1 These are the ancestors of Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David and of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac; Isaac was the father of Jacob; Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (Tamar was their mother); Perez was the father of Hezron; Hezron was the father of Aram;
4 Aram was the father of Amminadab; Amminadab was the father of Nahshon; Nahshon was the father of Salmon;
5 Salmon was the father of Boaz (Rahab was his mother); Boaz was the father of Obed (Ruth was his mother); Obed was the father of Jesse;
6 Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon (his mother was the widow of Uriah);
7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam; Rehoboam was the father of Abijah; Abijah was the father of Asa;
8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat; Jehoshaphat was the father of Joram; Joram was the father of Uzziah;
9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham; Jotham was the father of Ahaz; Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah;
10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh; Manasseh was the father of Amos; Amos was the father of Josiah;
11 Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers (born at the time of the exile to Babylon).
12 After the exile: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel; Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel;
13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud; Abiud was the father of Eliakim; Eliakim was the father of Azor;
14 Azor was the father of Zadok; Zadok was the father of Achim; Achim was the father of Eliud;
15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar; Eleazar was the father of Matthan; Matthan was the father of Jacob;
16 Jacob was the father of Joseph (who was the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ the Messiah).
17 These are fourteen of the generations from Abraham to King David; and fourteen from King David's time to the exile; and fourteen from the exile to Christ.
18 These are the facts concerning the birth of Jesus Christ: His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
19 Then Joseph, her fiance, being a man of stern principle, decided to break the engagement but to do it quietly, as he didn't want to publicly disgrace her.
20 As he lay awake considering this, he fell into a dream, and saw an angel standing beside him. "Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "don't hesitate to take Mary as your wife! For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit.
21 And she will have a Son, and you shall name him Jesus (meaning 'Savior'), for he will save his people from their sins.
22 This will fulfill God's message through his prophets--
23 'Listen! The virgin shall conceive a child! She shall give birth to a Son, and he shall be called "Emmanuel" (meaning "God is with us").' "
24 When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel commanded and brought Mary home to be his wife,
25 but she remained a virgin until her Son was born; and Joseph named him "Jesus."
1 Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. At about that time some astrologers from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking,
2 "Where is the newborn King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in far-off eastern lands and have come to worship him."
3 King Herod was deeply disturbed by their question, and all Jerusalem was filled with rumors.
4 He called a meeting of the Jewish religious leaders. "Did the prophets tell us where the Messiah would be born?" he asked.
5 "Yes, in Bethlehem," they said, "for this is what the prophet Micah wrote:
6 'O little town of Bethlehem, you are not just an unimportant Judean village, for a Governor shall rise from you to rule my people Israel.' "
7 Then Herod sent a private message to the astrologers, asking them to come to see him; at this meeting he found out from them the exact time when they first saw the star. Then he told them,
8 "Go to Bethlehem and search for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him too!"
9 After this interview the astrologers started out again. And look! The star appeared to them again, standing over Bethlehem.
10 Their joy knew no bounds!
11 Entering the house where the baby and Mary, his mother, were, they threw themselves down before him, worshiping. Then they opened their presents and gave him gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 But when they returned to their own land, they didn't go through Jerusalem to report to Herod, for God had warned them in a dream to go home another way.
13 After they were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up and flee to Egypt with the baby and his mother," the angel said, "and stay there until I tell you to return, for King Herod is going to try to kill the child."
14 That same night he left for Egypt with Mary and the baby,
15 and stayed there until King Herod's death. This fulfilled the prophet's prediction, "I have called my Son from Egypt."
16 Herod was furious when he learned that the astrologers had disobeyed him. Sending soldiers to Bethlehem, he ordered them to kill every baby boy two years old and under, both in the town and on the nearby farms, for the astrologers had told him the star first appeared to them two years before.
17 This brutal action of Herod's fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah,
18 "Screams of anguish come from Ramah, Weeping unrestrained; Rachel weeping for her children, Uncomforted-- For they are dead."
19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and told him,
20 "Get up and take the baby and his mother back to Israel, for those who were trying to kill the child are dead."
21 So he returned immediately to Israel with Jesus and his mother.
22 But on the way he was frightened to learn that the new king was Herod's son, Archelaus. Then, in another dream, he was warned not to go to Judea, so they went to Galilee instead
23 and lived in Nazareth. This fulfilled the prediction of the prophets concerning the Messiah, "He shall be called a Nazarene."
1 While they were living in Nazareth, John the Baptist began preaching out in the Judean wilderness. His constant theme was,
2 "Turn from your sins. . . turn to God. . . for the Kingdom of Heaven is coming soon."
3 Isaiah the prophet had told about John's ministry centuries before! He had written, "I hear a shout from the wilderness, 'Prepare a road for the Lord--straighten out the path where he will walk.' "
4 John's clothing was woven from camel's hair and he wore a leather belt; his food was locusts and wild honey.
5 People from Jerusalem and from all over the Jordan Valley, and, in fact, from every section of Judea went out to the wilderness to hear him preach,
6 and when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he denounced them. "You sons of snakes!" he warned. "Who said that you could escape the coming wrath of God?
8 Before being baptized, prove that you have turned from sin by doing worthy deeds.
9 Don't try to get by as you are, thinking, 'We are safe for we are Jews--descendants of Abraham.' That proves nothing. God can change these stones here into Jews!
10 "And even now the axe of God's judgment is poised to chop down every unproductive tree. They will be chopped and burned.
11 "With water I baptize those who repent of their sins; but someone else is coming, far greater than I am, so great that I am not worthy to carry his shoes! He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
12 He will separate the chaff from the grain, burning the chaff with never-ending fire and storing away the grain."
13 Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized there by John.
14 John didn't want to do it. "This isn't proper," he said. "I am the one who needs to be baptized by you."
15 But Jesus said, "Please do it, for I must do all that is right." So then John baptized him.
16 After his baptism, as soon as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God coming down in the form of a dove.
17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, and I am wonderfully pleased with him."
1 Then Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, to be tempted there by Satan.
2 For forty days and forty nights he ate nothing and became very hungry.
3 Then Satan tempted him to get food by changing stones into loaves of bread. "It will prove you are the Son of God," he said.
4 But Jesus told him, "No! For the Scriptures tell us that bread won't feed men's souls: obedience to every word of God is what we need."
5 Then Satan took him to Jerusalem to the roof of the Temple.
6 "Jump off," he said, "and prove you are the Son of God; for the Scriptures declare, 'God will send his angels to keep you from harm,' . . . they will prevent you from smashing on the rocks below."
7 Jesus retorted, "It also says not to put the Lord your God to a foolish test!"
8 Next Satan took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him the nations of the world and all their glory.
9 "I'll give it all to you," he said, "if you will only kneel and worship me."
10 "Get out of here, Satan," Jesus told him. "The Scriptures say, 'Worship only the Lord God. Obey only him.' "
11 Then Satan went away, and angels came and cared for Jesus.
12 When Jesus heard that John had been arrested,
13 he left Judea and returned home to Nazareth in Galilee; but soon he moved to Capernaum, beside the Lake of Galilee, close to Zebulun and Naphtali.
14 This fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy:
15 "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, beside the Lake, and the countryside beyond the Jordan River, and Upper Galilee where so many foreigners live--
16 "there the people who sat in darkness have seen a great Light; they sat in the land of death, and the Light broke through upon them."
17 From then on, Jesus began to preach, "Turn from sin and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near."
18 One day as he was walking along the beach beside the Lake of Galilee, he saw two brothers--Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew--out in a boat fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen.
19 Jesus called out, "Come along with me and I will show you how to fish for the souls of men!"
20 And they left their nets at once and went with him.
21 A little farther up the beach he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their nets; and he called to them to come too.
22 At once they stopped their work and, leaving their father behind, went with him.
23 Jesus traveled all through Galilee teaching in the Jewish synagogues, everywhere preaching the Good News about the Kingdom of Heaven. And he healed every kind of sickness and disease.
24 The report of his miracles spread far beyond the borders of Galilee so that sick folk were soon coming to be healed from as far away as Syria. And whatever their illness and pain, or if they were possessed by demons, or were insane, or paralyzed--he healed them all.
25 Enormous crowds followed him wherever he went--people from Galilee, and the Ten Cities, and Jerusalem, and from all over Judea, and even from across the Jordan River.
1 One day as the crowds were gathering, he went up the hillside with his disciples and sat down
2 and taught them there.
3 "Humble men are very fortunate!" he told them, "for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them.
4 Those who mourn are fortunate! for they shall be comforted.
5 The meek and lowly are fortunate! for the whole wide world belongs to them.
6 "Happy are those who long to be just and good, for they shall be completely satisfied.
7 Happy are the kind and merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.
8 Happy are those whose hearts are pure, for they shall see God.
9 Happy are those who strive for peace--they shall be called the sons of God.
10 Happy are those who are persecuted because they are good, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
11 "When you are reviled and persecuted and lied about because you are my followers--wonderful!
12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! for a tremendous reward awaits you up in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted too.
13 "You are the world's seasoning, to make it tolerable. If you lose your flavor, what will happen to the world? And you yourselves will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.
14 You are the world's light--a city on a hill, glowing in the night for all to see.
15 Don't hide your light!
16 Let it shine for all; let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your heavenly Father.
17 "Don't misunderstand why I have come--it isn't to cancel the laws of Moses and the warnings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfill them and to make them all come true.
18 With all the earnestness I have I say: Every law in the Book will continue until its purpose is achieved.
19 And so if anyone breaks the least commandment and teaches others to, he shall be the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But those who teach God's laws and obey them shall be great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
20 "But I warn you--unless your goodness is greater than that of the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders, you can't get into the Kingdom of Heaven at all!
21 "Under the laws of Moses the rule was, 'If you murder, you must die.'
22 But I have added to that rule and tell you that if you are only angry, even in your own home, you are in danger of judgment! If you call your friend an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse him, you are in danger of the fires of hell.
23 "So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and suddenly remember that a friend has something against you,
24 leave your sacrifice there beside the altar and go and apologize and be reconciled to him, and then come and offer your sacrifice to God.
25 Come to terms quickly with your enemy before it is too late and he drags you into court and you are thrown into a debtor's cell,
26 for you will stay there until you have paid the last penny.
27 "The laws of Moses said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'
28 But I say: Anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29 So if your eye--even if it is your best eye! --causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. Better for part of you to be destroyed than for all of you to be cast into hell.
30 And if your hand--even your right hand--causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. Better that than find yourself in hell.
31 "The law of Moses says, 'If anyone wants to be rid of his wife, he can divorce her merely by giving her a letter of dismissal.'
32 But I say that a man who divorces his wife, except for fornication, causes her to commit adultery if she marries again. And he who marries her commits adultery.
33 "Again, the law of Moses says, 'You shall not break your vows to God but must fulfill them all.'
34 But I say: Don't make any vows! And even to say 'By heavens!' is a sacred vow to God, for the heavens are God's throne.
35 And if you say 'By the earth!' it is a sacred vow, for the earth is his footstool. And don't swear 'By Jerusalem!' for Jerusalem is the capital of the great King.
