx will come true in their own time.

²¹ Meanwhile,y the people were waiting for Zechariah. They were amazed at how long he was in the Temple.

²² When he came out, he couldn’t speak to them. And they realized that he had seen a vision in the Temple. And he was making signs to them but keeping mute.

²³ Finally, when Zechariah’s days of service were finished, he went home.z

²⁴ After that timeaa his wife Elizabeth conceived a child. And she stayed in seclusion for five months. She said,

²⁵ “The Sovereign One has done this for me. This timebb God has seen fit to take away my shame in front of people.”

²⁶ An Angel Foretells the Birth of Jesus In her sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth.

²⁷ He came to a girlcc who was formally engaged to a man named Joseph, who was a descendent of David.dd The name of the girl was Mary.

²⁸ The angel came in the house to her and said, “Hello, favoredee one! The Sovereign One is with you.”

²⁹ But she was startled by that statement. And she was considering what sort of greeting that could possibly be.

³⁰ The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary: you’ve found favor with God.

³¹ Now listenff.—you’re going to conceive a child, and you’ll have a son. You’ll call his name Jesus.

³² This child will be great, and he’ll be called “Son of the Most High.” And the Sovereign God will give him the throne of his fathergg David.

³³ He’ll be king over the descendentshh of Jacob for all ages, and there’ll be no end to his reign.”

³⁴ Mary said to the angel, “How is this going to happen? Because I’m not intimate with a man.”

³⁵ And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit is going to come upon you: the power of the Most High is going to cover you. And so the holy child that is born will be called the Son of God.ii

³⁶ Now listen—your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son herself, in her old age. And this is the sixth month for her, a woman who’d been called ‘infertile’-because

³⁷ Nothing will be impossible for God!jj. Mary said, “Look, I’m the Sovereign One’s servant. Let it happen just as you’ve said.”kk And the angel left her.

³⁸

³⁹ Mary Visits Elizabeth Not long afterwards, Mary set outll and quickly made her way up into the hill country, to a village in Judah.

⁴⁰ And she went to Zechariah’s house, and called out a greeting tomm Elizabeth.

⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby actually jumped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,

⁴² and she shouted out loud: “Blessings on you, above all women! And blessings on the offspring of your womb!nn

⁴³ What a privilege this is for me! The mother of my Lord has come!oo

⁴⁴ Because the moment my ears got the sound of your voice,pp the baby leapt for joy in my womb!

⁴⁵ And bless you for believing that there will be a fulfillment of the Sovereign One’s message to you!”qq

⁴⁶ Mary said,rr. Mary’s Song of Praise (the Magnificat) My soul praises the greatness of the Sovereign One,

⁴⁷ And my spirit is overjoyed with God my Savior.

⁴⁸ Because I’m God’s servant, and God has looked kindly on my low position.ss. Because from now on, all generations will call me blessed.

⁴⁹ Because the Mighty One has done great things for me-God’s name is holy!tt

⁵⁰ From generation to generation, God shows mercy to people who revere God.uu

⁵¹ God’s arm displays God’s power!vv. God scatters people who are arrogant in the thoughts of their hearts;

⁵² God pulls down rulers from thrones, and raises up those who are low;

⁵³ God fills the hungry with good food, and sends the rich away empty-handed.

⁵⁴ God helps God’s servant Israel, remembering the mercy

⁵⁵ God promised our ancestorsww.-the mercy promised to Abraham and his offspring forever.

⁵⁶ And Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months, and then went back to her home.

⁵⁷ The Birth of John the Baptizer When it came time for Elizabeth to give birth,xx she had a son.

⁵⁸ Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Sovereign One had shown great mercy to her, and they celebrated with her.

⁵⁹ Then, on the eighth day, it came time to circumciseyy the child. And they started calling him Zechariah, after his father.zz

⁶⁰ But his mother said to them, “No! He’s going to be called John.”

⁶¹ And they said to her, “None of your relatives has that name.”aaa

⁶² And they started making signs to his father, to see what he wanted the baby to be called.

⁶³ He asked for a writing tablet, and wrote: “His name is John!” And they were all amazed.

⁶⁴ Right then Zechariah’s mouth and tongue were released,bbb and he started praising God.

⁶⁵ And all their neighbors were in awe.ccc All these things were being discussed all around the hill-countryddd of Judah.

⁶⁶ And everyone who heard it kepteee it in their hearts. They were saying, “So, what is this child going to be? Because the hand of the Sovereign One is with him.”

⁶⁷ Zechariah’s Prophecy about John And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied. He said,

⁶⁸ Blessfff the Sovereign God of Israel,ggg Because God has visited God’s people and set them free!

⁶⁹ God has raised up a powerful Savior for us from the line of God’s servant David,hhh

⁷⁰ Just as God promised,iii from long ago, through the mouths of God’s holy prophets:

⁷¹ That we’ll be safejjj from our enemies, and from the powerkkk of everybody that hates us-

⁷² That God will keep the promise of mercy made to our ancestors,lll and remember God’s holy covenant,mmm

⁷³ The promisennn God swore to our ancestor Abraham:

⁷⁴ That we’d be rescued from the powerooo of our enemies,ppp and God would give us the gift of serving God without fear,qqq

⁷⁵ in holiness and integrity before God all our lives.rrr

⁷⁶ And little child, you’re going to be called a prophet of the Most High! Because you’re going to go ahead of the Sovereign One, to prepare the way for God.sss

⁷⁷ You’ll bring knowledge of salvation to God’s people, through the forgiveness of their sins.

⁷⁸ Because of our God’s mercy and compassion,ttt the sunrise is going to visit us from above.uuu

⁷⁹ It will shine on the people who are in darkness, who sit in death’s shadow;vvv. It will guide our feet onto the path of peace.

⁸⁰ And the little boy grew, and got strong in spirit. He was in the wilderness until the day of his presentation in front of Israel.

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¹ The Birth of Jesus (Mt. 1:18-25) Now, as it happened, a decree went out at that timea from Caesar Augustus:b the whole world was to be registered in a census.

² This was the first census, when Quiriniusc was governor of Syria.

³ Everybody was going to get registered: each person went to their own city.

⁴ Joseph went too-he went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea-to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. That’s because he was from the family lined of David.

⁵ He went to get registered with Mary, his formally engaged spouse.e She was pregnant,

⁶ and while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.f

⁷ And she gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him up in strips of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough-because there hadn’t been room for them in the local inn.g

⁸ Angels Announce Jesus’ Birth to Some Shepherds There were shepherds in that area who were sleeping out in the fields. They were taking turns that night guarding their flock of sheep.

⁹ And an angel of the Sovereign One came and stood in front of them, and the Sovereign One’s glory shone all around them. And they were terrified.h

¹⁰ The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid! I havei good news for you, that’ll be a great joy to the whole nation.j

¹¹ A savior for you all was born today in the city of David-it’s the Lord Messiah!k

¹² And this’ll be the sign for you: you’ll find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.

¹³ Suddenly, there with the angel, was a huge heavenly army. They were praising God, and saying:

¹⁴ Glory to God in the heights of heaven! Peace on earth to people of good will!l

¹⁵ Thenm the angels went away from them into heaven. And the shepherds started saying to each other, “Come on! Let’s go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that’s happened, that the Sovereign One has told us about.

¹⁶ And they hurried over there, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the feeding trough.

¹⁷ When they saw it, they explained what had been said to them about this child.

¹⁸ And all the people who heard it were amazed by the things that the shepherds told them.n

¹⁹ But Mary held onto all these things, and kept wondering about them in her heart.o

²⁰ And the shepherds went back to the fields, and were glorifying and praising God for all the things they’d heard and seen. It had turned out exactly as they’d been told.p

²¹ Jesus is Named When eight days had gone by, it was time to circumcise him. He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given himq before he was conceived in the womb.

²² Simeon Prophesies over Jesus and his Mother in the Temple When their purification days were doner according to the Law of Moses,s they took him up to Jerusalem. They had to present him to the Sovereign One,

²³ just as it’s written in the Sovereign One’s Law, Every first-born son is to be holy to the Sovereign One.t

²⁴ And they had to give an offering, in line with what it says in the Sovereign One’s Law: A pair of doves or two young pigeons.u

²⁵ Now,v there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.w He was a man of integrity and spiritual devotion.x He was hoping that Israel would be saved.y And the Holy Spirit was on him.

²⁶ He’d been clearly told by the Holy Spirit, that he wouldn’t diez until he saw the Sovereign One’s Messiah.

²⁷ Led byaa the Spirit, he came to the Temple. And then Jesus’ parents brought him in. They were going to do the presentation ceremony with him, as the Law says.

²⁸ And Simeon took him in his arms, and he praised God, and said,

²⁹ Now you’re freeing your servant, Master! I can go in peace, just like you said.bb

³⁰ Because my eyes have seen your salvation:

³¹ The salvation that you’ve prepared in front of all the peoples of the world!

³² A light that’ll be a revelation among the Gentiles, And the glory of your people Israel!

³³ And Jesus’ father and mother were amazed by the things being said about him.

³⁴ And Simeon blessed them, and he said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the fall and rise of lots of people in Israel. He’s going to be a sign that’ll be spoken against-

³⁵ and a sword will even go through your own soul. Through him, a lot of people’s true thoughts are going to be brought out into the open.”cc

³⁶ The Prophet Anna Praises God for Jesus There was a prophet named Anna there too. She was Phanuel’s daughter, from the tribe of Asher. She was well up there in years.dd She’d married young and lived with a husband for seven years,ee

³⁷ thenff she was a widow until she was eighty-four.gg She’d never leave the Temple. She used to serve God night and day with fasting and prayers.

³⁸ Right thenhh she came up and began praising God. And she was talking about Jesus to everyone who was hoping for Jerusalem to be set free.ii

³⁹ Joseph and Mary Return to Nazareth with Jesus When Joseph and Mary finished doing everything that the Sovereign One’s Law requires, they went back to Galilee, to their town, Nazareth.

⁴⁰ And the little boy grew, and got strong-getting full of wisdom. And God’s grace was on him.

⁴¹ The Boy Jesus in the Temple Now,jj his parents used to go to Jerusalem every year for the Passoverkk festival.

⁴² Something happened when he was twelve years old. They’d gone up to Jerusalem for the festival as usual.

⁴³ When they returned at the end of the festival, Jesusll stayed behind in Jerusalem. And his parents didn’t realize it:

⁴⁴ they thought he was with the group of travelers. When they’d gone a day’s journey, they started searching for him among their relatives and friends.

⁴⁵ When they didn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem looking for him.

⁴⁶ And it turned out that they found him three days later-he was in the Temple. He was sitting there with the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

⁴⁷ Everyone who heard him was totally amazed at his understanding and his answers.

⁴⁸ When his parents saw him, they were astounded. His mother said to him, “Child, why did you treatmm us that way? Look—your father and I have been in agony looking for you!”

⁴⁹ He said to them, “So why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that my Father’s house was the only place I could be?”nn

⁵⁰ And they didn’t understand what he’d said to them.

⁵¹ He went back with them and came home to Nazareth, and was always obedientoo to them. And his mother kept all these things safe in her heart.

⁵² And Jesus grew in wisdom, in maturity, and in favor with God and with people.pp

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¹ John the Baptizer Preaches in the Wilderness (Mt. 3:1-12; Mk 1:2-8) In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,a when Pontius Pilateb was governor of Judea and Herodc was tetrarch of the region of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of Ituread and Trachonitis,e and Lysaniasf was tetrarch of Abilene,g

² during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,h God’s message came to John, Zechariah’s son, in the wilderness.

³ He went into the whole area around the Jordan river, preaching a baptism for a change of hearti for the forgiveness of sins.

⁴ As it saysj in the book of the words of Isaiah the Prophet, There is a sound of someone calling out in the wilderness: ”Prepare the Sovereign One’s way! Straighten up God’s pathways!”k

⁵ Every valley is going to be filled in, Every mountain and hill is going to be leveled, What’s crooked is going to get straight, And the rough roads are going to be made smooth-

⁶ Every human beingl is going to see God’s salvation.m

⁷ Now, John used to say to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of poison­ous snakes,n who warned you to run from God’s anger that’s about to come?

⁸ Bear fruit worthy of a change of heart.o And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’

⁹ Because I’m telling you: God can to raise up children for Abraham out of these stones! And 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.”

¹⁰ The crowds asked him, “So what should we do?”

¹¹ And he would give them this answer: “If you have two shirts, share with the person who doesn’t have one. And if you have things to eat, do the same.”

¹² Some tax collectors came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?”

¹³ He said to them, “Don’t be charging more than you’re supposedp to.”

¹⁴ And soldiers would ask him, “And what should we do?” He told them, “Don’t extort money from people, don’t accuse people falsely, and be satisfied with your pay.”

¹⁵ And the people were expectant-and everybody was wondering in their hearts about John: could he possibly be the Messiah?

¹⁶ John answered by telling all of them, “I’m baptizing you with water, but somebody more powerful than me is coming. I’m not even worthy to untie the laces of his sandals. He is the one who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

¹⁷ His winnowing fan is in his hand, and he’ll clean his threshing floor well, so that he can collect his wheat for stor­age.q But he’ll burn the chaff with fire that can’t be put out.”

¹⁸ And he said a lot of other challenging things as he preached the good news to the people.r

¹⁹ Now, Herods the tetrarch had been confronted by John about Herodias,t his brother’s wife,u and about all the other evil things that Herod did.

²⁰ And he added this to the list:v he locked John up in prison.

²¹ Jesus is Baptized by John (Mt. 3:13-17; Mk 1:9-11; Jn 1:29-34) Now it came about, as all the people were getting baptized, that Jesus got baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven opened up,

²² and the Holy Spirit came down on him, in the physical shape of a dove.w And there was a voice from heaven: “You’re my son! I love you! I’m pleased with you!”x

²³ The Family Line of Jesus the Messiah And so Jesus himself got started at about thirty years old too.y He was the son of Joseph (supposedly), son of Heli,z

²⁴ son of Matthat, son of Levi, son of Melchi,aa son of Jannai, son of Joseph,

²⁵ son of Mattathias, son of Amos, son of Nahum, son of Esli, son of Naggai,bb

²⁶ son of Maath, son of Mattathias, son of Semein, son of Josech, son of Joda,cc

²⁷ son of Joanan, son of Rhesa, son of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, son of Neri,dd

²⁸ son of Melchi, son of Addi, son of Cosam, son of Elmadam,ee son of Er,

²⁹ son of Joshua, son of Eliezer,ff son of Jorim, son of Matthat, son of Levi,

³⁰ son of Simeon, son of Judah, son of Joseph, son of Jonam, son of Eliakim,gg

³¹ son of Melea, son of Menna, son of Mattatha,hh son of Nathan, son of David,

³² son of Jesse, son of Obed, son of Boaz, son of Sala, son of Nashon,ii

³³ son of Amminadab, son of Admin, son of Arni,jj son of Hezron, son of Perez, son of Judah,

³⁴ son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of Terah, son of Nahor,kk

³⁵ son of Serug, son of Reu, son of Peleg, son of Eber, son of Shelah,ll

³⁶ son of Cainan, son of Arphaxadmm., son of Shem, son of Noah, son of Lamech,nn

³⁷ son of Methuselah, son of Enoch, son of Jared, son of Mahalaleel, son of Cainan,oo

³⁸ son of Enos,pp son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.

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¹ Jesus is Tested by Satan (Mt. 4:1-11; Mk 1:12-13) Jesus came back from the Jordan full of the Spirit.

² And he was being led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tested by the devil. He didn’t eat anything during that time, and at the end of it he was hungry.a

³ And the devil said to him, “If you’re the Son of God, tell this stone here to turn into a loaf of bread.”

⁴ Jesus said back to him, “Scripture says:b. A human being is not only to live on bread.c

⁵ And the devil led Jesus up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant.

⁶ The devil said to him, “I’m going to give you this total authority, and the glory of these kingdoms-because it’s been given to me, and I give it to whoever I want.

⁷ So if you bow down to the groundd in front of me, it’ll all be yours.”

