Matthew 8:30-19:2 Now there was not far from there a large drove of hogs feeding.

Williams⁽ⁱ⁾ ³⁰ Now there was not far from there a large drove of hogs feeding. ³¹ And the demons kept begging Him and saying, "If you are going to drive us out, send us into the drove of hogs." ³² And He said to them, "Be gone!" And they went out of the men and got into the hogs, and suddenly the whole drove, in a stampede, rushed over the cliff into the sea, and died in the water. ³³ And the men who fed them fled, and went off to the town, and told it all, and what occurred to the two men who were under the power of demons. ³⁴ And suddenly all the town turned out to meet Jesus, and as soon as they saw Him, they begged Him to move on and leave their neighborhood. ⁹ ¹ And He got into a boat and crossed to the other side, and went into His home town. ² And all at once some men were bringing to Him a paralyzed man, lying on a couch. And because He saw their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "Cheer up, my child, your sins are forgiven." ³ Then some of the scribes said to themselves, "He is a blasphemer." ⁴ And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said, "Why do you have such wicked thoughts in your hearts? ⁵ For which is easier, to say 'Your sins are forgiven,' or, to say 'Get up and go to walking'? ⁶ But to show you that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth" -- turning to the paralyzed man, He said to Him -- "Get up, pick up your bed, and go home." ⁷ And he got up and went home. ⁸ And the crowds saw it, and were stricken with awe, and gave praise to God for giving such power to men. ⁹ And as He was passing along from there, He saw a man named Matthew in his seat at the tax-collector's desk, and He said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed Him. ¹⁰ While He was at table in the house many tax-collectors and notorious sinners came in and took their seats at table with Jesus and His disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax-collectors and notorious sinners?" ¹² And when He heard it, He said, "It is not well, but sick people that have to send for a doctor. ¹³ Go, learn what this means, 'It is mercy and not sacrifice that I want.' It is not upright but sinful people that I have come to invite." ¹⁴ Then John's disciples went up to Him, and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees practice fasting, but your disciples do not?" ¹⁵ Jesus said to them, "The wedding guests cannot mourn, can they, as long as they have the bridegroom with them? But a time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ Nobody sews a patch of brand-new goods on an old coat, for such a patch would tear away from the coat, and the hole would be bigger than ever. ¹⁷ Nobody pours new wine into old wine-bottles; or, if they do, the bottles burst, the wine runs out, and the bottles are ruined. But people pour new wine into new wine-bottles, and so both are preserved." ¹⁸ And just as He was saying these things to them, an official came up and fell on his knees before Him, and said, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand upon her and she will come to life." ¹⁹ And Jesus got up and followed him; and His disciples, too. ²⁰ And a woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years came up and touched the tassel on His coat. ²¹ For she kept saying to herself, "If I can only touch His coat, I will get well." ²² And Jesus, on turning and seeing her, said, "Cheer up, my daughter! Your faith has cured you." And from that moment the woman was well. ²³ And Jesus, on coming to the house of the official, and on seeing the flute-players and the wailing crowd, ²⁴ said, "Go away, for the girl is not dead, but is sleeping." And they began to laugh in His face. ²⁵ But when the crowd had been driven out, He went in and took hold of her hand, and the girl got up. ²⁶ And the news about her spread all over that country. ²⁷ As Jesus was passing along from there, two blind men followed Him, shouting, "Do pity us, O Son of David!" ²⁸ After He had gone into the house, and the blind men had gone up to Him, Jesus said to them, "Do you really believe that I can do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord." ²⁹ Then He touched their eyes, and said, "In accordance with your faith it must be done for you." ³⁰ And their eyes received strength to see. Then Jesus sternly charged them, "See that nobody knows it." ³¹ But they went out and spread the news about Him all over that country. ³² But at the very time they were going out, some people brought to Him a dumb man, who was under the power of a demon, ³³ and after the demon had been driven out, the dumb man could talk. So the crowds were dumbfounded, saying, "Never before among the Jews was anything like this? ³⁴ But the Pharisees kept on saying, "It is by the help of the prince of the demons that He drives them out." ³⁵ Jesus kept visiting all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and curing every sort of sickness and ailment. ³⁶ When He saw the crowds, His heart was moved with pity for them, because they were tired and scattered like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the reapers are scarce. ³⁸ So pray the Lord of the harvest to send out reapers to His harvest field." ¹⁰ ¹ Then He called His twelve disciples to Him, and gave them authority over foul spirits, so that they could drive them out, and so that they could cure any disease or ailment. ² Here are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, who was named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, ³ Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector, James the son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus, ⁴ Simon the zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who afterward betrayed Him. ⁵ Jesus sent these twelve out, after giving