36 Don't even swear 'By my head!' for you can't turn one hair white or black.
37 Say just a simple 'Yes, I will' or 'No, I won't.' Your word is enough. To strengthen your promise with a vow shows that something is wrong.
38 "The law of Moses says, 'If a man gouges out another's eye, he must pay with his own eye. If a tooth gets knocked out, knock out the tooth of the one who did it.'
39 But I say: Don't resist violence! If you are slapped on one cheek, turn the other too.
40 If you are ordered to court, and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat too.
41 If the military demand that you carry their gear for a mile, carry it two.
42 Give to those who ask, and don't turn away from those who want to borrow.
43 "There is a saying, 'Love your friends and hate your enemies.'
44 But I say: Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!
45 In that way you will be acting as true sons of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust too.
46 If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even scoundrels do that much.
47 If you are friendly only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even the heathen do that.
48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
1 "Take care! Don't do your good deeds publicly, to be admired, for then you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.
2 When you give a gift to a beggar, don't shout about it as the hypocrites do--blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you in all earnestness, they have received all the reward they will ever get.
3 But when you do a kindness to someone, do it secretly--don't tell your left hand what your right hand is doing.
4 And your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you.
5 "And now about prayer. When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who pretend piety by praying publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. Truly, that is all the reward they will ever get.
6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, all alone, and shut the door behind you and pray to your Father secretly, and your Father, who knows your secrets, will reward you.
7 "Don't recite the same prayer over and over as the heathen do, who think prayers are answered only by repeating them again and again.
8 "Remember, your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!
9 "Pray along these lines: 'Our Father in heaven, we honor your holy name.
10 We ask that your kingdom will come now. May your will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven.
11 Give us our food again today, as usual,
12 and forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.
13 Don't bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One. Amen.'
14 Your heavenly Father will forgive you if you forgive those who sin against you;
15 but if you refuse to forgive them, he will not forgive you.
16 "And now about fasting. When you fast, declining your food for a spiritual purpose, don't do it publicly, as the hypocrites do, who try to look wan and disheveled so people will feel sorry for them. Truly, that is the only reward they will ever get.
17 But when you fast, put on festive clothing,
18 so that no one will suspect you are hungry, except your Father who knows every secret. And he will reward you.
19 "Don't store up treasures here on earth where they can erode away or may be stolen.
20 Store them in heaven where they will never lose their value and are safe from thieves.
21 If your profits are in heaven, your heart will be there too.
22 "If your eye is pure, there will be sunshine in your soul.
23 But if your eye is clouded with evil thoughts and desires, you are in deep spiritual darkness. And oh, how deep that darkness can be!
24 "You cannot serve two masters: God and money. For you will hate one and love the other, or else the other way around.
25 "So my counsel is: Don't worry about things--food, drink, and clothes. For you already have life and a body--and they are far more important than what to eat and wear.
26 Look at the birds! They don't worry about what to eat--they don't need to sow or reap or store up food--for your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are.
27 Will all your worries add a single moment to your life?
28 "And why worry about your clothes? Look at the field lilies! They don't worry about theirs.
29 Yet King Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as beautifully as they.
30 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't he more surely care for you, O men of little faith?
31 "So don't worry at all about having enough food and clothing. Why be like the heathen?
32 For they take pride in all these things and are deeply concerned about them. But your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well that you need them,
33 and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to.
34 "So don't be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.
1 "Don't criticize, and then you won't be criticized.
2 For others will treat you as you treat them.
3 And why worry about a speck in the eye of a brother when you have a board in your own?
4 Should you say, 'Friend, let me help you get that speck out of your eye,' when you can't even see because of the board in your own?
5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the board. Then you can see to help your brother.
6 "Don't give holy things to depraved men. Don't give pearls to swine! They will trample the pearls and turn and attack you.
7 "Ask, and you will be given what you ask for. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened.
8 For everyone who asks, receives. Anyone who seeks, finds. If only you will knock, the door will open.
9 If a child asks his father for a loaf of bread, will he be given a stone instead?
10 If he asks for fish, will he be given a poisonous snake? Of course not!
11 And if you hardhearted, sinful men know how to give good gifts to your children, won't your Father in heaven even more certainly give good gifts to those who ask him for them?
12 "Do for others what you want them to do for you. This is the teaching of the laws of Moses in a nutshell.
13 "Heaven can be entered only through the narrow gate! The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide enough for all the multitudes who choose its easy way.
14 But the Gateway to Life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.
15 "Beware of false teachers who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are wolves and will tear you apart.
16 You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You need never confuse grapevines with thorn bushes or figs with thistles.
17 Different kinds of fruit trees can quickly be identified by examining their fruit.
18 A variety that produces delicious fruit never produces an inedible kind. And a tree producing an inedible kind can't produce what is good.
19 So the trees having the inedible fruit are chopped down and thrown on the fire.
20 Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit produced.
21 "Not all who sound religious are really godly people. They may refer to me as 'Lord,' but still won't get to heaven. For the decisive question is whether they obey my Father in heaven.
22 At the Judgment many will tell me, 'Lord, Lord, we told others about you and used your name to cast out demons and to do many other great miracles.'
23 But I will reply, 'You have never been mine. Go away, for your deeds are evil.'
24 "All who listen to my instructions and follow them are wise, like a man who builds his house on solid rock.
25 Though the rain comes in torrents, and the floods rise and the storm winds beat against his house, it won't collapse, for it is built on rock.
26 "But those who hear my instructions and ignore them are foolish, like a man who builds his house on sand.
27 For when the rains and floods come, and storm winds beat against his house, it will fall with a mighty crash."
28 The crowds were amazed at Jesus' sermons,
29 for he taught as one who had great authority, and not as their Jewish leaders.
1 Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the hillside.
2 Look! A leper is approaching. He kneels before him, worshiping. "Sir," the leper pleads, "if you want to, you can heal me."
3 Jesus touches the man. "I want to," he says. "Be healed." And instantly the leprosy disappears.
4 Then Jesus says to him, "Don't stop to talk to anyone; go right over to the priest to be examined; and take with you the offering required by Moses' law for lepers who are healed--a public testimony of your cure."
5 When Jesus arrived in Capernaum, a Roman army captain came
6 and pled with him to come to his home and heal his servant boy who was in bed paralyzed and racked with pain.
7 "Yes," Jesus said, "I will come and heal him."
8 Then the officer said, "Sir, I am not worthy to have you in my home; and it isn't necessary for you to come. If you will only stand here and say, 'Be healed,' my servant will get well!
9 I know, because I am under the authority of my superior officers and I have authority over my soldiers, and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave boy, 'Do this or that,' and he does it. And I know you have authority to tell his sickness to go--and it will go!"
10 Jesus stood there amazed! Turning to the crowd he said, "I haven't seen faith like this in all the land of Israel!
11 And I tell you this, that many Gentiles like this Roman officer, shall come from all over the world and sit down in the Kingdom of Heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
12 And many an Israelite--those for whom the Kingdom was prepared--shall be cast into outer darkness, into the place of weeping and torment."
13 Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, "Go on home. What you have believed has happened!" And the boy was healed that same hour!
14 When Jesus arrived at Peter's house, Peter's mother-in-law was in bed with a high fever.
15 But when Jesus touched her hand, the fever left her; and she got up and prepared a meal for them!
16 That evening several demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus; and when he spoke a single word, all the demons fled; and all the sick were healed.
17 This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, "He took our sicknesses and bore our diseases."
18 When Jesus noticed how large the crowd was growing, he instructed his disciples to get ready to cross to the other side of the lake.
19 Just then one of the Jewish religious teachers said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you no matter where you go!"
20 But Jesus said, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but I, the Messiah, have no home of my own--no place to lay my head."
21 Another of his disciples said, "Sir, when my father is dead, then I will follow you."
22 But Jesus told him, "Follow me now! Let those who are spiritually dead care for their own dead."
23 Then he got into a boat and started across the lake with his disciples.
24 Suddenly a terrible storm came up, with waves higher than the boat. But Jesus was asleep.
25 The disciples went to him and wakened him, shouting, "Lord, save us! We're sinking!"
26 But Jesus answered, "O you men of little faith! Why are you so frightened?" Then he stood up and rebuked the wind and waves, and the storm subsided and all was calm.
27 The disciples just sat there, awed! "Who is this," they asked themselves, "that even the winds and the sea obey him?"
28 When they arrived on the other side of the lake, in the country of the Gadarenes, two men with demons in them met him. They lived in a cemetery and were so dangerous that no one could go through that area.
29 They began screaming at him, "What do you want with us, O Son of God? You have no right to torment us yet."
30 A herd of pigs was feeding in the distance,
31 so the demons begged, "If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs."
32 "All right," Jesus told them. "Begone." And they came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd rushed over a cliff and drowned in the water below.
33 The herdsmen fled to the nearest city with the story of what had happened,
34 and the entire population came rushing out to see Jesus and begged him to go away and leave them alone.
1 So Jesus climbed into a boat and went across the lake to Capernaum, his hometown.
2 Soon some men brought him a paralyzed boy on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the sick boy, "Cheer up, son! For I have forgiven your sins!"
3 "Blasphemy! This man is saying he is God!" exclaimed some of the religious leaders to themselves.
4 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked them, "Why are you thinking such evil thoughts?
5 I, the Messiah, have the authority on earth to forgive sins. But talk is cheap--anybody could say that.
6 "So I'll prove it to you by healing this man." Then, turning to the paralyzed man, he commanded, "Pick up your stretcher and go on home, for you are healed."
7 And the boy jumped up and left!
8 A chill of fear swept through the crowd as they saw this happen right before their eyes. How they praised God for giving such authority to a man!
9 As Jesus was going on down the road, he saw a tax collector, Matthew, sitting at a tax collection booth. "Come and be my disciple," Jesus said to him, and Matthew jumped up and went along with him.
10 Later, as Jesus and his disciples were eating dinner at Matthew's house, there were many notorious swindlers there as guests!
11 The Pharisees were indignant. "Why does your teacher associate with men like that?"
12 "Because people who are well don't need a doctor! It's the sick people who do!" was Jesus' reply.
13 Then he added, "Now go away and learn the meaning of this verse of Scripture, 'It isn't your sacrifices and your gifts I want--I want you to be merciful.' For I have come to urge sinners, not the self-righteous, back to God."
14 One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, "Why don't your disciples fast as we do and as the Pharisees do?"
15 "Should the bridegroom's friends mourn and go without food while he is with them?" Jesus asked. "But the time is coming when I will be taken from them. Time enough then for them to refuse to eat.
16 "And who would patch an old garment with unshrunk cloth? For the patch would tear away and make the hole worse.
17 And who would use old wineskins to store new wine? For the old skins would burst with the pressure, and the wine would be spilled and skins ruined. Only new wineskins are used to store new wine. That way both are preserved."
18 As he was saying this, the rabbi of the local synagogue came and worshiped him. "My little daughter has just died," he said, "but you can bring her back to life again if you will only come and touch her."
19 As Jesus and the disciples were going to the rabbi's home,
20 a woman who had been sick for twelve years with internal bleeding came up behind him and touched a tassel of his robe,
21 for she thought, "If I only touch him, I will be healed."