⁸ Jesus said back to him, “Scripture says:e. You are to worship the Sovereign One your God, And you are to serve God alone.f

⁹ And the devil led him to Jerusalem, and stood him on the pinnacle of the Temple building. And he said to him, “If you’re the Son of God, jump down from here!g

¹⁰ After all, scripture says:h. God will give the angelsi instructions about you, to protect you.j

¹¹ And it says that They’ll lift you with their hands so that you never hit your foot against a stone.k

¹² Jesus said back to him, “It’s said, Don’t tempt the Sovereign One your God.l

¹³ When the devil had finished all these tests, he left Jesus alone until another time.

¹⁴ Jesus Begins his Ministry in Galilee (Mt. 4:17; Mk 1:14-15) Jesus came back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. Word about him spread through the whole region around there.

¹⁵ He was teaching in their synagogues,m and was being praisedn by everybody.

¹⁶ Jesus is Rejected at Nazareth (Mt. 13:54-58; Mk 6:1-6) And he went to Nazareth, where he’d grown up. As usual,o on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue and stood up to read the scriptures.

¹⁷ And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He openedp the book and found the place where it was written:

¹⁸ The Spirit of the Sovereign One is on me, Because God has anointed me to announce good news to the poor. God has sent me to announce release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind. God has sent me to let the oppressed go free,q

¹⁹ And to announce the year of the Sovereign One’s favor.r

²⁰ Jesus closed the book and gave it to the attendant, and sat down. All the peoples in the synagogue were staring at him.

²¹ And he began saying to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your ears.”t

²² Everybody was saying good things about him, and they were amazed by the grace of the words coming out of his mouth. They started saying, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

²³ And he said to them, “No doubt you’re going to quote me this proverb: ‘Doctor, heal yourself.’ ‘What we heard happened in Capernaum,u do here in your home town, too.’”

²⁴ And he said, “I’m telling you seriously: no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s own home town.

²⁵ And I’ll tell you something true: there were lots of widows in Israel in Elijah’s time,v when the sky was shut up for three years and six months-to the point that there was a major famine over the whole land.

²⁶ And Elijah wasn’t sent to any of them-but only to a widow in Zarephathw in the region of Sidon.x

²⁷ And there were lots of lepers in Israel in the prophet Elisha’sy time-and none of them was cleansed except for Naamanz the Syrian.aa

²⁸ And all the people in the synagogue were furiousbb when they heard those things.

²⁹ They got up and threw him out of their town. They took him to the edge of the cliffcc that their town was built on, and were just about to throw him off.

³⁰ But he went right through the middle of the crowd and walked off.

³¹ Jesus Kicks Out an Unclean Spirit (Mk 1:21-28) Jesus went down to the Galileandd town of Capernaum.ee And he was teaching them on the Sabbath.

³² They were just astounded by his teaching, because his words had such authority.ff

³³ And there was a man in the synagogue who had a demonic unclean spirit. He cried out with a loud voice,

³⁴ “Go away! 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!”

³⁵ Jesus spoke sharply to him, and said, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And the demon threw him down in front of everybody,gg and came out of him without hurting him at all.

³⁶ Everybody there was completely amazed. They started saying to each other: “What a teaching!hh He tells unclean spirits what to do with authority and power-and they come out!”

³⁷ And the story about him spread everywhere in the surrounding area.

³⁸ Jesus Heals Many People at Simon’s House (Mt. 8:14-17; Mk 1:29-34) Jesus leftii the synagogue and went to Simon’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him to help her.jj

³⁹ And he stood over her and told off the fever, and it went away.kk Right away she got up and started serving them.

⁴⁰ At sunset, everyone began bringing him loved ones suffering from various kinds of illnesses.ll And Jesus was laying his hands on each one and healing them.

⁴¹ Demons were coming out of lots of people too. They would cry out and say, “You are the son of God!” And he’d strictly forbid them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.

⁴² Jesus Preaches in the Synagogues (Mt. 4:23-25; Mk 1:35-39) At dawn the next day Jesus went out and walked to a deserted place. The crowds were searching for him. And they finally reached him, and were trying to hold onto him. They were trying to keep him from leaving them.

⁴³ But Jesus said to them, “I have to preach the good news of God’s Reign to the other towns too-that’s why I came.”

⁴⁴ And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

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¹ Jesus Calls his First Followers (Mt. 4:18-22; Mk 1:16-20) One time, Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret,a with the crowd pressing in on him and listening to the message of God.

² And he saw two boats sitting on the lake. The fishermen had gotten out of them, and were washing their nets.

³ Jesus got into one of them, which was Simon’s. He asked him to put out a little way from the shore, and sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

⁴ When he’d finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water, and let down your nets for a catch.”

⁵ Simon said back to him, “Teacher, we worked hard all night and didn’t get anything. But if you say so,b I’ll let down the nets.”

⁶ When they did, they netted a huge catch of fish. Their nets were even starting to tear.c

⁷ And they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled up both boats to the point that they were nearly sinking.

⁸ When Simon Peter saw that, he threw himself down at Jesus’ feetd and said, “Go away from me-I’m a sinful man, Teacher!”

⁹ Because he and all his companions were completely amazed about the catch of fish that they’d taken.e

¹⁰ So were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid-from now on, you’re going to be catching people.”

¹¹ And when they’d dragged their boats onto the beach, they left everything and followed him.

¹² Jesus Makes a Leper Clean (Mt. 8:1-4; Mk 1:40-45) Once, when Jesus was in one of the towns, there was a man covered with leprosy.f When he saw Jesus, he fell face-down on the ground and pleaded with him: “Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean.”

¹³ Jesus reached out his hand and touched him. He said, “I do want to. Be clean.” And right away, his leprosy went away.

¹⁴ And Jesus told him not to tell anyone. “Just go off and present yourself to the priest. Then offer a gift for your cleansing, just as Moses prescribed.g It’ll be a testimony to them.”

¹⁵ But the word about him went around all the more. And big crowds came together to hear him and get healed from their illnesses.

¹⁶ But he would go off into the deserted places and pray.

¹⁷ Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man (Mt. 9:1-8; Mk 2:1-2) One day,h when Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of the Law were sitting there. They’d come from all the villages of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the Sovereign One’s power was there for him to heal people.

¹⁸ And there were some men carrying a person on a sleeping mat. He was paralyzed, and they were looking for a way to bring him in lay him in front of Jesus.

¹⁹ But they couldn’t find any way to bring him in because of the crowd. So they got up on the roof and let him down through the tiles-sleeping mat and all, right in the middle in front of Jesus.

²⁰ When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend,i your sins are forgiven.”

²¹ The scripture experts and Pharisees started arguing, “Who is this person who says such blasphemous things? Who can forgive sins except for God alone?”

²² But Jesus knew what they were thinking.j He answered them, “Why are you arguing in your hearts?

²³ Which is easier-to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?

²⁴ But so that you’ll know that the Human Being hask authority to forgive sins on earth"—he said to the paralyzed man, “I have something to say to you: get up, pick your sleeping mat, and go home.”

²⁵ And he quickly got up in front of them, picked up the sleeping mat that he’d been lying on, and went off home glorifying God.

²⁶ Everyone was totally amazed, and was glorifying God. They were filled with awe, and were saying, “We’ve seen incredible things today!”

²⁷ Jesus Calls Levi to be a Follower (Mt. 9:9-13; Mk 2:13-17) Afterwards, Jesus left, and he noticed a tax collector named Levil sitting in the tax collection office. He said to him, “Come with me.”m

²⁸ And he got up and left everything behind, and followed him.

²⁹ Levi arranged a big reception at his house, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others, who were there at dinner with them.n

³⁰ The Pharisees and their law experts started to grumble. They said to Jesus’ followers, “Why are you eating and drinking with the tax collectors and sinners?”

³¹ Jesus said back to them, “People who are well don’t need a doctor-sick people do.”

³² I haven’t come to call people of integrity, but to call sinners to a change of heart.o

³³ An Argument about Fasting (Mt. 9:14-17; Mk 2:18-22) And they said to him, “John’ followers often fast and pray, just like the followers of the Pharisees.p But yours eat and drink.”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “Can you make the members of the wedding celebration fast while the groom is with them?

³⁵ The timeq will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they’ll fast at that time.”r

³⁶ Jesus started telling them a parable. “Nobody tears a patch from a new piece of clothing and puts it on an old one. Otherwise, not only do you tear the new one, but the patch from the new piece isn’t going to match the old one.

³⁷ And nobody puts up new wine in old wine­skins. Otherwise the new wine will burst the skins. It’ll spill out, and the skins will be ruined.

³⁸ No, new wine should be put in new skins.

³⁹ Buts no one who’s drinking the old stuff wants the new: they’ll say, ‘The old stuff is good.’”

6

¹ Picking Heads of Grain on the Sabbath Day (Mt. 12:1-8; Mk 2:23-28) One Sabbath day, Jesus happened to be walking through some fields. And his followers were picking the heads of grain and eating them, after rubbing them between their hands.a

² Some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what’s not allowed on the Sabbath?”b

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

⁴ How he went into the house of God, and got the Loaves of the Presence d and ate them, and gave them to his companions? No one is allowed to eat those except the priests!”

⁵ And he was saying to them, “the Human One is lord of the Sabbath.”

⁶ Jesus Heals a Man with a Shriveled-Up Arm (Mk 3:1-6) On another Sabbath Jesus happened to go into a synagogue and preach. And there was a person there whose right arm was shriveled up.

⁷ The law experts and the Pharisees were watching him closely, to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they could find a way of accusing him.e

⁸ But he knew what they were thinking.f He said to the man with the shriveled up arm, “Come up and stand in front.”g And he got up and stood there.

⁹ Jesus said to them, “I want to ask you something. Is it allowed on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm? Can you save a life, or kill someone?”

¹⁰ And he looked around at them all. He said to the man, “Hold out your arm.” And he held it out, and his arm was restored to normal.

¹¹ But they were furious,h and started talking with each other about what they could do to Jesus.

¹² Jesus Names his Closest Twelve Followers “Apostles"—That is, “Sent Ones” (Mt. 10:1-4; Mk 3:13-19a) Around that time, Jesusi went off up the mountain to pray. He spent all night in prayer to God.

¹³ When morning came, he called his followers over. And he chose twelve of them, which he named “apostles.”j There was

¹⁴ Simon, whom he also named “Peter”; Andrew, his brother; James; John; Philip; Bartholomew;

¹⁵ Matthew; Thomas; James, Alphaeus’s son;k Simon, who was called “the Zealot”;

¹⁶ Judas, James’s son; and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

¹⁷ Jesus Teaches and Heals a Big Crowd (Mt. 4:23-25; Mk 1:35-39) Jesus came down with them and stood on a flat place. There was a big crowd of his followers, and a huge number of people from all of Judea and Jerusalem and the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.l

¹⁸ They were coming to hear him and to get healed from their illnesses. People who were troubled by unclean spirits were getting healed too.

¹⁹ The whole crowd was trying to touch him, because power was coming out from him and healing everybody.

²⁰ Who is Really Blessed? (Mt. 5:1-12) And Jesus looked out on his followers and began saying, You who are poor are blessed, because God’s Reign is yours.

²¹ You who are hungry now are blessed, because you’re going to be satisfied. You who are crying now are blessed, because you’re going to be laughing.

²² You’re blessed whenever people hate you, and whenever they exclude you and blame you and trashm your name as evil because of the Human One.

²³ Be happy then,n even jump for joy! Because look, you have a big reward in heaven.o After all, that’s how the ancestors used to treat their prophets.p

²⁴ But it’s going to be horrible for youq rich people, because you’re getting your comfort now.

²⁵ It’s going to be horrible for you who are full now, because you’re going to be hungry. It’s going to be horrible for you who are laughing now, because you’re going to be grieving and crying.

²⁶ It’s horrible whenever everybody speaks well of you-after all, that’s how ther ancestors used to treat the false prophets.

²⁷ Loving your Enemy (Mt. 5:33-48) But I want to say something totally different to you listeners: s Love your enemies. Act kindly to people who hate you.

²⁸ Bless people who curse you; pray for people who insult you.

²⁹ If someone hitst you on the cheek-offer the other one too. And don’t hold back your shirt from the person who takes your coat.

³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and if someone takes your things, don’t ask for them back.

³¹ And treat people just the same as you want them to treat you.u

³² If you love the people who love you, what thanks do you deserve?v After all, even sinners love people who love them.

³³ If you do kind things for people who do kind things for you, what thanks do you deserve? Even sinners do the same.

³⁴ If you lend to people that you expect to be repaid by, what thanks do you deserve? Sinners lend to sinners too, to get the same amount back.

³⁵ No, love your enemies; do kind things, and lend without expecting anything back. Then you’ll have a big reward,w and you’ll be children of the Most High. Because God is good to people who are ungrateful and evil.

³⁶ Bex compassionate, as your Father is compassionate.

³⁷ Don’t Judge Other People (Mt. 7:1-5) And don’t judge, and you won’t ever get judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t ever get condemned. Forgive, and you’ll be forgiven.

³⁸ Give, and it’ll be given to you. They’ll give you a good measure, pressed down and shaken down and overflowing, right into your lap. Because the measure you measure out is going to be measured back to you.

³⁹ And Jesus told them a parable: Can a blind person lead another blind person? Won’t they both fall in a hole?y

⁴⁰ Students aren’t above their teacher, but fully trained students will all be like their teacher.z

⁴¹ And how is it that you see the speck of sawdust that’s in your friend’saa eye, but you don’t notice the board in your own eye?

⁴² How can you say to your friend, “Friend, let me get that speck out of your eye"— yet you don’t see the board in your own eye? You play-actor!bb 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.

⁴³ The Parable of the Tree and its Fruit (Mt. 7:15-20; 12:33) Because a good tree doesn’t bear rotten fruit, and for that matter, a rotten tree doesn’t bear good fruit.

⁴⁴ After all, each tree is known from its own fruit. Because they don’t pick figs from thorn bushes, and they don’t gather grapes off of thorn bushes.

⁴⁵ The good person brings good things out from their good heart’s storage place, and the evil person brings out evil from their evil storage place. Because their mouth is going to speak out of what fills their heart.cc

⁴⁶ Hearing and Doing-The Parable of the Two Builders (Mt. 7:21-27) Why do you call me “Master, Master,”dd and don’t do the things I say?

⁴⁷ Everybody that comes to me, and listens my teachings,ee and puts them into practice-I’ll show you what that person is like.

⁴⁸ They’re like a person building a house, who digs down deep, and lays a foundation on rock. The river floods, and crashes against that house,ff and it isn’t strong enough to shake it.

⁴⁹ But the person that listens and doesn’t do anything, they’re like a person that builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation. The floodwaters crash against it, and it collapses right away with one big flop.gg

7

¹ Jesus Heals a Roman Officer’s Servant (Mt. 8:5-13) After Jesus had finished saying all these things to the people,a he went to Capernaum.b

² And a certain Roman officer’sc slave, that he thought very highly of, was sick and just about to die.

³ When he heard about Jesus, he sent Jewish elders to ask him to come rescue his slave.

⁴ When they got to Jesus, they reallyd pleaded with him, saying, “He’s worthy of you doing this for him!

⁵ Because he loves our nation, and he built our synagogue for us.”

⁶ Soe Jesus went with them. But when he was not far from the house, the Roman officerf sent his friends to tell Jesus, “Sir, please don’t go to any more trouble.g After all, I’m not worthy for you to come under my roof.

⁷ That’s why I didn’t even regard myself as worthy to come to you in person. No, just say the word for my slave to be healed.h

⁸ After all, I’m a person who operates under orders, 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.”

⁹ When Jesus heard that, he was amazed at him. He turned to the crowd that was following him and said, “I’m telling you, I haven’t even seen this kind of faith in Israel!”

¹⁰ And when the friendsi went back to the house, they found the slave in good health.

¹¹ Jesus Interrupts a Funeral and Raises a Widow’s Son After that, Jesus went into a town called Nain. His followers came with him, along with a big crowd.

¹² As he got close to the city gate, there was a woman’sj only son being carried out, and she was a widow. A good-sized crowd from the town was with her.

¹³ When the Lord saw her, he felt compassion for her. He said to her, “Don’t cry.”

¹⁴ And he came up and touched the stretcher with the young man on it. The people carrying him stood still. Jesus said, “Young man, I’m talking to you. Get up.”