them the following charge: "Do not go to the heathen, or to any Samaritan town, ⁶ but rather to the lost sheep of Israel's house. ⁷ And as you go continue to preach, 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' ⁸ Keep on curing the sick, raising the dead, healing lepers, and driving out demons. You received and gave no pay; you must give and take none. ⁹ Do not accept gold or silver or even copper money for your purse, ¹⁰ and do not take a bag for your journey, nor two shirts, nor any shoes, nor a staff, for the workman deserves his support. ¹¹ Into whatever town or village you go, inquire for some deserving person, and stay at his house until you leave the place. ¹² As you go into his house, wish it well, ¹³ and if the house should prove deserving, may your good wish for peace upon it come true, but if not, may your good wish bring peace to yourselves. ¹⁴ And whoever will not welcome you, or listen to your words, on leaving that place shake off from your feet its very dust. ¹⁵ I tell you, the punishment on the day of judgment will be lighter for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. ¹⁶ "Listen! I am sending you out as sheep surrounded by wolves. So you must be sensible like serpents and guileless like doves. ¹⁷ Be on your guard against men, for they will turn you over to the courts and will flog you in their synagogues, ¹⁸ and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness to them and the heathen. ¹⁹ But when they turn you over to the courts, you must not worry at all about how or what you ought to speak, for it will be given you at that hour what you ought to speak. ²⁰ For it is not you who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father that is speaking through you. ²¹ One brother will turn another over to death, and a father his child, and children will take a stand against their parents, and will have them put to death. ²² And you will be hated by all men, because you bear my name, but whoever bears up to the end will be saved. ²³ But whenever they persecute you in one town, flee to a different one. For I solemnly say to you, you will not cover all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man returns. ²⁴ No pupil is better than his teacher, and no slave is better than his master. ²⁵ The pupil should be satisfied to become like his teacher, and the slave should be satisfied to become like his master. If men have called the Head of the house Beelzebub, how much worse names will they heap upon the members of His family! ²⁶ So you must never be afraid of them, for there is nothing covered that will not be uncovered, nor a secret that will not be known. ²⁷ What I speak to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered in your ears, you must proclaim from housetops. ²⁸ You must never be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. But rather you must keep on fearing Him who can destroy both soul and body in the pit. ²⁹ Do not sparrows sell for a cent apiece? And yet not one of them can fall to the ground without your Father's notice. ³⁰ Even the very hairs on your head have all been counted by God. ³¹ So stop being afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. ³² Therefore, everyone who will own me before men I will own before my Father in heaven, ³³ but anyone who disowns me before men I will disown before my Father in heaven. ³⁴ "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword. ³⁵ For 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 and a man's enemies will be members of his own family. ³⁷ Anybody who loves father or mother more than he loves me is not worthy of me, ³⁸ and nobody is worthy of me who does not take up his cross and follow me. ³⁹ Anybody who gains his lower life will lose the higher life, and anybody who loses his lower life for my sake will gain the higher life. ⁴⁰ "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes Him who sent me. ⁴¹ Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive the same reward as a prophet, and whoever welcomes an upright man as such will receive the same reward as the upright man. ⁴² And I solemnly say to you, no one who gives a cup of cold water to one of the least of my disciples, because he is a disciple, will ever fail to get his reward." ¹¹ ¹ When Jesus had closed this charge to His disciples, He left there to teach and preach in their towns. ² Now when John in prison heard of the doings of the Christ, he sent this message by his disciples: ³ "Are you the One who was to come, or should we keep on looking for a different one?" ⁴ And Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: ⁵ the blind are seeing and the crippled are walking, the lepers are being healed and the deaf are hearing, the dead are being raised and the poor are having the good news preached to them. ⁶ And happy is the man who finds no cause for stumbling over me." ⁷ But as they were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the desert to gaze at? A reed that is tossed to and fro by the wind? ⁸ If not, what did you go out there to see? A man dressed in silks and satins? No, people who dress in that way are found in the palaces of kings. ⁹ If not, why did you go out there? To see a prophet? ¹⁰ This is the man of whom the Scripture says, "'Attention! I am sending my messenger on before you; He will prepare the road ahead of you.' ¹¹ "I solemnly say to you, of all men born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has ever appeared; and yet the one who is least important in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² And from the days of John the Baptist until the present moment the kingdom of heaven has been continuously taken by storm, and those who take it by storm are seizing it as a precious prize. ¹³ For up to the days of John all the prophets, and even the law, prophesied about it, ¹⁴ and if you are