22 Jesus turned around and spoke to her. "Daughter," he said, "all is well! Your faith has healed you." And the woman was well from that moment.
23 When Jesus arrived at the rabbi's home and saw the noisy crowds and heard the funeral music,
24 he said, "Get them out, for the little girl isn't dead; she is only sleeping!" Then how they all scoffed and sneered at him!
25 When the crowd was finally outside, Jesus went in where the little girl was lying and took her by the hand, and she jumped up and was all right again!
26 The report of this wonderful miracle swept the entire countryside.
27 As Jesus was leaving her home, two blind men followed along behind, shouting, "O Son of King David, have mercy on us."
28 They went right into the house where he was staying, and Jesus asked them, "Do you believe I can make you see?" "Yes, Lord," they told him, "we do."
29 Then he touched their eyes and said, "Because of your faith it will happen."
30 And suddenly they could see! Jesus sternly warned them not to tell anyone about it,
31 but instead they spread his fame all over the town.
32 Leaving that place, Jesus met a man who couldn't speak because a demon was inside him.
33 So Jesus cast out the demon, and instantly the man could talk. How the crowds marveled! "Never in all our lives have we seen anything like this," they exclaimed.
34 But the Pharisees said, "The reason he can cast out demons is that he is demon-possessed himself--possessed by Satan, the demon king!"
35 Jesus traveled around through all the cities and villages of that area, teaching in the Jewish synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And wherever he went he healed people of every sort of illness.
36 And what pity he felt for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn't know what to do or where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd.
37 "The harvest is so great, and the workers are so few," he told his disciples.
38 "So pray to the one in charge of the harvesting, and ask him to recruit more workers for his harvest fields."
1 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of sickness and disease.
2 Here are the names of his twelve disciples: Simon (also called Peter), Andrew (Peter's brother), James (Zebedee's son), John (James' brother),
3 Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew (the tax collector), James (Alphaeus' son), Thaddaeus,
4 Simon (a member of "The Zealots," a subversive political party), Judas Iscariot (the one who betrayed him).
5 Jesus sent them out with these instructions: "Don't go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans,
6 but only to the people of Israel--God's lost sheep.
7 Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.
8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure the lepers, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!
9 "Don't take any money with you;
10 don't even carry a duffle bag with extra clothes and shoes, or even a walking stick; for those you help should feed and care for you.
11 Whenever you enter a city or village, search for a godly man and stay in his home until you leave for the next town.
12 When you ask permission to stay, be friendly,
13 and if it turns out to be a godly home, give it your blessing; if not, keep the blessing.
14 Any city or home that doesn't welcome you--shake off the dust of that place from your feet as you leave.
15 Truly, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be better off at Judgment Day than they.
16 "I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. Be as wary as serpents and harmless as doves.
17 But beware! For you will be arrested and tried, and whipped in the synagogues.
18 Yes, and you must stand trial before governors and kings for my sake. This will give you the opportunity to tell them about me, yes, to witness to the world.
19 "When you are arrested, don't worry about what to say at your trial, for you will be given the right words at the right time.
20 For it won't be you doing the talking--it will be the Spirit of your heavenly Father speaking through you!
21 "Brother shall betray brother to death, and fathers shall betray their own children. And children shall rise against their parents and cause their deaths.
22 Everyone shall hate you because you belong to me. But all of you who endure to the end shall be saved.
23 "When you are persecuted in one city, flee to the next! I will return before you have reached them all!
24 "A student is not greater than his teacher. A servant is not above his master.
25 The student shares his teacher's fate. The servant shares his master's! And since I, the master of the household, have been called 'Satan,' how much more will you!
26 But don't be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when the truth will be revealed: their secret plots will become public information.
27 "What I tell you now in the gloom, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ears, proclaim from the housetops!
28 "Don't be afraid of those who can kill only your bodies--but can't touch your souls! Fear only God who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
29 Not one sparrow (What do they cost? Two for a penny?) can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.
30 And the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 So don't worry! You are more valuable to him than many sparrows.
32 "If anyone publicly acknowledges me as his friend, I will openly acknowledge him as my friend before my Father in heaven.
33 But if anyone publicly denies me, I will openly deny him before my Father in heaven.
34 "Don't imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! No, rather, a sword.
35 I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law--
36 a man's worst enemies will be right in his own home!
37 If you love your father and mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine.
38 If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine.
39 "If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will save it.
40 "Those who welcome you are welcoming me. And when they welcome me they are welcoming God who sent me.
41 If you welcome a prophet because he is a man of God, you will be given the same reward a prophet gets. And if you welcome good and godly men because of their godliness, you will be given a reward like theirs.
42 "And if, as my representatives, you give even a cup of cold water to a little child, you will surely be rewarded."
1 When Jesus had finished giving these instructions to his twelve disciples, he went off preaching in the cities where they were scheduled to go.
2 John the Baptist, who was now in prison, heard about all the miracles the Messiah was doing, so he sent his disciples to ask Jesus,
3 "Are you really the one we are waiting for, or shall we keep on looking?"
4 Jesus told them, "Go back to John and tell him about the miracles you've seen me do--
5 the blind people I've healed, and the lame people now walking without help, and the cured lepers, and the deaf who hear, and the dead raised to life; and tell him about my preaching the Good News to the poor.
6 Then give him this message, 'Blessed are those who don't doubt me.' "
7 When John's disciples had gone, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. "When you went out into the barren wilderness to see John, what did you expect him to be like? Grass blowing in the wind?
8 Or were you expecting to see a man dressed as a prince in a palace?
9 Or a prophet of God? Yes, and he is more than just a prophet.
10 For John is the man mentioned in the Scriptures--a messenger to precede me, to announce my coming, and prepare people to receive me.
11 "Truly, of all men ever born, none shines more brightly than John the Baptist. And yet, even the lesser lights in the Kingdom of Heaven will be greater than he is!
12 And from the time John the Baptist began preaching and baptizing until now, ardent multitudes have been crowding toward the Kingdom of Heaven,
13 for all the laws and prophets looked forward to the Messiah. Then John appeared,
14 and if you are willing to understand what I mean, he is Elijah, the one the prophets said would come at the time the Kingdom begins.
15 If ever you were willing to listen, listen now!
16 "What shall I say about this nation? These people are like children playing, who say to their little friends,
17 'We played wedding and you weren't happy, so we played funeral but you weren't sad.'
18 For John the Baptist doesn't even drink wine and often goes without food, and you say, 'He's crazy.'
19 And I, the Messiah, feast and drink, and you complain that I am 'a glutton and a drinking man, and hang around with the worst sort of sinners!' But brilliant men like you can justify your every inconsistency!"
20 Then he began to pour out his denunciations against the cities where he had done most of his miracles, because they hadn't turned to God.
21 "Woe to you, Chorazin, and woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in your streets had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon their people would have repented long ago in shame and humility.
22 Truly, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on the Judgment Day than you!
23 And Capernaum, though highly honored, shall go down to hell! For if the marvelous miracles I did in you had been done in Sodom, it would still be here today.
24 Truly, Sodom will be better off at the Judgment Day than you."
25 And Jesus prayed this prayer: "O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise, and for revealing it to little children.
26 Yes, Father, for it pleased you to do it this way! . . .
27 "Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. Only the Father knows the Son, and the Father is known only by the Son and by those to whom the Son reveals him.
28 Come to me and I will give you rest--all of you who work so hard beneath a heavy yoke.
29 Wear my yoke--for it fits perfectly--and let me teach you; for I am gentle and humble, and you shall find rest for your souls;
30 "for I give you only light burdens."
1 About that time, Jesus was walking one day through some grainfields with his disciples. It was on the Sabbath, the Jewish day of worship, and his disciples were hungry; so they began breaking off heads of wheat and eating the grain.
2 But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, "Your disciples are breaking the law. They are harvesting on the Sabbath."
3 But Jesus said to them, "Haven't you ever read what King David did when he and his friends were hungry?
4 He went into the Temple and they ate the special bread permitted to the priests alone. That was breaking the law too.
5 And haven't you ever read in the law of Moses how the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath?
6 And truly, one is here who is greater than the Temple!
7 But if you had known the meaning of this Scripture verse, 'I want you to be merciful more than I want your offerings,' you would not have condemned those who aren't guilty!
8 For I, the Messiah, am master even of the Sabbath."
9 Then he went over to the synagogue
10 and noticed there a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, "Is it legal to work by healing on the Sabbath day?" (They were, of course, hoping he would say yes, so they could arrest him!)
11 This was his answer: "If you had just one sheep, and it fell into a well on the Sabbath, would you work to rescue it that day? Of course you would.
12 And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, it is right to do good on the Sabbath."
13 Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your arm." And as he did, his hand became normal, just like the other one!
14 Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot Jesus' arrest and death.
15 But he knew what they were planning and left the synagogue, with many following him. He healed all the sick among them,
16 but he cautioned them against spreading the news about his miracles.
17 This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah concerning him:
18 "Look at my Servant. See my Chosen One. He is my Beloved, in whom my soul delights. I will put my Spirit upon him, And he will judge the nations.
19 He does not fight nor shout; He does not raise his voice!
20 He does not crush the weak, Or quench the smallest hope; He will end all conflict with his final victory,
21 And his name shall be the hope Of all the world."
22 Then a demon-possessed man--he was both blind and unable to talk--was brought to Jesus, and Jesus healed him so that he could both speak and see.
23 The crowd was amazed. "Maybe Jesus is the Messiah!" they exclaimed.
24 But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle they said, "He can cast out demons because he is Satan, king of devils."
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, "A divided kingdom ends in ruin. A city or home divided against itself cannot stand.
26 And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is fighting himself and destroying his own kingdom.
27 And if, as you claim, I am casting out demons by invoking the powers of Satan, then what power do your own people use when they cast them out? Let them answer your accusation!
28 But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.
29 One cannot rob Satan's kingdom without first binding Satan. Only then can his demons be cast out!
30 Anyone who isn't helping me is harming me.
31 "Even blasphemy against me or any other sin can be forgiven--all except one:
32 speaking against the Holy Spirit shall never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.
33 "A tree is identified by its fruit. A tree from a select variety produces good fruit; poor varieties don't.
34 You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For a man's heart determines his speech.
35 A good man's speech reveals the rich treasures within him. An evil-hearted man is filled with venom, and his speech reveals it.
36 And I tell you this, that you must give account on Judgment Day for every idle word you speak.
37 Your words now reflect your fate then: either you will be justified by them or you will be condemned."
38 One day some of the Jewish leaders, including some Pharisees, came to Jesus asking him to show them a miracle.
39 But Jesus replied, "Only an evil, faithless nation would ask for further proof; and none will be given except what happened to Jonah the prophet!
40 "For as Jonah was in the great fish for three days and three nights, so I, the Messiah, shall be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
41 The men of Nineveh shall arise against this nation at the judgment and condemn you. For when Jonah preached to them, they repented and turned to God from all their evil ways. And now a greater than Jonah is here--and you refuse to believe him.
42 The Queen of Sheba shall rise against this nation in the judgment and condemn it; for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and now a greater than Solomon is here--and you refuse to believe him.
43 "This evil nation is like a man possessed by a demon. For if the demon leaves, it goes into the deserts for a while, seeking rest but finding none.