¹⁵ And the dead man sat up, and started talking. And Jesus gave him to his mother.

¹⁶ Everybody was awestruck,k and was glorifying God. They were saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited God’s people!”

¹⁷ This story about Jesus went out all through Judea and all the surrounding area.

¹⁸ Jesus and John the Baptizer (Mt. 11:12-19) John’s followers told him about all these things. And John called over two of his followers,

¹⁹ and sent them to the Lord with this message:l “Are you the One who is coming,m or are we supposed to be look­ing for another person?”

²⁰ When the men got to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptizer sent us to you. He says, ‘Are you the One who is coming, or are we supposed to be look­ing for someone else?’

²¹ At that time,n Jesus healed lots of people of illnesses and terrible chronic pains and evil spirits. And he gave lots of blind people the gift of sight.

²² And he gave them this answer:o “Go tell John the things that you’ve seen and heard. Blind people are seeing again, people with disabilities are walking, lepers are getting cleansed, the dead are being raised, and poor folks are getting good news.p

²³ And it’s a blessed person who doesn’t get offended by me.”

²⁴ When John’s followers had left, Jesus started talking to the crowd about John. “What did you go out in the wilderness to look at? A cattail blowing in the wind?

²⁵ Come on!q What did you go out there to see? A person dressed in finer clothes? Look, the people dressed in fine clothes and living in luxury are in royal palaces.

²⁶ Come on,s what did you go out there to see? A prophet? Yes! I’m telling you, even more than a prophet.

²⁷ It’s about him that Scripture says:t. Look! I’m sending my messenger ahead of you. He’ll repair the roadu in front of you.v

²⁸ I’m telling you-of all the people ever born,w there’s nobody greater than John. Yet even a minor person in God’s Reign is greater than he is.” (

²⁹ Now, the whole populationx.-even the tax collectors-had admitted that God was just, because they’d been baptized with John’s baptism.

³⁰ But the Pharisees and the law experts refused what God wanted for them, and weren’t baptized by him.)y

³¹ “So, what can I compare the people of this generationz to? What are they like?

³² They’re like children sitting around in the marketplace. They shout over to each other. They say, ‘We played the flute for you, but you didn’t dance! We wailed for you, but you didn’t cry!’

³³ After all, John has come and hasn’t been eating bread or drink­ing wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’

³⁴ The Human One has come, and is eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look! This man eats too much, drinks, and likes tax collectors and sinners!’

³⁵ Well,aa wisdom is proven right all her children.”

³⁶ Jesus Forgives a Woman for her Sins One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have a meal with him. And he went to the Pharisee’s house and had dinner.bb

³⁷ There was a certain woman in that town who was a sinner. She learned that Jesus was eating dinner at the Pharisee’s house. She brought and alabastercc bottle of scented oil,

³⁸ and stood behind Jesus at his feet. She was crying, and began to wet his feet with her tears. And she was wiping his feet dry with her hair, and kissing them, and putting the oil on them.

³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw that, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he’d have known who she was, and what kind of woman was touching him-that she’s a sinner.”

⁴⁰ Jesus responded to him and said, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he said, “Say it, Teacher.”

⁴¹ “There were once two people in debt to a certain lender. The one owed five hundred denarii,dd and the other owed fifty.

⁴² Since neither one of them could pay him back, he forgave them. So which of them will love him more?”

⁴³ Simon answered, “I suppose the one that he forgave more.” Jesus said to him, “You’re right about that.”ee

⁴⁴ And he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came to your house, and you didn’t give me water for my feet-but she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.

⁴⁵ You didn’t give me a kiss-but she hasn’t stopped kissing my feet since I came in.

⁴⁶ You didn’t put oil on my head-but she has put scented oil on my feet.

⁴⁷ So I’m telling you, her sins (and she has many)ff are forgiven-she loves a lot. But the person who’s forgiven only a little, loves only a little.”

⁴⁸ And Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

⁴⁹ The other dinner guestsgg started to say to one another, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”

⁵⁰ Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

8

¹ Women among Jesus’ Close Followers Now after this, Jesus was traveling around from town to town and from village to village. He was preaching and telling the good news of God’s Reign, and the twelve were with him.

² A number of women were with him too: some were healed from evil spirits and illnesses, such as Mary, known asa the Magdalene.b (Seven demons had gone out of her.)

³ And there was Joanna, Chuza’s wife (Chuzac was Herod’s household manager). And there was Susanna, and lots of other women, who helped them out of their own resources.

⁴ The Parable of the Farmer who Scatters Seed (Mt. 13:1-9; Mk 4:1-9) A big crowd was gathering, and the people from the city were coming out to Jesus too.

⁵ And he told this parable:d. A farmer went out to scatter seed in his field.e In scattering the seed, some fell on the path. It got stepped on, and the birdsf came and gobbled it up.

⁶ Other seed fell on rock, and it withered when it came up, because it didn’t have any moisture.

⁷ Other seed fell in among the prickly weeds. The prickly weeds came up with it and choked it out.

⁸ Other seed fell on the good soil, and grew up and bore fruit, a hundredfold.g Jesus Explains Why he Teaches in Parables (Mt. 13:10-17; Mk 4:10-12) After Jesus said these things, he’d say real loud: “If anyone has ears to hear, let ’em hear!”h

⁹ And his followers asked him what sort of parable that was.

¹⁰ He said, It’s your gift to know the secret of God’s Reign. But to everybody else, it comes in parables. That way, They’ll look but not see; They’ll hear but not understand.i

¹¹ Jesus Explains the Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed (Mt. 13:18-23; Mk 4:13-20) But this is the parable. The seed is the messagej of God.

¹² The ones along the path are the ones that hear it, then the devil comes and snatches the message from their hearts-that way, they don’t believe it and get saved.

¹³ Others (the ones on rock) are the ones who gladly accept the message when they hear it, but they don’t have any root. They believe for a while, but when a time of testing comes, they disappear.

¹⁴ The seed that falls into the prickly weeds-that’s the people that hear, but as they go along in life, they get suffocated by worries, and money, and life’s pleasures. They never get to the point of bearing fruit.

¹⁵ But the seed on the good soil-that’s everybody who hears the message with a good and faithful heart. These people hold onto it and keep on until they bear fruit.k

¹⁶ The Parable of the Lamp (Mt. 4:21-25) Nobody lights a lamp, and then covers it with a pot, or puts it under the bed. No, they put it on the lamp stand, so that people who come in the room can see by its light.

¹⁷ Because there’s nothing hidden that won’t become visible. And there’s nothing that’s been hidden away that won’t become known, and come out into the light.

¹⁸ So beware how you listen. Because the person that has will get more,l and the person that doesn’t have will even get what they think they havem taken away from them.

¹⁹ Jesus’ Real Family (Mt. 12:46-50; Lk. 3:31-35) Jesus’ mother and brothers and sisters came to see him. But they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd.

²⁰ He was told, “Your mother and brothers and sisters are standing outside, and they want to see you.”

²¹ But he said back to them, “My mother and brothers and sisters are the people that hear the message of God and put it into practice.”

²² Jesus Calms the Storm (Mt. 8:23-27; Mk 4:35-41) On one of those days, Jesus got into a boat with his followers, and he said to them, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” And they set out.

²³ As they were sailing, he fell asleep. And a big wind storm hitn the lake. And they started to get swamped, and were in danger.

²⁴ And they came over and woke him up. They were saying, “Teacher, Teacher! We’re going down!” But he woke up and told off the wind and the big waves-and they stopped, and it became calm.

²⁵ And he said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were frightened and amazed. They were saying to each other, “Who is this, anyway? He even tells the winds and the water what to do, and they obey him!”

²⁶ Jesus Heals a Man from Thousands of Demons (Mt. 8:28-9:1; Mk 5:1-20) And they sailed over to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across from Galilee.

²⁷ As Jesus stepped out of the boat onto the shore,o a man from the city there met him. He had demons-and he’d gone without clothes for a fair amount of time, and wouldn’t stay in a house at all, but only in a cemetery.p

²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he screamed and fell down in front of him. He shouted, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of God Most High? Please, please, don’tq torment me!” (

²⁹ Because Jesus had told the unclean spirit to come out of the man.) Now,r lots of times the spirit had taken control of him:s he’d be bound with chains and leg-irons and kept under guard, butt he’d tear off his restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted places.

³⁰ And Jesus asked him, “What’s your name?” He said, “Thousands,”u because lots of demons had gone into him.

³¹ And they were begging him not to order them to go off into the abyss.

³² Now, there was a good sized herd of pigs grazing there on the mountainside. And the demons pleaded with Jesus to let them go into the pigs. He gave them permission.

³³ And the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs-and the herd rushed over a cliff and into the lake, and drowned.

³⁴ When the herders saw what had happened, they ran and told people in town and in the countryside.

³⁵ And they came out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus, and found the man that the demons had come out of. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, with clothes on, and in his right mind. They were afraid.

³⁶ And the people who’d seen it told them how the demon-afflicted man had been saved.

³⁷ The whole crowd of people from the Gerasenes region asked Jesus to go away from them-they were very afraid.v Sow he got into a boat and went back.

³⁸ Now, the man that the demons had gone out of had been begging to stay with Jesus,x but he sent him away. He said,

³⁹ “Go back home and tell the story of what God has done for you.” And he went off, and proclaimed all over the city what Jesus had done for him.

⁴⁰ Jesus Brings a Dead Girl to Life and Heals a Woman (Mt. 9:18-26; Mk 5:21-43) On Jesus’ return, the crowd welcomed him back, because they’d all been waiting for him.

⁴¹ Theny a man came, whose name was Jairus.z He was the current leader of their synagogue. He threw himself down at Jesus’ feet and started begging him to come to his house.

⁴² Because his daughter, his only child, was about twelve years old, and she was dying. Now, while Jesus was on the way, the crowds were crushing in on him.

⁴³ And there was a woman who’d been bleeding for twelve years non-stop. She’d spent all she had on doctors, but hadn’t been able to be cured by anybody.aa

⁴⁴ She came up behind him and touched the edge of his robe. Right away her bleeding stopped.

⁴⁵ Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” And when everybody denied it, Peter said, “Teacher, the crowds are packed around you, pressing in on you.”

⁴⁶ But Jesus said, “Somebody touched me, because I could tell power had gone out from me.”

⁴⁷ When the woman saw that she’d been found out,bb she came up trembling, and threw herself down in front of Jesus. In front of everyone,cc she told the story of why she’d touched him, and how she’d been healed right away.

⁴⁸ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.”dd Go in peace.

⁴⁹ While Jesus was saying that, somebody came from the synagogue leader’s house. They said, “Your daughter has died. Don’t trouble the teacher any more.”

⁵⁰ But when Jesus heard that, he said to him, “Don’t be afraid. Justee believe, and she’ll be saved.”

⁵¹ When he came to the house, he didn’t let anyone come inside with him except Peter, John and James, the child’s father, and her mother.

⁵² Everyone was crying and mourning over her. But Jesus said, “Don’t cry. She’s not dead-she’s just sleeping.”

⁵³ They were laughing at him-they knew she’d died.

⁵⁴ But he took her hand and said loudly, “Little one,ff wake up!”

⁵⁵ And her spirit returned, and she stood up right away. And he told them to give her something to eat.

⁵⁶ Her parents were totally astonished. And he told them not to tell anyone what had happened.

9

¹ Jesus Sends his Closest Twelve Followers on a Mission (Mt. 10:5-15) Jesus called the twelve together, and he gave them power and authority-over all demons, and to heal diseases.

² And he sent them out to announce God’s Reign and to heal the sick.a

³ He said to them, “Don’t take anything for the journey. Don’t even take a walking stick, or a bag, or food, or money-don’t even have two shirts.

⁴ And whatever house you go into, stay there and leave from there.b

⁵ And wherever they don’tc accept you, shake the dust off your feet as you leave that city, as your testimony against them.”

⁶ And they went out, and began to go through the villages. They were telling the good news and healing people everywhere.

⁷ Herod Wonders if Jesus is John the Baptizer Back from the Dead (Mt. 14:1-12; Mk 6:14-29) Now, when Herodd the tetrarch heard all the things that were going on, he didn’t know what to think. Because some people were saying,e “John has risen from among the dead!”

⁸ And some were saying, “Elijah has appeared!” Others said, “One of the old prophets has risen from the grave!”

⁹ But Herod said, “I cut off John’s head-so who’s this that I’m hearing all this about?”f And he kept trying to see him.g

¹⁰ Jesus Feeds More Than 5,000 People (Mt. 14:13-21; Mk 6:30-44; Jn 6:1-13) When the apostlesh came back, they told Jesus all the things they’d done. And he took them with him and went off privately to a town called Bethsaida.i

¹¹ But the crowds found out about it, and followed him. And he welcomed them. He started talking to them about God’s Reign, and he was healing those that needed it.j

¹² And it started to get late.k The twelve came up and said to Jesus, “Send the crowd off, so they can go to the villages and farms around here. That way they can rest and find themselves something to eat.”

¹³ But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said, “There are no more than five loaves of bread and two fish herel.-unless we’re supposed to go buy food for this whole crowd of people.”

¹⁴ (Because there were about five thousand men.m.) He said to his followers, “Sit them downn in groups of about fifty.”

¹⁵ And they did just what he said, and sat everybody down.

¹⁶ And he took the five loaves of bread and the two fish, and looked up to heaven, and blessed them. And he broke up the loaves, and was giving them to his followers, so they could serve the crowd.

¹⁷ And they all ate and got a good meal.o And twelve baskets of leftovers were collected.p

¹⁸ Peter Calls Jesus “God’s Messiah” (Mt. 16:13-21; Mk 8:27-30) Later, when Jesus was praying by himself,q his followers joined him. And he asked them something. He said, “Who do the crowds say I am?”

¹⁹ They said to him, “John the Baptizer. But others say Elijah, and others say that one of the old prophets has risen from the grave.”

²⁰ And he said to them, “And you? Who do you say I am?” Peter said, “God’s Messiah.”r

²¹ Jesus Tells his Followers that He is Going to be Killed (Mt. 16:24-28; Mk 8:31-9:1) But he warned them not to say that to anybody.

²² He was saying that the Human One had to be treated very badly bys the elders, chief priests, and scripture experts, and be rejected by them. And he had to be killed, and rise on the third day.

²³ Pick up your Cross Every Day and Follow Me! (Mt. 16:24-28; Mk 8:34­-9:1) Jesus was saying to everyone, “If anyone wants to come after me, let them deny themselves, pick up their cross every day, and follow me.

²⁴ Because whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life because of me will find it.

²⁵ After all, what good is it if a person has gained the whole world, but has destroyed or lost themselves?

²⁶ Because if someone is ashamed of me and my words, then the Human One will also be ashamed of them, when he comes in his and his Father’s glory, along with the holy angels.

²⁷ I’m telling you the truth: there are some of you standing right here who won’t diet until they’ve seen God’s Reign.”

²⁸ Jesus is Transformed in Front of Peter, James, and John (Mt. 17:1-8; Mk 9:2-8; 2 Pet. 1:16-18) About a week after Jesus had said these things, he took Peter and James and John with him, and went up the mountain to pray.

²⁹ As he was praying, his face suddenly looked different,u and his clothes became flashing white.

³⁰ And suddenly two men were talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah.

³¹ They appeared in glory, and were talking about his departure,v which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem.

³² But Peter and his companions had fallen asleep.w When they woke up, they saw his glory, and the two men standing there with him.

³³ As they were about to leave him, Peter said to Jesus, “Teacher, it’s good that we’re here-we can even make three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (He didn’t know what he was saying.)

³⁴ But as he was saying that, a cloud came and covered them, and they got frightened as they went into the cloud.

³⁵ A voice came out of the cloud that said, “This is my Son, the one I’ve chosen! Listen to him!”

³⁶ As the voice spoke, Jesus appeared all by himself.x And they kept quiet, and at that timey they didn’t tell anybody anything of what they’d seen.

³⁷ Jesus Heals a Boy who Has a Demon (Mt. 17:14-21; Mk 9:14-29) Now, on the sixth day, when they came down from the mountain, a big crowd met Jesus.