willing to accept it, John himself is the Elijah who was to come. ¹⁵ Let him who has ears listen! ¹⁶ "But to what can I compare the leaders of this age? They are like little children sitting in the market places and calling to their fellows in the game, ¹⁷ "'We played the wedding march for you, but you did not dance. We sang the funeral dirge, but you did not beat your breasts.' ¹⁸ For John came neither eating nor drinking with others, and yet they said, 'He has a demon.' ¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking with others, and they say, 'Just look at Him! A glutton and a wine-drinker, a chum of tax-collectors and notorious sinners!' And yet wisdom is vindicated by her doings!" ²⁰ Then He began to censure the cities in which His many, many wonder-works had been done, because they did not repent. ²¹ "A curse on you, Chorazin! A curse on you, Bethsaida! For if the wonder-works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, long ago they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes. ²² Moreover, I tell you, on the day of judgment the punishment will be lighter for Tyre and Sidon than for you! ²³ And you, Capernaum, are you to be exalted to heaven? No, you belong to the regions of the dead! For if the wonder-works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued until today. ²⁴ But I tell you, on the day of judgment the punishment will be lighter for the land of Sodom than for you!" ²⁵ At that time Jesus said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for concealing these matters from wise and learned men, and for revealing them to little children. ²⁶ Yes, Father, I thank You that Your good pleasure made it so. ²⁷ All things have been entrusted to me by my Father, and no one but the Father perfectly knows the Son, and no one but the Son perfectly knows the Father, and the one to whom the Son chooses to make Him known. ²⁸ Come to me, all of you who toil and carry burdens, and I, yes, I, will lead you into rest. ²⁹ Put on my yoke, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, ³⁰ for the yoke I offer is easy to wear, and the load I ask is light to bear ¹² ¹ At that time Jesus walked one sabbath through the wheat fields, and His disciples became hungry, and began to pull the heads of wheat and eat them. ² And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Just look! Your disciples are doing something that it is against the law to do on the sabbath!" ³ But He said to them, "Did you never read what David did, when he and his soldiers became hungry? ⁴ How he went into the house of God, and they ate the sacred loaves, which it was against the law for him or his soldiers to eat, or for anyone except the priests? ⁵ Or, did you never read in the law that the priests in the temple break the sabbath, and yet are not guilty? ⁶ But I tell you, there is something greater than the temple here! ⁷ If you only knew what that saying means, 'It is mercy and not sacrifice that I want,' you would not have condemned men who are not guilty. ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath." ⁹ And on leaving there He went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ Now there was a man there with one hand withered. And, to get a charge against Him, they asked Him, "Is it right to cure people on the sabbath?" ¹¹ But He said to them, "What man is there among you, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a ditch on the sabbath, will not lay hold on it and lift it out? ¹² And how much more a man is worth than a sheep! So it is right to do good on the sabbath." ¹³ Then He said to the man, "Hold out your hand." And he held it out, and it was cured so that it became like the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and held a consultation against Him, to put Him to death. ¹⁵ But because Jesus knew it, He left there. And many people followed Him, and He cured them all, ¹⁶ and charged them not to publish Him, ¹⁷ and in this way fulfilled the saying spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ¹⁸ "Here is my Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved, in whom my soul delights itself. I will endow Him with my Spirit, and He will announce a judgment to the heathen. ¹⁹ He will not debate, nor challenge anyone; His voice will no one hear in the streets; ²⁰ A broken reed He will not break off; a flickering wick He will not put out, until He brings His judgment to victory. ²¹ On His name the heathen will set their hopes." ²² At that time some people brought to Him a man under the power of demons, who was blind and dumb, and He cured him, so that the dumb man could talk and see. ²³ And all the crowds of people were dumbfounded, and began to say, "He is by no means the Son of David, is He?" ²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "This man is not driving out demons except by the help of Beelzebub, the prince of the demons." ²⁵ But because He knew their thoughts, He said to them, "Any kingdom that is not united is in the process of destruction, and any city or family that is not united cannot last. ²⁶ Now if Satan is driving out Satan, he has become disunited; how then can his kingdom last? ²⁷ And if I am driving out demons by the help of Beelzebub, by whose help are your sons driving them out? So they must be your judges. ²⁸ But if I by the Spirit of God am driving the demons out, then the kingdom of God has come to you. ²⁹ Or, how can anyone get into a giant's house and carry off his goods, unless he first binds the giant? After that he can make a clean sweep of his house. ³⁰ Whoever is not in partnership with me is against me, and whoever does not gather in partnership with me scatters. ³¹ So I tell you, every sin and all abusive speech will be forgiven men, but abuse against the Spirit cannot be forgiven. ³² And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven for it, but whoever speaks abusively against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven for it, either in this world or in the world to come. ³³ "You must either make the tree healthy and its fruits healthy or make the tree sickly and its fruits sickly, for a tree is judged by its fruit. ³⁴ You brood of vipers! How can you, wicked as you are, say anything that is good? For the mouth talks about the things that fill the heart. ³⁵ The good man out of his good inner storehouse, brings out good things, the bad man, out of his bad one, bad things. ³⁶ So I tell you, for every worthless word that men utter they will have to give account on the day of judgment; ³⁷ for it is by your words that you will be acquitted and by your words that you will be condemned." ³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered Him as follows: "Teacher, we would like to see a spectacular sign given by you." ³⁹ But He answered, "Only a wicked and treacherous age is hankering for a spectacular sign, and no sign will be given it but the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰ For as Jonah was in the whale's stomach for three days and nights, the Son of Man will be three days and nights in the heart of the earth. ⁴¹ The men of Nineveh will rise with the leaders of this age at the judgment and condemn them, for they turned to the message preached by Jonah, and there is more than Jonah here! ⁴² The queen of the south will rise with the leaders of this age at the judgment and condemn them, for she came from the farthest limits of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and there is more than Solomon here! ⁴³ "Whenever the foul spirit goes out of a man, it wanders about in deserts in search of rest, but cannot find it. ⁴⁴ Then it says, 'I will go back to my house which I left,' and it finds it unoccupied, swept, and ready for use. ⁴⁵ "Then it goes and gets seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and make their home there, and so the end of that man is worse than the beginning. This is the way it will be with the wicked leaders of this age." ⁴⁶ While He was still speaking to the crowds, His mother and His brothers had taken their stand outside, trying hard to get to speak to Him. ⁴⁷ Omitted Text. ⁴⁸ But He answered the man who told Him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" ⁴⁹ And with a gesture toward His disciples He said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my mother and sister and brother." ¹³ ¹ That same day Jesus went out of His house and was sitting on the seashore. ² And the crowds that gathered about Him were so great that He got into a boat and remained sitting in it, while all the crowd stood on the seashore. ³ And in stories, by way of comparison, He told them many things, as He continued to speak: "A sower went out to sow, ⁴ and as he was sowing, some of the seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate them up, ⁵ and some fell upon rocky ground where they did not have much soil, and at once they sprang up, because there was no depth of soil, ⁶ and when the sun was up they were scorched and dried up, because they had no root. ⁷ And some fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them out. ⁸ And some fell in rich soil, and yielded a crop, some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty-fold. ⁹ Let him who has ears listen." ¹⁰ Then His disciples came up to Him and asked, "Why do you speak to them in stories?" ¹¹ He answered: "It is you and not they who are granted the privilege of knowing the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. ¹² For to anyone who has, more will be given, and his supply will overflow, but from anyone who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ¹³ This is why I am speaking to them in stories, because they look but do not see, they listen but do not really hear or understand. ¹⁴ So in them the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: "'You will listen and listen and not understand, and you will look and look and never see at all, ¹⁵ For this people's soul has grown dull, and with their ears they can scarcely hear, and they have shut tight their eyes, so that they will never see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn to me, so that I may cure them!' ¹⁶ "But blessed are your eyes, for they are beginning to see, and your ears, for they are beginning to hear. ¹⁷ For I solemnly say to you, many prophets and upright men yearned to see what you are seeing, and did not see it, and to hear what you are hearing, and did not hear it. ¹⁸ "Now listen closely to the story of the sower. ¹⁹ When anyone hears the message of the kingdom and does not understand it, the wicked one comes and carries off the seed that was sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. ²⁰ And what was sown upon the thin rocky soil illustrates the man who hears the message and bubbling over with joy at once accepts it, ²¹ but it takes no real root in him, and he lasts only a little while, and just as soon as suffering and persecution come for the truth's sake, he at once yields and falls. ²² And what was sown among the thorns illustrates the man who hears the message, and the worries of the times and the pleasures of being rich choke the truth out, and he yields no fruit. ²³ And what was sown in rich soil illustrates the man who hears the message and understands it, and yields fruit, one a hundred, one sixty, another thirty-fold." ²⁴ He told them another story, as follows: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed seed in his field. ²⁵ But while the world was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed wild wheat seed in the midst of the good seed, and went away. ²⁶ And when the wheat plants grew up and yielded their ripened grain, the wild wheat plants appeared too. ²⁷ And the farmer's slaves came up