44 "Then it says, 'I will return to the man I came from.' So it returns and finds the man's heart clean but empty!
45 "Then the demon finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and all enter the man and live in him. And so he is worse off than before."
46 As Jesus was speaking in a crowded house his mother and brothers were outside, wanting to talk with him.
47 When someone told him they were there,
48 he remarked, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?"
49 He pointed to his disciples. "Look!" he said, "these are my mother and brothers."
50 Then he added, "Anyone who obeys my Father in heaven is my brother, sister, and mother!"
1 Later that same day, Jesus left the house and went down to the shore,
2 where an immense crowd soon gathered.
3 He got into a boat and taught from it while the people listened on the beach. He used many illustrations such as this one in his sermon: "A farmer was sowing grain in his fields.
4 As he scattered the seed across the ground, some fell beside a path, and the birds came and ate it.
5 And some fell on rocky soil where there was little depth of earth; the plants sprang up quickly enough in the shallow soil,
6 but the hot sun soon scorched them and they withered and died, for they had so little root.
7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns choked out the tender blades.
8 But some fell on good soil and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as he had planted.
9 If you have ears, listen!"
10 His disciples came and asked him, "Why do you always use these hard-to-understand illustrations?"
11 Then he explained to them that only they were permitted to understand about the Kingdom of Heaven, and others were not.
12 "For to him who has will more be given," he told them, "and he will have great plenty; but from him who has not, even the little he has will be taken away.
13 "That is why I use these illustrations, so people will hear and see but not understand.
14 "This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah: 'They hear, but don't understand; they look, but don't see!
15 For their hearts are fat and heavy, and their ears are dull, and they have closed their eyes in sleep,
16 so they won't see and hear and understand and turn to God again, and let me heal them.' But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.
17 Many a prophet and godly man has longed to see what you have seen and hear what you have heard, but couldn't.
18 "Now here is the explanation of the story I told about the farmer planting grain:
19 The hard path where some of the seeds fell represents the heart of a person who hears the Good News about the Kingdom and doesn't understand it; then Satan comes and snatches away the seeds from his heart.
20 The shallow, rocky soil represents the heart of a man who hears the message and receives it with real joy,
21 but he doesn't have much depth in his life, and the seeds don't root very deeply, and after a while when trouble comes, or persecution begins because of his beliefs, his enthusiasm fades, and he drops out.
22 The ground covered with thistles represents a man who hears the message, but the cares of this life and his longing for money choke out God's Word, and he does less and less for God.
23 The good ground represents the heart of a man who listens to the message and understands it and goes out and brings thirty, sixty, or even a hundred others into the Kingdom."
24 Here is another illustration Jesus used: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer sowing good seed in his field;
25 but one night as he slept, his enemy came and sowed thistles among the wheat.
26 When the crop began to grow, the thistles grew too.
27 "The farmer's men came and told him, 'Sir, the field where you planted that choice seed is full of thistles!'
28 'An enemy has done it,' he exclaimed. 'Shall we pull out the thistles?' they asked.
29 'No,' he replied. 'You'll hurt the wheat if you do.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and I will tell the reapers to sort out the thistles and burn them, and put the wheat in the barn.' "
31 Here is another of his illustrations: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a tiny mustard seed planted in a field.
32 "It is the smallest of all seeds but becomes the largest of plants, and grows into a tree where birds can come and find shelter."
33 He also used this example: "The Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a woman making bread. She takes a measure of flour and mixes in the yeast until it permeates every part of the dough."
34 Jesus constantly used these illustrations when speaking to the crowds. In fact, because the prophets said that he would use so many, he never spoke to them without at least one illustration.
35 For it had been prophesied, "I will talk in parables; I will explain mysteries hidden since the beginning of time."
36 Then, leaving the crowds outside, he went into the house. His disciples asked him to explain to them the illustration of the thistles and the wheat.
37 "All right," he said, "I am the farmer who sows the choice seed.
38 The field is the world, and the seed represents the people of the Kingdom; the thistles are the people belonging to Satan.
39 The enemy who sowed the thistles among the wheat is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels.
40 "Just as in this story the thistles are separated and burned, so shall it be at the end of the world:
41 I will send my angels, and they will separate out of the Kingdom every temptation and all who are evil,
42 and throw them into the furnace and burn them. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then the godly shall shine as the sun in their Father's Kingdom. Let those with ears, listen!
44 "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure a man discovered in a field. In his excitement, he sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field--and get the treasure, too!
45 "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl merchant on the lookout for choice pearls.
46 He discovered a real bargain--a pearl of great value--and sold everything he owned to purchase it!
47 "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by a fisherman--he casts a net into the water and gathers in fish of every kind, valuable and worthless.
48 When the net is full, he drags it up onto the beach and sits down and sorts out the edible ones into crates and throws the others away.
49 That is the way it will be at the end of the world--the angels will come and separate the wicked people from the godly,
50 casting the wicked into the fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 Do you understand?" "Yes," they said, "we do."
52 Then he added, "Those experts in Jewish law who are now my disciples have double treasures--from the Old Testament as well as from the New!"
53 When Jesus had finished giving these illustrations,
54 he returned to his hometown, Nazareth in Galilee, and taught there in the synagogue and astonished everyone with his wisdom and his miracles.
55 "How is this possible?" the people exclaimed. "He's just a carpenter's son, and we know Mary his mother and his brothers--James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas.
56 And his sisters--they all live here. How can he be so great?"
57 And they became angry with him! Then Jesus told them, "A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own country, and among his own people!"
58 And so he did only a few great miracles there, because of their unbelief.
1 When King Herod heard about Jesus,
2 he said to his men, "This must be John the Baptist, come back to life again. That is why he can do these miracles."
3 For Herod had arrested John and chained him in prison at the demand of his wife Herodias, his brother Philip's ex-wife,
4 because John had told him it was wrong for him to marry her.
5 He would have killed John but was afraid of a riot, for all the people believed John was a prophet.
6 But at a birthday party for Herod, Herodias' daughter performed a dance that greatly pleased him,
7 so he vowed to give her anything she wanted.
8 Consequently, at her mother's urging, the girl asked for John the Baptist's head on a tray.
9 The king was grieved, but because of his oath, and because he didn't want to back down in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders.
10 So John was beheaded in the prison,
11 and his head was brought on a tray and given to the girl, who took it to her mother.
12 Then John's disciples came for his body and buried it, and came to tell Jesus what had happened.
13 As soon as Jesus heard the news, he went off by himself in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds saw where he was headed and followed by land from many villages.
14 So when Jesus came out of the wilderness, a vast crowd was waiting for him, and he pitied them and healed their sick.
15 That evening the disciples came to him and said, "It is already past time for supper, and there is nothing to eat here in the desert; send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy some food."
16 But Jesus replied, "That isn't necessary--you feed them!"
17 "What!" they exclaimed. "We have exactly five small loaves of bread and two fish!"
18 "Bring them here," he said.
19 Then he told the people to sit down on the grass; and he took the five loaves and two fish, looked up into the sky, and asked God's blessing on the meal, then broke the loaves apart and gave them to the disciples to place before the people.
20 And everyone ate until full! And when the scraps were picked up afterwards, there were twelve basketfuls left over!
21 (About five thousand men were in the crowd that day, besides all the women and children.)
22 Immediately after this, Jesus told his disciples to get into their boat and cross to the other side of the lake while he stayed to get the people started home.
23 Then afterwards he went up into the hills to pray. Night fell,
24 and out on the lake the disciples were in trouble. For the wind had risen and they were fighting heavy seas.
25 About four o'clock in the morning Jesus came to them, walking on the water!
26 They screamed in terror, for they thought he was a ghost.
27 But Jesus immediately spoke to them, reassuring them. "Don't be afraid!" he said.
28 Then Peter called to him: "Sir, if it is really you, tell me to come over to you, walking on the water."
29 "All right," the Lord said, "come along!" So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.
30 But when he looked around at the high waves, he was terrified and began to sink. "Save me, Lord!" he shouted.
31 Instantly Jesus reached out his hand and rescued him. "O man of little faith," Jesus said. "Why did you doubt me?"
32 And when they had climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped.
33 The others sat there, awestruck. "You really are the Son of God!" they exclaimed.
34 They landed at Gennesaret.
35 The news of their arrival spread quickly throughout the city, and soon people were rushing around, telling everyone to bring in their sick to be healed.
36 The sick begged him to let them touch even the tassel of his robe, and all who did were healed.
1 Some Pharisees and other Jewish leaders now arrived from Jerusalem to interview Jesus.
2 "Why do your disciples disobey the ancient Jewish traditions?" they demanded. "For they ignore our ritual of ceremonial handwashing before they eat."
3 He replied, "And why do your traditions violate the direct commandments of God?
4 For instance, God's law is 'Honor your father and mother; anyone who reviles his parents must die.'
5 But you say, 'Even if your parents are in need, you may give their support money to the church instead.'
6 And so, by your man-made rule, you nullify the direct command of God to honor and care for your parents.
7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you,
8 'These people say they honor me, but their hearts are far away.
9 Their worship is worthless, for they teach their man-made laws instead of those from God.' "
10 Then Jesus called to the crowds and said, "Listen to what I say and try to understand:
11 You aren't made unholy by eating nonkosher food! It is what you say and think that makes you unclean."
12 Then the disciples came and told him, "You offended the Pharisees by that remark."
13 Jesus replied, "Every plant not planted by my Father shall be rooted up, so ignore them.
14 They are blind guides leading the blind, and both will fall into a ditch."
15 Then Peter asked Jesus to explain what he meant when he said that people are not defiled by nonkosher food.
16 "Don't you understand?" Jesus asked him.
17 "Don't you see that anything you eat passes through the digestive tract and out again?
18 But evil words come from an evil heart and defile the man who says them.
19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, lying, and slander.
20 These are what defile; but there is no spiritual defilement from eating without first going through the ritual of ceremonial handwashing!"
21 Jesus then left that part of the country and walked the fifty miles to Tyre and Sidon.
22 A woman from Canaan who was living there came to him, pleading, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, King David's Son! For my daughter has a demon within her, and it torments her constantly."
23 But Jesus gave her no reply--not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. "Tell her to get going," they said, "for she is bothering us with all her begging."
24 Then he said to the woman, "I was sent to help the Jews--the lost sheep of Israel--not the Gentiles."
25 But she came and worshiped him and pled again, "Sir, help me!"
26 "It doesn't seem right to take bread from the children and throw it to the dogs," he said.
27 "Yes, it is!" she replied, "for even the puppies beneath the table are permitted to eat the crumbs that fall."
28 "Woman," Jesus told her, "your faith is large, and your request is granted." And her daughter was healed right then.
29 Jesus now returned to the Sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat there.
30 And a vast crowd brought him their lame, blind, maimed, and those who couldn't speak, and many others, and laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all.
31 What a spectacle it was! Those who hadn't been able to say a word before were talking excitedly, and those with missing arms and legs had new ones; the crippled were walking and jumping around, and those who had been blind were gazing about them! The crowds just marveled, and praised the God of Israel.
32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I pity these people--they've been here with me for three days now and have nothing left to eat; I don't want to send them away hungry or they will faint along the road."