³⁸ Suddenly a man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, please, I’m begging you: look at my son-he’s my only child!

³⁹ And a spirit takes him over, and suddenly it screams, and makes him shakez violently with foaming at the mouth. It bruises him, and barely goes away.

⁴⁰ And I begged your followers to kick it out, but they couldn’t.”

⁴¹ Jesus answered, “What a faithless and perverse generation you are! How long am I going to be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here to me.”

⁴² As he was coming up, the demon tore into the boy, and violently shook him. But Jesus told off the unclean spirit and healed the child, and he gave him back to his father.

⁴³ And everyone was astounded at the greatness of God. Jesus Tells his Followers Again That he is Going to be Killed (Mt. 17:22-23; Mk 9:30-32) They were all saying how amazed they wereaa over all the things Jesus had been doing.

⁴⁴ Then he said to his followers, “You should tuck these words into your ears: the Human One is about to get betrayed to the authorities.”bb

⁴⁵ But they didn’t understand that-it had been hidden from them, so they wouldn’t get it. And they kept being afraid to ask him about it.cc

⁴⁶ Who is the Greatest Follower of Jesus? (Mt. 18:1-5; Mk 9:33-37) An argument came up between them: which of them was the greatest.

⁴⁷ But Jesus knew what they were thinking in their hearts. He took a child and stood it next to him.

⁴⁸ And he said to them, “Whoever accepts this child in my name accepts me. And whoever accepts me accepts the One who sent me. Because the least assuming one of all of you-that’s the one who’s great.”

⁴⁹ Whoever isn’t against us is for us (Mk 9:38-41) John said back to him, “Teacher, we saw somebody kicking out demons in your name. And we were trying to get them to stop, because they aren’t following along with us.”

⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Don’t stop them. Because whoever isn’t against us is for us.”

⁵¹ James and John Suggest the Elijah Approach (see 2 Kgs 1:10, 12)-And Get Told Off As the time got near for Jesus to be taken up into heaven, he became determined to head for Jerusalem.dd

⁵² And he sent messengers ahead of him. They walked along and came into a Samaritanee village, to get things ready for him.

⁵³ Butff they didn’t accept him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.

⁵⁴ When his followers James and John saw that, they said, “Teacher, do you want us to say for fire to come down from heaven and wipe them out?”gg

⁵⁵ But he turned around and told them off.

⁵⁶ And they went to another village.

⁵⁷ “I’m Going to Follow You!” (Mt. 8:18-22) As they were going along the road, somebody said to Jesus, “I’m going to follow you wherever you go.”

⁵⁸ Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birdshh have nests. But the Human One doesn’t have anyplace to rest his head.”

⁵⁹ He said to another person, “Come with me!” But the person said, “Let me go off and bury my father first.”

⁶⁰ And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. You go announce God’s Reign.”

⁶¹ Somebody else said, “I’m going to follow you, Teacher. But first let me give some instructions to the people on my estate.”

⁶² But Jesus said, “No one who grabs the plow handle and then looks backwards is fit for God’s Reign.”ii

10

¹ Jesus Sends Out Seventy People on a Mission Later, the Lord appointed seventy-twoa others. He sent them ahead of himb two by two, to every town and place where he was about to come.

² He’d say to them, There’s a big harvest, but there are only a few workers. So really plead with the owner of the harvest field, to send workers out to the harvest.c

³ Go on-understand thatd I’m sending you out like sheep in the middle of wolves.

⁴ Don’t take a money pouch, a backpack, or sandals-and don’t say hello to anyone on the road.

⁵ Whatever house you go into, first say, “Peace be on this house.”

⁶ And if there is a peaceful persone there, then your peace will rest on them. But if not, it’ll return to you.

⁷ Stay in that house, and eat and drink what they give you.f After all, “Workers deserve their pay.”g Don’t move around from house to house.

⁸ And if you go in a certain city and they accept you, eat what’s put in front of you

⁹ and heal the sick there.h Say to them, “God’s Reign has come close to you.”

¹⁰ But if you go into another city and they don’t accept you, go out into the main streets therei and say,

¹¹ “We’re even wiping off the dust of this city that’s stuck to our feet, in protest against you. But know this: God’s Reign is nearly here!”j

¹² I’m telling you-on that day,k it’ll be easier to bear for Sodoml than for that city.

¹³ Jesus Tells Off the Cities That Haven’t Changed their Hearts (Mt. 11:20-24) It’s going to be horrible for you,m Chorazin!n It’s going to be horrible for you, Bethsaida!o Because if the displays of power had happened in Sodom that happened in you, they would have sat themselves down in sacking and ashesp and changed their heartsq a long time ago!

¹⁴ But it’ll be easier to bear for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you.

¹⁵ And you too, Capernaum!r. Are you going to be lifted up to heaven? No, you’re going to fall downs to Hades!t

¹⁶ The person who listens to you listens to me, and the person who rejects you rejects me. And the person who rejects me rejects the One who sent me.

¹⁷ The Seventy Followers Report Back The seventy-two came back full of happiness. They were saying, “Teacher, even the demons submit to us in your name!”

¹⁸ But Jesus said to them, “I was watching Satan fall out of heaven like lightning.

¹⁹ Look, I’ve given you the authority to step on snakes and scorpions, and on all the power of the enemy.u Nothing’s ever going to hurt you.

²⁰ Still, don’t be happy that the spirits submit to you-be happy that your names are written down in heaven.v

²¹ Jesus Praises his Father (Mt. 11:25-27) Right thenw Jesus began to celebrate in the Holy Spirit, and he said, “I want to honor you,x Father, Sovereign of heaven and earth. Because you’ve hidden these things from wise and understanding people, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father! Because that’s just how you wanted it to be.y

²² Every­thing has been given to me by my Father. No one really knows who the Son is except the Father. And no one knows who the Father is except the Son-and the person the Son wants to reveal him to.”

²³ And Jesus turned to his closest followers privately and said, “Your eyes are blessed to see what they’re seeing.

²⁴ Because I’m telling you, lots of prophets and kings wanted to see the things you’re seeing, and they didn’t get to.z They also wanted to hear the things you’re hearing and didn’t get to.aa

²⁵ The Parable of the Priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan (Mt. 22:34-40; Mk 12:28-34) Right thenbb a lawyer stood up and started trying to test Jesus out.cc He was saying, “Teacher, what should I do so that I’ll inherit eternal life?”

²⁶ And Jesus said to him, “What’s writtendd in the Law? What’s your reading of it?”ee

²⁷ He answered, You are to love the Sovereign One your God with all your heart,ff all your soul, all your strength, and all your understanding.gg And: Love your neighbor as you love yourself.hh

²⁸ Jesus said to him, “You gave the right answer. Do that and you’ll live.”

²⁹ But he wanted to justify himself. He said to Jesus, “Soii who’s my neighbor?”

³⁰ Jesus gave this reply: “A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and unfortunately he came on some muggers. They stripped him and beat him up, and went off-leaving him half dead.

³¹ Now, by chance a priest came down that road. When he saw him, he went by on the other side of the road.

³² A Levitejj did the same too: when he came to that place and looked, he also went by on the other side.

³³ Now, a Samaritankk was traveling along, and came to the same place. When he looked, he felt compassion for him.

³⁴ He came over and poured oil and wine on his wounds, and bandaged them up. Thenll he set him on his own donkey,mm and took him to an inn, and looked after him.

³⁵ The next day, he got out two denarii.nn He gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Look after him, and whatever extra you spend, I’ll pay you back when I return.’”

³⁶ “In your opinion, which of these three has turned out to be the neighbor of the person who came on the muggers?”

³⁷ The lawyer said, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same yourself.”

³⁸ Jesus Visits Martha and Mary On their journey, Jesus came to a village, and a woman by the name of Martha took him in as a guest.

³⁹ She also had a sister called Mary. Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet, listening to his teaching.

⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with a lot of hosting work.oo She stoppedpp and said, “Teacher, doesn’t it matter to you that my sister has left me to do the hosting all alone?qq Tell her to help me.”

⁴¹ But the Lord said back to her, “Martha, Martha. You’re worrying and upset about a lot of things.

⁴² But only one thing is really necessary.rr Mary has chosen the good part, and it’s not going to be taken away from her.”

11

¹ Jesus teaches his Followers How to Pray (Mt. 6:9-15) Once Jesus was prayinga somewhere, and when he finished, his followers said to him, “Teacher, teach us to pray, like John taught his followers.”

² And he said to them, “When you pray, say, Father, let your name be kept holy! Let your Reign come!

³ Give us the food we need each day,

⁴ And forgive us our sins, because we ourselves have also forgiven those who’ve done us wrong.b And please don’t make us face temptation.c

⁵ The Parable of the Friend at Midnight (Mt. 7:7-11) Jesus said to them, “Let’s say one of you will have a friend, and you’ll to come to them in the middle of the night and say to them, ‘Please lend med three loaves of bread!

⁶ A friend of mine who’s traveling has just come to visit me, and I don’t have anything to put in front of them.’e

⁷ That friend might reply from inside, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked for the night, and the children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give it to you.’f

⁸ I’m telling you, even if they won’t get up and give it to you because you’re friends,g they’ll at least get up and give you whatever you need because of your shamelessness in asking.

⁹ Soh I’m telling you: ask, and it’ll be given to you. Search, and you’ll find. Knock, and it’ll be opened for you.

¹⁰ Because everybody who asks receives, the person who searches finds, and the person who knocks has iti opened for them.

¹¹ And is there any father out therej whose son will ask for a fish-but instead of a fish, he’ll give him a snake?

¹² Or supposek he’s going to ask for an egg-will he hand him a scorpion?

¹³ So if you, bad as you are, know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

¹⁴ Jesus Kicks Out a Demon and is Accused of Being with the Devil (Mt. 12:22-32; Mk 3:19b-30) Oncel Jesus was kicking out a demon that that was mute.m And when the demon had gone out, the mute person spoke, and the crowds were amazed.

¹⁵ But some of them said, “He’s kicking out demons by the power of the devil,n the ruler of the demons.”

¹⁶ Others were trying to test Jesus out by asking him foro a miraclep from heaven.

¹⁷ But he knew what they were thinking. He said to them, “Every kingdom that’s divided against itself is ruined,q and every house that’s against itself falls.

¹⁸ Sor if Satan is divided against himself too, how is his kingdom going to hold up? Because you’re saying that I kick out the demons by the power of the devil.s

¹⁹ But if I kick out the demons by the devil’s power,t whose power do your folks use to kick them out?u So they’re the ones who’ll be your judges.

²⁰ But if I kick out the demons by the finger of God, then God’s Reign has just come to you.

²¹ Supposev a strong man, who is fully armed, is guarding his property. His things are left in peace.

²² But supposew somebody stronger than him comes along and defeats him. That person takes the armor that he relied on, and gives out his things to others.

²³ Who­ever isn’t with me is against me, and whoever doesn’t gather with me scatters.

²⁴ The Return of the Wandering Unclean Spirit (Mt. 12:43-45) “When an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it wanders around dry desert places looking for someplace to rest. When there isn’t any,x it says, ‘I’m going to go back to my house, that I left.’

²⁵ And when it comes back, it finds it all swept and neat.

²⁶ Then it goes and gets seven other spirits more evil than itself. They go in and live there, and it turns out that the person’s final condition is worse than they started.y It’ll be the same way with this evil generation.”

²⁷ As Jesus was saying that, a woman shouted out to him. She said, “The womb that carried you and the breasts that nursed you are blessed!”

²⁸ But he said, “No, those who listen to the message of God and keep it are blessed.”

²⁹ The Sign of Jonah the Prophet (Mt. 12:38-42) When the crowds got bigger, Jesus started saying, “This is an evil generation. It’s looking for a sign-and one’s not going to be given to it, except for the sign of Jonah.

³⁰ Because Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh.z In just the same way, the Human One is going to be a sign to this generation.

³¹ The Queen of Shebaaa will be called to testifybb against the men of this generation, and she’s going to condemn them. 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.

³² The men of Nineveh are going to rise up in the judgment along with this generation and condemn it. Because they changed their heartscc on the basis of Jonah’s preaching-and look, there’s something bigger than Jonah here.”

³³ Sayings about Light (Mt. 6:22-23) “No one lights a lamp to put it in a hiding place.dd No, they put it on the lamp stand, so people who come in the room can see its light.

³⁴ Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light inside. But when your eye is evil,ee then your body is dark inside as well.

³⁵ So be careful that the light in you isn’t darkness.

³⁶ In other words, if your whole body is full of light inside, without any dark part, then your whole body will be full of light just like when a lamp shines its light on you.”

³⁷ Jesus Criticizes the Pharisees and the Scripture Experts (Mt. 23:1-36; Mk 12:38-40) While Jesus was saying that, a Pharisee asked Jesus if he’d have dinner with him. And he went in and took his place at the table.ff

³⁸ And the Pharisee was amazed that he hadn’t washed before the meal.

³⁹ But the Lord said to him, “Now, you Pharisees clean the outside of cups and plates. But the inside of you is full of violent thievery and evil.

⁴⁰ You mindless people! Didn’t the One who made the outside make the inside too?

⁴¹ But devote your inner thoughts togg practicing mercy, and suddenlyhh everything’s clean for you.”

⁴² No, it’s going to be horrible for you, Pharisees! Because you titheii your mint and rue, and every little herb-yet you’ve ignored God‘s justice and love.jj And it was these things that were necessary to practice, without ignoring the others.

⁴³ It’s going to be horrible for you, Pharisees! Because you love the seat of honor in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in public places.kk

⁴⁴ It’s going to be horrible for you, because you’re like unmarked graves, that people walk over without knowing it.”ll

⁴⁵ One of the scripture experts said back to him, “Teacher, by saying these things, you’re insulting us too.”

⁴⁶ And Jesus said, “It’s going to be horrible for you scripture experts too! Because you load people down with hard-to-carry loads, and you yourselves don’t touch those loads with a single one of your fingers.

⁴⁷ It’s going to be horrible for you! Because you build monuments for the prophets-but your ancestors killed them.

⁴⁸ So you’re witnesses of it, and you agree with the actions of your ancestors: they’ve killed them, and you build the monuments.mm

⁴⁹ That’s why the wisdom of God said, ‘I’m going to send them prophets and messengers,nn and some they’ll kill, some they’ll persecute.

⁵⁰ That way, the blood of all the prophets that’s been spilled since the creationoo of the world will be able to be traced back topp this generation.

⁵¹ That includesqq the blood of Abel, all the way to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary.’rr Yes, I’m telling you, it’s all going to be traced back toss this generation.

⁵² It’s going to be horrible for you scripture experts! Because you’ve taken the key of knowledge-yet you haven’t gone in yourselves, and you’ve stopped other people from going in.”tt

⁵³ When Jesus left there, the scripture experts and the Pharisees started holding a nasty grudge. And they started trying to get him to talk about more things.

⁵⁴ They were trying to trap him, to catch him in what he might say.

12

¹ Jesus Warns about the “Yeast of the Pharisees” (Mt. 10:26-27; Mk 8:15) A crowd of tens of thousands was gathering-to the point that they were stepping on each other. Then Jesus started out by saying to his followers, Watch yourselves for the yeast of the Pharisees, which is play-acting.

² Because nothing’s hidden that won’t be uncovered, and there’s no secret that won’t become known.

³ What that means is, that whatever you’ve said in the dark is going to be heard in the light, and what you’ve whispered in somebody’s ear behind closed doorsa is going to get announced from the housetops.

⁴ Stand Up for me-And Don’t be Afraid of People (Mt. 10:26-33) And I’m saying to you friends of mine, don’t be afraid of those that can kill your body, but after that there’s nothing more they can do.

⁵ I’ll show you who you should be afraid of-be afraid of the One who, after killing you, has the authority to throw you in Gehenna.b Yes, I’m telling you, be afraid of that One.

⁶ Aren’t five sparrows sold for two copper coins? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s presence.c

⁷ No, even the hairs on your head have all been counted. Don’t be afraid—you’re worth more than lots of sparrows.

⁸ I’m telling you, every person that stands up ford me in front of people, the Human One will stand up for them, in the presence ofe the angels of God.

⁹ But the person that denies me in front of people, they’ll be denied in the presence off the angels of God.