to him and said, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then where did the wild wheat plants come from?' ²⁸ He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' Then they said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them?' ²⁹ And he said, 'No, never, for while you are gathering the wild wheat plants you might root up the good ones with them. ³⁰ Let them both grow together until harvest time, and at the harvest time I will order the reapers, "Gather first the wild wheat plants and tie them into bundles to be burned up, but get the wheat into my barn."'" ³¹ He told them this story, as follows: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. ³² It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it is grown it is the largest of plants; yea, it grows into a tree, so that the wild birds come and roost in its branches." ³³ He told another story: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to yeast which a woman took and worked into a bushel of flour until it all had risen." ³⁴ Jesus told the crowds all this in stories, and without a story He told them nothing, ³⁵ to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: "I will open my mouth in stories, I will utter truths concealed since creation." ³⁶ Then He left the crowds and went into His house. And His disciples came up to Him and said, "Explain to us the story of the wild wheat in the field." ³⁷ And He answered: "The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man; ³⁸ the field is the world; the good seed are the members of the kingdom; the wild wheat seed are the followers of the wicked one. ³⁹ The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the close of the age, the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ Just as the wild wheat plants are gathered and burned up, so it will be at the close of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all those who cause wrongdoing, and the wrongdoers, ⁴² and will throw them into the furnace of torturing punishment; there they will wail and grind their teeth. ⁴³ Then the upright will shine out like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let him who has ears listen! ⁴⁴ "The kingdom of heaven is like a pot of gold which was buried in a field, which a man found and buried again; and for joy over it he went and sold all he had and bought that field. ⁴⁵ "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a gem-dealer who was looking for beautiful pearls. ⁴⁶ One day he found a very costly pearl, and he went and sold all he had and bought it. ⁴⁷ "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was let down into the sea, and gathered fish of every kind, ⁴⁸ which, when it was full, the fishermen drew up on the shore, and sat down and picked out the good fish for their baskets and threw the bad away. ⁴⁹ So it will be at the close of the age; the angels will go out and separate the wicked from the upright, ⁵⁰ and will throw them into the furnace of torturing punishment. There they will wail and grind their teeth. ⁵¹ "Do you understand all these stories?" They answered Him, "Yes." ⁵² He said to them, "Every scribe who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who can bring out of his storeroom new furnishings as well as old." ⁵³ When Jesus had finished these stories, He left there. ⁵⁴ He went to His own home town, and kept teaching in their synagogue in such a way that they were dumbfounded, and said, "Where did He get this wisdom and this power to do such wonder-works? ⁵⁵ Is He not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother's name Mary, are not His brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶ And are not His sisters all living here with us? Where then did He get all these things?" ⁵⁷ And so they found a cause for stumbling over Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet never fails to be honored except in his native neighborhood and in his own home." And so ⁵⁸ He did not do many wonder-works there, because of their lack of faith. ¹⁴ ¹ At that time Herod the governor heard the reports about Jesus, ² and said to his attendants, "This is John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead, and that is why the powers are at work through him." ³ For Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him out of the way by putting him in prison, just to please Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, ⁴ for John had said to him, "It is not right for you to have her as wife." ⁵ Although he wanted to have him killed, he was afraid of the people, for they regarded him as a prophet. ⁶ But when Herod's birthday came, Herodias' daughter danced before the guests. Herod was fascinated by her, ⁷ and so passionately promised to give her anything she might ask for. ⁸ And she, prompted by her mother, said, "Give me John the Baptist's head right here on a platter." ⁹ And the king was sorry, but on account of his oath and his guests, he ordered it to be given her. ¹⁰ And he sent and had John beheaded in prison. ¹¹ And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she took it to her mother. ¹² Then John's disciples came and carried off his corpse, and buried him, and went and reported it to Jesus. ¹³ When Jesus heard it, He left there in a boat for a quiet place, to be alone. And when the crowds heard of it, they followed Him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ So when He got out of the boat and saw a great crowd, His heart was moved with pity for them, and He cured their sick people. ¹⁵ But when it was evening, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a destitute place, and the day is over; send the crowds off to the villages to buy themselves food." ¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to leave here; give them something to eat yourselves." ¹⁷ They said to Him, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish." ¹⁸ He said, "Bring them here to me." ¹⁹ After ordering the crowds to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and two fish and looked up to heaven and blessed them; then He broke the loaves in pieces and gave them to the disciples, and they gave them to the people. ²⁰ And they all ate and had aplenty. Then they took up the pieces left over, which made twelve basketfuls. ²¹ The people fed numbered about five thousand men, besides women and children. ²² And He at once had the disciples get into the boat and cross to the other side ahead of Him, while He dismissed the crowds. ²³ After He had dismissed the crowds, He went up the hill alone to pray. And after the evening came on, He was there alone, ²⁴ but the boat was already a long way from shore, and was being tossed by the waves, for the wind was against them. ²⁵ Just before day He went out to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" And they screamed with fright. ²⁷ Then Jesus at once spoke to them, "Be men of courage! It is I; stop being afraid." ²⁸ Peter answered Him, "Lord, if it is you, let me come to you on the water." ²⁹ And He said, "Come." And Peter got down out of the boat and walked on the water, and he went toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he felt the wind, he was frightened, and as he began to go down, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" ³¹ Jesus at once put out His hand and caught hold of him, and said to him, "O you of little faith! Why did you waver so?" ³² And when they got into the boat, the wind lulled, ³³ And the men in the boat worshiped Him, and said, "You are certainly God's Son." ³⁴ And they crossed over to the other side and came to Gennesaret. ³⁵ And the men of that place recognized Him, and sent into all the countryside and brought to Him all who were sick, ³⁶ and they continued to beg Him to let them touch just the tassel on His coat, and all who barely touched it were completely cured. ¹⁵ ¹ Then some Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus, and asked Him, ² "Why do your disciples break the rules handed down by our forefathers? For they do not practice washing their hands when they take their meals." ³ But He answered, "Why do you too break God's command for the sake of the rules that have been handed down to you? ⁴ For God said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and 'Whoever curses his father or mother must certainly be put to death.' ⁵ But you say, 'Whoever tells his father or mother, "Everything I have that might be used for helping you, is devoted to God," ⁶ is under no obligation at all to help his parent.' So you have set aside what God has said for the sake of what has been handed down to you. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied beautifully about you, when he said: ⁸ "'This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far, far away from me; ⁹ Their worship of me is an empty show; the things they teach are only men's precepts.'" ¹⁰ And He called the people to Him and said, "Listen to this and learn it! ¹¹ It is not what goes into a man's mouth that makes him foul; no, it is what comes out of a man's mouth that makes him foul." ¹² Then His disciples came up to Him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were knocked breathless to hear what you have just said?" ¹³ He answered, "Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant must be rooted up. ¹⁴ Let them alone. They are blind teachers! And if one blind man guides another, they will both fall into the ditch." ¹⁵ Then Peter said to Him, "Explain the maxim for us." ¹⁶ And He said, "Are you too, even yet, without understanding? ¹⁷ Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and afterwards into the waste? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they make the man foul. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, immorality, stealing, false witnessing, irreverent speech. ²⁰ These are the things that make a man foul, but eating with unwashed hands does not make a man foul." ²¹ Then Jesus left there and slipped away to the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. ²² And a Canaanite woman of that district came out and pleaded, saying, "Do pity me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is suffering horrors from a demon." ²³ But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came up and kept begging Him, "Send her away, for she keeps on screaming after us." ²⁴ But He answered, "I have been sent only to the lost sheep of Israel's house." ²⁵ But she came and bowed to Him, and kept praying, "Lord, help me!" ²⁶ He answered, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the house dogs." ²⁷ She said, "Yes, Lord, and yet the house dogs usually eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." ²⁸ Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, wonderful is your faith! You must have what you want." And her daughter was cured at that very moment. ²⁹ Then Jesus left there and went to the shore of the sea of Galilee. Then He went up the hill and kept sitting there, ³⁰ and great crowds came up to Him bringing with them the lame, the crippled, the blind, the deaf, and many others. They laid them at His feet, and He cured them, ³¹ so that the crowd was astonished to see the dumb talking, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. So they praised the God of Israel. ³² Then Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for it is now three days they have been staying with me, and they have nothing at all left to eat, and I fear they might give out on the way home." ³³ The disciples said to Him, "Where in this destitute place can we get bread enough to satisfy such a crowd?" ³⁴ Then Jesus asked them, "How many loaves have you on hand?" They answered, "Seven and a few small fish." ³⁵ Then