33 The disciples replied, "And where would we get enough here in the desert for all this mob to eat?"
34 Jesus asked them, "How much food do you have?" And they replied, "Seven loaves of bread and a few small fish!"
35 Then Jesus told all of the people to sit down on the ground,
36 and he took the seven loaves and the fish, and gave thanks to God for them, and divided them into pieces, and gave them to the disciples who presented them to the crowd.
37 And everyone ate until full--four thousand men besides the women and children!
38 And afterwards, when the scraps were picked up, there were seven basketfuls left over!
39 Then Jesus sent the people home and got into the boat and crossed to Magadan.
1 One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus' claim of being the Messiah by asking him to show them some great demonstrations in the skies.
2 He replied, "You are good at reading the weather signs of the skies--red sky tonight means fair weather tomorrow;
3 red sky in the morning means foul weather all day--but you can't read the obvious signs of the times!
4 This evil, unbelieving nation is asking for some strange sign in the heavens, but no further proof will be given except the miracle that happened to Jonah." Then Jesus walked out on them.
5 Arriving across the lake, the disciples discovered they had forgotten to bring any food.
6 "Watch out!" Jesus warned them; "beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
7 They thought he was saying this because they had forgotten to bring bread.
8 Jesus knew what they were thinking and told them, "O men of little faith! Why are you so worried about having no food?
9 Won't you ever understand? Don't you remember at all the five thousand I fed with five loaves, and the basketfuls left over?
10 Don't you remember the four thousand I fed, and all that was left?
11 How could you even think I was talking about food? But again I say, 'Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.' "
12 Then at last they understood that by yeast he meant the wrong teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13 When Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who are the people saying I am?"
14 "Well," they replied, "some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; some, Jeremiah or one of the other prophets."
15 Then he asked them, "Who do you think I am?"
16 Simon Peter answered, "The Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
17 "God has blessed you, Simon, son of Jonah," Jesus said, "for my Father in heaven has personally revealed this to you--this is not from any human source.
18 You are Peter, a stone; and upon this rock I will build my church; and all the powers of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; whatever doors you lock on earth shall be locked in heaven; and whatever doors you open on earth shall be open in heaven!"
20 Then he warned the disciples against telling others that he was the Messiah.
21 From then on Jesus began to speak plainly to his disciples about going to Jerusalem, and what would happen to him there--that he would suffer at the hands of the Jewish leaders, that he would be killed, and that three days later he would be raised to life again.
22 But Peter took him aside to remonstrate with him. "Heaven forbid, sir," he said. "This is not going to happen to you!"
23 Jesus turned on Peter and said, "Get away from me, you Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are thinking merely from a human point of view, and not from God's."
24 Then Jesus said to the disciples, "If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
25 For anyone who keeps his life for himself shall lose it; and anyone who loses his life for me shall find it again.
26 What profit is there if you gain the whole world--and lose eternal life? What can be compared with the value of eternal life?
27 For I, the Son of Mankind, shall come with my angels in the glory of my Father and judge each person according to his deeds.
28 And some of you standing right here now will certainly live to see me coming in my Kingdom."
1 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John to the top of a high and lonely hill,
2 and as they watched, his appearance changed so that his face shone like the sun and his clothing became dazzling white.
3 Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared and were talking with him.
4 Peter blurted out, "Sir, it's wonderful that we can be here! If you want me to, I'll make three shelters, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah."
5 But even as he said it, a bright cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, and I am wonderfully pleased with him. Obey him."
6 At this the disciples fell face downward to the ground, terribly frightened.
7 Jesus came over and touched them. "Get up," he said, "don't be afraid."
8 And when they looked, only Jesus was with them.
9 As they were going down the mountain, Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone what they had seen until after he had risen from the dead.
10 His disciples asked, "Why do the Jewish leaders insist Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?"
11 Jesus replied, "They are right. Elijah must come and set everything in order.
12 And, in fact, he has already come, but he wasn't recognized, and was badly mistreated by many. And I, the Messiah, shall also suffer at their hands."
13 Then the disciples realized he was speaking of John the Baptist.
14 When they arrived at the bottom of the hill, a huge crowd was waiting for them. A man came and knelt before Jesus and said,
15 "Sir, have mercy on my son, for he is mentally deranged and in great trouble, for he often falls into the fire or into the water;
16 so I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn't cure him."
17 Jesus replied, "Oh, you stubborn, faithless people! How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to me."
18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy and it left him, and from that moment the boy was well.
19 Afterwards the disciples asked Jesus privately, "Why couldn't we cast that demon out?"
20 "Because of your little faith," Jesus told them. "For if you had faith even as small as a tiny mustard seed you could say to this mountain, 'Move!' and it would go far away. Nothing would be impossible.
21 But this kind of demon won't leave unless you have prayed and gone without food."
22 One day while they were still in Galilee, Jesus told them, "I am going to be betrayed into the power of those
23 who will kill me, and on the third day afterwards I will be brought back to life again." And the disciples' hearts were filled with sorrow and dread.
24 On their arrival in Capernaum, the Temple tax collectors came to Peter and asked him, "Doesn't your master pay taxes?"
25 "Of course he does," Peter replied. Then he went into the house to talk to Jesus about it, but before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, "What do you think, Peter? Do kings levy assessments against their own people or against conquered foreigners?"
26 "Against the foreigners," Peter replied. "Well, then," Jesus said, "the citizens are free!
27 "However, we don't want to offend them, so go down to the shore and throw in a line, and open the mouth of the first fish you catch. You will find a coin to cover the taxes for both of us; take it and pay them."
1 About that time the disciples came to Jesus to ask which of them would be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven!
2 Jesus called a small child over to him and set the little fellow down among them,
3 and said, "Unless you turn to God from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.
4 Therefore anyone who humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
5 And any of you who welcomes a little child like this because you are mine is welcoming me and caring for me.
6 But if any of you causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to lose his faith, it would be better for you to have a rock tied to your neck and be thrown into the sea.
7 "Woe upon the world for all its evils. Temptation to do wrong is inevitable, but woe to the man who does the tempting.
8 So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. Better to enter heaven crippled than to be in hell with both of your hands and feet.
9 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. Better to enter heaven with one eye than to be in hell with two.
10 "Beware that you don't look down upon a single one of these little children. For I tell you that in heaven their angels have constant access to my Father.
11 And I, the Messiah, came to save the lost.
12 "If a man has a hundred sheep, and one wanders away and is lost, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety-nine others and go out into the hills to search for the lost one?
13 And if he finds it, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine others safe at home!
14 Just so, it is not my Father's will that even one of these little ones should perish.
15 "If a brother sins against you, go to him privately and confront him with his fault. If he listens and confesses it, you have won back a brother.
16 But if not, then take one or two others with you and go back to him again, proving everything you say by these witnesses.
17 If he still refuses to listen, then take your case to the church, and if the church's verdict favors you, but he won't accept it, then the church should excommunicate him.
18 And I tell you this--whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever you free on earth will be freed in heaven.
19 "I also tell you this--if two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask for, my Father in heaven will do it for you.
20 For where two or three gather together because they are mine, I will be right there among them."
21 Then Peter came to him and asked, "Sir, how often should I forgive a brother who sins against me? Seven times?"
22 "No!" Jesus replied, "seventy times seven!
23 "The Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date.
24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him $10 million!
25 He couldn't pay, so the king ordered him sold for the debt, also his wife and children and everything he had.
26 "But the man fell down before the king, his face in the dust, and said, 'Oh, sir, be patient with me and I will pay it all.'
27 "Then the king was filled with pity for him and released him and forgave his debt.
28 "But when the man left the king, he went to a man who owed him $2,000 and grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
29 "The man fell down before him and begged him to give him a little time. 'Be patient and I will pay it,' he pled.
30 "But his creditor wouldn't wait. He had the man arrested and jailed until the debt would be paid in full.
31 "Then the man's friends went to the king and told him what had happened.
32 And the king called before him the man he had forgiven and said, 'You evil-hearted wretch! Here I forgave you all that tremendous debt, just because you asked me to--
33 shouldn't you have mercy on others, just as I had mercy on you?'
34 "Then the angry king sent the man to the torture chamber until he had paid every last penny due.
35 So shall my heavenly Father do to you if you refuse to truly forgive your brothers."
1 After Jesus had finished this address, he left Galilee and circled back to Judea from across the Jordan River.
2 Vast crowds followed him, and he healed their sick.
3 Some Pharisees came to interview him and tried to trap him into saying something that would ruin him. "Do you permit divorce?" they asked.
4 "Don't you read the Scriptures?" he replied. "In them it is written that at the beginning God created man and woman,
5 and that a man should leave his father and mother, and be forever united to his wife.
6 The two shall become one--no longer two, but one! And no man may divorce what God has joined together."
7 "Then, why," they asked, "did Moses say a man may divorce his wife by merely writing her a letter of dismissal?"
8 Jesus replied, "Moses did that in recognition of your hard and evil hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended.
9 And I tell you this, that anyone who divorces his wife, except for fornication, and marries another, commits adultery."
10 Jesus' disciples then said to him, "If that is how it is, it is better not to marry!"
11 "Not everyone can accept this statement," Jesus said. "Only those whom God helps.
12 Some are born without the ability to marry, and some are disabled by men, and some refuse to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone who can, accept my statement."
13 Little children were brought for Jesus to lay his hands on them and pray. But the disciples scolded those who brought them. "Don't bother him," they said.
14 But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and don't prevent them. For of such is the Kingdom of Heaven."
15 And he put his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left.
16 Someone came to Jesus with this question: "Good master, what must I do to have eternal life?"
17 "When you call me good you are calling me God," Jesus replied, "for God alone is truly good. But to answer your question, you can get to heaven if you keep the commandments."
18 "Which ones?" the man asked. And Jesus replied, "Don't kill, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie,
19 honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself!"
20 "I've always obeyed every one of them," the youth replied. "What else must I do?"
21 Jesus told him, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."
22 But when the young man heard this, he went away sadly, for he was very rich.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "It is almost impossible for a rich man to get into the Kingdom of Heaven.
24 I say it again--it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God!"
25 This remark confounded the disciples. "Then who in the world can be saved?" they asked.
26 Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, no one. But with God, everything is possible."
27 Then Peter said to him, "We left everything to follow you. What will we get out of it?"
28 And Jesus replied, "When I, the Messiah, shall sit upon my glorious throne in the Kingdom, you my disciples shall certainly sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
29 And anyone who gives up his home, brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, or property, to follow me, shall receive a hundred times as much in return, and shall have eternal life.
30 But many who are first now will be last then; and some who are last now will be first then."
1 Here is another illustration of the Kingdom of Heaven. "The owner of an estate went out early one morning to hire workers for his harvest field.
2 He agreed to pay them $20 a day and sent them out to work.
3 "A couple of hours later he was passing a hiring hall and saw some men standing around waiting for jobs,
4 so he sent them also into his fields, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day.
5 At noon and again around three o'clock in the afternoon he did the same thing.
6 "At five o'clock that evening he was in town again and saw some more men standing around and asked them, 'Why haven't you been working today?'