¹⁰ And everybody that says something against the Human One will be forgiven for it.g But for the person who blasphemes the Holy Spirit,h there’s not going to be forgiveness.

¹¹ And whenever they bring you into the synagogues, and in front of rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how or what you’re going to say in your defense.

¹² Because the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what’s important to say.

¹³ The Parable of the Mindless Rich Person-A Warning about Greed Someone from the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴ But he said to him, “Friend,i who set me over you two as a judge or referee?”

¹⁵ And he said to them, “Look out, and protect yourselves from every kind of greed. Because it’s not true that a person who gets wealthy gets life from their possessions.”j

¹⁶ Jesus told them a parable. He said, A rich man’s fields produced a good crop, and he was thinking it through in his mind.k

¹⁷ He was saying, ‘What am I going to do? I don’t have room to store my harvest.’

¹⁸ And he finally said, “I’ll do this: I’ll tear down my storage sheds, and I’ll build bigger ones, and I’ll store all the wheat and my other goods there.

¹⁹ I’ll say to myself, l ‘You have a lot of good things laid up for a lot of years. Have a rest! Eat! Drink! Be happy!’”

²⁰ But God said to him, “You mindless person! Tonight they’re demanding your life from you. The things you’ve got all ready-whose are they going to be?”

²¹ That’s how it goes for the person that hoards things selfishlym and isn’t rich towards God.

²² Stop Worrying and Trust God to Provide for You (Mt. 6:19-21, 25-34) And Jesus said to his followers, So I’m telling you, don’t worry about what you’re going to eat, or what you’re going to clothe your bodies with.

²³ Because your life is more than food, and your body is more than clothes.

²⁴ Take a close look at the ravens: they don’t plant or harvest; they’ve got no storerooms or sheds, and God feeds them. How much more important are you than the birds?

²⁵ And which of you can add a single hour to your lifespan by worrying?

²⁶ So if you can’t even do this tiny thing, why worry about the rest?

²⁷ Take a close look at the wildflowers, how they grow. They don’t work hard, and they don’t make cloth.n But I’m telling you, even Solomon, with all of his glory, wasn’t adorned like one of these.

²⁸ If God gives clothes like that too 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!

²⁹ And don’t keep focusing onp what you’re going to eat and what you’re going to drink, and don’t be worrying.

³⁰ After all, these are the things that all the nations of the world chase after. Yet your Father knows that you need them.

³¹ Instead, seek out God’s Reign, and they’ll be given to you as well.

³² Don’t be afraid, little flock. Your Father is happy to give you hisq kingdom.

³³ Sell your possessions and give to charity. Make yourselves coin purses that don’t wear out. Get yourselves a permanent safer in heaven, where a burglar can’ts get near it and a moth can’t ruin it.

³⁴ Because wherever your wealtht is, that’s where your heart’s going to be too.

³⁵ Be Watchful Slaves Be dressed and ready, with your lamps burning.u

³⁶ You should be like people looking for their master, who’s coming back from a wedding. That way, when he comes and knocks at the door, they open up for him right away.

³⁷ Those slaves are in great shape,v whose master comes and finds them keeping watch. I’m telling you seriously: he’ll put on an apron, have them take their places at the table,w and go around serving them.

³⁸ Even if he comes in the middle of the night, or before dawn the next morning,x if he finds them ready,y they’re in great shape.z

³⁹ And know this: “If the owner of the house had known what time the burglar was coming, he wouldn’t have let his house be broken into.”aa

⁴⁰ You be ready too. Because the Human One is coming at a time when you don’t think he will.

⁴¹ The Parable of the Reliable Slave and the Abusive Slave (Mt. 24:45-51) Peter said, “Teacher, are you saying this parable to us, or to everybody else too?”

⁴² And the Lord said, Well, who’s the reliable, intelligent head slave? The one that the master’s going to put in charge of his household servants, to give out the food rations on time?

⁴³ That slave’s in great shapebb if his master’s going to come and find him doing just that.

⁴⁴ I’m telling you the truth-he’ll put him in charge of everything he owns.

⁴⁵ But supposecc that slave says in his heart, “My master is taking a long time in coming,” and he starts beating the male and female servants, and sits around eating and drinking and getting drunk.

⁴⁶ That slave’s master is going to come on a day that he doesn’t expect, and at a time that he doesn’t know. And he’ll cut that slave in two with the whip, and put him with the unreliabledd ones.

⁴⁷ The slave that knows what their master wants, butee doesn’t get ready or do what the master wants,ff will get a lot of lashes.gg

⁴⁸ But the one who doesn’t know, and does things that deserve a whipping, will get only a few lashes. If you’ve received a lot, a lot is going to be expected of you. If you’ve been given a lot of responsibility, they’re going to demand more from you.hh

⁴⁹ “I’ve Come to Set Fire to the Earth” (Mt. 10:34-39) I’ve come to set fire to the earth-and somehow I’m glad if it’s already been lit.ii

⁵⁰ Because I have a baptism to face,jj and I’m under such pressure until it’s done!

⁵¹ Do you think I’ve come to bring peace to the earth? No! I’m telling you, it’s just the opposite: I’ve come to bring division.

⁵² Because from now on, there’ll be five people in one home, split up three against two and two against three.

⁵³ A father will be set against his son, and a son against his father. A mother will be set against her daughter, and a daughter against her mother. A mother-in-law will be against her daughter-in-law, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.kk

⁵⁴ The Parable of Reading the Weather (Mt. 16:1-4) Jesus was saying to the crowds, When you see a cloud coming up in the west, right away you say, “Rain’s coming,” and so it turns out.

⁵⁵ And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, “It’s going to be hot,” and it is.

⁵⁶ You play-actors! You know how to readll the appearance of the earth and the sky, somm how come you don’t know how to read these times?nn

⁵⁷ The Parable of Settling your Lawsuit out of Court Also, how is it that on your own you don’t judge what’s right?

⁵⁸ For example, as you’re on your way to courtoo with someone who has a lawsuit against you, make an effort to be reconciled with them. Otherwise, they might drag you off to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the bailiff, and the bailiff will throw you in prison.

⁵⁹ I’m telling you, you’ll never get out of there until you’ve paid back every last penny.

13

¹ You’ll Die If you Don’t Change your Hearts Now, some people arrived at that moment. They were telling Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilatea had mixed in with their sacrifices.

² Jesus said back to them, “Do you folks think that those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because this happened to them?

³ No, not at all. I’m telling you, if you don’t change your heartsb you’ll all die just the same.

⁴ Or how about the eighteen people that the Siloamc tower fell on and killed them? Do you folks think they were more guilty than everybody else that lives in Jerusalem?

⁵ Not at all-far from it. I’m telling you, unless you change your hearts,d you’ll all die just the same.”

⁶ The Parable of the Fig Tree with No Fruit And he was telling them this parable. “A person had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. And he came looking for fruit on it, but didn’t find any.

⁷ He said to the person that worked in the vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I’ve come to look for fruit on this fig tree, and I’m not finding any. Chop it down. Why is it wasting the soil?’

⁸ But the worker said back to him, ‘Boss, leave it for this year too-until I dig around it and put some manure on it.

⁹ Maybe it’ll bear fruit next year. But if not, you cane chop it down.’”

¹⁰ Jesus Heals a Woman who Can’t Stand Up Now, Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.

¹¹ And there was a woman there who’d had a spirit of illness for eighteen years. She was bent over and couldn’t stand up all the way.

¹² Jesus saw her and called out to her. He said, “Dear woman,f you’re set free from your illness.”

¹³ And he laid his hands on her. Right away she straightened up, and began praising God.

¹⁴ But the head of the synagogue reacted-he was angry that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. He was saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which you’re supposed to do work! So come get healed on one of them-and not on the Sabbath day!”

¹⁵ But the Lord said back to him, “Play actors-doesn’t each of you untie your ox or donkey from its feeding trough on the Sabbath, and lead it out to give it a drink?

¹⁶ Yet this is a daughter of Abraham! Look, Satan has bound her for eighteen years-isn’t it important for her to be freed from that bondageg on the Sabbath day?”h

¹⁷ When he said that, all the people who were against him were ashamed, and the whole crowd was celebrating all the glorious things he was doing.

¹⁸ The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast (Mt. 13:31-33; Mk 4:30-32) Jesus went on to say, “What is God’s Reign like? What can we compare it to?

¹⁹ It’s like a mustard seed that a person took and planted in their garden. And it grew up and got to be a tree-and the birdsi nested in its branches.”

²⁰ And he told another one:j “What shall I compare God’s Reign to?

²¹ It’s like yeast that a woman took and kneadedk into three measures of dough, so that it all rose.”l

²² The Parable of the Narrow Door (Mt. 7:13-14) Jesus was traveling through the cities and villages, teaching and making his way toward Jerusalem.

²³ And somebody said to him, “Teacher, are the people being saved just a small minority?”m He said to them,

²⁴ “Try your hardest to go in through the narrow doorway. Because I’m telling you, a lot of people are going to try to go in, and they’re not going to be able to.

²⁵ After the owner of the house gets up and locks the door, then you’ll start showing up outside to knock on the door. You’ll be saying, ‘Sir, open up for us!’ And he’ll say back to you, ‘I don’t know where you’re from.’

²⁶ Then you’ll start saying, ‘We used to eat and drink right there with you!n You taught in our public places!’o

²⁷ And he’s going to be saying to you, ‘I don’t know you, or where you’re from. Stay away from me, all you who keep doing wrong!’p

²⁸ There’s going to be crying and teeth-grinding out there, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets in God’s Reign-and yourselves excluded outside.q

²⁹ People are going to come from east and west and north and south, and they’re going to be given a banquetr in God’s Reign.

³⁰ And yets.-there are some people who are last who are going to be first, and there are some who are first who are going to be last.”

³¹ Jesus Cries Out in Grief over Jerusalem (Mt. 23:37-39) Right then some Pharisees came up to Jesus saying, “You should leave- move on from here. Because Herodt wants to kill you.”

³² And Jesus said to them, “Tell that old fox: ‘See, I’m kicking out some demons and finishing up some healings today and tomorrow and the next day. On the third day I’ll be done.

³³ But I have to travel today, tomorrow and the next day. Because it won’t do for a prophet to get killed outside of Jerusalem.’

³⁴ Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and stone the people sent to you! How many times have I wanted to gather your children together-just like a hen with her chicks under her wings? And you didn’t want it!

³⁵ Look! Your house is being abandoned to you!u I’m telling you: you’ll never see me until the day comes when you say, “Bless the one who comes in the name of the Sovereign One!”v

14

¹ Jesus Heals a Man with Edema Once Jesus went to a leading Pharisee’s house for a meal on the Sabbath. And they were watching him closely.

² Right then a man who had a bad case of edema came up to him.a

³ Jesus spoke to the scripture experts and Pharisees and said,b “Is it allowed to heal on the Sabbath or not?”

⁴ But they just kept quiet. And he took hold of him and healed him, and let him go.

⁵ Jesus said to them, “Suppose your child, or your ox, falls down a well. Is there any one of you that wouldn’t immediately lift them out on the Sabbath day?”c

⁶ And they couldn’t give an answer to that.

⁷ Jesus Teaches about Humility and Hospitality Jesus began telling a parable to the dinner guests, when he noticed how they’d been choosing the best places. He was saying to them,

⁸ “When you’re invited to a wedding by somebody, don’t taked the best place. Because somebody with higher status than you might have been invited.

⁹ And then the one who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give up your place to this person.’ Then you’ll begin to be ashamed, as you go to take the lowest place.e

¹⁰ Instead, when you’re invited, go takef the last place. That way, when the one who invited you comes, they’ll say to you, ‘Hey, friend! Come on up higher.’ Then you’ll be honored in front of all the people at the meal with you.g

¹¹ Because all the people who lift themselves up are going to be humbled, and those that humble themselves are going to be lifted up.”h

¹² And Jesus was saying to the person that invited him, “Whenever you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers and sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors. Becausei they’ll invite you in return.

¹³ Instead, when you have a party,j invite poor people, people with disabilities, people that can’t walk, blind people.

¹⁴ Thenk you’ll be blessed, because they don’t have a way to pay you back, andl you’ll be paid back in the resurrection of the just.”m

¹⁵ The Parable of the Wedding Banquet (Mt. 22:1-14) When one of the dinner guestsn heard that, he said to Jesus, “Anyone who’s going to dine in God’s Reign is blessed!”

¹⁶ But he said to him, A man gave a big dinner, and invited a lot of people.

¹⁷ At dinner time, he sent his slave to say to the people who’d been invited, “Come-it’s all readyo now.”

¹⁸ And from the very first one, they all started to make excuses.p The first one told him, “I’ve bought a piece of land, and I need to go out and see it. Please let me be excused.”q

¹⁹ Another one said, “I’ve bought five pairsr of oxen, and I’m going over to test them out. Please let me be excused.”

²⁰ Another one said, “I’ve just gotten married, and so I can’t come.”s

²¹ And the slave came back and told his master all this.t Then the owner was furious. He said to his slave, “Quickly! Go out to the public places and city streets. Bring in the poor, people with disabilities, the blind, and people who can’t walk.”

²² And the slave said, “Master, what you’ve said to do has happened, and there’s still room.”

²³ The master said to the slave, “Go out on the roads and along the fences, and make them come! That way, my house will be full.

²⁴ Because I’m telling you all, none of those peopleu who were invited is going to taste this dinner of mine.”v

²⁵ A Warning about Counting the Cost of Following Jesus (Mt. 10:34-39 + Mt. 5:13; Mk 9:50) Large crowds of people were walking along with Jesus. And he turned and said to them,

²⁶ If somebody comes to me and doesn't hate their own father and mother and spousew and children and brothers and sisters-and even their own life-they can’t be my follower.

²⁷ Whoever doesn’t pick up their own cross and come after me can’t be my follower.

²⁸ After all, suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and figure out the cost?x

²⁹ That’ll avoid laying your foundation and not being able to finish. If that happens, everybody looking on is going to start making fun of you.

³⁰ They’ll say, “This person started to build and couldn’t finish!”

³¹ Or take another example. What king, who’s going out to meet another king in battle, isn’t first going to sit down and plan it out-and ask if he’s strong enough, with ten thousand, to come against the one who’s coming at him with twenty thousand?

³² And if he isn’t, he’ll send a delegation to ask the terms of peace while the other king’s still a long ways from him.

³³ So in the same way, every one of you that doesn’t give up everything they havey can’t be my follower.

³⁴ Now, salt is goodz.-but suppose even salt itself has lost its flavor. What’s it going to be seasoned with?

³⁵ It’s not even good for the soil or for fertilizer.aa People throw it out.

15

¹ The Parable of the Lost Sheep (Mt. 18:10-14) All the tax collectors and “sinners” used to show upa to hear Jesus.

² And the Pharisees and scripture experts would be grumbling. They’d say, “This guy welcomes sinners, and eats with them!”b

³ But he told them this parable:

⁴ Let’s say one of you has a hundred sheep, and has lost one of them. Wouldn’t any of you leave the ninety-nine out in the middle of nowhere, and go after the lost one until you found it?

⁵ And when you did, wouldn’t you happily put it on your shoulders?c

⁶ And when you came home, wouldn’t you get your friends and relatives together, and say to them, “Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!”

⁷ I’m telling you, that’s the kind of joy that’s going to be in heaven over one sinner that changes their heartd.-more than over ninety-nine people of integrity that don’t have any need for a change of heart.e

⁸ The Parable of the Lost and Found Coin Or suppose there’s a woman who has ten silver coins. If she loses one silver coin, won’t she light a lamp and sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?

⁹ And when she’s found it, she’ll get her friends and relatives together, and says, “Celebrate with me! I’ve found the silver coin that I lost!”

¹⁰ I’m telling you, that’s the kind of joy there is in the presence of God’s angels, over one sinner changing their heart.f

¹¹ The Parable of the Lost and Found Son (The Prodigal Son) And Jesus said, A man had two sons.

¹² The younger one said to his father, “Father, give me the portion of the estate that’s coming to me.” And the father divided his savings between the two sons.