He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground, ³⁶ and He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks; then He broke them in pieces, and kept giving the pieces to the disciples, and they to the crowds. ³⁷ And they all ate and had aplenty, and they took up the pieces left over, which made seven hamper-basketfuls. ³⁸ Those fed numbered four thousand men, besides women and children. ³⁹ Then He sent the crowds away, got into the boat, and went to the district of Magadan. ¹⁶ ¹ The Pharisees and the Sadducees came up, and to test Him asked Him to show them a spectacular sign from heaven. ² He answered, ³ Omitted Text. ⁴ "It is a wicked and immoral age that is hankering for a spectacular sign, so no sign will be given it but the sign of Jonah." Then He left them and went away. ⁵ When the disciples crossed the sea, they forgot to take any bread. ⁶ And Jesus said to them, "Look out, and keep on guarding yourselves against the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees!" ⁷ Then they began to discuss it among themselves, and said, "It is because we did not take any bread." ⁸ Jesus knew it and said, "Why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Have you so little faith? ⁹ Do you not understand yet? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many basketfuls you took up? ¹⁰ Nor the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many hamper-basketfuls you took up? ¹¹ How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you about bread, when I said, keep on guarding yourselves against the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees?" ¹² Then they understood that He meant, guard yourselves not against yeast for bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. ¹³ When Jesus reached the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" ¹⁴ They answered, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." ¹⁵ He said to them, "Who do you yourselves say that I am?" ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." ¹⁷ Then Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for it is not man that made this known to you, but my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And I, yes I, tell you, your name from now on is to be Peter, Rock, and on a massive rock like this I will build my church, and the powers of the underworld shall never overthrow it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you forbid on earth must be what is already forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth must be what is already permitted in heaven." ²⁰ Then He admonished the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ. ²¹ It was just after that that Jesus Christ for the first time clearly taught His disciples that He had to go to Jerusalem and submit to many forms of suffering at the hands of the elders, high priests, and scribes, and be killed, but be raised to life on the third day. ²² And Peter took Him aside and began to chide Him, as he said, "Heaven shield you, my Lord! This must never be your lot!" ²³ But He turned and said to Peter, "Get out of my way, you Satan! You are a hindrance to me, for this view of yours is not from God but from men." ²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples: "If anyone wants to be my disciple, he must say 'No' to self, put his cross on his shoulders, and keep on following me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save his higher life will have to give up the lower life, and whoever gives up his lower life for my sake will find the higher life. ²⁶ For what benefit will it be to a man, if he gains the whole world and loses his higher life? What price would a man pay to buy back his life? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father's splendor, with His angels, and then He will pay back to everyone in accordance with what he has done. ²⁸ I solemnly say to you, some of the people standing here will certainly live to see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." ¹⁷ ¹ Six days after this, Jesus took Peter and James and his brother John, and led them up on a high mountain, by themselves. ² And in their presence His appearance was changed and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes turned as white as light. ³ Then Moses and Elijah appeared to them and kept talking with Him. ⁴ And Peter interrupted, and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here! If you consent, I will put up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." ⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud cast its shadow over them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I am delighted. Keep on listening to Him!" ⁶ When the disciples heard it, they fell upon their faces, for they were terribly frightened. ⁷ Then Jesus came and touched them, and said, "Get up and do not be so afraid." ⁸ They looked up and saw no one but Jesus Himself. ⁹ And as they were going down the mountain, Jesus warned them, saying, "Never mention to anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man is raised from the dead." ¹⁰ The disciples asked Him, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" ¹¹ He answered, "Elijah does come and will get everything ready. ¹² But I say to you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but treated him as they pleased. Just so the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." ¹³ Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them about John the Baptist. ¹⁴ When they reached the crowd, a man came up to Him, kneeling before Him and saying, ¹⁵ "Lord, do pity my son, for he has epilepsy and suffers excruciating pain, and often falls into the fire or into the water. ¹⁶ I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him." ¹⁷ And Jesus answered, "O you unbelieving and perverted people of the times! How long can I put up with you? Bring him