7 'Because no one hired us,' they replied. 'Then go on out and join the others in my fields,' he told them.
8 "That evening he told the paymaster to call the men in and pay them, beginning with the last men first.
9 When the men hired at five o'clock were paid, each received $20.
10 So when the men hired earlier came to get theirs, they assumed they would receive much more. But they, too, were paid $20.
11 "They protested,
12 'Those fellows worked only one hour, and yet you've paid them just as much as those of us who worked all day in the scorching heat.'
13 'Friend,' he answered one of them, 'I did you no wrong! Didn't you agree to work all day for $20?
14 Take it and go. It is my desire to pay all the same;
15 is it against the law to give away my money if I want to? Should you be angry because I am kind?'
16 And so it is that the last shall be first, and the first, last."
17 As Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside
18 and talked to them about what would happen to him when they arrived. "I will be betrayed to the chief priests and other Jewish leaders, and they will condemn me to die.
19 And they will hand me over to the Roman government, and I will be mocked and crucified, and the third day I will rise to life again."
20 Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, brought them to Jesus and respectfully asked a favor.
21 "What is your request?" he asked. She replied, "In your Kingdom, will you let my two sons sit on two thrones next to yours?"
22 But Jesus told her, "You don't know what you are asking!" Then he turned to James and John and asked them, "Are you able to drink from the terrible cup I am about to drink from?" "Yes," they replied, "we are able!"
23 "You shall indeed drink from it," he told them. "But I have no right to say who will sit on the thrones next to mine. Those places are reserved for the persons my Father selects."
24 The other ten disciples were indignant when they heard what James and John had asked for.
25 But Jesus called them together and said, "Among the heathen, kings are tyrants and each minor official lords it over those beneath him.
26 But among you it is quite different. Anyone wanting to be a leader among you must be your servant.
27 And if you want to be right at the top, you must serve like a slave.
28 Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many."
29 As Jesus and the disciples left the city of Jericho, a vast crowd surged along behind.
30 Two blind men were sitting beside the road, and when they heard that Jesus was coming that way, they began shouting, "Sir, King David's Son, have mercy on us!"
31 The crowd told them to be quiet, but they only yelled the louder.
32 When Jesus came to the place where they were, he stopped in the road and called, "What do you want me to do for you?"
33 "Sir," they said, "we want to see!"
34 Jesus was moved with pity for them and touched their eyes. And instantly they could see, and followed him.
1 As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, and were near the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of them into the village ahead.
2 "Just as you enter," he said, "you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them here.
3 If anyone asks you what you are doing, just say, 'The Master needs them,' and there will be no trouble."
4 This was done to fulfill the ancient prophecy,
5 "Tell Jerusalem her King is coming to her, riding humbly on a donkey's colt!"
6 The two disciples did as Jesus said,
7 and brought the animals to him and threw their garments over the colt for him to ride on.
8 And some in the crowd threw down their coats along the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them out before him.
9 Then the crowds surged on ahead and pressed along behind, shouting, "God bless King David's Son!" . . . "God's Man is here!". . . Bless him, Lord!" . . . "Praise God in highest heaven!"
10 The entire city of Jerusalem was stirred as he entered. "Who is this?" they asked.
11 And the crowds replied, "It's Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth up in Galilee."
12 Jesus went into the Temple, drove out the merchants, and knocked over the moneychangers' tables and the stalls of those selling doves.
13 "The Scriptures say my Temple is a place of prayer," he declared, "but you have turned it into a den of thieves."
14 And now the blind and crippled came to him, and he healed them there in the Temple.
15 But when the chief priests and other Jewish leaders saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the little children in the Temple shouting, "God bless the Son of David," they were disturbed and indignant and asked him, "Do you hear what these children are saying?"
16 "Yes," Jesus replied. "Didn't you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, 'Even little babies shall praise him!' "
17 Then he returned to Bethany, where he stayed overnight.
18 In the morning, as he was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry
19 and noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, "Never bear fruit again!" And soon the fig tree withered up.
20 The disciples were utterly amazed and asked, "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?"
21 Then Jesus told them, "Truly, if you have faith and don't doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this Mount of Olives, 'Move over into the ocean,' and it will.
22 You can get anything --anything you ask for in prayer--if you believe."
23 When he had returned to the Temple and was teaching, the chief priests and other Jewish leaders came up to him and demanded to know by whose authority he had thrown out the merchants the day before.
24 "I'll tell you if you answer one question first," Jesus replied.
25 "Was John the Baptist sent from God or not?" They talked it over among themselves. "If we say, 'From God,' " they said, "then he will ask why we didn't believe what John said.
26 And if we deny that God sent him, we'll be mobbed, for the crowd all think he was a prophet."
27 So they finally replied, "We don't know!" And Jesus said, "Then I won't answer your question either.
28 "But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, 'Son, go out and work on the farm today.'
29 'I won't,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
30 Then the father told the youngest, 'You go!' and he said, 'Yes, sir, I will.' But he didn't.
31 Which of the two was obeying his father?" They replied, "The first, of course." Then Jesus explained his meaning: "Surely evil men and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom before you do.
32 For John the Baptist told you to repent and turn to God, and you wouldn't, while very evil men and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to repent, and so you couldn't believe.
33 "Now listen to this story: A certain landowner planted a vineyard with a hedge around it, and built a platform for the watchman, then leased the vineyard to some farmers on a sharecrop basis, and went away to live in another country.
34 "At the time of the grape harvest he sent his agents to the farmers to collect his share.
35 But the farmers attacked his men, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.
36 "Then he sent a larger group of his men to collect for him, but the results were the same.
37 Finally the owner sent his son, thinking they would surely respect him.
38 "But when these farmers saw the son coming they said among themselves, 'Here comes the heir to this estate; come on, let's kill him and get it for ourselves!'
39 So they dragged him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 "When the owner returns, what do you think he will do to those farmers?"
41 The Jewish leaders replied, "He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will pay him promptly."
42 Then Jesus asked them, "Didn't you ever read in the Scriptures: 'The stone rejected by the builders has been made the honored cornerstone; how remarkable! what an amazing thing the Lord has done'?
43 "What I mean is that the Kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and given to a nation that will give God his share of the crop.
44 All who stumble on this rock of truth shall be broken, but those it falls on will be scattered as dust."
45 When the chief priests and other Jewish leaders realized that Jesus was talking about them--that they were the farmers in his story--
46 they wanted to get rid of him but were afraid to try because of the crowds, for they accepted Jesus as a prophet.
1 Jesus told several other stories to show what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. "For instance," he said,
2 "it can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding dinner for his son.
3 Many guests were invited, and when the banquet was ready he sent messengers to notify everyone that it was time to come. But all refused!
4 So he sent other servants to tell them, 'Everything is ready and the roast is in the oven. Hurry!'
5 "But the guests he had invited merely laughed and went on about their business, one to his farm, another to his store;
6 others beat up his messengers and treated them shamefully, even killing some of them.
7 "Then the angry king sent out his army and destroyed the murderers and burned their city.
8 And he said to his servants, 'The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren't worthy of the honor.
9 Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.'
10 "So the servants did, and brought in all they could find, good and bad alike; and the banquet hall was filled with guests.
11 But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn't wearing the wedding robe provided for him.
12 'Friend,' he asked, 'how does it happen that you are here without a wedding robe?' And the man had no reply.
13 "Then the king said to his aides, 'Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
14 For many are called, but few are chosen."
15 Then the Pharisees met together to try to think of some way to trap Jesus into saying something for which they could arrest him.
16 They decided to send some of their men along with the Herodians to ask him this question: "Sir, we know you are very honest and teach the truth regardless of the consequences, without fear or favor.
17 Now tell us, is it right to pay taxes to the Roman government or not?"
18 But Jesus saw what they were after. "You hypocrites!" he exclaimed. "Who are you trying to fool with your trick questions?
19 Here, show me a coin." And they handed him a penny.
20 "Whose picture is stamped on it?" he asked them. "And whose name is this beneath the picture?"
21 "Caesar's," they replied. "Well, then," he said, "give it to Caesar if it is his, and give God everything that belongs to God."
22 His reply surprised and baffled them, and they went away.
23 But that same day some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection after death, came to him and asked,
24 "Sir, Moses said that if a man died without children, his brother should marry the widow and their children would get all the dead man's property.
25 Well, we had among us a family of seven brothers. The first of these men married and then died, without children, so his widow became the second brother's wife.
26 This brother also died without children, and the wife was passed to the next brother, and so on until she had been the wife of each of them.
27 And then she also died.
28 So whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For she was the wife of all seven of them!"
29 But Jesus said, "Your error is caused by your ignorance of the Scriptures and of God's power!
30 For in the resurrection there is no marriage; everyone is as the angels in heaven.
31 But now, as to whether there is a resurrection of the dead--don't you ever read the Scriptures? Don't you realize that God was speaking directly to you when he said,
32 'I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob'? So God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."
33 The crowds were profoundly impressed by his answers--
34 but not the Pharisees! When they heard that he had routed the Sadducees with his reply,
35 they thought up a fresh question of their own to ask him. One of them, a lawyer, spoke up:
36 "Sir, which is the most important command in the laws of Moses?"
37 Jesus replied, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.'
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 The second most important is similar: 'Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.'
40 All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets stem from these two laws and are fulfilled if you obey them. Keep only these and you will find that you are obeying all the others."
41 Then, surrounded by the Pharisees, he asked them a question:
42 "What about the Messiah? Whose son is he?" "The son of David," they replied.
43 "Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, call him 'Lord'?" Jesus asked. "For David said,
44 'God said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet.'
45 Since David called him 'Lord,' how can he be merely his son?"
46 They had no answer. And after that no one dared ask him any more questions.
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds, and to his disciples,
2 "You would think these Jewish leaders and these Pharisees were Moses, the way they keep making up so many laws!
3 And of course you should obey their every whim! It may be all right to do what they say, but above anything else, don't follow their example. For they don't do what they tell you to do.
4 They load you with impossible demands that they themselves don't even try to keep.
5 "Everything they do is done for show. They act holy by wearing on their arms little prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and by lengthening the memorial fringes of their robes.
6 And how they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the reserved pews in the synagogue!
7 How they enjoy the deference paid them on the streets and to be called 'Rabbi' and 'Master'!
8 Don't ever let anyone call you that. For only God is your Rabbi and all of you are on the same level, as brothers.
9 And don't address anyone here on earth as 'Father,' for only God in heaven should be addressed like that.
10 And don't be called 'Master,' for only one is your master, even the Messiah.
11 "The more lowly your service to others, the greater you are. To be the greatest, be a servant.
12 But those who think themselves great shall be disappointed and humbled; and those who humble themselves shall be exalted.
13 "Woe to you, Pharisees, and you other religious leaders. Hypocrites! For you won't let others enter the Kingdom of Heaven and won't go in yourselves.
14 And you pretend to be holy, with all your long, public prayers in the streets, while you are evicting widows from their homes. Hypocrites!
15 Yes, woe upon you hypocrites. For you go to all lengths to make one convert, and then turn him into twice the son of hell you are yourselves.
16 Blind guides! Woe upon you! For your rule is that to swear 'By God's Temple' means nothing--you can break that oath, but to swear 'By the gold in the Temple' is binding!