¹³ Not long afterwards, the younger son packed up everythingg and went off to a faraway land. Over there, he wasted his savings through fast living.h

¹⁴ And when he’d spent it all, there was a severe famine all over that land, and he started to go short.

¹⁵ He went and joined on with one of the citizens of that land, and that man sent him out to his fields to take care of the pigs.

¹⁶ And he kept wishing he could fill his stomachi with the carob pods that the pigs used to eat. And no one was giving him anything.

¹⁷ As he went out, he said to himself, “How many of my father’s hired laborers have more than enough to eat-and I’m here dying of hunger!

¹⁸ I’m going to get up and go to my father. And I’m going to say to him, ‘Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and in front of you.

¹⁹ I’m not worthy to be called your son anymore. Treat me like one of your hired laborers.’”

²⁰ And he got up and went to his father. Now, while he was still a long ways away, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him. And he ran and threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.

²¹ And his son said to him, “Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and in front of you. I’m not worthy to be called your son anymore.”

²² But the father said to his slaves, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him! Bring a ring for his finger,j and sandals for his feet.

²³ And bring the grain-fattened calf and kill it, so we can feast and have a good time!

²⁴ Because my son herek used to be dead, and he’s come alive; he used to be lost, and he’s found!” And they started the celebration.l

²⁵ Now, his older son had been out in the field. And when he came back and got close to the house, he heard music and dancing.

²⁶ And he called over one of the servants and asked what this was all about.m

²⁷ The servant said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the grain-fattened calf, because he got him back safe and sound.”

²⁸ But he was furious, and wouldn’t go in. And his father went out and pleaded with him.

²⁹ But he said back to his father, “Look! All these years I’m serving you, and have never disobeyed a command of yours. And me—you’ve never given me a little goat to have a good time with my friends.

³⁰ But when this son of yours comes-the one who has eaten through all of your savings with prostitutes—you kill the grain-fattened calf for him!”

³¹ But his father said to him, “Child, you’re always with me, and everything that’s mine is yours.

³² But we had to celebrate and have a good time! Because your brother here had been dead, and came alive. He’d been lost, and has been found.”

16

¹ The Parable of the Dishonest Manager Jesus was saying to his followers, There was once a rich man who had a household manager. This man was accused to him of wasting his property.

² And he called him over and said to him, “What’s this I hear about you? Hand over the records of your management job. You can’t manage my property anymore.”

³ The manager said to himself, “What am I going to do? My boss has taken the management job away from me! I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m embarrassed to beg.

⁴ I know what I’ll do, so that when I’m removed from management people will welcome me into their homes.”

⁵ And he sent for each one of the people that owed his boss things. He saida to the first one, “How much do you owe my boss?”

⁶ And he said, “Eight hundred gallons of oil.”b And he said to him, “Here’sc your bill. Quick-sit down and write four hundred.”

⁷ Then he said to another person, “And you-how much do you owe?” And he said, “Thirty tons of wheat.”d And he said to him, “Here’se your bill. Sit down and write twenty-four tons.”f

⁸ And the boss complimented his dishonest manager for acting wisely.g Because the peopleh of this world are wiser towards their own kind than the people of light.

⁹ I’m telling you, make friends for yourselves using unjust wealth.i That way, when it disappears, people will welcome you into the eternal dwelling places.j

¹⁰ The person who’s faithful in relation to something really smallk is faithful in relation to big things too. And the person who’s unfaithful in relation to something really small is unfaithful in relation to big things too.

¹¹ So if you haven’t been faithful in relation to unjust wealth, who’s going to trust you with the real thing?

¹² And if you haven’t been faithful with somebody else’s resources, who’s going to give you your own?

¹³ No slave can serve two masters. They’ll either hate the one and love the other, or they’ll be loyal to the one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and wealth.l

¹⁴ God’s Thinking versus Human Thinking Now, the Pharisees (who love money) would hear all these sayings, and they’d laugh at Jesus.m

¹⁵ And he said to them, You’re justifying yourselvesn in front of human beings, but God knows your hearts: what’s highly respected by human beings is totally disgusting to God.o

¹⁶ The Law and the Prophets have been there up until John. From that point on,p God’s Reign is being preached-and everybody’s shoving their way into it.

¹⁷ It’s easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for one tiny pen stroke of the Law to drop out.

¹⁸ Everybody who divorces his wife, and marries another woman, breaks his mar­riage vows. And the man who marries a woman who’s divorced from her husband breaks his mar­riage vows.

¹⁹ The Tale of Lazarus and the Rich Man There was once a rich man. He used to wear clothes with expensive dyes and fine material,q and he’d eat glorious meals every day.

²⁰ And there was a poor man called Lazarus, who used to flop downr outsides his door, all covered with open sores.

²¹ And he’d be desperate to fill his stomach with the things that were tossed out from the rich man’s kitchen.t But instead, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.

²² Now it happened that the poor man died, and he was carried off by the angels into the arms of Abraham. The rich man died too, and was buried.

²³ And in Hadesu he was in torture. He looked up and saw Abraham from a long ways away, and Lazarus in his arms.

²⁴ He shouted out, “Father Abraham! Have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, so he can dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue! I’m in terrible pain in this fire!”v

²⁵ But Abraham said, “Child, remember, you got the good thingsw in your life, and likewise, Lazarus got the bad things. But now he’s here being comforted, and you’re in terrible pain.

²⁶ However,x a deep canyon has been put in place between us and all of you. So people that want to go across to you can’t do it, and people can’t cross from there to us either.”

²⁷ And the rich man said, “Then I want to ask you something, Father. Send Lazarus to my father’s house.

²⁸ Because I have five brothers. That way he can warn them, so that they don’t come to this place of torture.”

²⁹ But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the prophets. They should listen to them.”

³⁰ But he said, “Please, no, father Abraham! But if somebody goes to them from among the dead, then they’ll change their hearts.”y

³¹ But he said to him, “If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t pay attention even if somebody rises from among the dead.”

17

¹ Tripping People Up-Or Watching Out for them (Mt. 18:6-7, 21-22; Mk 9:42) Jesus said to his followers, “There’s no avoiding it-things are going to come that trip people up.a Still, it’s going to be horrible for whoever causes them.b

² They’d be better off to have a millstone hung around their neck and be thrown into the sea, than for them to trip up one of these little ones.

³ Watch yourselves. If your friendc sins, tell them off. And if they change their heart,d forgive them.

⁴ And if they sin against you seven times in a day, and seven times say, ‘I intend to be different,’e you’re to forgive them.”

⁵ The Power of Faith the Size of a Mustard Seed The apostlesf said to the Lord, “Give us more faith!”

⁶ And the Lord said to them, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could have said to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea’-and it would’ve obeyed you.”g

⁷ Jesus Suggests a Cure for Spiritual Self-Congratulation “Suppose you have a slave that plows your field or tends your sheep. When they come back from the field, would any of you say to them, ‘Quick, come over and have dinner with me’?

⁸ Hardly! Wouldn’t you say to them, ‘Get me something for dinner, and put on your apron and serve me while I eat my mealh.-and afterwards you can eat your meal’?i

⁹ Is a person thankful to the slave because they did as they were told?

¹⁰ The same with you. Whenever you’ve done everything you’re told to do, say, ‘We’re no great use as slaves. We’ve just done what we were supposedj to have done.’”

¹¹ Jesus Heals Ten Men with Leprosy-And Only One Thanks him As Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he ended up going along between Samariak and Galilee.

¹² And as he went into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance

¹³ and shouted to him: “Jesus, Teacher! Please have mercy on us!”

¹⁴ When Jesus saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And it turned out that as they went, they were made clean.

¹⁵ Now, one of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back glorifying God with a loud voice.

¹⁶ He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, thanking him. (He was a Samaritan.l.)

¹⁷ And Jesus responded, “Weren’t ten made clean? Som where are the nine?

¹⁸ Wasn’t there anybodyn who came back to give glory to God except this foreigner?”

¹⁹ And he said to him, “Get up, and go on your way. Your faith has healedo you.”

²⁰ The Coming of God’s Reign (Mt. 24:23-28, 37-41) Jesus was asked by the Pharisees, “When is God’s Reign coming?” He answered them by saying, God’s Reign doesn’t come so you can see it.p

²¹ And they’re not going to be saying, “Look, it’s here!” or, “There it is!” Because look, it’s inside each of you.”

²² And he said to his followers, “Timesq are coming when you’ll be desperate to see the dayr of the Human One, and you’re not going to see it.

²³ And they’re going to be saying to you, “Look, there he is!” or “Look, he’s here!” Don’t go off or chase after them.

²⁴ Because you know how lightning flashes: it lights up the underside of the sky from one end to the other. That’s how the Human One is going to be.s

²⁵ But first he’s destined to be treated very badlyt and be rejected by this generation.

²⁶ Just like it was in Noah’s day,u that’s how it’s going to be in the Human One’s day.v

²⁷ They were eating and drinking, marrying and getting married-right up to the day that Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

²⁸ It’ll also be just like what happened in Lot’s day.w They were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting their fields, and building their houses.

²⁹ But on the day that Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

³⁰ It’ll be like that on the day that the Human One is revealed.x

³¹ On that day, if you’re on the roofy and your things are in the house, don’t go down to get them.z And if you’re in the field, it’s the same. Don’t turn around behind you-

³² remember Lot’s wife!aa

³³ If you try to save your life, you’re going to lose it, but if you lose it, you’ll give birth to it.bb

³⁴ I’m telling you, on that night, two people will be sharing a bed-one will be taken along and the other will be left.

³⁵ There’ll be two women be grind­ing flour togethercc.-one will be taken along, and the other will be left.dd

³⁶

³⁷ They said back to him, “Where, Teacher?” And he said to them, “Where the body is, that’s where the vultures will gather.”ee

18

¹ The Parable of the Widow who Wouldn’t Give Up Jesus was telling them a parable about the need to be praying all the time, and not to give up.

² He was saying, “There was a judge in a certain city, who had no fear of God or respect for human beings.

³ And there was a widow in that city, and she used to go to him and say, ‘Get me justice in my legal dispute!’a

⁴ And for a while he didn’t want to. But later he said to himself, ‘It may be that I have no fear of God or respect for human beings.

⁵ But because this widow keeps bothering me, I’m going to get justice for her. That way, she won’t finally wear me out with her visits.’”b

⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.

⁷ But won’t God definitely get justice for God’s chosen ones,c who cry to God day and night? Surely God won’t let things go on indefinitely for them!

⁸ I’m telling you, God will get justice for them right away. Still, when the Human One comes, will he find faith here on the earth?”

⁹ The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector Jesus told this parable for people who were confident about themselves that they were people of integrity,d and despised everybody else.

¹⁰ “Two people went up to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector.

¹¹ The Pharisee was standing there praying to himself, ‘God, thank you that I’m not like everybody else-violent, lacking in integrity,e unfaithful to their marriage vows-or even like this tax collector.

¹² I fast twice a week. I give away a tenthf of everything I get.’

¹³ Now, the tax collector was standing a long ways away. And he wouldn’t even look up towardsg heaven-far from it. He was hitting his chest and saying, ‘God, forgive me, I’m a sinner!’h

¹⁴ I’m telling you, this one went home right with Godi rather than the other one. Because all those that lift themselves up are going to be humbled, and those that humble themselves are going to be lifted up.”j

¹⁵ Jesus Blesses Some Little Children (Mt. 19:13-15; Mk 10:13-16) People were bringing their babies to Jesus, so that he’d touch them. And when his followers saw it, they were giving them a hard time.k

¹⁶ But Jesus called them over to himself. He was saying, “Let the children come to me! Don’t be stopping them! After all, God’s Reign belongs to ones like these.

¹⁷ I’m telling you seriously: whoever doesn’t accept God’s Reign like a child, will never go into it.”

¹⁸ A Rich Leader Comes to Jesus (Mt. 19:16-30; Mk 10:17-31) A leader asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁹ But Jesus said to him, “Why are you saying I’m good? Nobody’s good except the One God.

²⁰ You know the commandments: Don’t break your marriage vows, don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t testify falsely against anyone, honor your father and mother.”l

²¹ And the man said, ‘I’ve kept all of these since childhood.’

²² When Jesus heard that, he said to him, “There’s still one thing left for you to do. Sell everything you have, and hand over the money to the poor, and you’ll have wealth storedm in heaven. Thenn come, follow me.”

²³ But when he heard that, he was deeply depressed, because he was very rich.

²⁴ And Jesus looked at himo and said, “It will be so painful for people who have wealth to enter God’s kingdom!

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

²⁶ And the people listening said, “Thenp who can be saved?”

²⁷ And he said, “Things that are impossible for human beings are possible for God.”

²⁸ Peter said to him, “Look, we’ve left our possessions and have become your followers.”

²⁹ And Jesus said to them, “I’m telling you seriously: there’s no one who has left a home, or a spouse,q or brothers or sisters, or parents, or children for the sake of God’s Reign,

³⁰ who won’t get back a many times as much right now,r and in the age that’s coming, eternal life.”

³¹ Jesus Says for the Third Time That he is Going to be Killed (Mt. 20:17-19; Mk 10:32-34) Jesus took the twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we’re going up to Jerusalem. And everything written in the prophets about the Human One is going to be fulfilled.

³² Because he’s going to be handed over to the Gentiles, and he’s going to be made fun of, treated outrageously, and spat on.

³³ They’re going to whip him and kill him, and on the third day he’s going to rise up.”

³⁴ They didn’t understand any of that, and its stayed hidden from them. They weren’t getting the message.t

³⁵ Jesus Heal a Blind Man at Jericho (Mt. 20:29-34; Mk 10:46-52) As Jesus got close to Jericho, it happened that there was a blind man who sat there next to the road begging.

³⁶ When he heard the crowd going through the gates, he asked what was going on.u

³⁷ And they told him that Jesus the Nazarene was coming by.

³⁸ And he called out, “Jesus, Son of David! Have mercy on me!”

³⁹ The people in front told him off and tried to get him to be quiet. But he was shouting all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!!”

⁴⁰ And Jesus stopped and gave orders for the blind man to be brought to him.v When the man came up to him, Jesus asked him,

⁴¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” And he said, “Teacher, that I’ll see again!”

⁴² Jesus said to him, “See again. Your faith has healedw you.”

⁴³ And immediately he could see again, and he followed him, glorifying God. And all the people saw it and gave praise to God.

19

¹ Jesus Meets Zacchaeus the Chief Tax Collector Jesus went into Jericho, and was going through it.

² Now,a there was a man called Zacchaeus,b who wasc a chief tax collector, and he was rich.

³ He kept trying to see who Jesus was, and he couldn’t see from the crowd, because he was short.

⁴ And he ran on ahead and climbed a sycamore tree so that he could see him-Jesus was coming through that way.

⁵ When Jesus came to the place, he looked up. He said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down. Because I have to stay at your house today.

⁶ And he hurried down, and was very happy to welcome him.d

⁷ When everybody saw it, they were grumbling. They were saying, “He’s gone to stay at the house of a man who’s a sinner.”

⁸ But Zacchaeus stood in front of the Lord and said, “Look, Teacher-I’m giving away half of what I own to the poor. And if I’ve made anything dishonestly at someone’s expense,e I’m giving back four times as much.”

⁹ And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house.

¹⁰ Because he too is a child of Abraham. After all, the Human One came to search for and save the lost.”f

¹¹ The Parable of the Ten Servants who are Given Ten Coins (Mt. 25:14-30) As people were listening to this, Jesus went on to tell a parable. Because he was right near Jerusalem, and they were thinking that God’s Reign was going to appear right away.

¹² So he said, “A certain princeg traveled to a faraway country, so he could be made king.h And then he was supposed to come back.

¹³ Before he left, he called ten of his slaves, and gave each of them a valuable coin.i He said to them, ‘Do business until I come back.’

¹⁴ Now, the people of his city used to hate him. And they sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be king over us.’

¹⁵ He was made king, and when he came back, he said to call over the slaves that he’d given the money to. He wanted to knowj what business they’d done with it.

¹⁶ And the first one came up and said, ‘Master, your coin has earned ten more.’

¹⁷ He said to him, ‘Well done—you’re a good slave: you’ve been faithful in relation to something really small.k You’re to have authority over ten cities!’

¹⁸ And the second came up and was saying, ‘Your coin has made five more.’