here to me!" ¹⁸ And Jesus reproved the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured that very moment. ¹⁹ After that the disciples came to Jesus and privately asked, "Why is it we could not drive it out?" ²⁰ He answered them, "Because you have so little faith! For I solemnly say to you, if you have the faith that is living like a grain of mustard, you can say to this mountain, 'Move over from here to yonder,' and it will move over, and nothing will be impossible for you to do." ²¹ Omitted Text. ²² While they were going about in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be turned over into the hands of men, ²³ and they will kill Him, but on the third day He will be raised again." And they were crushed with grief. ²⁴ When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and asked, "Does your Teacher pay the temple tax?" ²⁵ He answered, "Yes." When Jesus reached home -- He got there ahead of Simon -- He asked him, "What do you think about it, Simon? From whom do civil rulers collect duties or taxes, from their own citizens or from aliens?" ²⁶ He answered, "From aliens." Jesus said to him, "So their own citizens are exempt, ²⁷ but still, that we may not influence them to do anything wrong, go down to the sea and throw over a hook. Pull in the first fish that bites, open its mouth and you will find in it a dollar. Take it and pay the tax for both of us." ¹⁸ ¹ Just at that moment the disciples came up and asked Jesus, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" ² And He called a little child to Him, and had him stand in the midst of them, ³ and said: "I solemnly say to you, unless you turn and become like little children, you can never get into the kingdom of heaven at all. ⁴ So then, whoever becomes as lowly as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, ⁵ and whoever welcomes one little child like this for my sake welcomes me. ⁶ But whoever leads one of these little ones, who believe in me, to do wrong, had better have a great millstone hung around his neck to sink him to the bottom of the sea. ⁷ A curse on the world for such influences to do wrong! For they must come, but a curse on the man from whom these influences come! ⁸ "And if your own hand or your own foot makes you do wrong, cut it off and put it out of your way. It is better for you to get into life maimed or crippled than to have both hands or both feet to be thrown into everlasting torture. ⁹ And if your own eye makes you do wrong, pluck it out and put it out of your way. It is better for you to go into life with a single eye than to have both eyes to be thrown into the pit of torture. ¹⁰ "Be careful not to look with scorn on a single one of these little children, for I tell you that in heaven their angels have uninterrupted access to my Father in heaven. ¹¹ Omitted Text. ¹² "What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillsides, and go and search for the one that is lost? ¹³ And if he finds it, I solemnly say to you, he rejoices over it more than he does over the ninety-nine that did not get lost. ¹⁴ Just so it is not the will of my Father in heaven that a single one of these little ones be lost. ¹⁵ "Again, if your brother wrongs you, go and while alone with him show him the wrong. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen to you, take along with you one or two others, so as to have every word confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, report it to the church. ¹⁷ And if he refuses to listen to the church, treat him as a heathen and as a tax-collector. ¹⁸ I solemnly say to you, whatever you forbid on earth must be already forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth must be already permitted in heaven. ¹⁹ "Again, I tell you, if only two of you on earth agree on what they pray for, they will get it from my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For wherever two or three have met as my disciples, I am right there with them." ²¹ Then Peter came up to Him and asked, "Lord, how many times may my brother wrong me and I have to forgive him? As many as seven?" ²² Jesus answered him: "I tell you, not as many as seven, but as many as seventy times seven! ²³ So the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who decided to settle up his accounts with his slaves, ²⁴ And when he began, a man was brought to him who owed him ten million dollars. ²⁵ And because he could not pay it, his master ordered him to be sold, yea, even his wife and children and all he had, and payment to be made. ²⁶ So the slave fell down at his feet and pleaded, 'Give me time, and I will pay you every cent of it.' ²⁷ And his master's heart was moved with pity, and he let the slave go free with his debt cancelled. ²⁸ "But that slave went out and found one of his fellow-slaves who owed him twenty dollars, and he caught him by the throat and began to choke him, demanding, 'Pay me what you owe me!' ²⁹ "And his fellow-slave fell down before him and pleaded, 'Give me time, and I will pay you.' ³⁰ But he refused and went out and had him put in jail until he should pay the debt. ³¹ "When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly troubled, and went and reported all that happened to their master. ³² Then his master called to him, and said, 'I cancelled all that huge debt of yours, because you pleaded with me to do so. ³³ Ought you not to have shown mercy to your fellow-slave, as I too had done for you?' ³⁴ And the master was enraged and turned him over to the official torturers, until he should pay the whole debt. ³⁵ This is the way my heavenly Father too will deal with you, if you do not, each one, heartily forgive your brother." ¹⁹ ¹ When Jesus had finished this discourse, He left Galilee and went into the district of Judea that is on the other side of the Jordan. ² And great crowds thronged after Him, and He cured them there.