17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold, or the Temple that sanctifies the gold?
18 And you say that to take an oath 'By the altar' can be broken, but to swear 'By the gifts on the altar' is binding!
19 Blind! For which is greater, the gift on the altar, or the altar itself that sanctifies the gift?
20 When you swear 'By the altar' you are swearing by it and everything on it,
21 and when you swear 'By the Temple' you are swearing by it and by God who lives in it.
22 And when you swear 'By heavens' you are swearing by the Throne of God and by God himself.
23 "Yes, woe upon you, Pharisees, and you other religious leaders--hypocrites! For you tithe down to the last mint leaf in your garden, but ignore the important things--justice and mercy and faith. Yes, you should tithe, but you shouldn't leave the more important things undone.
24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.
25 "Woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders--hypocrites! You are so careful to polish the outside of the cup, but the inside is foul with extortion and greed.
26 Blind Pharisees! First cleanse the inside of the cup, and then the whole cup will be clean.
27 "Woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders! You are like beautiful mausoleums--full of dead men's bones, and of foulness and corruption.
28 You try to look like saintly men, but underneath those pious robes of yours are hearts besmirched with every sort of hypocrisy and sin.
29 "Yes, woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders--hypocrites! For you build monuments to the prophets killed by your fathers and lay flowers on the graves of the godly men they destroyed,
30 and say, 'We certainly would never have acted as our fathers did.'
31 "In saying that, you are accusing yourselves of being the sons of wicked men.
32 And you are following in their steps, filling up the full measure of their evil.
33 Snakes! Sons of vipers! How shall you escape the judgment of hell?
34 "I will send you prophets, and wise men, and inspired writers, and you will kill some by crucifixion, and rip open the backs of others with whips in your synagogues, and hound them from city to city,
35 so that you will become guilty of all the blood of murdered godly men from righteous Abel to Zechariah (son of Barachiah), slain by you in the Temple between the altar and the sanctuary.
36 Yes, all the accumulated judgment of the centuries shall break upon the heads of this very generation.
37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones all those God sends to her! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me.
38 And now your house is left to you, desolate.
39 For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you are ready to welcome the one sent to you from God."
1 As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples came along and wanted to take him on a tour of the various Temple buildings.
2 But he told them, "All these buildings will be knocked down, with not one stone left on top of another!"
3 "When will this happen?" the disciples asked him later, as he sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. "What events will signal your return and the end of the world?"
4 Jesus told them, "Don't let anyone fool you.
5 For many will come claiming to be the Messiah and will lead many astray.
6 When you hear of wars beginning, this does not signal my return; these must come, but the end is not yet.
7 The nations and kingdoms of the earth will rise against each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in many places.
8 But all this will be only the beginning of the horrors to come.
9 "Then you will be tortured and killed and hated all over the world because you are mine,
10 and many of you shall fall back into sin and betray and hate each other.
11 And many false prophets will appear and lead many astray.
12 Sin will be rampant everywhere and will cool the love of many.
13 But those enduring to the end shall be saved.
14 "And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it, and then, finally, the end will come.
15 "So, when you see the horrible thing (told about by Daniel the prophet) standing in a holy place (Note to the reader: You know what is meant!),
16 then those in Judea must flee into the Judean hills.
17 Those on their porches must not even go inside to pack before they flee.
18 Those in the fields should not return to their homes for their clothes.
19 "And woe to pregnant women and to those with babies in those days.
20 And pray that your flight will not be in winter, or on the Sabbath.
21 For there will be persecution such as the world has never before seen in all its history and will never see again.
22 "In fact, unless those days are shortened, all mankind will perish. But they will be shortened for the sake of God's chosen people.
23 "Then if anyone tells you, 'The Messiah has arrived at such and such a place, or has appeared here or there,' don't believe it.
24 For false Christs shall arise, and false prophets, and will do wonderful miracles so that if it were possible, even God's chosen ones would be deceived.
25 See, I have warned you.
26 "So if someone tells you the Messiah has returned and is out in the desert, don't bother to go and look. Or, that he is hiding at a certain place, don't believe it!
27 For as the lightning flashes across the sky from east to west, so shall my coming be, when I, the Messiah, return.
28 And wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will gather.
29 "Immediately after the persecution of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give light, and the stars will seem to fall from the heavens, and the powers overshadowing the earth will be convulsed.
30 "And then at last the signal of my coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning all around the earth. And the nations of the world will see me arrive in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.
31 And I shall send forth my angels with the sound of a mighty trumpet blast, and they shall gather my chosen ones from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.
32 "Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When her branch is tender and the leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is almost here.
33 Just so, when you see all these things beginning to happen, you can know that my return is near, even at the doors.
34 Then at last this age will come to its close.
35 "Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words remain forever.
36 But no one knows the date and hour when the end will be--not even the angels. No, nor even God's Son. Only the Father knows.
37 "The world will be at ease --banquets and parties and weddings--
38 just as it was in Noah's time before the sudden coming of the flood;
39 people wouldn't believe what was going to happen until the flood actually arrived and took them all away. So shall my coming be.
40 "Two men will be working together in the fields, and one will be taken, the other left.
41 Two women will be going about their household tasks; one will be taken, the other left.
42 "So be prepared, for you don't know what day your Lord is coming.
43 "Just as a man can prevent trouble from thieves by keeping watch for them,
44 so you can avoid trouble by always being ready for my unannounced return.
45 "Are you a wise and faithful servant of the Lord? Have I given you the task of managing my household, to feed my children day by day?
46 Blessings on you if I return and find you faithfully doing your work.
47 I will put such faithful ones in charge of everything I own!
48 "But if you are evil and say to yourself, 'My Lord won't be coming for a while,'
49 and begin oppressing your fellow servants, partying and getting drunk,
50 your Lord will arrive unannounced and unexpected,
51 and severely whip you and send you off to the judgment of the hypocrites; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
1 "The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
2 But only five of them were wise enough to fill their lamps with oil, while the other five were foolish and forgot.
3
4
5 "So, when the bridegroom was delayed, they lay down to rest until midnight,
6 when they were roused by the shout, 'The bridegroom is coming! Come out and welcome him!'
7 "All the girls jumped up and trimmed their lamps.
8 "Then the five who hadn't any oil begged the others to share with them, for their lamps were going out.
9 "But the others replied, 'We haven't enough. Go instead to the shops and buy some for yourselves.'
10 "But while they were gone, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked.
11 "Later, when the other five returned, they stood outside, calling, 'Sir, open the door for us!'
12 "But he called back, 'Go away! It is too late!'
13 "So stay awake and be prepared, for you do not know the date or moment of my return.
14 "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going into another country, who called together his servants and loaned them money to invest for him while he was gone.
15 "He gave $5,000 to one, $2,000 to another, and $1,000 to the last--dividing it in proportion to their abilities--and then left on his trip.
16 The man who received the $5,000 began immediately to buy and sell with it and soon earned another $5,000.
17 The man with $2,000 went right to work, too, and earned another $2,000.
18 "But the man who received the $1,000 dug a hole in the ground and hid the money for safekeeping.
19 "After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to him to account for his money.
20 The man to whom he had entrusted the $5,000 brought him $10,000.
21 "His master praised him for good work. 'You have been faithful in handling this small amount,' he told him, 'so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Begin the joyous tasks I have assigned to you.'
22 "Next came the man who had received the $2,000, with the report, 'Sir, you gave me $2,000 to use, and I have doubled it.'
23 'Good work,' his master said. 'You are a good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over this small amount, so now I will give you much more.'
24 "Then the man with the $1,000 came and said, 'Sir, I knew you were a hard man,
25 and I was afraid you would rob me of what I earned, so I hid your money in the earth and here it is!'
26 "But his master replied, 'Wicked man! Lazy slave! Since you knew I would demand your profit,
27 you should at least have put my money into the bank so I could have some interest.
28 Take the money from this man and give it to the man with the $10,000.
29 For the man who uses well what he is given shall be given more, and he shall have abundance. But from the man who is unfaithful, even what little responsibility he has shall be taken from him.
30 And throw the useless servant out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
31 "But when I, the Messiah, shall come in my glory, and all the angels with me, then I shall sit upon my throne of glory.
32 And all the nations shall be gathered before me. And I will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,
33 and place the sheep at my right hand, and the goats at my left.
34 "Then I, the King, shall say to those at my right, 'Come, blessed of my Father, into the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you fed me; I was thirsty and you gave me water; I was a stranger and you invited me into your homes;
36 naked and you clothed me; sick and in prison, and you visited me.'
37 "Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Sir, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you anything to drink?
38 Or a stranger, and help you? Or naked, and clothe you?
39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?'
40 "And I, the King, will tell them, 'When you did it to these my brothers you were doing it to me!'
41 Then I will turn to those on my left and say, 'Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.
42 For I was hungry and you wouldn't feed me; thirsty, and you wouldn't give me anything to drink;
43 a stranger, and you refused me hospitality; naked, and you wouldn't clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn't visit me.'
44 "Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?'
45 "And I will answer, 'When you refused to help the least of these my brothers, you were refusing help to me.'
46 "And they shall go away into eternal punishment; but the righteous into everlasting life."
1 When Jesus had finished this talk with his disciples, he told them,
2 "As you know, the Passover celebration begins in two days, and I shall be betrayed and crucified."
3 At that very moment the chief priests and other Jewish officials were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas the High Priest,
4 to discuss ways of capturing Jesus quietly and killing him.
5 "But not during the Passover celebration," they agreed, "for there would be a riot."
6 Jesus now proceeded to Bethany, to the home of Simon the leper.
7 While he was eating, a woman came in with a bottle of very expensive perfume and poured it over his head.
8 The disciples were indignant. "What a waste of good money," they said.
9 "Why, she could have sold it for a fortune and given it to the poor."
10 Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, "Why are you criticizing her? For she has done a good thing to me.
11 You will always have the poor among you, but you won't always have me.
12 She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial.
13 And she will always be remembered for this deed. The story of what she has done will be told throughout the whole world, wherever the Good News is preached."
14 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve apostles, went to the chief priests
15 and asked, "How much will you pay me to get Jesus into your hands?" And they gave him thirty silver coins.
16 From that time on, Judas watched for an opportunity to betray Jesus to them.
17 On the first day of the Passover ceremonies, when bread made with yeast was purged from every Jewish home, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where shall we plan to eat the Passover?"
18 He replied, "Go into the city and see Mr. So-and-So, and tell him, 'Our Master says, my time has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house.' "
19 So the disciples did as he told them and prepared the supper there.
20 That evening as he sat eating with the Twelve,
21 he said, "One of you will betray me."
22 Sorrow chilled their hearts, and each one asked, "Am I the one?"
23 He replied, "It is the one I served first.
24 For I must die just as was prophesied, but woe to the man by whom I am betrayed. Far better for that one if he had never been born."
25 Judas, too, had asked him, "Rabbi, am I the one?" And Jesus had told him, "Yes."
26 As they were eating, Jesus took a small loaf of bread and blessed it and broke it apart and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take it and eat it, for this is my body."
27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks for it and gave it to them and said, "Each one drink from it,
28 for this is my blood, sealing the New Covenant. It is poured out to forgive the sins of multitudes.