¹⁹ He said to that one, ‘You’re to be over five cities.’

²⁰ And another one came and was saying, ‘Look, Master-here’s your coin. I was keeping it hidden in a piece of cloth.

²¹ Because I was afraid of you, because you’re a hard man. You draw out what you haven’t deposited,l and you harvest what you haven’t planted.’

²² And he said to him, ‘I’m going to judge you out of your own mouth, you bad slave. You knew that I’m “a hard man, who draws out what he hasn’t deposited, and harvests what he hasn’t planted.”

²³ So why didn’t you hand my money over to the bank? Then when I came, I’d have collected it with interest.’

²⁴ And he said to the people standing there, ‘Take the coin away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten coins.’

²⁵ And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten coins!’ He replied,

²⁶ ‘I’m telling you, everyone who has will get more,m but the person who doesn’t have will even get what they have taken away.

²⁷ But as for these enemies of mine, who didn’t want me to be king over them-bring them here and execute them in front of me.’”

²⁸ The Crowd Celebrates as Jesus Enters Jerusalem (Mt. 21:1-11; Mk 11:1-11; Jn 12:12-19) When Jesus had said that, he went ahead on his way up to Jerusalem.

²⁹ And as he was coming up on Bethphagen and Bethany,o at the foot of the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his followers on a mission.

³⁰ He said to them, “Go into the village across from you. As you’re going into it, you’ll find a colt tied up. It will never have been ridden before.p Untie it and bring it.

³¹ And if anyone asks you why you’re untying it, say this: ‘The Teacher needs him.’”q

³² And theyr went off, and found things just as he had described to them.s

³³ As they untied the colt, its owners said to them, “What are you untying colt for?”

³⁴ They said, “The Teacher needs him.”

³⁵ And they brought him to Jesus. And they put their robes over the colt, and got Jesus sitting on him.

³⁶ As he went along, they were throwing their robes in the street.t

³⁷ Right as Jesus came over the topu of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of his followers started celebrating. They were praising God in a loud voice for all the displays of power they’d seen.

³⁸ They were saying, Bless the king who comes in the name of the Sovereign One!v Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!

³⁹ Some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to him, “Teacher-warn your followers not to say such things!”w

⁴⁰ But he said back to them, “I’m telling you, if they go quiet, the rocks will cry out.”x

⁴¹ Jesus Cries in Grief over Jerusalem (Mt. 23:37; Lk. 13:34-35) When Jesus got close enough to see the city of Jerusalem, he cried over it.

⁴² He was saying, “If you knew on this day-yes, you!-what leads to peace!y But now it’s hidden from your eyes.

⁴³ Because days are coming towardsz you when your enemies will set up siege works around you-and they’ll surround you and crush in on you from all sides.

⁴⁴ They’ll level you to the ground—you and your children in you. They won’t leave one stone on anotheraa in you, because you didn’t recognize it when God visited you.bb

⁴⁵ Jesus Goes to the Temple-And Knocks Over Some Tables (Mt. 21:12-17; Mk 11:15-19; Jn 2:12-25) When Jesus went into the Temple, he started kicking out the people who were selling things.

⁴⁶ He was saying to them, “Scripture says:cc ‘My house is going to be called a house of prayer.’dd But you’ve made it a hideout for armed robbers!”ee

⁴⁷ The Religious Leaders Question Jesus’ Authority (Mt. 21:23-27; Mk 11:27-33) Jesus was teaching every day in the Temple. And the chief priests, the scripture experts, and the most powerful people in the countryff were looking for a way to kill him.

⁴⁸ But they weren’t finding a way to do it, because the whole population was intent on listening to him.

20

¹ One day Jesus was teaching in the Temple and preaching the good news. And the chief priests and scripture experts, together with the elders, came up.

² They said to him, “Tell us: by what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you the authority to do all this?”a

³ Jesus said back to them, “I’ll ask you one thing too, and you answer me.

⁴ John’s baptism-was it from heaven, or did it just come from human beings?

⁵ And they discussed it amongst themselves. They were saying, “If we say it was from heaven, he’ll say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’

⁶ But if we say it was just from human beings, then the whole population will stone us to death. Because they’re convinced that John is a prophet.”

⁷ And they answered that they didn’t know where John’s baptism came from.

⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Then I’m notb going to tell you by what authority I’m doing these things.”

⁹ The Parable of the Evil Tenant Farmers (Mt. 21:33-46; Mk 12:1-12) And Jesus started telling the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard. He leased it out to farmers, and left the country for a long time.

¹⁰ In time, he sent the farmers a slave, so that they’d give him a portion of the harvestc of the vineyard. But the farmers sent him away empty-handed, after beating him up.

¹¹ And the man went on to send another slave to them. That one they also beat up and humiliated, and they sent him away empty-handed.

¹² And the man proceeded to send a third. But they wounded that one too, and threw him out.

¹³ The owner of the vineyard thought,d ‘What am I going to do? I’m going to send my son, that I love. Maybe they’ll respect him.’

¹⁴ But when they saw him, the farmers started discussing it amongst themselves. They were saying, “This is the heir! Let’s kill him, so the inheritance will be ours!”

¹⁵ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. So what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

¹⁶ He’ll come and kill those farmers and give the vineyard to somebody else.” And when the people heard that, they said, “Never!”e

¹⁷ But Jesus looked right at them and said, “Then what’s this scripture? This stone, which the builders rejected, Became the cornerstone! This was from the Sovereign One, And it’s amazing to us!f

¹⁸ Everybody that falls on that stone will be broken in pieces; and if it falls on somebody, it will crush them to powder.”

¹⁹ And the scripture experts and the chief priests looked for a way to get their hands on Jesus at that very moment,g but they were afraid of the people. Because they knew he’d told that parable against them.

²⁰ Jesus Answers a Trick Question about Paying Taxes to Caesar (Mt. 22:15-22; Mk 12:13-17) They looked for an opportunity,h and sent spies who pretended to be people of integrity.i They were hoping to catch him in something he said. That way, they could turn him over to the government and the authority of the Roman governor.

²¹ And they asked Jesus this question: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach things straight-that you don’t give anyone special treatment. Far from it: you truly teach the ways of God.

²² Is it allowed for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

²³ But he knew just what their trick was. He said to them,

²⁴ “Show me a denarius.j Whose image and namek does it have on it?” They said, “Caesar’s.”

²⁵ And he said to them, “Well then, give what’s Caesar’s to Caesar, and give what’s God’s to God.”

²⁶ And they weren’t able to catch him in what he said in front of the people. They were amazed at his answer, and went silent.

²⁷ Jesus Answers a Trick Question about the Resurrection (Mt. 22: 23-33; Mk 12:18-27) Some Sadducees came up to Jesus-the ones who deny that there’s a resurrection.

²⁸ They asked him this question: “Teacher, Moses wrote us this command: Suppose somebody’s brother dies, and has a wife but he’s childless. He is to marryl the wife, and raise up offspring for his brother.m

²⁹ So then, there were seven brothers. The first married a wifen and died childless.

³⁰ And the second

³¹ and the third married her, as did all seven. They all left no children, and died.

³² Last of all, the woman died too.

³³ So, this woman-at the resurrection, which one’s wife will she be? Because all seven had been married to her.”o

³⁴ And Jesus said to them, “The peoplep of this age marry and get married.

³⁵ But those who’ve been considered worthy to take part inq that age, and in the resurrection from among the dead-they don’t marry, and they don’t get married. And they can’t die anymore.

³⁶ Because they’re like angels, and they’re God’s children. They belong to the resurrection.r

³⁷ But that the dead rise-Moses revealed that in the passage about the burning bush, when he says, ‘the Sovereign One, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’s

³⁸ Now, God is certainly not the God of the dead, but of the living. Because everyone lives int God.”

³⁹ And some of the scripture experts said, “Teacher, well said.”

⁴⁰ Because they didn’t dare to ask him anything anymore.

⁴¹ Jesus Asks a Question of his Own (Mt. 23:1-7; Mk 12:35-37) But Jesus said to them, “How do they say that the Messiah is the son of David?

⁴² After all, David himself said in the book of Psalms, The Sovereign One said to my Lord, ”Sit at my right side

⁴³ until I place your enemies as a footstool under your feet.”u

⁴⁴ So David calls him ‘Lord.’ Then how is he his son?”v

⁴⁵ Jesus Preaches against the Scripture Experts (Mt. 23:1-7; Mk 12:38-40) As all the people werew listening, Jesus said to his followers,

⁴⁶ “Watch out for the scripture experts. They want to walk around in long robes-and they love respectful greetings in public places,x the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at banquets.

⁴⁷ These people gobble up widows’ houses-while making a show of praying long prayers! They’re going to facey all the more judgment!

21

¹ Jesus Praises a Poor Widow’s Offering (Mk 12:41-44) Jesus looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the collection box.

² And he saw a poor widow put in two half pennies.

³ He said, “I’m telling you the truth-that poor widow put in more than all of them.

⁴ Because they all put in gifts out of what they had left overa.-but she, out of her shortage of money, put in all the savings that she had!”

⁵ Signs of the Wrapping Up of the Age (Mt. 24:3-14; Mk 13:3-8) Some people were saying that the Temple was beautiful, with its stones and its treasures dedicated to God. Jesus said,

⁶ “All this that you’re looking at-days are coming when one stone won’t be left on another,b that won’t be knocked down.”

⁷ And Jesus’ followers asked him about it. They said, “So, Teacher-when will thatc be? What’s the signd that it’s about to happen?”

⁸ He said, “Make sure nobody fools you.e Lots of people are going to come using my name. They’re going to be saying, ‘I’m him!’ and ‘The time’s near!’ But don’t follow them.

⁹ And when you hear of wars and social unrest, don’t be frightened. Because these things have to happen first, but the end doesn’t come right away.”

¹⁰ Then Jesus was saying to them, One nation is going to get up and make war againstf another nation, and one kingdom against another kingdom.

¹¹ And there’ll be big earthquakes. And in various places there’ll be plagues and famines. There’ll be terrifying events,g and massive signs from heavenh as well.

¹² But before all these things, they’re going to arrest you and persecute you. They’ll turn you over to the synagogues and prisons. And you’ll be brought before kings and governors because of my name.

¹³ It’ll become an opportunity for you to testify.

¹⁴ So make up your mindsi not to rehearse your defense beforehand.

¹⁵ Because I’m going to give you such an ability to speak,j and such wisdom, that none of the people who are against you will be able to resist it or contradict it.

¹⁶ But you’ll even be turned in by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives, and friends. And they’ll have some of you put to death.k

¹⁷ And you’ll be hated by everyone because of my name.

¹⁸ Yet not one hair of your head will be lost.

¹⁹ By your endurance you’ll win your lives.l

²⁰ Jesus Prophesies the Invasion and Occupation of Jerusalem (Mt. 24:15-28; Mk 13:14-23) When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, then you should know that the moment of its abandonment is near.m

²¹ Then the people who live in Judea should flee into the hills, and the people of integrityn in the city should leave. And the people who live out in the countryside shouldn’t go into the city.o

²² Because those are days of payback, the time for all the scriptures to be fulfilled.

²³ It’ll be bad for preg­nant women and nursing mothers in those days. Because there’s going to be terrible distress on the earth, and wrath on this country.p

²⁴ And people are going to die by the swordq and be taken captive to all the nations, and Jerusalem is going to be trampled by the nations, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

²⁵ The Coming of the Human One (Mt. 24:29-31; Mk 13:24-27) There are going to be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars. And on the earth, there’ll be stress and anxiety among the nations about the roaring and heaving of the ocean.

²⁶ People are going to be fainting from fear and dread of the things that are coming on the world. Because the powers of the heavens are going to be shaken up.

²⁷ Then they’re going to see the Human One coming in a cloud,r with power and great glory.

²⁸ But when these things are starting to happen, look up and lift your heads-because your release from captivity is getting close.

²⁹ The Parable of the Fig Tree (Mt. 24:32-35; Mk 13:28-31) And Jesus told them this parable: Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.

³⁰ When they put out leaves, you see it for yourselves, and you know that summer is nearly here already.

³¹ In the same way, when you see these things happening, you know that God’s Reign is nearly here.

³² I’m telling you seriously: this generation is never going to go away until all these things happen!

³³ Heaven and earth are going to go away, but my words are never going to go away.

³⁴ Stay Awake! (Mt. 24:36; Mk 13:32-37) Watch yourselves, that your hearts don’t get weighed down with partyings and getting drunk, and with everyday concerns. Otherwise, that day will come on you unexpectedly,

³⁵ like a trap. Because it’s going to land on everybodyt that lives on the face of the earth.u

³⁶ But be wide awake at all times. Be praying that you’ll overcome and escape all these things that are about to happen, and that you’ll stand unashamed in front of the Human One.

³⁷ In the daytime, Jesus was teaching in the Temple, and at night, he’d go out and spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives.

³⁸ And all the people would get up early in the morning, to come listen to him in the Temple.

22

¹ The Leaders Look for a Way to Kill Jesus (Mt. 26:1-5, 14-16; Mk 14:1-2, 10-11; Jn 11:45-53) The festival of Unleavened Breada was getting close, which is called the Passover.b

² And the chief priests and the scripture experts were looking for a way to kill Jesus-because they were afraid of the people.c

³ And Satan went into Judas, the one called Iscariot. He was counted as one of the twelve.

⁴ He went off and talked with the chief priests and the officers of the Temple Guard, about how he could turn Jesus over to them.

⁵ They were very happy, and they worked out a deal to give him some money.

⁶ And he agreed to it.d He began looking for a good opportunity to hand Jesus over to them, without the crowd there.

⁷ Jesus Has a Passover Meal with his Closest Followers (Mt. 26:17-19; Mk 14:12-16) The day of Unleavened Breade came, when they have to sacrifice the Passoverf lamb.

⁸ Jesus sent Peter and John on a mission. He said, “Go get the Passover meal ready for us, so we can eat it.”

⁹ And they said to him, “Where do you want us to get it ready?”

¹⁰ He told them, “Listen:g as you go into the city, a man’s going to meet you, carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house that he goes to.

¹¹ And say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher says,h “Where’s the guest room, where I can eat the Passover meal with my followers?” ’

¹² And he’ll show you a big furnished room upstairs. Get things ready there.”

¹³ The two followers went off, and they found things exactly as he had told them. And they got the Passover meal ready.

¹⁴ The Lord’s Supper (Mt. 26:20-30; Mk 14:17-26; Jn 13:21-30; 1 Cor. 11:23-26) When it was time, Jesus had dinneri with his disciples.

¹⁵ He said to them, “I’ve been so desperate to eat this Passoverj meal with you before I suffer.

¹⁶ Because I’m telling you, I’m never eating it again until it’s fulfilled in God’s Reign.”

¹⁷ And when he’d taken a cup and said thanks over it, he said, “Take this, and share it with one another-

¹⁸ I’m telling you, I’m never going to drink from the fruits of the grape vine again until the time when God’s Reign comes.k

¹⁹ And he took a loaf of bread, said thanks over it, and broke it. And he gave it to them. He was saying, “This is my body, that’s given for you. Do this in memory of me.”

²⁰ He did the same with the cup after the meal. He was saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, that’s poured out for your sake.

²¹ But look-the person who’s betraying me has their hand on the table with me.l

²² Because the Human One walks the path that’s been marked out for him, but it’s going to be horrible for the person responsible for his betrayal!”

²³ And they started discussing it with each other: which of them could be the one who was planning to do that.

²⁴ “Which of us is the Greatest?” There also got to be an argument between them about which of them was seen as being the greatest.

²⁵ But Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles rule over them. And the people in control over them are called ‘benefactors.’

²⁶ But don’t you be like that. Just the opposite. The greatest one of you should be like the youngest, and the person that leads should be like the person that serves.

²⁷ After all, who’s greater? The person eating dinner, or the person serving? Yet I’m here with you as the one who serves.”m

²⁸ “You’re the ones who’ve stood by me in my times of testing.

²⁹ So,n just as my Father has given me a kingdom,

³⁰ I’m giving you the right to eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. And I’m giving you the right to sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

³¹ Jesus Prophesies That Peter Will Disown him (Mt. 26:31-35; Mk 14:27-31; Jn 13:36-38) “Simon, Simon! Look. Satan has demanded to sift youo all like wheat.

³² But I’ve prayed for you,p that your faith won’t fail. And you, when you’ve come back, strengthen your brothers and sisters.”

³³ But he said to Jesus, “Teacher, I’m ready to go to prison and death with you!”

³⁴ But he said, “I’m telling you, Peter, the rooster’s not going to crow today until you’ve denied that you know me three times.”

³⁵ Get Ready for Trouble Jesus said to them, “When I sent you on a mission without money pouches, backpacks, or sandals, did you ever go short of anything?” They said, “Not a thing.”

³⁶ And he said to them, “Now it’s the opposite. The person that has a money pouch should take it, and their backpack too. And if they don’t have a sword, they’d better sell their robe and buy one.

³⁷ Because I’m telling you, this scripture has to be fulfilled in me: “He was regarded as an outlaw.”q Because even this scripture about me has a fulfillment.

³⁸ And they said, “Look, Teacher-here are two swords.” But he said to them, “That’s enough.”

³⁹ Jesus Prays at the Mount of Olives (Mt. 26:36-46; Mk 14:32-42; Jn 18:1) Jesus went out and walked to the Mount of Olives, as usual, and his followers went with him.

⁴⁰ When he got there, he said to them, “Be praying that you don’t come into a time of testing.”

⁴¹ And he went off alone about a stone’s throw from them, and got on his knees and prayed.

⁴² He was saying, “Father, if you’re willing, take this cup away from me. But still, not what I want, but what you want. That’s what should happen.”r

⁴³

⁴⁴

⁴⁵ And he got up from his prayer and went to his followers. He found them sleeping because of their sorrow.

⁴⁶ He said to them, “How is it that you’re sleeping? Get up and be praying, so that you don’t come into a time of testing.”s

⁴⁷ Jesus is Betrayed and Arrested (Mt. 26:47-56; Mk 14:43-52; Jn 18:1-11) While Jesus was still speaking, a crowd appeared, along with the person named Judas-one of the twelve. He went ahead of the others, and came up to Jesus to kiss him.

⁴⁸ Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you going to betrayt the Human One with a kiss?”

⁴⁹ When his companions saw what was going to happen, they said, “Teacher, should we use our swords?”u

⁵⁰ And one of them struck the High Priest’s slave and cut off his right ear.

⁵¹ But Jesus said back to them, “That’s enough of that!” And he touched his ear and healed him.

⁵² Jesus said to the chief priests and Temple guards and elders who were there against him, “Have you come out against me with swords and clubs, as though you were after an armed robber?

⁵³ While I’ve been with you every day in the Temple, you’ve never even touched me.v But no, this is your time-this is the authority of darkness.”w And they arrested him.

⁵⁴ Peter Denies That he Knows Jesus (Mt. 25:69-75; Mk 14:66-72; Jn 18:15-18, 25-27) They led Jesus along to the High Priest’s house, and went in. Now, Peter was following him at a distance.

⁵⁵ They’d made a fire in the middle of the courtyard, and Peter sat down right there with them.

⁵⁶ A servant girl saw him sitting in front of the fire. She looked closely at him and said, “He was with him too!”

⁵⁷ But he denied it. He was saying, “I don’t know him, miss.”x

⁵⁸ After a while, somebody else saw him, and was saying, “You’re one of them too.” But Peter was saying, “Man, I am not.”

⁵⁹ About an hour later, another person started insisting: “He was definitelyy with him-after all, he’s a Galilean!”

⁶⁰ But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Right away, while he was still saying that, a rooster crowed.

⁶¹ The Lord turned and looked right at Peter. And Peter remembered the Lord’s words-how Jesus had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you’re going to disown me three times.”

⁶² And he went outside and cried bitterly.

⁶³ Jesus is Beaten and Insulted (Mt. 26:67-68; Mk 14:65) The men who were holding Jesus were making fun of him as they beat him.

⁶⁴ They blindfolded him, and were asking him, “Prophesy-who is it that hit you?”

⁶⁵ And they were saying lots of other insults to him too.

⁶⁶ Jesus is Brought before the High Court (Mt. 26:57-68; Mk 14:61-64; Jn 18:12-14, 19-24) As it started to get light,z the council of the elders of the people got together, including the chief priests and the scripture experts. And the guards led Jesus off to their High Council.aa

⁶⁷ They were saying, “If you’re the Messiah, tell us.”

⁶⁸ But he said to them, “If I tell you, you’ll never believe me. And if I ask you, you’ll never answer.

⁶⁹ But from now on, the Human One is going to be ‘sitting at the right side of the power of God.’”bb

⁷⁰ And they all said, “So you’re the Son of God?”cc But he kept saying, “You’re saying that I am.”

⁷¹ They said, “Why do we still have to have testimony? We’ve heard it ourselves from his own mouth.”

23

¹ Jesus is Handed Over to the Roman Governor, Pilate (Mt. 27:1-2; Mk 15:1; Jn 18:28) Then the whole councila got up and brought Jesus in front of Pilate.b

² And they started accusing him of things. They were saying, “We’ve found this person misleading our nation and stopping people from paying taxes to Caesar. He also claims that he’s ‘Messiah,’ a king.”

³ Pilate asked him, “You’re the king of the Jews?” And he answered him by saying, “You’re saying it.”

⁴ Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” But they kept insisting.

⁵ They were saying, “He’s shaking up the people by teaching all over Judea. He started from Galilee, and came all the way down here.”

⁶ Pilate Sends Jesus to Herod Now, when Pilate heard that, he asked if the person was a Galilean.

⁷ Once he’d figured out that Jesus was from the region that Herodc was responsible for,d he sent him off to Herod.

⁸ (Herod was also in Jerusalem at that time.) And Herod was extremely happy to see Jesus-he’d been trying to see him for quite some time, because he’d heard about him. And he’d been hoping to see some sort of miraclee be done by him.

⁹ He asked Jesus quite a few questions, but he didn’t answer him at all.

¹⁰ And the chief priests and the scripture experts stood there angrilyf accusing him.

¹¹ And Herod despised him,g and he made fun of him by putting a beautiful robe on him. Then he sent him back to Pilate with his guards.

¹² And Pilate and Herod got to be friends with each other that day. (Before that they’d been enemies.)

¹³ Under Pressure, Pilate Condemns Jesus to Death (Mt. 27:15-26; Mk 15:6-14; Jn 18:39-40) Pilate called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people.

¹⁴ He said to them, “You’ve brought me this person as somebody who’s turning the people against the government. Look-I’ve questioned him right in front of you. Despiteh your accusations against him, I haven’t found one thing about this person that’s a basis for a charge.

¹⁵ Just the opposite. And neither has Herod-because he has sent him back to me.i Look! He’s done nothing that deserves death.j

¹⁶ So I’m going to punish him and let him go.”k

¹⁷

¹⁸ But the whole crowd was screaming, “Execute him! But release Barabbasl for us!”

¹⁹ (Barabbas had been thrown in prison because of one of the riots in the city, and for murder.)

²⁰ But Pilate shouted out to them again,m and was trying to release Jesus.

²¹ But they were chanting,n “Hang him on a cross! Hang him on a cross!”

²² For the third time, Pilate said to them, “But what evil has he done? I’ve found nothing against him that deserves death. So I’m going to punish him and release him.”

²³ But they kept at it, demanding with loud voices that Jesus should be hung on a cross. Their voices were getting overpowering.o

²⁴ And Pilate decided that their demand would be granted.

²⁵ He released the person they’d asked for, who’d been thrown in prison because of the riot and murder. But he handed Jesus over to the punishment that they wanted.p

²⁶ Jesus is Hung on a Cross (Mt. 27:32-344; Mk 15:21-32; Jn 19:16b-27) As they led Jesus off, they grabbed a Simon of Cyrene,q who was coming in from the countryside. They put the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus.

²⁷ A large crowd of people was following them. And there were women, who were mourning and wailing for him.

²⁸ Jesus turned around to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t cry for me, but cry for yourselves and your children.

²⁹ Because look-days are coming when they’ll say, ‘Women who are unable to have children are blessed, and so are wombs that have never borne a child, and breasts that have never nursed.’

³⁰ Then they’ll start to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us up!’r

³¹ Because if they do these things when the tree is green, what’s going to happen when it’s dry?”

³² Two others, who were criminals, were being led along with Jesus to be executed.

³³ When they came to the place called “The Skull,” they hung Jesus on a cross there, together with the criminals.

³⁴ [[And Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them-they don’t know what they’re doing.”]]s And they were “dividing up his clothes by drawing lots.”t

³⁵ The people were standing there looking on, and the leaders were scoffing as well. They were saying, “He saved other people-let him save himself, if he’s God’s chosen Messiah.”

³⁶ And the soldiers made fun of him too. They came up and offered him a drink,u

³⁷ and were saying, “If you’re the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

³⁸ And there was a sign over him: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS

³⁹ One of the criminals who’d been hung on crosses was insulting him too. He was saying, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself, and us!”

⁴⁰ But the other one was telling him off and saying, “Don’t you even respectv God? Because after all, you’re under the same sentence-

⁴¹ and we got it justly. Because we’ve done things that deserve what we’re getting. But he didn’t do anything wrong.”

⁴² And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when you come intow your kingdom.”

⁴³ Jesus said to him, “I’m telling you seriously: you’re going to be with me in paradise today.”

⁴⁴ Jesus Dies on the Cross (Mt. 27:45-56; Mk 15:33-41; Jn 19:25-30) It was now about noon.x And it got dark over the whole land until three in the afternoon.y

⁴⁵ The sun disappeared, and the great veil of the Temple was split down the middle.

⁴⁶ And Jesus called in a loud voice, “Father, I’m entrusting my spirit into your hands!” When he’d said that, he died.z

⁴⁷ And when the Roman officeraa saw what happened, he was giving God glory.bb He was saying, “This man really was innocent!”cc

⁴⁸ Crowds of people were standing around, looking at what was going on. When they saw what happened, they all started going away, beating on their chests.dd

⁴⁹ And all the people who knew Jesus,ee including women who’d come with him from Galilee, stood watching everythingff from a long ways away.

⁵⁰ Jesus is Buried in a Tomb (Mt. 27:57-61; Mk 15:42-47; Jn 19:38-42) Now, there was also a man named Joseph, who was a good and just member of the High Council.gg

⁵¹ He hadn’t agreed with the High Council and what they’d done. He was from the Jewish city of Arimathea,hh and had been hoping for God’s Reign.

⁵² This man went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.

⁵³ He took it down and wrapped in fine linen cloth, and he laid him in a tomb that was cut into a rock face-no one had been buried in it yet.

⁵⁴ It was the Day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was starting.ii

⁵⁵ The women who’d come down with Jesus from Galilee saw the tomb, and how his body had been placed.

⁵⁶ And they went back home to prepare spices and scented oils. And they rested on the Sabbath, in obedience to the commandment.jj

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¹ The Resurrection of Jesus (Mt. 28:1-10; Mk 16:1-8; Jn 20:1-10) But before dawn on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb. They were bringing the spices they’d prepared.

² But they found the stone rolled away from the opening of the tomb.

³ And when they went inside, they didn’t find the Lord Jesus’ body.a

⁴ They didn’t know what to think. And suddenly two men stood by them in brilliantly shining clothes.

⁵ The women were frightened, and bowed down with their faces to the ground. The two menb said to them, “Why are you looking for the Living One here with the dead? He’s not here-he’s risen!

⁶ Remember how he was talking to you back when he was in Galilee. He was saying that

⁷ the Human One had to be betrayed to the authorities,c and had to be hung on a cross, and had to rise again on the third day.”

⁸ And they remembered the things Jesus had said.

⁹ They went back from the tomb and told everything to the eleven, and to all the rest of the followers.

¹⁰ Now, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary, James’s mother, and the other women with them, were telling the apostlesd these things.

¹¹ Bute in front of them, the storyf seemed like foolishness, and they wouldn’t believe them.g

¹² But Peter got up and ran over to the tomb, and he ducked in and saw the linen cloths there by themselves.h And he went off wondering to himself about what had happened.i

¹³ Meeting Jesus on the Road to Emmaus (Mk 16:12-13) Also, that very same day, two of Jesus’ followersj were walking to a village about seven miles away from Jerusalem. It was named Emmaus.k

¹⁴ And they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing it, Jesus himself came up and started walking along with them.

¹⁶ But their eyes were held back from recognizing him.

¹⁷ He said to them, “What’s this discussion you’re having back and forth between youl as you’re walking along?” And they stood there looking miserable.

¹⁸ One of them-named Cleopasm.- said back to him, “Are you the only person staying in Jerusalem that doesn’t know the things that have been going on there these days?”

¹⁹ He said to them, “Like what?” And they said to him, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth. The man was a prophet-he was powerful in what he did and what he said, both in the eyes ofn God and of all the people.”o

²⁰ It’s about how the chief priests and our leaders gave himp the death sentence and hung him on a cross.

²¹ We’d been hoping that he was the one destined to set Israel freeq from bondage. But that’s not all.r This is the third day since all this happened.

²² And now some of the women in our groups have totally amazed us. They were at the tomb at dawn this morning,

²³ and they didn’t find his body. They came and told us they’d also seen a vision of angels-who say he’s alive!

²⁴ And some of the people with our groupt went over to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said. But they still didn’t see Jesus.”

²⁵ Jesus said to them, “You’re really not thinking! And your hearts are so slow to believeu all the things the prophets have said!

²⁶ Didn’t the Messiah have to go throughv all these things and then come into his glory?”

²⁷ And he started from Moses and all the prophets, and explained to them all the things in the scriptures about himself.

²⁸ Finallyw they got close to the village they were walking to, and he acted as though he was going to go on further.

²⁹ But they held him back. They were saying, “Stay with us! Because it’s getting on towards evening, and the daylight’s already gone. And he went in to stay with them.

³⁰ While he was having dinnerx with them, he took the loaf of bread, said the blessing over it, broke it, and gave it to them.

³¹ And their eyes were opened up, and they recognized him. But he disappeared from them.

³² And they said to one another, “Weren’t our hearts burning inside usy as he was talking to us along the way-as he was opening up the scriptures for us?

³³ And they got up that very moment and went back to Jerusalem. They found that the eleven, and the others with them, were in a meeting.

³⁴ Theyz were saying, “The Lordaa has really risen, and has appeared to Simon!”

³⁵ And the two from Emmausbb told the story of what had happened on the road, and how they recognized himcc when he broke the bread.

³⁶ Jesus Shows himself to his Followers (Jn 20:19-23; Acts 1:3-5; 1 Cor. 15:5) As they were saying these things, Jesus himself stood right there with them. He said to them, “Peace be with you!”dd

³⁷ But they were startled and frightened. They were thinking they were seeing a ghost.

³⁸ But he said to them, “Why are you all upset, and why are doubts coming up in your hearts?

³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet-it’s really me!ee Touch me and see: a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you can see I do.”

⁴⁰ As he was saying this, he showed them his hands and feet.ff

⁴¹ While they still couldn’t believe it for joy, and were in a state of amazement, he said to them, “Do you have something to eat here?”

⁴² And they gave him a piece of cooked fish,

⁴³ which he took and ate in front of them.

⁴⁴ Jesus Goes up to Heaven (Mk 16:19-20; Acts 1:9) Jesus said to them, “These are the things I said to yougg while I was still with you: that all the scriptures about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, had to be fulfilled.”

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.

⁴⁶ And he said to them, “This is how it’s written in the scriptures: the Messiah is to suffer and rise from among the dead on the third day.

⁴⁷ And a change of heart hh andii forgiveness of sins is to be preached in his name to all the nations-starting from Jerusalem.

⁴⁸ You’re witnessesjj to these things.

⁴⁹ Now, look-I’m sending my Father’s promise on you! Stay in the city until you’re equipped with power from heaven.”kk

⁵⁰ And Jesus led them out about as far as Bethany, and he lifted his hands and blessed them.

⁵¹ While he was blessing them, he left them and was carried up into heaven.ll

⁵² They bowed down to him, and went back to Jerusalem full of joy.

⁵³ And they were in the Temple all the time, praising God.