29 Mark my words--I will not drink this wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom."
30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
31 Then Jesus said to them, "Tonight you will all desert me. For it is written in the Scriptures that God will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.
32 But after I have been brought back to life again, I will go to Galilee and meet you there."
33 Peter declared, "If everyone else deserts you, I won't."
34 Jesus told him, "The truth is that this very night, before the cock crows at dawn, you will deny me three times!"
35 "I would die first!" Peter insisted. And all the other disciples said the same thing.
36 Then Jesus brought them to a garden grove, Gethsemane, and told them to sit down and wait while he went on ahead to pray.
37 He took Peter with him and Zebedee's two sons James and John, and began to be filled with anguish and despair.
38 Then he told them, "My soul is crushed with horror and sadness to the point of death. . . stay here. . . stay awake with me."
39 He went forward a little, and fell face downward on the ground, and prayed, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup be taken away from me. But I want your will, not mine."
40 Then he returned to the three disciples and found them asleep. "Peter," he called, "couldn't you even stay awake with me one hour?
41 Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For the spirit indeed is willing, but how weak the body is!"
42 Again he left them and prayed, "My Father! If this cup cannot go away until I drink it all, your will be done."
43 He returned to them again and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy,
44 so he went back to prayer the third time, saying the same things again.
45 Then he came to the disciples and said, "Sleep on now and take your rest. . . but no! The time has come! I am betrayed into the hands of evil men!
46 Up! Let's be going! Look! Here comes the man who is betraying me!"
47 At that very moment while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived with a great crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent by the Jewish leaders.
48 Judas had told them to arrest the man he greeted, for that would be the one they were after.
49 So now Judas came straight to Jesus and said, "Hello, Master!" and embraced him in friendly fashion.
50 Jesus said, "My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for." Then the others grabbed him.
51 One of the men with Jesus pulled out a sword and slashed off the ear of the High Priest's servant.
52 "Put away your sword," Jesus told him. "Those using swords will get killed.
53 Don't you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?
54 But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what is happening now?"
55 Then Jesus spoke to the crowd. "Am I some dangerous criminal," he asked, "that you had to arm yourselves with swords and clubs before you could arrest me? I was with you teaching daily in the Temple and you didn't stop me then.
56 But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures." At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled.
57 Then the mob led him to the home of Caiaphas, the High Priest, where all the Jewish leaders were gathering.
58 Meanwhile, Peter was following far to the rear, and came to the courtyard of the High Priest's house and went in and sat with the soldiers, and waited to see what was going to be done to Jesus.
59 The chief priests and, in fact, the entire Jewish Supreme Court assembled there and looked for witnesses who would lie about Jesus, in order to build a case against him that would result in a death sentence.
60 But even though they found many who agreed to be false witnesses, these always contradicted each other. Finally two men were found
61 who declared, "This man said, 'I am able to destroy the Temple of God and rebuild it in three days.' "
62 Then the High Priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Well, what about it? Did you say that, or didn't you?"
63 But Jesus remained silent. Then the High Priest said to him, "I demand in the name of the living God that you tell us whether you claim to be the Messiah, the Son of God."
64 "Yes," Jesus said, "I am. And in the future you will see me, the Messiah, sitting at the right hand of God and returning on the clouds of heaven."
65 Then the High Priest tore at his own clothing, shouting, "Blasphemy! What need have we for other witnesses? You have all heard him say it!
66 What is your verdict?" They shouted, "Death!--Death!--Death!"
67 Then they spat in his face and struck him and some slapped him,
68 saying, "Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who struck you that time?"
69 Meanwhile, as Peter was sitting in the courtyard, a girl came over and said to him, "You were with Jesus, for both of you are from Galilee."
70 But Peter denied it loudly. "I don't even know what you are talking about," he angrily declared.
71 Later, out by the gate, another girl noticed him and said to those standing around, "This man was with Jesus--from Nazareth."
72 Again Peter denied it, this time with an oath. "I don't even know the man," he said.
73 But after a while the men who had been standing there came over to him and said, "We know you are one of his disciples, for we can tell by your Galilean accent."
74 Peter began to curse and swear. "I don't even know the man," he said. And immediately the cock crowed.
75 Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said, "Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." And he went away, crying bitterly.
1 When it was morning, the chief priests and Jewish leaders met again to discuss how to induce the Roman government to sentence Jesus to death.
2 Then they sent him in chains to Pilate, the Roman governor.
3 About that time Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that Jesus had been condemned to die, changed his mind and deeply regretted what he had done, and brought back the money to the chief priests and other Jewish leaders.
4 "I have sinned," he declared, "for I have betrayed an innocent man." "That's your problem," they retorted.
5 Then he threw the money onto the floor of the Temple and went out and hanged himself.
6 The chief priests picked the money up. "We can't put it in the collection," they said, "since it's against our laws to accept money paid for murder."
7 They talked it over and finally decided to buy a certain field where the clay was used by potters, and to make it into a cemetery for foreigners who died in Jerusalem.
8 That is why the cemetery is still called "The Field of Blood."
9 This fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah which says, "They took the thirty pieces of silver--the price at which he was valued by the people of Israel--
10 and purchased a field from the potters as the Lord directed me."
11 Now Jesus was standing before Pilate, the Roman governor. "Are you the Jews' Messiah?" the governor asked him. "Yes," Jesus replied.
12 But when the chief priests and other Jewish leaders made their many accusations against him, Jesus remained silent.
13 "Don't you hear what they are saying?" Pilate demanded.
14 But Jesus said nothing, much to the governor's surprise.
15 Now the governor's custom was to release one Jewish prisoner each year during the Passover celebration--anyone they wanted.
16 This year there was a particularly notorious criminal in jail named Barabbas,
17 and as the crowds gathered before Pilate's house that morning he asked them, "Which shall I release to you--Barabbas, or Jesus your Messiah?"
18 For he knew very well that the Jewish leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy because of his popularity with the people.
19 Just then, as he was presiding over the court, Pilate's wife sent him this message: "Leave that good man alone; for I had a terrible nightmare concerning him last night."
20 Meanwhile the chief priests and Jewish officials persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas' release, and for Jesus' death.
21 So when the governor asked again, "Which of these two shall I release to you?" the crowd shouted back their reply: "Barabbas!"
22 "Then what shall I do with Jesus, your Messiah?" Pilate asked. And they shouted, "Crucify him!"
23 "Why?" Pilate demanded. "What has he done wrong?" But they kept shouting, "Crucify! Crucify!"
24 When Pilate saw that he wasn't getting anywhere and that a riot was developing, he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this good man. The responsibility is yours!"
25 And the mob yelled back, "His blood be on us and on our children!"
26 Then Pilate released Barabbas to them. And after he had whipped Jesus, he gave him to the Roman soldiers to take away and crucify.
27 But first they took him into the armory and called out the entire contingent.
28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,
29 and made a crown from long thorns and put it on his head, and placed a stick in his right hand as a scepter and knelt before him in mockery. "Hail, King of the Jews," they yelled.
30 And they spat on him and grabbed the stick and beat him on the head with it.
31 After the mockery, they took off the robe and put his own garment on him again, and took him out to crucify him.
32 As they were on the way to the execution grounds they came across a man from Cyrene, in Africa--Simon was his name--and forced him to carry Jesus' cross.
33 Then they went out to an area known as Golgotha, that is, "Skull Hill,"
34 where the soldiers gave him drugged wine to drink; but when he had tasted it, he refused.
35 After the crucifixion, the soldiers threw dice to divide up his clothes among themselves.
36 Then they sat around and watched him as he hung there.
37 And they put a sign above his head, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews."
38 Two robbers were also crucified there that morning, one on either side of him.
39 And the people passing by hurled abuse, shaking their heads at him and saying,
40 "So! You can destroy the Temple and build it again in three days, can you? Well, then, come on down from the cross if you are the Son of God!"
41 And the chief priests and Jewish leaders also mocked him.
42 "He saved others," they scoffed, "but he can't save himself! So you are the King of Israel, are you? Come down from the cross and we'll believe you!
43 He trusted God--let God show his approval by delivering him! Didn't he say, 'I am God's Son'?"
44 And the robbers also threw the same in his teeth.
45 That afternoon, the whole earth was covered with darkness for three hours, from noon until three o'clock.
46 About three o'clock, Jesus shouted, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
47 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for Elijah.
48 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine and put it on a stick and held it up to him to drink.
49 But the rest said, "Leave him alone. Let's see whether Elijah will come and save him."
50 Then Jesus shouted out again, dismissed his spirit, and died.
51 And look! The curtain secluding the Holiest Place in the Temple was split apart from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and rocks broke,
52 and tombs opened, and many godly men and women who had died came back to life again.
53 After Jesus' resurrection, they left the cemetery and went into Jerusalem, and appeared to many people there.
54 The soldiers at the crucifixion and their sergeant were terribly frightened by the earthquake and all that happened. They exclaimed, "Surely this was God's Son."
55 And many women who had come down from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were watching from a distance.
56 Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of James and John (the sons of Zebedee).
57 When evening came, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, one of Jesus' followers,
58 went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him.
59 Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
60 and placed it in his own new rock-hewn tomb, and rolled a great stone across the entrance as he left.
61 Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting nearby watching.
62 The next day--at the close of the first day of the Passover ceremonies --the chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate,
63 and told him, "Sir, that liar once said, 'After three days I will come back to life again.'
64 So we request an order from you sealing the tomb until the third day, to prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he came back to life! If that happens, we'll be worse off than we were at first."
65 "Use your own Temple police," Pilate told them. "They can guard it safely enough."
66 So they sealed the stone and posted guards to protect it from intrusion.
1 Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to the tomb.
2 Suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled aside the stone and sat on it.
3 His face shone like lightning and his clothing was a brilliant white.
4 The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and fell into a dead faint.
5 Then the angel spoke to the women. "Don't be frightened!" he said. "I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified,
6 but he isn't here! For he has come back to life again, just as he said he would. Come in and see where his body was lying. . . .
7 And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and that he is going to Galilee to meet them there. That is my message to them."
8 The women ran from the tomb, badly frightened, but also filled with joy, and rushed to find the disciples to give them the angel's message.
9 And as they were running, suddenly Jesus was there in front of them! "Good morning!" he said. And they fell to the ground before him, holding his feet and worshiping him.
10 Then Jesus said to them, "Don't be frightened! Go tell my brothers to leave at once for Galilee, to meet me there."
11 As the women were on the way into the city, some of the Temple police who had been guarding the tomb went to the chief priests and told them what had happened.
12 A meeting of all the Jewish leaders was called,
13 and it was decided to bribe the police to say they had all been asleep when Jesus' disciples came during the night and stole his body.
14 "If the governor hears about it," the Council promised, "we'll stand up for you and everything will be all right."
15 So the police accepted the bribe and said what they were told to. Their story spread widely among the Jews and is still believed by them to this very day.
16 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had said they would find him.
17 There they met him and worshiped him--but some of them weren't sure it really was Jesus!
18 He told his disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and earth.
19 Therefore go and make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you; and be sure of this--that I am with you always, even to the end of the world."